Toronto, Canada, 2006. A few months after the worst year of the Iraq war. Gabriel Navarro splits his time between his job slinging ink at the Atlantis Ink tattoo parlor, and working on his master’s degree in fine art. Gabe is twenty-two, sure of his beliefs and his artistic integrity, and na?ve enough to think he’ll never have to compromise. And then one night Jake MacLean walks into the shop and changes everything. Jake Maclean is twenty-eight and a veteran American Army pilot. He's been staying with his ex-pat sister in Toronto while he tries to get his life in order. The problem is, he can't. After his disastrous final mission in Iraq, he's overcome with anger and survivor’s guilt, trapped in a losing battle to atone for a failure he’s sure can never be forgiven. Left without hope, he decides to have his memory of the mission tattooed on his back, with the condemning words: God Will Judge Me. He doesn't expect to fall for the tattoo artist. Gabe falls just as quickly and deeply for Jake, though Jake's reluctance to talk about what happened frustrates and worries him. Gabe knows Jake isn't doing well, but accepting Jake’s claims that he's "fine" is far easier than dealing with the frightening truth. But soon it’s horribly clear Jake can’t control his panic attacks or flashes of violence, and he's getting worse. If Gabe can’t help him face his demons, Jake is headed for a crash -- and there’s every chance he’ll take Gabriel down with him.

Black Hawk Tattoo

“That’s the thing,” Rob said. “Jake reminds me of them.”


“So?” Gabe demanded. He crossed his arms more tightly. “Are you saying Jake’s going to kill himself?”


He figured—he was sure—that Rob would deny it. But Rob just spread his hands. “I don’t know,” he said. “But what I’m telling you is that I saw a lot of soldiers just like Jake. And you need to understand what that means. He’s carrying baggage with him. And it’s pretty bad.”


“You don’t know anything about him,” Gabe said, then remembered with a stab of shame how Jake had said the exact same words to him.


Rob’s steady expression darkened a little. “And that’s the point, isn’t it? Neither of us knows anything about him.” He hesitated, as if he wasn’t happy with what he was going to say. “I told you about the vet who attacked my dad for startling him. Jake could be violent, Gabe.”


Chapter 32