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

Gabriel laughed. “As long as you’re happy.”


Gabriel started the machine. “That doesn’t sound good,” he said, though his voice was playful. “I don’t know if that means your life really sucks, or if I’m just that awesome.”


“Both.” Jake made sure to laugh so Gabriel wouldn’t know he meant it.


“All right, I think that’s done,” Gabe said. He put the tattoo machine down and shook out his hand. He was always sore after using the machine for so long, especially when he had to do this level of detail, but most of the time he didn’t notice it until he’d actually finished and it started hurting like a bitch. He’d have to steal some ibuprofen from the stash Rob kept in the break room. “I’m going to clean it one more time, then put on plastic wrap to protect it and your clothes, okay?”


Chapter 37