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

“It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re just fine.” They were the exact same words Alice used with Molly when her daughter got hurt. She rubbed her hand up and down on his back as if he were a child. She didn’t touch his tattoo but it still felt like each swipe of her palm over Jake’s T-shirt was scraping his nerves raw. He wanted to tell her to leave him alone but he didn’t have enough air to speak.


He heard Molly, small-voiced, asking Alice if Uncle Jake was sick, and Alice ordering her to go back to the living room. Then he heard Molly coming over to him instead, and then the tentative, butterfly touch of her hand on his shoulder.


“No,” he ground out. He forced himself to sit up so he wouldn’t keep scaring her, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his hand. The room started a slow loop around him. “I just got a little dizzy. I’m fine.”


Chapter 40