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

Gabe knuckled away an itch on his cheek and then added more brown. He was planning on making Jake’s tattoo as realistic as possible, given the limitations of his tools and the living canvas of Jake’s skin. But this painting, Gabe wanted to make softer, more impressionistic.


Jake’s drawing of the helicopter was still on Gabe’s art table, carefully buried under a bunch of sketches he’d done for school. Gabe didn’t know what he’d say if Jake asked him why he still had it. The truth was, Gabe had kept the badly drawn helicopter for no better reason than that Jake had made it, which was like something out of his mom’s movie collection and which he would try to never admit to anyone.


Well, maybe he’d admit it to Jake. Later. And Gabe was also hoping it didn’t assume too much to think Jake would be in his apartment again.


Chapter 55