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 not the point.” Isaac kept his eyes focused on Jake, with his hand in a white-knuckled grip around the rail. “The point is, you’re a selfish prick who’s hiding up here like some rat-ass delinquent instead of manning up and dealing with whatever’s eating you.”


Jake glared at him. It was surprising how much Isaac’s words stung, considering Jake knew he was right. “And that awesome pep talk’s meant to keep me from jumping?”


Isaac snorted. “You’re not going to jump. If you really wanted to kill yourself, you would’ve done it by now. Believe me—the ones who mean it don’t wait until someone finds them.”


“Maybe I wanted an audience.” Jake didn’t really know why he was goading Isaac like this, but for a second he had a nastily gleeful thought that he should jump just to prove him wrong.


“Then by all means, go for it.” He made an “after you” gesture with his free hand, which was stiff and awkward because he obviously didn’t want to move.


Chapter 105