Five Star Review For Rescuing Rebecca

 Amazon.com

Just a quick note to let you know my sexy romantic thriller Rescuing Rebecca involving a hot Royal Marine alpha male and his sexy estranged lover, a journalist has received a five star review on Amazon.com!  Check it out Amazon.com while I begin edits on my new sexy spanking romance thriller Masquerade.

Here is the blurb to Rescuing Rebecca to wet your appetite.



Award winning journalist Rebecca Eaton crosses the closed border of a troubled Asian country to interview a Human Rights activist and known terrorist. Three days later, after her reported mysterious disappearance, she turns up at the border tortured, beaten, minus her memory and one kidney. When an attempt is made on her life in the hospital, her employer sends Eaton's estranged ex-lover and security expert Dominic Kane to bring her safely home.

Kane wants Rebecca back in his arms and jumps at the chance to make her realise she walked out on a good thing. But before he can entice her into a reconciliation, he has to help her retrieve her memory and assist her in exposing a worldwide medical conspiracy involving mass murder and the selling of stolen human organs. Kane has to protect Rebecca from the men sent to silence her and the terrorists who insist she bring the medical criminals to justice or they will detonate four suicide bombs in London. As Kane helps her unravel her lost memories, he finds the conspiracy reaches into Rebecca's family and the highest echelons of power.



Amazon.com

Masquerade

I have just finished getting together my new sexy thriller novel set in 1996 involving the Mafia, Masquerade.  I am looking for a publisher at present but thought I would share the blurb with you.  If you like your thrillers erotic and spicy then this one may be for you. 

The blurb for Masquerade is below and in the meantime if you want to check out chapter one of my other novel, Rescuing Rebecca, available now on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk have a look at my previous posts.

Masquerade   Blurb

 

 

London, 1996

 

Lawyer, Louise Churchill is injured in a terrorist explosion in the heart of London.  Helping a dying man, she promises to give the evidence he carries on the terrorist group in the form of a tape to the police.  Forced to witness the man’s death she is distraught.  Unexpectedly, she finds herself drawn in to the comforting and protective embrace of a handsome dark stranger who cuddles her until an ambulance arrives.

But when the stranger attempts to draw her in to a relationship, Louise discovers it is not only herself he wants. Alessandro is Mafia and has a score to settle with his grandfather who murdered his mother.  He wants both the tape and the name of the mole inside the group who now trusts Louise to feed information to the police regarding the group’s next planned attack.  Alessandro’s plan is to expose and exploit his Mafia grandfather’s profitable role in the group to the other families and seek his revenge.

However there is a flaw in his plan.  He didn’t count on falling in love with Louise the moment he held her in his arms after the explosion.  Afraid for her safety as a witness and the mole’s contact, Alessandro holds her prisoner in his villa in Rome.  Strongly committed to protecting Louise from the men who hunt her as well as her stubborn reckless nature, he is at pains to show her the error of her in keeping secrets from him.  Her lessons begin  with a hard bare bottom spanking over his knee with his firm male hand and the lash of his belt against her beautifully formed derriere.

Alessandro is surprised to find the independent beauty is more than amenable to his discipline and his strong lovemaking.  Yet she still refuses to obey him.  A dangerous passionate affair begins in which both lovers wear masks, afraid of revealing who they really are to each other and what they know even if it costs them their life. 

 

Amazon Success for Rescuing Rebecca

 

I am pleased to report Rescuing Rebecca is doing very well on Amazon.com reaching an overall sales rank of #8,253 after just one day.  Thanks to all those who have bought it.  If you haven't got a copy yet, check out the blurb below and an interview with the sexy dominant alpha male bodyguard, Dominic Kane.

Purchasing Link :  Amazon.com



Rescuing Rebecca  Blurb

Security expert Dominic Kane helps his journalist ex-lover uncover a medical conspiracy to commit mass murder and sell human organs to the highest bidder.

Award winning journalist Rebecca Eaton crosses the closed border of a troubled Asian country to interview a Human Rights activist and known terrorist.  Three days later, after her reported mysterious disappearance, she turns up at the border tortured, beaten, minus her memory and one kidney.  When an attempt is made on her life in hospital, her employer sends Eaton's estranged ex-lover and security expert Dominic Kane to bring her safely home.

Kane wants Rebecca back and jumps at the chance to make her realise she walked out on a good thing.  But before he can entice her into a reconciliation he has to help her retrieve her memory and assist her in exposing a worldwide medical conspiracy involving mass murder and the selling of human organs.

Kane has to protect Rebecca from the men sent to silence her and the terrorists who insist she bring the medical criminals to justice or they will detonate four suicide bombs in London.  As he helps her unravel her lost memories Kane finds the conspiracy reaches into Rebecca's family and the highest echelons of power.

 

 

Interview with Dominic Kane

 

The Man Behind The Woman

 

 

Dominic Kane is a name that has been on everyone’s lips since he helped his journalist girlfriend, Rebecca Eaton blow open an international criminal conspiracy to commit mass murder and steal human organs to proffer them for sale on the black market.  The tall handsome, athletically built forty- three year old Security & Close Protection Consultant sits in front of me, casually dressed in a designer black sweater and trousers in the lounge of the Hotel Intercontinental in Paris, watching me intently with his piercing blue Paul Newman eyes.  With his short dark brown hair, sporting light flecks of attractive grey and neat designer stubble, he emulates the action hero to perfection.

I am lucky to get this interview.  The couple have been hiding from the public eye and Dominic is at pains to protect Rebecca from further press intrusion so she can recover from her ordeal and injuries in peace.  So much so the veteran journalist, Kevin Boyle dubbed him Rebecca Eaton’s “heavy man with a posh public schoolboy accent” when he made the mistake of testing Dominic’s tough security around Rebecca in the war torn Asian country of North Bundhara two weeks ago.

He gives me a grin, “What can I say?  I was sent out there to do a job.  He got in the way.  Rebecca was lying in a hospital bed with serious injuries and having lost her memory.  The last thing she needed was a journalist with a gripe against her hassling her for information.  I did what I had to and removed him from the building in a manner he was unaccustomed to.  He never came back.’  He gives me another infectious grin.

Dominic Kane is softly spoken with an accent that does indeed betray an English public school education.  He is a man of few words but his tone is firm and commands your full attention.  When he speaks people listen.  A former Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Marines stationed in Afghanistan, Dominic is a man who is clearly aware of his power and doesn’t have to shout it out.

He first met Rebecca Eaton when she came to make her BAFTA award winning programme, ‘On The Frontline’ with his unit in Afghanistan.  With Dominic in charge of Rebecca and her camera crew’s safety the couple were rumoured to have grown close after the unit came under heavy artillery fire out on patrol one day and Rebecca was injured.

“We were ambushed in a compound.  We took some heavy hits and I had no choice but to ask Rebecca to pitch in and help out with the shooting.  She’d had training like every other journalist has to before they are allowed on the frontline and I just knew I could trust her to come through.  If I hadn’t I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.  So yes we became close after that.’

I widen my eyes as he leans over to lift his coffee cup from the table and take a gulp.  He is a little reluctant to talk about their clandestine affair in Afghanistan and the break up that followed but I persist.

“Rebecca became ill with post traumatic stress.  She was forced to shoot at the enemy when we were ambushed in the compound.  After that, she was nearly killed in an IED explosion.  It was more than enough to effect anyone.  She tried to keep it quiet.  Being a female journalist she had to fight hard to go to Afghanistan.  Any female reporter will tell you how tough it is to build a career in such a male dominated business.”

But Rebecca’s health was to deteriorate whilst in Afghanistan and she couldn’t hide her illness any longer.

“She wasn’t eating or sleeping.  She lost so much weight.  One afternoon I found her inside her tent rocking back and forth on the floor, lost in reliving the explosion.  I’ve seen it happen dozens of times to men on the frontline who’ve experienced trauma but Rebecca thought she was tougher and could handle it.  She needed help from a counsellor but she refused so I had to take action.”

There’s a hint of frustration in his voice and he talks of the whole affair as though he dealt with it like he would a military operation.

“I rang her station and got them to recall her.  I . . . rather naively thought they would understand, just give her some time off so she could get back on her feet.  She was pretty annoyed.  Told me I’d ruined her career and that was the end of our relationship.”  He sighs, “And she was right.  They let her hang on until she won the BAFTA for them then they sidelined her and eventually pushed her out.  She was out of work for a year.  No one would take her on because of her illness.”

I sense frustration but no regret in his tone.

“I never meant to hurt her or her career but I would do it again.  She needed help.  Her doctor later told her that I’d saved her from having a full nervous breakdown by making her return home.”

I get the impression that Dominic hadn’t wanted their relationship to end and it was difficult for him to accept when it did.  So it must have been harrowing to learn of Rebecca’s disappearance two years later.  He must have feared the worse.

“I never believed she was dead.  Not for a second.  I knew she would find a way to get out of whatever mess she was in.  You can’t keep a woman like Rebecca down.  She’s a tough class act,” he tells me with pride.

Rumour has it, he was packed and ready to go with his team to locate her and bring her out of the country even before she was found and her employer contracted his company to provide her with security.

He grins, ‘Yes.  It’s true.”

And by charging to her rescue no doubt he viewed the situation as an opportunity to facilitate a reconciliation.  He smiles again but won’t go into detail.  It’s enough to tell me that’s exactly what was on his mind.

It must have been difficult to say the least finding her lying in a hospital bed with so many injuries and having lost her memory.

‘Yeah it was.’  And perhaps an advantage, I venture.  He merely treats me to another smile.

“She was in a really bad way.  For one mad moment  I just wanted to throw her over my shoulder, fly her home, bundle her in a car and hide her in my cabin in the Lake District to keep her safe.  But getting out of the country proved more difficult than I imagined when South Bundhara decided to invade the North.  There were a few hairy moments when I thought we might not make it.”

It’s an opportune moment to bring up the nickname that Rebecca gave him out in Afghanistan, Captain Caveman.  He laughs.

‘She gave me that name when I wanted to carry her over my shoulder after she got shot in the Green Zone in Helmand Province.  She wasn’t impressed with my offer.  She didn’t want me treating her differently because she was a woman and acting like Captain Caveman coming to the rescue.  She says I’m a bit of Neanderthal with her,” he laughs again.  “But secretly I think she likes it.”

He’s been credited as the man behind the woman fighting to change the world and halt the medical exploitation of developing nations.  How does he feel about that?

“I’m proud of it.  I will do all I can to help her.  Rebecca needs someone to ground her and keep her in check when she goes off recklessly risking her life.”

And is Dominic Kane the man for the job? 

He grins.  ‘She tells me I am and she’s right.”

He’s smiling but I can see that like myself and others who know Rebecca Eaton well he’s going to have a hard time keeping her behind a desk.  She loves to be in the thick of danger and he is going to have his work cut out for him.  Still the steely gaze he gives me when I inform him of my thoughts tells me he is determined and Rebecca is going to have a fight on her hands.  One Dominic Kane may just win.

 

 

Amazon.com

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Read Chapter One of Rescuing Rebecca

 Amazon.com

Rescuing Rebecca was released last night on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  If you haven't bought a copy yet check out the blurb and chapter one below.  Remember if you like your alpha males to be sexy, ex military and a bodyguard hell bent on throwing his reckless stubborn ex girlfriend over his shoulder to carry her out of danger, then this is a story for you. :)

Remember you can read an interview with the male character, Dominic Kane in the previous post!




Rescuing Rebecca Sales Blurb

Security expert Dominic Kane helps his journalist ex-lover uncover a medical conspiracy to commit mass murder and sell human organs to the highest bidder.

Award winning journalist Rebecca Eaton crosses the closed border of a troubled Asian country to interview a Human Rights activist and known terrorist.  Three days later, after her reported mysterious disappearance, she turns up at the border tortured, beaten, minus her memory and one kidney.  When an attempt is made on her life in hospital, her employer sends Eaton's estranged ex-lover and security expert Dominic Kane to bring her safely home.

Kane wants Rebecca back and jumps at the chance to make her realise she walked out on a good thing.  But before he can entice her into a reconciliation he has to help her retrieve her memory and assist her in exposing a worldwide medical conspiracy involving mass murder and the selling of human organs.

Kane has to protect Rebecca from the men sent to silence her and the terrorists who insist she bring the medical criminals to justice or they will detonate four suicide bombs in London.  As he helps her unravel her lost memories Kane finds the conspiracy reaches into Rebecca's family and the highest echelons of power.

 

 

 

 

Rescuing Rebecca   Chapter One

 

 

Chapter One

 

London – Docklands – Three days later

Dominic Kane sat in Anna Harker’s penthouse office overlooking the Thames.  He studied Harker as she leant against the front of her large ornate desk next to his chair, watching the news on the middle of three LCD TVs on the wall ahead of her.  She was now in her late sixties and was one of the most powerful noises in the British and global media.  She was a strong ruthless businesswoman who didn’t suffer fools.  At twenty seven she had run the small press Dolls House Publishing and later bought it from its owner when he was financially ruined.  By the age of forty she owned a string of successful newspapers and publishing companies and turned her attention to cable networks.  This was the woman who fought off a massive takeover bid of her holding company Turnstile  Communications from her hospital bed when the vultures smelt death last October. 

She was also the woman famous for being attacked one night in Central Park and successfully fighting off her assailant, armed only with an umbrella, at the age of sixty-three.  A fierce supporter of human rights and the abolition of violence against women, Harker wasn’t afraid to speak out and cause a stir.  She was a powerful woman and needed to be handled with great respect.

She was still a good looking woman.  Her appearance was immaculate, crisp and clean in her black suit.  Her blonde hair was cropped in a no nonsense short bob and her attractive hazel eyes told Kane that she knew more about him than he was comfortable with.

He turned to watch the screen once more.  ATM’s newsreader Monty Turner was serving up the latest on their missing star correspondent.  She had been found at the North Bundenese border less than twenty-four hours ago.  She had been making headlines all around the world since her disappearance in South Bundhara three days ago, straining the tense relations between Britain and the US who were threatening air strikes and retaliation if South Bundhara decided to make good on its threat and invade North Bundhara. 

Another glance at Harker’s face told him of her concern for Rebecca.  Kane had done his research.  Rebecca wasn’t just another employee of her channel, ATM, she was one of Harker’s friends.  Harker was almost a replacement mother figure and like him she had been listening to the harrowing rumours of torture, rape and other physical crimes forced on Rebecca’s body.  The woman looked ill with worry.  He turned his attention to the screen once more, back to the interview with the UN soldier who had found Rebecca.  It was the sixth time he had seen the report.

‘She was just walking along the road behind some of the refugees.  She looked out of it.  I didn’t recognise her at first.  When I ran up to her she backed off.  She tried to make a run for it down the bank into the trees.  I am sure it was my uniform that made her frightened.  I took off after her and brought her back.  She was so dazed she didn’t even know her own name.’

‘And what condition was Rebecca in?  I mean, was she injured?  I am sure you realise how concerned we are at ATM,’ one of the correspondents crowding around him jostling for position asked.  Kane watched the soldier smile and nod, clearly loving the limelight.

‘Yes of course I do.  She was exhausted, dehydrated, I guess.  She had obviously been beaten and she was clutching at a wound on her left side that was bleeding.  She collapsed in my arms.  She has been taken to hospital now.’

The interview continued to play but Harker talked over it.  She spoke suddenly, the emotional strain clearly audible in her voice this time.  ‘I want you out there.’

Kane simply nodded.  Inside he was elated.  ‘I take it the rumours are true then?” he said carefully.

There was a pause from Harker.  She turned to face him directly and he could clearly see tears brimming in her eyes.  ‘Yes, they are.  She’s been beaten, tortured, raped, starved...’  Another pause.  Kane noticed she took in a breath before she started again.

‘And that’s not even the worst.  She’s been cut open, and operated on.  One of her kidneys has been removed, stolen.  She was butchered.  It wasn’t a neat job and from what the doctors can gather there were some intra-operative complications.’  Harker raised her eyes to the ceiling and took another breath as she composed herself once more.

She continued, ‘That’s where the mystery comes in.  Those complications appear to have been dealt with well, as though someone skilled intervened in the operation to tidy it up.  But her surgical wound has become infected and the doctors are worried that she might develop pneumonia.  She can’t remember anything that has happened to her.  She can’t remember her own name or her past.  Not even her family or friends.’ 

Harker paused, watching the screen once more,  ‘They call it dissociative fuge.  It’s some form of amnesia that occurs after a traumatic experience.  And you will already know that an attempt was made on her life when she was brought into the hospital.’

Kane gave her a confused look as he noticed her eyes suddenly look down at his hands on the chair and widen with surprise.  He followed her gaze.  He felt his mouth tense.  He was gripping the arms of the chair so tightly as she talked of Rebecca’s injuries that his knuckles had turned white.  He had betrayed himself and given the whole game away.

‘I know you and Rebecca have a history,’ she said eyeing him closely.  ‘Together.   And I also know your parting wasn’t exactly on amicable terms.  But I can see that you obviously still feel something for her.  I hope this won’t be a problem and that you won’t let it affect the way you do your job.  I want her to have the best security money can buy.  You come highly recommended from the powers that be.’

He felt uncomfortable.  He made a conscious effort to loosen his hold on the arms of the chair.  She was waiting for his response.  She would be judging as to whether or not he was telling the truth.  He was going to have to be careful.  She wouldn’t respect him for denying his feelings.

He spoke softly making sure he held eye contact with her.  ‘I don’t allow my personal life to interfere with my work and I am not about to start now.  I am flattered that you believe my company worthy of providing high calibre security, but I have to warn you I am not so sure this is the best for Rebecca.  When her memory returns she is liable to be obstructive and distrustful of my presence.’

‘Yes, I can more than imagine.’  Her lips crinkled into a knowing smile.  ‘But I am also aware that you won’t let that stop you.  That is why you are sitting here now and why you got your stepfather’s  influential friends to recommend your company to me.  I know that you have been planning to go out there anyway whether I chose you or not.  From all reports, Mr Kane, you were packed and ready to go with a team to get her out of South Bundhara the moment you heard she’d disappeared. Unfortunately for you that proposed mission was stopped because there was already a team out there looking for her.’

He felt uneasy when she talked about his stepfather.  It was the one and only time Kane had asked for his help.  He hated the man who had wormed his way into his mother’s life and taken it over.  He had never needed anyone’s help to get a contract for his company, Kane Security & Close Protection Services.   But this was one job he didn’t want to take his chances on.  Rebecca’s safety was worth the humiliation and condescension he’d had to take from the man.  Still, Kane knew that his step father would do anything to get him on side for the sake of his mother and he had taken advantage.

He smiled and told Harker confidently,’ I will bring her home safely.’  The smile on Harker’s face widened and then receded quickly.  She nodded.  She appeared convinced.  He watched her return to her throne behind the desk.  She carried her small frame awkwardly, shuffling her walk, a cause of recent surgery on her feet, the removal of a toe he’d heard, another effect of her crippling diabetes.  She had been in and out of hospital recently and the rumour was she was living on borrowed time once more.  The woman had no kids, no family to speak of, and he couldn’t help wondering who would inherit her fortune.

He got his mind back on the job at hand and started gathering as much information as he could.  He wanted to be aware of all the facts so he could arrange effective protection for Rebecca, so he started questioning Harker.  His first question was the one burning a hole in his head, the one that had kept him awake night after night whilst he’d waited for any news of Rebecca.  ‘Why did she cross South Bundhara’s closed border?  What was so important that she had to take a risk like that?  Why was she sent out there?’  He made every effort to hide his frustration but he could hear it slip past the polite tone he used as a barrier to disguise it.

Harker sounded irritated, ‘No one sent her anywhere, Mr Kane.  Her little trip was unauthorised.’  He wasn’t the only one who was frustrated at Rebecca’s latest reckless stunt to bring in the news.

Harker continued.  ‘No one knew apart from Jed, her cameraman.’

‘Does she know about his death?  That his decapitated head and body were found at the border?’

Harker squirmed and shuddered in her chair before she answered.  ‘No.  I keep thinking that could have been her.’  Kane bowed his head, the very idea making him feel nauseous.

‘She and Jed made one hell of a team, Mr Kane, as I am sure you well know.  She will take his loss very badly when she remembers.  I believe they were once linked romantically.  But Rebecca is a very private person, even with me.  She likes to keep you guessing.  Maybe you know more than me on that one?’  He smiled and remained silent.  He did and, yes, she was right, but he wouldn’t betray Rebecca.  There was obviously some reason why she hadn’t told the woman.  ‘You are very loyal, Mr Kane.’

Harker sat forward, leaning her elbows on the desk and looking directly at him.  She continued, ‘I don’t agree with the rest of the media that she was tortured by this Doctor Tasanee Somwan and her terrorist group, “The South Bundenese Liberation Army”.  I have been told that Doctor Somwan asked Rebecca to go out there and interview her.  She would only trust Rebecca to present her peaceful request to the British government for their help.  She had something to offer them.  Besides, Mr Kane, MI5 intercepted the e-mails Somwan was sending Rebecca.   They encouraged her to go, asking her to carry a message from the British government.’  Harker shook her head with disbelief as she finished her last sentence.

‘They gave her no support?’ Kane asked.

‘They said she had to go it alone.  If they were seen to be involved in negotiating with a terrorist there would be political hell to pay for the government.’

It was almost a black op.  Harker broke into his thoughts.  ‘I really believe it was the South Bundenese government who were holding her.  I also believe Somwan told Rebecca and Jed something that was going to provoke the British and Americans into action and stop them sitting on the fence on whether to authorise air strikes.  Anyway, I don’t know what is going on and I want you to find out.  I want whoever is responsible for doing this to Rebecca held accountable.  Whatever it is she knows, the information is enough for them to want to kill her.’

‘I have a plane and a team ready and waiting at Heathrow.’

‘Good.  I need you there, Mr Kane, as soon as possible.  Hospital security is practically non-existent and the police that are guarding her are inadequate, hence the attempt that was so easily made on her life.  I will have you flown from here to Heathrow by helicopter.’  She sat back in her chair suddenly grimacing with pain.  She turned pale for a moment making Kane wonder whether or not he should get help.  But she waved her hand at him when he politely expressed his concern.

‘I’m fine.  The North Bundenese police don’t exactly have the best reputation in the world.  Apparently the custom is to offer a bribe if you want their co-operation – and they will be awkward in surrendering Rebecca’s security to you.  They will be loving all the attention from it.  I am sending my personal assistant Charles with you.  He will get you any funds you require.  He will also handle the media.’

Kane wanted to object.  He didn’t want anyone else along for the ride.  He was taking a large team of men out there, a bigger number than he would normally use, purely because he was unsure of what to expect.   If a war did kick off he wanted to focus all of his attention on getting Rebecca out of the country not worry about another mark.  But he nodded in agreement.  The client was always King.  He started to move from his chair to get on his way but she raised her hand making him sit back down again.

‘There is something else you should know.  There are some Embassy officials out there hounding Rebecca for information about her interview with Somwan.  I am pretty sure they are MI5 trying to keep their involvement under wraps.  They have managed to get the doctors to stop her medication to keep her lucid so they can pump her for information.  She can’t remember and she is in agony without pain relief.’

There was a fierce anger boiling through Harker’s speech, displaying a hardness in her eyes.  ‘They are putting her at more risk of developing pneumonia.  She could die, Mr Kane.  It’s nothing short of torture.’

He told Harker quietly, firmly, ‘If I know Rebecca she will be giving them a hard time back.  She is a fighter, she will hold up until I get there.  They won’t be allowed near her after that.  I will personally make sure of it.’

A brightness slowly returned to Harker’s eyes.  ‘I don’t doubt it.’

The door opened making them both look up and turn towards it.  A young man of Indian English descent came into the room.  The man smiled at them both.

‘Charles, come in.  This is Charles Beaumont, my personal assistant.  One more thing before you both go.  Michael Eaton, Rebecca’s brother is already out there.  He left the moment she was reported missing.  You never met him, I know... he may get in your way.’  She raised her eyebrows and smiled with sarcasm as she spoke about Michael. 

Kane got the impression that Michael Eaton was not one of her favourite people.  ‘He’s the tall dark and handsome type, an internationally renowned cardio thoracic surgeon, who really believes he is something.   Just like most surgeons in my experience.  But he is a notorious womaniser and a gambler.  He’s arrogant and believes he always knows what is best for everyone, especially his sister when she is in trouble.  He thinks he can look after her and get her home on his own.  He won’t trust her safety with anyone.  Rebecca and he are very close, very protective of each other.  I suppose you can’t blame them.  They are all they have, there is no other family.  Did she ever tell you about her parents and what happened to them?’

‘No.  I knew that she had a brother she doted on but she always clammed up when I mentioned her parents.’  Kane watched Harker with interest, always eager to learn something new about Rebecca.  She had never given much away.

‘Their parents were murdered in front of them when she and Michael were children.’

Kane stared hard at her.

‘They were journalists, well the wife, Janice.  She was an award-winning photographic journalist.  They did a piece together on a Mafia sex-slave ring in 1981 and made some dangerous enemies.  When the gunmen finished with their parents they went looking for Michael and Rebecca.  She was only eleven, Michael was eight.  She hid Michael and faced them alone.  Michael told me – she would never tell me anything.  They hit her several times but she wouldn’t give up Michael’s whereabouts... they tore the place up looking for him.  But the Eatons lived in a large old cottage and there was many a nook and cranny.  He could have been anywhere.  Turns out he was right under their noses and could see everything that went on.  They put a gun to her forehead...’

Harker recounted the tale with disgust now but her hard tone was punctuated with bitter emotion.  Kane just felt numb as he listened in horror.

‘Michael, he wanted to go to her aid but she had locked him in this vent or whatever it was... I don’t remember... not that he would have been able to do anything.  He watched the man holding the gun to her head pull back the trigger.  He really thought she was going to die.  He told me that he would never forget how courageous she was, how she faced her fate with dignity.  Tears were rolling down her face but she didn’t flinch with fear.  To him, she was regal, serene, braver than he could ever be – he will never forget the way she protected him with her own life.  I think he is in awe of her:  it’s the way he talks about her with such pride.  If the police had been a second later in barging through the door she would have been dead.  They shot the gunman dead and he fell on top of her.  Michael said he remembers screaming with her and he is sure a part of him still is.’  She paused for a moment before continuing, ‘Michael will get in your way and try to control the situation.  He won’t trust anyone with her protection.  He believes he owes her that much.’

Kane suddenly realised he was still staring at Harker.  But he was looking through her.  He was stuck in the scene she had described, watching Rebecca as a child facing death in the eye.  He felt pain, loss, anxiety beginning to gain a strangle hold on him.  It was the culmination of the fear he had experienced wondering if she was dead or alive.  A reminder of how close she had come to death before he could make it right between them.  He’d been wasting time.  No more.

He was going to make her see that they belonged together before her job got her killed.  He always said she had a death wish.  Now he knew why.  She had been repeating the same scenario over and over in her mind.  She must have thought she should have died along with her parents.  She’d been trying to get herself killed.  She must have felt guilty about surviving.  It explained so much about her.  It was almost a textbook manoeuvre.

She was starting to make sense to him now.  You are more messed up than I thought Rebecca.  Trouble is, you never counted on the part of yourself you showed me, the part that is damned if it is going to let you kill yourself to prove a point.  No more games.  This is going to end.  I am going to make you see sense whether you like it or not.

‘Mr Kane, are you all right?’  He raised his head quickly, jumping to Harker’s attention.  She gave him a sympathetic smile.  ‘I am sorry, Mr Kane.  I should have been more careful how I told you.  I can see how much you still care for Rebecca.  Now I am even more convinced that I have chosen the right man for the job.  She doesn’t need some faceless security expert who will boss her around.  She needs emotional support.’

Kane felt uneasy again.  He shouldn’t really go.  He was too involved with Rebecca, albeit their relationship was in the past.  It was unethical.  He shouldn’t be involved with the client, it stopped you doing an effective job.  It made you careless.  But then this wasn’t any ordinary assignment and he was too stubborn and, dare he say it, arrogant to let anyone else provide her security.  He was the only one he trusted with her life.  He stood up fastening his suit jacket and moved to shake Harker’s hand.

‘I will call you when I have seen her.’

‘Mr Kane, if Rebecca does not co-operate with you and fails to follow your instructions just tell her she is fired.  When she gets her memory back that will help you to keep her under control and stop her from trying to sort this mess out on her own.  We both know that is what she will try and do.  It’s too dangerous.  Tell her I want her safe or she is out of a job and I mean it.’

He grinned and followed Charles.  She’ll love that!

 

Rescuing Rebecca Is Released On Amazon.com

 Amazon.com

Just to let you know my power play romantic thriller Rescuing Rebecca has been released by Blushing Books and is now available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk under my pen name, Serena James.

Check out the blurb and an interview piece I wrote with the sexy alpha male of the story, Dominic Kane.




Rescuing Rebecca  Blurb

Security expert Dominic Kane helps his journalist ex-lover uncover a medical conspiracy to commit mass murder and sell human organs to the highest bidder.

Award winning journalist Rebecca Eaton crosses the closed border of a troubled Asian country to interview a Human Rights activist and known terrorist.  Three days later, after her reported mysterious disappearance, she turns up at the border tortured, beaten, minus her memory and one kidney.  When an attempt is made on her life in hospital, her employer sends Eaton's estranged ex-lover and security expert Dominic Kane to bring her safely home.

Kane wants Rebecca back and jumps at the chance to make her realise she walked out on a good thing.  But before he can entice her into a reconciliation he has to help her retrieve her memory and assist her in exposing a worldwide medical conspiracy involving mass murder and the selling of human organs.

Kane has to protect Rebecca from the men sent to silence her and the terrorists who insist she bring the medical criminals to justice or they will detonate four suicide bombs in London.  As he helps her unravel her lost memories Kane finds the conspiracy reaches into Rebecca's family and the highest echelons of power.

 

 

 

 

Interview with Dominic Kane

 

The Man Behind The Woman

 

 

Dominic Kane is a name that has been on everyone’s lips since he helped his journalist girlfriend, Rebecca Eaton blow open an international criminal conspiracy to commit mass murder and steal human organs to proffer them for sale on the black market.  The tall handsome, athletically built forty- three year old Security & Close Protection Consultant sits in front of me, casually dressed in a designer black sweater and trousers in the lounge of the Hotel Intercontinental in Paris, watching me intently with his piercing blue Paul Newman eyes.  With his short dark brown hair, sporting light flecks of attractive grey and neat designer stubble, he emulates the action hero to perfection.

I am lucky to get this interview.  The couple have been hiding from the public eye and Dominic is at pains to protect Rebecca from further press intrusion so she can recover from her ordeal and injuries in peace.  So much so the veteran journalist, Kevin Boyle dubbed him Rebecca Eaton’s “heavy man with a posh public schoolboy accent” when he made the mistake of testing Dominic’s tough security around Rebecca in the war torn Asian country of North Bundhara two weeks ago.

He gives me a grin, “What can I say?  I was sent out there to do a job.  He got in the way.  Rebecca was lying in a hospital bed with serious injuries and having lost her memory.  The last thing she needed was a journalist with a gripe against her hassling her for information.  I did what I had to and removed him from the building in a manner he was unaccustomed to.  He never came back.’  He gives me another infectious grin.

Dominic Kane is softly spoken with an accent that does indeed betray an English public school education.  He is a man of few words but his tone is firm and commands your full attention.  When he speaks people listen.  A former Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Marines stationed in Afghanistan, Dominic is a man who is clearly aware of his power and doesn’t have to shout it out.

He first met Rebecca Eaton when she came to make her BAFTA award winning programme, ‘On The Frontline’ with his unit in Afghanistan.  With Dominic in charge of Rebecca and her camera crew’s safety the couple were rumoured to have grown close after the unit came under heavy artillery fire out on patrol one day and Rebecca was injured.

“We were ambushed in a compound.  We took some heavy hits and I had no choice but to ask Rebecca to pitch in and help out with the shooting.  She’d had training like every other journalist has to before they are allowed on the frontline and I just knew I could trust her to come through.  If I hadn’t I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.  So yes we became close after that.’

I widen my eyes as he leans over to lift his coffee cup from the table and take a gulp.  He is a little reluctant to talk about their clandestine affair in Afghanistan and the break up that followed but I persist.

“Rebecca became ill with post traumatic stress.  She was forced to shoot at the enemy when we were ambushed in the compound.  After that, she was nearly killed in an IED explosion.  It was more than enough to effect anyone.  She tried to keep it quiet.  Being a female journalist she had to fight hard to go to Afghanistan.  Any female reporter will tell you how tough it is to build a career in such a male dominated business.”

But Rebecca’s health was to deteriorate whilst in Afghanistan and she couldn’t hide her illness any longer.

“She wasn’t eating or sleeping.  She lost so much weight.  One afternoon I found her inside her tent rocking back and forth on the floor, lost in reliving the explosion.  I’ve seen it happen dozens of times to men on the frontline who’ve experienced trauma but Rebecca thought she was tougher and could handle it.  She needed help from a counsellor but she refused so I had to take action.”

There’s a hint of frustration in his voice and he talks of the whole affair as though he dealt with it like he would a military operation.

“I rang her station and got them to recall her.  I . . . rather naively thought they would understand, just give her some time off so she could get back on her feet.  She was pretty annoyed.  Told me I’d ruined her career and that was the end of our relationship.”  He sighs, “And she was right.  They let her hang on until she won the BAFTA for them then they sidelined her and eventually pushed her out.  She was out of work for a year.  No one would take her on because of her illness.”

I sense frustration but no regret in his tone.

“I never meant to hurt her or her career but I would do it again.  She needed help.  Her doctor later told her that I’d saved her from having a full nervous breakdown by making her return home.”

I get the impression that Dominic hadn’t wanted their relationship to end and it was difficult for him to accept when it did.  So it must have been harrowing to learn of Rebecca’s disappearance two years later.  He must have feared the worse.

“I never believed she was dead.  Not for a second.  I knew she would find a way to get out of whatever mess she was in.  You can’t keep a woman like Rebecca down.  She’s a tough class act,” he tells me with pride.

Rumour has it, he was packed and ready to go with his team to locate her and bring her out of the country even before she was found and her employer contracted his company to provide her with security.

He grins, ‘Yes.  It’s true.”

And by charging to her rescue no doubt he viewed the situation as an opportunity to facilitate a reconciliation.  He smiles again but won’t go into detail.  It’s enough to tell me that’s exactly what was on his mind.

It must have been difficult to say the least finding her lying in a hospital bed with so many injuries and having lost her memory.

‘Yeah it was.’  And perhaps an advantage, I venture.  He merely treats me to another smile.

“She was in a really bad way.  For one mad moment  I just wanted to throw her over my shoulder, fly her home, bundle her in a car and hide her in my cabin in the Lake District to keep her safe.  But getting out of the country proved more difficult than I imagined when South Bundhara decided to invade the North.  There were a few hairy moments when I thought we might not make it.”

It’s an opportune moment to bring up the nickname that Rebecca gave him out in Afghanistan, Captain Caveman.  He laughs.

‘She gave me that name when I wanted to carry her over my shoulder after she got shot in the Green Zone in Helmand Province.  She wasn’t impressed with my offer.  She didn’t want me treating her differently because she was a woman and acting like Captain Caveman coming to the rescue.  She says I’m a bit of Neanderthal with her,” he laughs again.  “But secretly I think she likes it.”

He’s been credited as the man behind the woman fighting to change the world and halt the medical exploitation of developing nations.  How does he feel about that?

“I’m proud of it.  I will do all I can to help her.  Rebecca needs someone to ground her and keep her in check when she goes off recklessly risking her life.”

And is Dominic Kane the man for the job? 

He grins.  ‘She tells me I am and she’s right.”

He’s smiling but I can see that like myself and others who know Rebecca Eaton well he’s going to have a hard time keeping her behind a desk.  She loves to be in the thick of danger and he is going to have his work cut out for him.  Still the steely gaze he gives me when I inform him of my thoughts tells me he is determined and Rebecca is going to have a fight on her hands.  One Dominic Kane may just win.