Title: Bayou Sunset, Agents of HIS #4
Author: Sheila Kell
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher Cunningham Publishing
Book Blurb
Experience the gripping world of romantic suspense in this thrilling tale from the bestselling and award-winning author Sheila Kell.
Accompany an agent as he returns home to find the girl he never pursued in grave peril. In a story of desire, deception, and treasure-hunting, will Romeo be there for Daisy Mae when she needs him the most?
Romeo refuses to be confined by the nickname given to him by other HIS agents and remains resolute. When summoned back home, he is astounded by Daisy Mae's transformation. She was always his best friend's sister, but now she is entangled in a dangerous situation.
Daisy Mae Robicheaux, a seasoned charter boat captain in Louisiana, is dedicated to her life on the water. However, her world is turned upside down when Romeo returns home to care for his ailing father. As danger looms, Daisy grapples with conflicting emotions about Romeo's sudden presence and his role in protecting her.
Excerpt
Standing, Romeo stretched like nothing phased him. After a fake yawn, he said, “Sure, we can. Remember, no police, no rules. We can do as we wish.” It was a lie, but he’d learned to lie easily after years of this work. Sometimes, he hated that he had mastered that skill, but he kept the deceit in the interrogation room.
“Help! Help me! They’re trying to kill me.”
Romeo closed his eyes and slowly shook his head as if to tsk the man. “I’ve already told ya this room is sound-proofed. All ya doing is giving me a headache. Ya don’t want to see me angry, do ya, Bernie?”
With a whimper, Bernie shook his head. “I can’t tell you. He said he’d kill me. Please, you have to let me go.”
Well, well. At least Bernie told them he had been hired. It was funny what fake threats would do to a man, especially one delivering trouble. Romeo hovered over the shaking man. “Who will kill ya? Besides me, if ya don’t tell me who hired ya?”
“I— You— I—” Bernie stumbled out and fell silent. He stopped struggling and dropped his head in defeat.
Romeo narrowed his eyes at the man. “Tell us who hired ya, and we’ll protect ya against him.” So far, all they knew was that it was a male.
Bernie looked up, wouldn’t look Romeo in the eye, and shook his head. “No, I can’t,” he cried.
With a stone-cold heart that he wore during interrogations, Romeo stood there watching the tears slide down Bernie’s face. He didn’t care that the man was scared. The man was guilty as sh*t and could have killed others. It had been pure luck that the security guard caught him placing the bomb before Bernie could arm it.
Hearing heavy footsteps coming toward the room, Romeo thinned his lips. “Last chance. Brad be on his way back to take ya to be waterboarded.” To make things worse, he leaned down to Bernie’s ear and whispered, “It be a specialty of ours.”
As expected, Bernie peed his pants. Romeo stood and stepped back as the puddle pooled at the man’s feet. He hated to scare someone to that extreme, but it was sometimes necessary.
Romeo headed toward the door to open it for Brad. As he took the steps, he mentally counted: one, two, three, four.
“Okay, okay,” Bernie said with a defeated tone. “Okay.”
Romeo smiled, then forced a nonchalant look before turning back to Bernie. “Oui?”
“First, you have to promise you’ll protect me,” Bernie demanded.
With a quizzical raise of an eyebrow, Romeo nodded shortly. “If ya tell us the truth.” He angled his head toward the door. “Ya have until Brad returns to spill ya guts.”
Eyes wide, Bernie cried, “Wait!”
They had this man, and it hadn’t been that difficult. Once they had the information, they would protect him, but HIS would also turn him over to the police after they caught the mastermind.
Brad walked into the room with a grim look on his face.
Romeo cocked his head in question.
“You need to come with me,” Brad said to Romeo.
Staring at Brad, Romeo couldn’t believe Brad had deviated from their well-developed tactic. He was supposed to enter and state the tub was ready.
“Now,” Brad demanded.
Disbelief and curiosity wormed their way into Romeo. What in the world was going on? Brad had to know he hadn’t completely broken Bernie, as there hadn’t been enough time for the information to flow.
Realizing Brad would not budge on his demand, Romeo returned to Bernie. “I’ll be right back, and ya had best give me the information I want.” Without waiting for Bernie to respond, he turned and followed Brad out of the room. Once the door closed behind them, he said, in a low voice, “What the f*ck? He be ready to tell me who be behind the bomb-making.”
“I’ll finish that up. You have a phone call.”
Romeo stopped in his tracks. They had interrupted an interrogation for a phone call. “Ya got to be sh*tting me.”
“Nope.”
“Merde. It had best be the president of the f*cking United States for ya to interrupt me right now.”
Brad shook his head. “No. It’s your mom.”
Unf*ckingbelievable. Why hadn’t Brad just taken a message? They were seriously busy now. Yanking the portable phone Brad held out, Romeo turned away. Trying to keep his anger at Brad from showing in his voice, he took a deep breath before he answered the phone. His mom would understand. She knew he had an important job and couldn’t always talk when she called. Because of that, he made sure to call her back.
“Hi, Mamou. Can I call ya back? I be a bit busy right now.” His mind turned back to Bernie and the information he needed. The longer they let Bernie stew, the better the chance he would realize his dilemma and clam up again.
His mother wept as she spoke. “Honey, ya Papa had a heart attack. I need ya to come home.”
Fear clawed at him. All thoughts of Bernie and his position at HIS disappeared from his mind. “How—” He cleared his throat. “How he be?” His father had been the epitome of health when he was home. Then he closed his eyes. That had been too long ago—way too long. He spoke with his mother regularly but hadn’t seen her in years.
“He be fine. I need ya to come home.”
Merde. Although it was the answer he hoped to hear, he knew his mother, whose wording meant his papa was anything but fine. “I’ll be there tonight.” He clicked off the call, handed it back to Brad, and walked away without a backward glance. His mind spun on getting an airline ticket, getting packed, and getting the hell back to Louisiana and his family. And the woman he couldn’t have but dreamed about all…the…f*cking…time.
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Author Biography:
Sheila Kell writes about romantic men who leave women’s hearts pounding with a happily ever after built on memorable, adrenaline-pumping stories. Her debut novel, His Desire (HIS Series #1), launched as an Amazon #1 romantic suspense bestseller, later winning the Readers’ Favorite award for best romantic suspense novel.
Having left behind her days in the United States Air Force, and as a University Vice President, she can usually be found nestled on the Mississippi coast, where she lives with her cats and all the strays that magically find her front door. When she isn’t writing, you can find Sheila with her nose in a good book, dealing with the woodland critters who enjoy her back patio, or wishing she had a genie to do her bidding.
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Website: https://www.sheilakell.com
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