Talia Dupuis glanced in the rearview mirror at the black van tailing her. She’d picked up the tail four blocks back.

Her eyes flicked to the clock on the SUV’s dashboard. This would complicate her morning.

Sifting through her recent missions, she struggled to identify anything that could have triggered the surveillance. All her ops had run smoothly. Nothing fell out of the ordinary scope of Shadow Defense Security’s work. Although, few people would classify her role as a sniper with the private military corporation as anything close to ordinary.

Talia eased her foot off the gas as she approached the intersection ahead. She didn’t have time to chat with the two men in the van to find out who had sent them. She’d have to settle with losing the tail and discover who sent them later.

Her best friend Olivia had texted her and had asked for a ride to Shadow Pines Park. An early morning jogger had stumbled upon a body along a popular trail running through the park, and the Ridgeton, Montana police wanted Olivia’s expert opinion before panic spread throughout the city.

The murder appeared to be the work of the serial killer the media had dubbed the Strangler. Prior to taking a leave from the Behavioral Analysis Unit, Olivia had been the agent in charge of the unsolved case.

Talia had figured she had plenty of time to drive Olivia to the park and finish packing for Hawaii. She hadn’t counted on the van.

If she wanted to return home before Kenjiro showed up, she needed to hurry. A former Navy SEAL, the word late was not part of Kenjiro Sato’s vocabulary.

The intersection’s pedestrian countdown timer flicked to five, and two teens, taking their time crossing, ran to the other side of the street.

Talia adjusted her speed.

Let’s see if you have backup.

At zero, she reached the stop line, glanced both ways, and pressed hard on the gas.

The SUV shot across the intersection.

The black van tore through behind her, ignoring the red light.

Horns blared. Tires screeched.

The rookie mistake confirmed her suspicion. A second surveillance vehicle would have crossed the intersection slightly ahead of her to her left. The van would have waited at the intersection for the next green light to avoid drawing attention.

Talia kept to the speed limit. The van followed behind, switching between lanes or darting behind other cars to stay hidden from her view.

She shook her head. It was a fruitless effort. The driver had announced his presence with his mad dash through the intersection. Even if Talia couldn’t see him, she knew he followed close behind her.

Five minutes later, she reached a neighborhood with enough back alleys and obstacles to lose the van.

Talia waited until the car behind her turned off the road, revealing the van.

Familiar with this part of Ridgeton, she sped up. Talia yanked the wheel to the right and entered a narrow alley. The SUV’s tires screamed against the pavement in protest.

A loud boom split the air, and Talia stole a quick look in the rearview mirror. The van’s back end had clipped the brick wall to the left.

She made another right at the end of the alley, followed by a sharp left.

The van kept up.

Not good.

She had expected them to back off once they realized she’d spotted them. Whoever sent the two guys had bigger things in mind.

Time to shake them up and have a friendly chat.

Talia turned left again and pressed the gas pedal. The SUV raced down the road. It leaped into the air after it hit the first speed bump.

The van chased after her. It barreled into the speed bump, rose a few feet, and then slammed heavily back onto the pavement.

Talia increased her speed. The SUV flew over the speed bumps, the shocks protesting each time it landed.

She ran the four-way stop at the end of the street.

The SUV’s shocks took another hit as the vehicle slammed into the first speed bump along the next road.

Her cell phone buzzed. Talia glanced at the number and then the clock on the dashboard.

Crap. Kenjiro had arrived early. She had expected to be home before he showed up.

The phone stopped ringing.

Her eyes darted to the rearview mirror. The van tipped to the side as it bounced off a speed bump.

Talia winced. She had to give the two men full points for determination, but she needed to move the game along.

The phone rang again as she sailed over another speed bump, and frustration bubbled inside her.

Stubborn. Persistent. Obstinate. Choose any of the three. They all described Kenjiro Sato and meant he would keep calling until she answered.

Talia jabbed the speakerphone button. “Hey, sorry, I’m not there. I’m running later than I expected.”

“Vala is tracking your SUV. If I didn’t assume you were picking up a few last-minute things for our trip, I’d think you were trying to shake off a tail,” Kenjiro’s voice growled out of the speakers.

“Don’t worry. Nothing I can’t handle.” Talia felt the SUV shudder as it struck a larger speed bump. “I didn’t expect you to arrive early.”

“I rang the doorbell. You didn’t answer. I figured you left packing to the last minute and ran out to buy a few things. So, I dropped into the Shadow Defense office to visit with Emery.”

“That doesn’t explain how you know what I’m doing.”

“Emery suggested we use the SUV’s GPS to locate you.”

Talia made a mental note to have a long talk with Vala and Kenjiro’s sister, Emery, during their next mixed martial arts class. She could have been doing something embarrassing, like the pedicure and manicure she’d thought vital for the vacation. She had sworn she’d never set foot in the pricey spa.

“I thought I’d surprise you and give you a hand with your shopping,” Kenjiro said.

Thoughtful, but Talia still intended to have that talk with her two friends.

At the end of the road, she took a sharp right. Her tires protested the move.

“You sure you don’t need help?” Kenjiro asked, an anxious edge to his voice.

She did not need his help.

Two against one. Not good odds for the men in the van. Clearly, no one informed them she was a former Navy SEAL. Their problem. Not hers.

“I won’t miss our date. We’ll fly out on time.”

This would be their first real date.

No one would label the shooting competitions they’d previously attended together as a date.

Talia had envisioned a nice restaurant. Kenjiro had booked a few days in Hawaii. He had assured her they’d find a nice restaurant.

She shifted her eyes from the road to the rearview mirror. The van made it over the last speed bump.

“This shouldn’t take long. I gotta go.”

Before Kenjiro could respond, Talia hung up.

She monitored the van, closing the gap between them in the rearview mirror, waited a few seconds before braking hard, and slammed the gearshift into reverse.

Tires screeched again as Talia spun the vehicle back through an opening on her right.

The van whipped past her.

She shifted into drive and shot out into the street.

Talia swung the SUV into the empty oncoming lane and moved alongside the van to force it into the alley up ahead.

The driver spun his wheel and rammed the van’s fender against the SUV’s passenger door.

She kept the SUV steady.

The driver turned his head. His red baseball cap’s brim cast a shadow over his face. He mouthed something. Probably not a compliment.

Talia pressed the power switch for the passenger window across from her. As the glass rolled down, she slipped her hand under her t-shirt and pulled out the SIG Sauer P938 from her corset holster.

She raised the pistol, flicked the thumb safety, and cocked the hammer.

The driver mouthed one word.

She eased her foot off the gas and fired a shot.

Cracks spider webbed across the van’s back passenger window.

Talia fired again.

The glass exploded with a thunderous crack.

Tires howled as the van made a sharp right into the alley. Talia followed.

Graffiti had been scrawled like warnings on the walls on either side.

Tire tracks trailed behind the van as the driver slammed on the brakes. The van stopped a foot from the brick wall, blocking the end of the alley.

The two men flung open their doors.

“No, you don’t!” Talia shouted and hit the brakes. She jumped out of the SUV.

Just her luck.

They were going to run.

She fired the SIG Sauer. The warning shot echoed in the tight alley. Small pieces of brick flew off the wall.

The men darted down the walkway between two buildings.

Talia shoved her gun into her holster and ran after them.

Shooting them would mean paperwork. She hated paperwork.

They had a head start, but she’d catch up.

She entered the cramped alley and zigzagged to the side, narrowly missing the garbage strewn across the middle of the sidewalk.

Two more garbage cans lay along the cement path. Holes in the neat line of trash bins along one building marked their normal spots.

The two guys had hoped it would slow her down.

Talia kept her pace, leaped over the first bin, and then the second. The toe of her new shoe landed on a piece of trash. She slipped, handing the two men a few precious seconds. Steadying herself quickly, Talia raced to the exit, glad she’d chosen the wedgies over the four-inch heels she had considered.

When she reached the sidewalk, she stopped and scanned both sides of the street. She couldn’t spot the two men.

An elderly gentleman strolled along the sidewalk across the street. A squirrel scurried up the tree beside her.

Three buildings to her right, a bus pulled away from the curb. It accelerated to catch the green light at the end of the block.

Two figures settled into the back seat of the bus. One wore a red baseball cap.

Talia chased after the bus, waving her arms in the air, but knew she had lost.

The bus driver kept going.

Talia glanced at her watch, pulled out her cell phone, and swiped the screen. She tapped Olivia’s contact number. She needed to warn Olivia she would be late.

The phone rang several times. No answer.

Talia stuffed the phone back into her jeans’ pocket. In a few minutes, she’d try again.

Holding little hope the van would reveal a clue to the two men’s identity, Talia returned to the alley.

Other than the sticker from a rental agency two towns over on the van’s rear window, she found nothing.

Talia pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and typed out a text message.

Two guys tailed me. Black van. They got away on foot.

Talia added the rental company’s name and the van’s license plate number before sending the text message to Vala. When the five former Navy SEALs who owned Shadow Defense Security started up the PMC, Javier Escarra, the co-owner who ran the tech side of the operation, had hired her hacker friend as his assistant.

Talia hesitated and then added.

Don’t tell Kenjiro.

She looked down at her pink toenails peeking out of the wedgies she’d bought for the trip. If Kenjiro found out, she’d blame the shoes.

Javier and I will look into it while you and Kenjiro are in Hawaii. You didn’t mention you had plans for your week off.

Talia groaned.

Ever since the shooting competition where Kenjiro had swiped her lucky rabbit’s foot in a dare, Talia had bristled each time his name came up in conversation. They had tied, and Talia swore she would have won if she’d had her lucky rabbit’s foot.

Three months ago, his involvement in a Shadow Defense op had brought him back into her life. The shooting competitions they’d attended together since then hadn’t resolved the tie. As their fierce rivalry intensified, so had an undeniable attraction between them that neither could explain.

Talia texted back.

Shooting competition.

They had decided to explore their relationship without their friends’ eyes on them.

This competition between the two of you is not healthy.

Stop worrying. Kenjiro will taste defeat in Hawaii.

The shooting competition, open to current and former law enforcement personnel, focused on defensive-oriented skills. In a different locale every year, the challenges in the elaborate stages featured cover, movement, and target engagement.

Kenjiro thought she hadn’t participated in the high-skill level shooting competition. He was sooo wrong.

Talia glanced at the time displayed on her cell phone. Olivia had been expecting her twenty minutes ago. She tapped Olivia’s contact number. The phone rang several times and went to voice mail. Talia hung up.

Her gut twisted, and an uncomfortable chill crept down her spine. Talia assumed the men tailing her had something to do with Shadow Defense.

The Strangler had a type, and Olivia matched it perfectly.

Petite. Pixie-cut blonde hair. Blue eyes.

The BAU team speculated Olivia had caught the serial killer’s attention during the press conferences conducted while they investigated each murder.

Almost a year had passed since he had kidnapped Olivia, the BAU agent in charge of the case. She had escaped, but the serial killer had vanished without a trace.

Only a handful of trusted individuals and the Shadow Defense Security team knew Olivia had moved to Ridgeton. What if the serial killer had hired the men in the van to force her to reveal Olivia’s location?

Talia shoved her cell phone into her pocket and ran to the SUV. She wouldn’t let her friend out of her sight until they ruled out it was the Strangler’s work.

And if it wasn’t a copycat killer?

Talia jammed the key into the SUV’s ignition and started the vehicle. She wouldn’t let him get Olivia a second time.