A Better Life
By Liza O’Connor
Blurb
Angel’s
husband had barely left the country when the first attempt on her life
occurred. Fortunately, Anna was at home and shot the man as he entered through
a window that for some reason had been left open. Now a dead body chilled in
the basement freezer.
Angel
had always known this day would come. She had lived in fear of this day for the
last five years. The terrorists had somehow discovered her identity. By the
sounds of gunshots outside the house, she knew her nightmare was far from over.
Any thought of her living a normal life from here-on wasn’t possible. God only
knows what would happen to her and her children now.
Discover the new life of
the extraordinary forensic auditor named Angel. She can locate improperly
acquired money better than anyone. Unfortunately, that puts her and her
children at serious risk.
Nor does her love life
work nearly as well as her forensic abilities. Men are constantly using, then
betraying her. Still, she remains positive and optimistic. Now that she is
officially dead, living deep within a mountain, she hopes she and her children
will be safe.
To her surprise, the
biggest threat is not from criminals, but her husband, who has ordered her to
be killed.
***
EXCERPT
“Please
God, keep my children safe,” she whispered beneath her breath. Her three young
sons, ages eight, five, and one year old, were at Derrick’s house, next door,
the older two playing with his kids. Hopefully, at the first sound of trouble,
the former FBI agent had gotten them to the safe room hidden beneath the house
she had built for him.
She could
accept her death, but not that of her innocent children.
Anna, a
young woman of twenty-five, whom she loved like a sister, and Sahid, a new
guest, whom she barely knew at all, were struggling before the front door.
“Let me
go! I have to see to Pete.” Anna yelled.
Sahid held
onto her. “No! They will kill you! You must stay here!” He slung her away from
the door, slammed it shut, and bolted it.
A moment
later, someone pounded on the outside. “Help! We need help!”
Anna
fought with Sahid, determined to go to Pete. Angel’s heart went out to her.
After four years of not speaking to her ex-fiancé, Anna had recently fallen
back in love with Pete.
Before she
could unbolt the door, a rapid burst of gunfire erupted, and the bullets
pounded against the outside of the door. Any normal door would have
disintegrated into wood chips, and Anna would be dead now. However, Angel’s
husband Max had upgraded her house right after they married. Her door was
two-inch steel and the windows bulletproof.
They both
had known someday this nightmare would occur and Max had done all he could to
ensure she would survive it.
Unable to
shoot their way in, the attackers shoved Pete, Anna’s former fiancé, against
the window. His chest was covered in blood, his face contorted in pain.
Anna ran
to the window and pressed her hands against the bulletproof glass. “Don’t hurt
him,” she pleaded. “Please, tell me what you want. We can negotiate.”
“Open the
door, and we’ll tell you.”
Pete cried
out, “No!”
The man
rammed a gun against Pete’s head. “Open the door or he dies!”
She looked
at Pete, her face against the glass. “I love you!” she cried out. “Don’t die on
me, Pete, please…don’t die.”
“Open the
door!” The man demanded.
Tears
streaked down her face. “I can’t. The house is now in lockdown. Please, help
him. I am willing to negotiate.”
The man
pulled the trigger, and Pete’s brains splattered across the window pane.
Anna
screamed, and Angel turned away, sick to her stomach. She had known one day she
would die, but why Pete? Why Anna? And Sahid… he was just a temporary guest
needing a place to stay.
Anna,
amazingly strong just like her father, rebounded from her pain and focused on
their imminent danger. “Take Angel to the basement,” she ordered Sahid.
“No, we
should remain here together,” the man said.
Angel
stared at Sahid. Why would he think he had any say at all? He was only an
interpreter for the FBI. Anna had spent her life with some of the best FBI
agents there were. And while she failed to graduate from the FBI academy due to
a foolish prank, Angel never doubted her competence.
But Sahid
was a Mid-Eastern man, so he would never think a woman could be competent.
D2D
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About the Author
Liza O’Connor
Liza
O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods
every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she
learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in
Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia,
dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, skydive in Indiana, and raft a class four
river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in
watercolors and graphic arts. Yet throughout her entire life, her first love has
and always will be writing novels.
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Romance
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Good Novels
***
Books
range from young adult to mature audiences.
I
write them as my characters want them to be written.
