Böcker av Susan Sleeman

When his country needs him...For Green Beret Travis Chapman, special operations and covert missions are his life. When his country calls, he reports without question. Until now. Until he's tasked with protecting a woman he'd once loved and sent him packing. He'd rather go AWOL than spend time with civilian researcher Claire Reed. Even when he learns that her vital research project is stolen, he thinks twice about seeing her again.Will he heed the call if it means seeing the woman who'd once broken his heart?But everything changes when he hears that the prototype and specs for the Army's latest virtual training program are worthless without knowledge only Claire possesses, making her a target for abduction by the clever thief. Despite their past, Travis won't let anything happen to Claire and puts aside his feelings to go undercover to keep her safe. Can he convince Claire to rely on him to keep the training program out of the hands of subversive military groups and keep Claire alive?

A killer is hunting, seeking her...When a criminal threatened to kill Megan Cash if she testified against him, she didn't back down and made sure her testimony put this killer behind bars. Years later, he's out of prison and ready for revenge against Megan and her critically ill daughter. Megan does the only thing she can do with a child too ill to move. Stand her ground at the hospital to protect her daughter.Will he succeed in making this a Christmas she won't live long enough to enjoy?Soon, Reid Maddox, former FBI agent and Shadow Lake Survival owner arrives to help, and Megan doesn't have to go it alone. If she chooses the help of the man she once dated. Their relationship ended badly and she isn't eager to get involved with him again even in a platonic way. But Reid isn't the same man she once knew-he's now a widowed father with a harrowing past and a heart more guarded than ever. Still, he's the only one who believes Megan when she says she's in danger, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep her and her daughter out of this killer's clutches. With her daughter's life on the line, she has no choice but to turn to him for help.

To protect her loved ones...Rookie officer Sydney Tucker can handle threats to her life. After all, she's a law enforcement officer. Even when a killer demands she turn over evidence from a drug bust or he will kill her, she refuses to comply. But things change when he threatens the life of her teenage sister, and Sydney might consider turning over the evidence. If she had what he was looking for.¿Will she pay the ultimate price-her life?But even when Sydney tells the killer that she doesn't possess the evidence, he doesn't believe her, and his threats continue. Emerson County Sheriff Russ Maddox steps in, putting Sydney and her sibling under his watchful eye. But will his protection be enough? The killer is closing in, picking off the people and places that mean the most to Sydney. A list that now not only includes her but Russ as well.

When returning to her past threatens her life and a murder occurs...When Mia Blackburn returns to Shadow Lake to inherit her uncle's property, she doesn't expect a threatening warning before she even reaches the rustic resort. And when a fire traps her in the burning barn that very day, she fears she won't get out alive. Just in time, Ryan Maddox, her ex-boyfriend and Shadow Lake Survival owner, rescues her from the deadly blaze. She's thankful for his rescue, but after their tumultuous breakup, he's the last person she wants to see.Will she be the next victim?Despite the threatening warning and her residual feelings for Ryan, Mia won't let anyone scare her from the rustic resort before she fulfills the terms of her uncle's will and inherits the property. Ryan insists on keeping a close eye on her, and soon Mia feels safer and closer to Ryan than ever before. Yet the threats haven't stopped, and soon Mia's inheritance includes a murder, and she could be the next victim.Previously published as High-Stakes Inheritance but completely revised and new chapters, plot twists, and new series characters added.

With enemies surrounding her...Ryleigh Steele gives in to mounting pressure from her siblings and cousins and leaves her job as a law enforcement officer to join the Steele Guardians. She's just getting her feet wet when a local lumber company begins receiving threats, and the owner contracts with Ryleigh for the Steele Guardians to protect their workers. But the threats quickly escalate under her watch, and a bomb is detonated at one of the sites, killing one of the workers.Can she find the killer and save her company's reputation and her life?Ryleigh takes the man's death personally and commits to finding the killer. Trouble is, the owner has hired a security manager without Ryleigh's knowledge, and the manager isn't about to let anyone cut him out of this investigation. Ryleigh gets ready to do battle with him, but when she meets the handsome head of security, former Navy SEAL Finn Durham she can barely find the words to speak much less fight. She and Finn had once dated, a tumultuous month, that ended badly. Doesn't matter. She can't let their past or her residual feelings for him distract her in the hunt for the killer. If she's not careful, the killer will find her first.

He lost his memory...Mackenzie Steele has been instrumental in keeping Steele Guardians afloat, working long hours for months. Nearing burnout, her family encourages her to take a vacation, and she reluctantly agrees. She needs solitude and quiet, and a vacation rental home in the Oregon desert is just the ticket. But she's no sooner unpacked her bags when a man lands on her doorstep. A man who can't remember his identity or why he's there. All they know is that the name Owen seems familiar to him.But will finding it bring a killer to her doorstep?Mackenzie shouldn't trust this man, but something about his earnestness draws her to him, and she agrees to help him determine his identity. When her rental home is bombarded with bullets, she knows she's accepted a task that could turn deadly, and she should walk away. But by this time, her deepening connection with the stranger keeps her firmly rooted at his side, and she can only pray that she won't regret her potentially life-altering decision.

Six years ago tragedy tore them apart Maggie Turner happily works as an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Department and lives a quiet life near campus. That is until Jackson Lockhart bursts into her life unexpectedly. Then a cyclone of emotions erupt as she remembers the tragedy that once tore them apart. Shed often thought of him, but theyd agreed never to see each other again, and so far, theyd kept their promise. But todayJackson has a good reason for breaking his promise. Maggies life depends on it.Will it now bring them back together?In an ongoing investigation, Jackson has learned that university officials secretly photographed her classroom in a study on attendance. The recorder was supposed to run only during the class session, but it malfunctioned and recorded an entire week, which includes a shocking murder that has now put Maggies life in danger. Can Jackson unravel the lies surrounding this incident before the killer unleashes his fury on Maggie and takes her life?

Want to play a game?When research chemist Kiera Underwood receives a cryptic phone call about her twin brother, she tries to contact him to no avail. Her twin sense tingles, warning her that something is wrong. When he doesn't return her call and his supervisor at Oceanic Labs claims he didn't come into work, she heads to Cold Harbor. But when she arrives in town to find the door to her brother's house ajar, she races to the lab to question his fellow employees.Solve the puzzle and save your brotherKiera's terrified when an attempt is made on her life. Then Blackwell Tactical operative Cooper Ashcroft delivers her second shock of the day. Someone stole a deadly biotoxin. The main suspect? Her brotherand Blackwell Tactical has been hired to bring him in. If that wasn't distressing enough, she's suspected of colluding with him. She had nothing to do with the theft, and despite the evidence staring her in the face, she knows that her brother is innocent of all charges. She sets out to prove it, putting her in the thief's crosshairs. As Coop tries to protect her as well as solve the crime, he grapples with the possibility she's telling the truth and someone has likely abducted her brotherperhaps killed him. Now Kiera's life is in serious danger and Coop must protect her while discovering the cold truth behind the theft.

She lived for upholding the law... Defense attorney, Malone Rice, doesn''t want to go to her fifteen year class reunion. Attending means running into her former high school flame, now Portland police detective, Ian Blair. But when the committee decides to honor her for her pro-bono work with homeless teens, she knows it would be churlish not to attend. She will have to go and make the best of it.But now the law won''t save her. As expected, Ian attends the reunion, but what Malone doesn''t expect-could never expect-is that Ian would find her standing over their classmate''s dead body. Or that she would still have feelings for the once bad-boy of their high school. Ian''s struggling too, between arresting Malone for murder and his age-old attraction to her. He walks a tightrope, until evidence surfaces that the real killer''s still out there, and Malone becomes his prey. Can Ian overcome his feelings to focus and uncover the truth before the killer strikes again and Malone ends up dead?

She''s determined to find her father''s killer...FBI Agent, Toni Long, lost her father a year ago when he was killed in a joint FBI and ICE investigation led by Clay Byrd, a man Toni had found herself infatuated with. Unfortunately, the killer escaped, and if Toni hadn''t been distracted by her attraction to Clay, maybe her father wouldn''t have died. When she receives an anonymous tip on the killer''s identity, she follows the lead and an attempt is made on her life. Clay, having received the same tip, comes to her rescue. Thinking he can help find her father''s killer and keep an eye on her safety too, he quickly offers Nighthawk Security''s help.But she first has to face down her own dark past.She fights the idea at first, but she will stop at nothing to find her father''s killer, even if it means partnering with a guy she has feelings for. But as the investigation unfolds, they unearth deep, dark family''s secrets that are more dangerous than anything Toni could imagine. Problem is, Clay is right there by her side, offering her comfort and support, and protecting her from menacing danger. She soon has to fight feelings she''s developing for him when her focus should be on the investigation and staying alive.<br></p>

A woman on the run with no one to trust...When a Christmas vacation at a snowy Mt. Hood cabin turns into a home invasion, Jenna Paine will do anything to protect her four-year-old daughter. Even if it means putting Jenna''s own life on the line. Which she must do when the intruder threatens to kill her. She knows the invader will stop at nothing to take her out, and she can''t let him get close or he might harm her daughter too.She wants to disappear, but she can''t survive on her own.In fact, Jenna would be dead now it Brendan Byrd of Nighthawk Security hadn''t come to her rescue during the invasion. Former Army Delta Force and county deputy, Brendan doesn''t think twice about offering his agency''s protection services for Jenna and her precious daughter. What he does think twice about is opening his heart to Jenna only to have it broken again. But as the threats escalate, he must hone his vision where she''s concerned, figure out this crafty attackers identity, and in the process, find a way to keep her alive.

She’s on the run…When Whitney Rochester’s brother-in-law kills her sister, Whitney fears for the life of her niece and nephew. She can’t leave them in her murderous brother-in-law’s care so she goes on the run with the children to be sure they’re out of his reach. Or so she thinks until a killer shows up—weapon in hand—at the ski resort where she works and targets her.But he’s in pursuit.Former Recon Marine Alex Hamilton is working an undercover investigation at the resort when a crazed man wielding a gun takes out a guy in close proximity to Whitney. Despite not having the support of the Blackwell Tactical team, other than their forensic expert, Samantha Willis, Alex isn’t about to let the shooter harm Whitney or anyone else. When a blinding snowstorm triggers avalanches in the area, it’s too dangerous for the police to reach the secluded resort to stop the killer. Alex and Sam must protect everyone at the resort while they feverishly work to figure out if Whitney or the victim were the intended target. As Alex and Whitney grow close and the killer strikes again, Alex has to find and take down this madman, even if it means risking his own life.

Evaluating trace evidence is her job…When Sierra Byrd’s father needs a kidney transplant, despite her parents’ protest claiming they could never ask for her help, Sierra insists on being tested for the transplant. But when results prove it is physically impossible for her father to be her biological father, her family finally confesses their long-held secret. She was conceived in an affair her mother had the summer before her parents’ wedding. The man she’d come to know as father is named on her birth certificate, but he truly isn’t her father.But the job just turned personal.Shocked and hurt, Sierra goes in search of her biological father in the small coastal town where he owns a property management business. But when she arrives in town to find her father has recently disappeared, and she starts asking questions, FBI Agent Reed Rice delivers her second shock in as many days. Her father is wanted for embezzling money from the properties he manages. Despite the evidence staring her in the face, Sierra holds out hope that her father isn’t the criminal that Reed believes him to be. But as Sierra’s desperate search for the truth unearths long-buried secrets and she runs into dead end after dead end, she ignites a killer’s fury, and suddenly her own life is on the line.

An inferno meant to destroy…Blackwell Tactical operator and former criminalist Samantha Willis discovers forensic evidence to prove her friend has been murdered. But before she can gather the evidence, an explosion erupts and a fiery inferno traps her in a building. She helplessly watches the evidence go up in flames and prays that she can escape before the encroaching flames take her life.Or an act of revenge…Firefighter and former Navy SEAL Matt Griffin knew his friend’s death was no accident, and he arrives at the building to gather his own evidence. But he sees the building engulfed in flames and discovers a familiar car parked in the lot. Sam, his former girlfriend, had to be trapped inside. Despite his training, despite his captain’s protest, Griff takes off without a threat assessment, risking his life to enter the building and drag Sam to safety. When he does, he can’t help but wonder if the fire was set to destroy evidence or if it was set to kill Sam. Either way, if Sam survives, he vows to hunt down the answer.

A child she'll do anything to keep.After Kelsey Moore's husband dies, she wants only one thing. To adopt her husband's son who she has come to call her own. But as she begins the process that her husband had dragged his feet on, she learns a secret so shocking she begins to question everything she knows except for the love she feels for her son. The child is not her husband's biological child, her former husband never had legal custody of the boy, and no one knows where he got the child. Fearing she might lose her son, Kelsey must find his birth mother and convince her to give up her parental rights.A danger she's never known.But when Kelsey starts asking questions, she runs into a brick wall named DEA Agent Devon Dunbar. Devon has been investigating an adoption/human trafficking ring with drug connections for the last six months, and he's not about to let Kelsey interfere in his investigation. But even if Devon brings out feelings she never thought she'd experience again, and he asks her to trust him, Kelsey can't even give him the benefit of the doubt. Not with the way her husband had lied to her and not even when her own life is on the line. If she doesn't succeed, she could lose the one thing that means everything to her  -  her five-year-old son.

She was hiding from her past…When a local woman goes missing and Sheriff Blake Jenkins delivers her blood sample to DNA expert Emory Steele for analysis, Blake discovers Emory is a dead ringer for the missing woman. Blake’s gut says the woman is related to Emory. But Emory rejects the notion, requiring a DNA test before she’ll concede that she does indeed have a twin sister she never knew about.Now she’ll do anything to see it come to light.Emory joins Blake in a search for her missing sister, but when an attempt is made to abduct Emory as well, they begin to think the abduction is related to Emory’s birth parents. Blake vows to keep her under his watchful eye until they discover what this maniac is looking for and bring him to justice. But Emory balks at his constant surveillance as she’s struggling to come to grips with a former brutal attack, and she wants nothing to do with a man who might want to get close to her. When it becomes clear that Blake is the only one who can keep her safe, will she let him get close enough to do so?

When she discovers her worst nightmare…When Maya Glass—the Veritas Center’s toxicology/controlled substances expert—goes to check on her scientist friend after a cryptic phone message, Maya stumbles upon her worst nightmare. A deadly toxin has been released, her friend’s assistant has died in his secluded island lab, and her friend is missing. Worse yet, Maya is exposed to the deadly botulism toxin and she needs help. Fast. Problem is, the only person she can think of with the right contacts is her former love and FBI Agent Hunter Lane.Will she let him help her or go it alone?Hunter warns the feisty and tantalizing Maya to back down, but when it becomes clear that he needs Maya to locate her missing friend and find the killer, Hunter knows they must work together to stop the killing spree before the killer gets even and ends Maya’s life.

Everyone has a secret…When forensic photographer Ainsley Duncan’s brother is arrested for murder, she works hard to exonerate him through her contacts, but nothing clears his name until she happens upon a long-buried secret involving Grady Houston—the Veritas Center’s ballistics, firearms, and explosives expert. Grady’s worked hard to keep this secret buried for years and doesn’t want it coming out, so he balks at her request to help find the real killer and free her brother.But not all secrets lead to murder.But when someone takes a dead center shot at Ainsley, Grady has no choice but to expose his past and let the consequences fall where they may. Even if he loses the job he loves and even if the woman who is capturing his heart wants nothing to do with him after she learns his secret. He won’t back down from helping Ainsley free her brother, and they find themselves in a race for their lives to solve the murder before the deadly killer strikes again.

Tracing cyber criminals is what he lives for…When hackers breach hospital security to steal patient records and begin blackmailing them, Veritas Center’s cybercrime expert, Nick Thorn is hired to locate security holes and patch the system. But he doesn’t stop there. He wants to bring down the hacker and make her pay. Problem is, he inadvertently inserts himself in FBI Agent Piper Nash’s sting to catch the same hacker, and Piper has no choice but to arrest him and force him to stand down.But the job is suddenly hitting too close to home.Nick finds himself attracted to Piper and wants to comply, but when his grandmother falls prey to a cyber-attack by the same hacker, he takes the assault very personally and will stop at nothing to find the hacker. Not even stop for Piper’s warnings to take care. They’re in a dead heat to the finish line, but what Nick doesn’t realize is the hacker has no intention of going to jail, and she’s reserved a bullet with Piper’s name on it. With time ticking down can Nick partner with Piper to find the killer before a point-blank shot takes her out?

A shared past…Riley Glen’s former girlfriend, recording artist Leah Kent, is performing at a summer concert nearby and calls to tell him she’s in danger and needs his help. After the concert, he discovers her bending over a woman’s dead body, and the woman has Leah’s name freshly tattooed on her wrist. Leah claims she just found the body and didn’t have anything to do with the murder. When two other bodies are found, both boasting Leah’s name in bright ink on their wrists, she comes under suspicion for the murders. Riley jumps in to defend her from both an imminent arrest and a killer’s deadly rage.A new beginning?Riley and Leah had once been a music team and deeply in love. But Riley’s lifelong dream was to be a sniper, not a musician. He chose to follow his dream and has been successful in his career just as Leah has found success in hers. He still has feelings for Leah, but their lives are on vastly different courses. But when she begs for his help to clear her name and protect her, he agrees to do what he can. Riley soon discovers this killer is highly trained and vicious, and Leah won’t survive another day unless Riley uses every skill he possesses to try to save her.

When her past comes back to haunt herFormer FBI cyber security agent Eryn Calloway worked many cyber investigations during her career as an FBI agent and while serving as Blackwell Tacticals cyber expert. But when her computer is locked with ransomware, she suddenly finds herself facing the biggest investigation of all. Failure to solve the case and find the hacker could result in the loss of her very life.Can she let the one man who can protect her get close enough to do so?Enter former Green Beret, deputy Trey Sawyer who offers to serve as her bodyguard. Trey has been in love with Eryn for a year, but she lost her husband several years ago and isnt ready to open herself to the potential for pain again. Shes kept Trey at arms length and wants to do so now-after all, she can take care of herself. But she has a four-year-old daughter to protect, so Eryn reluctantly agrees to let Trey into her world. But when theyre thrown together in a race for her life, she has to combat both a vicious enemy-and the pain from her past. Is Trey trustworthy enough to let him into every area of her life, or is the risk too great?

Forensic artist Hannah Perry's skills make her a valuable asset to the police in solving criminal investigations. Now she's taking a much-needed vacation on a secluded island with her young son. But a young woman has been murdered. Her body unidentified, her skull recently discovered by the police, and Hannah feels compelled to help find the killer. She decides to work on the reconstruction in the evenings while her son sleeps. But as the woman's face takes shape, an assailant invades Hannah's cabin and tries to end her life. Before he can permanently silence her, she and her son flee the island in a small boat. Trouble is, as they approach Cold Harbor, ocean waves capsize the boat, enveloping them both in cold terror.But it also makes her the next target.Former SEAL Gage Blackwell can't believe his eyes as he plunges into the raging waters to rescue the pair. Owner of Blackwell Tacticala law enforcement training facility and protection services agencyGage pulls the woman he once loved from the angry ocean. When he learns of her attack, he vows to protect her while hunting down the killer. Alone and vulnerable, Hannah has to accept Gage's protectioneven if it means staying close to the man who'd once walked out on her without a backward glance.

Attacked and left in a coma, FBI Special Agent Addison Leigh has no memory of the incident or her estranged husband when she wakes. Full of regret over letting his military trauma ruin their marriage, Deputy U.S. Marshal Mack Jordan promises to hunt down the man who attacked her, and soon it becomes clear that the killer won't rest until Addison is dead.

Terrorists have been smuggled into the country intent on unleashing a deadly attack, and FBI Agent Kiley Dawson and ICE Agent Evan Bowers are charged with taking it down--only, Kiley blames Evan for the death of her former partner and can't be in the same room as him. As threats ensue, the two are pushed to the breaking point in a race to save countless lives.

When cybercriminals hack into the U.S. Marshal's Witness Protection database and auction off personal details to the highest bidder, FBI Agent Sean Nichols begins a high-stakes chase to find the hacker. Trouble is, he has to work with U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills, who knows the secrets of his past, and the seconds are slipping away before someone dies.