Check out this exclusive excerpt from Perilous Trust by Barbara Freethy, which is being released August 1!

About ‘Perilous Trust’ by Barbara Freethy:

In Perilous Trust, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy brings you the first book in a new romantic suspense series! Off the Grid: An FBI Series offers five breath-stealing books filled with action-packed plot, heart-stopping romance, and page-turning suspense.

It was one dark night that brought Damon Wolfe and Sophie Parker together. They were two tortured souls, looking for escape, and they weren’t supposed to see each other ever again…

Four years later, Sophie’s FBI father, who is also Damon’s mentor, is killed in a suspicious car crash after leaving Sophie a cryptic message to trust no one from the agency. When Damon shows up looking for her, she isn’t sure if he’s friend or enemy, but she knows he could easily rip apart what is left of her heart.

The last thing Damon wants is to get involved with Sophie again. It was hard enough to walk away the first time. But she’s in trouble, her father’s reputation is under attack, and the lives of his fellow agents are at stake if there’s a traitor in their midst.

When someone starts shooting at them, they have no choice but to go on the run and off the grid. Everyone in their world becomes a suspect. They want to uncover the truth, but will it turn out to be the last thing they expect? Proving her father’s innocence might just cost them their hearts…and their lives…

‘Perilous Trust’ by Barbara Freethy exclusive excerpt:

Special Agent Damon Wolfe hated summer, especially the kind of hot, sticky, New York City heat that made him sweat at six o’clock at night. In his life, everything bad that had ever happened had occurred during some kind of intense heat wave. Coincidence, maybe, but that possibility didn’t make the season any more appealing, and it was only June.

He should have thought about the humid summer heat when he’d agreed to come to New York and work for his mentor, Alan Parker, who ran the organized crime division out of the FBI’s New York field office. But when Alan had called with a job offer three weeks ago, he’d had no choice but to say yes. Alan had been his instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, and he’d mentored him after graduation as well. He had always wanted to work for the best, and Alan was the best.

But since Damon had arrived in town a week ago, he’d been finishing reports on a case he’d been working for the past two years, so he hadn’t seen much of Alan yet. Alan had also been in and out of the building and had told him he would speak to him soon about his new assignment. He was hoping that assignment would involve Wyatt Tanner, the friend and agent who had him now headed to a park by the East River instead of to a bar for a cold beer.

Wyatt had sent him a cryptic SOS in a private chat room they’d set up for emergencies four years ago while they were at the academy. Six people knew about the chat room, but he’d been the only one to respond. He had no idea if the others were still watching the forum, since it was rare that anyone used it these days, but he still made it a point to check in every day.

Wyatt was working undercover with a crime organization, and any contact outside his handler—which was Alan Parker—could jeopardize his cover. Which meant Wyatt was in trouble.

As Damon neared the park, his gaze swept the surrounding area. There was a basketball court with two hoops and groups of teenagers making use of both. A nearby playground area was filled with families. Everything looked very normal, innocent—a relaxing summer evening in a tiny space of green, in a city filled with high-energy people, endless concrete, frustrating traffic jams, and very tall buildings.

A furtive movement in a cluster of trees by the river caught his eye. It was Wyatt—or at least a shadowy version of him.

Wyatt hadn’t just lost a few pounds; he’d dropped at least twenty, his ripped, faded jeans hanging low on his hips. His brown hair was longer than Damon had ever seen it. Wyatt also had a full beard going, and as Damon drew closer he saw an abundance of tattoos on Wyatt’s arms and a multitude of bruises on his face, as well as a nasty gash on his forehead. His left eye was almost swollen shut.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

“Got jumped,” Wyatt replied.

“Are you all right?” He was disturbed by the bright lights in Wyatt’s eyes, the jerky way his gaze darted in every direction, as he nervously rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Anyone follow you?” Wyatt demanded.

“No. What’s going on? Are you made?”

“Not sure. Probably. Yes.”

Wyatt’s clipped responses deepened his worry.

“Are you on something?”

“No. Don’t think so. Not sure. Haven’t slept in two days.” Wyatt took his hands out of his pockets and slapped his cheeks, as if to keep himself awake.

“You need to go to a hospital, Wyatt. You’re messed up.”

“Not safe. Someone tried to kill me, Damon.”

“Who?”

“Don’t know. Couldn’t see. Too dark. Barely got away.”

“Did you contact Alan?”

“I was supposed to meet Alan where it happened. I think he set me up.”

“No way,” he said emphatically, shocked by Wyatt’s unexpected words.

“Then why hasn’t he answered my messages? I’ve been trying to talk to him for two days. I get nothing back.”

Frowning, he couldn’t answer that question. “He hasn’t been in the office much this week. In fact, I’ve barely seen him since he asked me to join his team.”

“He told me he was bringing you in a few weeks ago. I thought it was a good thing. He’s off his game. I’ve been feeling it for months.” Wyatt paused, his lips tightening. “Or maybe he’s not off his game. Maybe he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

He had no idea what Wyatt was talking about, but it was clear he needed help. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you need medical attention. You’re in bad shape.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Wyatt asked angrily. “But if I come out of the shadows, I’m dead.”

“Then we’ll keep you in the shadows. There has to be a doctor in the city the Bureau uses. There was one in DC.”

“Can’t trust anyone at the Bureau. Someone is a traitor. Maybe Alan. Maybe someone else.”

“Well, you can trust me.” As he finished speaking, his phone buzzed.

At the sound, Wyatt jumped like he’d been shot, backing up a few feet, his dark eyes blazing with fear and fury. “Did you tell someone you were coming to meet me?”

“No, I didn’t. This is from Bree.” He turned his phone around so Wyatt could see the message. “She’s getting back into town tomorrow. She just finished up a case in Michigan and wants to have lunch and catch up. I haven’t seen her since I moved here.”

For a brief moment, Wyatt’s expression softened and his gaze cleared, as if he were remembering the days when he and Bree and Wyatt had first become friends. They’d met at Quantico on the first day of training, eager to become agents, to make their mark on the world. Hard to believe that was four years ago. So much had happened since then.

His explanation seemed to ease the stress in Wyatt’s eyes, but then a car came speeding around the corner.

Wyatt grabbed Damon’s arm and pulled him into the thicket of trees as the black SUV stopped in the street next to the basketball court, its engine idling.

“What did you do?” Wyatt demanded, fear as well as anger in his eyes now. “What the hell did you do, Damon?”

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything. I have no idea who is in that car.”

“You’re lying.”

He was further shocked to feel the hard nuzzle of a gun against his side, and with Wyatt in the condition he was in, he wasn’t at all sure Wyatt wouldn’t shoot him. “I’m not lying, Wyatt. I didn’t tell anyone you contacted me. I’m on your side.”

“Or pretending to be. Just like Alan.”

“Alan would never give you up, Wyatt. He wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m no longer surprised by what people will do, given enough motivation,” Wyatt said cynically.
“You’re exhausted. You’re not thinking straight. You need to sleep and eat. Come to my
apartment. Once you’re rested, we can talk. We’ll figure things out.”

Wyatt looked like he was considering the offer, then he stiffened as the doors on the double-parked vehicle suddenly opened. As a jean-clad leg came out of the car, Wyatt said, “Gotta go,” and took off through the trees.

Damon was torn between going after him and seeing who was in the vehicle.

A second later, three male teenagers, one with a basketball in his hands, exited the SUV. They headed straight for the court. They weren’t trouble, and if Wyatt had been operating on normal brain cells, he would have seen that.

He moved toward the river in the direction that Wyatt had gone, but his friend had vanished. He spent ten more minutes looking for him, then gave up. Wyatt was better than anyone at disappearing.

As he thought about their disjointed conversation, he couldn’t believe Alan had set Wyatt up. But if Wyatt’s cover was blown—and judging by his appearance, someone had tried to kill him—then Wyatt was clearly in danger. And he wasn’t going to keep himself alive as jumpy and paranoid as he now was. Wyatt had always been sharply intuitive and a chameleon, easily able to blend into any group, which made him perfect for undercover work, but that guy didn’t exist anymore.

He debated what to do. Pulling out his phone, he punched in Alan’s personal number. He wouldn’t tell him he’d met up with Wyatt yet, but he’d feel him out, see what Alan had to say.

Unfortunately, Alan’s phone went to voicemail.

He debated for another second, then tried his work number. To his surprise, it wasn’t Alan who picked up the call; it was a woman.

“Agent Leigh,” she said crisply. “Who’s calling?”

He was surprised to hear her voice. Karen was the assistant special agent in charge of the organized crime division, but she didn’t answer Alan’s phone.

Something was wrong.

“Karen, it’s Damon. I’m looking for Alan.”

“I had his calls transferred to me.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?” A bad feeling crept down the back of his spine.

“Alan is dead, Damon. He died this afternoon.”

“What?” His hand tightened around the phone. “What are you talking about?”

“He was killed in a single vehicle accident in a rural area in northern New Jersey.”

“My God. That’s…” He had no words.

“I know. It’s tragic,” she said.

For the first time, he heard a tremor in her voice.

“And it doesn’t look like it was an accident,” she continued. “He was traveling at a high rate of speed and there were no skid marks, no evidence that he attempted to brake before crashing into a pond.”

“Any witnesses?”

“A hiker—from almost a mile away. He didn’t see much.”

“Other vehicles?”

“The witness thought he saw another car on the road, but he was so stunned by the accident scene that he wasn’t certain. He did call 911 and the police got there quickly, but it was too late.”

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered, his pulse racing, his head hammering with questions and a deep-rooted pain that was starting to take hold.

Alan was dead? How was that possible?

“None of us can believe it,” Karen said. “Did he tell you where he was going today—why he was in New Jersey? He didn’t show up for work, and he didn’t call in sick.”

“I haven’t spoken to him since Monday. He said he had some things going on, and since I was finishing up my case on MDT, we agreed to speak next week.” He paused, wondering if Alan’s death had any connection to the attempt made on Wyatt’s life. Wyatt thought Alan had set him up, but maybe someone had set them both up. He wanted to ask Karen, but after Wyatt’s paranoia and now Alan’s death, he didn’t want to say too much without thinking everything through.

“I have to go,” Karen said. “There’s a lot going on.”

“What can I do to help?”

“We’re going to be working all night to see if we can identify anyone who might have posed a threat to Alan, but with the number of cases he’s worked on the last twenty-plus years, it’s going to be a long list.”

“I’ll be in shortly.” He cleared his throat. “What about Alan’s daughter? Has she been notified?” His stomach twisted again at the thought of Sophie receiving the horrific news.
“Peter and I spoke to her several hours ago. She was—shattered.”

His heart split apart at the thought of the beautiful blonde with the warm, gold-flecked, brown eyes, irresistible smile, and soft, sexy, kissable lips. He hadn’t seen her in four years, not since the one night they’d spent together—a night that never should have happened.

Since then, he’d tried not to hear about Sophie. When Alan had brought her up on the odd occasion, he’d quickly changed the subject. She was a part of his past, and that’s where he’d been determined to leave her.

But now…

He could only imagine the pain she was in. He felt like someone had just torn off his right arm, and Alan was only his mentor, not his father. Sophie had to be dying inside.

“How—how is she doing?” he asked, feeling as if the question was completely ridiculous, because of course she wasn’t doing well.

“I don’t know. Peter and I spoke to her around four. We told her we’d meet her at her apartment around six thirty. She wanted some time to catch her breath and regroup. When we got here, we found her door open, and her apartment trashed.”

“You’re at Sophie’s apartment now?” he asked, his pulse quickening.

“Yes.”

“And Sophie?”

“No sign of her. We’re trying to trace her phone. Hopefully, she’s just taking a walk or went to see a friend. Do you know any of her friends? You and Alan have been close for a long time. Do you know Sophie as well?”

“No,” he bit out. “I have no idea who her friends are.”

“All right. So, why were you calling Alan? Is it something I can help you with?”

He hesitated, then said, “It doesn’t matter now. I’ll see you back at the office.”

He put the phone in his pocket and let out a breath. Since he’d arrived at the park, his entire world had shifted. First, Wyatt acting paranoid, hyped up, and completely off-balance. Then Alan…

He couldn’t believe Alan Parker was dead. The man wasn’t even sixty years old yet. He was healthy, fit, and energized—a natural leader, an intelligent boss, a good friend.

He should be used to people vanishing from his life. It had certainly happened often enough, but he never seemed to be ready for it. Not that those people had died; most had just walked away from him.

But this wasn’t about him. This was about Alan…and Sophie.

With a quick glance around, his nerves now on edge, he left the shadow of the trees and walked through the park, his thoughts turning to the woman who’d made a huge impression on his life, an impact so big he’d run away from her as fast as he could.

Now Alan was dead.

Sophie must be going out of her mind—wherever she was.

About Barbara Freethy:

Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of 60 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women’s fiction. Traditionally published for many years, Barbara opened Fog City Publishing in 2011 and has since sold over 7 million books! Twenty-three of her titles have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists, including one title, Summer Secrets, which hit #1 on the NYT. In 2014 Barbara was named the Amazon KDP Bestselling Author of all time! She was also the first Indie writer to sell over a million books on Barnes and Noble.

Known for her emotional and compelling stories of love, family, romance and suspense, Barbara is a six-time finalist and two-time winner in the Romance Writers of America acclaimed RITA contest for her novels Daniel’s Gift and The Way Back Home.

For more information, visit her website at www.barbarafreethy.com

Perilous Trust by Barbara Freethy releases on August 1! Pre-order now from Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo! And don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads!