Shadow in the Mountain by KaLyn Cooper

Sneak Peek

If you’ve enjoyed reading Shadow in the Mountain by KaLyn Cooper, please consider reading the next book in the Shadow SEALS Series, Shadow of a Chance by Donna Michaels.

Here’s a sneak peek!

Shadow of a Chance/ Chapter One

The crack of a bat connecting with a ball echoed through the warm air, igniting a rush of cheers that yanked Chance from the ever-present inner hell consuming him of late. A shake of his head dispelled the dark thoughts and reset his focus on the eight-year-old version of his best friend running for first base.

Everyone occupying the nearby set of metal bleachers and portable folding chairs flanking the right side of the little league field shot to their feet to root for Robby as he rounded first and charged for second.

A rare smile tugged at Chance’s lips. The kid was an overachiever like his dad.

The very trait that had gotten the guy killed.

Guilt and anger swirled in Chance’s hollowed-out gut, decimating his smile as he clenched his jaw to keep the flow of obscenities to the confines of his mind. He might be leaning against a tree behind the crowd of spectators, but he was still within earshot. Vulgarity held no place in this family-oriented crowd.

It wasn’t as if he was in Virginia knocking back beers with his team. Fuck, no. Those days were gone. His presence was no longer welcome in O’Malley’s…or the Navy.

Nearly eleven months had passed since that doomed secret mission had sent him straight to purgatory. The mission that fueled his nightmares and haunted his waking hours.

Why the hell hadn’t he listened to his gut that day? A question he asked himself a hundredfold and still the answer eluded him.

Despite his name, Chance was never one to take unauthorized risks, so it ate at his soul knowing the one damn time he’d broken precedent by allowing his buddy to talk him into volunteering—instead of talking his buddy out of it—had cost him every fucking thing that had mattered.

His trident.

His reputation.

But more importantly, the life of his SEAL brother, his best friend, Luke.

He couldn’t bring his buddy back but he sure as hell could support the guy’s family, and he had ever since the day of friend’s death. It was now his main mission in life. So, when Luke’s wife, Marissa, had decided to move the kids to Delaware to stay with her mother, Chance had handled the packing up and selling of his late friend’s home as well as his own.

After all, he couldn’t keep an eye on Luke’s widow and two young sons from two states away.

That was over six months ago, and Chance had witnessed the resiliency of children firsthand. Bobby and his four-year-old brother, Alex, were doing better. So much so, that Marissa had put an offer on a house right down the street from her mother. The newer two-story was in a nice beachside neighborhood, and he knew his buddy would approve of the house and the fact it was located right next door to Luke’s brother and his family. Marissa would have a support system close by and the kids were excited at the prospect of living next to their cousins.

Only one obstacle stood in the way. The U.S. housing market.

Currently, it tipped heavily toward the seller. Obtaining a house for appraised value was out of the question. Marissa was in a bidding war, with her third and final bid maxing out her lender approval and what was left of Luke’s generous bereavement payout.

“I just put my final offer in,” she’d told Chance on the phone that morning, and as far as he knew, she was still waiting to hear if it was enough. “If that gets rejected, I’m going with Plan B.”

Plan B meant she’d make an offer on her second choice, an older home that needed work in a less than desirable neighborhood.

Wasn’t gonna happen. Plan B was not an option. Not on his watch.

He’d figure out a way for Luke’s wife and kids to get the house in their dream location, even if it meant he had to pay the sellers a visit. He was not above pleading. When you were left with nothing…pride was the last to go.

His sat under a pile of bullshit back in Virginia.

Pride was a useless emotion and useless was exactly how he felt with no money to add to Marissa’s offer, not that she was likely to accept it. Still, he wished he’d had something left from all his years in the service other than a bad taste in his mouth.

After the sale of his house, Chance had drained his account for something important for the kids. It was one of several things Marissa was unaware of and if given his way, that was exactly how it would stay.

She knew he had her six though, and that was what mattered. Showing up for as many of these games as possible mattered, too. Although Chance wanted to be at all of them, his shit job of washing cars sometimes got in the way. Since most companies wouldn’t hire a dishonorably discharged vet, he couldn’t afford to rock the boat or miss a day. Luckily, he was scheduled off today.

Coming to the game was as important to Chance as it was to Jimmy. He intended to make whatever sacrifices necessary to ensure his buddy’s sons didn’t miss out on anything else in life.

The cheers of the crowd rose an octave and once again, his attention shot to Robby in time to watch the boy slide safely into third.

Chance straightened from the tree, shoved a thumb and forefinger into his mouth and blasted out three shrill whistles—the secret code concocted by him and Robby—to signal he was at the game.

The boy stilled and his eager gaze searched the crowd, stopping when he spotted Chance. A huge smile spread across Robby’s face as he puffed out his chest and flashed a thumbs up.

Chance returned the gesture and was lowering his hand when Marissa turned around from her stance on the bleachers and smiled at him, gratitude warm in her gaze. She pointed to the empty spot next to her and motioned for him to join her and Alex, who was pushing a toy truck on the bleacher, but as always, Chance shook his head. Every time he showed up at a game, she invited him to sit on the bleachers and each time he politely refused.

He was grateful as hell she never held him responsible for her husband’s death, but the woman was still grieving and would for some time. Greif clouded judgement and he didn’t want her to mistake his presence and support for something else. To him, she’d always be Luke’s wife, and that was a line he’d never cross. Their shared grief bonded them, but he would never want to be more than friends and was certain, deep down, she agreed.

Her repeated offer to sit with her was appreciated but to Chance, bleachers were for family. He didn’t deserve to sit there.

That was Luke’s spot.

The vibration of his phone in his pocket was such a welcome distraction he didn’t even glance at the caller ID before he answered. “Chance Reynolds.”

“Hello, Senior Chief Reynolds.” The woman’s voice was silky smooth, but her tone was cool and confident, more businesslike than social.

He stiffened. “If you know my rank then you know the Navy stripped it from me last year.”

“I know a great many things about you,” she replied. “Like the fact you served sixteen years in the Navy. Honorably. Until your buddy talked you into volunteering for an undercover mission that went sideways. I know you both discovered the VP’s son was involved in the anti-government cell you infiltrated. And that not long after you reported your findings all hell broke loose at the compound, Hernandez was killed, and you volunteered to take the fall when they wanted to pin it on him.”

Son-of-a-bitch!

Frowning, Chance pulled the phone from his ear and glared at it. How the hell did she know that? It was classified. No one knew that outside of his commander and the higher-ups who’d sent them in then shut them down when the answers proved too political.

He put the phone back to his ear. “Who the hell are you?”

“You can call me Charley,” she said, and he barely held back a snort.

A lie if he’d ever heard one. And he’d heard many.

“Well, Charley,” he said with more derision in his tone than he’d meant. But fuck it. He was tired of the conversation. “If you’re looking for an Angel, you dialed the wrong number.”

He’d been called many names, but angel was never one of them.

“Did I though?” she asked in that calm, cool tone that was starting to annoy the piss out of him. “Any operator who’d sacrifice his career so his buddy could be buried with honors and his buddy’s family could receive the death benefits due them is most definitely an angel, Senior Chief Reynolds. But I wonder…does Mrs. Hernandez know?”

Chance gripped the phone so tight it was a miracle the damn thing didn’t crack in half. “No. And she isn’t going to. You got that, Charley?”

And how the fuck did this woman know all that?

“Of course,” Charley replied, her tone never wavering from that cool, confidence. “I didn’t call to hash out your past.”

“Then why did you call?” he asked, on the verge of hanging up.

“Because I’d like to hire you.”

Order Shadow of a Chance

Shadow SEALs Series/Book 5

by Donna Michaels

Releasing 8/31/21

Thank you for reading the Shadow SEALS series by the Shadow Sisters!