Enjoy this sample of the latest book edited by the Written Word to hit the physical and electronic bookshelves: the fifth Eva Driscoll thriller

By Alan McDermott

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gray knew they weren’t what Melissa wanted to hear. It was the constant upheaval that weighed on her, the perpetual cycle of making and losing friends. What she really craved was stability, a place she could truly call home.

“Or,” he added, “we could tour until you find a place you fall in love with, and we can settle there forever.”

“You mean until the next time the bad guys turn up.”

“No,” Gray assured her, “I mean forever. If they do come, it will be to get me to work for them. I’ll do the job and be back in a couple of days.”

Melissa looked like she was about to burst with glee. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart,” Gray said, making the gesture. “And once we have a proper home of our own, we can finally get that dog I promised you.”

Melissa beamed as she prepared to bite into her lunch, but then a thought occurred to her. “What happens to me while you’re working for them? Do I have to stay with them until you come back? Last time they gave me food poisoning.”

Gray remembered it well. He, too, had suffered with a dodgy stomach at the ESO’s compound. Melissa raised a good point, though. He couldn’t leave a nine-year-old to look after herself, even if she was level-headed and trustworthy. There was a chance he wouldn’t come back from his next ESO-sanctioned hit, and that would leave Melissa all alone in the world.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Gray said. “If another job comes up, I’ll ask Uncle Andrew to come and look after you. How’s that?”

Whether his old friend Andrew Harvey could get time off from MI5 for some impromptu babysitting duties on the other side of the Atlantic was another matter entirely.

“Oh, cool! Will Sarah and Alana come, too?”

Sarah was Andrew Harvey’s wife, and Alana was their daughter. “I don’t think so, darling. Alana’s almost five, so she’ll just be starting school about now. Sarah will have to stay home with her. I don’t even know if Andrew will be able to get time off work, but I’ll certainly ask him. If he can’t make it, we’ll find someone responsible to take care of you. I’m sure that by that time, you’ll have made some friends and we can arrange a sleepover for a few days.”

With all her worries allayed, Melissa tucked into her food.

Gray wasn’t hungry, but he picked at his fries as he considered the promise he’d just made. It grated him to concede that he was powerless to evade the ESO, but he’d always been pragmatic. He knew that he couldn’t win every battle, and that sometimes it was better to not fight at all. There was no shame in walking away whole rather than push a bad position. Running would serve no purpose, and neither would refusing to cooperate with the ESO. They’d already shown that they would use Melissa as leverage, and he didn’t want to put his daughter through that again.

“Las Vegas,” Melissa blurted out, interrupting Gray’s thoughts.

“What about it?”

“That’s where I want to go next. If it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Gray asked. “It’s kind of a grown-up place.”

“They’ve got a hotel called The Mandalay Bay and it’s got a huuuuge water park.”

“Has it now?”

“Yes, and so has Circus Circus. And the Excalibur has its own castle!”

“Sounds fun,” Gray smiled. “Las Vegas it is.”

It wasn’t a place he’d ever yearned to visit, but if it made Melissa happy, he was willing to give it a go.

If the ESO let him. There was no telling when they would show up next. It could be next week, or next year.

When they finished their meal, Gray told Melissa he wanted to grab a shower before they went to the show. He’d purchased tickets to the Beauty and the Beast live performance, yet another item on her wish list.

They took a leisurely stroll back to the rented condo, and on the way Melissa studied a map of the park, planning the itinerary for the next day. As she read out each ride she wanted to take, Gray contemplated trying to steer her towards a different form of leisure. Like reading, or sleeping. Basically, anything that didn’t involve being inverted at eighty miles an hour.

At the condo, Gray unlocked the door and let Melissa skip inside. He followed her in and locked the door behind him. As Melissa disappeared into her bedroom, Gray continued past his own room and the kitchen to the living room.

He stopped short when he reached the door. The curtains were drawn, the room dark, and a figure was sitting in the chair by the window. They were holding what looked like a weapon.

Behind him, Gray heard an all-too-familiar metallic sound.