Cold Snap

COLD SNAP TONI ANDERSON CONTENTS COLD SNAP Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Cold Justice World Overview Also by Toni Anderson About the Author Useful Acronym Definitions For Toni’s Books Acknowledgments For Kaylea Cross – for being a fabulous friend and wonderful person. And, also, for letting me borrow her dog’s name to use as Brynn’s fictional boyfriend. COLD SNAP Cold Justice® – Most Wanted (Book #3) Grady Steel returns to the insular community of Deception Cove, Maine, where he spent his troubled youth unfairly labeled the town’s bad boy. Now a member of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, Grady is on a risky undercover mission, hunting one of the FBI’s Most Wanted fugitives. Recovering from a broken marriage, Brynn Webster comes home to the sleepy small town—where nothing ever happens—to help her parents run their seaside cafe during her mother’s illness. After diving into the frigid waters of the winter harbor to rescue a dead man, Brynn begins to realize that the ocean isn’t the only place swirling with dangerous undercurrents. Grady befriends the pretty manager of the local cafe in an effort to unearth the town’s closely guarded secrets. Deceiving Brynn isn’t easy, though, especially when he starts to fall for her. Then, when decades-old crimes lead to modern-day murder, Grady’s mission becomes a race against time as he strives to catch a ruthless killer—before Brynn becomes the next victim. Cold Snap is the third book in the Cold Justice® – Most Wanted series, featuring agents from FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. All books standalone. Sign up for Toni Anderson’s newsletter to receive new release alerts, bonus Cold Justice® stories, and a free copy of The Killing Game: www.toniandersonauthor.com/newsletter-signup 1 JANUARY 22 Fri., 8:00 a.m. FBI HRT morning briefing FBI Hostage Rescue Team Operator Grady Steel leaned back in one of the hard plastic chairs with his arms crossed and his legs stretched out under the table as he listened to the big boss debrief them on their last op in the Arizona desert two nights ago. Grady had been there on the ground, and his teammates had filled him in on anything he’d missed. He already knew the details. Gold Team had been lucky overall, luck earned by training their asses off on a daily basis, but lucky, nonetheless. No deaths. No serious injuries. Lots of bad guys neutralized, one way or the other. Meghan Donnelly and Seth Hopper had both suffered minor injuries. Hop had fractured a bone in his foot, but the guy had limped in here this morning with a grin the size of Texas on his butt-ugly face. Grady glanced at his buddy and rolled his eyes. Shook his head. Love made people stupid. “We found a defect in Operator Donnelly’s chute that was responsible for the malfunction at lower altitudes. We’re conducting a review of all the equipment to make sure the other chutes are fully operational so nothing like this happens again.” Grady glanced at Donnelly as she sat there stony-faced. The defect had made her smash into a canyon wall after a nighttime HAHO jump. She could easily have died or broken her neck, but, thankfully, aside from being winded and suffering some nasty bruising, she’d been unhurt. Grady suspected the life-threatening danger and minor injuries weren’t what bothered her most. She might not show it, but Grady knew she was feeling relieved and vindicated that there was tangible proof it hadn’t been her fault. Donnelly was like him. She’d scrapped to get through Selection with every ounce of grit and determination she possessed, and then, afterward, when she’d finally made it, she was still not a hundred percent convinced she deserved to be here. Donnelly was the first female operator to make it onto the Hostage Rescue Teams, which meant she’d worked twice as hard as everyone else to get here. The pressure not to fuck up must be intense. Especially when she doubted herself. It was hard to explain that unsettling mix of bone-deep self-confidence walking secretly hand-in-hand with a perfectly disguised and well-hidden sense of insecurity. It kept you on your toes, that was for damn sure. The two of them shared an equipment cage, and he was slowly getting to know the taciturn operator. She was solid. He liked her. But she, like him, in a small corner of her brain that she would never admit to, probably feared that at some point, someone would realize a mistake had been made and throw her off the teams. It was his recurring nightmare, but he was finally starting to believe. That this was real. That he belonged. Daniel Ackers cleared his throat. The director of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team didn’t join the daily team briefing very often, but when he did, he liked the sound of his own voice. “Given the events of January so far, we want to make sure everyone talks to psych. Schedule a meeting within the next two weeks, or we will do it for you.” Ackers met Grady’s narrowed gaze before flicking to Cowboy. Ryan Sullivan was openly scowling. “This is mandatory,” Ackers continued. Grady kept his expression neutral and his protests locked behind his teeth. He hated shrinks. They all did. The fact the