ISBN-13: 9781495990502 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 184 str.
When FBI Agent Montana Leshay transfers to San Antonio, Texas and moves to the picturesque nearby town of Kerrville from where she will commute, all she wants is some peace in her life. What she doesn't expect is to meet tall, mysterious, green-eyed rancher Bowie Hardeman. They hit it off from the start, and Montana's reserved demeanor gives way to Bowie's boyish charm and charisma. And like neither one would have dreamed, they fall fast and hard for each other. Three weeks earlier and half a world away...A tall, green-eyed Al Queda terrorist legend called The Scimitar, makes his way in secret through Eurasia with his wife, who is a terrorist assassin called The Kinzhal, the vendetta knife of Chechnya. The two killers leave a trail of bodies in their wake as they carry the slumbering dark heart of the most destructive weapon on earth, all the while making an almost impossible journey across countries and oceans, to the land of the most hated, America. It is a country he knows well, and his sights are on the city near where he grew up: San Antonio, Texas. At work, Montana learns of an imminent terrorist plot to detonate a Hiroshima-level nuclear weapon in San Antonio. A security video is seized at a murder scene and it is turned over to the FBI. As all the agents watch, Montana's heart almost stops when she sees Bowie walking into a warehouse with a known Al Queda terrorist, then racing into the darkness when the terrorist is murdered. Montana is devastated, but hides her feelings-and Bowie's identity- as every law enforcement agency in Texas searches for the mysterious man. The Scimitar and Kinzhal cross the Mexico border and make their way to a contact near San Antonio. They hide in the country at the contact's residence and assemble the large nuclear weapon. In their time of waiting, the two terrorists deepen their tremendous feelings of love for each other. Word reaches them of the massive manhunt underway, and the Scimitar knows they must act now. He and the Kinzhal put their deadly plan into motion and in the space of an hour have the nuclear bomb hidden in the heart of the Alamo City. Unexpected events happen and soon the two terrorists are in a pitched battle of bullets and wits with the deadly Mexican gang called Mara Salvatrucha. Montana is despondent, but still puts in her time at work. She returns home late one evening and sits on the couch when she hears a knock at her door. She opens it with her pistol in her hand, and Bowie is standing there. He proclaims his innocence and that he knows who the terrorist is. Montana lowers her pistol but does not put it away as Bowie comes inside and tells her what he suspects. It is a fantastic tale, and could easily be a lie Bowie is perpetuating to divert attention. He says they must hurry, for time is urgent, and he can help her like no one else can to find the terrorist and the bomb before it explodes. Montana must decide whether to trust her heart, or her eight years of FBI training. When her heart wins out, she asks, What do you know that no one else does. Bowie shocks her with his answer: The terrorist is my brother, and we look like twins. Montana and Bowie race into San Antonio and are soon hot on the trail of the two assassins. The Kinzhal is killed in the fight with the Mexican gang, and the Scimitar wreaks revenge, then focuses on a suicide mission with the bomb that will make his dead wife's name legendary. It is up to Montana and Bowie to stop him, and they are in pursuit, with Bowie guessing the Scimitar's every move. They all close together as Bowie and the Scimitar engage in titanic, bloody fight. The two combatants are chest to chest in the last final seconds on the timer, and Montana can't tell them apart. It all rests on Montana's shoulders: Will she end the threat, or will a million people lose their lives in a blinding flash of radioactive heat hotter than the sun?