Then the suit speaks.
“Word is you may have some time on your hands. We have an opening that should match your skill set. Discuss?”
A flat, perfectly anonymous voice. The forgettable voice of a man with a forgettable face, the kind who moves through the world leaving little or no impression on anyone. But I snap to full alert, tensed about as tight as I get.
Anonymous. Forgettable. Yeah. Except I’d heard those exact words, in that exact voice, seven or eight years ago. I was underemployed at the time, restless, edgy, unhappy. He seemed to know that when he approached me. Just like he seems to know something now even I’m not sure of yet.
I had discussed, then. Not very much, either. Just enough. I had accepted the offer: independent contractor for a heavy outfit with major international interests.
And then I’d done a year in the worst place on earth.
About the Author
ANDREW GROSS is the author of the New York Times and international bestsellers Eyes Wide Open, The Blue Zone, Don’t Look Twice, Reckless, and The Dark Tide, which was nominated for the Best Thriller of the Year Award from the International Thriller Writers. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including Judge & Jury and Lifeguard. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife, Lynn.
You can follow Andrew Gross on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and at Andrewgross.com.
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By Andrew Gross
Eyes Wide Open
Reckless
Don’t Look Twice
The Dark Tide
The Blue Zone
Novels by Andrew Gross and James Patterson
Judge & Jury
3rd Degree
The Jester
2nd Chance
Credits
Cover design by Mary Schuck
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
15 SECONDS. Copyright © 2012 by Andrew Gross. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Epub Edition JULY 2012 ISBN 9780062196354
Version 12202013
Excerpt from No Way Back © 2013 by Andrew Gross
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gross, Andrew.
15 seconds / Andrew Gross. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-165597-5
PS3607.R654.A613 2012
813'.6—dc23
2011038811
12 13 14 15 16 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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