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Breaking Point

Pamela Clare




  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  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

  EPILOGUE

  GLOSSARY

  Teaser chapter

  “Pamela Clare is a fabulous storyteller whose beautifully written, fast-paced tales will leave you breathless with anticipation.”

  —Leigh Greenwood, USA Today bestselling author

  Praise for

  NAKED EDGE

  “Romantic suspense at its best! I was drawn into the story with the prologue, and each chapter that followed kept me enthralled by the suspense, action, developing romance, and the great characters . . . The sexual tension built steadily and added to the heart-pounding suspense of the investigation. The story moves along at a fast pace. There was so much action and adventure written into the plot that I didn’t want to stop reading . . . This author has definitely been put on my keeper list and I hope to go back and read the previous I-Team stories.”

  —The Romance Studio (5 hearts)

  “A steamy romantic suspense that will keep you glued to the pages . . . This highly sensual novel will curl your hair from the sexual activity while keeping you totally in suspense throughout. A very good read.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “An entertaining investigative romance starring two likable protagonists . . . Exciting romantic suspense.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “I must say that from start to finish I was completely enthralled with this one! . . . If you haven’t tried this series, you are MAJORLY missing out on some very good reading; not only is it hot but it’s riveting! Pamela Clare is amazing . . . Absolutely a page-turner . . . I’m a huge fan of Pamela Clare’s and have been since I picked up the first book by her; trust me, if you see Pamela Clare’s name on the cover, I guarantee you are in for a great read!”

  —Night Owl Reviews (Top Pick, 5 stars)

  “Will grip your senses . . . You’ll love this series and enjoy an afternoon immersing yourself in a culture that is fascinating.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  UNLAWFUL CONTACT

  “Powerful, sexy, and unforgettable, Unlawful Contact is the kind of story I love to read. Pamela Clare is a dazzling talent.”

  —Lori Foster, New York Times bestselling author

  “A spellbinding, gut-wrenching page-turner with a gripping plot. This story is unique and creative with an imperfect hero you can’t help getting sweaty palms over . . . Pamela Clare is a remarkable storyteller.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “This is an exciting fast-paced romantic suspense thriller . . . Action packed.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “A romantic suspense that has it all: gritty realism, edge-of-your-seat action, dynamic characterizations, surprising plot twists, and a scorching romance between two leads you won’t soon forget.”

  —BookLoons

  “A gripping and emotional story . . . An engaging tale that will have readers on the edge of their seats.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “A thrilling, captivating suspense novel . . . It has great characters, a wonderful story line with different connecting plots, and a happy ending for a couple that has many obstacles that they must surmount together.”

  —Romance Reader at Heart

  “Clare’s impressive novel is rife with gripping suspense, secrets masterfully revealed, and characters in whom readers can become emotionally invested. The sexual tension between the protagonists is deliciously steamy, and the skillful plotting makes this thrilling book one readers won’t be able to close until the final page.”

  —Romantic Times (4 ½ stars)

  HARD EVIDENCE

  “A page-turner, a pulse-pounding thriller . . . Whether she is writing her incredible historicals or these great contemporaries, Ms. Clare proves, once again, she is one of the best storytellers today . . . It is a thriller, it is a treasure, and it is tremendous.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Superb romantic suspense . . . Fans will appreciate this strong thriller.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Pamela Clare’s Hard Evidence is a powerful and, dare I say, flawless book, in my opinion. For those who love a good suspense or even just a good, satisfying read, it’s a ‘don’t miss.’ ”

  —Romance Reader at Heart

  “This was a hard-to-put-down book with an exciting story line.”

  —MyShelf.com

  “Clare adds a realistic edge to her suspenseful writing . . . [A] tight, gritty thriller . . . Clare definitely seems to have found her niche.”

  —Romantic Times

  EXTREME EXPOSURE

  “Investigative reporter turned author Clare brings a gritty realism to this intense and intricate romantic thriller. Extreme Exposure is the launch book for a sizzling new suspense series that promises to generate lots of intrigue, action, and romance. An author to keep an eye on!”

  —Romantic Times

  “A gem, Extreme Exposure has all the elements of great romance and is an entertaining summer read.”

  —Romance Reviews Today (Perfect 10)

  “I really loved this book because it was so realistic. The characters were people I would love to know. Obviously, Ms. Clare knows this world and the nuances of investigative reporting. She communicates this in a terrific love story that grabs you and will not let you go. Believe me, I lost some sleep reading this book. I predict that Ms. Clare is an author to watch for the future and readers of romantic suspense are sure to love this excellent, well-written novel, one of the best I’ve read this year.”

  —The Romance Readers Connection

  Berkley Sensation Books by Pamela Clare

  EXTREME EXPOSURE

  HARD EVIDENCE

  UNLAWFUL CONTACT

  NAKED EDGE

  BREAKING POINT

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Ave
nue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196,

  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  BREAKING POINT

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / May 2011

  Copyright © 2011 by Pamela Clare.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-51432-0

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  This book is dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of murdered and missing women of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. You were brutalized and discarded like you didn’t matter. But the earth received your tears, your blood, your bones and, like a bereaved mother, the earth itself cries out for justice. May the violence end and those who stole your bodies and your lives be held to account.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Special thanks to Tina Lewis Rowe, former U.S. Marshal for the District of Colorado, for her sense of humor, her insight, and her willingness to answer a thousand questions about the work of U.S. Marshals and DUSMs. You are one classy, smart, and impressive lady. I wish we could just hang out sometime.

  Thanks, too, to retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Larry Homenick for sharing his stories about catching fugitives in Mexico and working at EPIC. I’d love to have lunch with you and Tina again. And, yes, it’s on me.

  Much gratitude to Christine Bruce, whose life was changed by Hurricane Katrina and who graciously agreed to read the manuscript and help me get cultural aspects of Natalie’s New Orleans background right.

  Heartfelt gratitude to my mother, Mary White, an RN in cardiac rehab, who has kept many hearts beating, for her help with certain medical aspects of this story.

  Many thanks to Natasha Kern, my friend and agent, for her encouragement, humor and support, and to Cindy Hwang, my editor, for her continued faith in my stories—and for getting Jed Hill, my mental image of Zach McBride, for the cover of this book.

  Personal thanks and much love to my sister, Michelle, and to my son Benjamin, who’ve gone above and beyond to support my writing through the years.

  Hugs and kisses to Sue, Kristi, and Libby for being such amazing bitchez and to Ronlyn, Jenn, Stef, Ruth, and Bo for their feedback on this story and support while I wrote it.

  Thanks to Jefferson Dodge, managing editor at Boulder Weekly, for supporting my fiction career by being the world’s best managing editor. What did I ever do without you?

  And last but not least, thanks to my family for their love, encouragement, and understanding when I do things like ignore the phone and miss Thanksgiving dinner so that I can write. I love you.

  CHAPTER 1

  NATALIE BENOIT WATCHED the streets of Ciudad Juárez roll by outside the bus window, wishing the driver would turn up the air-conditioning. It wasn’t yet noon and already the city was an oven. Even the palm trees seemed to wither in the July heat.

  “With three other seasons in the year, why did SPJ have to choose summer for this conference?” She fanned herself with her copy of the day’s program, perspiration trickling between her breasts.

  “Don’t tell me you think it’s hot, chula.” Joaquin Ramirez, the newspaper’s best shooter, grinned at her from across the aisle, his camera still aimed out the window. “This can’t be any worse than New Orleans in the summer.”

  “Is that where you are from, Miss Benoit—New Orleans?” Enrique Marquez, a journalist from Culiacán, glanced back from the seat in front of her, his Spanish accent making both her name and the name of her hometown sound exotic. In his fifties, he was still a handsome man, with salt-and-pepper hair, a well-trimmed mustache, and brown eyes that twinkled whenever he spoke of his grandchildren.

  “Can’t you tell by her accent?” Joaquin gave Natalie a wink.

  Natalie ignored Joaquin, refusing to take the bait. “Yes, sir. I was born there and grew up in the Garden District.” Which was why she did not have an accent, no matter what her colleagues might think. “I left Louisiana many years ago and live in Denver now.”

  She hoped Sr. Marquez would let it go, but was almost certain he wouldn’t. Mention New Orleans, and people just had to ask about the storm. Given that journalists were far more curious than most people, Natalie supposed his next question was inevitable.

  “Did you live there during Hurricane Katrina?”

  She looked out the window, letting the words come with no thought and no emotion, as if what they represented meant nothing to her. “Yes, sir. It was a terrible time for so many of us. I moved to Denver after that.”

  She said nothing about where she’d been during the storm or what she’d endured or what had happened to her fiancé, Beau, and her parents in the aftermath.

  “Lo siento. I am sorry, Miss Benoit.”

  “No le gusta hablar de eso,” Joaquin said softly.

  Natalie didn’t speak Spanish well, but she understood that much. And Joaquin was right. She didn’t like to talk about it. She’d left New Orleans in part so she wouldn’t have to talk about it. Even six years later, it still hurt too much.

  People told her she should move on, get over it, get on with her life. Oh, how she hated those words! They were easy to say, but no one had yet been able to explain to her exactly how she was supposed to “move on.” Losing her parents had been hard enough, but losing Beau . . . How could she “get over” him?

  How could she forget the man who’d died out of love for her?

  It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to move on. Selling her parents’ home—the house at First and Chestnut where she’d grown up—had been a big step, as had moving to Denver. After a year, she’d stopped wearing her engagement ring. She’d even joined an online dating service and gone on several dates. But none of the men she’d met, no matter how intelligent, kind, or attractive, had sparked anything inside her.

  It was as if some part of her had forgotten how to feel.

  Banamex. Telcel. McDonald’s. Lucerna. Pemex.

  The names of banks, businesses, restaurants, and gas stations drifted before her, barely registering with her mind. What she did notice were the vibrant colors of the buildings. Bright oranges. Vivid blues. Lush greens. Lemony yellows. And blazing blood reds. Everywhere reds. It was as if the residents of Juárez had decided to strike a blow on behalf of color in defiance of the drab brown landscape that surrounded them.

  Natalie had signed up for the trip because she’d wanted to get away from the newsroom for a few days. She’d been working at the Denver Independent for almost three years now, and she felt stuck in some kind of professional ennui. Not that she didn’t love her job. She did. Having a spot on the paper’s award-winning investigative team—the I-Team—was every investigative journalist’s dream. But journalism wasn’t a low-stress profession even on the best of days. Burnout was a very real hazard of the job.
Or maybe the lethargy that had taken over the rest of her life was affecting her job now, too.

  Regardless, she’d needed a change of pace, and this trip had offered that.

  She and thirty-nine other journalists—most American, some Mexican—had crossed the border from El Paso into Juárez early this morning, part of a three-day convention and tour put together by the Society of Professional Journalists and the U.S. State Department as a way of bringing Mexican and American journalists together to learn about the intermingled issues of immigration, the drug trade, and human trafficking. They’d started the day with breakfast at the U.S. consulate. Then, under the protection of two dozen armed federales, they’d toured a police station and the offices of El Diario, the local newspaper, where bullet holes in the walls reminded them just how dangerous it was to be a journalist in Mexico.

  “And I thought my job sucked,” one of the other American reporters had said, running his fingers over the scarred wall.

  The sight of those bullet holes—and the empty desk of the journalist who’d been killed—had put a few things in perspective for Natalie, too. The worst thing she had to put up with during the course of the average workday was her editor’s temper. But no amount of yelling from Tom Trent could compare to flying bullets.

 
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