Endless Night

Endless Night
Dana Mentink

On the run, Jackie Swann returns to the last place anyone would look for her: Alaska's Delucchi Lodge.The retreat was the site of her brother Danny's fatal accident–and is home to pilot Roman Carter, the man she once loved. The man she still blames for Danny's death. But the Delucchis have secrets of their own that throw her back into Roman's path.With no one to trust, Jackie finds danger closing in on all sides, and the final showdown could leave her lost in an endless night…or bring the truth to light.

It had been two years since she’d seen Roman Carter. Jackie’s stomach knotted, and she kept her eyes as far away from him as possible.

She’d gotten to see enough in the first shocked moment when she figured out who he was. Dark hair, longish, falling into his face. A shadow of stubble on his strong chin, dimples when he’d smiled and the eyes, the familiar hazel eyes, self-assured, confident, cocky. He was the same Roman.

She could hear her father’s angry voice in her mind. He killed your brother. I will never forgive him. Never!

She forced herself to take a breath. She had more important matters to worry about than Roman Carter. After he dropped her at the lodge she would put him out of her mind and push him back into the past where he belonged….

DANA MENTINK

lives in California with her family. Dana and her husband met doing a dinner theater production of The Velveteen Rabbit. In college, she competed in national speech and debate tournaments. Besides writing novels, Dana taste-tests for the National Food Lab and freelances for a local newspaper. In addition to her work with Steeple Hill Books, she writes cozy mysteries for Barbour Books. Dana loves feedback from her readers. Contact her at www.danamentink.com.

Endless Night

Dana Mentink

Come now, and let us reason together,

says the Lord,

Though your sins are as scarlet,

They will be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They will be like wool.

—Isaiah 1:18

To my big sis, who has been there through all those

dark nights that seemed endless.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

ONE

She pressed down the fear. It was all a mistake, a terrible dream from which she’d awaken any moment. The crowded terminal of San Francisco International Airport was filled with people, talking on cell phones and checking flight information. In spite of the crowd, Jackie felt utterly alone as she stood in a corner near the busy ticket counters. Her phone rang. She jumped and clutched at it. “Hello?”