Page 1 of Inescapable Gravity

CHAPTER ONE

Eagle Rock, Montana

Echo Valley Ranch

Looking around the room, Marius Goddard let his gaze lightly touch each of the other men milling about the room.

He was sure without asking that they all had military training. Mostly American. One man was either from the United Kingdom or one of its outlying lands.

Two of the men had snuck looks at their wristwatches or the wall clock.

The wait didn't bother Marius at all. He had nowhere else to be. Nothing else to do.

He'd arrived at the training camp the day before and gone for a long run in the twilight, putting his body through a long cross-country run.

He wasn't someone who liked to work out. He never had. He did because the physical activity helped him clear his mind. And his mind was always working.

Always.

There was usually one person it was centered on.

Heather Vincent.

And he hadn't seen her for half of his life.

Through the years, he'd wondered where she was, and his overworked mind had created thousands and thousands of scenarios.

Some of them were desperately happy, because that's what he wanted.

He wanted her to be happy.

Hoped she was.

Needed her to be.

"Gentlemen."

Marius' brow lifted on one side as he turned toward the voice. A man stood in the doorway.

The only doorway into the room.

"Thank you for attending this meeting."

"You made it hard to say no."

The man who Marius had pegged as a Brit had been the one who spoke. And his voice was crystal clear. He spoke like a Londoner, but there was a bit of something else in his tone.

A few more words and Marius would be able to figure it out, but it wasn't all that pressing at the moment.

The man in the doorway spoke again.

"I've done my research, which shouldn't be a surprise once you get to know me. To know each other. I'm Alex Marchand."

The name was familiar, even if the face was not.

The man had made a name for himself in the security community. He'd built a solid company.

There hadn't been a single failure.

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