Series:
Cutter's Code (Book 15)
He saved her life once…
…and he won't lose her now.
Case McMillan isn't a cop anymore, but instinct sends him
running when he sees a woman being held at gunpoint. Skittish and secretive,
Terri is hard to trust -- until a wily dog named Cutter helps Case see the true
self she's been hiding. As the sole witness to a murder, she needs more
protection than he alone can provide, but he's not leaving her side until he
knows that she's safe.
I have been a huge fan of Cutter and his people since the
first book came out. In the third book of the series,
Operation Blind Date, we
meet Teague Johnson, a Foxworth Foundation operative haunted by his sister's
disappearance while he served in the military. He has never given up his search
for her.
In this book, we meet Terri, a woman who left home when
she was seventeen, escaping parents who rejoiced at the death of Terri's
brother. She got a fake ID with a new name and ran as far as she could,
eventually settling in Iowa. She took control of her life but never stopped
mourning her beloved brother. After almost ten years, she returned to
Washington to find her brother's grave. As the book opens, she is attacked by a
man she witnessed robbing a convenience store, and she is saved when a passerby
intervenes.
Case is a former policeman, forced out and discredited
when he attempted to expose some corruption. For the past year, he has been at
loose ends, unable to move on from what happened. When he sees a woman fighting
off an attacker, his instincts send him running to the rescue. Those same
instincts insist that he look after her when she is injured.
Terri is wary and not very forthcoming about herself.
Case's instincts warn him that she is hiding something. When he spots the
contents of her purse on the floor, sees two old letters addressed to her
brother, and reads a little of her journal about him, Case heads for his computer
to find out more about the man. He's surprised to find out that the man is not
dead and works for the mysterious Foxworth Foundation. Case takes it upon
himself to contact the foundation and talk to Quinn about Terri. Quinn asks
Case to bring Terri to them the next day.
I loved Case's protectiveness and support when Terri learned
that her brother was alive (but away on his honeymoon). She doesn't want to
interfere with that and insists on waiting for her reunion. In the meantime,
Quinn and Hayley learn what brought her and Case together and discover that the
convenience store clerk has died from his injuries. This makes Terri the only
witness to a murder. I loved watching Quinn and the others jump right into
protecting Terri. They enlist Case to help when Terri insists on keeping him
near.
I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Case and Terri
develop. There were sparks between them from the beginning. Terri embraces the
attraction, but Case resists it. He is unemployed and feeling beaten down by
everything that has happened to him. He feels he is in no position to get
involved with Terri, but he can't deny his need to protect her. I loved
watching them together and seeing the feelings between them grow. Case tries to
keep a distance between them, physically and emotionally but is thwarted at
every turn by Cutter. Case and Terri grow closer over the week as they await
Teague's return and for her attacker to be found. In addition to Case's
protectiveness, I loved Terri's belief in Case. Seeing how her support helped
put Case on the road to healing was sweet. The ending was terrific.
The story's suspense was good though not very intense
until the end. As soon as Quinn is aware of the danger Terri is in, the full
resources of Foxworth are used to keep her safe and find the bad guy. It is
always fascinating to see them at work, each member using their talents to
resolve the problem. I enjoyed seeing so many characters from previous books. The
tension ramped up when they used Terri to bait a trap for the murderer. The
final confrontation had me on the edge of my seat until it was over.
In addition to the suspense involving Terri and her
witnessing of the crime, we had Case's backstory. I ached for how he was treated
by the people who should have had his back. I could feel his pain at losing the
career he loved, and the people he thought were his friends. He was surprised by
the respect he received from Quinn and the others at Foxworth, and I loved their
proposal for him at the end.
I can't say enough about how much I love the dog Cutter. Watching
him work his matchmaking magic on each couple throughout the series is fun. I
also enjoy seeing how the Foxworth people have come to trust Cutter's instincts
after all this time. I loved his reaction to seeing Terri for the first time.
I couldn't wait to see the reunion between Terri and Teague; it was everything I could have hoped for. It was beautiful to see how his friends at Foxworth were so happy for him, and seeing their reactions to Terri was almost as good as Teague's.
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