Witness Protection Unraveled by Maggie K. Black: The Chimera, the Shiny Man and a precocious 
eight-year-old little girl are part of the excitement going on in Kilpatrick, Ontario.
RCMP Detective Jess Eddington travels to Kilpatrick, Ontario to try to talk her former partner, Travis Stone, into helping her out with her very important undercover assignment. It involves a case from when Travis was still her partner, the case that forced Travis into the Witness Protection Program. Together they closed the case with multiple arrests. A successful takedown. Except for one detail. The head of the International crime organization, the Chimera, escaped. Travis saw his face and now has a hefty bounty on his head. Thus being put into the Witness Protection Program.
Now Jess is part of a RCMP witness protection group keeping those in protection safe. The Chimera case is not part of this but the Chimera’s whereabouts came from a recent witness protection case. Travis wasn’t answering her calls so Jess and fellow team member hacker Seth Miles drove to Kilpatrick to speak directly to Travis. They arrive at the address of where Travis lives above Tatlow Book Store to police cars with lights flashing and an ambulance in the front. Not wanting to blow their cover they sneak up to Travis’ apartment via the fire escape in the back of the building. Jess walks into a situation of Travis being held at gunpoint. What is going on here? The Shiny Man, as Willow named him, escapes after blinding them with a very bright flash of light. This is not the best way to reunite with your former partner whose help you need.
Travis Stone was a “lost soul”when he arrived in Kilpatrick with his new identity from Witness Protection. The Tatlow family took him in and were instrumental in leading him to accept his new life. Unfortunately his friends, police officers Geoff and Amber Tatlow were both killed in the line of duty. Their two children, five-year-old Willow and her baby brother eight-month-old Dominick were left in the care of their grandmother. Travis stepped up to help raise the children he has come to love. Now their grandmother has fallen off a ladder and is being rushed to the hospital. An intruder held him at gunpoint while the kids were one floor above napping. Why is the Shiny Man searching his apartment? How will he keep the kids and Jess safe?
I love all the characters, especially super cute eight-year-old Willow. The plot leads to turning the pages quickly to keep up with all the action. The dialogue is very entertaining especially from Willow. One of the highlights of the story for me was this callout on the baby monitor when Travis’ apartment is being broken into and Seth catches it as he and Jessica are approaching Kilpatrick.
“Maynaise. Maynaise. This is Willow Tatlow with my brother, Dominic. We’re in Uncle Travis’s apartment. Uncle Travis has been captured by the Shiny Man. Send rescue. Over.”
Maynaise – so cute! Gotta love the precocious little girl!
Book Info:
Publication: May 1st 2020 | Love Inspired Suspense | Protected Identities #3
Witness Protection gave him a new start—and a family.
But now his past is calling him back…
Living in witness protection won’t stop Travis Stone from shielding two orphaned children whose grandmother was just attacked. But when his former partner, Detective Jessica Eddington, asks him to help bring down the group that sent him into hiding, agreeing could put them all at risk. Can he watch Jessica’s back and protect the children?
A Protected Identities Novel
