How did things change so quickly? One day, she is the brains behind Sydney Stansfield Interiors, running a successful Hilton Head decorating business, and the next, she is foster mother to an eight-month-old baby and boss to a hot-tempered handyman on parole. .. . Sydney Stansfield Hartman is just a woman who wants to live a good life... moreHow did things change so quickly? One day, she is the brains behind Sydney Stansfield Interiors, running a successful Hilton Head decorating business, and the next, she is foster mother to an eight-month-old baby and boss to a hot-tempered handyman on parole. .. . Sydney Stansfield Hartman is just a woman who wants to live a good life. Once married to a man who laundered money for the Irish mob, she's now married to FBI Agent Henry Hartman and enjoying her new Lowcountry lifestyle in South Carolina. Excited about the prospects of building her business, the last thing Syd wants is disruptions. A chance encounter at a yard sale turns everything upside down. .. .A desperate man threatens her life, all because she won't surrender a pine chest she bought for twenty bucks. .. .When Syd calls for back-up, the resulting confrontation exposes some very interesting secrets for the man she calls "Bigfoot". Once on the maintenance crew for the Military Sealift Command at the Charleston Naval Base, charged with preparing supply ships with communications cable for undersea installation, Harvey Poulin has gone from being a respectable member of the United States Navy to being a public menace. Did he have some kind of a psychological breakdown or were there hostile forces pushing him into position as the fall guy for a spy operation? Poor Syd finds herself dragged into a counterintelligence investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Unable to clear him on theft charges, NCIS leaves the former sailor dangling on the hook. Enter Henry Hartman, that wily FBI agent whose specialty is "off-the-books" investigations that impact national security. Reaching out to an old Navy buddy, now a rear admiral, Henry is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, and he needs his wife's cooperation to get it done. Helping "Bigfoot" get back on his feet after some bad luck is one thing, but does Henry have to insist she hire the man as her assistant? .. .. Especially when he says the most outrageous things to her newest client, Martha Stenkill. .. .And that Rottweiler of his could turn out to be a work site danger when "Fang" unexpectedly plays protector for her master. How can Syd control this hot mess that just keeps getting hotter? Just when she thinks things can't get any more complicated, there's a break-in at the Hartman home by a pair of baby-toting robbers. .. .“Don’t let them put my baby in foster care! I’m a good mother! I only did it to save her! ”. .. .What does that mean? Syd finds herself roped into serving as foster mom after the tearful plea from a desperate mother. Good thing Syd and Henry have the Hartman ladies to help them. .. .Prudence and Charity take on babysitting duties, while former Department of Justice prosecutor Faith insists on serving as the baby's legal protector. When little Sonia's father turns out to be a member of Harvey's old Navy crew, the FBI agent knows there's more to this tale of woe than meets the eye. As the mystery begins to unravel and the number of characters involved in this sinister plot grows, it's up to Syd and Henry to sort out the good guys from the bad. .. .It won't be easy, given the obstacles in their way, especially when it turns out the bad guys aren't men at all, but a gang of ruthless women who will stop at nothing to meet their objectives. (Novella). less
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