Romantic thriller, 82 000 words

Widowed private investigator Peter Truman wants to find love again. But the ex-FBI agent and his adult children have been in the Witness Protection Program, ever since he killed the sister of the master assassin known only as Vespid.

Peter has groceries delivered. Triple-locks his doors. When he takes on Brenda Boniflora’s perplexing case, her whirlwind ebullience upends his mundane routine. And he likes it. All her valuable exotic tomcats have been stolen from her Virginia cattery. When Brenda helps Peter track clues and uncovers the catnappers’ buried cell, he realizes that she’s a good teammate. And a damned gorgeous one. GPS data on the cell phone steers them to the thieves’ hideout. The burglars have been shot. Stuffed in their mouths are Asian giant hornets—Vespid’s calling card.

Vespid’s true identity is uncertain. Interpol has no record of him. A master of disguise, he leads a secret society of assassins bent on supplanting the existing world order with their own version. The FBI renews its campaign for rehiring Peter to help catch Vespid. Now Peter must choose between his family’s safe, witness-protected lives—and the woman he’s come to love.