Zeke Cabot is smart, tough, and one of the best Special Agents in the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. She’s also recovering from a traumatic head injury and months of being undercover on the mean streets of the Windy City. She takes an extended vacation in New Mexico to help her recover from her physical and emotional duress. She meets Anne Reynolds, a home health nurse, who is recovering from a failed sham marriage. Surrounded by the breathtaking New Mexico landscape, they are pulled into the horror of a serial murder case that Zeke thought was closed. Zeke’s PTSD runs dark and deep and threatens to overwhelm their fledgling relationship. But every once in a while, two opposing energies can merge to create a stronger alloy—but the laws of physics, like love, can be fickle.

A Zeke and Anne story, Novelette, 11,000 words This story takes place after the events in Barrett's Damaged Series. Special Agent Zeke Cabot surprises Anne Reynolds with a much needed romantic Christmas trip to Chicago to celebrate Zeke's progress in recovering from PTSD and to re-affirm their growing relationship.

Special Agent Zeke Cabot and Anne Reynolds are both excited and a little wary as they take steps to commit to their budding relationship. But like the unpredictable weather in the mountains of New Mexico, their path to happiness is anything but smooth. Zeke continues to struggle against debilitating bouts of PTSD and flashbacks. Anne still copes with the lingering pain from her divorce and if she's ready to take another chance on love, especially with a woman. A danger from a past case Zeke thought was closed threatens both their safety and the strength of their trust. But Zeke and Anne are determined to overcome their personal obstacles and learn to defy gravity enough to keep them grounded in love.

Special Agent Zeke Cabot begins her new assignment in New Mexico and a confrontation with her dangerous nemeses triggers her barely concealed PTSD symptoms. Anne Reynolds reluctantly accepts a less stressful home healthcare office position as she settles into a life with Zeke, but it’s not easy living with someone whose job is filled with dangers that threaten to destroy their relationship. Their serendipitous meeting and immediate attraction had been too good to be real, and now secrets and dangers make reality almost too much for them to bear. Now Zeke and Anne have to face their own demons and make tough choices for their love to prevail.

Five months into her new job at the Albuquerque Field office in New Mexico, Zeke is offered a plum assignment to protect the Secretary of Commerce . A close call while on duty triggers a panic attack, which, if reported to her superiors could end her career. The Secretary of Commerce gives Zeke an unexpected guiding hand and an ultimatum about getting the help she needs. She chooses equine therapy, despite her uncertainty toward Anne's horses. Anne Reynolds struggles with a growing frustration with her job and a fear that she may have inherited her late mother's problem with drinking. Keeping her sobriety is difficult enough with Zeke’s support, but Zeke away on assignment and her stay at the equine therapy facility adds to the challenge. Zeke and Anne are determined to overcome their personal obstacles and take the steps to find that common ground on which to build a life together.