Safeguarding Kelly - Zoe Dawson

She was the designated target of a cold-blooded killer..

Dr. Kelly Hu is now a Coast Guard reservist with an exciting and busy life as a San Diego NCIS medical examiner, her heart in tatters. With two identically murdered bodies in her morgue—a Coast Guard doctor and a Navy nurse, Kelly runs into Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Jason Hollow. It has been six years since they parted, six years since their illicit affair could have gotten both of them court-martialed, six years since she gave birth to their daughter, a daughter he knows nothing about. Even now, it's dangerous for them to get involved. What if the coast guard finds out she and Jason had broken the rules? They could both go to jail for their transgressions. She doesn't want to take the chance, no matter how she still feels about him.

Jason is now a CGIS special agent after he hurt his shoulder in a fall during a rescue at sea. Seeing Kelly again makes him realize that he has unresolved feelings for her. He's there to handle a Coast Guard homicide, but the circumstances of the identical murders have NCIS and CGIS working together. Once the investigation begins, it's clear that they're dealing with a serial killer. As she's targeted by the serial killer, Jason refuses to leave her side, elated by the news that he's a father and devastated by Kelly keeping that secret all this time. How can he forgive her? How do they resolve his parental right to have contact with his daughter, and how can he claim her as his own or trust Kelly ever again? He needs the time to work out his pain and anger, and the feelings he still harbors for Kelly while protecting her from a killer intent on taking her life, taking everything.