Meet Devereux Gautier

Meet Devereux Gautier, Cody Maxwell's partner from The Lawman Who Loved Her by Mallory Kane, Harlequin Intrigue, June 2001. Lawman is no longer in print and is not available as an ebook as of this writing.

Dev is a real fan favorite. Many of you have asked for his book, which never made it to print from Harlequin. Hard to Hold, Dev's book, will be available in early November, 2011 from Kindle Direct.

In the meantime, here is an excerpt from The Lawman Who Loved Her, which features Dev. Those of you who read Lawman and loved Dev, will remember why. Those who haven't, you're in for a treat. I truly hope you'll enjoy Devereux Gautier, one of the hottest heroes I've ever met!

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Devereux Gautier searched inside himself for the cool detachment that made him a good detective. "Cody . . . . " he started, but his partner, Cody Maxwell wasn't listening. He'd buried his head in his bandaged hands.
        "Cody." Dev pulled his hands away from his face. "Listen to me."
        "Go away and let me drink myself to death." Cody reached for the bottle, but Dev retrieved it easily. Cody shrugged and rubbed his palm across his cheeks, smearing the dirt and soot from the explosion that he was sure had killed his wife. "It won't stop hurting, Dev. It never stops hurting."
        "Listen to me," Dev said again. "There are no human remains in the house." Dev's heart wrenched as he watched comprehension slowly dawn in his friend's face.
        "No r-remains?" Cody stammered.
        Dev shook his head. "None." Dev watched the progress of Cody's thoughts on his expressive face. The slow understanding that Dana wasn't dead, then the dawning realization of what that meant. But it took a lot longer for Cody's pain-hazed brain to reach the same conclusion Dev had immediately.
        "She's alive."
        The choked, joyous words cut through Dev like a hot knife through butter.
        "She's alive. Oh God, she's alive." The sobs shook Cody's bowed shoulders. But then the joy on his ravaged face turned to abject horror.
      "Fontenot's got her," he muttered. His bandaged hands curled into fists and he slammed them down on the table. "We got to go, Dev. What the hell we sitting around here for?"
        Cody threw himself up out of the chair, then swayed and almost fell.
       Dev jumped up and caught him just in time. "Not tonight, Code. Tonight you've got to rest."
        "Hell, no," Cody slurred, trying to wrench himself out of Dev's grasp. But Dev held on, dismayed by how weak and clumsy his partner was. He bodily threw Cody on the bed and waited, but Cody didn't launch himself up again. Dev relaxed a bit, sitting back on his haunches next to the bed.
        His partner seemed to have gone to sleep, or passed out. It didn't matter which. Dev breathed a sigh of relief, watching his friend for a minute as the lines of pain and grief on his face smoothed out a little.
        Dev had never loved a woman like that. He knew all about physical pain, but not since he was a child had he ever let anybody close enough to him to hurt him. He'd never loved a woman as much as Cody loved Dana.
        The only two people Dev had cared about in a long, long time, were Cody and Thibaud Johnson, his mentor. And Thibaud was dead. Dev loved Cody. He hurt for him. He ached to make things right for his partner, but there was nothing he could do.
        After making sure Cody was unconscious, but breathing normally, Devereaux Gautier stood and walked out of the motel room. He paced up and down in front of the door for a few minutes, his thoughts in turmoil, his heart heavy. Then he turned toward the stucco wall and slammed his fist again and again into it, wishing with every blow that the solid brick was Fontenot's face.
        Cody was right. It never, ever stopped hurting.

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