Against Shadows and Winds — N.E. Thompson

A Marine colonel stops a man from harassing a pretty diner owner and stumbles across evidence of a terrorist attack. Can Josh and Mel get the evidence they need to stop terrorists from taking out a helicopter filled with cabinet ranking VIPs during a convention of veterans at Virginia Beach. Melanie Cooper, a widow and mother of six-year-old Tracy, has only enough capital to keep her diner open two more weeks. Because the diner is a hangout for teenagers, she suspects the three men who offer to buy her out are drug dealers. Mel refuses to sell. Jeremy Watkins threatens Mel, the diner, and Tracy's life. Colonel Joshua Poland was badly wounded in Afghanistan. While recuperating, he decides to muster out. Attracted to Mel, he offers to work for her. He overhears the two men who want to buy her diner speaking Arabic. His instincts on high, Josh uses his training to snoop and discovers a terrorists cell is operating at the beach. Detective Buck Carlson believed Josh and Mel, but he's a cop. He needs evidence not vague suspicions of a marine with PTSD. When Mel is mugged and her diner catches fire, Richard Steward faces the truth that he has let his daughter down by his drinking. He promises to stay sober if she'll let him work for her. Jealous, Richard's afraid that Josh's war experience has sent him over the edge. He leaks the story of a terrorist attack to a gossip rag, sending the cell underground.