2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Izzy Zanella wasn’t looking for another reason to butt heads with his Navy SEAL teammate, and nemesis, Danny Gillman. But then he met Danny’s beautiful younger sister, Eden. When she needed it most, he offered her a place to stay, a shoulder to cry on—and more. And when she got pregnant with another man’s child, he offered her marriage. But Eden’s devastating miscarriage shattered their life together—and made the intense bad blood between Izzy and Danny even worse.

Now Eden’s back, and she’s on a mission to rescue her teen brother, Ben, from their abusive stepfather. Even if she and Izzy can prove that their broken marriage is still in one piece, winning legal custody of Ben is a long shot. But they’re not alone: Danny and his girlfriend, Jenn, offer to help, and he and Izzy agree to bury the past and fight for Ben’s future.

As they plan their strategy, Izzy and Eden grapple with the raw passion that still crackles between them—while Danny and Jenn confront new depths in their own rocky relationship. But events take a terrifying turn after Ben befriends a girl fleeing a child prostitution ring. When the young runaway seeks refuge with Eden and Izzy, her pursuers kidnap Ben—and a deadly standoff begins. Now they must all pull together like never before and strike back, swift and hard, to protect their unconventional little family and everything they hold most precious.

Settings
Afghanistan
New York City, New York
Las Vegas, Nevada
Landstuhl, Germany

31 Chapters

April 2009

Character List
(view spoiler)[
Recurring Characters
Irving (Izzy) Zanella: SEAL Team 16. He’s married to Eden but they’re estranged.
Eden Gillman Zanella: Izzy’s wife and Dan’s 19-year old sister. She’s estranged from Izzy after having lost her baby (Pinkie) and is living in Las Vegas. She has dark hair and brown eyes.
Dan (Danny) Gillman: aka Gilligan. Petty Officer, SEAL Team 16.
Jennilyn LeMay: Maria Bonavita’s chief of staff who is involved with Dan.
Ben Gilman: Dan and Eden’s half brother. Ivette tried to pass him off as Daniel Gilman, Sr.’s son.
Alyssa Locke: Executive Officer, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy sniper and FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. She and Sam are married and she’s pregnant with their first child.
Roger (Sam) Starrett: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Lieutenant(jg), SEAL Team 16 leader. He’s now married to Alyssa. Divorced from Mary Lou and father of their daughter, Haley.
Mary Lou Starrett: Sam's ex-wife and mother of their daughter, Haley.
Haley Starrett: Sam's two-year old daughter.
Jules Cassidy: FBI agent in the Counterterrorism Unit. Alyssa Locke's former partner. He’s married to Robin Chadwick.
Robin Chadwick Cassidy: Famed Hollywood actor, Jane’s brother. He’s married to Jules. He’s now cast in a new series called Shadowland.
Linda Cassidy: Jules’ mother.
Jay Lopez: Medic SEAL Team 16.
Lawrence Decker: Team Leader, Troubleshooters, Inc. Former Navy SEAL, Team One.
Tracy Shapiro: Troubleshooters’ receptionist.
James (Jimmy) Nash: aka Diego. Troubleshooters operative. Former agent with the Agency. He’s married to Tess.
Tess Bailey: Troubleshooters operative. She’s married to Nash.
Sophia Ghaffari: Troubleshooters operative. She was captured by Decker in Kazbekistan.
Dave Malkoff: Troubleshooters operative, former CIA agent.
Mark (Jenk) Jenkins: Petty Officer, 2nd Class, SEAL Team 16. He’s got a baby face and is 28-years old with hazel eyes.
Lindsey Fontaine: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member. She’s 30-years old, 5’3” with short black hair and brown eyes.
Thomas (Tom) Paoletti: Head of Troubleshooters, Inc., a security consulting company. Former Lieutenant Commander, SEAL Team 16. Married to Kelly and father of their 6-month old son, Charlie.
Kelly Ashton: Tom's wife, a pediatrician. She’s the mother of their 6-month old son Charlie.
Dolphina Patel: Robin’s press handler who worked for HeartBeat Studios but now works for Robin directly as his personal assistant.
Will Schroeder: Reporter now working for Boston Globe. He’s engaged to Dolphina and is taking care of his niece Maggie while her mother (his sister Arlene) is deployed in Iraq.
Maggie: Will’s 12-year old niece. Her mother, his sister, is stationed in Iraq.
Arlene: Will’s sister and Maggie’s mother.
Cosmo Richter: Chief and Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. Hes married to Jane and father of their son, Billy. He’s 6’4” with pale blue eyes.
Jane (Janey) Mercedes Chadwick Richter: Hollywood screenwriter and producer and Robin's sister. She’s married to Cosmo and mother of their son, Billy.
Lois Richter: Cosmo’s mother.
Max Bhagat: Head of the FBI Counterterrorism Unit. He’s married to Gina and father of their daughter Emma.
Gina Vitagliano Bhagat: Former college student/drummer on a European trip with her school band mates who was assaulted during the hijacking of her plane home from Greece. Max was the negotiator who created a strong bond with her. They’re now married and she’s their daughter Emma’s mother. She’s pregnant again.
Laronda: Max's assistant.
Ric Alvarado: Former Tampa police detective now a private investigator. He’s known Annie since he was 15-years old.
Annie Dugan: Ric's assistant. She’s known Ric since she was 11-years old.
Martell Griffin: Lawyer and Ric’s best friend.
George Faulkner: FBI Agent and the son of Rose’s friend.
PJ Prescott: Troubleshooters, Inc. team member. Former Air Force Para-Rescue Jumper (helo pilot).
Kenny (WildCard) Karmody: Petty Officer Third Class, SEAL Team 16. He’s a computer specialist.
Savannah (Van) von Hopf: Lawyer from New York whose uncle has been abducted in Indonesia. She has blond hair and blue eyes. Her grandmother Rose is a WWII hero.
Casper (Jazz) Jacquette: Executive Officer, SEAL Team 16.
Mike Muldoon: Ensign, SEAL Team 16. He’s married to Joan.
Joan DaCosta: White House public relations assistant. She’s married to Mike and is pregnant.
John (Nils) Nilsson: Lieutenant, SEAL Team 16. Language expert. Married to Meg.
Frank O'Leary: Chief, SEAL Team 16 sniper.
Wayne Jefferson: SEAL Team 16 sniper.
Stanley Wolchonok: Senior Chief, SEAL Team 16. He’s married to Teri.
Teri Howe: Navy reserves, Lieutenant (jg),helicopter pilot. She’s married to Stan.
Lew Koehl: SEAL Team 16 Commander.
Tony Vlachic: Gay Navy SEAL new to Team Sixteen who is now in a relationship with Adam Wyndham.
Adam Wyndham: Actor who’s now in a relationship with Tony. He’s Jules Cassidy and Robin Chadwick’s ex-lover.
Molly Anderson: Worked in a religious mission in Indonesia but now married to Grady and mother of their two-year old daughter, Hope. They now live in Iowa
Dave Jones/Grady Morant: American expatriate who lived alone under an assumed name in Indonesia near Molly's mission. He was a former Special Forces member and prisoner of war, later on the FBI most wanted list. He was made a deal and allowed to come back to the US and live as an insurance adjuster in Iowa. He and Molly are married with a two-year old daughter, Hope.
Hannah Whitfield: Former police officer who was injured in a car accident where she lost her hearing. She’s Vinh’s best friend from childhood. She was also Angelina’s best friend and introduced the two of them. She’s tall with short light brown hair and blue-green eyes.
Vinh Murphy: Former Troubleshooters operative who is MIS after his wife Angelina was murdered while he was on an assignment. He’s a former Marine and mixed race (African American and Vietnamese). He’s 6’5” with brown hair and brown eyes.
Angelina Esparza Murphy: Murphy's wife who was killed by someone inspired by the Freedom Network. She was also Hannah’s best friend.
Kate Takamoto: Navy Lieutenant.
Larry Tucker: Rear admiral and base commander.
Laurel Tucker: Tucker’s wife.
Morton (Chip) Crowley: Admiral and commander of Navy Special Warfare Command.
Ihbraham Rahman: Gardener and Mary Lou's friend.
Manuel Conseco: FBI special agent in charge of the Sarasota office.
Deb Erlanger: FBI agent and Jules' teammate.
Joe (Yashi) Hirabayashi: FBI agent and Deb's partner.
Josephine (Jo) Heissman: Psychologist hired by Tom to work with the team members involved in the American Hero project.
Greg Hirabayashi: Yashi’s father.
Peggy Ryan: Former FBI agent and team leader who was murdered while undercover in Sarasota. She disliked Jules because he is gay.
Pierre: Annie’s dog that she inherited after Pam died.

Non Recurring Characters
Neesha: Young girl trapped in a human trafficking ring who manages to escape.
Sandy Gilman: Dan and Eden’s sister.
Ron: Sandy’s husband.
Ivette Fortune: Eden, Dan, Sandy and Ben’s mother.
Greg Fortune: Eden and Dan’s stepfather.
Cynthia: Nurse Izzy met in Germany.
Sheila Anderson: Marine Private who helped Izzy save Danny’s life.
Peter Sinclair: aka Chip. Ben’s roommate at the camp.
Jake Dyland: One of the men looking for Neesha.
William Nathan: One of the men looking for Neesha.
Todd: One of the men looking for Neesha.
(hide spoiler)]

Spoiler Info
(view spoiler)[
Dan and Jenn get married in Las Vegas. She’s moving to San Diego and live in Mark and Lindsey’s old condo.

Ben is abducted by the people hunting Neesha and is rescued by the combined efforts of Dan, Izzy, Eden & Jenn. Neesha shoots Todd when he enters Eden’s apartment, as she was instructed to do by Izzy. All the others are ultimately killed and Neesha is working with the Feds to take down the human trafficking ring.

Ivette and Greg give up their parental rights over Ben following an awful confrontation in their home where Eden reveals what happened to her in New Orleans. Ivette’s true nature is also revealed and Danny learns how he’s misjudged his sister. Izzy gets them to sign over their rights after he blackmails them with the pictures he took of all the drugs Ivette stole from the man she was providing home care up to his death. He & Eden and Dan & Jenn will share custody of Ben.

Izzy and Eden finally realize that he loves her and she loves him…period.

Mark and Lindsey had a miscarriage. (hide spoiler)]