Sworn to Secrecy (Special Ops)

Special Thanks

Thank you, Barb, for catching the mistakes I missed. Your assist with editing has been wonderful.

A special thanks to Nancy, Maurice, Pam, and Curly for helping spread the news about my books.

Deliverance

Hydra

Explosive: Deadly Connections

Shadow Hills (January – June series)

Betrayal of the Dove

Pirate’s Treasure

Love’s Last Hope

Fahrenheit

Secrets and Lies

Returning Sheba

Saints and Sinners

The McGregor Affair

Dream Walker

The Geneva Project

The Admiral’s Daughter

Dangerous Obsessions

Watch Over Me

Maid for Hire & Educating Australia

And Many Others…

Coming in October ~
Redemption
from the Men of Action series.

Prologue

I
t was hot; he was tired and after a long night and day of travel, getting to the package seemed like a glorious relief of pressure. Alex wasn’t complaining—much. He was used to hard missions in inhospitable conditions, but there was a sudden sense of urgency in this mission. No demands had been sent yet. No contact had been officially made and that told him that the package could soon be dead or moved to another location.

 
He saw which hut the package was being held in so he knew he could get to her, but he also knew he had to play this smart. Just walking into the village wasn’t going to get him what he needed. It might get him killed though. He needed to enter covertly, that was the plan, but apparently they were having some kind of party that night because the fire was burning, the food was cooking and the people were festive. He didn’t see her until she came out the hut, accompanied by several women and one man. She was adamantly refusing something; he didn’t know what but the look on her face and the tension in her body caused him to speculate. Given the people clearly watching her moves, he would guess she wasn’t getting much alone time. He wasn’t worried; he knew he could find his way in. He would retrieve the package and back to Austin they would go. He could sit out on his porch and do some stargazing. Watching the stars happened to be one of his favorite past times and from what he had been tracking before he left he knew the sky was going to be lit up with a meteor shower in just a few days. He wanted to be back in time to catch the show.

It would be nice to have somebody to watch it with, but since his last relationship ended he hadn’t jumped into another. He was too busy dealing with work and balancing his family—or more like surviving his family. Kevin had inked yet another endorsement deal and his parents just had to throw a few parties they required him attend. He couldn’t even use the excuse of work because at the time of the parties he wasn’t on a rescue mission. Maybe he didn’t care as much about the parties. He was rather used to the “Kevin is a god and you’re a nobody” treatment he received, but what he couldn’t adjust to was seeing his brother dating one of his ex-girlfriends. It wasn’t the last woman he had been with; that relationship had ended and that was his choice since she had cheated on him. But Kevin had taken interest in Krystal Diggs, the first woman he thought he might just be in love with. When she moved to California it had been hard for both of them, but they were going to make it work. At least she said they were. He understood long distance relationships. He was in the military; he knew what it was like to be thousands of miles away from each other. He thought they were okay until he got the email that she had met somebody else. Apparently absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

Now she was back in Texas. She was moving to Dallas to be with Kevin. Krystal had moved away for a job when they were together, but she was willing to give that same job up just to be with his brother. He found out about their relationship at one of the parties his parents had decided to host. Nobody would ever mistake his family for the Waltons, that was for sure.

He put his mind back on the mission and took it off of his family problems. It wasn’t as if his family was going to change. He couldn’t do anything about that, but he could do something about this situation. He was going to retrieve the package. The package, Carissa Jones, was going home and then he was getting back to his favorite nightly relaxation routine of watching the stars above him.

Chapter One

“Y
ou know what this means don’t you?” Dallas Ferguson looked at his watch. They had to fix the problem and fix it soon or years of solid work would be broken, stolen from them because of one dumb daddy’s girl. He wished he had killed her when he saw her, but he couldn’t. He had things he had to take care of and killing her would have brought suspicion—plus he wasn’t sure just how much she knew. He knew she had something. He knew she was working with the special federal task force, but what he needed to know was how much she had already gathered, how much she had already given them.

“We know where she is.”

“Correction,” Dallas snapped, his silver fox hair glistened in the light of the sinking sun. “We knew where she was at. In case you didn’t notice our men are in body bags right now. Fix this, or I’ll fix you.” And with those words he was done. There were no other words to say because he had made his promise and everybody knew once Dallas Ferguson spoke their fate was already sealed. He didn’t have time for screw ups. They had something big coming up and that little tart was going to have to be eliminated.

Ronald Jones walked into the Squadron with cash on hand. He couldn’t risk a paper trail. When Devon Richards had suggested this group of men he hadn’t thought twice about cost. He needed to find her and bring her home. These men, Devon had told him, were the best of the best.

“How long has she been missing?” Preston had asked him. Ronald felt as if he were sitting at a round table being judged. The four men looking at him had him pinned in their death stare as if they were judging his honesty.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “She went for a little fun, a break you know. Her business is booming and she just needed some time to get herself together. She went missing about a week ago I think. I was waiting on an email from her, one that never came and that’s how I knew something was wrong. I contacted some friends and they recommended some people so I paid good money for a search team to go after her, but the team…well, they ended up dead. I know she’s in trouble. I know the last coordinates they gave me put her about here,” he pulled out an aerial photograph with a circle around the river bank she had last been seen at. “That’s my little girl out there. That’s my baby, my only child, and I need her brought home. I’ll pay whatever your fee is. I brought cash with me.” He put the brief case on the table and Preston held up his hand.

“We have to discuss it first. If you’ll wait out in the reception area Natalia can make sure you have what you need while we talk.”

He nodded and picked up his briefcase, leaving the conference room behind him and going out into the reception area. He smiled at the woman sitting behind the desk.

“Would you like something to drink, Mr. Jones?”

“Ronald, please;” he gave a half hearted smile. “And no. I’m fine, thank you.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t worry. They’re the best. If they take on the case they’ll find her.”

“That’s what I’m worried about. What if they don’t take on the case?” He looked back to the conference room, watching the men through the floor to ceiling glass divider. He couldn’t hear what they were saying and they were sitting in a way where he couldn’t see their lips moving. Not that he was able to read lips anyway, but he thought he would be able to pick out a yes or no answer. They passed around the photos he brought. He noticed the one they called Alex took more time with the photos. Would he be the one going in after her? If they said yes that is. He looked young. Was he really capable?

“Mr. Jones you can come back in.” Jet held the door open as Ronald carried his case into the office. That decision making process hadn’t taken long. Was that a good sign or a bad sign?

Preston sat the file folder back on the table and leaned forward. “We’ll take your case. Alex will go over, find the package retrieve the package and bring the package home.”

The package? Right that’s what they called people. He could guess keeping the personal out of it made the job easier, but she was more than a package; she was his little girl.

“Here’s your fee as we discussed, but if the price has gone up just let me know and I’ll pay whatever it is.” He opened the case and handed them the specified amount.

He watched as Preston handed the money to Micah and Micah scanned the bills. Ronald could only assume he was checking for the legitimacy of the currency. Ronald didn’t take offense. One could never be too sure about these things, and if they hadn’t checked that would have bothered him more than the fact that they had.