Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series) (50 page)
Read Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series) Online
Authors: Kristine Mason
“Yes,” Ian began, “Dante will show you everything you need to know about CORE. Hopefully you’ll be ready to work in the field on your own within about a year.”
A year?
Hell, no. “With my training, hopefully sooner,” Dante said, and caught the appreciation in the young girl’s eyes.
“Come, Lola,” Ian said. “Let me introduce you to everyone else. I can assure you our evidence and evaluation room doesn’t usually look like this. We’re a top-notch criminal investigation agency.”
The rest of Ian’s words faded as he and Lola moved toward the others. When Dante met Jake’s gaze, he said, “Don’t go there.”
“What?” Jake asked. “Sorry, but you’re single and she’s not ugly.”
He was also still in love with his ex-wife. “I’m old enough to be her father.” At forty, he preferred a woman closer to his age. Thirty-five worked. He also preferred a particular blonde with dark brown eyes and a smile that made his heart pound. Picturing his ex-wife, Jessica, and remembering how things had used to be with them, filled him with a sense of loss. Or maybe being surrounded by baby stuff was what had him down.
“I’ve done my duty for today,” Dante said, tossing the plate of cake in the trash. His cell phone vibrated. He pulled the phone from his pocket and quickly read the text.
I know who took our daughter.
His hand shook and his gut twisted with both unease and excitement. He and Jessica had been down this road more times than he’d care to remember. He couldn’t allow himself to hope, because when those hopes were stomped on by reality, the grief was unbearable and it was like losing his wife and daughter all over again.
He glanced at Rachel, who held up a tiny pink dress. Remembering seeing his little girl in something similar, he looked back at the text.
I know who took our daughter.
Dante rushed from the room and to the elevator. He didn’t know if Jessica was on another wild-goose chase, but if there was a chance, even a small sliver of hope his ex was right, he’d do everything in his power to find their child.
And then he’d make whoever took her pay.
THE END
Look for Dante’s story August 2014…
Ultimate Fear
Book Two of the Ultimate CORE Trilogy
Other CORE Titles Available by Kristine Mason
Shadow of Danger
Book One of the CORE “Shadow” Trilogy
Four women have been found dead in the outskirts of a small Wisconsin town. The only witness, clairvoyant Celeste Risinski, observes these brutal murders through violent nightmares and hellish visions. The local sheriff, who believes in Celeste’s abilities and wants to rid their peaceful community of a killer, enlists the help of an old friend, Ian Scott, owner of a private criminal investigation agency, CORE. Because of Ian’s dark history with Celeste’s family, a history she knows nothing about, he sends his top criminalist, former FBI agent John Kain to investigate.
John doesn’t believe in Celeste’s mystic hocus-pocus, or in her visions of the murders. But just when he’s certain they’ve solved the crimes, with the use of science and evidence, more dead bodies are discovered. Could this somehow be the work of the same killer or were they dealing with a copycat? To catch a vicious murderer, the skeptical criminalist reluctantly turns to the sensual psychic for help. Yet with each step closer to finding the killer, John finds himself one step closer to losing his heart.
Get
Shadow of Danger
here!
Shadow of Perception
Book Two of the CORE “Shadow” Trilogy
What happens when negligent plastic surgeons receive a taste of their own medicine…?
Chicago investigative reporter, Eden Risk, receives an unmarked envelope containing a postcard ordering her to watch the enclosed DVD…or someone else dies. No Police. After Eden watches the DVD, a gruesome, horrifying surgery, she turns to the private criminal investigation agency, CORE, for help. Only she hadn’t expected that help to come with a catch. Her former lover, Hudson Patterson, has been assigned to the case.
Hudson would rather have another CORE agent handle the investigation. Two years ago, he’d screwed things up with Eden…bad. And as more DVDs arrive, Eden and Hudson find themselves not only knee-deep in a twisted investigation, but forced to deal with their past, and the love they’d tried to deny.
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Shadow of Perception
here!
Shadow of Vengeance
Book Three of the CORE “Shadow” Trilogy
Welcome to Hell Week. You have seven days to find him…
At Wexman University, male students will do anything to get into a top fraternity. They’ll prove their worth during Hell Week by participating in various physical, psychological and even juvenile pranks. But those shenanigans aren’t so funny when pledges start disappearing. What kind of evil has stalked this small Michigan university for the past two decades? Theories range from obscene scientific experiments to grotesque satanic killings…but they’re all wrong. The murdered boys serve a single purpose…the ultimate revenge.
Rachel Davis, forensic computer analyst for the private investigation agency CORE, has been itching to leave her desk behind and work in the field. When her brother Sean, a student at Wexman, is found beaten and his roommate kidnapped during Hell Week, she gets her chance. Only her boss insists former U.S. Secret Service Agent, Owen Malcolm, helps her with the investigation. Owen is the last person she wants on this assignment. She’d been secretly half in love with him for over four years, until the night he’d crushed her ego and destroyed her hopes for any kind of future with him.
For his own reasons, Owen refuses to risk becoming involved with a coworker. Now that he and Rachel are stuck working side-by-side to solve this perverse investigation, he’s having a hard time fighting his attraction to her…an attraction he’s tried to deny from the moment they met. But time is ticking. They have seven days to find the missing pledge and catch a killer. Seven days before the body count rises and the pledge ends up another victim of Hell Week.
Get
Shadow of Vengeance
here!
Contemporary Romances by Kristine Mason
Kiss Me
When is a kiss…
After a series of bad relationships, Jenna Cooper wants a sex buddy—no-strings, no emotional involvement, and absolutely no expectations of commitment. She sets her sights on Luke Sinclair. A player and commitment-phobe, he’d make the perfect boy toy. Only Luke’s tired of playing the scene and wants a serious relationship with Jenna, not a series of one-night stands.
…More than a kiss?
When Luke makes Jenna an offer she can’t refuse, the sexual tension between them combusts and their emotional chemistry becomes too hard for Jenna to ignore. They both end up with more than either bargained for, especially when Jenna’s wild past is exposed and threatens to tear their relationship apart. Now Luke will do anything to make things right between them, but knows it’s going to take more than a kiss…
Get
Kiss Me
here!
Pick Me
For the chance of a lifetime…
To help save the TV reality show,
Pick Me,
from cancellation, Valentina Bonasera swaps her position as the show’s Production Assistant, to play the role of Bachelorette, only to discover Bachelor Number One, rancher and sports agent, Colt Walker, happens to be her one and only one-night stand she’d snuck away from six months ago.
…Pick me.
Colt had never forgotten the hot, sensual night he’d shared with Valentina, or how she’d left him without so much as a note or her contact information. He’d spent months searching for the woman who’d given him a night he couldn’t forget and thought he’d never see again. Now that she’s in Dallas, he’s determined to make her his…
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Pick Me
here!
Love Me or Leave Me
Book Two of the Reality TV Romance Series
Love me…
Carter James, real estate agent for the hit reality show,
Renovate or Relocate
, has been crazy about the show’s designer, Brynn Dawson, for years. He’s been aching to take their friendship to a new level and when he gets his chance to spend a hot, sensual night with her and fulfill his wildest fantasies, he falls hard for Brynn. When the director of the show reveals that Brynn could possibly be fired, Carter knows he has to act fast before she’s booted from the show. He’ll not only jeopardize his reputation, but he’ll go behind her back to help her keep her job. Knowing Brynn’s pride is also at stake, he hopes his deception doesn’t come back to haunt him in the end. He can’t imagine life without the woman he loves.
…or leave me.
Brynn has been aware of Carter for years. How good he smells, his sexy smile, his lean, muscular body, his big, rough hands and what she’d like him to do with them. When she takes a chance by going from friends to lovers, she risks both her heart and their friendship, but discovers it’s the best decision she could have ever made. Despite having her job on the line, she also knows that as long as she has Carter by her side, she can get through anything. Until she finds out what Carter’s been up to. Hurt and betrayed, her emotions raw and her love for him tested, she’ll have to decide whether she can move past the deceit and love him or if his lack of faith in her will force her to leave him.
Get
Love Me or Leave Me
here!
About Kristine Mason
I didn’t pick up my first romance novel until I was in my late twenties. Immediately hooked, I read a bazillion books before deciding to write one of my own. After the birth of my first son I needed something to keep my mind from turning to mush, and Sesame Street wasn’t cutting it. While that first book will never see the light of day, something good came from writing it. I realized my passion and found a career I love.
When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.
You can email me at
[email protected]
, visit my website at
kristinemason.net
or find me on
Facebook
and connect with me on
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Table of Contents
Other CORE Titles by Kristine Mason
