by Kaylea Cross
His deep chuckle made her heart turn over as he hugged her back. “I love you too, dimples. And that means I’m with you ‘til the end.”
No one in her life had ever stood by her before. No one had ever stuck around. But Tyler had. And he would stay with her through whatever came next.
With him at her side, together they could face anything.
—The End—
*To read more about the original Valkyries, look for the following titles*
-BRIAR: Disavowed and Guarded (Hostage Rescue Team Series #4 and #12)
-GEORGIA: Betrayed (Hostage Rescue Team Series #9)
-TRINITY: Brody’s Vow (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy #1)
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading Stealing Vengeance. I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to stay in touch with me and be the first to learn about new releases you can:
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Happy reading,
Kaylea
Excerpt from
Covert Vengeance
Vengeance Series
By Kaylea Cross
Copyright © 2019 Kaylea Cross
Chapter One
The bitterness of betrayal was still as fresh as the healing bullet scar on her side, but she had to overcome it if she was going to get this done. People were depending on her. Family, both by blood and creed. Having blood family was still a revelation.
Amber Brown pulled the edges of her headscarf tighter around her face and adjusted her sunglasses as she left the bus station on the outskirts of Damascus. Hot, arid air blasted her, the September sun beating down on her as she moved through the crowd of passengers toward the rental car facility.
The latest intel indicated that her target was here. Whether or not she was still alive, Amber wasn’t sure. Given the people involved with the woman’s capture several days ago, that chance dwindled with each passing hour. Amber had to act fast.
She stayed alert as she moved, on the lookout for any threat that might have managed to follow her here despite all her precautions. She was deep in enemy territory now. Her technological expertise was a double-edged sword. It allowed her to find those who wanted to stay hidden—and it also made her a target.
She was the hunter for now, but she was also prey. There were so many unknowns, and every time she made a move, she wore a target on her back.
Her rental vehicle was waiting for her, attained with fake ID under a new alias. She checked it with a critical eye, subtly looking for any signs of tampering before hiding her equipment in various spots in the interior and sliding behind the wheel to crank up the air conditioning. She’d managed to fly under the radar and evade everyone looking for her thus far. Now the most dangerous part of her journey began.
Amber prayed she wasn’t too late. If she was responsible for the capture—and much worse—of an innocent fellow Valkyrie, then she was honor bound to do whatever it took to try to rescue her. Up to and including giving her own life. It was the only way she could clear her conscience.
The roads were crowded, especially on the approach to the city. Security was tight. She breezed through the first checkpoint in a matter of minutes. At the second, right on the edge of the old capital, the way the armed soldiers looked at her put her instantly on edge.
The soldier at her window checked her passport with the computer in his booth, then turned to stare at her for a moment too long. Unease crackled along her nerve endings.
“Get out of the car,” he commanded in clipped Arabic, adjusting his grip on his rifle.
Did they know who she was? She kept her expression impassive. Running the checkpoint wasn’t an option if she wanted to live. So she had no choice but to comply.
She stepped out into the midday heat, posture and expression relaxed but her hands ready to dive for the pistol or blade strapped to her ankles, hidden beneath the loose lower legs of her cargo pants. A few men watched with interest from outside a nearby café. The slight bulges beneath their shirts told her some of them were armed.
The first soldier stared at her while his partner searched her vehicle. She didn’t move, didn’t react even when the second tossed her bag into the dirt and began rifling through it. She’d come prepared for this. Anything sensitive or mission critical was hidden in the vehicle or on her person somewhere.
Not finding anything, the guard left her clothing and toiletries lying in the dust and shook his head at the first man. Amber held his stare as he approached, his expression hard. She tensed and shifted her stance slightly, mentally choosing an escape route that might allow her to flee on foot because if this asshole thought he was going to perform a body search, that wasn’t happening.
The soldier stopped a foot from her, tall enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. “What are you doing in Damascus?” he growled.
None of your fucking business. If her picture had triggered something in his database, he would have tried to arrest her by now. Key word, tried. Because she wasn’t going to prison. “Visiting family.” He was hassling her because she was a single female traveling alone and thought she was easy prey. But if he thought he and his friend might make a victim out of her, they wouldn’t live long enough to see how wrong they were.
The soldier sneered at her before raking his cold, black gaze over the length of her and back up again. “You’re lying.”
Amber refused to cower or look away. Bullies thrived on fear and weakness. He would find neither in her.
Try me, asshole. She’d killed men a lot scarier than him.
Taking him out would cause major hassle because she’d have to kill the other soldier too, but if he tried to attack her it would almost be worth it to do the world a favor and put a bullet in his head.
Seeming frustrated that he hadn’t elicited the reaction he’d hoped for, he stepped back with a disgusted sound. “Get out of here,” he snarled.
With pleasure. She knelt to gather up her strewn belongings, aware of exactly where both men were positioned in case they tried anything. Even as she drove off she kept her eye on the first guard in her side mirror, prepared to react in case he decided to take a parting shot at her. He was on his radio, gaze locked on her vehicle as he spoke to someone.
They would have eyes on her now. Adding more pressure to this high-stakes mission.
Her shoulders relaxed a little when she put a safe distance between her and the checkpoint. Traffic was light, yet it was hard to say if anyone had followed her. She focused on her surroundings, heading for the apartment she had secured. This area of Damascus was still very much a warzone.
Several buildings were nothing but piles of rubble. Others were marked with scars from shells and bullets, windows blown out and several floors destroyed. Children ran through the streets chasing one another or playing soccer while mostly male adults stood around watching.
Curious, somewhat hostile stares followed Amber as she drove to the small apartment building and parked around back. Given the security situation at the moment, a single female traveling alone made her both a curiosity and a target.
It took time to ensure she wasn’t being followed and get into the unit. Once she swept the interior, she set up a handful of micro cameras to give her a view of the hallway and streets below. Finally, she was able to get to work.
Her custom laptop allowed her to access what she needed, including CCTV footage from outside the old palace she was interested in. Word had it that the people she was looking for were using it as temporary headquarters.
This organization specialized in running weapons and people, and had ties to both the milit
ary and a powerful terrorist group also operating in Syria. They were also old school, preventing her from being able to remotely hack into their security systems, and everyone was afraid of them because they were ruthless and rich and powerful. They could buy off whoever they wanted, and kill anyone who wouldn’t take the money or got in their way.
Her hacking and technological wizardry wasn’t much of an advantage here, but Amber could do old school when necessary. On screen she watched the handful of armed men moving about the building, looking for familiar faces, patterns that would allow her to penetrate the target. She needed to get inside to see if there was any sign of Hannah.
Sitting around made her antsy. After several hours the need to keep moving pricked at her.
Time for some eyes-on recon.
She left the building on foot, a shopping bag over one shoulder as she made her way down the sidewalk and blended in with the locals on her route. Less than twenty paces in, a niggling awareness warned her she was being watched.
Her gaze snagged on someone across the street. A man. Around her height, but heavyset. He wore a full beard but the tops of his cheeks were exposed.
Showing the curved scar snaking down the right one.
Recognition hit. He’d been watching her from the cafe at the second checkpoint. The soldier must have sent him after her, either to keep tabs or…something worse.
She glanced away and kept walking, that warning buzz growing stronger in the pit of her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the scarred man step away from the building and follow.
She walked faster. Turned left at the next corner, using her mental map of the area to keep her bearings in the tangle of ancient streets. She needed to avoid a confrontation at all cost. There was enough heat on her already without adding more.
In her peripheral she caught the moment the man broke into a jog and crossed the street, coming after her.
Amber broke into a run, scanning for a place where she could lose him. Getting in a shootout in the middle of the street meant disaster for her and the mission.
She found an alley a block up and darted into it just as running footsteps sounded behind her. The old cobbled surface was narrow and deserted. The only cover was a wooden wagon near the other end, offering only partial concealment.
The heavy treads behind her kept coming, and the end of the alley was less than thirty yards away. She’d wanted to avoid this, but there was no other choice. If she was going to do this, it had to be here and now. The wagon would have to do.
She crawled under it, stretched out on her belly and reached down to grab the pistol from her ankle holster. Then she waited, weapon ready.
The man raced around the corner of the alley. Stopped, then ran toward her, a pistol in his grip.
Amber fired two rapid shots.
Surprise and pain twisted the man’s features as the bullets struck his legs. He dropped to his knees, blood spreading across the cobbles, and raised his arm to fire at her.
Amber fired twice more, this time center mass.
The man toppled sideways with a painful groan and arched his back, his weapon now lying on the shadowy ground as he tore feebly at the front of his shirt. He would be dead in moments.
Glancing behind her to make sure no one else had seen her yet, she scooted out from beneath the wagon and hurried toward him, pistol aimed at his head this time. He lay unmoving, only his eyes moving, rolling toward her as she approached. She kicked his pistol out of reach, then crouched down and quickly went through his pockets. No ID, but she took his phone. Once she was safe she would use it to find out who he was and who he worked for.
She ran for the end of the alley, tucking her weapon in her waistband. The gunshots would bring unwanted attention. When someone came to investigate, she couldn’t be anywhere near the body.
She scrapped her plan to conduct recon of the palace and headed back to the apartment, ready to go back on the offensive if someone else came after her. The dead man meant more danger for her. Everything was moving faster now, time slipping away too quickly and increasing the chance that she wouldn’t live long enough to complete her mission.
It didn’t frighten her. It came with the territory, and constantly watching her back was nothing new. She’d lived most of her life that way. Had learned long ago not to fear death, because death came for everyone eventually.
Except this time… This time she had something worth living for.
An image of her sister’s face flashed in her mind. Eighteen months younger, taken from her when they’d been little, now a Valkyrie operative who specialized in stealing critical things from impossible places.
Megan was smiling at her as she handed Amber the small duffel of cash and other supplies she’d needed to leave the country after Megan had helped her escape the holding facility in London two weeks ago. “You’re coming back, right?”
“If I can.”
Megan scowled and shoved Amber’s shoulder gently. “Well then make sure you can.”
“I’ll try.”
She wanted to return to England and see Megan again. Wanted to spend time with her and help with the search for the other missing Valkyries. But the only way that was happening was if Amber completed this mission.
She shook her head. Wishing for things was dangerous. She couldn’t afford to think about Megan, or dreams that would probably never come true. All that mattered was righting the wrong she’d done.
And if she was really lucky, one day she might even get to live a real life for a little while. Maybe even spend some of it getting to know her little sister again. Begin to heal the bond that had been severed by the people who had turned Amber and the others from young, frightened orphans into lethal weapons.
She pushed that from her mind and hurried toward the apartment where she could hack into the phone and dig into the dead man’s identity. Rescuing Hannah was all that mattered right now.
Someone had sent that hired thug after her. She hoped it was the guard at the checkpoint and not a wider network aware of her presence.
One threat had been eliminated. God only knew how many more were coming.
*End Excerpt*
(Covert Vengeance releases July 30, 2019)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards, including the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, and has been nominated multiple times for the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and family.
You can visit Kaylea at www.kayleacross.com. If you would like to be notified of future releases, please join her newsletter.
Direct link: http://kayleacross.com/v2/newsletter/
COMPLETE BOOKLIST
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Vengeance Series
Stealing Vengeance
Covert Vengeance
Crimson Point Series
Fractured Honor
Buried Lies
Shattered Vows
Rocky Ground
DEA FAST Series
Falling Fast
Fast Kill
Stand Fast
Strike Fast
Fast Fury
Fast Justice
Fast Vengeance
Colebrook Siblings Trilogy
Brody’s Vow
Wyatt’s Stand
Easton’s Claim
Hostage Rescue Team Series
Marked
Targeted
Hunted
Disavowed
Avenged
Exposed
Seized
Wanted
Betrayed
Reclaimed
Shattered
Guarded
Titanium Security Series
Ignited
Burned
Extinguished
Rekindled
Blindsided: A Titanium Christmas novella
Bagram Special Ops Series
Deadly Descent
Tactical Strike
Lethal Pursuit
Danger Close
Collateral Damage
Never Surrender (a MacKenzie Family novella)
Suspense Series
Out of Her League
Cover of Darkness
No Turning Back
Relentless
Absolution
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Empowered Series
Darkest Caress
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
The Vacant Chair
EROTIC ROMANCE (writing as Callie Croix)
Deacon’s Touch
Dillon’s Claim
No Holds Barred
Touch Me
Let Me In
Covert Seduction
