by Elle James
Ivy’s Delta
Delta Team 3, Book Four
Elle James
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Afterword
Also by Elle James
About the Author
More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books
Books by Susan Stoker
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
© 2020 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!
If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.
This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.
I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!
This series is special to me as the five authors writing in the Delta Team Three series took a team that I introduced in Shielding Kinley and made them their own.
READ ON!
Xoxo
Susan Stoker
About the book
After years of resisting his teammates’ good intentions, big, bad and cranky Delta Force soldier, Magnus “Duff” McCormick, agrees to a blind date. Memories of his wife who died on their honeymoon derail his date with the beautiful redhead his friends introduce him to. When his date is attacked and almost stolen away, Duff comes to the rescue and sticks to her like glue, memories be damned.
Newly free-spirited Ivy Fremont, daughter of a senator, gave up her career as a lawyer to own and operate a gift shop, where mistakes won’t cost anyone his or her life. When her world is turned upside down and her life is threatened, her blind date and his team of Deltas launch a mission to Costa Rica to save her.
During their escape from a gnarly drug cartel, Ivy and Duff learn they have more in common than just their friends’ desire to get them together. Passions flare and walls around one intrepid soldier’s heart come tumbling down. They find in each other a reason to live and fight to give love a chance.
** Ivy's Delta is the 4th book in the Delta Team Three Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
** Operation Alpha is a fan-fiction world for Susan Stoker's novels. The characters in this series were introduced in Stoker's Delta Team Two series, specifically, book two, Shielding Kinley. You don't have to read that book to be engrossed in this series, but why wouldn't you want to? Enjoy!
To my friend, Susan Stoker, for inviting me into her world for a fun adventure we hope you all will enjoy.
To my friends, Becca, Lynne, Riley and Lori for all the love and support throughout this joint effort. You guys rock!
To my readers who follow me everywhere. You are the reason I write. Thank you for reading my stories.
Be sure to pick up all the books in the Delta Team Three series!
Nori’s Delta by Lori Ryan
Destiny’s Delta by Becca Jameson
Gwen’s Delta by Lynne St. James
Ivy’s Delta by Elle James
Hope’s Delta by Riley Edwards
Chapter 1
Magnus “Duff” McCormick sat in the back of the CH-47 Chinook, dressed for the battle simulation, his M4A1 loaded with blanks and his vest packed with magazines full of even more blanks.
That day’s training scenario was VIP extraction in rugged terrain using ultralight vehicles dropped from a Chinook helicopter. The vehicles could be dropped into any environment and had the maneuverability needed to get in and out of places that may not have roads, or that had roads that were heavily guarded and to be avoided.
Woof tapped his booted toes on the metal floor of the aircraft, his rifle balanced across his knees. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’m sweatin’ balls here.”
Military operations in the deserts of Afghanistan could be hot. The kind of hot you feel pouring out of a pizza oven, only worse—you can’t close the oven. The heat is oppressive and constant during the day.
Thankfully, they weren’t currently in Afghanistan. They were on the Fort Hood Military Range. Real bullets wouldn’t be flying at them, but the heat was similar to that in Afghanistan, especially in the belly of the helicopter with no doors or windows open. Today they were practicing an extraction of a very important person. In this case, it was the commanding officer of their unit. The CO.
Some of the guys thought that meant they had to be even better than good at getting him out of the fake “dangerous” situation.
Duff wasn’t one of them. He did his job. It didn’t matter if the target for extraction was his CO, a politician or a trained monkey. His job was to extract the target and bring him back alive in the most expedient manner possible.
“We hit the LZ in five mikes,” Luke “Merlin” Forest called out over the roar of the chopper blades. The old man of the team, he adjusted his helmet strap and climbed into the Ultralight Tactical Vehicle, or UTV.
The rest of the men moved into position in their assigned vehicles, ready to deploy as soon as the helicopter landed.
Duff straddled the all-wheel drive 450 rugged terrain motorcycle that looked like a dirt bike but contained a bullet-resistant radiator and a much sturdier frame to withstand just about any task the Army decided to throw at it.
The Chinook slowed its forward motion and slowly dropped into position at the same time as the rear ramp lowered.
A rush of hot air and wind replaced the stagnant heat. His adrenaline pumping, Duff started the engine and revved the throttle.
“Duff,” Merlin shouted. “Wait for the fucking chopper to land. Do you hear me?” He raised his voice, yelling over the roar of the helicopter’s dual blades whipping the air. “You know the CO doesn’t like personnel dying on training missions. Too damned much paperwork.”
Duff nodded. “I’ve got this.” He had thousands of hours of experience riding dirt bikes. It was what he did when he had any time off. The more rugged the terrain and the faster he could go, the better. He’d brok
en every rib in his body at one time or another. They’d healed and they would again.
Adjusting his helmet one last time, he narrowed his eyes and studied the terrain as the helicopter descended.
When the ramp was still five feet off the ground, Duff twisted the throttle, opening it wide, let his foot off the brake and rocketed out of the helicopter’s bowels.
As he left the back of the chopper, he pulled up on the handlebars and came down hard on his back tire.
The motorcycle fishtailed. He skimmed a booted foot across the ground, steadied and took off in the direction of the target on terrain he’d studied prior to climbing aboard their transport.
A quick glance over his shoulder showed the ramp touching ground and the two ultralight tactical vehicles blasting out of the back, loaded with his teammates, racing to catch up to him.
Duff returned his focus to the task ahead.
Roads existed that would take him to his quarry, but they weren’t the most direct route, and they were lined with improvised explosive devices and guards, according to the scenario. Instead, he chose to go cross-country, dropping down into a ravine and popping back up on the other side, both wheels flying four feet above the ground before gravity brought him back to earth.
“Remember you have a team back here,” Merlin ground out, his voice crackling in Duff’s headset.
“Gotcha,” Duff said.
“Fucking asshole. Gonna get yourself killed,” Merlin muttered.
“Yeah, and who would care?” Duff retorted.
“No one,” Woof said. “But one or all of us would have to risk our necks to bring you home. You know that old saying, no man left behind?”
Duff slowed slightly. He’d been in a battle where he’d had to carry a team member out. A lifeless member. One he was supposed to cover while he’d leaped forward during an operation in urban terrain. His teammate had leaped into an ambush.
No matter how many bullets he’d pumped into the air above that building, Duff hadn’t been able to stop the Taliban rebel from killing his friend. He’d had to carry the man’s body out and face his wife and kids when they’d returned Stateside.
Slowing a little more, he waited for the others to come in range before he took off again.
Once his teammates engaged, he would circle around the aggressors, get in and extract their target. Hopefully, his CO would be agreeable to riding out on the back of the dirt bike. It wasn’t the best way to leave, but it got them out when the aggressors outnumbered them four to one. And they couldn’t shoot them. It was, after all, an exercise, not the real deal.
Depending on the physical status of the person to be extracted, the bike was more maneuverable, could get in and out with a smaller footprint and was not as easily picked out of the shadows as a UTV.
As he neared the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, he swung wide, keeping to the tree line until he was close to the back entrance of the mockup of a Middle Eastern village.
Their intel had located their target in the embassy. All he had to do was sneak in with his team, take out a few bad guys and extract their VIP.
Though the rooftops of the mockup buildings were concrete and could support a helicopter landing, they had chosen to train under the assumption the rooftops weren’t strong enough. They would have to drop in close to the village, move in on ATVs or motorcycles and go the rest of the way on foot.
At the predesignated location, Duff paused in the shadows of the scrubby trees at the edge of the training site. So far, the aggressor forces had not engaged him.
“In position,” he reported.
“Hold until we give you the signal,” Merlin responded.
“Roger.” Duff’s adrenaline spiked through his system, making it difficult for him to wait. He needed action.
“Going in to stir the pot,” Merlin said. He would lead the first UTV into the city, drop some of his men from the vehicle and race past the embassy to distract the aggressors while the men on foot stormed the flanks and rear of the compound, taking out as many of the guards as possible.
Duff waited, straining his ears for the sound of gunfire.
When it came, he revved the engine and waited for his cue.
“Duff, you’re on,” Merlin said.
Duff released the brake and raced into the village and up to the back of the embassy where his teammates had secured the entrance.
Rather than dismount and enter on foot, Duff ran the motorcycle up the steps and through the door into the shell of a building, spun the bike around and nodded to his teammates who were protecting their CO as he ran toward Duff.
“Hop on!” Duff called out.
“You’re kidding me, right?” his CO said, his brow rising.
“No, sir,” Duff said. “Fastest way out. Come with me if you want to live,” he said.
The CO climbed onto the back of the bike.
“Hold on,” Duff yelled. Before the CO had his arms all the way around his waist, Duff took off, shooting out the back door and down the steps.
His commander clamped his arms around Duff’s waist and held on as they flew through the streets. Duff’s teammates were staged at every corner to provide cover for the departing duo.
Moments later, Duff blasted out of the village and headed for the tree line, zigzagging to give any aggressor on a rooftop less of a chance of firing a kill shot at them.
Entering the shadows of the trees, Duff didn’t slow, but dodged the low-hanging branches of the mesquites, heading for the extraction point where the helicopter was scheduled to pick up its cargo.
When Duff burst out into the open, the Chinook was there, ramp down and ready.
Duff sped up.
“Slow the fuck down,” his CO yelled in his ear.
Duff heard but chose to ignore him. He raced across the field, slowing at the last possible moment, bumped up the ramp, stopped and jerked his head toward one of the gunners. “Get him off.”
As soon as the CO was off the back of the bike, Duff sped out of the chopper and back toward the village.
The two UTVs emerged from the trees, members of his team clinging to the roll bars.
Duff slowed, tipped the bike over on its side, and laid down protective fire for his team as they ran their vehicles up the ramp into the Chinook.
When the last UTV was in, Duff lifted his bike, gunned the throttle and turned it as he slung his leg over the seat.
The propeller blades at each end of the Chinook beat the air in preparation for takeoff.
Duff twisted the throttle, giving the bike all it could take and entered the back of the chopper, skidding to a sideways halt. The ramp started up and the Chinook lifted off the ground.
“What if I’d been incapacitated?” The CO came at him, as Duff climbed off the back of the dirt bike.
“We were prepared to take you out in one of the UTVs,” Duff answered. “We knew our target was agile and capable of holding onto the back of the motorcycle.”
“And if the enemy had roughed me up so that I couldn’t?”
Duff lifted his chin. “Again, we would have taken you out on one of the UTVs.”
The CO rubbed his backside. “You could have waited until I was down the back steps before loading me onto the bike.” His lips twitched. “That was a helluva ride.”
Duff nodded. “Yes, sir.”
His commander’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky it was me.”
“Yes, sir.”
The CO turned to the team in the back of the Chinook. “Good job. Next time might be for real. I want an after-action report of the exercise, including your review of the use of Ultralight Tactical Vehicles, in the extraction scenario. Right now, I want your thoughts. Give me the pros.”
“They’re better equipped to handle rough terrain,” Jangles said.
Zip grinned and patted the side of the UTV he’d ridden on. “They’re lightweight and agile.”
Woof snorted. “Got us in there faster than going in on foot.”
The commander crossed his arms over his chest. “Cons?”
“They aren’t hardened for IEDs.” Merlin shook his head. “But then, they’re lighter. You can’t have it both ways.”
The CO turned to Duff. “And the bike?”
“Fast.” Duff shrugged. He was ready to get back to the unit and out of uniform. The heat was making him crankier than usual. “Need both hands on the handlebars so it puts the rider at a disadvantage with weapons.”
“But it can fly,” Jangles said. “At least with Duff it can.”
The commander’s brow twisted. “You mean it’s fast?”
“Yes, sir, but it really can fly.” Zip’s grin broadened. “Right, Duff?”
Duff glared at the members of his team. “I knew what I was doing. We got the VIP out, didn’t we?”
“Yes, you did,” the CO said. “The dirt bike and the UTVs are still intact. They’ll live to serve another day.”
The Chinook slowed and hovered before lowering to the ground.
“Good job, men.” Their commander said. “You’re dismissed…after you complete your after-action reports.”
The men groaned.
Merlin gave the CO a chin lift. “We’ll see you at the Ugly Mug?”
Their commander shook his head. “Sorry. The wife has other plans for me.”
“Let us guess.” Jangles tipped his blond head. “Lawn mowing or watching the kids while the wife goes out with her gal pals?”
The CO’s lips twisted. “Both.”
