by Serena Zane
Crystal Clear
Jewel Series
Book 2
Serena Zane
Crystal Clear
Jewel series
Book 2
KINDLE EDITION
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
SZ Publications
Crystal Clear
Jewel series book 2
Copyright © 2012 Serena Zane
All rights reserved.
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Adult reading material.
Dedication
A special thank you to the ladies of the Olympia RWA for their support, encouragement and mentoring.
To my husband, who puts up with all my ramblings as I seek to work out plotlines and hash out dialogue.
Thank you to my little German friend who inspired the character of Cindy Hawke. You will always be in my best memories.
Also, thank you to my tactical experts who helped me understand tactics and weaponry. Your experience is invaluable, as well as the service you have done for your country.
Other works by Serena Zane can be found on her website:
http://www.serenazane.com
or
http://www.bookstogonow.com
The Christmas Present The Hunter Diaries Book 1
Bite Me The Hunter Diaries Book 2
Belief The Hunter Diaries Book 3
Coming soon Insidious Whispers The Hunter Diaries Book 4
Snow Beast Dark Warrior series Book 1
A Cross to Bare Dark Warrior series Book 2
Coming Soon Bane Dark Warrior series Book 3
Dark Diamonds Jewel series Book 1
Crystal Clear Jewel series Book 2
Coming soon Ruby Red Jewel series Book 3
Follow the Heart
Moonlight in a Pickup Truck
Chapter 1Agent Cindy Hawke watched the prisoner sitting behind one-way glass in the interrogation room with hard eyes. Ignacio Rivera, a man who stole countless treasures around the world, ran drugs – and worst of all - tortured her best friend. Reduced to nothing, Rivera's carefully built empire fell down around his feet. She gave a mocking laugh.
Serves him right. Flicking a lock of brown hair over her shoulder she glanced down at her notes.
Rivera had revealed a lot in exchange for leniency.
Leniency my ass. A smirk formed on her lips as Cindy imagined the look of indignation he’d have on his face at sentencing. Agents of F.I.U.W. didn’t take kindly to people mistreating one of their own.
The intercom sounded, a brisk voice came over the system, “Excuse me Agent Hawke, you are needed on the phone.”
“Thank you, I’ll be right there.” She took one last glance at the man who caused her team so much trouble. Cindy desperately wanted to go into the other room and show Rivera what happened to those who messed with her friends, but, that wasn’t possible.
It was against the rules to use excessive force if not needed. Rivera gave up information without much coercion. Her stomach knotted in frustration. She sent the man one last glare for good measure, though he couldn’t see her. Cindy shut her notepad and walked out of the room.
She entered the bustling Operation Mosquito headquarters of F.I.U.W., Forced Intelligence of the United World, an international joint agency designed to fight crime on a global level. Her team would soon be leaving Colombia to return to their cases in the United States.
Cindy’s home base looked similar back in New York. She couldn’t help but wonder if all the F.I.U.W. operational bases were built the same-- like huge department stores, everywhere you went you had an idea of what to expect. She moved with determined steps towards a desk the agent directed her to and picked up the phone.
“Agent Hawke here.”
“Seems we have a bit of a situation, Hawke.” Derek Killory, director of F.I.U.W. headquarters in New York spoke.
Her spine straightened to attention. No mistaking his voice.
“There’s a satellite operated by Jaguar that’s come down in Northwestern United States near Bend, Oregon. Your mission is to bring the Intel back to New York.”
Jaguar was a terrorist organization based out of New Mexico. Much like Al-Qaeda, F.I.U.W. referred to Jag as what they called an All-Channel Network with small working cells, or groups of people, coordinated through the internet and other technology. This made them harder to take out, since they were able to efficiently use the World Wide Web for coordination.
Jag comprised of extremists who believed the end of the world would occur in correlation with the Mayan calendar. Unfortunately, they also thought their place in history is to help bring about the Apocalypse. F.I.U.W. had yet to prove how they got their funding and couldn’t catch Jag at any of their suspected, nefarious activities.
Hot damn, finally, all those years of training would pay off. A field op! About time! I have to tell Lucy! Cindy composed herself before responding. It wouldn’t do to have the Director be aware of how thrilled she felt, but in spite of her excitement Cindy had a few questions.
“Do you have the coordinates to where the satellite landed? Why wouldn’t they just air lift me in, seems simpler.” Wanting to be in on the action badly, but not fully comprehending why the big fuss, Cindy listened as the Director continued.
“The area is saturated with tourists, and the government has asked that we don’t draw attention. We’ve estimated the target fell not far from the Inn of the Seventh Mountain Resort near the Deschutes River. Arrangements are made for you to stay at the resort.”
Cindy could barely contain herself.
“Agent Hawke, you're selected for this mission because of your technical expertise, and your experience outdoors. Download the information contained within the black box, and then destroy the device to stop anyone else from getting their hands on the Intel. Hawke, this is a need to know only. Don’t let us down.”
“Yes Sir.” She glanced down at the desk and ran a finger over the smooth surface. Cindy couldn’t help but grin.
Cross-trained in all areas of field work, Cindy was technician of the team. She helped plan and execute missions, helping with interrogations and situations such as dealing with Rivera. Due to her abilities to hack into other networks and get needed information, Cindy was an integral part of the team. Accordingly, she had higher security clearance than most of them.
Cindy trained right next to her best friend Lucy Montgomery, but hadn’t been assigned anything but tech work and interrogations since leaving the academy. She longed to be in the thick of things with her best friend. There weren’t many people who could do what she did with a computer. F.I.U.W. took advantage of the fact.
Always stuck in the damn van! Well, not anymore! She turned to pop herself off the edge of the desk, and then noticed the agent still there watching her. She immediately smothered her grin.
“That’s all, be safe.” The director instructed.
“Oh, I will
.” Cindy hung up the receiver. With a bounce in her step she headed down the hall. This would be her first field mission as point. Cindy slowed her stride and tried to contain herself.
She wanted to tell everyone. Cindy grimaced as she reminded her brain she had to keep things secret. She tried to focus. First thing, she needed to figure out what to pack.
Chapter 2Agent Lucy Montgomery stood outside Cindy’s door holding a large manila envelope with a saucy, secretive smile on her face. “So, off on your own this time, huh?”
“Hell yes! I’m so excited. It’s an easy one too,” Cindy burst with enthusiasm.
Sweet, I don’t have to hide this from Lucy! Cindy placed her hand on the wall and leaned into it, unable to contain her joy near her friend.
Montgomery mimicked her movements and grinned as if it was the most natural thing for her to be standing there holding the mission file. “So I hear,” she turned the envelope over in her hands.
Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, how did you find out so quickly?” She cocked her head to the side and a piece of auburn hair fell in her face. Montgomery always knew information before most, and Cindy couldn’t figure out how.
Lucy Montgomery was the undercover agent who helped bring about the downfall of Ignacio Rivera. It seemed, after interrogating Rivera, he was heavily involved in art theft and smuggling. They suspected he supplied part of the funds for Jaguar. F.I.U.W. just hadn’t been able to prove their ties, yet. Funds went to a secure off-shore account.
Montgomery’s cover had been blown. Cindy secretly suspected a mole in the department. When Montgomery had shown up at Rivera’s estate in Colombia, the man already had inside information she worked as an undercover agent, resulting in some bad trouble not only for Montgomery, but the team as well.
“Killroy has asked for me to act as your mentor during this mission. You’ll be reporting to me. Plus, Chase is your backup.”
Cindy understood, she’d trained with Montgomery, but her friend had way more field experience than she did. Her backup might be an issue though. Chase was Montgomery’s twin brother, and Cindy’s ex-boyfriend. “Isn’t he still injured?”
“Its low profile, they're letting him back in the field.” Montgomery shrugged her shoulder in a characteristic move.
“Are you sure? He was beaten up pretty bad when Jaguar got a hold of him.”
Not even three weeks ago, Chase had been kidnapped by Jag. He had researched their movements and prepared to take out some key players in their plan. They’d discovered him, taken him captive, and tortured him.
Montgomery, with a team of other operatives, caught up with them. They rescued Chase, and took down Rivera’s crime syndicate in Colombia.
When they took out Rivera’s operation, the bust had sliced a serious dent into operations for Jaguar, if in fact they were being funded by the drug lord. Cindy hoped that Jaguar felt the cut.
Chase was black and blue from his injuries the last time Cindy had seen him. The man had a lot of healing to do before he took the field again. He was stubborn though.
“Killroy says he’s ready, and Chase is chomping at the bit to be back on the job. Besides he can’t stand the fact that he was rescued by his sister.” Montgomery’s mocking laugher made Cindy raise her eyebrow again.
Cindy was aware the Montgomery twins had an ongoing competition to best one another. All in good ‘sibling rivalry’ fun, of course, but sometimes it got dangerous.
She had to agree with her friend, “Now, that I can see, he never wants to be held down for long.” She paused and leaned fully against the wall, “from the sound of things I won’t have to have help with this mission. It seems pretty straight forward.”
Montgomery lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug, “Just make sure you call in and report on a regular basis. You never can tell when you might need backup. It’s always good to have just in case.”
The nerve endings in her fists tingled. She would handle this case without help. It was her chance to prove herself. Cindy tried not to sound defensive, “Chase can remain in New York. He doesn’t have to play hero all the time.” Her eyes narrowed. “As far as I am concerned, he truly needed a reality check. And he got one.” Cindy watched Montgomery for a reaction.
Chase was a thrill seeker. Cindy firmly believed he needed to learn to work with the team, for safety if nothing else.
Montgomery tugged at a piece of her long strawberry blond hair. “We compete, it's what we do. I thought you two got along.”
Chase Montgomery was a nice agent and a great guy, but he just didn’t do it for Cindy. In fact, she never met a man who had. It wasn’t that she didn’t like men, but no one she had met gave off that spark, the feeling of, well-- she couldn't quite figure out how to describe it. She just knew she wanted it, and wasn’t getting it. She and Chase had an on again-off again relationship that spoke more of convenience than true love. The sex was nice, but had no real combustion.
“It’s okay between us right now, but I need a man who doesn’t have to have a gun in his hand to be whole.” Cindy rubbed her hands along her jeans. She didn’t like talking about her relationships with men, even if it was with her best friend. It made her feel uncomfortable. She thought it was strange she wasn’t really attracted to anyone. Maybe the issue lay with her? She didn’t want to admit that to anyone though, so she tended to avoid the subject.
“That may be a little hard to do being in the Agency.”
Cindy tried not to fidget. Montgomery was right.
Being in a relationship outside of the Agency would be difficult with anyone. Cindy hadn’t wanted many people to have knowledge about her relationship with Chase, in case it didn’t work out. She didn’t appreciate messes, and it would be messy if she were to break up with her best friend’s brother.
Best laid plans often don’t work though. Their relationship became apparent to everyone during the last mission, but no one really knew to what extent they were involved. Montgomery would love it of course if Cindy decided to take things further with her brother, but Cindy just couldn’t really picture the two of them together.
They were drastically different, and as Cindy had already stated, she didn’t want a man who needed to have danger to make him feel whole. Chase was definitely a danger sort of man. Cindy firmly believed she would have to look outside the Agency to find a man she would find acceptable. Chase would take it hard when he realized Cindy was not the one for him, but he would deal.
“I can always dream.” Cindy stated with an exaggerated sigh. She didn’t usually get much time off, and the only social time was usually in a van. One wasn’t likely to hook-up with Mr. Right in those circles.
Cindy flipped her hair again, and gestured into her room. “So, want to help me pack? I’m preparing for the Northwestern wilderness.”
“Sure, you have a waterproof backpack?” Montgomery asked.
Cindy looked at her with a sideways glance. Why in the world would she need a waterproof backpack? She wasn’t going into the rainforest. She raised an eyebrow, “No, are you kidding? I’m usually the one stuck doing the tech research in the office.” She had been chosen for the assignment because she had the skills needed. She also knew how to fly her own plane, and that would save questions at terminals and airplane shipping lines. It was harder to track the flight path of privately owned aircraft, especially when one forgot to log their flight plan.
“Follow me, we’ll get you all hooked up.” Montgomery repeated into the voice recognition program that was in the elevator, “all hooked up.”
Montgomery took Cindy to an area of the complex she had never entered before. Cindy didn’t usually need things from this particular spot, having everything she normally required on her state of the art laptop. People usually brought her the other things necessary for her job preferring her to stay focused on retrieval of information.
They came to security fo
r the equipment division. Cindy and Montgomery both looked into the retinal scanner for identity confirmation.
“This is so cool.” Cindy stood on the pad for the x-ray that detected any arms or hazardous material they might be carrying. The heavy steel doors on the end of the corridor slowly slid open without a sound. “You haven’t answered though, why do I need a waterproof backpack?”
“Because you are going to the Northwest,” she handed Cindy the envelope she carried. “The Northwestern United States is notorious for its rainfall. Think of it as if you were going somewhere dreary, and the rain never stops pouring.”
Cindy cringed, entered the equipment division and looked around at all the high tech gear. Her eyes nearly popped out with glee.
“No, Cindy, no drooling on the equipment.”
Cindy let out a giggle, as Montgomery teased her. Montgomery knew her so well. She and Cindy went way back, having attended academy at F.I.U.W. together. Cindy saved Montgomery’s backside as many times as Montgomery had saved hers.
She took in the shadows under Montgomery’s eyes. It seemed her friend hadn’t been able to put the memory behind her yet of the last mission. She wanted to rip Rivera’s throat out, again. Her fists clenched as she tried to push the thought away. The last thing Cindy wanted to do was remind Montgomery of their previous case.
“Very funny Montgomery,” Cindy wasn’t laughing as her hands passed over an array of gear and thought about how she’d enjoyed interrogating Rivera. The man was not easy to crack -- until she made it clear he could just as easily disappear as end up in jail. Then he seemed to be much more cooperative. She particularly enjoyed reminding him about the little fact that F.I.U.W. was not a government agency and therefore did not run on the same laws or rules other agencies had to abide by. The fear in the man’s eyes made her smile inside.
