Into the Blackness (Blackness Series Book 4)

by Norma Jeanne Karlsson

  “Yes ma’am. The FBI has strict rules on age and college education. The DCA doesn’t and recruited me straight outta high school.”

  “I was recruited right outta high school too. And please stop callin’ me ma’am. You’re makin’ me feel old.”

  “Sorry, ma…Kat.”

  I smile and he offers me a sweet almost timid grin in return.

  “I’m guessin’ you have a skill-set that didn’t require a college education,” Nick suggests.

  “Yes sir. I’m a sniper.”

  “Welcome to the family, Jake,” Nick says through a broad smile, pleased at the kid’s prowess.

  “Thanks,” he beams back.

  “Let’s bond,” I instruct and we go about doing just that.

  Nick

  Jake may be new to the agency and young as fuck, but the kid’s bright. He’ll be easy to work with. My only concern is high school girls wanting a piece of him. Maybe he can do it cougar-style and get an eighteen-year-old if the need comes. It will.

  Kat…wow, she’s a lot. The job has mindfucked her a bit. It does that. I’m no beacon of normalcy. I’m not sure what kind of team Shane’s running, but pimping out field agents should be against his goddamned policy. I felt every muscle in my body twitch when she laid out the briefest description of her last op where she was basically a whore for hire. That shit stops.

  We have three departments that oversee teams at the DCA. I come from the same department and have been moved to this team because the department head, Hal Gelding, wants me to take over this team. When this op is wrapped, Shane’s goal is to move to a different team or take Hal’s position as he’s looking for a promotion to run the agency. Shane may be taking his ops in unconventional directions, but he’s running the most successful ops of any team. If he can rein his shit in, he’ll make a great department head.

  I know Shane pretty well. We went through three years of training together before I went back to Chicago to work undercover in my own family. My uncle was the head of The Mancini Crime Family and I worked undercover as the enforcer for that family for a decade. It was torturous (pun…intended) to live my life in the family that had murdered my parents in one way or another before I was an adult. My father got what most mob men get, dead. I never needed the specifics, but I figure it was a drug deal gone wrong. Nothing to really shed tears over.

  My mother got cancer while I was away at “college”, meaning DCA training. She only lasted six months after the diagnosis. I was a miracle baby born to parents in their forties so my grandparents were long gone before my mom died, leaving me to be taken in—inserted by the DCA—by the great Vito Mancini. My uncle is a piece of fucking shit.

  I spent most of the decade I was in the Family carrying out DCA sanctioned hits, torturing and murdering at my uncle’s behest, collecting intel about every crime organization we had dealings with and in the end gathering recorded information on Vito Mancini himself once we’d sucked the Family dry of information. I wish I could say after a decade it was easy to get that, but it wasn’t. He was religious about sweeping for bugs and checking everyone for wires and listening devices. Even though I’d been killing for him for years, he never trusted me enough not to search and scan me.

  He finally fucked up though. After years of me trying to get enough shit to pin on him, he fucked up big time. Vito orchestrated the abduction and torture of Shannon Kelly. Shannon is a family attorney in Kansas City. For the last twenty-two years, it was believed she and her father, the State’s Attorney at the time, had died when their car was caught in a gang crossfire. I met an eight-year-old Shannon a few months before the shooting. I played with her for hours and fell madly in love with that little girl. I may have only been ten at the time, but she stole my heart and soul that day. My Shanny.

  When the press conference announcing her and her father’s deaths came on the TV, I threw up all over the carpet in front of me. I was destroyed by that information. It was in that moment I knew I never wanted to be anything my uncle was. I wanted to be good, to do good. I wanted to be worthy of the afternoon I spent with a girl that shined so brightly it hurt my eyes. Auburn hair, bright green eyes, a smile that could melt glaciers and a heart so big the world could fit in it two times over…that was the eight-year-old I played baseball with for an afternoon. She rocked my world.

  Twenty-two years later I get a call from my uncle that a job isn’t going as planned and he needs me to go wrap it up. Not an uncommon request from him. I show up at a farmhouse outside Chicago and look at the monitors connected to the cameras where the team was holding their captive to see auburn hair, bright green eyes, a naked body with its back ripped to shit from torture and Tony Gallo moments away from raping her. My heart finally returned to a beat I’d lost as a ten-year-old boy and my veins ran ice cold.

  I stormed into the basement room where they had her and slit Tony’s throat before he could do much to fight me. I spent the next few days tirelessly trying to find a way to rescue Shanny and keep her alive and safe. I failed in that effort because her new adopted family showed up to rescue her just as the rat that had infiltrated her family—planted there by mine—showed up. “Taylor”, as he was known, shot Shanny four times in the back as she flung herself around my body to save me, as I was his intended target. I felt every shot wrack her thin frame before I watched the life drain from her stunning emerald eyes. I died for the second time in my life that day.

  I wrapped my hands around her head when she curled around me and ended up stopping the bullet to the back of her head with my hands. The DCA has some amazing surgeons who have fixed my hands and removed my scars. That was the least of my worries.

  After a week in a coma, Shanny came back. My heart beat again. The only issue, Shanny is no longer the girl I met twenty-two years ago. She’s been hurt and tortured in ways nightmares are made of. The woman has a strength and determination that has carried her through her life that’s unparalleled.

  Once she was rescued I set about putting away my uncle which was made easy by information Shanny’s father had hidden proving on paper what my uncle is, as well as a dirty politician that my uncle was in cahoots with. That politician is currently recovering from surgery after I put a bullet in him yesterday. He came for Shanny for the third and last time. He ordered the hit that was made to look like a gang turf war twenty-two years ago. He ordered the abduction and torture of Shanny in December to cover up his dealings with Vito twenty-two years prior. Yesterday, Governor Grady showed up with three Mancini Family lowlifes to try to force her to testify at his trial by stealing her infant son. Before Shanny, who’s a weapons expert the agency would love to get their hands on, could blow his brains out, I put two rounds in his chest.

  That’s the last time harm will come to Shannon Kelly on my watch.

  As much as I love that woman, she’s taken. She has a man who loves her the way she deserves, in a way I’m not sure I’m capable of. So instead of fighting for the love of a woman who’s had my heart for more than two decades I’ve let her go. Shanny’s my friend. My closest friend in the world and I love her fiercely. But I had to let her go. Eight months have passed since I found her in that basement and the ache from losing her still stings, but the joy in sharing her friendship lessens the blow.

  Yesterday, Shanny learned she’s pregnant with twins. Her life is full to the brim with love and I can’t be hurt by that. I take pleasure from it. I’ll fill my life with good to prove to myself that I deserve even a fraction of what that woman offers me as a friend if it’s the last thing I do on Earth.

  “So should I call you Uncle Nick?” Jake brings me back to the table away from my thoughts.

  “Yeah,” I grunt still stuck in my head a bit. I’m a fairly rough person to begin with so being a family man for the next year or so is going to be a challenge.

  “Please don’t call me Aunt Kat. It sounds like the name of some old lady’s dead cat that she’s had stuffed after it died and still shares her meals with,” Kat explains
seriously. She’s fucking funny. I chuckle right along with Jake.

  “What would you like me to call you then?” Jake says through a snicker.

  “Is there an aunt I’d like to fuck acronym we could use?”

  That sets the whole table alight.

  “Not that I’m aware of. I’m not sure that would be a very wholesome option either,” Jake points out sweetly.

  “What about Aunt Kay? That sounds better,” she suggests.

  “I’m good with that if you are.”

  “Nick?” I like that she diverts for my approval. I like it more than I should.

  “I’m comfortable bein’ married to Aunt Kay,” I respond professionally.

  “This has been fun boys, but I’ve got a hot date tonight that I can’t put off gettin’ ready for any longer,” Kat informs us pulling her jacket on as she stands up.

  “I believe we’re staying at the same hotel. Would you like me to go back with you?” Jake asks politely. The kid is sweet, professional and smart. There’s nothing about him that suggests he’s a cold-blooded killer. I like him.

  “I’m good on my own but thanks. I’ve gotta run to a lingerie shop and I doubt you wanna accompany me for that errand.”

  That’s a lucky motherfucker she’s seeing tonight. Kat’s gorgeous, no doubt about it. Her hazel eyes are in a constant state of a sexy slant. Her golden hair would look good spread across any number of surfaces, but it would look best covering a pillow. Her body is soft yet toned, something she works at. Her tits are more than a handful and when the air conditioning kicked on a few hours ago, it made apparent her nipples are made to be sucked on for days. Kat has a narrow waist and shapely hips that my hands would wrap around with ease taking her from behind. And I’ve promised myself to keep this nothing but professional with her. This agency has made her use her body too much for its own gain. I won’t be another person to put her in that position.

  “Have a nice evening,” I say politely.

  “You too, Nick. I’ll see you in the morning. Jake, if we’re at the same hotel you can hitch a ride with me in the morning.”

  “Thanks,” he says through a broad smile. He thinks she’s gorgeous too.

  She offers us each a stunning smile and then leaves the room with a slight sway to her hips that I’m sure she’s unaware she has.

  “Jesus Christ that woman’s somethin’ else,” Jake says with wide eyes.

  “She’s good at what she does,” I state blankly.

  “She’s better than good at what she does,” Jake admonishes.

  “You’re right, she’s a very talented agent and she’ll be stellar on this op.”

  “You gay?”

  “What?” I snap.

  “I got no problem if you are. But I figure I should know goin’ in on the op.”

  “I’m not gay,” I growl. I don’t give a shit if people are…to each their own.

  “Are you blind?”

  “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?”

  “Katherine Russell is stunning, smart, funny, deadly and gettin’ ready to share a bed with you for the foreseeable future. You got nothing to say about that other than she’s good at her job? Either you’re gay or blind,” Jake says pointedly.

  “I’m not gay or blind. I’m a professional. She’s an agent just like anyone else in the company. It’s called respect. Learn it before I’m forced to teach you,” I threaten.

  “Acknowledging a woman’s beauty is nothing but respectful when done appropriately. I may be young, but I’ve learned in life that women enjoy bein’ complimented and admired when it comes from a place of genuine appreciation. Kat is a woman meant to be admired, often. If you’re gonna play her husband with any believability you’ll need to learn that skill quickly. Other men’ll be sniffing around her at every corner in Maybelle, Connecticut. She’s grade-A in any world, but playing the role in this op she’ll draw a shit load of attention.

  “And this will be the first and the last time you threaten to teach me anything in life. I’ve learned my lessons the hard way and any-fuckin’-thing you believe you can teach me I’ll school your ass in. I may not be a full agent yet, but I’m not some stupid kid you need to educate. We clear?” he finishes curtly.

  The look in his eyes has changed from young sweet kid to the heartless killer I now have no doubt he can be. Okay, the day is full of surprises.

  “Noted.”

  He offers me a chin lift before slinging his backpack over his shoulders and leaving the room. I wait for a moment and then climb to my feet. I make my way out of the corridor, across the suspended walkway beyond the elevators to another suspended walkway that leads to our offices. I glide into mine and close the door with a soft click.

  I flop into my chair at my glass desk and get to work researching every classified document that I can get my hands on about Kat Russell and Jake Rivers. I’m hit with a severe lack of information that tells me my team members come from the same fucked up background that I do. The “Johnson” family is made up of three people without a past looking for a future.

  Kat

  “Silk PJs and wine may be the best present I’ve ever received,” Jess says through a sleepy long stretch on the couch.

  “I’m a pretty good gift giver,” I state confidently.

  “You gonna give Nick Cooper some of your gifts?” Jess says through a tipsy smirk.

  “I don’t think Nick Cooper has any interest in my gifts. He practically shut down at the idea of havin’ to share a bed with me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup,” I pop my p remembering the pale shade his face turned when I told him about my last op.

  “You think he’s gay?” Jess asks with a furrowed brow.

  “I don’t know. He could be.” I shrug. I don’t care if he is. Actually, it would make this next year even easier if he is. He never checked me out or acted suggestively toward me. Jake was sweet and genuine in his compliments. Someone has taught that boy how to swoon the ladies. Look out Maybelle High School, Jake Johnson is coming to town.

  “No sex for a year. That sucks, Kat.” Jess pouts on my behalf.

  “I’ve gone longer.”

  “Did it close back up?”

  “No,” I say through a chuckle.

  “I’m glad you’re not takin’ those ops anymore. It’s not good for you,” Jess says seriously with a little sadness on her face.

  “I knew the job when I started. There have only been a handful like that, but I’m glad to be done.”

  “Be safe this time, Kat. These people look like Stepford, but they’re really a fuckin’ horror movie.”

  “I’m not alone this time, Jess. I can take care of myself and with Nick and Jake with me, I’ll be even better. No worries.” I rub a comforting hand across hers.

  “Shane said a year, maybe more,” she huffs.

  “We work until the job’s done. If the Bookers have lasted this long it’ll take time.”

  “You’re gonna miss the wedding,” she whispers.

  “I’ll be there in spirit in one of those hideous pink dresses you’re forcing your bridesmaids to wear.”

  “They’re really bad. I can’t be upstaged on my big day,” she says definitively.

  “That logic is baffling.”

  “You love me,” Jess states with a mischievous smirk.

  “You know I do.”

  “Okay, let’s say goodbye now so I can cry all night and make Shane feel really bad for hours on end.”

  She stands up and pulls me to my feet squeezing me tightly around my middle. I constrict around her even harder knowing I’d wear one of those ugly fucking dresses if I could be by her side. A sob breaks through her chest and I steel the emotion bubbling within me. Only one of us can crack at a time and this time it’s her turn.

  Jess tips her head up to peer at me through wet lashes, a small smile playing on her lips.

  “See you soon, Jess,” I whisper.

  She nods unable to speak for fear of tumbling in
to a state of uncontrollable blubbering. I let her go and leave her home without looking back because I have the same fear as Jess.

  As I slide into my sheets, I release the tension of saying goodbye to my friends for the millionth time, knowing my life works this way. I hate saying goodbye, but I love my job. I’m brilliant at my job. Agent Kat Russell is who I’m meant to be.

  Welcome to Maybelle the ornate sign reads as we pass by in my white BMW SUV. The town is something out of a postcard. The streets are lined with towering full green trees. Lawns are manicured to perfection in front of colonial and Georgian houses. As Jake and I drive down Main Street (because these people are imaginative), we enter the downtown space with Nick following behind. The store fronts are homey and inviting with a good deal of foot traffic on the sidewalks. There are cafés and restaurants all locally owned, not a Starbucks in sight.

  As we move through the small quaint downtown and beyond a lush park, the roads begin to turn and sweep with the landscape giving way to sprawling estates. I follow the GPS only a few minutes further before it informs me I’ve reached my destination. I pull in the driveway of a massive colonial palace.

  “Holy shit,” Jake mutters.

  “I second that.”

  We smile at each other and put on our Maybelle faces. Jake is wearing a turquoise polo shirt and khaki shorts with leather sandals. He looks cute and fifteen. I’m wearing a white halter cut dress with a pale violet flower print that sports a banded waist and a pleated A-line skirt. I look the part with comfortable wedge sandals.

  Nick is at my door before I’m able to swing my legs out offering me his hand and a broad smile.

  “We’re already bein’ watched,” he says through his smile leaning in for a brush of his lips against my cheek. I squeeze his hand to let him know I heard him and plaster a bigger smile on my face.

  Nick leads me around the hood of the car with his hand on my lower back, guiding me toward the massive gleaming black front door. He moves around me to unlock it and gestures for Jake to go ahead. I make my way to follow when Nick sweeps me off my feet bride-style and carries me over the threshold careful to keep my skirt hiding my business from the neighbors. I giggle genuinely because this is one of the sweetest things a man has ever done for me, real or fake.