Rendezvous with Danger
By: Sharon C. Cooper
Copyright 2013 by Sharon C. Cooper all rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact the author at www.sharoncooper.net
ISBN: 978-0-9855254-6-0
Book Cover: MTheresa Art Designs
Editor: Claudette Freeman
Published by: Amaris Publishing LLC in the United States
Disclaimers
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Please be advised that this story has adult and sensitive content not recommended for those under the age of 18.
Dedication
To my oldest brother, Willie Cunningham Jr. -
my biggest fan
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my amazing husband for being so supportive. I love you Al!
I’d also like to give a shout out to my critique partners:
Candace, Claire, Delaney, Trish, and Yolanda.
You each play a different role in my writing life, and I can honestly say writing wouldn’t be as much fun without you ladies!
Dear Reader
Alandra Pargas, ex-CIA counter-intelligence officer, plans to wreak vengeance on the people who tried to kill her. A little rendezvous with danger is not what scares her, though. It’s seeing the tall, dark, and dangerously sexy man she vowed to love forever that has her running for cover.
Former U.S. Special Operative, Quinn Hamilton, left the world of covert operations after the love of his life died in his arms during a black op. Three years later, he still loses sleep wondering if maybe he could have done something more to save her – until Alandra shows up on his doorstep. With her lies and betrayal, he wants nothing to do with her, yet, his heart won’t cooperate. It’s not until unknown enemies come after her that he must decide if he can leave the past behind and protect the woman he’ll always love. Will they survive this last mission and rekindle the love and passion they once shared?
I enjoy reading books that are a part of a series, and now I find that I enjoy writing them as well. Join me as I introduce you to Quinn, Alandra, Malik, Cameron (Wiz) and Natasha in the second book of the Reunited Series.
Enjoy!
Sharon C. Cooper
NOTE: If you haven’t read the prequel to Rendezvous with Danger, entitled: Secret Rendezvous, you can find it *FREE* in ebook at any online retailer.
Prologue
Quinn eased around the paint-chipped pillar, and along the musty-smelling hallway, his gun held close to his body and ready to shoot anyone who got in his way. All he needed was to leave the building without being detected.
“You have twelve minutes to get out of there Q,” Malik said through Quinn’s earpiece.
Quinn proceeded through the corridor, his body tight against the uneven wall. He made the first turn and moved down the dimly lit hallway where a single bulb dangled from a sub-standard light fixture. He heard voices coming from a room to his right, so he turned left and maneuvered down the staircase. Ten more yards and he would be home free.
He made it to the final step and halted when he heard footsteps running on the level above him and then down the stairs behind him. He ducked into a nearby utility closet, not closing the door completely.
“We have a problem,” he heard Malik say in his ear.
No kidding, Quinn thought.
“Two snipers on the rooftop of the building adjacent to the one you’re in. Sit tight.”
Missions like this Quinn normally did solo, but he was glad Malik was there. They’d run into a few snags, and his presence had proven beneficial.
“All clear.”
No longer hearing footsteps, Quinn eased back into the hallway, down the back stairs and out of the building into the night. He made sure the information he had just stolen was secure inside his jacket, and he inched toward the gate. A tree branch snapped. Quinn slammed his body against the brick wall, blending into the darkness of the night. He stood still for several seconds and heard it again. Slowly, he turned his head toward the noise. What he saw, several yards away under the dim moonlight, made his heart stop.
Alandra. What in the… He blinked several times, unable to fathom why she was thousands of miles from home, and standing in the middle of what could easily become a war zone.
He retraced his steps. She anxiously looked around the area and then back at the small device she held in her hands. Within five feet of her, he must have made a noise because her head shot up and their eyes connected. And in slow motion everything exploded around her.
“Get down!” he yelled and saw her fall to her knees.
Without thinking he ran to her and chaos erupted in every direction. He scooped her up and nestled her behind a long concrete block and then he noticed she’d been shot.
“Oh, shit.”
“Quinn,” she said, grasping at his shirt, her eyes wild. “Please … be careful.”
“Malik, I need you. Now!” Quinn growled into his mouthpiece giving Malik his location while he jerked out of his jacket and placed it under Alandra’s head.
“On my way,” Malik said.
“Hang on baby. We’re going to get you out of here.” He ripped open her down vest and then her shirt to determine the extent of her injury. Blood spilled from the chest wound. Damn. He glanced around trying to decide the best route to safety as he removed his shirt, leaving him with only a black T-shirt on. Gunshots rang out around him as he pressed his shirt over her wound to slow the bleeding.
“Quinn… I love…you. I have to tel…”
“I love you too, baby, but I need you to hold... Oh, damn. Alandra? Alandra?” he growled when her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He cradled her closer to his body, willing her to stay with him. “Lan…” he started but felt a bullet slap the back of his shoulder - and then his back. Paralyzed by the sharp pain that traveled down his spine, gripping him like steel claws, he struggled to hold on to Alandra, fighting the blackness that threatened to overpower him.
“Alandra, baby, I...need you…to hold on.”
Chapter One
“You better hope we’re not rattling any cages while we dig for answers. Whoever sealed Alandra Pargas’s records, meant for them to stay sealed.”
Quinn Hamilton looked over his friend’s shoulder. If anyone could find answers, it was former Navy SEAL and computer genius, Cameron Miller, better known as Wiz. He could get through any firewall and pilfer information, including top-secret info meant to stay a secret. Closer than most brothers, Quinn learned of Wiz’s computer skills after they endured SEAL training and participated in numerous black ops together.
He squinted at the monitor as Wiz’s fingers flew across the computer keys, typing in code after code in an effort to hack into the CIA mainframe. Closed up in Quinn’s home office for an hour, they’d hoped to find evidence to support Quinn’s hunch – that Alandra might be alive.
“Man, I appreciate you doing this.”
“Enough to come see me behind bars when they haul my ass off to prison?”
Quinn grunted and folded his arms across his chest. “They’ll never catch you.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Wiz stopped typing and glanced over his shoulder. “I’m surprised you didn’t look into this sooner. Why now, considering you thought you spotted her months ago?”
> Quinn blew out a frustrated sigh and backed away from the desk. He moved to the large bank of windows that overlooked his backyard, ten acres of partially wooded land with a wide creek running along the north side of the house. He leaned against the windowsill, his gaze taking in the moonlight bouncing off the water.
Why hadn’t he looked into Alandra’s possible resurgence sooner? “When they rushed my business partner, Tyler, to the emergency room after he was shot, and I saw the nurse who looked like Alandra, I thought I had seen a ghost. The days that followed, I honestly thought I had lost it, that I had somehow conjured up her spirit in my mind, and couldn’t let it go. I would see her face whenever I closed my eyes. There were times I thought I saw her in the grocery store, in the fitness gym’s parking lot, and once even driving down the street, but I knew it was impossible. Alandra was dead.”
Quinn grunted and shook his head. He thought he would have to start seeing a therapist again the way he had after Alandra’s death. He turned to Wiz.
“I decided to dig around a little because the woman at the hospital looked so much like her. There were subtle differences. She wore a lot of makeup and had long straight hair, where Alandra never wore makeup and had a mass of brown curls. The nurse’s eyes were green and Alandra’s were light brown, almost hazel.”
“Did this lady act as if she recognized you?”
“At first she looked startled. We stared at each other for a moment and then she ran off to tend to Tyler. Wiz, man,” Quinn glanced away, fighting the emotions he had tried to keep buried since spotting the woman, “Alandra and I had a magnetic connection, one I have never felt with any other woman. And that night, I felt it. My gut tells me it was her.”
“Well, your gut has never steered us wrong, but I hope you’re prepared for whatever we find.”
“Me too.” Quinn retraced his path from the window to the desk. His size thirteen’s sunk into the plush carpet with each heavy step. What he wouldn’t give to hold the only woman he’d ever loved in his arms again and talk well into the night about everything, from sports to politics. Or make love to her, until she screamed his name over and over again. He shook his head. It had been three long years. If she were still alive, she would have found some way to contact him. Wouldn't she?
He plopped down in one of the striped upholstered chairs that faced his large mahogany desk and leaned forward. “When you finish this, Wiz, I need you to do something else.”
“What’s that?”
“I want an extensive background check on Velvet Aguilar, everything from who her momma is to whether or not she has any parking tickets. Everything.”
Wiz stopped typing and looked up. “Who the hell is she?”
Quinn reclined in his seat. He ran a hand over his head and down his dreadlocks, frustrated by their lack of progress. “When I returned to the hospital, I found out the nurse’s name is Velvet Aguilar. I know from experience that Alandra is a master at disguises and lying.”
“I’m sure she had to be to survive as a counter-intelligence agent for the CIA.” Wiz rolled the office chair away from the desk and reared back in it. “I still can’t believe you had an affair with this woman, and I never met her.”
Quinn had good reason to keep this relationship private. Considering the terrorists, drug lords, and common criminals he’d encountered during his operative days, anyone of them could have used her to get to him. It was safer for Alandra if no one connected them, not even his closest friends. After Alandra died, he didn’t talk about her, keeping the memory of their love close to his heart.
“You might not have known her directly, but you helped me out a time or two in regards to her: A phone number here, a trace there, and I can go on.”
Wiz shook his head and chuckled. “From now on, I’m asking more questions when you call me for a favor.”
“In the meantime keep digging.” Quinn massaged the back of his neck. The long days and nights of thinking of her were taking their toll. “I should’ve done this right after she was killed.”
Wiz removed his glasses, his greenish-gray eyes looking at Quinn as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you kidding me? Have you forgotten? You were shot in the back and left for dead during that mission. I’m just glad Malik and your team found the Tangos who ambushed you.”
Quinn would never forget that day, the mission from hell. Everything about the op was questionable, from the logistical issues to the problems with their equipment and then Alandra showing up. He had lost total focus once he spotted her, making mistakes that could have cost him his life. In all his years in the military and working as a special operative for the government, he had never incurred injuries so emotionally and physically damaging as he had that night. It had taken months of rehab and therapy to get back to a somewhat normal life, and had it not been for Malik Lewis, another former Navy SEAL and a good friend, Quinn would be dead.
“I can’t imagine what you went through. To lose a fellow SEAL during a mission is bad enough, but to lose your woman…” Wiz shook his head and turned back to his computer.
According to Malik, Quinn had been in and out of consciousness at a hospital in Germany for three weeks after that mission in Tzbekystan. When he finally woke up, and asked about Alandra, Malik said he hadn’t seen an American woman near the site where he’d found Quinn. It didn’t make sense. The last thing Quinn remembered was Alandra in his arms, blood spilling from her chest from a gunshot wound. A jolt of rage that always accompanied the memory shot up his spine. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands. This research into Alandra’s death brought up memories he wanted to keep buried.
When the doorbell rang, Quinn welcomed the intrusion. He released a weighted breath and shook off the thoughts of that horrific night.
“Be right back,” he told Wiz. “That’s probably Malik here to check out my security system.”
Quinn took a few deep breaths as he strolled down the hall to the front of the house. He’d moved into his four bedroom, four bathroom mini-mansion over a year ago appreciating the peace he usually felt the moment he stepped across the threshold. He glanced at the alarm’s keypad to the left of the door just before letting Malik in.
“What’s up my brother?” Quinn said when he swung the door open. “I thought you were going to be here hours ago.”
“Man, this has been a crazy-ass day. Nothing has gone as planned. You’re lucky I made it.” Malik shrugged out of his jacket and left his tools near the front door.
“Well, I’m glad you did.” Quinn pointed to the keypad. “When I first asked you to check the system, it was because something tripped the house alarm last week and it took almost fifteen minutes to reset it. Now, I just noticed that one of the sensor lights is blinking.”
“Hmm, that’s weird.” Malik followed Quinn to the back of the house. “Let me get my computer out and I’ll figure out what’s going on.”
“What’s up, Wiz?” Malik asked when he walked into the office, placing his laptop on the table in front of the love seat.
“Not much, dude. I see Q is still pulling rank and has us out in the middle of the night doing his dirty work.”
Quinn hunched his shoulders. “You guys could’ve said no. Malik, you want a beer?”
He shook his head. “Maybe once I finish.”
The tallest of the three, Malik, also known as Tree, stood at six-foot-seven and was as solid as an oak tree. His bulk alone intimidated the most dangerous adversary and as a securities specialist, clients felt they got their money’s worth.
“Well, there’s beer in the fridge and chips on the counter. Help yourself.”
Malik powered up his laptop. “I hope you plan to feed a brotha more than just beer and chips.”
“Once you check out my alarm system, then I’ll feed you. Until then, that’s it.”
“So, have you guys found anything?” Malik asked.
“Not much,” Quinn said and sat across from him. “We followed a trail from when she left
Virginia five days before I saw her in Tzbekystan. She flew from Virginia to Miami, stayed in a hotel for a night, but that’s where the trail goes cold. Now, Wiz is trying to get into the CIA mainframe to see what he can find.”
Quinn wanted them to find something – anything that could give him peace of mind. If there was a chance Alandra was alive, he wanted to know.
“I’m sure you guys will figure it out. And while you’re doing that, I’ll get the alarm system working.” Malik typed something into his computer but stopped when it beeped several times. “Q, it looks like the sensor on the right side of your house is out as well as one of the cameras, which is odd.” He stood and grabbed his keys. Let me go check the keypad and then look around outside.”
Quinn had updated the alarm system a few months ago and hadn’t had any problems until recently. Whatever the problem, he knew Malik would figure it out.
“It’s been years since I’ve had to hack into any of the government’s mainframes,” Wiz said. “They have definitely…” His voice trailed off when they heard a lot of racket at the front of the house - Malik cursing and slamming doors.
What the hell? Quinn rushed out of his office, followed by Wiz. They stopped short when they got to the end of the hall. Malik stood against the wall huffing and puffing with blood oozing from his bottom lip, the sleeve of his jacket ripped, and broken glasses in his hands.
“What the hell happened to you?” Wiz asked.
“She is what happened to me,” he growled and pointed to the family room.
She? Quinn took a few steps forward and glanced in the direction Malik pointed to see a woman sprawled on the sofa.
“I dropped her over there and you can decide what you want to do with her. She’s probably the reason why the alarm sensor is not working. I think she short circuited the damn thing.” Malik slouched and held his side. “Don’t get too close. She’s a wild one. I think she might’ve bruised my ribs.”
Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series) Page 1
