Operation Midnight

by Sharon C. Cooper

  Operation Midnight

  By: Sharon C. Cooper

  Copyright © 2015 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: 978-0-9903505-6-9

  Book Cover: Selestiele Designs

  Editor: Melissa Ringsted, There for You Editing

  Published by: Amaris Publishing LLC in the United States

  Smashwords Edition

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Disclaimer

  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.

  Award-winning and bestselling author Sharon C. Cooper

  brings you another exciting romantic suspense…

  OPERATION MIDNIGHT

  No bad deed goes unpunished…

  Former Navy SEAL turned private investigator, Cameron “Wiz” Miller, has loved only one woman, his ex-wife, Olivia. She’s beautiful, talented and the sweetest person he knows. With plans to remarry her, there is nothing she could ask of him that he wouldn’t do except…one thing.

  Olivia has loved Wiz since high school. He is her hero. Her protector. She understands his hesitation to search for the woman who left her for dead. Forgiveness has been a long time coming, but Olivia has made peace with what happened. Wiz hasn't. For him, forgiveness is not an option.

  But the sins of the past have come back to haunt Wiz, placing Olivia in danger. He must tap into his military training and every alliance he has formed over the years to save her. But will it be too late? Will he and Olivia ever get that happily-ever-after?

  Prologue

  “I want her dead.”

  Wiz paced the length of the small, musty cellar, his pulse pounding in his ears. He wished the steady drumming would drown out the anger seeping into his soul. Wound tighter than a man staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic gun, he took a few cleansing breaths to release the anxiety roaring through his veins. It wasn’t working. Nothing was working.

  He kept moving. Except for his combat boots stomping against the dusty concrete floor and the low hum of a nearby furnace, the space was quiet. Gagged and bound, flanked by his two best friends, the woman who had slithered into his life and almost destroyed everything he held dear, sat glaring at him. She wiggled in the hard wooden chair trying to free herself to no avail. Her eyes, cold and unyielding followed his every move, making him hate her that much more.

  He stopped and stood before her, feeling nothing but disgust. Red, glassy eyes and the slight shakes confirmed she was high. Hell, considering her condition, she wouldn’t even feel the torture he intended to inflict on her, but it would help him. It would help him try to piece his life back together. It would help him feel less guilt for not being on American soil to protect his wife. It would help him get retribution for the life this bitch had taken.

  A life for a life.

  “Wiz, think about what you’re planning to do here,” his friend Quinn said, his gloved hand propped against the closed door and the low rumble of his voice cutting through Wiz’s thoughts. “Let me handle this. I can take care of everything and you can head back to the hospital. Your wife needs you. Besides, you have too much to lose.”

  “I’ve already lost almost everything and thanks to this woman, Olivia is fighting for her life.”

  Wiz had no doubt that his friend could make this woman disappear. Quinn, like Wiz, was a Navy SEAL. But unlike Wiz, Quinn had been on several special military teams participating in some of the most dangerous black ops. Q was good at what he did. Damn good. Legendary for his ability to disappear and make his enemies disappear.

  “This is something I have to do,” Wiz finally said, turning the ornamental handle of his tactical combat knife back and forth in his hand. “I want her to feel what I feel. I want her to know what it’s like to have your heart jerked about and then ripped out of your chest.”

  “Well, if we’re going to do this shit, let’s get it done,” Malik said.

  The large flashlight Malik held trained on the woman didn’t wobble despite the fact that he held a Glock 41 in his other hand, aimed at her head. As a weapons specialist, he was comfortable with any type of firearm and rarely hesitated to use one. He was a strike first and ask questions later kind of guy.

  Neither of Wiz’s friends thought twice when he requested their assistance in finding the person responsible for Olivia’s abduction. Enduring Bud/s together, the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, they had vowed then to always have each other’s back—no matter the situation.

  “This isn’t you,” Quinn reiterated and stepped closer to Wiz.

  No, it wasn’t him. The navy might have trained them to be killers, but not this way. Wiz had never imagined that he would one day be driven to take a woman’s life.

  No women. No children.

  He stared into unflinching eyes. Eyes so familiar, yet so different.

  A whole new wave of rage pounded through his veins. No. This wasn’t a woman. The female sitting before him was a monster. Only a monster could do the things she had done. But no more. Never would she be able to hurt Olivia again. Never would she get the opportunity to hurt another living soul.

  “You know I’m with you all the way in whatever you decide to do, but think about this. There’s no turning back,” Quinn said. “This bitch isn’t worth losing everything you’ve worked so hard for.”

  Q was right … again. Olivia was lying in a hospital fighting for her life thanks to the piece of trash who was now glaring at him.

  He ripped his gaze from hers. Bile rose to his throat remembering the condition his wife had been in when he left the hospital. No amount of military training could prepare him for the devastation of seeing the only woman he had ever loved battered, bruised, and barely holding on to her life.

  Olivia’s missing.

  Thirty-six hours ago his father’s words had almost brought Wiz to his knees and they still played around in his head. A retired navy man, Sergeant Major Andrew Miller didn’t rattle easily, but Wiz had heard the concern in his father’s voice when he called. With connections Wiz could only dream of having, his dad had made arrangements for Wiz to head back to the U.S. immediately.

  He and his SEAL team had just returned from a rough mission in Myanmar, and all Wiz wanted to do was leave the depressed country and head home. However, hearing his wife was missing wasn’t what he had expected the moment they touched down in Germany on their way to the U.S. When Quinn and Malik were told what was going on, they hadn’t hesitated to take leave.

  Wiz’s world had been thrown on its axis when he finally talked with his father. An icy fear had surged through his veins after being given more details regarding Olivia’s disappearance.

  Despite surviving in some of the world’s most dangerous jungles and perilous waters, nothing was more terrifying than hearing the news that something had happened to his wife.

  He, Quinn, and Malik had boarded the waiting plane. Eighteen hours later, they were in Chicago searching for Olivia. Quinn sought help from the underground worl
d of gangs, and they found Olivia half dead in a drug house.

  Wiz shivered at the memory. He had never experienced that type of fear in all of his life. Fear that he had lost the one woman who made his heart beat every day. The one woman whose smile alone could light up his world. And the one woman who he would lay down his life for.

  He turned back to the person responsible. She should have been a person Olivia could count on, but instead she had been the one who left her sister to die.

  The walls of the dark, damp cellar closed in around him. In the musty hellhole, rage gripped him, constricting the little air fighting to get to his lungs.

  He had to do this. He had to end this. Because of her, he had nearly lost the one person he couldn’t live without. And despite what his wife had endured, Wiz knew that if she ever found out what he was about to do to her twin sister, she would never forgive him.

  I just have to make sure she never finds out.

  Chapter One

  Ten years later …

  “May I have this dance?”

  Cameron “Wiz” Miller stared down at the woman who had captured his heart. His pulse still sped up whenever her big brown eyes zeroed in on him. Olivia Miller, his ex-wife, was the most beautiful woman inside and out. Twenty-two years since the first time he spotted her, his love for her was stronger than ever. And that smile. God, that smile had gotten him through some of his darkest days and still made him weak in the knees.

  “Of course.” She accepted his hand.

  He led her to the middle of the dance floor. Their engagement party was winding down and he couldn’t wait to take her upstairs. They were staying at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago and had reserved a suite for the weekend. Though he was dog-tired, Wiz couldn’t wait to get her alone. Between being stranded at Reagan Washington National Airport due to bad weather and his gut churning with trepidation for reasons he couldn’t pinpoint, he needed to keep Olivia close. He wasn’t sure if exhaustion was the only cause for the unease, but experience had taught him to never ignore his gut.

  “I love having you in my arms,” he whispered into her hair, placing a kiss against her temple and holding her tighter than he probably should. Her scent, a combination of baby powder and roses, wrapped around him like a warm embrace. He hadn’t seen her in three days, but it felt more like a month.

  The trip seemed even longer knowing that she had the flu. The last thing he had wanted to do was leave her behind in Chicago.

  The unexpected one-day business trip to D.C. had sprawled into three. It had been risky leaving her only days before their engagement party, knowing that he could miss it, but the trip couldn’t be helped.

  Business was booming. Not only was he a private investigator, but he was the new Systems Security Director for Supreme Security Agency, a personal security company his best friend, Malik Lewis, had founded. Wiz’s role required some travel since the agency was starting to expand outside of Chicago. After retiring from the Navy years earlier, they had both started their own businesses and had often helped each other on their individual cases. Becoming partners, officially, seemed to be the next logical step.

  “I’m so glad you made it back in time.” Olivia laid her head against his shoulder. “I’ve been looking forward to tonight for the last two months. Sometimes I can’t believe we’re at this point in our relationship.” Her eyes met his. “I can’t wait to be your wife again.”

  “I feel the same way.”

  His gaze took her in from her long dark hair falling in waves around her shoulders, to the strapless champagne-tone dress hugging her slim, shapely figure. After so many years, his body still responded to the sight of her. He had never stopped loving her even when she divorced him, vowing that one day she would be his again. When he said his wedding vows the first time, he meant every word. There wasn’t another woman who made him feel the way she did. She tempted him in ways he never thought possible, and he would crave Olivia—and only Olivia—until the day he took his last breath.

  “Are you feeling better? Have you eaten anything besides the soup I ordered for you?” He studied her face. Her voice still sounded a little throaty, but her eyes were clearer. Unlike the day before he left town, when she had been sneezing, coughing, and sleeping a lot.

  “I feel better. Still haven’t been able to stomach any heavy food since my throat is a little sore.” She cupped his cheek and stared into his eyes. “I’m just glad you didn’t catch my cold. Oh, and did I happen to mention that I’m so glad you made it back to Chicago in time?”

  “Let me think.” He squinted down at her. “I do seem to remember you saying something like that. As a matter of fact, I think you’ve said it at least ten times in the last couple of hours.”

  “Oh.” A shy grin spread across her beautiful mouth.

  He lowered his head and his mouth covered hers, devouring its softness. He’d had an aching need to kiss her the moment his plane touched down. It never ceased to amaze him how having her in his arms still did wicked things to his body. Granted, their relationship had been off and on thanks to his military days and their divorce, but he had never stopped loving her. Never stopped referring to her as his wife. And now that they were engaged to be remarried, there was no way he was ever letting her go again.

  Lifting his mouth from hers, he gazed into her eyes, keeping his arm around her waist. She licked her lower lip and a small smile graced her mouth. He kissed her again, deeper this time, thinking it wasn’t enough. He wanted to throw her onto his shoulder and carry her to their hotel suite.

  “All right, break it up over here.”

  Wiz turned to find Tyler and Dallas Hollister standing behind him.

  “Don’t tell me you’re leaving already,” Wiz said.

  “The night is still young,” Olivia added, but then glanced at her watch. “Well sorta.” They all laughed.

  “Yeah, we have to go rescue the babysitter from the twins,” Tyler explained.

  “But we didn’t want to leave without saying bye and congratulations again,” Dallas said, pulling Olivia in for a hug. “We’re so happy for you guys.”

  They had met the Hollisters when Dallas was being stalked and Wiz had been commissioned to investigate the situation. During his probing, Wiz had discovered that one of the partners of the firm Dallas worked for was the mastermind behind a huge Ponzi scheme. Since then, their relationship had grown into a friendship.

  After saying their good-byes, Olivia stepped back into Wiz’s arms.

  “They’re taking the food away. Did you want anything else?”

  “Nah, baby, just you.” He nuzzled her neck until she giggled like a schoolgirl. Though he still felt a little uneasy, being near her did calm him some. Her sweet, tranquil disposition always brought him a level of peace he couldn’t get from anyone else.

  Wiz caught sight of Malik and his fiancée, Natasha, as they made their way toward them.

  “We’re going to head out. Great party.” Malik gripped Wiz’s shoulder. “You can fill me in about D.C. on Monday.”

  Wiz nodded.

  “And, Ollie, we’ll see you later.” He kissed her cheek, but she swatted his arm.

  “Malik, what did I tell you about calling me that? You know I hate that name,” she chastised playfully. Wiz shook his head and Natasha rolled her eyes. Olivia and Malik went through the same ritual every time they saw each other. She claimed to hate the nickname Malik had given her, but Wiz thought she secretly liked it.

  Wiz hugged Natasha, kissing her on the cheek. “Congrats again on the engagement. You have to be a helluva woman to bring this guy to his knees.” An hour ago, Malik had popped the question on the dance floor. Wiz thought he would never see the day that his friend would propose marriage. Anyone who knew the giant of a man knew that the last thing on his list of things to do was to get tied down.

  Natasha held her hand out in front of her, the large diamond on her finger sparkling under the lights. She looked up at Wiz and Olivia. “Thank you. I’m still in sh
ock. I hope Malik’s surprised proposal didn’t steal much of your spotlight.”

  “Oh please.” Olivia waved her off. “We are so happy for you two. When you and I finish planning my wedding, we’ll have to get started with yours.”

  “Deal!”

  The women shared a long hug before Olivia said, “But when we start doing all of our running around for the wedding, you have to leave the big lug at home.” She nodded toward Malik.

  “Now you know he follows me everywhere I go.” Natasha and Olivia laughed and fell into conversation as Wiz and Malik exchanged a look. Neither of them found it funny considering only months ago there was a brutal attempt on Natasha’s life that sent Malik into a tailspin.

  “All right, can I get you back into my arms so we can finish our dance?” Wiz asked Olivia after Malik and Natasha walked away.

  “You can have anything you want from me,” she replied saucily, flashing a smile that had him thinking to hell with the dance. He would rather have her flat on her back with her legs wrapped around his waist and him deep inside of her.

  “Be careful, woman,” he growled close to her ear. “I haven’t seen you in days and I’m ready to have my way with you.”

  She laughed. “I know, but no way am I passing up an opportunity to dance the rest of the night with you.”

  Wiz pulled Olivia close and they swayed to the tune of Luther Vandross’s “Still in Love” as if they danced all the time.

  “I’ve missed you.” She rested her head on his chest.

  Wiz placed a kiss on the top of her head, feeling her body mold into his.

  “I know, but even a longer business trip than planned and a delayed flight couldn’t keep me from getting to you. I’m glad we agreed that we would limit our traveling for work. I don’t like leaving you here by yourself, nor do I like you traveling alone.”