Chasing Fortune
A Stealth Ops Novel
Brittney Sahin
EmKo Media, LLC
Chasing Fortune
By: Brittney Sahin
Published by: EmKo Media, LLC
Copyright © 2020 EmKo Media, LLC
This book is an original publication of Brittney Sahin.
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting [email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, brands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Chief Editor: Deb Markanton
Editor: Arielle Brubaker
Proofreader: Judy Zweifel, Judy’s Proofreading
Cover Design: LJ, Mayhem Cover Creations
Paperback ISBN: 9798688089134
Ebook ISBN: 9781947717282
Created with Vellum
To our heroes that may also suffer from PTSD …
Thank you for your service.
Please don’t ever give up. We will be here for you as you have been for us.
Also By Brittney Sahin
Stealth Ops: Bravo Team
Finding His Mark - Bravo One, Luke
Finding Justice - Bravo Two, Owen
Finding the Fight - Bravo Three, Asher
Finding Her Chance - Bravo Four, Liam
Finding the Way Back - Bravo Five, Knox
Stealth Ops: Echo Team
Chasing the Knight - Echo One, Wyatt
Chasing Daylight - Echo Two, A.J.
Chasing Fortune - Echo Three, Chris
Chasing Shadows - Echo Four, Roman (3/25/21)
Book 10 - Echo Five, Finn
Becoming Us: Stealth Ops spin-off series
Someone Like You
My Every Breath
Dublin Nights
On the Edge
On the Line
The Real Deal
The Inside Man
The Final Hour (1/7/21)
Hidden Truths
The Safe Bet
Beyond the Chase
The Hard Truth
Surviving the Fall
The Final Goodbye
Contemporary Romance
The Story of Us
Contents
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
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
More Stealth Ops + Crossover Information
Special Note
Reading Guide
Playlist
Stealth Ops Family Tree
Where Else To Find Me
Chapter One
Cassis, France
Darkness hadn’t stolen daylight yet, but twilight was slowly creeping in, diffusing the sky with a soft pinkish hue—the perfect time to make her move.
A thrill darted up Rory’s spine, adrenaline fueling her addiction to this life.
Excitement unfurled inside her with each movement up, her headlamp guiding her way.
Rory grabbed a tri-cam from one of the gear loops on her harness and wedged it into the narrow slice of a pocket crack in the jagged cliff. She clipped her rope to the carabiner, which was attached to her harness, and continued to ascend the limestone, her body nearly flush with the rock wall. Trad climbing was more than a physical challenge. It was a mental game akin to chess, requiring the skill and patience to determine where to secure an array of removable protection in cracks and fissures without the aid of preplaced bolts. One wrong move, one miscalculation, and she’d plummet down the rock face. The turquoise sea wouldn’t pillow her fall, not with the rocky terrain there.
“I’m closing in on the top,” she announced as her ultra-sticky rubber outsoles gripped the rock.
She inched higher and higher, then reached for the next hold and clung to the wall.
“Roger,” her partner answered over comms, who had her on belay. “Be careful.”
“Always.” Of course, this was one of her most challenging jobs yet, but she’d never failed before, and she refused to fail tonight.
Her heartbeat wasn’t steady, but it was never steady in a moment like this. The rush accelerated her up.
The muscles in her calves trembled as Rory balanced the toes of her shoes on a narrow ledge, her chest flattened to the rough rock wall while she prepared herself to make the last push.
From her viewpoint earlier on her boat during recon, the estate appeared well-fortified. The exterior mimicked the look of Château de Cassis, an ancient property in France that housed guests who could afford the top-price luxury experience. But instead of happy couples enjoying a summer vacation in August, the walls of the property above housed a dangerous criminal.
She was risking her life as she dared climb to his fortress, which sat a mile away from the Provençal charm of Cassis. The Mediterranean fishing village, where pastel-colored buildings lined the walkways, was also home to beautiful inlets that cut into the shore and boats snuggled inside the ports.
Tonight, cloaked in all black, Rory’s hood covered the brown wig she wore pulled back into a ponytail to hide her light blonde, Alabama sun-kissed locks. A black hockey mask would disguise her face once she was up top. Dark brown contact lenses also shielded the true color of her hazel eyes.
She breathed a sigh of relief, one mingled with triumph, when pulling herself up the last ledge to the top. “I’m here. At the mark,” she announced to her partner, who was still unaware of Rory’s real name even after years of working together.
Her target was a lonely umbrella pine in front of the eight-foot-tall concrete wall that ran along the cliff ledge as far as her eyes could see. She anchored a piece of gear and detached the thick, ocean-blue rope from her harness. Rory secured the rope and wrapped it around the pine.
“Off belay.”
“Belay off,” her partner answered. “Drone is up. You’re all clear to climb over,” he added a moment later after the small drone, barely visible in the night sky, had buzzed over her shoulder.
“Roger.” She remove
d the rest of her gear and set it at the base of the tree, then secured the grappling hook from her backpack. This wasn’t her first rodeo. She’d done these types of jobs plenty of times, but for some reason, a bolt of nerves shot through, sending a tiny shiver down her spine.
Pull it together. Rory leaned back, tossed the grappling hook over the wall, and waited for it to catch, then gave the rope a few yanks to ensure it would hold. With a quick prayer and a deep breath, she hoisted herself up and planted her feet against the wall. Instinct kicked in as she coordinated quick hand-over-hand movements on the rope with steady steps up the wall.
She clutched the top, using her forearms to pull her weight up. One leg over, she straddled the wall and scoped out the property.
A massive swimming pool surrounded by lush gardens lay at the center of the backyard. There were also two towers flanking the sides of the property. The main house was off in the distance.
“No guards,” her partner said, confirming what she already knew, as she reached for the hockey mask clipped to her side and positioned it to conceal her face.
“They’re here,” she said under her breath. “Somewhere.” She swung her other leg over the wall, then eased herself down before letting go.
Landing in a crouched position, she told him, “I’m in.”
“You’ve got this,” his deep voice cut into her ear.
He’d insisted on doing the job himself, but of the two of them, she was the better climber, and also faster in case she had to—
“Shit,” she hissed, suddenly basked in artificial light. Rory lifted her foot and spotted a small black circular object on the ground. She’d tripped a sensor.
That was a first. She was never usually so clumsy. Was she losing her edge?
She wasn’t a covert operative, but she had skills. Of course, she didn’t usually go up against former spec ops guys like the man who owned the property. Not that she expected to come face-to-face with anyone tonight. Normally she got in and out without anyone knowing she’d been there.
A frenzy of French words sailed in the air before, “Stop! Don’t move!” was yelled in English.
She wouldn’t be able to retreat the same way she’d arrived, leaving only one choice. Run.
There was a gated entrance a hundred feet beyond the pool. It’d be easy enough to scale, and it’d been her backup exit plan in case shit went sideways.
She pumped her arms, her blood pounding in her ears. The energy from the chase, the hunt, guided her. It helped her navigate the property as she ran from God knew how many people behind her. She didn’t have time to turn back and count.
No gunshots. Good sign.
Run faster, damn it. A few branches from a row of olive trees smacked her in the face, slowing her for a second as she neared the pool. Minutes ago, the water had glittered beneath the moonlight. Now, spotlights flooded everything in sight around the Olympic-sized pool.
“Get out of here,” Rory panted out the warning to her partner, who no doubt could hear the shouts and her labored breathing. “If I’m going down, I don’t want you going down with me.” She’d just finished uttering the words when something stung her skin and jolted her like a shockwave.
Rory clamped down on her back teeth as she fell to her knees, then onto her chest, her palms landing on pavers.
A taser?
It couldn’t have been turned on too high, but still—it’d hurt like a motherfuc—
Hands wrapped around both her ankles and yanked, and she released a dreadful shriek as her body scraped across the unforgiving stone.
No, no, no.
In one fast movement, she was flipped onto her back. She panted hard, thoughts of what the hell had gone wrong flying through her mind. Rory rolled her head to the side, catching sight of the pool while pinpricks of light like tiny stars flickered in and out of view.
She blinked a few times, adjusting her vision when a memory came to mind. A memory of another swimming pool. Well, more like the image of a man with a stunning smile emerging from the water.
Chris Hunter. Former Navy SEAL. And a handsome flirt.
She’d met Chris at a friend’s house back home in Alabama in June. And when he’d stood before her, dripping wet and much too close for comfort, she’d had what felt like an out-of-body experience.
He probably hadn’t noticed how off guard he’d caught her with those blue eyes of his, laced with flecks of green. But that gorgeous man had taken her breath away. She’d hid it well given they had an audience, and looking back, apparently too well. He never did look her up after they’d hung out that night, brief as it was. He couldn’t exactly make a move with her brother and friends there, but she’d hoped he would have asked A.J. for her number and called. A hot and fun weekend for whenever she was back in the country, perhaps.
Of course, she wasn’t exactly that reachable. Maybe he had called.
Her brain must have gotten scrambled by the taser because her thoughts right now weren’t about her family and how heartbroken they’d be if she were to die tonight, but rather on a man she’d met one summer night who hadn’t called her for a date.
One summer night. Wasn’t that the title of a romance novel? It sounded like the kind of books her friend Savanna always tried to get her to read, promising they would change her skeptical opinion on love.
Rory’s stomach hurt at the thought of her friend. Savanna had suffered a devastating loss when her Navy SEAL husband had been killed in action. No, her friend couldn’t handle any more grief.
I can’t die, damn it. Rory looked to the person standing over her, and she blinked just as the bastard tasered her again.
Darkness enveloped her, and when she woke up, with no idea how much time had passed, her vision was blurry.
Her body ached.
The room was cold.
She’d been hungover a few times. Blacked out once from a bit too much celebrating after a major victory. But nothing compared to waking up after electricity fried your body.
“Getting tasered was not on my to-do list tonight,” she sputtered, a lame attempt at being a smart-ass and not letting some asshole get the best of her.
Rory tried to move her hands. Her feet. But she was strapped to a chair.
The mere act of moving her eyeballs to view her surroundings hurt like hell, but her vision was beginning to clear. Concrete floors, walls, and a ceiling low enough to give the room a suffocating vibe. Great, a torture chamber.
She glimpsed her brown wig on the floor by her bare feet. Her hockey mask lay upside down next to it.
She stared in a daze at the pink color on her toenails. Pink toenails seemed glaringly out of place in a room where she was about to be tortured and killed.
A paw of a hand grabbed hold of her chin, forcing her to look up. His other hand yanked at her blonde hair, pulling the pins free to allow her locks to fall.
The sound of a round being chambered in a firearm had her eying another man to her left. On her right, a guy held a camera.
“Let her go.” A deep voice boomed from somewhere in the room. The words bounced off the walls like a dark, terrifying echo.
Her body tensed. A shudder of fear blanketed her at the sound of that deep, husky tone.
It was him, wasn’t it?
The voice belonged to the owner of the estate, Carter Dominick. Ex-spook. Former Delta guy who’d gone rogue. He was also an all-around asshole and criminal from what she’d heard.
Footsteps neared, and the men around her fell back.
Dark shoes appeared, but the dangling light hanging just in front of her obscured her view of his face.
Black dress pants encased long legs. A white dress shirt was tucked into his pants. Sleeves rolled to the elbows to expose ink she couldn’t try and analyze at the moment. And why would it matter?
“I had contemplated waiting a bit longer to grab you and see how good you really are firsthand. I got impatient, though.” He stepped closer, the light from the single bulb now behind him, revealin
g his face. His identity. “And it was me that brought you here.”
“What?” Had she been set up? No, her partner would never. Maybe the guy who provided the details of the location? But she’d gone through a middleman, and no one would know it was her who’d been hunting for this property since it was off-the-grid, or why she’d been seeking it. “I don’t understand.” She deepened the tone of her voice to hide any hints of her Southern accent to prevent him from discovering anything personal about her.
No names in her work. No real names ever. Not even for her partner.
She did whatever she could to protect her family from this life.
Carter brought a hand to his black beard, which was closely trimmed to his angular jaw. Late thirties. His eyes hardened from years in the service, probably long before he went astray from the CIA. His broad shoulders pinned back as he stood tall before her. “My men weren’t supposed to be so rough. I apologize.”
“Apologize?” she asked in disbelief.
“I’ve been waiting to come face-to-face with you. You’re worth a fortune, you know.” His voice was cold and deep. Commanding. “Especially to one man in particular.”
Chasing Fortune (Stealth Ops Book 8) Page 1
