Table of 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
Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.
This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Stoker Aces Production, LLC. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Special Forces: Operation Alpha remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Stoker Aces Production, LLC, or their affiliates or licensors.
For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds
Protected in Darkness
An In Darkness Novella
Heather Sunseri
Contents
A Note from Heather
Also by Heather Sunseri
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
You’re Not Going to Want to Miss This!!
Also by Heather Sunseri
About the Author
A Note from Heather
Greetings from Kentucky!
I’m so excited you’re here. Though this special story isn’t set in Kentucky, it all began in Kentucky four years ago when Kate Ward hit rock bottom in her life as the daughter of the president of an outlaw motorcycle gang. Seeing no easy way out for herself or her unborn child, she made a deal with the OMG’s number one enemy that could now cost her and her four-year-old daughter their lives.
But only if Kate makes a mistake and is discovered by the very people who think she’s already dead…
I hope you love Protected in Darkness, the story of how Navy SEAL Colt Callaway will do anything to protect the sad woman he met in a bar one dark, cold night.
Be sure to check out other books in the In Darkness series after you’ve read Protected in Darkness.
Happy Reading!
Heather
Also by Heather Sunseri
THE IN DARKNESS SERIES
Exposed in Darkness
Cut in Darkness
Covered in Darkness
Shot in Darkness
In Darkness Book 5 Coming Soon…
SPECIAL IN DARKNESS STORY
(Sequel to Cut in Darkness)
Protected in Darkness
THE MINDSPEAK SERIES
Mindspeak
Mindsiege
Mindsurge
Tracked
Deceived
THE EMERGE SERIES
Emerge
Uprising
Renaissance
The Meeting (A short story)
Chapter 1
Kate
Kate Ward stuffed the new wig, a baseball cap, and a change of clothes inside Sarah’s go bag. Her four-year-old daughter was growing so fast that she constantly had to change out supplies in case they needed to make a quick exit from their life in Virginia Beach.
“What are you doing, Mommy?” Sarah asked from the doorway of her bedroom.
“Oh, nothing, sweetie. Come here.” She motioned for her daughter to have a seat on the edge of Sarah’s bed. After Sarah snuggled into Kate’s hug, Kate asked, “You sure you want to stay all night with Ashton?”
“Mommmmyyyy,” Sarah moaned in her sweet little voice. She angled her head and grinned up at Kate. “I’m four years old. I’m old enough to spend the night with my best friend.”
Kate smoothed her daughter’s hair, then kissed the top of her head. “You’re right.” But Kate wasn’t ready to let her daughter grow up just yet. And any separation made her nervous. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Not where her daughter was concerned. “Grab your stuff and go get in the car. I’ll be right there.” She also couldn’t afford to make choices out of fear that was mostly in her head.
Sarah skipped out of the room singing. Kate grabbed the go bag and stuffed it back into the top of Sarah’s closet.
With a hand on the bag, she took a minute to remember her old life—her life as Charley Packstone, daughter of the president of Samael’s Army, an outlaw motorcycle gang headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. She said goodbye to that life long ago, and though she mourned the memories of her childhood that she could never talk about, she was thankful her daughter would never know that life or the people in it.
Hers was definitely complicated, but she did everything she could to keep Sarah’s life simple and happy while being prepared for anything.
For today, her daughter would enjoy time with her best friend, and Kate would go off to work. That’s when it dawned on her. She’d been trying all week to get out of going to a bachelorette party tonight for one of her female co-workers. Now she wouldn’t have an excuse.
However, a party just might be the thing to take her mind off of her daughter being gone and the fact that she was still paranoid enough after all these years to keep their go bags updated.
Chapter 2
Gray Packstone
Gray Packstone was in prison, serving several life sentences with no chance of parole. He’d come to accept that the likelihood of him breathing clean air away from this pile of concrete and metal was slim. Gray also knew every single person who played a part in putting him behind these bars, and dreamed of getting revenge on them all.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, he leaned into his foot, which was planted on a bench during his very little outside time, and stared at the photograph his mom slipped him when she visited yesterday. A photograph of just one of the people who had ratted him out.
He’d been studying it since he’d received it. The picture was blurry. And her hair was different. Not to mention his twin sister was supposed to be dead.
But it was definitely her. “Charley Packstone, among the living.” Gray said. At least that was according to the timestamp in the lower right corner of the photograph. A convict to Gray’s right looked his way as if he hadn’t heard Gray, but didn’t dare ask him to repeat it. Gray had quickly become one to fear within the prison walls.
In the photograph, Charley knelt in front of a kid and appeared to be zipping up her coat. Mom wasn’t sure if the ankle-biter was Charley’s, and, as far as Gray could tell, Mom showed no sign of any kind of motherly or grandmotherly instinct in how fast she handed over Charley’s whereabouts to him.
Receiving the photo of Charley only sped up Gray’s desire to put into motion the revenge plot he began organizing the moment the federal court handed down his multiple life sentences. Now, he’d get justice on his dear sister for her mortal sin of betrayal.
As if on cue, a guard—Officer Moody—headed in Gray’s direction. He was a big motherfucker, and his name fit him. Though guards weren’
t armed inside the facility, inmates didn’t mess with this particular guard. Ever.
When he got closer, he shoved Gray’s leg off of the bench. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? Don’t put your feet on the furniture.”
This guard would be surprised at what Gray’s mother taught him.
Inmates scattered until no one was close enough to hear what Officer Moody said next.
“It’s done. Your pal Jake received a knife three knee deep.”
Gray put his best tough guy face on while making eye contact with Officer Moody. “So, he’ll live?”
“For as long as you want him to.”
“Good.” He shoved the photograph into his chest. “Have someone show him this. See if he knew my sister had a kid. Report back how he reacts, then finish him off.” Was Jake the father of Charley’s kid? She—the kid—was the right age. And it was clear by the picture of the two of them that the child in the photo belonged to his sister. The brat looked just like Charley. It would be the ultimate revenge to show Jake that Charley had kept a child from him just before offing him. Gray saw Jake as another backstabber, betraying Gray months before the FBI raided the drug lab.
Officer Moody grabbed Gray’s wrist and twisted his arm, forcing him to turn and fall to his knees. “Don’t put your hands on me, inmate. And you will watch your mouth, boy,” he said loudly enough for many to hear, and created a believable show for the other prisoners. “You think you’re in charge here? You’ll never be in charge of anything ever again.” He shoved Gray to the ground, then turned and left.
By the time Gray was standing again, one of his cellmates sidled up beside him. “Someone should teach Officer Moody a lesson.”
Gray watched as Officer Moody placed the photograph of his sister in his breast pocket and disappeared through the prison doorway. “Yeah. Someone should.”
Chapter 3
Colt
“What the hell, Filly?” Wolf finally caught up to Colt Callaway as they finished a four-mile run.
“Don’t you know, Filly?” Abe asked, laughing and out of breath as he brought up the rear. “You’re supposed to let Wolf win.”
Both Abe and Wolf bent over at the waist and placed both hands on their knees while trying to catch their breath.
“Oh, that was a race?” Colt asked. “Had I known, I would have run faster.” He laughed, barely out of breath.
Colt was the newest member of the SEAL team stationed near San Diego, California with Matthew Steel—Wolf—and Christopher Powers—Abe. The other members—Cooke, Mozart, Benny, and Dude—had completed their mandatory four-mile run the previous day and were finishing up other training exercises before a group of them was leaving for a long weekend break. Not that they truly ever got a break. They could get a call at any time, and be sent on a mission for the US Navy, but for this weekend, the powers to be would have to call them in Virginia Beach. Their friend Tex—John Keegan—and his wife were meeting them there for a long weekend of relaxation and fun.
“Abe,” Wolf said. “Did you see that chick that Colt had a drink with last night?”
“Darla? Oh yeah, I saw her.” Abe grinned. “Legend has it that Darla’s been hanging out in that bar for years, trying to land herself a Navy SEAL.”
“It was one drink.” Colt laughed as he stretched his calves and hamstrings. He had no interest in Darla, the SEAL slayer that would give even Buffy the Vampire Slayer a run for her money. Besides, Colt had no interest in meeting a prospective girlfriend in a bar where girls came to “land themselves a SEAL.” On the other hand, he wouldn’t mind meeting someone that understood what he did for a living—someone he could come home to after a difficult mission.
“That’s not what we heard,” Wolf said and traded a grin with Abe.
Colt waved them off. “You two are just angry you couldn’t keep up with me today.” He started to turn and walk away when Wolf continued.
“My lovely bride says Darla plans to marry you.” Wolf and Abe laughed harder. “She also says that Darla thinks you’re the prettiest boy she’s ever seen. She wants you to do things to her that no other man has ever done. To ride her like a stallion.” Wolf and Abe made full-body gestures, a sort of sign language for the “things” Darla wanted.
“That’s right, pretty boy,” Abe taunted. “Apparently, you’ve fooled Darla. But don’t worry. You’re still our little filly.”
“Fuck off! Both of you!”
They laughed harder.
Wolf, Abe, and the rest of the unit had already decided that he was just too pretty to call by his real name, so they began calling him Filly. It was humiliating, but what was more humiliating was not being able to have a drink in a bar with a woman without his entire team making it into something that it definitely wasn’t. And if it had been something, Colt wouldn’t want his team talking about a woman he was interested in that way, no matter her past.
Abe punched Colt playfully in the shoulder. “You’re gonna have to learn to take a joke, Filly.”
He decided to let the Darla thing go. Colt was just in a weird place when it came to dating. “I will as soon as you both learn to lose a race. You’re both slow. And sore losers.”
“He’s right on both accounts,” Wolf agreed, then changed the subject. “On to more important matters. Ice texted. Says we’ve gotta be at the airport in two hours if we’re gonna make our flight.”
“Don’t remind me,” Abe whined. “Flying commercial is the worst.”
Wolf laughed. “And she already talked to Tex and Melody. They reserved a room at JK Shuckers Raw and Sports Bar for tomorrow night. They’re already in Virginia Beach and excited for us to join them.”
“That’s the UK-Duke game,” Colt said, referring to the Sweet Sixteen matchup of this year’s NCAA basketball tournament.
“Yes, but we better act like the women with us mean way more than some stupid game,” Abe said.
“I guess there are times when it’s nice to be single,” Colt said, but he didn’t really believe it.
Abe and Wolf traded another look, then laughed.
“Nah,” Wolf said. “My Ice will be rooting for the Cats all the way, and will be perfectly fine with me doing the same. And after the game? I’ll have someone warm to curl up next to in that big hotel bed.”
He had a point, Colt thought.
“Well, all I know,” Abe said, “is that Tex planned a good time for us, and we’re going to enjoy a nice, long weekend on the beach. Even if the temperatures are on the cool side, it’s still the beach.”
“What about tonight?” Colt asked. “We doing anything?”
“You’re on your own,” Abe said. “Alabama made me promise we’d have some time for just the two of us. I promised her a night out and a long walk on the beach.”
“Ice, too,” Wolf said. “We’ve got reservations.”
Colt nodded. He was actually more than okay with that. He liked and respected his new teammates, but he appreciated his alone time when he could get it.
Colt walked the beach that evening after an amazing seafood dinner of freshly caught grouper and peel-and-eat shrimp. Being March, the weather was unpredictable and had turned cold within hours after arriving. Snow was in the forecast for the next day.
With the time change from California to Virginia Beach, he was wired, but he was also thankful for the time alone.
While his teammates were off on their own with their wives or girlfriends, Colt headed up the boardwalk to look for a bar showing the March Madness games. He found a small sports bar right on the beach. Most people were sitting around high-top tables, drinking beer, and watching the games.
He found his own seat at the bar and ordered a local microbrew. The bartender served his beer about the same time a gaggle of women to his left erupted in laughter—women who didn’t look the least bit interested in basketball.
With his beer in hand, he turned and eyed the festive table. By the looks of the gifts being opened by a woman with a veil on her head, it was
some sort of bachelorette party. Out of a white bag with white tissue, the woman pulled something red that looked like nothing more than a few of pieces of lace held together by even less elastic.
Colt lifted his brows as the girls screamed and laughed and talked about what the young bride was supposed to do with the tiny piece of lingerie. That was when his eyes found one particular woman. She was sitting at the opposite end of the table from the bride. And though she was smiling, she looked… uncomfortable. Sad, even.
He took a swig of beer, and for the next twenty minutes he shifted from watching Gonzaga playing North Carolina to the attractive blonde with a warm smile but sad eyes. Her face lit up briefly when Gonzaga pulled ahead, and her shoulders slumped when North Carolina took the lead again. Was she a Gonzaga fan, or just rooting against North Carolina?
When the bride-to-be was served a Blow Job shot, Colt almost felt sorry for her. She was obviously already drunk and didn’t need any more liquor.
He got caught up in the last few minutes of the game and didn’t even notice when the blonde with sad eyes sat beside him at the bar. When he finally did notice her, she was holding her wallet in front her.
The bartender approached. “Hey, Kate.”
“Hi, Barney.” She handed him a couple of hundred dollar bills. “Put this toward their tab.”
“Look at you, big spender.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protected in Darkness (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 1
