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  Recon Strong

  The Elite Book 1

  By Krista Ames

  ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  Dirk Rockwell knew when he left the Marines that he wanted to be in private security. The need to protect had been ingrained in his brain for too many years not to. Lately, however, it was really taxing his nerves. He was used to killing if he needed to, to protect his charge, not step in between a disgruntled husband and wife during a domestic dispute. When he took on the latest assignment to protect a woman who’d snapped one too many secret photographs, he’d only agreed because an old friend had recommended him. Meeting Avery proved to him that not all women needed protection equally.

  Avery Hanson lived for the rush of almost getting caught. That’s why she chose freelance photography as a profession. The sticky part was when she did get caught. However, this time wasn’t like the usual quick brush with the local law where she could talk herself out of it with a slap on the hand. She’d somehow gotten mixed up in some nasty hush hush with the federal government. This time, she didn’t just need out of yet another mess, she needed help staying alive.

  Without the necessary channels to cover both their asses, Dirk enlists the help of The Omega Team. But will it be enough to keep him from losing his charge and his heart?

  Dedication

  We just love our Military men don’t we TKJ

  Table of Contents

  THE OMEGA TEAM

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  The Omega Team

  Grey Holden was raised to believe in honor and duty and the dedication of men to fighting evil. Both his father and grandfather taught him the tradition of the Omega Male, men who carry a resourcefulness, cunning and strength to get a job done with their own skill. They take great pride in what they do without it manifesting as "ego." They differ from the typical Alpha Male who MUST absolutely be perceived by his peers as the toughest, most popular, and smartest. An Omega Male cares little for this recognition...but knows that he is all those things and more. It’s what made him a good soldier and what makes him a good security and covert agent. Athena Madero fits perfectly into his world. They meet when separately they are trying to prove that a wealthy and high profile political figure is actually The Snake, a shadowy arms dealer whose weapons armed the insurgents that Grey was fighting in Afghanistan.

  They form The Omega Team, an agency that takes on even the most dangerous cases. They draw as members of the team former military such as Delta Force, SEALs, Force Recon Marines, Coast Guard, Night Stalkers and others, law enforcement and private security who have the same code of conduct and dedication they do. They will also work with similar agencies on some joint ventures. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, they accept assignments all over the world, no matter how dangerous.

  Chapter One

  “God, I hate dealing with whiney, over-dramatic women.”

  Dirk had really been pumped to get into private security once his discharge from a special branch of the military was official. Some of his company buddies hadn’t decided what they were going to do after, but he had been planning for quite a while. It was a surprise the more he thought about it, only because he’d never been anything more than a fly-by-night type of guy.

  What he wasn’t thrilled about were his latest three jobs and that he’d just gotten a call for another. All women. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the ladies, but protecting them was a whole other issue. The ones he’d been dealing with had money, and status and they damn well knew it. They thought their shit didn’t stink and that he needed to be at their beckoning call because he was being paid.

  “Sorry ladies, not how I work.”

  And usually he didn’t have any trouble telling anybody either. Dirk’s business wasn’t run like a personal escort service for the rich and famous. He was in security. To him, that meant someone had done something to piss off somebody else and needed protection. It usually wasn’t a long-term thing either. He didn’t advertise his business and there was no store front where everyone could stop in. It was by word of mouth and recommendation only.

  He took a lot into consideration before making the decision to take a case. Extensive behind the scenes research, partly because it was what he was used to but also because he needed to know anything and everything there was to know about who he was protecting. That included research of their family members, neighbors and any friends that he might find odd or interesting. Helped him to know exactly what he was up against. Everybody had secrets buried in the closet but the less that surprised him during his detail, the better and safer everyone involved would be. The only exception to that was the person who referred a client. It was usually someone he knew well or that knew of him and had the right references.

  The file he currently held in his hands wasn’t one he was too keen on taking, however. He’d had this woman as a charge before and she was as unpleasant as anyone he’d ever run across. It would be easy because all her background work was already done but she wasn’t stress-free or simple by any sense of the word. And she really didn’t need protected from anything other than herself. As he read through the letter attached, his personal line rang.

  After hesitating a second or two, he picked up the unknown call to a familiar voice.

  “Hey man, good to hear from you, what’s up?”

  Corey Wallis was an old childhood friend of his who worked for the department of defense and had been the one to give him his first job lead when Dirk was discharged from the Marines. He was one of those exceptions to the rule. He trusted the man with his life. It also helped that Corey had been a marine once too.

  Dirk listened to what his friend had to say and agreed once or twice during the conversation.

  “You know it’s only because I trust you that I’ll take on this case without knowing any of the details. You are sending the info at some point, right?”

  His friend informed him that a large packet would be coming to him via random courier at his usual pickup spot and that he had to go but they’d catch up soon. Dirk clicked off his cell and threw it on the couch. Then he picked up the repeat client paperwork from his desk and fed the papers into the shredder one at a time and he was all too thrilled. That’s how trustworthy his friend was. There was always a small percent he was being played but he’d deal with that later.

  “All I have to say is it better not be another woman.”

  ***

  Avery Hanson glanced out through the soiled drapes onto the parking lot of the seedy motel she’d resigned herself to stay in. All day she’d had the feeling she was being followed which made her afraid to go back to the hotel she was originally in. Her mother was a prim and proper woman and would roll over in her grave to see her only daughter in that kind of an establishment. Places like this didn’t bother Avery though. She’d been in and out of dozens of them chasing leads.

  “Do the best photo ops always need to lead to the most trouble though?

  Why couldn’t she have just told herself to walk away before someone saw her? Avery’s dad was beyond pissed, she’d never heard his voice take on that h
arsh a tone before. It was downright mean and she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

  She always carried burner phones in case of an emergency when she was doing her work. Wouldn’t want anyone being able to trace her if she needed to make a call. Tracking down her dad in the department of defense wasn’t what she had in mind for that phone though.

  Avery’s dad, Bill Hanson, never made it a secret that he thought his daughter was a fuck up and boy if she didn’t prove that point today. He didn’t support her line of work in the first place and having to call him for help in cleaning up a mess she’d been specifically told to stay away from didn’t bode well.

  When she’d first referenced the mess to the Under Secretary of Defense, her dad, he didn’t let her even finish explaining. His voice switched from a calm and collected government official to an angry dad of a daughter who’d just witnessed and photographed the Deputy Secretary being murdered. Doesn’t get more fucked up than that.

  He told her to go back to her hotel, keep a low profile and stay there until he got back with her but of course, as any kid probably would, she didn’t listen. Partly because she was an adult but mainly because there was someone keeping tabs on her so she needed to protect herself. He’d disconnected before she could tell him her concerns and going straight back to the hotel wasn’t smart. She’d seen plenty of movies to know she should drive around a while but then what if they already knew who she was and where she was staying?

  Better than most, she knew the ins and outs of sleazy motels and dive bars and there were a few people she’d met that might be able to keep her hidden. She probably shouldn’t have bothered to call her dad at all, he had enough on his hands with the murder directly affecting his department. It also meant her dad could be in danger as well but she couldn’t think about that now, she needed to keep her distance from him for his own safety.

  She tried to busy herself with unpacking her backpack and refolding and packing the clothes to get her mind sidetracked but had no luck.

  “I am so stupid. This is going to get me killed.”

  Flipping on the TV, she scanned through the available channels but every station had an emergency news flash about the Deputy Secretary and that there would be a press conference shortly to let the American people know what was going on. She knew better though, they weren’t about to let anyone know the gory details or they’d have mass hysteria.

  Avery turned off the TV, unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. She couldn’t help but look out the window one last time before jumping in the shower. When briefly scanning the lot again for anything out of place, she caught sight of a car she hadn’t seen before, parked straight out from her room. She could see a person sitting in the driver’s seat but the windows were darkened so she didn’t have a clear enough view.

  “Great, they found me.”

  Chapter Two

  Dirk cursed aloud as he sat watching door number thirteen of a run-down motel on the south side of town. That was his unlucky number, not a good sign. He’d been suckered into the job and he was pissed off about it. He would still do the job to the best of his ability but he wasn’t happy. Apparently, there was an immediate need to re-evaluate his ability to trust the people in his life.

  “I shouldn’t have taken the damn case until I’d gone over the information first, like every other case I take. Damn it.”

  He’d spent the rest of his afternoon reading over the thick file while he sipped on coffee in the diner around the corner from his house. He had a bad feeling about it when he hung up with his friend but he’d never had an issue before so he wanted to trust him. The man was in big trouble.

  “Another damn woman. At least this one got herself in a shit-ton of trouble and actually needed the protection.”

  And she did too, deep. She was a photographer but she might as well have been a private investigator for all the sneaking around and police scuffles she’d gotten herself mixed up in. This time however, she’d done it up good. Hers was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Maybe with this woman, Dirk would be able to protect her from the bad guys instead of just babysitting. From what he’d learned so far about who she was, she knew how to get in the thick of things and she didn’t care. He had to give her kudos for trying to hide herself in an unrecognizable setting and she had no car either, unless she’d hid it further away from the motel. He’d already run plates on every vehicle in the lot and been to the manager so he knew exactly which room she was in. If he put a little pressure on the kid, he might have gotten her room key too but he’d save that option as a last resort if she didn’t come quietly.

  What he didn’t want to do was let on that he was there just yet. Dirk wanted to keep an eye on the surroundings and people coming and going, making sure to catch the ones that didn’t belong. Every so often the curtain moved to one side or the other so she was keeping a lookout as well, which meant she was running scared.

  He sat up in his seat when he saw her door open. She looked both ways before she speed-walked down to the closest stairwell.

  “Where in the hell are you going?”

  She had quite the police rap sheet but seemed like a smart girl, only getting caught for petty misdemeanors even though they were some high-profile cases.

  “She probably cried her way out of them like a typical woman.”

  This time, however, she wasn’t making a great decision by going out in the open before it was completely dark. He didn’t know for sure who was hunting her yet but anyone smart enough to mess with a government official knew what they were doing. They would find her, it would only be a matter of time.

  He still wasn’t ready to introduce himself but with her out of her room, he could probably sneak in and be there when she came back. He started to open the car door when he saw her moving quickly back to her room with a handful of snacks.

  “Shit, guess I’ll be waiting a little longer after all.”

  ***

  “I hate this.” She threw the handful of snack machine items onto her bed and twisted open the pop bottle for a drink.

  She was pretty much stuck in her room. Going out in the daytime wasn’t smart, she knew that but she was starving so it didn’t leave her much choice. The motel didn’t have a restaurant and she didn’t have her car to drive for dinner. All her things were at the other hotel. She had no change of clothes or personal belongings, and no contact information. If only she could think clearly for just a minute, there were safe places in the city she could lay low until she figured out her next move. She just couldn’t remember one. If only she had her personal phone on her. It had everything she would need. She just didn’t usually make a habit of taking it with her when she was working. Might be one thing she’d need to rethink.

  She couldn’t call her dad again. He’d gone ballistic the last time, and besides, he was too close to the situation. Good thing she used her mother’s maiden name as her last name. That way they wouldn’t connect her to him, if they knew who she was. She only hoped her dad wouldn’t concoct a plan to come rescue her himself. A body guard might not be a bad idea but she didn’t have that kind of money readily available.

  As she munched on the granola bar, she took one last glance out the window. The car was still out in the lot but it’d been there a while. Nothing was moving so it was probably just her imagination. Maybe the owner had a room there too and she was just over-reacting.

  “I need to take a shower.”

  Her clothes weren’t that dirty but maybe tomorrow if the coast were clear, she could sneak back to the other place and collect her things.

  “It’s too far to walk downtown so I have to get to my car.” It was in a lot a couple blocks away if it was still there. She wondered though, if it might be smarter to go at night. She could hide behind buildings or in alleys. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a fan of the dark. Even though she’d done more stakeouts at night than any other time, just to get the perfect picture.

  She grabb
ed the little shampoo and conditioner bottles from the sink area, along with a bar of soap and started the hot water. The mirror quickly steamed over so she turned on the fan and shut the door, locking herself in the bathroom. A byproduct of watching too many scary movies.

  As she climbed in under the spray, the muscles in her shoulders started to relax. For a rundown motel in a seedy part of town, the water pressure was amazing, she could stand in there all night. She took her time scrubbing her body while she went over every detail of what had happened to her that day. She needed a sizable amount of sleep. Then maybe her head would be clear enough to work a way out of this mess.

  Reluctantly, she ended her shower, dressed and cautiously opened the bathroom door, halfway expecting to see a stranger waiting right there when she emerged. But alas, the coast was clear. Leaving the door open, she cleaned up her mess, hanging the towel and wash cloth on the rack and decided she would watch a little TV to help her sleep. If she hadn’t seen any unwanted visitors yet, she doubted they would come now.

  The room was dark as she walked past the bed and turned on the television, adjusting to an acceptable volume but not too loud. She found a channel less boring than the others, then bent over toward the floor and patted her hair with a towel to remove the wetness. When she was upright again and removed the towel, she moved toward the bed and screamed.

  “Who in the hell are you and what are you doing in my bed?”

  Chapter Three

  Dirk didn’t exactly relish the idea of scaring women but in his line of work, he’d found that surprising them was ultimately easier than trying to approach when they were paranoid and could see him coming. He wasn’t a fan of having to run after them. Just by watching from the parking lot, he knew this lady was certainly jumpy. And by the fact she kept looking out the window, she thought she was being followed. Only he hadn’t seen any signs of that himself.