Until Now (Plan B Book 1)

by Delaney Diamond

  When the plane landed, he read Shanice’s text and sent another one to her before climbing into the car that had been sent for him. The trip didn’t take long, and soon he was walking down the cold hallway with a white tiled floor and white walls made of cement that were several feet thick.

  The Plan B offices were underground, as secretive in location as the organization itself. At the outer door, Cruz placed his eye to a biometric lens and the door opened with a click, allowing him to enter. The environment changed drastically on the inside. There were warm colors, carpet, and large comfy chairs made up for the lack of natural light. The man seated at the front desk nodded at him.

  “You can go in. He’s waiting for you.”

  Not breaking stride, Cruz strolled into Miles’s inner office. Miles was standing in front of a painting, hands clasped behind his back. He turned slowly to face Cruz.

  “Good to see you,” he said. “Let’s get started.”

  The conversation took approximately thirty minutes, and Miles handed him documents and other materials he’d need for the trip. At the end, Cruz had a better understanding of what he was expected to do, how long the mission was expected to take, and if he would have any partners while overseas.

  When they finished, he didn’t move.

  “Do you have any news about who leaked that Shanice and I were coming to DC?”

  “It was J.C.,” Miles said with a regretful shake of his head.

  Miles’s answer was completely unexpected. “Son of a…and he got himself killed in the process. Who did he tell?”

  “That I don’t know. We’re still digging around trying to get the details about his contact without tipping anyone off. That’s all I know for now.”

  “I want a name, Miles,” Cruz said in a hard tone, barely keeping his temper in check.

  “I know you do. So do I. I’m working on it. You have any more questions?” Miles clasped his hands on the desk.

  “No, but I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “This is hard for me to say, but I put a lot of thought into my decision. This will be my last mission, Miles. I’m retiring from Plan B.”

  Miles busted out laughing as if he had said something outrageously funny. When Cruz didn’t join him in laughing, he sobered and stared at him in disbelief.

  “You’re serious? This is your life. You’ve been a part of Plan B since you were eighteen years old.”

  Cruz shrugged. “It’s no longer enough. I want a real life, a family.” All these years he’d been a lone wolf. Shanice could change that.

  Miles snorted. “Believe me, that’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “But you have that—a family—and I don’t.”

  “You can have both,” Miles said.

  Cruz shook his head. “I don’t want both.”

  “You’re just going to walk away from the agency?” Miles shook his head. “No way. You can’t resign. You’re too good, and your country needs you. You’re only thirty years old and have a lot of years left to work.”

  “I’ve worked for my country for twelve years. That’s plenty. I can start a business. Or simply take time off and figure out what I want to do.” The conversation with Shanice had really cemented in his mind the idea of starting a security firm. It could be another outlet for him.

  Miles laughed. “Look. Take some time to think about your decision. Don’t be hasty. If you want more time off, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you have my back? You didn’t have my back when I asked you for an escort from the airport on the Logan thing.”

  Miles’s eyes flashed angrily. He didn’t like being called out on his failure. “That came from higher up the chain. You know that. Had I been allowed to handle things my own way, no one would have discovered your schedule and the ambush would have never taken place.”

  “Then let the higher ups know I’m done. My mind is made up. Let them know, Miles. When I get back, I’m retiring after I’m debriefed.”

  “Cheng won’t be happy.”

  “Cheng can kiss my Cuban ass.”

  Miles tapped his thumb on the arm of the chair. “Wow, I never thought I’d see the day.”

  Cruz stood, feeling as if a ton of granite had been lifted off his back. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  Miles studied him, disbelief evident in his eyes. Cruz had really shocked him with his decision.

  “Sure. I’ll see you when you get back.”

  30

  Flowers. Check.

  Engagement ring. Check.

  Cruz flexed his fingers on the steering wheel, nervous in a way he couldn’t remember ever being before. He could stare down the barrel of a gun and travel around the world fighting enemies of his country—evil people who thought nothing of taking his life and the lives of others. Yet his palms were sweating at the thought of asking the woman he loved for her hand in marriage.

  Until now, he never thought he would be in this position, anxious to get married and start a family. But Shanice changed his mind, and he wanted to get married and start a family with her. He only hoped that she wanted to do those things with him.

  Since his return to Florida, he had tried to reach her, but her phone had gone straight to voicemail. She could be at Hudson’s Bookstore, one of her favorite hangouts on the island, or simply busy. Whatever she was doing, he was anxious to see her, anxious to give her a big kiss after six weeks apart.

  His phone beeped and he glanced at the screen. Finally, she had responded.

  Sorry I missed your call. I’m at home now. Where are you?

  Two minutes away. Can’t wait to see you.

  She sent him a series of hearts and he grinned. Darn, he couldn’t wait to grab her in his arms.

  Cruz turned down the street toward his house, and a navy-blue two-door car rolled by him, the tinted windows so dark he couldn’t see the interior or who was driving. He’d never seen this car before in their little neighborhood. Instinctively, he glanced at the back of the vehicle in his side view mirror and committed the license plate to memory.

  When his house came into view, his heart thumped faster because he was excited to see Shanice again. He’d been unable to contact her while overseas, but sent a single postcard after three weeks. It didn’t contain any identifying information, but he’d wanted her to know he was all right. The past six weeks had been the longest of his life, but knowing she’d been waiting here for him had made the wait easier.

  Boom!

  Cruz slammed on the brakes as his house exploded before his eyes. Glass, brick, and pieces of wood burst into the sky and rained down into the yard and onto the surrounding properties. Shocked, he stared at his demolished home.

  What the hell?

  Shaking out of his daze, he dialed Shanice’s number. No answer. He tossed aside the phone and stumbled out of the vehicle, leaving it in the middle of the street as he raced toward the burning building. Near the flames, the intense heat seared his skin and he staggered back. Cruz stared at the carnage, coughing as smoke and ash filled the air.

  Dear God, she couldn’t be inside. Please. No.

  He looked at the message she’d sent.

  I’m at home now.

  Two of his neighbors came running out onto the street, one of them holding up a phone to film while the other called 911.

  Not much was left of the building. Whatever explosive device they had used had been very effective.

  “Shanice,” he whispered. The tightness in his chest gripped his entire body.

  Maybe she wasn’t really at home. Maybe she was in the back yard and safe. Maybe, just maybe this wasn’t happening. Maybe he was still on the plane and needed to wake up.

  But minutes later, he had to accept that this was not a dream. This was his reality, and all the plans he’d made went up in flames like his house. Shanice was nowhere to be found.

  He watched firefighters douse what was left of the burning building with gallons o
f gushing water. Mr. Hudson called his name, but he didn’t react. All he could do was stare.

  Finally, it hit him. He would never see Shanice again. He would never hold her again.

  “Shanice,” he whispered, voice trembling.

  His body became weak, puttylike. He dropped to his knees on the hard street as pain ripped through him. Tears blurred his eyes and burned his nose. Fingers clenched, he let out a roar like a wounded animal—so deep, so raw, so pained, that everyone who heard him turned and stared.

  The walk to Nancy Cheng’s office seemed long. Cruz’s legs and feet felt as if they had been encased in cement, but that was because he’d barely slept in three days and could only remember eating once during the same period.

  Nancy asked for a meeting with him to discuss his decision to leave. He’d only met her once, and that had been at an event when she took over as the new director—a low-key function at a DC hotel, labeled a wedding reception or some such nonsense to keep it under the radar and not let word get out that half the people in attendance were spooks working for a secret government organization.

  As Cruz waited in the outer office, he was more convinced than ever he’d made the right decision to leave Plan B. There was no doubt in his mind that whoever killed Shanice had done so to hurt him. His work had caught up with him, and the perpetrator could have been from an assignment from years ago, or as recently as his work against Peaslee or Logan. They’d used high-level explosives, maximizing the damage and making what was left of her body unrecognizable. She’d simply been collateral damage, and he had a hard time accepting that she’d lost her life because of him.

  Nancy looked up from behind a heavy oak desk when he entered. She didn’t smile and neither did Cruz.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yes, I did. Have a seat, please.”

  She was dressed in a designer pantsuit and wore a simple gold necklace around her neck. It was hard to tell exactly how old she was, but he figured her to be in her early fifties at least. No one got into the position of director without earning their stripes in the trenches. Legend had it, Nancy had at one time been a deadly agent in the field, working strictly as an assassin to take out anyone who posed an overt threat to CIA operations overseas.

  Cruz sat in the chair in front of her desk.

  Nancy leaned back in her chair. “Miles told me that you want to leave us. I didn’t believe him. I assumed he’d misunderstood, so I thought I’d speak directly to you myself. If you need a break, you can have one, Cruz. If you need more money, name your price.” Her smooth voice carried the accent of someone from the Midwest.

  “I don’t need a break, and I don’t need more money. I simply can’t do this anymore. My debt to the agency has been paid, and I’m done with Plan B for good.”

  He’d spent the past three days in a foggy shell of numbness he still hadn’t managed to fully extricate himself from. Nothing seemed real. The world had turned gray, and the light Shanice had brought into it had been completely snuffed out.

  Nancy smiled slightly. “You can’t quit the organization, Cruz. You’re too good at what you do. We need you.”

  If she thought she could talk him out of his decision, she had another think coming. Nothing would change his mind.

  “I’m ready to do something else.”

  Nancy tossed the pen she’d been holding onto the desk. “What are you going to do? Take up knitting?”

  “I’ll think of something.”

  “Where is this coming from, Cruz? Is this because of your girlfriend, the one you met on that off-the-books job you took in Miami?”

  “Yes. She’s the main reason.”

  “Isn’t she dead?”

  She asked the question so carelessly, the words cut through him like an extra-sharp machete. He flinched at the pain that wouldn’t be assuaged any time soon.

  “Yes, she’s dead.”

  “Then why are you leaving?”

  “Because I want to.”

  “You’re an assassin, a spook, a government agent. Am I supposed to believe you’re simply going to settle down and live an ordinary life in the suburbs?” She scoffed at the idea. “A leopard never changes its spots.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Nothing can keep me with the agency, and now that the woman I love is gone, there’s less incentive for me to stay. I have to live my life, and that’s what I intend to do.”

  He stood and walked to the door.

  “How? What does a man with your high IQ do now? Your file lists you as prone to violence. Do you really think you could live a normal life? Don’t be ridiculous. Continue to work for change, in her memory.”

  He stopped at the door. “If you knew anything about Shanice, you’d know she wanted me to do what made me happy. In her memory, I’m going to do just that.”

  He walked out the door and minutes later was driving away. The guilt would never leave him, knowing that he caused Shanice’s death. One thing was for certain, he would not rest until he found out who killed her.

  And he would make them pay.

  Also by Delaney Diamond

  Coming in March 2021

  Until Death (Plan B #2)

  Years later, Cruz Cordoba is back!

  In the exciting conclusion to Cruz and Shanice’s love story, he’s ready to handle more bad guys and has assembled a team to help him do it.

  Free short stories available at

  www.delaneydiamond.com.

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  About the Author

  Delaney Diamond is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet, sensual, passionate romance novels. Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, she now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. She reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of nonfiction. When she’s not busy reading or writing, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale.

  Enjoy free reads and the first chapter of all her novels on her website. Join her mailing list to get sneak peeks, notices of sale prices, and find out about new releases.

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