Securing Willow (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Guardian Elite Book 5)

by KaLyn Cooper

  Securing Willow (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

  Guardian Elite series novel #5

  KaLyn Cooper

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Letter to Readers

  About the Author

  More by Author KaLyn Cooper

  More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books

  Books by Susan Stoker

  This book is dedicated to the men and women who serve our country in U.S. Embassies around the world. Few Americans even know of Foreign Service Officers and their jobs are often misunderstood by the general public. Some live in very dangerous parts of the world and put their lives on the line every day.

  Thank you for being there for all of us!

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I’d like to thank Susan Stoker for allowing me to write in her world once again and for publishing Securing Willow. I’m truly thankful that you allow me to combine our series.

  I’d like to thank the Ladies of Black Swan Book Club. This Facebook group helps me in so many ways with every book. I would especially like to thank the following women for naming characters in Securing Willow: Angie Bengston, Nora Cardin, Francine Bless, Tonja Staelens, Ann Ivey, Susan Hall, Laura Daugherty, and Deborah Shutters.

  My deepest thanks goes to my content editor, Trenda London who pointed me toward news stories on Venezuela, talked me through character development, and made sure I tied off all strings. But also like to thank my copy editor, Rebecca Hodgkins, who not only finds all my Dragon-isms, but has taught me a few the finer points of grammar.

  A special thanks goes to my “sister” military romantic suspense author, Caitlin O’Leary. She helps me in too many ways to list here.

  As always, I thank Drue Hoffman. I love the covers she creates for me, and the advertising to help me sell my books.

  Last, but never least, I thank my husband who doesn’t get upset when I pull an all-nighter writing because the words are flowing.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © 2018 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book 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, please purchase your own copy.

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!

  If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.

  This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.

  I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!

  READ ON!

  Xoxo

  Susan Stoker

  About the book

  Guarding her wasn’t his job, but he couldn’t let her die…even before she stole his heart.

  Although Willow and Remi had only two nights together several years ago, the former Navy SEAL was pleased to discover that she was still working for the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela. In the politically tumultuous country to guard an oil executive during sensitive negotiations with the new president, Remi discovers the temptingly beautiful foreign service officer is being threatened. His protective instincts take over.

  Willow Cardenas was receiving threats almost daily. Someone wanted her out of Venezuela. With a new ambassador, the country on the verge of civil war, and nowhere else to go, she couldn’t leave. The last thing she needed was an overprotective man in her life, even if she was drawn to Remi by memories of their steamy past.

  Securing Willow is the fifth book in the Guardian Elite series. This story is a crossover with Susan Stoker’s SEAL of Protection: Legacy series and written in her Special Forces: Operation Alpha world.

  If you enjoy reading second chance, military romance that keeps you on the edge, you'll like this book that includes the men of Susan Stoker’s SEAL of Protection: Legacy.

  Chapter 1

  Remington Steel ejected the empty magazine and laid it next to the gun on the shooting bench. He stared downrange at the decimated target. He had a nice tight grouping where the heart should be, but his first head shot had been off-center. He wasn’t happy about that.

  The ten-millimeter pistol was a little different from the forty-five caliber he’d been trained on and carried as a SEAL, but that didn’t matter. Shooting expert with any caliber, any gun, was a requirement of his new job, so he would throw a thousand bullets down range until he was comfortable with every weapon in the Guardian Security arsenal. Meeting the minimum requirement was never good enough for Remi. He had to be one of the best.

  Everything he needed was right there in the building, from a spacious apartment, to a workout facility that included stacks of free weights and state-of-the-art lifting equipment, a sparring ring, and their own private shooting range. That was one of the many things he loved about the job—they had high expectations but provided the tools to accomplish the goals.

  Barely glancing down, he grabbed the next full magazine. The cold metal in his hand was so familiar, its weight reassuring. Before he could shove it into the gun, a hand slapped his shoulder and squeezed.

  “We need to talk.” Top Cooper was all business. The retired master sergeant ran the Guardian D.C. Center as though it were his former Marine battalion. There was complete respect for the chain of command. Everyone was expected to do the job assigned to them without questioning or compromise. Although he’d only been with the company seven months, he didn’t think he’d ever crossed any of those lines, so his boss’s comment took him aback.

  “Yes, sir.” Remi immediately started picking up his shooting gear while Top held the button to bring in his target.

  “Good work.” Pointing to the single hole an inch to the right of where Remi had created a hole big enough to put his large fist through, one corner of the big man’s mouth ticked up. “Don’t worry about that one. It would have stopped him in his tracks.” Top leaned against the next shooting station, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

  Remi checked the chamber of the company-owned gun before placing it back in the case. He would clean it later, perhaps after shooting another hundred rounds or so. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his boss wait patiently. They were alone in the soundproof range. If h
e was going to get his ass chewed, he’d rather do it right there, right then. “What’s up, Top? Here works for me.”

  “You’ve done a very good job for us here in D.C., but being a bodyguard to congressional wives and shielding celebrities as they visit our national monuments isn’t the only place we protect people.” Top pushed off and stood, booted feet shoulder-length apart. “How do you feel about an overseas assignment? One that might be longer term?”

  Well, at least he wasn’t going to get yelled at for some indiscretion he didn’t know he’d made. “Where are we talking about? And for how long?” Instantly his mother popped into his mind. She was in the midst of chemotherapy after a double mastectomy. He didn’t go home often enough to please his father or sisters, but he’d been there before and after her surgery. He also called home and talked to the clan at least once a week.

  Top ignored his questions and held his gaze. “I’m going to cut to the bottom line, this could be fucking dangerous.”

  “You mean step away from the wild life of watching some Senator’s daughter drink too much and dance too close, making sure she doesn’t bring someone home with her after a night of clubbing? Oh, and watch the little debutante throw up in the limo on the way home? Give up this exciting life?” Remi gave him two rows of bright white teeth and hoped his boss had heard the sarcasm. He’d been a SEAL for Christ’s sake. He hadn’t seen real action since leaving the Navy. “Do I get to shoot bad guys? How about blow something up?”

  Top burst out laughing. “Well, if I knew you were interested in that kind of excitement, we would’ve talked about a whole different line of business Guardian Security has.”

  Remi’s eyebrows lifted. “You talking black ops?” Rumors ran rampant around the high testosterone company. It wouldn’t be out of the question for a Beltway company like Guardian to contract with the federal government, but no one had ever asked Remi to join in that kind of fun.

  Obviously ignoring his question, Top asked, “So, are you interested in a longer-term overseas assignment?”

  “I’d like to hear a lot more about it first.” That was another good thing about this job that was so different from being enlisted in the Navy, Guardian gave them all the information they had…upfront. It was almost scary the amount of intelligence the company had about every single member of Congress, their staff, and families—often including mistresses, past and present.

  “Alex is waiting for us in the conference room.” He nodded to the gun in the case. “Leave that here. I’ll get the armorer to clean it for you.”

  Picking up the case containing the pistol, Remi insisted, “I shot it. I’ll clean it.”

  Grabbing the encased gun, Top set it on the shooting bench. “I doubt you’re going to have time.”

  As Remi followed Top Cooper into the boardroom, the tall Latino at the end of the table stood. “Remington, I’m Alex Wolf.”

  “Remi,” he noted as he lengthened his step to reach the company owner’s outstretched hand. Although he could feel the strength in the grip, it was not bone crushing. Feeling it necessary, he squeezed back equally. Alex Wolf’s picture was part of the employee manual, which Remi had dutifully read cover to cover, but it couldn’t accurately depict the man.

  Just over six feet tall, his dark brown eyes were older than the man. Everyone who worked for Guardian Security had that same dangerous look in his eyes. They had all seen combat as special operators. Remi thought he remembered reading that Alex had been a Marine Special Operations commanding officer. He believed it. He had an authoritative presence about him, but it wasn’t an in-your-face, I’m-in-charge attitude.

  “Very well then, Remi, I think you might already know Dex Carson.” Alex gestured to the man on his right who was typing on his laptop.

  “Griffin, keep at this list. Alex and I are about to go into a briefing. I’ll call you when we’re done.” The man stood up and pulled out his earbuds. Holding out his hand, he apologized. “Sorry. We are trying to anticipate everything needed for the next operation.”

  “Commander Carson.” Remi felt his right hand move as though to salute but instead extended it toward the tall man in his early forties. “Sir, I didn’t know you were working for Guardian Security.”

  “Dex got bored in retirement and decided he had some damn good skills to share.” Alex slapped the man on the shoulder.

  Remi’s former commanding officer smiled at Alex. “Well, there’s only so much bass fishing I can do, and Alex made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  “Let’s all take our seats,” their boss encouraged. “We have a lot to get through.” Alex gestured to a chair on his left. Top automatically moved to the chair next to Remi as though to be on his side, giving him a reassuring grin as he sat down.

  Alex and Top exchanged a glance before the company owner looked straight at Remi. “Your application said you were fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.”

  “I took Spanish in high school, so they gave me more of it in the Navy, and it’s not that different to learn Portuguese.” The languages all seemed very close as far as he was concerned, just accented in different places. Consonants were pretty much the same, only the vowels changed sounds. At the Navy language school, they had taught him to listen to the news, watch local television shows, pay attention to conversations of people on the street, before speaking the language so he could get the accents correct.

  Nodding, Alex continued, “You’ve been to Venezuela before, including Caracas.”

  “I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.” Remi stared at Commander Carson accusingly. “Sir, that mission was classified.” He wasn’t sure if this was a test of his loyalty or his ability to keep a secret, but almost everything he had done as a SEAL had been classified.

  “Whoa.” Dex threw both hands up in a stop gesture. “Remi, let’s get something straight right away. First, neither of us is wearing Navy uniforms anymore.” He patted the black and gray logo on his polo shirt. “We both work for Guardian Security now. Even though Alex runs a tight ship, everybody here is on a first name basis, so, please, call me Dex. Second, I would never question your loyalty to the United States, and don’t you ever question mine.”

  Alex held up a file. “Would you both like me to read you the details of that mission?”

  “Sir, that’s classified.” Remi and his SEAL team had spent three months in the Venezuela capital training fifteen of their navy’s best men to be special operators. They had failed. Those men would have quit SEAL training the second day. Their mission, though, had been to teach these men a certain set of skills, which they had done. Meanwhile, his team had thoroughly enjoyed the food, music, and women in Caracas.

  A vision of Willow Cardenas salsa dancing in a cantina a few blocks from the American Embassy screamed through Remi’s mind. The sultry way her hips had rocked against his, her smile as she had sensuously snaked her body around his, made him smile inwardly.

  She, and her friends from other English-speaking embassies, had made their time in Caracas extremely enjoyable. By day, the women had been the epitome of professional foreign service officers for the United States, Australia, Great Britain, and South Africa, but at night, they literally let their hair down. Young, and unencumbered by relationships, the entire group was out for nothing but fun. Good food, fantastic drinks, amazing music, and interesting company had been enough for his SEAL team and Willow’s friends.

  They had only slept together twice. Mass quantities of tequila had been involved the first time, and the second had been a few days later, just before he’d left Venezuela. Remi and Willow had been so consumed with building their careers, they never discussed anything beyond the pleasure of the moment.

  “We all know about classified missions.” Alex’s words brought Remi back to the current conversation. “You’re not here interviewing for that line of Guardian Security business, but should you accept this assignment and complete it successfully, I’ll be happy to discuss more of our international ventures with you wh
en you return.”

  There it was again, that little tweak of inference that there was a lot more to this company than Remi was aware. “I take it, this assignment is in Venezuela?”

  “Smart boy.” Top nodded once.

  “We have long-term contracts with several oil companies. Their executives travel to volatile parts of the world on a regular basis.” He slid a red SD drive container in front of Remi. “Most of our jobs are only a couple weeks long. Because of the current situation in Venezuela, this one could take months.”

  Remi shot a glance at the tiny square in front of him. “Exactly what would this assignment entail?”

  “You would be in charge of six men who would work in rotation guarding James Dunaway, Chief of International Negotiations for Zon Petrol while he attempts to work out a deal with newly elected President Juan Guerra.” Alex downed half the water bottle in front of him before continuing. “He’ll be working a lot with the U.S. Embassy. You will need to make sure all your contacts there are tight…if you accept this assignment. This could take months. Are you willing to commit to that kind of time?”

  Remi didn’t have to think about it. “Yes, sir.” He had just been handed the opportunity of a lifetime. He could continue his online degree, and simply video chat with his family. It would be very similar to his time in the military. They wouldn’t need to know where he was or what he was doing. His mother didn’t need any more stress in her life.