Elimination

by Jackie D.

  Dylan Prey is willing to risk her life and her cover to help Homeland Security and the CIA bring wanted terrorist Carol O’Brien to justice. Deep undercover inside the Russian mafia, Dylan does whatever it takes to secure her place in the mafia’s upper ranks. Finding love amidst the lies, manipulation, and violence isn’t easy.

  NSA cyberstalker Emma Quinn has just joined the team responsible for taking down O’Brien’s top lieutenants, but they'll need every ounce of her genius to find and capture O’Brien herself. Emma is shy, awkward, and brilliant. Dylan is fierce, charismatic, and unyielding. Their dynamic is exactly what the team needs to complete the mission, but it spells disaster for the attraction that simmers between them.

  The race is on to bring Carol O’Brien to justice before more lives are lost. Friendships will be tested, relationships strained, and one of the team may pay the ultimate price.

  What Reviewers Say About Jackie D’s Work

  The Rise of the Resistance

  “I was really impressed by Jackie D’s story and felt it had a truth and reality to it. She brought to life an America where things had gone badly wrong, but she gave me hope that all was not lost. The world she has imagined was compelling and the characters were so well developed.”—Kitty Kat’s Book Review Blog

  “Jackie D explores how racist, homophobic, xenophobic leaders manage to seize, manipulate, and maintain power.”—Celestial Books

  Infiltration—Lambda Literary Award Finalist

  “Quick question, where has this author been my entire life? …If you are looking for a romantic book that has mystery and thriller qualities then this is your book.”—Fantastic Book Reviews

  “This book is an action-packed romance, filled with cool characters and a few totally uncool bad guys. The book is well written, the story is engaging, and Jackie D did a great job of reeling the reader in and holding your attention to the very end.”—Romantic Reader Blog

  Lands End

  “This is a great summer holiday read—likeable characters, great chemistry between the leads, interesting and unusual premise, well written dialogue, an excellent romance without any unnecessary angst. I really connected with both leads, and enjoyed the secondary characters. The attraction between Amy and Lena was palpable and the romantic storyline was paced really well.”—Melina Bickard, Librarian, Waterloo Library (London)

  Lucy’s Chance

  “Add a bit of conflict, add a bit of angst, a deranged killer, and you have a really good read. What this book is is a great escape. You have a few hours to decompress from real-life’s craziness, and enjoy a quality story with interesting characters. Well, minus the psychopath murderer, but you know what I mean.”—Romantic Reader Blog

  Pursuit

  “This book is a dynamic fast-moving adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time…enough romance for you to swoon and enough action to keep you fully engaged. Great read, you don’t want to miss this one.”—Romantic Reader Blog

  Elimination

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Elimination

  © 2020 By Jackie D. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-571-4

  This Electronic Original Is Published By

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, NY 12185

  First Edition: February 2020

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product 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.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Victoria Villaseñor and Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Melody Pond

  By the Author

  After Dark Series

  Infiltration

  Pursuit

  Elimination

  Lands End

  Lucy’s Chance

  The Rise of the Resistance: Phoenix One

  Spellbound (co-authored with Jean Copeland)

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to Victoria Villasenor, you’re a fantastic editor, and I couldn’t do this without you. Thank you, Bold Strokes Books, for sharing my stories with the world. To my friends and family for taking this exciting, frustrating, and invigorating journey with me over and over again. Finally, thank you, Alexis, none of this would be possible without your support, understanding, and toddler wrangling.

  Dedication

  Alexis, of all the choices I’ve made, you’ll always be the best.

  Chapter One

  Tyler Monroe pushed the door open and stepped inside. She heard a voice she recognized and waited for her eyes to adjust to assess the situation.

  “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to tear you apart limb from limb. Your body will be so unrecognizable, your parents won’t be able to identify you.” Caden squinted in the darkness, her fingers trained on the trigger in her right hand.

  “What are you doing?” Tyler flipped on the lights and sat down next to Caden on the couch.

  Caden adjusted her headset and leaned forward. “Whatever you have to tell me is going to have to wait. We almost have this level cleared.”

  Tyler grabbed the beer on the table and took a sip. “We? Who’s we?”

  Caden shook her head and motioned toward the television. “My team, obviously. Now, be quiet, you’re distracting me.”

  Tyler leaned back on the couch and crossed her legs. “I don’t think you’ll want to wait to hear this.”

  Caden scooted away from her on the couch as if the few inches would help her concentration. “Five minutes, Monroe.”

  Tyler focused on the screen. There was a group of five animated soldiers moving behind buildings, shooting from around corners, and lobbing grenades. “This seems excessively violent.”

  The door opened, and Jennifer and Brooke walked in, laughing. Brooke kissed the top of Tyler’s head and wrapped her arms around Tyler’s shoulders from behind the couch. “What are you two doing?”

  Caden leaned over farther and adjusted her headset. “Can’t a girl get five minutes of peace around here?”

  Jennifer sat on the arm of the couch. “You’re in my apartment.”

  Caden dropped the controller and fell back, sighing. “We lost. Are you three happy? Now I have to explain to my team why I couldn’t get to the rendezvous point in time.” She crossed her arms. “They’re going to be pissed.”

  Jennifer slid onto the couch next to her. “You play with four teenage boys. They’ll be fine.”

  Caden glared at Jennifer. “We’re ranked number three.”

  Tyler sucked in a breath. “Wow! I’m sorry to hear that.” She patted her back. “Don’t worry, with enough practice I’m sure you’ll eventually be number two.”

  “In the world. We’re number three in the entire world.” Caden motioned to the controller as if this would prove her point.

  “Which is good, but there are still two teams out there better than you. I don’t like those odds.” Tyler looked at Brooke for agreement. “I mean, we wouldn’t play with you.”

  Caden grabbed her beer out of Tyler’s hand and rolled her eyes. “When did you become such a comedian, Monroe?”

  Tyler shrugged. “I never had enough material before I met you.”

  Jennifer rubbed
Caden’s shoulders, and her face relaxed. “We got called into work.” She pointed to Caden’s phone on the kitchen table. “If you aren’t going to keep the ringer on, you should at least keep it near you, so you can hear it buzz.”

  “We all got called in?” Caden leaned into Jennifer. “It’s supposed to be our last weekend off before we leave for Dubai.”

  Tyler marveled at the recent transformation in Caden. She had only been seeing Jennifer for a few weeks, and she was already counting down the days to her weekends. Caden, before Jennifer, would’ve been perfectly happy to work every day, twenty hours a day. She was different now, more settled.

  “Why do you smell?” Caden asked Tyler. She scrunched up her nose and moved farther away from her.

  But Caden was still Caden. Tyler sniffed her armpit and fought the urge to smack her when she realized she’d fallen for the joke. “Brooke and Jen went to the movies, so I went for a jog. I was down the street from Jen’s apartment when I got the call, so I figured I’d swing by and see if you were here.”

  Brooke kissed Tyler on the cheek and let her mouth linger for a moment. “I like the way you smell.”

  “You two are gross,” Jen said. “Let’s go. We have to be there in thirty minutes. Tyler, I assume you have clothes at work to change into?”

  “You know I do,” Tyler said.

  Tyler followed Brooke down to her car. Brooke shook her finger at her. “Don’t you dare. Throw a towel down on the seat. I don’t want it all sticky.”

  Tyler pulled a towel from her gym bag and laid it on the seat. “I thought you liked the way I smelled?”

  Brooke laughed. “I don’t want your sweat sticking to my leather seats for the next two weeks.”

  Tyler opened the glove box and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “Do you know anything yet about why we’re being called in?”

  Brooke laced her fingers through Tyler’s. “I don’t know any more than you.” She kissed Tyler’s hand. “But it makes me nervous whenever we get called in. That usually means you’ll be sent out on assignment soon.”

  She squeezed Brooke’s hand. “I always come back to you.”

  This was all Tyler could say. They’d had this conversation in one form or another more than a dozen times. She couldn’t make Brooke comfortable with it, no matter what she said. She also knew Brooke understood she’d never walk away from an assignment. Her job was as much a part of her as the blood that pumped through her veins. It was who she was, and Brooke loved that person. Tyler just hoped it was a promise she’d always be able to keep.

  Chapter Two

  Emma Quinn paced back and forth inside the analysis room. She ran her thumb and pointer finger over the rosary she kept in her pocket. It’d been a gift from her grandmother, a family heirloom. Somewhere along the way, it had transformed into a good luck charm and she’d developed a nervous habit of rolling the tiny beads inside her pocket.

  She looked around at the monitors that sat on the long table and along the wall. They looked precisely like the ones in her workspace, except for the logo that danced across the screen. The emblem of the CIA rotated across each of these, a tangible reminder that she was stepping outside her usual daily activity.

  When Captain Hart had tapped her for this assignment, she’d been over the moon. She’d spent the last five years analyzing data, putting together messages, and following breadcrumbs. Now, she might get the chance to see all her hard work come to fruition. That part was exciting. The portion of the assignment that had her pacing was the part where she’d have to work with a group of people. Apart from her third assignment, her work had been solitary. There was no team she dealt with daily, no one she had to bounce her ideas off. She only answered to her supervisor. And she liked it that way.

  She’d read the profiles on the four women she’d be working with. Two were computer analysts from the CIA, and the other two were Rambo types from Homeland Security. Individually, they were impressive, but as a team, they were outstanding. Together, they’d managed to infiltrate a terrorist organization and take down one of the foremost leaders. They’d uncovered a plot to assassinate the president and vice president, as well as proving the Speaker of the House, Carl O’Brien, had been behind the entire operation. They were a well-oiled machine. Now, they’d have an odd sprocket thrown into their mix, and Emma wasn’t sure how that would affect their symmetry.

  She heard the door beep, signaling an entrance, and she quickly looked around for a chair, not wanting any of them to know she’d been pacing. She sat in the closest one and put her hand on her chin, then changed her mind right as the door swung open.

  She recognized each of them immediately from their files. Jennifer Glass and Caden Styles entered first. Caden had apparently said something wrong because Jennifer was instructing her to shut up. Brooke Hart and Tyler Monroe came immediately after, smiling at each other as if there was a joke no one else in the world knew but them.

  Emma sat up a little straighter and forced herself not to play with her hair. Tyler noticed her first and walked directly to her. She was an overwhelming presence, stronger than Emma had initially pictured, despite reading all about her. She could see the outline of the muscles in Tyler’s shoulders through her shirt, but her blue eyes were soft and kind. Emma was so overwhelmed by the contradiction, she didn’t notice right away that Tyler had stuck out her hand to introduce herself.

  “I’m Special Agent Tyler Monroe.” Tyler smiled. “And you are?”

  Emma stared at Tyler’s hand for a moment. There were scars all over her knuckles and calluses on her palms. She must have taken too long to respond because Tyler tucked her hand back in her pocket, her expression bemused.

  “I’m sorry, I’m Emma Quinn. It’s nice to meet you.” Emma felt her face run hot and hoped no one else noticed. She wasn’t good at meeting new people, and now she’d never be able to get her first impression back.

  The door beeped again, and Captain Calvin Hart came bounding through. Captain Hart was the kind of guy who entered every room as if everyone was awaiting his arrival. Which, Emma realized, was quite literally probably every room he entered.

  Emma knew Captain Hart was Brooke Hart’s father, but what she would’ve never known from her file was the way Brooke’s body shifted when he arrived. Brooke looked uneasy, and she’d placed Tyler between herself and her father. Interesting. From everything Emma had read about Brooke, she was a star. She’d received excellent marks through college, during her training with the CIA, and then her work with this team. She seemed to take on each assignment with a level of determination and ferocity that supervisors couldn’t wish into existence. But there was definitely some story there.

  The captain waved his hand toward the chairs in the room. “Has everyone met the newest addition to the team?”

  Emma knew they were shaking their heads, but she couldn’t bring herself to look up, still embarrassed by her earlier freeze with Tyler.

  He walked over to her to make the introduction. He smelled of Old Spice and new car, a peculiar combination. “This is Emma Quinn. She’s a civilian NSA intelligence analyst, and her expertise is in Russia. There will be a sixth member of the team, but I can’t reveal their identity until we arrive in Moscow.”

  Emma was more thrown by the revelation than she wanted to admit. She’d not been advised of a sixth member. She hadn’t prepared, she didn’t have the briefing information, and she didn’t like surprises. She tried to calm her mind, wanting to fit into this group of women that functioned, even thrived, on change. But that was easier said than done. She could feel her blood pressure rise, and she fought the urge to rub the rosary beads in her pocket. She did her best to refocus her energy on the conversation that was taking place around her. She needed this information. She needed as much information as possible.

  Caden raised her hand and spoke. “I thought we were going to Dubai. What’s in Russia?”

  Captain Hart tapped Emma on the shoulder and pointed to the screen. Emma realized he wa
nted her to pull up the file they’d gone over an hour before. She inserted the thumb drive into the computer and opened the folder. When the picture appeared, he motioned for her to talk.

  Emma stood up, felt herself wringing her hands, and then stopped herself by picking up the computer remote. She willed herself to speak with authority and confidence. “Our sources indicate that Carol O’Brien is taking refuge in Russia. Moscow, to be exact. The original assumption that she headed to Dubai was nothing more than clever computer hacking.” She pushed the button, clicking through a series of photographs. “She’s been there for about three weeks.” She sat back down, unsure what else to add.

  Captain Hart looked at her for a long second before he spoke and his eyes held a flash of annoyance. “The extradition treaty has been long abandoned between our government and Russia. We want her back to face trial, so we’re going to have to go get her.” He walked toward the door. “We’ll finish the briefing on the plane. We leave tomorrow at zero-four-hundred. Do not be late and do not bring anything to wear that identifies where you work.”

  Emma took the thumb drive out of the computer and placed it in her bag. She was going to leave when she noticed the four faces staring back at her. She slumped back in her seat, unsure what to say.

  Caden leaned forward on the table and laced her fingers together. “I assume since the captain didn’t introduce us, you already know who we are.”