by A. L Long
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgement
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
About the Author
Releases
Contact and Links
Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgement
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
About the Author
Releases
Contact and Links
Copyright © 2017 A.L.Long
Chavez: Jagged Edge Series #7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent of the author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictionally, and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Interior edited by H. Elaine Roughton
Cover design by Laura Sanches
ASIN: B0756KR27H
ISBN: 978-1975679828
Acknowledgment
To my husband of many wonderful years, who is with me heart, body and soul through each word I write. If it weren’t for him my dream of writing would have never been fulfilled. I love you, sweetheart. And to my family, whom I also love dearly. Through their love and support, I can continue my passion for writing.
To the many readers, who took a chance on me and purchased my books. I hope that I can continue to fill your hearts with the passion I have grown to love.
Most of all I want to thank my incredible PA, Barbara Danks. I don’t know where I would be without her and to my wonderful Street Team (Athena Kelly, Lori Hammons, Kristen Ann Tanner, Marsha Black, Heather Swan, Sallie Ann). You ladies have been a godsend.
CHAPTER ONE
Chavez
“I know this is something that you aren’t used to, but we need the help of Jagged Edge and the expertise that goes with it,” a tall man explained as I hung on every word he said. “It’s all yours, Agent Jackson.”
Special Agent Gabrielle Jackson was her name. A woman, I suspected, unable to take no for an answer. I also suspected that she knew how to put a man in his place. She was the person heading this operation and the sexiest woman I had ever laid eyes on. She had so many curves that it would put the Tail of a Dragon, America’s most well traveled road, to shame. I wouldn’t mind driving on a couple of her curves myself. It wasn’t just her body that had me as hard as a rock; those eyes were the deepest shade of honeysuckle that I had ever seen on a Latino woman. She was gorgeous and any man would be a fool not to see it.
“Mr. Chavez, I understand your expertise is in mechanics and computers,” she addressed me in a commanding voice.
“That’s correct, Agent Jackson,” I replied, taking a little longer than I should have, but only because I was a little preoccupied with my thoughts.
“I would like to meet with you when this meeting is over. There are a few things I need to go over with you,” she indicated.
Nodding my head, I diverted my eyes from her to the folder we were each given that contained our new assignments. Keeping my eyes glued to the folder, I concentrated on her voice. It was sultry and yet commanding as it echoed off the conference room walls. Never had I heard anything sweeter.
“Mr. Chavez, it seems something else has got your attention. Maybe you would like to share it with the rest of the group?” Her voice was no longer sweet as her eyes narrowed. Instead, it was replaced by an icy tone of annoyance.
“Sorry, Agent Jackson, but I was looking over your plan and I just don’t see how this is going to work,” I challenged. I needed to let her know that I was concentrating on the breakdown of how the operation was going to happen and not on that sexy voice of hers. “I just have one question. How do you intend on getting inside the Gateway facility? From what I understand it is manned by guards 24/7, in addition to state-of-the-art surveillance.
“That is where you come in, Mr. Chavez.” Her lips parted in what had to be the sexiest thing I had ever seen. “Now, if there isn’t anything else, I would advise that you memorize the plan. We will reconvene on Friday to iron out the rest of the details.”
I wasn’t sure what she thought I was able to do, but she was going to be sadly disappointed when she found out what kind of surveillance we were actually dealing with. I was good at hacking pretty much anything, but this equipment was unhackable. You would need to be invisible to get inside the facility.
Even though Gateway had been on the FBI’s radar for some time, they had never been able to prove what was actually going on inside. Rumor had it that it was more than a recovery facility. There was information that had surfaced about two years ago insinuating that it was where well-known criminals went to obtain new identities. It was at that time that they began to disappear, at least in the physical sense. The FBI didn’t begin to really dig into the facility and their business habits until about a month ago, when the body of a well-known criminal by the name of Rudy Mahoney washed up under the Brooklyn Bridge.
I remembered reading something about it in the Daily News. At first, they thought it was just another two-bit thug, but when they pulled the fingerprints, they found out it was Mr. Mahoney. According to Agent Jackson, they were able to tie the change in identity to Gateway. If someone were to tell me that criminals were having surgery to alter their identity, I would have told them they were nuts.
Heading out of the FBI building, me and the guys decided that it was beer-thirty. Riley’s was only a few blocks away and had the best micro-brews on tap. Evan Taylor was the owner of the pub and a good friend of the team. He was also the half-brother of Rade Matheson, who was one of the richest men in New York
. We got to know him pretty well, considering Jagged Edge was on his payroll.
Pulling around back, which was where most of us parked, Peter and the rest of the guys were heading inside as I turned off the engine to my 4-Runner. Locking my doors, I made my way to the back entrance door. I could hear laughter the minute I opened the door, which told me that the place was already in full swing. Noticing that Evan’s office door was cracked open, I tapped lightly before heading inside.
Evan was on the phone talking about a screwed-up order and seemed to be a little pre-occupied for a friendly chat. Raising my hand in a customary ‘Hello,’ I headed down the hallway to where all the action was. When I got to the bar, I could see that everyone was congratulating Cop on his marriage to Sabrina. I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the wedding in Vegas due to a shit storm that hit, but I heard it was one hell of a time. As I looked around the room, each of the guys was already downing their beer before I even had one ordered. It made me wonder if one of them hadn’t called ahead and requested a round of drinks be ready for us. No sooner than I got to the bar, Ash was behind me handing me a brew. After we tapped our bottles together in a silent toast, I held the opened end to my lips and took a long pull.
Looking at Ash, I asked, “So what do you think about the FBI operation?” before taking another pull from my beer.
“I don’t know. Seems like Agent Jackson is getting in over her head with this assignment. She looks way too young to be heading this operation, even if she did graduate at the top of her class at Quantico,” Ash opined.
“Yeah, but you have to admit, she’s got one hell of a body. And that mouth, God, I could think of a few places she could put it,” I replied with a grin.
“Put what, Mr. Chavez?” A sultry voice rang behind me.
Trying to hide my embarrassment, I kept my head low, thinking this woman was going to get the best of me. “What’s the matter, Chavez? Cat got your tongue?” she asked.
“Not at all. I was just telling Ash how he could put his wallet to use and buy us all a round of drinks,” I claimed, backpedaling what I really said.
“Well then, I’ll leave you to it,” she said as she walked in between us on her quest to the bar.
Ash looked at me with a smirk, chuckling at the same time. “That line of crap deserves a beer.”
As the night wore on, and after about six brews, I was ready to call it a night. Saying good night to the guys, I looked over to the bar to see that Gabrielle was still sitting in the same spot she had taken when she arrived. Thinking I should be a gentleman, I decided to offer her a ride home. Walking past the crowd, I began to wonder why she was sitting at the bar by herself with empty chairs on either side of her. As gorgeous as she was, there should have been guys all over her. Taking a seat next to her, I called the barmaid over and requested a glass of water.
Looking over to her, I watched as she circled her glass with her middle finger. When my water arrived, I stated in a stern voice, “I’ll give you a ride home when you’re finished.”
“What makes you think I would accept a ride from you?” she retorted.
“Because, Agent Jackson, you have had too much to drink to drive home yourself,” I replied.
Just when I thought that she was going to refuse me, a guy came up to her, reeking of alcohol. “Hey, doll, want I buy you a drink?” he slurred.
“Let’s go, Chavez,” she said, surprising the hell out of me.
Waiting until she stood to her feet, I got between her and the guy who thought he was going to get lucky, and placed my hand on her lower back as I followed her to the back of the bar. Opening the door, I couldn’t believe how good the fresh air felt after being in the congested bar for the past six hours. As we made our way to my 4-Runner, I hit the key fob to unlock the door. Gabrielle was a little wobbly on her heels as I held on to her arm to steady her. The only thing I could think about was how good it would feel to have those sexy legs wrapped around my waist as I pushed inside her, but being the gentleman that I was, I knew I needed to focus on getting her home safely.
When she was safely secured inside, I rounded my 4-Runner and got behind the wheel. Looking over my shoulder as I backed up, I could see a very annoyed look staring at me. As gorgeous as she was, I could almost see the steam coming out of her beautiful little ears.
“You know, I was perfectly okay to drive. I know when I have had too much to drink,” Gabrielle blurted.
“I’m thinking not, gorgeous. You were stumbling pretty good a few minutes ago,” I replied. “So, where do you want me to take you?”
“I live off of 57th Street, at the Excelsior,” she stated.
As soon as she said it, I knew exactly where she lived. It was a very ritzy area of Manhattan and I knew that those apartments go for at least a million bucks. She must be paid pretty well as an FBI agent to be living there. Even though I didn’t know her well enough to question her residency, it didn’t stop me from asking. “So, how does an FBI agent afford an apartment at the Excelsior Hotel?”
“Not that it is any of your business, but my father ran the hotel for many years. He actually died there because of an employee’s negligence,” she confessed. “So, to avoid any unwanted publicity, the apartment was given to us as payment. I was much too young to understand the why and I never asked. All I knew was it was ours, and after my mom died, I stayed.”
“Makes sense. So, do you know how your father died?” I only asked because it sounded a little bit like a cover-up to me.
“That, Mr. Chavez, is something you don’t need to know.”
“Please call me Mike,” I countered, wondering what could be the reason she wouldn’t share.
“I’m good with calling you Chavez.”
This woman was undeniably the sexiest woman I had ever met, and in the same breath, the most bullheaded one too. I had my work cut out for me. Somehow, I needed to break through that hard exterior of hers.
CHAPTER TWO
Gabrielle
I didn’t know what it was about this man, but the minute he walked into the FBI conference room, I thought my heart might have skipped a beat. When Mitch Delaney, my supervisor, said that they were going to commission Jagged Edge Security to help with the Gateway operation, I thought for sure they were going to be a bunch of hotheaded, ex-military wannabes, wanting to show their authority, but instead they turned out to be very civil, not to mention hot. As I was explaining how the operation was going to go, there was one man from the Jagged Edge team that I just couldn’t take my eyes off of. It was almost to the point that focusing on the meeting was becoming a challenge. I might have been a little hard on him, but I knew that his focus was on something else, and then when he began to question my plan, let’s just say his arrogant attitude just trumped his good looks.
After the meeting was over, I needed to decompress. I knew of a pub & grill just up the street, and decided it would be the best place to do just that. What I didn’t count on was seeing the Jagged Edge team there as well. I should have just turned around and left the place, but there was no way they were going to make me uncomfortable about being there. The only thing I wanted to do was have a couple of drinks and then head home. Doing what I set out to do, my plans were interrupted when a guy who clearly had too much to drink came by and offered to buy me a drink. I thought for sure he got the hint I wasn’t into whatever he was offering. Some guys just don’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer.
Even though I was perfectly capable of handling the situation myself, I was glad that Chavez stepped in. Maybe the guy thought that seeing the ‘fuck off’ look on a man was more convincing than one coming from a woman, but when Chavez offered to take me home, that was where I drew the line, or at least I thought. There must have been something extra in those drinks because the minute I stood to leave, my head had a mind of its own.
Sitting across from an alpha was not doing me any good. His presence was currently giving me all kinds of heated sensations. The way his arms flexed when he
took hold of the steering wheel shouldn’t have been such a turn on, but it was. Even the way he talked made my body tingle. It was only after he began questioning my living arrangements that I began to get turned off. I knew it really wasn’t any of his business, but for some reason, I felt the need to justify why I lived in an upscale apartment in the choice part Manhattan.
When my mother died, the apartment was handed down to me. Looking back, I remember my mother always being sad after my father’s death. She was never the same after he died. I think what took the most out of her was the day that he was buried. Even though I was very young and didn’t understand, I could feel a difference in her. As I got older I began to understand what she was going through. I couldn’t imagine what she felt, unable to see him before he was put in the ground. I never understood the reason for the closed casket. One thing I am sure of, it wouldn’t have mattered to my mom what he looked like.
Chavez pulled up to the Excelsior Hotel and turn off his engine. When he opened his door, I began to wonder what he was planning on doing. “No need to get out,” I insisted as I opened my own door. “I’ll see you on Friday.”
“The least I can do is walk you to your door,” he replied, gazing over at me.