Left For Dead (The Guarded Secrets Series Book 3)

by Sara Schoen

  “Wow, look what you did with the place.”

  “You should see upstairs now that it’s not boarded off. Want to see?”

  “Sure.” I followed Katya up the stairs to see two rooms and a sitting area similar to the downstairs one. She even had the old Russian book she had been reading in the other hideout here.

  “Stealing everything of ours, aren’t you?”

  She shrugged. “Memories.”

  Tension quickly fell over us, alerting me to an issue. “Want to tell me what’s bothering you?” She glanced at me, surprised. “Come on, it’s obvious that something is wrong. Just tell me.”

  “I’m glad I took over from my father. I can restore this town and our reputation as a community in a couple of years easily. And I’ll make sure we don’t fall into anything as bloody as before.”

  “But?” I knew there was more. I just couldn’t be sure why she wasn’t coming clean about what was bothering her. Why did I have to push her?

  “I’ve been monitoring other mafias and cartel, the ones my father worked closely with before I took charge, and I think there’s a problem with one of them you’d be interested in.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows together, wondering why Katya still beat around the bush. “Will I take an interest in the cartel or what the problem is?”

  “Both,” she replied confidently. “I found something on a Camden Cardoza in my father’s office—”

  “He’s been taken care of, don’t worry about him.”

  “I’m not worried about him, I’m worried about his cartel.”

  My chest tightened, this isn’t good. “The cartel disbanded, they are gone, and not coming back. We made sure of it.”

  “That’s not what it looks like. There’s someone in line to take over,” Katya said, handing me a plain manila envelope. “Someone is trying to do business with me now. Someone who won’t reveal his name or where he is, but he’s made it clear he’s now in charge of the Cardoza cartel, and I have a feeling he wants you to think it’s disbanded so you leave him alone. He’s not going away anytime soon, Night Stripe. I don’t know who is he, but he’s going to be a problem for you guys.”

  I ripped open the envelope and pulled out the papers. Inside there was a photo and a couple of printed out emails. I scanned through most of it, but didn’t find anything good. No locations, names, or anything that could help lead us to whoever the new leader is.

  “I guess I’m not quite out of the cartel business yet.” The words left a sour taste in my mouth. I had wanted it so badly, but I wouldn’t leave until the Cardozas were out of business for good. “I’m going to hunt down whoever this is, but for now keep it between us. Keep me updated, and I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “What about everyone else?”

  I bit my tongue, thinking over what I should do. No one wanted to believe the Cardozas were back. No one would believe me without proof, but I needed room to work as well. I just didn’t need every agent breathing down my neck.

  “I’ll talk to Sharp Shooter, but for now, no one else can know. These men are dangerous, and they took a lot of good people from us. We need time, and we need a strategy before it blows up in our faces.”

  “If it isn’t too late for that already.” Katya didn’t sound as though she thought we couldn’t handle it, but worried. These men took a lot from us, and we retaliated. Now it was their turn, and I had a feeling that it would be a Raging Fire call if we weren’t careful.

  ***Sneak Peek***

  Raging Fire

  Guarded Secrets, Book Four

  Sara Schoen

  Prologue

  Taken captive, that’s how I saw it. Married for gain, rank, or status within the cartel, then ignored, and most of the time abandoned a short time later. I pushed those thoughts aside as a guard led Camden to our meeting place, a concrete box with one exit. Though it wasn’t Camden’s fault he had been ordered to find someone to marry in order to take over, it had been his fault he took advantage of Sharp Shooter’s kindness and revealed identities of agents. In my opinion, even with my past, that had been the worst mistake Camden could have made.

  “You must be Spit Fire, if I remember correctly,” he said when I first showed up at the prison cell he now called a home. We had been given privacy for this interrogation, and while two people walked in here, only one of us would walk out.

  “I am,” I replied curtly as I flashed him the weapon I had smuggled in for his cooperation. “Must be hard to go from living large in a cartel to living in a dump like this.”

  The smirk quickly wiped off his face, to be replaced with a scowl. “It has been.” His reply was short and to the point, much like mine. It showed that neither of us wanted to play games.

  “I hear you gave up information on our agency to the Russians.” It was a fact, not a question. I didn’t have time to beat around the bush. Night Stripe was neck deep in the Russian mafia, and it was only a matter of time before they caught her. I needed to figure out how much Camden told Volodya and hopefully prevent the information from spreading.

  “I mostly gave Volodya information on his man, or who he thought was his man,” Camden growled.

  Renegade’s deception had taken a toll on Camden, and since then he had been determined for revenge, which included revealing over a dozen undercover agents. The one most at risk had been Renegade. The remaining members of the Cardoza Cartel were after him as well as the Russian mafia in Gorod. Frankly, both at one point were as dangerous as the other, but now the Cardozas had lost all of their power. Once the last few survivors were rounded up, they would be gone for good.

  Good riddance.

  “I also told him who killed Ash Crest,” Camden said with a menacing tone. I could tell from the tone he wanted a reaction, so when I didn’t give him one he continued. “I spent a lot of time trying to track down who killed Ash. It was shocking to discover one of his marks had finished him off. The irony is almost too perfect.”

  Once again my face remained stoic, I already knew all of this. I wanted to know what he was determined to keep from me.

  “Whose identities did you reveal?” I questioned, attempting to get us back on track. “How many agents?”

  Camden sighed, clearly unamused that I wouldn’t play into his game. “Not as many as you think, just the ones I’ve found out so far.”

  “Which are?”

  He listed off a few names, which I mentally jotted down while attempting to determine if any of them were in danger. All of them were safe back at CIRA currently, and thankfully there had been no surprises. The last thing we needed was an agent on the outside with their cover blown. I almost believed that I was done, that I could head back to Russia and finish assisting Night Stripe if she needed it, but Camden had one bomb to drop on me.

  “You never asked how I learned who you were,” he said with whimsy in his voice.

  I glanced up at him curiously. Honestly I hadn’t thought about how he knew me, I didn’t give a fuck. Frankly in about half an hour he’d be dead and gone and I’d be out the door. Though the knowing gleam in his eye had me curious.

  “How did you figure out who I am?” I asked, giving him exactly what he wanted. I should have learned my lesson about what curiosity did to the cat.

  “Your father told me.”

  My body tensed automatically. A chill raced up my spine, and my brain all but stopped processing as the anger took over almost entirely soon after.

  “Or should I say stepfather?” Camden questioned with the smirk once again lining his features. He seemed pleased to finally find something to push my buttons, and he had managed to find the one person I hated more than anything to do it. “But you have multiple stepfathers, don’t you? And somewhere in this mess is a real father. Wow, your mom just couldn’t make up her mind, could she?”

  My hands balled into tight fists as I fought the overwhelming urge to lean on the table and strangle him for talking about my mother in a poor light. She meant the world to me. She wa
s an amazing person, thoughtful, silly, one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and even though she had a short temper on occasion, she went back to being lively and wonderful again in no time. She had been an amazing mom, I couldn’t have been more thankful to have her. Losing her had been one of the hardest things I ever had to go through. She was the number one reason I had accepted the offer to join CIRA. I wanted to stop anyone else from falling prey to cartels and mafia, even organizations like them, as she had.

  “How do you know him?” A growl came from deep in my chest, which surprised me, but only seemed to amuse Camden further.

  “Was he the one who traveled a lot for work? Did he meet his new wife while traveling or what, Grayson?”

  I cringed at the sound of my name. I hadn’t heard it in years; since I shed the identity to work with CIRA at sixteen. I had taken the offer to escape the stepfather who had gotten rid of my mother and me, and now I’m sure he had managed to fit together the pieces of my disappearance. He and Camden most likely had a nice conversation about me, judging from his knowledge of my name. It made me uncomfortable. I hadn’t heard my name in almost seven years. I am a different person than I was back then.

  “Don’t feel like answering anymore?” Camden asked, seeming upset that I no longer played into his game. “It’s okay I can continue on my own. You grew up with your family, one sister and a brother, along with your parents. It was fine until your parents divorced.” Camden’s tone turned condescending as he added, “It’s so hard for a mother to deal with a divorce, especially with three kids. It’s no wonder you were sent around from parent to parent. The oldest one should have been able to handle it, and after all, the younger ones needed a mother.”

  I didn’t say anything, I didn’t have to. Camden knew everything, my good for nothing stepfather had told him everything. Though I couldn’t help but wonder what, if anything, he had left out. He had no dignity for me, he never did. He got rid of me the first chance he could, especially after that bitch of a stepmom joined him too. I wanted to cut ties with them, and I had, or so I thought. Clearly Camden had been determined to drag up my past.

  “Everything was fine until your stepdad started causing problems,” Camden stated tentatively. I knew where this was going before he added, “People abuse mentally or physically all the time. At least once your mom found out what was going on she sent all of you to live with your real father for a while. Sure he was transferred a lot for work, then moved often, stayed in places less than a few months. You were isolated, and only had each other. Well, what did you expect when he moved to the Middle East? Didn’t he know it was dangerous?”

  The question had been rhetorical, so I ignored it and waited for him to continue.

  “I’m sorry about your brother and sister, by the way. Maybe if they hadn’t been out at night they wouldn’t have run into a couple of thugs. I know it’s not your fault, or you try to convince yourself it’s not, and that you fought to protect them, but couldn’t.”

  The blow hit me hard, harder than I had expected. I did blame myself, but I knew I couldn’t have done anything more. They were my life, I loved them and I had been devastated that I couldn’t protect them. After that, all I wanted was to escape, find the people responsible, and track them down. I guess Demon had been watching me for a while, and offered an escape, and to make sure that no one went through what I did again.

  “Do you want to help people? Then come with me.” That’s all it took. I vanished shortly after.

  “I guess I shouldn’t tell you that it’s all a lie,” Camden stated, regaining my attention. “You have no idea what happened, and you never will. Your stepfather is out there, and he’s going to rebuild the Cardoza cartel. You’ll see him again, but by then it’ll be too late. Much like it is for your friends in Russia. If I’m right, Renegade will go to save Night Stripe. They know who she is, and always have. Sure drugging Nikolai was smart, and taking Katya with them, but they’ll get her and Renegade. As for Camo, I recently learned she’s Tessa from Sandtown. I’ll have men after her, and then it just leaves the leaders, Demon and Whip Lash, and the director of the whole thing. Then your agency will be gone, no one will be around to meddle again, and you’ll lose everyone you care for. Again.”

  I pulled the weapon from the waistband of my pants and pointed it at his head. “That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, my voice low and dark. I hope he saw what he unleashed before he died, the firestorm that he caused. He’d even be fortunate enough to be the first casualty. “You’ve given me all the information I needed. I know he’s out there somewhere, and to take lead of the cartel you left behind in shambles means he’s in the United States. I can track him down and put him down like the animal he is. As for Night Stripe and Renegade, I wouldn’t worry about them. Night Stripe has a habit of getting out of sticky situations, and Renegade, well you’ve seen the destruction he can leave in his wake. Camo got away once, and can do it again. My leaders are more skilled than you’ll ever hope to be. They’ll make sure your plan fails. You just won’t be able to see your little plan fall to pieces.”

  Camden glared at me, as if hoping to kill me on the spot. For a moment, fear became prevalent in his eyes. He had figured out, just a little too late, that I had come to kill him. He struggled, but remained locked to the chair the guard had set him in as I leaned a little closer.

  “I’m not giving you another chance to hurt the agents of CIRA again. Enjoy hell,” I said as I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The silencer had done its job perfectly. The guard outside wouldn’t know Camden was dead until I had been safely escorted from the building, and by then it would be too late to track me down. I turned my back to Camden’s slumped over body, and proceeded to leave out the front door of the prison. Sharp Shooter had told me to eliminate the threat, but now there was a bigger one on the horizon. Someone who knew about me, and now because of Camden, knew everything about CIRA. As I felt the cool metal of the gun brush against my skin, I knew that I’d have to eliminate the new threat as well.

  I thought of a plan as I exited the building. I’d go back to CIRA and act as if nothing was wrong, but my time with the CIA would help me tremendously. With their resources, I’d find the bastard who ruined my life, and I’d make him pay. Pay for the death and destruction he caused; a debt that could only be paid for in blood.

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  Acknowledgments

  I can't thank my family enough for what they've done for me during my journey. It has been nothing but overwhelming support and understanding from everyone around me. My mom, who reads my books, even gives comments whether she liked the characters point of view, and there have been a few. My dad, who while he doesn't read my books, will ask me about them and question how I'm doing. My sister, who silently reads, and any of my friends who talk to me about publishing, including my roommates. It's difficult at times to tell people what I do without “bragging” and if you know me I don't enjoy bragging. I keep to myself, and they've really helped me open up about my writing and talking to others about it. The friends I've made within my publishing company have been fast friends and wonderful people. They are there to help and give advice. I'm not sure I could have done this without them to talk to. Taylor, you know you're my partner in crime, the Brooke to my Jade, and my best friend. Thanks for being there for me. It's been a great journey, and I can't wait to see it continue.

  About the Author

  My name is Sara, I’m 19 years old, and I was born and raised in Alexandria Virginia. I have always been interested in writing, even started a book in elementary school, but it didn’t get very far. But it wasn’t until high school
that my friend, and writing partner, more or less forced me to join an amateur writing site. After some convincing from her, I plucked up the courage and posted one of my stories. While it wasn’t popular at first, I was shocked and overwhelmed by the support of readers on Wattpad, and they gave me the support and confidence to get where I am today. I continued to write religiously for the next three years I was on the website, starting countless stories. I wasn’t worried that they weren’t popular because I had once heard that you shouldn’t be afraid to write crap, because it will make great fertilizer. I can’t wait to start sharing more works and ideas with you guys!

  Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005224038610

  Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/SaraNSchoen

  Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9790618.Sara_Schoen

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16