Targeted (Firebrand Book 1)

by Sandra Robbins

  Ash’s forehead wrinkled as he recalled that day on the rocky cliff. ‘Stalemate,’ Phillip had said. That word implied that what had happened at Devil’s Courthouse hadn’t been the end of the vendetta but was simply a time out for a contest that ended in a draw. Since nothing had happened in the last year, he’d begun to think that perhaps Phillip’s last words were uttered simply to frighten him.

  The door to the kitchen swung open and jerked him from his thoughts as Millie, the cook who’d been with his family since he was a boy, came in to pour him more coffee. He welcomed the interruption, leaned back in his chair, and groaned. “I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed your cooking. You still make the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten.”

  She smiled in satisfaction. “Thank you, Mr. Ash. Now you make sure you’re on time for dinner tonight. I have something special planned.”

  “Is it chocolate cake?”

  She laughed and nodded. “Your favorite.”

  “Then I won’t disappoint you. I’ll be on time.”

  Lainey stepped into the room and arched an eyebrow as she walked toward him. “On time for what?”

  “For dinner,” he said as his gaze traveled over her. “Millie’s baking a chocolate cake.”

  He’d never seen Lainey as beautiful as she was this morning. She’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail, and it reminded him of the first time he’d seen her. That day her ponytail had hung wet down her back because of being caught in a rain storm. Today her face glowed, and she appeared excited. She reached down and rubbed the bulge of her stomach.

  “Is the baby active this morning?” Ash asked.

  She nodded her head. “You could say that. Has Max left for school?”

  “Yeah. The lady driving carpool this week came by while you were still in the shower. Are you ready to eat?”

  She walked over to where he sat, and he scooted his chair back so she could sit down in his lap. “I think you’d better tell Millie not to plan on our being here for dinner.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we need to go to the hospital.”

  He froze at her words, and his mouth dropped open. He swallowed and glanced down at her hand resting on her stomach. “Do you mean. . .”

  She leaned over and kissed him. “It’s time. Your daughter is on her way.”

  He pushed her to her feet and jumped up. “Lainey, why didn’t you tell me the minute you came in the room?”

  She laughed. “Calm down. We have plenty of time.”

  He shook his head. “Millie!” he called out.

  Millie ran into the room and stopped, her eyes wide. “What’s the matter? Is it the baby?”

  “Yes,” Ash said. “We’re on our way to the hospital. I’ll call you later, but make sure you’re here when Max gets home from school.”

  “I will, Mr. Ash, and let me know as soon as the baby is born.”

  He nodded, took Lainey by the arm, and ushered her toward the entry. “I’ll go upstairs and get your suitcase.”

  She laughed and stopped. “I brought it down. It’s right by the door.”

  He glanced at the suitcase and scowled at her. “You shouldn’t have picked this heavy bag up by yourself. You are way too independent.”

  She laughed again and shook her head. “And you are the typical expectant father. You need to settle down. Do you have your car keys?”

  He reached in his pocket and pulled them out. “Yes, now let’s go.” He nudged her toward the door, but she halted and put her hand on his arm. He groaned and swallowed. “Lainey, please, come on. We’ve got to go.”

  “Not just yet. I want to tell you something.”

  He shook his head. “Can’t you tell me in the car?”

  She smiled. “No. I want to say it now.”

  He exhaled a long breath and released her arm. “Okay, what is it?”

  She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry you weren’t here when Max was born. But in spite of everything, God has blessed us, Ash. We found our way back to each other. Now Max has the father he deserves, and we’re going to have a daughter to love together. Since you missed our son’s birth, I want our daughter’s to be extra special for us because we’re together. Let’s enjoy every minute of this experience.”

  His heart raced at the love he saw in her eyes, and he reached up and smoothed her ponytail in place. “I love you, Lainey.” He leaned down and kissed her.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed before she stared back at him. “I love you, too, Ash. Now let’s go welcome our daughter to the family.”

  “Okay,” he said, “but I’m not promising I’ll be able to hold it together today. All those books I’ve read on childbirth have me wondering if I can stand to see what you’re going to go through.”

  Her eyebrows arched in a skeptical expression as she touched his bicep. “Don’t tell me my fearless Firebrand operative is afraid,” she said.

  He scowled at her. “Quit teasing me. This is different, and you know it.”

  She laughed, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. “Just don’t faint.”

  He cupped her jaw in his hand and stared down into the blue eyes that still had the power to make him go weak in the knees. “Don’t worry. I’ll always be there for you.”

  Then he kissed her, opened the door, and together they stepped outside. He stopped on the front porch and glanced around at the familiar surroundings. The night he and his father had argued and he’d left for Firebrand he’d stood on this porch and memorized how everything looked because he didn’t think he’d ever be home again.

  He wished he could change that last night and the things he’d said, but he couldn’t. He took a deep breath and glanced at Lainey. The past was gone, but the future lay ahead of them. All he could do was make sure that he was a loving husband and father. Lainey, Max, and little Emily waiting to be born. They were the important ones now, and he was going to be there for them.

  For the first time in his life he felt complete. It was good to be home.

  Author’s Note

  Since the beginning of the War in Iraq, media news reports have been filled with exploits of professional security providers and paid mercenaries who provide services to government agencies. As the American public has become more educated about the individuals who provide added assistance to the military, interest has grown in knowing more about the individuals who choose to live such a life of danger. This series provides a glimpse into the lives of three men who served their country by planning and executing covert missions and how their exploits put themselves and those they loved in danger.

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Targeted. I hope you enjoyed it. This book grew out of my appreciation and admiration for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to preserve the freedom that we experience in this country. In recent years as the media has reported on the lives of returning veterans, we have come to see that they can’t easily distance themselves from the horrors that they’ve experienced on the battlefield. They bring the memories, stress, and physical reminders of what they’ve endured far from home. Targeted tells the story of Ash DeHan, one such man whose life and that of those he loves is turned upside down by a mission that still haunts him. I wrote this with the hope that we can come to see the effects that warfare and conflict have on the human mind but how trusting God provides the path to peace and forgiveness.

  · Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my newsletter and Goodreads, like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

  · The more reviews a book has, the more likely other readers are to find it. If you have a minute, please leave a rating or review. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.

  · Targeted is the first of three books in the Firebrand Series. The second book is Hunted and tells the story of Colt Hanson, the Firebrand brother who as a decorated military sniper came to be ca
lled Gray Feather by his enemies. The third in the series is Betrayed the story of Firebrands’s leader Reese Alexander who is determined to put an end to the vendettas that threaten all he cares about.

  About the Author

  Sandra Robbins, former teacher and principal, is the author of more than twenty published novels. A native of Tennessee, she lives with her husband in the small college town where she grew up. They are the parents of four children and five grandchildren. She is a two time winner of the HOLT medallion given by the Virginia Romance Writers of America to honor outstanding literary talent and the winner of the Gayle Wilson Award given by the Birmingham Southern Magic Chapter of Romance Writers of America. Her books have also been finalists in the ACFW Carol Awards and the Daphne du Maurier Award given by the Kiss of Death Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

  It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers so that they can know the peace that comes from trusting Him.

  Other Books by Sandra Robbins

  If you enjoyed Targeted, you might want to read some of my other romantic suspense books Here are some suggestions:

  Ocracoke Series

  Book 1, Dangerous Reunion; Book 2 Shattered Identity; and Book 3 Fatal Disclosure

  Cold Case Files

  Book 1 Dangerous Waters; Book 2 Yuletide Jeopardy; and Book 3 Trail of Secrets

  Bounty Hunters Series

  Book 1 Fugitive Trackdown, Book 2 Fugitive at Large, and Book 3 Yuletide Fugitive Threat

  Standalones

  Final Warning, Mountain Peril, and Yuletide Defender.

  Turn the page for a preview of …

  Hunted

  Book 2 in The Firebrand Series

  Prologue

  East Africa

  2010

  Colt Hanson lay like a chameleon trying to blend in with the undergrowth of the dense forest floor and concentrated on the rebel huts in the clearing one thousand yards away. He ignored the impulse to glance up through the canopy of the mahogany trees around him to catch a glimpse of the sun. It didn’t matter what time it was. All he needed to be concerned with was keeping his eyes on the kill zone.

  The forest seemed alive this morning with the sound of birds chirping in the trees. Their presence reminded him that he was actually alone. None of his Firebrand brothers were stationed at points around the camp to help if anything went wrong, but it didn’t matter. This was a single-shot assignment, and it was better that he was on his own. He’d come to refer to these one-man missions as surgical operations. Take out the leaders of the rebels and send a message that no one was exempt from the deadly aim of a well-trained sniper.

  It hadn’t taken long for his reputation as Gray Feather, so named because of the feather he wore in his hat, to spread across the forests and savannas of this part of Africa. The news of the invisible sniper’s kills had produced a psychological effect on The Leopard Army, known to locals as Nu Macan Tentara, who’d been raiding villages and kidnapping children to serve as soldiers in their war. Now it was time for the most important shot to date—taking out Ahmed Ohakim, the rebel leader who’d been hiding at this place for months.

  So far no one in the camp was aware of Colt’s presence. It had taken him two days to crawl a few inches at a time on his stomach over the moss-covered and leaf-littered floor of the forest to get within sight of this rebel settlement. From where he lay now, he had an unobstructed view through the scope of his M24 rifle of the entire clearing with its sprinkling of dilapidated quonset huts.

  Now it was time to play his waiting game until the target appeared. He’d always been good at waiting. Discipline, one of the traits of a sniper, had been drilled into him by his father, a career army man, since the day he was born. Patience and cunning, on the other hand, had been learned from his mother who knew when to bide her time and the precise moment to strike with the speed of a cobra. Somehow in all the years they were married his father never knew what Colt had figured out an an early age—his mother really held all the power.

  His breath hitched in his throat, and he gave a slight shake of his head. This was no time to let memories of the past pop into his head, not when so much hinged on whether or not he was successful today. And he couldn’t afford to fail, although he would never be credited with a completed mission.

  There would be no glory or medals bestowed on him for this assignment. It, like all other Firebrand missions, would be known to only a few high-level operatives in the CIA. That made no difference to him. The only thing that mattered was that by the time he left this forest Ahmed Ohakim had to be dead.

  Perspiration trickled down his forehead. He blinked and resisted the urge to wipe at the salty sting it produced in his eyes. Concentrate. Focus on the mission. Ahmed had to show himself sometime.

  At that moment the door to the largest hut opened and Ahmed Ohakim stepped outside. Giving a big yawn, he stared up at the sun and stretched his arms above his head. Colt didn’t know why he hesitated before pulling the trigger, but he did. This was his first glimpse in person at the elusive rebel leader, and he wanted to see what it was that produced such a fanaticism in his followers who considered him god-like.

  Ahmed wore no shirt, and the leopard’s paw tattooed at the top of his right pectoral muscle appeared to ripple across the top of his chest. With his black skin gleaming in the sun, he looked like a statue that had been carved from a piece of onyx. He appeared so vulnerable standing there, his eyes closed and a slight smile pulling at his lips as the morning breeze rustled in the trees.

  To see him so relaxed and oblivious to the fact that he was experiencing the last minutes of his life, one might mistake him for a simple, African farmer instead of the sadistic monster he was. Under his command over the past few years Nu Macan Tentara had swept the country murdering thousands of innocent men, women, and children while kidnapping young boys to turn them into gun-wielding soldiers in his army. In reality these children who became the front guard of his marauding rebels only served as cannon fodder. If ever there was a monster, Ahmed Ohakim fit the description.

  As if he was welcoming the new day, Ahmed took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and stared into the distance. Colt pressed his lips together. It was time.

  He took the shot.

  Chapter 1

  Dallas, Texas

  Six Years Later

  Sloan Mayfield pressed the band-aid to the girl’s arm and smiled at the child. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it, Gabriella?”

  The girl shook her head and returned the smile. “You never hurt me, Miss Mayfield. I’m glad you came to work at our clinic.”

  “I am, too. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten to meet you.” She glanced over her shoulder at the girl’s mother and smiled.

  The woman smiled back, but Sloan knew that she, like so many of the Hispanic parents who brought their children to this clinic, spoke no English. The children were another matter, however. Thanks to the bilingual programs in the schools and the children’s immersion in American culture, they picked up English right away. For the parents it was much more difficult.

  Sloan’s job with a national organization that provided temporary placement for nurses on leave had allowed her to travel all over the country, but this clinic in a Dallas low income area had become special to her. She loved the children who came here for treatment, and she respected the parents for the better lives they were trying to give their children. Most of them were immigrants from another country. From what she’d seen, the fathers were hard-working men who wanted to provide for their families, and the top priorities of the mothers were their children’s education and health.

  “Gabriella,” Sloan said as she pulled an information sheet out of the cabinet, “tell your mother that I’ve given you the latest dose of the DTaP. This medicine will protect you against tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis.” She handed Gabriella the paper. “This is a list of side effects that you may have from the shot—pain, fever, nausea, just to name
a few. Can you read this to your mother when you get home?”

  Gabriella took the paper and glanced over it. “Yes. I know all the words.”

  “Good,” Sloan said and winked at her. “I knew a smart, eleven-year-old girl like you could read it.”

  Gabriella smiled, and it reached to her beautiful brown eyes. “You’re so nice, Miss Mayfield. All the kids like coming to the clinic since you’ve been here.” Her smile turned to a mischievous grin. “Especially since you give free ice cream cones.”

  Sloan arched her eyebrows in mock surprise. “So that’s why I’m so popular? It’s the ice cream.”

  Gabriella laughed and shook her head. “No, but we do like it.”

  Sloan gave an exaggerated sigh of resignation and pulled one of the free ice cream cone coupons from the pocket of the lab coat she wore. “Then it’s lucky for you I have one left for my last patient of the day. Tell JoAnne over at Cakes and Cones to give you a big scoop.”

  Gabriella took the coupon, stuck it in the pocket of her jeans, and hopped down from the exam table. “I will. And thank you.”

  “Gracias,” the mother said and smiled at Sloan.

  She smiled in return and watched as the two exited before she busied herself setting the room to order. The night cleaning crew would arrive in an hour or so, and she wanted to be gone before they got here.

  When she had everything back in place, she stepped into the hall and headed toward the nurse’s station. Trisha Mills, another RN in the clinic, glanced up from the computer where she was studying a patient record and arched an eyebrow. “It looks like you and I are the last ones here today. Again. The doctors left about an hour ago, and Dorothy signed out right afterwards. I thought she might get to the parking lot before they had a chance to get their cars started.”