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Collateral Damage
(Follow up to Any Means Necessary & Imminent Danger)
By Nicole Morgan
ROMANTIC MILITARY SUSPENSE
The Omega Team
Grey Holden was raised to believe in honor and duty and the dedication of men to fighting evil. Both his father and grandfather taught him the tradition of the Omega Male, men who carry a resourcefulness, cunning and strength to get a job done with their own skill. They take great pride in what they do without it manifesting as "ego." They differ from the typical Alpha Male who MUST absolutely be perceived by his peers as the toughest, most popular, and smartest. An Omega Male cares little for this recognition...but knows that he is all those things and more. It’s what made him a good soldier and what makes him a good security and covert agent. Athena Madero fits perfectly into his world. They meet when separately they are trying to prove that a wealthy and high profile political figure is actually The Snake, a shadowy arms dealer whose weapons armed the insurgents that Grey was fighting in Afghanistan.
They form The Omega Team, an agency that takes on even the most dangerous cases. They draw as members of the team former military such as Delta Force, SEALs, Force Recon Marines, Coast Guard, Night Stalkers and others, law enforcement and private security who have the same code of conduct and dedication they do. They will also work with similar agencies on some joint ventures. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, they accept assignments all over the world, no matter how dangerous.
Table of Contents
prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Collateral Damage
RJ Hancock gave everything for his country. What more will he be expected to sacrifice?
RJ Hancock had been working undercover for over three years. On paper, and as far as America knew, he was a deserter, a soldier who went AWOL and abandoned his country and unit. There were only a few people in the Pentagon who knew the truth.
Monica Tovar spent her days doing what she was told. That was the way things were done in her family. The men led, while the women followed. It was a pattern that she was growing increasingly tired of.
After years of living on the wrong side of the law, RJ is finally close to completing his mission. But, when Monica comes in the picture he is forced to rethink his priorities. And the lines between duty and honor will be tested.
Reader Note
While this story is a follow up to both The Omega Team: Any Means Necessary and The Omega Team: Imminent Danger, the author hopes you’ll consider reading her previous books in this world. This story has been written for your enjoyment and can also be read as a standalone.
Watch for Nicole Morgan’s next installment in The Omega Team Kindle World coming in the Spring of 2018.
Prologue
Four years ago…
Medellín, Colombia
RJ Hancock stepped off the plane and into the thick humid air. He took a glance at his surroundings. Two men which stood on either side of a dark SUV. He knew from his contact back in New York to expect them. Wearing suits, which did little to hide the weapons that they were each wearing in shoulder holsters, RJ knew these men were anything but businessmen. He knew their purpose for being there, just as they knew his.
One of the men approached him, motioning for him to turn around and assume the position.
He held his arms out to his sides and spread his legs apart while he waited to be frisked. Once the physical inspection was finished, the other man came toward him and proceeded to run a wand along the length of his body.
No words were exchanged in the few minutes it took for the men to clear him. Only a nod of the first man’s head, motioning toward the vehicle gave him the indication that he had passed their tests and it was time to enter the vehicle.
The air-conditioning brought some relief as he slid across the leather seats to make room for one of the men who sat beside him.
They rode together in silence, neither man uttering a single word to him while one of them kept their eyes locked on RJ the entire time.
The man’s steely glare left nothing to the imagination. It was clear to him that his watcher would gladly stick a bullet in him if given any motivation to do so.
Knowing how crucial this meeting was, RJ kept his own gaze ahead, looking out into the lush forest that spread across the hills just beyond the city.
It took twenty minutes before they turned onto a long and windy road which led up to a grand estate.
The closer they got to the main house, the more guards RJ saw surrounding the perimeter. From men watching into the distance with binoculars and others carrying machine guns, it was obvious that no stone was left unturned when it came to protecting their boss.
For three months he’d been building up to this moment. He’d walked away from his former life. From his career, his family and friends, he’d left it all behind him. He traded his entire future for this one moment. It came down to this.
The door to the SUV opened and he stepped out onto the driveway. He ran his fingers through his hair and waited while his host came out to greet him.
“Mr. Jimenez, I’m glad to see you made it.”
RJ held shook the man’s hand and replied, “Yes, the plane was very nice. Gracias, Sr. Tovar.”
“Of course.” Mr. Tovar placed a hand on RJ’s shoulder. “Come now, let us go inside so that we can talk business.”
A faint sound of muffled voices came from the front door just before it swung open. A woman with dark hair, a short dress and who had legs for days stepped outside.
“Mija, where are you going?” Tovar asked.
She shook her head and slid behind the wheel of a convertible Maserati. “Adios, papa!”
RJ watched while the man’s face changed. There was an anger brewing that he’d only heard about before now. This was his first instance of witnessing the icy cold glare that Drug Czar Sr. Tovar was known for.
“My daughter. She is a bit… trying at times.”
Tovar faked a smile, but he saw right through it. The man was furious.
“Aren’t all women, though?”
Chuckling he replied. “Si, si. Come now, let’s go inside.”
He went ahead of Tovar toward the door, knowing that every guard in the vicinity had their eyes on him and were just itching to pull the trigger and prove their allegiance to one of the most powerful cartel bosses known to the modern age.
As he stepped into the home, across that threshold from the outside to the inside, RJ knew there was no going back. He’d long since given up any chance he had for a normal life. As far as anyone out in the world knew, RJ Hancock was a ghost. A man who walked out on everything and everyone. RJ was gone. Now it was time for Rodrigo Jimenez to step in and finish what others couldn’t. He had one shot. And this was it.
Chapter One
Present Day…
Monica Tovar tossed her magazine aside and stood up from the lounge chair. She stretched her arms up high, bending over and working her stiff muscles unti
l they felt more relaxed. The workout she’d put her body through earlier that morning hadn’t done much to relieve the frustration she’d been feeling.
For years she’d been looking forward to her eventual escape of her father’s clutches. Doing everything her mother had taught her when she was a little girl, Monica had been obedient, respectful, and adhere to almost all of her father’s rules.
The unexpected murder of her brother Jason weeks earlier had changed everything, though. She no longer could see the light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. That escape route had collapsed, leaving her with nothing more than a suffocating case of claustrophobia and dread.
She stopped from her stretching, sure that she was being watched. As she turned her head back to the house she saw him for only a second. But, that one second was all she needed.
For years she’d watched and admired one of her father’s most trusted confidants, Rodrigo. Only from afar, she hadn’t done much to get herself noticed by him. These past weeks since her brother’s death had changed the dynamics of their acquaintance relationship. Her father, normally overbearing on a good day, had hyped up his paranoia about twenty notches into full blown hysteria. He’d become convinced that lurking behind every corner there was an enemy, someone always looking to take him and his organization down.
It was that same distrust that had landed her into close quarters with Rodrigo on more than one occasion. No less than seven of their estate bodyguards had been fired, or had somehow disappeared under suspicious circumstances since her brother’s death.
She loved her father. She even loved her brother. But, she couldn’t lie to herself and ignore the facts of who they were and what their life was about.
The news reports had said her brother was killed in self-defense after he’d attacked a woman. And while it was a horrible thing to hear about her own family, she didn’t doubt the reports. Her father was another story though. He could never believe his son could be possible of such behavior.
It was an odd thing for her to realize after living under her father’s thumb for so long. But, it was in his grieving for Jason that she’d finally been hit with the realization that her father was not only a criminal, but a complete and total hypocrite, blind to the obvious patterns of behavior that Jason had displayed for years.
Growing up, Monica couldn’t count the times that women who had dated her brother had mysteriously disappeared for days on end, only to return with a look of fear in their eyes every time he was near. Then there were the women who would always seem to have some sort of story to support a far-fetched accident that they’d concocted to explain their broken arms or bruised face.
Her brother, though her blood, was a monster.
She knew that. Everyone with eyes knew that. She just couldn’t understand why her father didn’t.
The sliding glass door to the terrace opened and their maid, Gloria stepped outside. “Monica, El teléfono es para ti.”
“Gracia, Gloria.”
She wrapped a towel around her body and smiled as she noticed familiar eyes peering from behind the window of her father’s office.
She may not have much of a future in this world. But, in this moment she had Rodrigo’s attention. That was enough for now.
Chapter Two
RJ sat quietly while Tovar screamed at the guard who stood before him. He made no noise other than the drumming of his fingers on the armchair where he sat, wondering if today would be the day he’d felt was coming for weeks.
Tovar had been on the edge of sanity since his son had been killed. The once nerves of steel and cold hearted kingpin suddenly wasn’t thinking with the calculated and methodical thinking that would be expected from one of the most powerful drug czar’s in the world. He was acting more like an erratic serial killer than a man who’d spent the better part of his adult years building an empire.
RJ barely batted an eyelash when he saw the guard fall to his knees after being hit in the face by Tovar. He’d seen this display far too many times throughout the years to be shocked by the site of a bloody mouth on a whimpering man.
“Sácalo de aquí!” Tovar shouted.
A few of the lackey’s standing by dragged the man out of the room as he pleaded with Tovar for another chance.
“What was that about?” RJ asked.
“One of the others caught him spying on Monica in the shower.”
Monica. Of course. Why else would you be acting like a raving lunatic?
“And how did they find this out?”
“They caught him.”
RJ crossed his hands in his lap. “And how would that even be possible? She locks her room constantly.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that it’d be awfully damn hard for anyone to peek in on her when she’s showering, or doing much of anything else in her room. She always keeps it locked.”
“You mean they lied to me. That’s what you’re saying.” Tovar walked over to the bar and poured himself a shot of Medellin Reserve. “Do you think I’m stupid, Rodrigo? Is that what you think?”
“You know I’m not saying that.”
Tovar gulped the shot down without even wincing at the punch the whiskey packed. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
RJ held back his urge to roll his eyes. He’d been so close to getting what he needed to complete his mission when Jason’s murder happened and ruined everything.
“Boss, you know I don’t think any of these things. I’m just saying, it seems odd that they were able to tell you something that, if it were to be true, that would mean that they also were someplace near Monica that they shouldn’t be.”
Tovar looked at him for a long moment. It was a blank and expressionless stare that he’d grown used to. It didn’t intimidate him like it did the others. RJ knew what he was capable of, and he knew how to match the glare with his own.
“I want you to keep on Monica. Find out what she’s doing. Where she goes. That type of thing.”
“I’ve been doing that, boss. There’s nothing to tell. She goes to the library, the shopping center, the occasional art exhibit, but she’s always alone.”
“Perhaps that is because you are always there.”
RJ doubted his theory, but humored him regardless. “Meaning?”
“Don’t escort her any longer. I want you to tail her.”
“She’s pretty smart, boss. I think she’ll catch on pretty quick.”
“Don’t argue with me, Rodrigo! Just do it!”
He nodded. “Very well. I’ll start today. Unless…?”
“What?”
“Yesterday you asked me to remind you, you wanted to discuss our Mexico operations, remember?”
“Maybe tomorrow. I need to get on the phone with my U.S. contacts. That Chloe Powers, the one that savagely murdered my boy, Jason has gone missing again. Someone is hiding her. Probably her Senator father.”
Here he goes again.
“Boss, I know Jason’s death was hard on you. But, this obsession you have with revenge for his death. It’s getting –.”
“Get out!” Tovar screamed
“Boss, look… I’m only trying to keep you focused on bus –.”
“Get the fuck out, Rodrigo! I gave you a job to do, now do it!”
RJ held in his frustration. He had lost traction these past few weeks and there was no sign of things moving forward as long ass Tovar was hell bent on avenging the death of his son.
Before leaving the room, he turned, “I’ll keep on Monica. Call me if you need me.”
Tovar waved his hand in annoyance, dismissing RJ from his presence.
He stepped out into the hallway to find Monica standing there with a grin.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know that you have your work cut out for you.”
He sighed. “Why do I have a feeling that you mean that more than I care to find out?”
She stepped closer to him and ran her fingernail along his chin. “Be
cause, my dear Rodrigo, you know me well.”
Chapter Three
An undisclosed location in the United States…
Grey Holden looked at the photo that Athena Madero had just handed him. He held the picture close, scrutinizing its every detail, hoping to find some sort of explanation to what he was just told.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m afraid so. I double checked our facial recognition software and cross referenced it with the CIA and FBI databases.”
“The CIA and the FBI? Tell me you didn’t leave a trail while hacking into their systems.”
“Do I ever?” she grinned.
“Fuck.” Grey sat down. He was still shocked. “Chase needs to see this.”
“I already called him.”
“Chase needs to see what?”
Grey and Athena turned to see Chase standing in the doorway.
“Where’s Chloe?”
“Safe. For the time being.”
“Athena, give us a minute.”
Grey motioned toward a chair and waited for Chase to sit down. “We need to talk.”
“Is it about Chloe? Tovar?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
Chase cocked an eyebrow. “Okay. So, what’s going on? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“Well,” Grey slid the photo across the table. “I think I have.”
Picking up the photo, Grey waited for the realization to kick in for Chase. It only took a second before he looked back up to him.
“Are we sure?”
“We’re sure. It’s RJ. RJ Hancock.”
“How can this be?”
Grey shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I am still kind of shocked myself.”
“And with Tovar? Of all people in this world he’s with Tovar?” Chase worked his jaw from side to side. “Something doesn’t add up.”
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