by Misty Evans
DEADLY HOLIDAY
A SCVC Taskforce Worlds Novella
by
Misty Evans
& Amy Manemann
Deadly Holiday, A SCVC Taskforce Worlds Novella
Copyright © 2017 Misty Evans
Cover Art by Sweet & Spicy Designs
Formatting by Author E.M.S.
Editing by Cheryl Giebel and Elizabeth Neal
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Please Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
DEADLY HOLIDAY
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About the Authors
Books by Misty Evans
Books by Amy Manemann
Acknowledgments
I’m ever grateful for my editing team, Janelle and Lynn, for taking the time to help polish my work. Also for Sam, Tasha, Melissa, and Misty, four of my dearest friends and women I couldn’t imagine not having in my life. And as always, to my fans. Much love to you all! ~ Amy
Thank you to all the fans of the SCVC Taskforce for embracing these characters and loving them as much as I do! To Amy, my writing partner, you rock! It’s so fun doing these novellas with you and I hope we do many more. ~ Misty
A special thank you goes to Jeanie Jackson for her sharp eye to details and her timely help with the final proof. Much appreciated, Jeanie!
Chapter One
“This damn beard itches.”
Celina Davenport stifled a laugh, knowing her fiancé, Cooper Harris, wouldn’t appreciate it. The beard he referred to was white with elastic bands that held it in place. Underneath the brim of a red velvet cap she could make out a set of white bushy eyebrows they’d had to tape on, which, at the moment, were slanted down in a scowl.
A DEA Special Agent for the Southern California Violent Crimes Taskforce, Cooper was used to dealing with drug kingpins, gunrunners, and human traffickers. He had been on countless undercover operations, and witnessed some of the worst possible things one could ever imagine, but it was today’s event that had him sweating in his boxer briefs. Today Cooper would be playing Santa Claus for the Aslan Children’s Hospital holiday party.
“Well, I think you look sexy.” Celina wiggled her eyebrows, flashing a full on grin. Sexy was an understatement. He looked damn hot wearing that suit. Was it wrong to be turned on by Santa Claus? Well, if it was, then she didn’t want to be right.
Celina was well versed in the man beneath the costume. Cooper was always primed and ready for action. Thank God for that. He stood at well over six feet, with a broad chest and tanned complexion. When he wasn’t wearing a red velvet hat, his coffee-colored hair showed lighter, sun-kissed streaks from hours spent surfing and running on the beach. Known simply as The Beast to many, Harris exemplified the typical DEA agent—big, bad, and machine-like in his takedowns and arrests.
“Princess Via thinks so too,” Celina added for good measure, her hand taking a trip down the front of his red velvet coat. “She loves her daddy no matter what he’s wearing.”
As if she knew they were talking about her, their seven-month-old-daughter, Novia, cooed from the backseat of their SUV, her chubby legs kicking the bottom of her car seat. Cooper’s features softened at the mention of her name, and he leaned over the seat to wiggle his fingers at her. Celina inwardly sighed, her heart going soft. Cooper may be a big bad DEA agent, but one look from his daughter and the man was putty in the girl’s hands.
When Celina had first found out she was pregnant, she had been terrified to tell him. He already had a son, Owen, from a previous marriage, and she knew how much he hated that the dangerous aspects of his job sometimes spilled over and endangered Owen’s life. Introducing another child into their chaotic world was a huge risk, but in the end, he’d been thrilled by the news, and in true Cooper fashion, promptly proposed.
“Princess Via always thinks I look great.” He grinned when Novia grabbed on to his finger, promptly shoving it into her mouth. These days, pretty much everything went in there. “She’s a daddy’s girl, aren’t you, chica preciosa?”
“She’s a smart girl.” Celina’s wandering hand took a road trip south, skirting the fluffy white embellishments on Santa’s coat to the pants underneath. A grin curved her lips when she found what she was looking for—his impressive package hidden beneath yards of red velvet. She gave him a squeeze, receiving a throaty groan for her efforts. “I just hope Santa will pay me a visit later. If he isn’t too full on milk and cookies, that is.”
“No worries, my lovely soon-to-be-wife.” Always up for playing, Cooper found her mouth greedily, adding a bit of groping of his own by slipping his massive hand beneath her jacket to palm one of her full breasts. Celina arched into his questing hand with a sigh, her body instantly heated by his touch. That’s how it always was with them; all fire with no ice. Even with a seven-month-old, the desire between them burned as brightly as ever, if not more so. “Santa will come down your chimney and fill your stocking tonight no problem.” He paused to nibble her lower lip, sending a delicious shiver through her. “He’s got a package that requires a more ‘hands-on delivery.’”
“Mmm,” Celina drew back, licking her lips. A few more minutes of this and they would be late for the party, which would probably get them a whole lot of crap from the others on the team. “I’m counting on it.”
While Cooper grabbed stuff from the back of the SUV, Celina hopped out to unbuckle Novia from her car seat, easily lifting the child into her arms. She nuzzled the side of her neck, inhaling the sweet scents of lavender and baby powder. “Hey, Baby Girl. What do you say we go to a party, huh?”
Novia pumped her legs excitedly. She took after Celina’s Cuban-American side with her smooth, mocha skin, though her large brown eyes and dark hair came from them both. She wore a red holiday dress with white tights and black dress shoes for the party, complete with a red bow tied into her thick hair.
Celina laughed at her enthusiasm, brushing her lips over the little girl’s cheek. A sense of absolute happiness washed through her. She hadn’t thought it possible to love anyone as much as she did Cooper and Owen. Then Novia came along, and everything changed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“She’s a party animal already.” Cooper’s bushy white eyebrows slanted down even further. “I can feel the gray hairs starting to come in.”
“Oh s
hush,” Celina laughed, shooing him towards the front door. “She wouldn’t dare, not when she has you, her big brother, and the rest of the SCVC taskforce watching over her. The poor girl will be lucky if you guys even let her date.”
“Date?” his eyebrows went skyward in horror. “Jesus, I didn’t even think about that yet. Better keep my guns next to the front door until she turns twenty-one.”
“Only if you want my foot up your ass.”
The glass doors parted for them to enter, and they followed the signs to the cafeteria where the party was being set up. Because of a last minute ‘frisking’ Cooper gave her at the house, they were running late as usual. Celina just hoped everyone else was on time.
“Speaking of a foot being up my ass,” Cooper began slowly, as if he were measuring his words. “Got a call from that hotel we looked at, wondering if we were still interested in booking it for our reception. Have you thought any more about the wedding?”
Celina’s stomach tightened at the question. The hotel’s banquet hall was beautiful and would be perfect for a reception. She just couldn’t seem to bring herself to commit to it. She loved Cooper without question, and after everything they’d been through, they deserved to find happiness and finally get the chance to settle down. Only, she couldn’t seem to decide what kind of wedding she wanted, which held her back from making any final decisions. The little girl in her wanted the full-blown Cinderella experience with their friends and family to celebrate with. But most of Celina’s family was still in Cuba, specifically, her cousins and favorite aunt—Aunt Charo. There was no way they could make a trip to America to attend the wedding, and it broke Celina’s heart to not include them.
“Not yet. I will, soon,” she promised. God, she was beginning to sound like a broken record. How many times had she said those exact words to him in the past year? Too many to count.
In true Cooper Harris fashion, he wasn’t ruffled by her noncommittal answer. In fact, he almost seemed to expect it, which saddened Celina all the more. She hated that she couldn’t move forward with their plans. She hated even more that he was so damn understanding about it.
They stopped outside the cafeteria doors, and Cooper stole a look around to make sure they were alone before leaning forward and tugging his beard down to fully capture her mouth. “I’m a patient man, Celina Davenport. For you, I can and will wait.”
Before Celina could take full advantage of the beardless smooch, Novia squealed and grabbed hold of Cooper’s beard, giving it a good tug then letting go. The elastic snapped back against Cooper’s face, and he yelped, rubbing his cheek.
Their daughter’s untimely interruption was just the distraction Celina needed, and she burst out laughing. Novia, on the other hand, looked quite proud that she had made her momma laugh so hard.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Cooper fixed Novia with his most intimidating stare, but the infant wasn’t fooled. Her drooly, toothy grin said she knew she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Celina was pretty certain everybody knew it.
“I don’t think she’s afraid of you,” Celina laughed, moving Novia to her other arm so she could pull open the door to the cafeteria.
They paused at the threshold, taking in the winter wonderland in front of them. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling, garland and white lights twinkled from every post and eave, and in the center of the room was a large Christmas tree, the branches ready for the handcrafted decorations the children would be making at the crafting stations. Santa’s workshop and sleigh rested in the corner, brightly colored packages already being loaded on it. Every guest was to bring a toy for a child, which would then be placed into Santa’s sleigh. Later, Santa would visit the children and leave a present in their room.
A silent auction table was set up along the far wall, the table practically overflowing with gift baskets, floral arrangements and weekend getaways that had been donated for the event. This year’s theme was “giving back,” and the extra money raised would go towards families to help offset travel, food, and hotel costs incurred while their child was staying at the hospital for treatment.
Celina’s eyes bounced around the room, a smile curving her mouth as she recognized a few familiar faces. The entire SCVC taskforce had showed up to help, probably more due to Cooper’s ‘if I have to go, than you have to’ order than anything else. No one dared to argue when The Beast put down an order.
“I wish Owen could have come with us,” Celina said, bouncing Via on her hip as the little girl took in the surroundings with big eyes. Owen lived with his mother, but spent many weekends and several weeks during the summer with them.
“Me too,” Cooper said, wrestling with the diaper bag. “But I’m sure he’s having a good time with his friends at the basketball game.”
Across the way, FBI Agent Ronni Punto, Celina’s best friend and former partner, hailed them. She had amazing chocolate colored skin, dark expressive eyes, and hair that hung shiny and black around her elegant jawline and neck. When a psychopath had gone after Celina several years ago, Ronni had been put on her protection detail and ended up being stabbed—literally—in the back. It was nice to see her laughing and smiling again without the haunted look in her eyes, thanks in large part to the man standing next to her.
DEA Agent Thomas Mann, Cooper’s best friend and surfing buddy, had blond hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin from hours spent outdoors. Ronni had promptly nicknamed him Boy Scout after their first meeting. Thomas, no slouch in the sarcasm department, had dished the name-calling right back at her by using Ronni’s FBI creds to label her as Fabulous But Irritating. Unlike his nickname, though, Mann was no Boy Scout. He was two-hundred-pounds of tough male with the West Point cred and off-the-books special ops training to prove it. He’d been there for Ronni during her recovery, and was the only reason her friend hadn’t completely fallen apart during the aftermath.
With a rope of twinkle lights wrapped around his upper arm, ICE Agent Nelson Cruz stood in front of a large window, patiently helping Sophie hang white lights. Nelson was quick on his feet and didn’t miss a thing. He was what Ronni classified as the ‘dark and broody’ type. Celina had to agree. Sophie swore all the time that Nelson had put her under a spell, but Celina suspected it was probably the other way around.
Raised by her grandmother, FBI Agent Sophie Diaz, was often undercover in Mexico. Her long dark hair and beautiful skin spoke of her Hispanic heritage, and her big hazel-green eyes reflected her keen intelligence. The most fiercely independent agent in the FBI, Sophie had never considered herself a team player and preferred to work alone. Only known to a certain few, Sophie had occasional visions that always ended with a terrible headache.
Celina watched them all moving in unison, busy preparing the room for tonight’s event. It warmed her heart to have them here. Even though they grumbled about being ‘ordered’ to attend, she knew they would have come to help anyway. The taskforce was a tight knit group. They looked out for each other.
Cooper set his packages down and took Novia while Celina shed her coat, passing the baby back so he could help remove the wiggling infant’s parka. His dark eyes traveled the length of Celina’s elf costume, stopping at her pointy toes before traveling back up. She shivered at the hunger in his gaze, suddenly wishing they were alone right now. “You expect me to play Santa when you’re dressed like that?”
Celina grinned, doing a twirl so her skirt flared out around her green tights, thoroughly enjoying his reaction to her getup. “What’s wrong with how I’m dressed?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Cooper groaned, discreetly adjusting his pants against the tent his erection was creating, “except I’m going to have a hard-on all fucking night.”
“Poor baby.” Celina blew him a kiss and walked toward Ronni, knowing full well he would be staring at her ass as she went. After accepting hugs from Ronni, she took Via to the crafting table where Dr. Emma Collins sat with her four month old, Jett. A criminal psychologist, Emma always wore her dark blond hai
r in a long braid, and had brown eyes with green flecks that were usually hidden behind a pair of librarian glasses. Tonight she looked lovely in a dark green dress with red cardigan sweater, and Celina leaned in for another quick hug.
“Hey, Emma. You look beautiful! Hello, Mr. Jett.”
“Look who’s talking.” Emma rose, Jett in hand and the two babies reached for each other. “Seriously, Princess Via is only seven months and you have your figure completely back. You look amazing.”
Celina doubted that, but given Cooper’s reaction she felt pretty damn good. “So do you. I’m so glad you and your family made it tonight.”
Special Agent Mitch Holden hovered close by, as always keeping a wary eye on Emma and Jett, while he arranged crafting paper, glue sticks, and baggies full of sparkles in the center of the table. They were in charge of the crafting table for the evening, and Celina wondered if Mitch realized yet that he would be supervising a bunch of kids as they created ornaments for the Christmas tree. It would be chaos at its finest, and the perfect job for a guy used to working in threat management analysis.
“Hey, Mitch.” Celina gave him a wave. “Thanks for helping out.”
Mitch snorted. “Like I had a choice.”
“What he meant to say is ‘Hi Celina, thanks for inviting us.’” Emma rolled her eyes, though they sparkled with laughter. “Don’t mind him. He’s just grumpy because Jett kept us up last night. We’re happy to be here, just a bit tired.”
Aslan Children’s Hospital was a non-profit organization that relied heavily on generous donations from the public to support the families who come there. They were never charged for the treatments their children received, a feat in itself when healthcare costs continued to soar on a yearly basis.