by Joni Hahn
Special Agent: Austin
A D.I.R.E. Agency Novella
Copyright © December 2015 Joni Hahn
Cover by: Najla Qamber Designs
Interior Layout by: Author’s HQ
Kindle Edition
This novella is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be interpreted as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or deceased, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without the express written approval of the author, except where permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of all people involved with the creation of this e-book.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
About the Author
The D.I.R.E. Agency Series
Currently available:
Book 1: Agent I1: Tristan
Book 2: Agent E2: Aidan
Book 3: Agent T3: d’Artagnan
Book 4: Agent M4: Riordan
Book 5: Agent S5: Jaydan
Book 6: Agent N6: Dylan
Special Agent: Austin
For the latest news on The D.I.R.E. Agency Series and author Joni Hahn, sign up for her newsletter.
Chapter One
He really hated bullies. Especially, assholes that bullied women.
Leaning on the bar, Austin Rose looked back over his shoulder, his grip tightening on the beer glass in his hand. The bully leaned down into the blonde beauty’s face, his hand slamming against the table with a resounding whack. She seemed unfazed by his aggression -- her shoulders relaxed, her head at a patronizing tilt.
Her shaking leg gave her away.
She’d followed Austin into the San Diego airport lounge after he’d checked on Hope’s flight, learning he had an hour before his future sister-in-law arrived. The open bar was deserted except for the three of them and the bartender, who looked just as unfazed as the blonde wanted to appear. The early afternoon hour proved slow for the establishment, though with his plans, Austin found the early hour suited his spastic nerves well.
“I asked you a question.” The man spat his words, his arms braced on the square tabletop.
Straightening, Austin turned around on his barstool and tipped up the brim of his straw cowboy hat. Airline passengers walked to and from their gates beyond, the overhead announcements muffled from the buzz of hurried conversation. His brother, Jaydan, would’ve already been at her side. The D.I.R.E. super agent was a man’s man, someone that stood up for the underdog and faced any resistance with courage.
Austin wished he could say the same.
The woman stood to her full, leather-covered height, her heels and black pants making her legs appear a kilometer long. The man blocked her path, causing her to bend back over the table, her green-tipped curls falling to her waist.
“Get out of my face.” She pushed against the man’s chest, her black fingernails digging into his shirt.
Since he’d learned the truth about his family, Austin’s easy-going manner had eased into anger and recklessness, his patience spent. He was damned tired of bullies, of people manipulating the world around them for their own, selfish gain. This asshole was no exception.
Cursing mentally, he couldn’t sit by and do nothing. He’d done that twelve years ago and had lived with the regrets ever since.
Peeling himself away from the bar, he stretched out his shoulders and threw a few bills on the counter. Straightening his hat, he picked up his duffle bag and wound through a cluster of tables until he reached them.
He blinked in surprise. Beneath all of her dark makeup shined a vision of loveliness. Wide eyes the color of a clear, Texas sky, a small nose adorned with a tiny, diamond stud. Her pale blonde curls were pulled back from her face to reveal defined cheekbones and smooth skin.
Have mercy...
She gazed at Austin beyond the stranger’s shoulder, her glare transforming to a dark, heavy-lidded stare. His heart thumped against his ribs and echoed in his ears. She stared at him like they were the only people in the room, instead of separated by an angry imbecile. He’d remedy that.
Reaching around him, Austin grabbed her wrist, the pulse erratic beneath his tight grip. He yanked her out from under the man’s hostile cocoon, the scent of apricots drifting over his face.
“I hate when you flirt with other men, Sweetpea.” Though he spoke to her, his gaze remained on the asshole who turned to glower at him.
“She isn’t with you.” The man straightened, his thumbs hooked in his front, jean pockets.
The blonde curved her hand at the crook of Austin’s elbow, while her other smoothed over his denim-covered ass. A blast of raw awareness washed through his body, stunning him. He whipped around to look at her.
Those sky blue eyes sparkled up at him with enough mischief to keep a kindergarten class busy for weeks. Her squeeze on his butt cheek and look-what-I-found smile made his manhood stir.
Damn, he’d been played.
“I know, Honey Dumpling,” she said, her soft voice barely penetrating its gravelly surface. “But, you really pissed me off. You can make it up to me when we get to the hotel.” She squeezed his cheek again.
“You have no idea who or what you’re messing with,” the man said in a threatening tone.
His low warning eclipsed the arousal simmering in Austin’s blood. Shoving the woman behind him, he dropped his bag. “I know a coward when I see one.”
The man planted his legs wide and bared his teeth. “Obviously, you need your eyes checked.”
His fist connected with Austin’s cheek, pain ricocheting through his skull. The blow ignited the anger that had simmered in his blood the last several months, before sending it into a full blown inferno. Grabbing the asshole by the shirt front, Austin sent him crashing through several tables and chairs, bar flyers and unlit candles hurtling to the tiled floor. He bent to pick him up and shoved him against the bar before hauling back to punch him in the face - once, twice - and tossing him to the ground.
Austin flexed his fingers. Damn, it felt good to hit the bastard.
Without hesitation, the man climbed to his feet and ran head first into Austin’s stomach, knocking him back into more tables. He hit the floor with a thud, his hat sailing into the heap of furniture beside him. Breathing hard, he flipped to his feet, the bartender’s pleas carrying over the blood rushing in his ears.
What the hell are you doing, Rose? If you want to make D.I.R.E., this is not the way to do it.
He had to get his temper under control. Getting into another fight when he hadn’t been in California two hours wasn’t the way to prove to Jaydan he could make the agency. He had to end this.
Austin held out his hands in supplication. “Okay, look – “
The man swung at him again. Austin deflected the blow with his arm before giving him a hard left hook. The asshole staggered back, clutching the bar for support. Two, airport security officers rushed inside, Tasers drawn, while a small crowd looked on from the concourse.
Shit. He’
d royally screwed up.
The man glared at Austin as the officer cuffed his hands behind his back. “I’ve been tracking her for weeks and you fucked it up.”
The other officer pulled Austin’s hands behind him. “What’s going on here?”
Austin nodded at the man. “This asshole was harassing that woman.”
“What woman?”
Turning around, Austin scanned the bar. She was gone.
His gaze shot to the man who gave him an I-told-you-so glare beneath an arched brow. “Now, who’s the asshole?”
***
Belle Mason uploaded the photo of the women arriving at the airport into the facial recognition software. She knew Hope Powers, but the others that had accompanied her on the flight to San Diego were unknown. If Belle’s job was to find a vulnerability in the D.I.R.E. Agency and its operatives, she’d like to know the women’s identities and their ties to the agency.
No match. Grimacing, she yanked on the blonde curl wrapped around her forefinger. A no-match in the Madam’s database was unprecedented. She should’ve known D.I.R.E. would find a way to keep their names offline. No wonder her boss was on a tear like Belle and the girls had never seen.
D.I.R.E. had been on the Madam’s list for destruction for some time. However, when they incarcerated Cyrus and destroyed his operation, they became top priority. Nothing more could deter the Madam’s plans.
Belle and her sisters believed there had to be a better life and their boss’s vision was their only hope. However, after what had happened a few weeks ago, Belle knew even the Madam’s plans for peace wouldn’t alleviate her own pain. So, she did this for her sisters.
She logged into their secure email server and sent a message. Party of five has arrived. Hope Powers included. Facial recognition came up empty.
Stretching her arms over her head, Belle winced at the Suppressed Colt 1911 that dug into her back. Pulling it out of the waistband of her leather pants, she set it on the mahogany, hotel room desk. The women’s hotel reservations were under Senator Dan Meeks’s name so that was no help. She’d just have to find the information another way.
With the groom one of D.I.R.E.’s top agents, the week proved ripe with occasions to bring D.I.R.E. to its knees. Hacking into Senator Meeks’s computer revealed what Belle suspected based on her luxurious surroundings: a week of celebration unlike anything she’d ever encountered. She’d have to do some serious mingling to get on the inside.
Kicking off her shoes, she whipped off her black t-shirt and peeled out of her pants. She’d much rather investigate why the cowboy was waiting for Hope. She’d followed him from the private terminal to the bar and was intent on taking a few photos of him to save on her secret cloud drive, when that jerk Grayson Donner found her. It was the third time he’d tracked her down in the last few weeks, looking for Cindy.
How did he manage to keep finding her? She was one of the Madam’s best assassins, one of her elite. The Madam had said people would try to track them down and kill them. What if she led Donner to Cindy?
The farm had to remain private. They couldn’t afford to be discovered. Donner’s ability to track her that often proved she had become a liability.
She wound a ringlet around her finger. The reason had to be her lack of serum. She’d stopped taking it after that last hit. Her instincts and training told her she needed it. Her conscience said she couldn’t take it again. Not ever.
Obviously, doing without it made her weak, made her vulnerable to Donner and others like him. All she had to do was hang on long enough to bring down D.I.R.E. They would take care of the rest.
Her thoughts filtered back to the cowboy. She wouldn’t mind if he tracked her.
If any man could – should – be called a tall drink of water, it was that one. Tall and lean in jeans and a denim western shirt, his short, dark hair was a shade lighter than the whiskers covering his jaw. His expansive shoulders tapered to a narrow waist and two-fisted, grab-worthy rear. His deep voice carried a smooth, southern twang, his scent a mix of leather and musk.
Inhaling deep, she could still smell him. He personified rugged masculinity, even down to his large – ringless – hands. What she wouldn’t give to have them on her right now.
Snap out of it, Mason. Thoughts like that could get you, and him, killed.
Thank God the Madam hadn’t loaded technology to read her mind. She would be punished for even thinking about a man, for indulging in her desire for the opposite sex.
Why do you need something weaker than you?
The Madam’s mantra sprang up in her head like a jack in the box. If the Madam ever found out she wanted a man, more or less, slept with one, she wouldn’t only kill Belle. She’d punish her sisters first. One by one. Deliberately.
Those that jeopardized the Madam’s mission were taken out with haste. Usually, by her, or one of her sisters. The shackles in the barn were left dangling as a reminder to the farm’s inhabitants, the tools left lying on a nearby table, cleaned and ready for use.
The Madam knew her weakness. It was the same for all of her sisters.
Each other.
God, she hated her life.
Ding. Rousing from her thoughts, Belle ran back to the desk. The Madam had sent a message.
Don’t screw up, Mason. You know the consequences.
Gritting her teeth, her fingers flew over the keys. Yes, ma’am.
Slamming shut the laptop, she rose from the desk and walked to the bathroom, leaving a trail of under things along the way. Time to get to work. The fate of her sisters, and the new world, was in her hands. If she didn’t bring down D.I.R.E., they would never see it come to fruition. Belle lived for the day when she and her sisters wouldn’t have to kill any longer. When she could rest in peace.
That was more important than her unexpected desire for a certain cowboy.
If she blew this, she blew it for everyone. That was guaranteed.
Chapter Two
He did not want to face Jaydan. Did not want to see the disappointment in his eyes, hear the what-the-hell-are-you-doing in his voice. The Austin Jaydan knew was easygoing, a man that let most things roll off his back.
He wasn’t that Austin anymore. Hadn’t been for a while now.
Lifelong lies change a man. So does the realization that he doesn’t really like what he sees in the mirror any longer.
“Austin.”
At the sound of his brother’s voice, he squeezed his eyes shut. Shit. This was not the way he wanted this to go down.
Sighing, he turned around. Jaydan stood in the police station hallway, Austin’s duffle bag in his hand. His stoic face was uncharacteristic of the Jaydan he now knew. Since his brother had become engaged to Hope Powers, he usually wore a wide smile on his mug.
Not today.
The officer unlocked the holding cell. Austin rose from the cot, his body sore from the admittedly-not-bad beating the other guy gave him.
“Hey, bro.” Austin gave a short nod. “Thanks for coming.”
Jaydan shook his hand before tugging him into a brief bear hug. Pulling away, he gave Austin a quick onceover and handed him his hat, before leading the way into the lobby. With a wave at one of the officers, he preceded Austin out the front door.
Walking out to the parking lot, Jaydan said, “The last thing I expected to do today was bail you out of a San Diego jail. What are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?” He stared at Austin over the bed of his pickup. “What the hell happened?”
Austin climbed into the passenger side of Jaydan’s four-wheel drive pickup. It smelled like his brother and apples, Jaydan’s favorite carbohydrate to maintain his D.I.R.E. strength enhancement.
“I knew you were going to be in town for the wedding and I wanted to…” He swallowed hard. “…talk about some things.”
Jaydan gave him a brief glance as he backed out of the parking slot. “Some things.”
Here we go… “Yes.”
The quiet stretc
hed on. Austin knew many people couldn’t wait out thick silence. They felt the need to fill it.
Not him. He could wait all damned day until he was ready to talk. Now was not the time to tell Jaydan he wanted to work with him at D.I.R.E. He’d laugh him back to Texas.
“You get in fights often?”
Austin looked out the window at the busy streets of San Diego, so different from the family ranch back in the Texas hill country. “Enough.”
“Based on the looks of the other guy, you do it more than enough.” Humor lit Jaydan’s voice.
Austin lifted a corner of his mouth. Even that small movement hurt his face. “He pissed me off.”
“How?”
He turned to Jaydan, knowing his brother would understand. “He was harassing a woman in the bar.”
Jaydan said, “A woman that left the scene right before the officers arrived.”
The condescending tone of his voice grated on Austin’s nerves. His brother had every right to use it, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. “Yes.”
“His name is Grayson Donner, former Delta Force. He’s looking for his sister who went missing when he was a kid.”
Austin’s mouth dropped open of its own volition. A few months earlier, Jaydan had rescued a woman that went missing when she was a kid.
“You’re f-ing kidding me…?”
Jaydan shook his head. “He thinks the woman knows where she’s located.”
Hell. She’d played him like a pro. He’d never make D.I.R.E. if he couldn’t make sound judgment decisions. Once Jaydan knew his true motive for being in San Diego, he’d have enough going against him without adding his own failings.
His brother still thought of him as the calm, laid-back little brother Austin used to be. Jaydan had no idea how much he’d changed since his stepfather, Booker, confessed he was his and Gunner’s real father. The lies made all of Jaydan’s beatings, his arguments with Booker, their mother sending him away twelve years ago, all the more wrong. Jaydan was the one reminder of his parents’ deception against Jaydan’s father, Jonathan Rose. They’d disposed of it without looking back.