Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Collection (The Second Cycle of the Betrayed Series)

by McCray, Carolyn

  “Make that two,” Val countered.

  She took several photos of the terrorist’s face and sent them to Trigger.

  “You should still be able to get facial recognition,” she said, trying to focus on the intact side of the guy’s face. Valentine didn’t feel even a twinge of sympathy for the terrorist. They came up into her grill like that? Threatening her mall?

  Technically, she couldn’t operate on American soil, but in a situation like this? She didn’t think her supervisors would complain one bit. She also didn’t think the founding fathers would be too bothered by her actions.

  Gunfire sounded from deeper inside the boiler room. She turned just in time, as the bullet slid across her back. It hurt like a mofo, but wasn’t fatal. Putting a cylinder between her and the shooter, she pulled out the knife in her boot.

  This was going to be tricky. Bringing a knife to a terrorist gunfight was never a good idea. But her gun was gone. She didn’t think she could call for a timeout to dig around under the steam holding tank.

  So a knife it was.

  Above the hiss of the steam and the groaning of the furnace, Valentine could hear the shooter’s footstep. This had to be perfectly timed, or… well, she wouldn’t need to worry about any bomb they might have set.

  Kicking a few pebbles out past the cylinder, Val was rewarded by a burst of gunfire. Wild, misdirected gunfire. The gunman should be more cautious this time. Jumping from behind the cylinder, Val let the knife fly. If she had miscalculated by even a few inches, this would be the end.

  Luckily, the blade flew true, striking the man square in the heart. He didn’t have time to pull the trigger. The gun slipped from his hand harmlessly. The man’s face showed surprise.

  “That’s what happens when you go up against a professional,” Val told him as he pitched forward.

  These guys were used to hitting soft targets in India. Welcome to America, asshole.

  “I take it I can say there is only one left?” Trigger asked.

  “Yep,” Val said as she scooped up the assailant’s gun.

  One more to go.

  “You should be looking for the gas inlet,” Trigger said. “It should be on the far eastern wall.”

  “Why?”

  “A bomb placed there would do the most structural damage to the mall.”

  “Got it,” Val said. It was nice to have a double-degreed MIT graduate on the payroll. For such a staunch young Republican, Trigger certainly knew how to think like a terrorist.

  Val headed for the east wall, checking around each cylinder before she stepped out. Her right arm tingled as the nerve came back to life. Still, Val carried her acquired gun in her left hand. Not ideal, but what could she do? She couldn’t risk a single millisecond in nerve delay.

  Ducking around the last cylinder, Valentine identified the bomb before the bomber. Damn, the thing was big and complicated. The man, though? Average. To think—this scrawny little guy could kill how many innocent victims?

  And as the timer ticked down from 5 minutes, he didn’t even have the cojones to die with his victims. He wasn’t a suicide bomber. They had set a time delay, just as they had in India. The Taliban had realized that they were running out of willing young suicide bombers. If they kept blowing up their followers, they would be out of business pretty darn quickly.

  Hence the new wave of time-delayed terrorist bombs.

  Did the guy know his associates were already dead? Did he realize he was next? Apparently so, as he spun around with a gun pointed at her.

  “Drop it,” Valentine ordered. “It’s over. My backup is on the way.” More quietly, she added, “Right?”

  “Bomb squad, FBI, and local police are en route,” Trinka confirmed.

  Good. She hated to lie to terrorists.

  “Arrogant American. We might die, but so will your pig countrymen.”

  Valentine thought of the little old woman manning the donation bucket. “Only if you can hold me off for more than five minutes. Your companions didn’t last five seconds.”

  That got the guy’s eyes twitching, as he scanned right and left. Apparently, he had hoped that he had some backup coming, as well.

  “Put it down and you’ll live,” Valentine offered.

  The man snorted. though. “So that I can go to Gitmo? I don’t think so.”

  This was not good. They were at a standoff, and the guy might not have started the day in suicide mode, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t switch into it any moment. Valentine didn’t feel like dying today.

  So instead of shooting, she used her less-than-obedient right hand to unlatch her belt. With a snap, she whipped the snakeskin leather off her waist. The terrorist took a step to the left, blocking the bomb with his body.

  “What is this?”

  Valentine snapped the leather again, flinging it toward the man’s gun arm. It coiled itself around his wrist.

  “Is this some game to you?” the terrorist demanded.

  With her thumb, she pushed the belt’s tongue all the way back. With a single spark of electricity, the fibers in the belt realigned. And, much like an anaconda’s myofibers, began to contract.

  “Guess we’ll see,” Val replied, as the man’s face contorted. His fingers turned a dark pink as the circulation was cut off.

  He must have realized it was only seconds until he would lose his grip on his gun, as he charged forward, squeezing the trigger. Val stood steady, though, as the shots went wide. She put three bullets in his chest, then one in his forehead, just in case he was wearing a vest. Val started taking pictures of the bomb before he even fell to the ground. She was no bomb expert. Luckily, though, they had one back at Langley.

  “Trigger, what do you think?”

  ‘That is a big bomb,” he said.

  “Yes, I got that much. Am I going to have to cut a wire?” Val asked. “Because if I do, I have to go get my knife out of a guy’s chest.”

  “No, no,” Trigger said. “That is a collapsible circuit. If you try to disable it, it will detonate.”

  “Okay, then what are we going to do?” Val asked.

  She watched the digital timer speed down from five minutes.

  “The bomb squad is ten minutes out,” Trinka added, as if reading Val’s mind. The young woman did want to work out in the field one day. Val was glad to see her starting to think like a field operative.

  “So it’s just me and no time to evacuate,” Val summarized. “Trigger, got anything?

  “The timer is the weak link,” he said. “Do you see a fire extinguisher?”

  Valentine glanced around, finding the object in question. “Got it.”

  “Fire it at the timer and timer only.”

  “And if I miss?”

  “We and everyone else at the mall will know about it.”

  Great. She grabbed the extinguisher, pointed it to the wall, and sprayed it. These things weren’t exactly precision devices. Getting a feel for how wide the foam would spread, Val turned back to the bomb.

  “Here it goes.”

  Val got down low on the floor, ripping her nylons, and aimed the hose up, trying to catch the timer from the bottom, sparing the rest of the bomb. Or, at least, that was the theory.

  The canister in her hand got cold, really cold, as the timer frosted over with white foam. Val had to reach out and wipe the screen clear to make sure it had stopped. There it was, frozen at four minutes, three seconds.

  Not bad for a run to the mall.

  “We’re good,” Val announced.

  Trinka and Trigger whooped in her ear. Val switched off her mic as she turned to the corner of the room. “You could have helped out, ya know.”

  Ukav stepped out from the shadows. “But to see you in action is, how do you say it? Poetry in motion?’

  “What are you doing here, anyway?” she asked.

  Ukav only grinned slightly. He was far too seasoned to actually tell her. She could guess, though.

  “How much do you want to bet that this bomb was
made from Russian parts?”

  “I am not a betting man,” Ukav said.

  “Did you fund this attack?” Valentine asked him.

  “Russia does not engage in terrorist activities,” Ukav said, puffing out his chest. Which was a little hypocritical, since Putin was suspected of killing his political opponents with ricin.

  “But you do pay protection money,” Valentine stated. It was a new ploy by terrorists to extort money from countries in exchange for a guarantee they wouldn’t be hit by attacks.

  Ukav shrugged. Which was the spy equivalent of an emphatic ‘yes.’

  “India is your ally,” Valentine said. “Yet your ‘protection’ money paid for those attacks.”

  “So you can see why this is so awkward,” Ukav replied.

  Awkward was an understatement.

  “I can’t let you take the bomb,” Valentine said. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “I’d prefer to head home for Christmas dinner.”

  “I’ll give you a ten-minute head start.”

  Ukav’s grin spread into a full smile, his usually severe features softening. “I won’t need it.”

  The man melted back into the shadows and was gone.

  “Everything okay, Valentine?” Trinka asked in her ear.

  Valentine reengaged the mic. “It’s all good. And let Trigger know the belt actually worked.”

  “I told you!” Trigger exclaimed.

  “You know I only wore the damn thing because it was so cute,” Valentine replied.

  “Which is why I made sure that it was fashion forward,” Trigger explained.

  Good to know that the kid could go from the CIA over to Calvin Klein if he wanted to.

  * * *

  Valentine rushed up to the toy store to find the woman who had been in front of her at the front of the line. The police had finally arrived, and she had turned the crime scene over to them, since she officially had never been there. They would credit some mall cop with the discovery. Time to get back to her real mission. Val elbowed her way back into the line. The man behind her tsked.

  I just saved your life, Val thought, but how could she ever say it?

  The woman in front of her grabbed the three bags from the counter, leaving her little girl hanging, literally hanging from her mother’s neck. Kids. The girl hadn’t wanted to be held, and now that her mother’s hands were busy, she couldn’t get the little girl off of her.

  With fond memories of her own girl at that age, Val walked up to the counter and purchased her Baby Gaga doll. Val didn’t quite get why this toy was all the rage. She guessed that the fact that each time you squeezed the baby, a Lady Gaga song played which was the attraction. You could also upload your own playlist, as well. What a little girl needed with this feature, Val wasn’t quite sure.

  Taking the bag, Val headed for the exit. There was the little old woman again, ringing her bell.

  Val walked up to her and handed her the bag. “Here’s a donation.”

  The woman accepted the bag, and when she pulled out the doll, her eyes widened. “You could get a thousand on eBay for this.”

  “I know, but I want to give it to you.”

  “I thought you had a daughter?” the woman asked.

  “Had,” Valentine said.

  Her husband and little girl had been killed in a terrorist attack over six years ago, although at times like this is felt like six days. She honored her daughter’s memory each year by buying a gift, then giving it to the underprivileged. “I just want someone who really needs it to have it.”

  “I will deliver it personally.”

  The thought of some little girl’s beaming smile as she opened the doll helped take the edge off the grief. “Thanks.”

  Val headed toward the door. Opening it, she was blasted by the frigid winter wind. She didn’t mind.

  Because, you know what? It felt pretty good to have saved Christmas.

  Be on the look out for first full-length novel of the Spies in Stilettos…My Lethal Valentine, summer 2014

  The best way to find out about new releases is to sign up to subscribe to my author page here….

  AFTERWORD

  Thank you so much for following the exploits of Davidson, Bunny and of course Lopez!

  I have to admit this series was fairly easy to write, the characters just flow so easily since I know them so well by now

  If you did enjoy the story, I would ask you a big favor and have you go back to Amazon and please leave a review. Indie Authors live and die by their reviews!

  I’d also like to ask that if you find any typos/errors to please contact me directly. Even though this and all of my books have been put through a gazillion rounds of edits, we are all just human. It really helps if you catch anything to email me at authormccray@aol.com

  Also you be sure to turn on “autoupdates” in your Amazon.com account under “Manage My Kindle.” This way when content is added (such as High Caliber and Rapid Fire in late 2014) it will automatically whispersync to your Kindle (or app). You can also subscribe to my Author Page on Amazon here and be alerted to any new releases of mine.

  Want more of Lopez and the rest? You don’t have long to wait. High Caliber will be out late 2014!

  Can’t wait until then? Check out the next section for more thrills!

  Other Works by Carolyn McCray

  The Betrayed Omnibus Series – Carolyn’s controversial historical thriller series

  Have you read the entire first cycle of the Betrayed series? From the prequel short story, Ambush to the post-Shiva EXCLUSIVE short story Mayhem?

  Want them all in one place? Check out The Omnibus Collection - it is a $19.00 value for just $9.99!!!

  Praise for the Betrayed series…

  “Carolyn McCray’s 30 PIECES OF SILVER proves that Dan Brown’s crown is up for grabs. Part minefield and all roller-coaster ride, here is a story as controversial as it is thrilling. Hunker down for a long night, because once you start reading this book, you won’t be putting it down.”

  NYT Top Ten Best Seller

  James Rollins

  Devil Colony

  “With twists and turns galore the pace of Havoc never slows down, you are propelled along like an avalanche. Havoc is an accomplished thriller. I sort of hate to use the word “interesting” which sounds like a book report, but this novel IS interesting as well as being a great read.”

  P.B.Sharp

  Amazon Reviewer

  The collection includes…

  Ambush

  the prequel short story to 30 Pieces of Silver

  30 Pieces of Silver

  the extremely controversial historical full-length thriller that started it all!

  Targeted*exclusive to the Omnibus Collection

  the bridge short story between 30 Pieces of Silver & Havoc

  Havoc

  the stirring full-length sequel to 30 Pieces of Silver

  Covert*exclusive to the Omnibus Collection

  the bridge short story between Havoc and Shiva

  Shiva*exclusive to the Omnibus Collection

  the bombastic full-length conclusion to the Betrayed series!

  Mayhem*exclusive to the Omnibus Collection

  the “wrap-up” short story to finish out the first cycle of the Betrayed series

  Caught

  the prequel short story to the 2nd cycle of the Betrayed series featuring Davidson, Bunny, & Lopez

  Plus BONUS Material!

  Hacked

  the prequel short story to the #1 techno-thriller, Encrypted

  Rogue Spear

  The prequel short story to the highly anticipated new Nuclear Proliferation Thriller series with a special appearance by Brandt!

  More praise for The Betrayed Series…

  “I am hooked on this series …a great mix of religious history, action, and old fashion love. I know there is a sequel. I can nearly wait.

  Niecy733

  Amazon Reviewer

  To purchase the B
etrayed Series on Amazon, click on the link below…

  The Omnibus Collection

  * * *

  The Robin Hood Hacker Series – Carolyn’s action packed techno-thriller series

  Praise for the Robin Hook Hacker Series…

  ”Writing a successful sequel is never easy, but in this case Carolyn McCray nailed it! Non-stop thrills and action combined with great new gadgets and more bad guys. Lost in all of this is the witty and humorous dialogue as well as the character development and the blossoming romantic relationships. If that was not enough, she also left us hanging and wanting more. Bravo! Cannot wait for the next installment. Definitely 5 stars.”

  Romano Rubusto

  Amazon Reviewer

  “From the moment I started reading this book, I was in awe. Encrypted is action packed from the first sentence. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. From hackers, special agents, to the plague, you won't be able to put this one down until the end!”

  Book Goddess

  Book Reviewer

  Included in the collection are…

  Hacked

  the prequel short story to The Robin Hood Hacker Series

  Encrypted

  the techno full-length thriller that started it all!

  Binary*exclusive to the Robin Hood Hacker Collection

  the bridge short story between Encrypted and Cipher

  Cipher*exclusive to the Robin Hood Hacker Collection

  the stirring full-length sequel to Encrypted

  Zeroes*exclusive to the Robin Hood Hacker Collection

  the bridge short story between Cipher and Code

  Code*exclusive to the Robin Hood Hacker Collection

  the bombastic full-length conclusion to the Robin Hood Hacker series!

  Ones*exclusive to the Robin Hood Hacker Collection

  the “wrap-up” short story to finish out the Robin Hood Hacker series

  Plus BONUS material!

  Ambush

  The prequel short story to the #1 extremely controversial historical thriller, 30 Pieces of Silver

  Rogue Spear

  The prequel short story to the greatly anticipated new Nuclear Proliferation Thriller series

  More praise for the Robin Hood Hacker Series…