One Last Thing
Page 1
Table of Contents
Synopsis
What Reviewers Say About The Elite Operatives Series
By the Authors: The Elite Operatives Series
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Epilogue
About the Authors
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Synopsis
Blood is thicker than pride. The final book in the Elite Operative Series brings together foes, family, and friends to start a new order.
Special Agent Switch needs to get close to Greek tycoon Konstantinos Lykourgos, the prime suspect in the theft of a priceless ancient icon from a monastery on Mount Athos. His accomplice is the EOO’s recurring nemesis: Theodora Rothschild, aka TQ, the Broker.
Ariadne Lykourgos, heir to her father’s shipping empire, expects to have a much-needed holiday on the family yacht with her friends. But the arrival of a new crew member challenges her values and tests her loyalties.
Will Agent Switch be strong enough to keep secrets from Ariadne, and will Ariadne be able to cope with the truth?
What Reviewers Say About The Elite Operatives Series
“It has been a honey of a ride going from book one to book six [in the Elite Operatives Series]. The elaborately intricate, tense storylines, the extraordinary primary characters with their heart wrenching yet elevating love connections, and the pulsating multiple cliffhangers combine to produce a top of the line reading experience. Please, someone make a movie out of one or all of these books!”—Rainbow Book Reviews
“Okay, I admit it: I am a fan of adventure/spy/thriller mysteries and always have been. So of course I have been lured into the web of the Elite Operatives series because as a kid, I was always imagining myself in the male leads of the spy thrillers I read. Baldwin and Alexiou clearly had the same fantasy. [They] have established a formula for this series that works: short, staccato chapters set in different locales that unfurl the plot layer by layer and then they develop into solid chapters where the main characters…begin to reveal themselves. The authors manage to take two plot themes that have been done and done again, meld them, and turn them into a solid, convincing, compelling page-turner that is quite satisfying.”—Lambda Literary
“Totally tense from nearly word one. [The Gemini Deception] has a good deal of twists and turns and one of the scariest villains I have ever come across. Hang on to your seat, it is not only going to be a totally bumpy ride, but the wildest and most engaging thriller I have ever read.”—Rainbow Book Reviews
“Baldwin and Alexiou have written a barn burner of a thriller [in Dying to Live]. The reader is taken in from the first page to the last. The tension is maintained throughout the book with rare exception. Baldwin and Alexiou are defining the genre of romantic suspense within the lesbian genre with this series. You’ll find yourself rushing to purchase the first three books in the series if you haven’t already read them, or, if you have read them, wishing the authors would write the fifth in the series faster.”—Lambda Literary
“Baldwin and Alexiou have given their fans a gripping read that’s difficult to put down! Dying to Live has a complex plot with a pandemic created by an arch villain, and a rescue from Colombian guerrillas. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I can’t wait for their next adventure!”—Just About Write
“Missing Lynx puts the thrill in thriller. In true thriller style, Baldwin and Alexiou take their women around the globe…from Vienna, all around the U.S. Southwest, on to New York, down to some of the most dangerous parts of Mexico, on to China and Vietnam and back to the Southwest. Quite the wild ride. But that’s what lends verisimilitude to this tale of the traffic in human beings. Lynx hooks up with a mercenary during her journey and that relationship sends a sizzle through the story that is palpable. Heroine and anti-heroine. Quite the chemistry. A dark, edgy, often grisly tale, Missing Lynx has the grit and pacing of a Bourne saga, but with highly engaging and thoroughly challenging female characters. Not for the faint hearted.”—Lambda Literary
“Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou just get better and better at coming up with tightly written thrillers with plenty of ‘seat of the pants’ action. Missing Lynx is a roller coaster ride into the seamier side of life and the bonds which bind humans into trying to better the world. This is a book which grips the reader until the final page!”—Just About Write
“Unexpected twists and turns, deadly action, complex characters and multiple subplots converge to make this book a gripping page turner. Lethal Affairs mixes political intrigue with romance, giving the reader an easy flowing and fast-moving story that never lets up. A must-read, even though it has been out for a while. Thief of Always, the duo’s second, and equally good book in the Elite Operatives series, came out earlier this year.”—Curve Magazine
Praise for Dubbel Doelwit, the Dutch translation of Lethal Affairs:
“[Lethal Affairs] is a smoothly written action thriller which draws the reader into the life of special agent Domino. The plot surrounding Domino’s secret mission is well constructed…the tension and emotional charge is built up to great heights, which makes it hard to put the book down. Equally admirable is the way in which the characters are given dimension. In most action-oriented (intrigue) fiction you won’t find in-depth psychological portraits, but because of striking details, the characters become very real. As a cherry on top, the authors gift you a few sensual scenes which will leave you breathless. It’s nice to know that [Lethal Affairs] is but the first entry in the Elite Operative Series.”—The Flemish Magazine ZIZO
One Last Thing
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One Last Thing
© 2015 By Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-287-8
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, New York 12185
First Edition: January 2015
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Shelley Thrasher
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Design By Sheri (GraphicArtist2020@hotmail.com)
By the Authors: The
Elite Operatives Series
Lethal Affairs
Thief of Always
Missing Lynx
Dying to Live
Demons are Forever
The Gemini Deception
One Last Thing
By Kim Baldwin
Hunter’s Pursuit
Force of Nature
Whitewater Rendezvous
Flight Risk
Focus of Desire
Breaking the Ice
High Impact
Taken by Storm
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank all the talented women at Bold Strokes Books for making this book and the entire Elite Operatives Series possible. Radclyffe, for her vision, faith in us, and example. Editor Shelley Thrasher, your insightful editing of this book is deeply appreciated. Jennifer Knight, for invaluable insights into how to craft a series. Graphic artist Sheri for another amazing cover. Connie Ward, BSB publicist and first-reader extraordinaire, and all of the other support staff who work behind the scenes to make each BSB book an exceptional read.
We’d also like to thank our dear friend and first-reader Jenny Harmon for your invaluable feedback and insights. And finally, to the readers who encourage us by buying our books, showing up for personal appearances and for taking the time to email us. Thank you so much.
My dear friend Xenia: working with you on the Elite Operatives Series—helping to bring these wonderful stories of yours to readers—has been one of the most fun and rewarding endeavors I’ve ever undertaken, and I’ll long cherish the countless happy memories of writing, laughing, reading, and signing together. Here’s hoping we do many more projects together.
For Marty, my family for more than forty years, my deep appreciation for taking such good care of my home and cats while I’m away. And thanks to my brother Tom, for always saying yes when I need a ride to the airport.
Kim Baldwin 2015
Now that all is said and done, I can conclude that there are too many people to thank and too many circumstances to mention that inspired me to write this series.
For all those who stood by me, supported me and believed in me, whether relatives, friends, the BSB family, I thank you all.
But most of all I thank the readers. If these books were able to take you away from your troubles, give you a few hours of entertainment and make your mind travel, then I am proud to say that it’s because of you that I can consider myself an author.
Xenia Alexiou 2015
To Kim
Your faith in me has given me the chance to do what I truly love and to truly love what I do.
You are a friend, confidante, solid shoulder, motivator, and my inspiration.
S’up?
Xenia
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
—George Moore
Prologue
Nazareth, Galilee,
A.D. 15
“Where do you go, my son?” the woman asked the youth, who was making a habit in recent days of disappearing for hours after lunch into the hills above the city. Not that he ever shirked his chores, which were considerable now that he’d grown into manhood and stood a full hand taller than she. But though he remained ever diligent about his duties, tending to their animals, fetching water from the well, and honing his carpentry skills as apprentice to his father, this newfound reticence was worrying.
“I will tell you all, and soon,” he promised her, “perhaps even this evening.” As though sensing her concern, he kissed her on the cheek and gave her a reassuring smile before he departed with a heavy goatskin of water slung over one shoulder.
She waited several seconds, then rose from her chair by the hearth and crept to the doorway, more curious than ever to know what he was up to. Rarely had she seen such mischief in his dark eyes. Perhaps she would follow him and watch him from a distance. Could it be that he was meeting a girl, away from her parents’ prying eyes? He was of that age, to be sure; most in their village were expected to take a wife by eighteen, though he’d as yet shown little interest in such things.
He was not in sight, either on the pitted road to the village or the hillside opposite, which had to mean he was in the rear outbuilding that served a dual purpose as his father’s workshop and the family stable. She reached the corner of their one-room home just in time to see him emerge from the doorway with something in his hands—fairly large and rectangular in shape and concealed in a dirty scrap of linen. Whatever it was, he’d taken great care to hide it from her and take advantage of the fact that his father was away in Tiberias on business. This deliberate secrecy only increased her sense of alarm. He’d always been such an open, guileless young man, devoted to her and a rapt pupil of the Torah and tenets of their Jewish traditions. And he had a maturity that few his age could match.
Should she confront him now? Demand to see what he was hiding from her? She watched him stride purposefully toward the rolling hills that towered over the city, his sandals kicking up a wake of fine dust. One more day, she decided. She would keep the faith a while longer.
Throughout the rest of the afternoon, as she baked bread for the week ahead, she returned to the doorway time and again to see if she could catch a glimpse of his return. Finally, his lean figure materialized on the distant slope, hurrying toward her. He was much later than usual—it was nearly dinnertime and dusk was fast approaching—and by the time he reached the house, he was out of breath.
“Forgive me, Mother. I wanted so to finish that I lost track of the time.” When he set the empty goatskin flask and canvas bag on the table, she received her first clue about what he’d been up to. The distinctive sound of metal against metal from the bag told her he’d taken along his woodworking tools.
“Finish?”
He held out the linen parcel, watching her expectantly. “I made you something. I hope you like it.”
“I am certain I will, my son.” Over the years, he’d crafted a myriad of gifts for her: small pottery jars and clay animal figurines, mostly. But the weight of this offering was much more substantial. She smoothed one hand lightly over the linen covering, fingers tracing the curves and depressions in the object beneath. A carving of some kind. Until now, he’d confined his carpentry skills to the usual furniture and building materials. She began to unwrap it.
“Wait! Not yet!” He ignited a thin reed from the fireplace and lit one of the oil lamps to help her see better in the fading twilight.
She folded back the linen and tilted the tablet of wood toward the light, gasping in delight when she saw what it was. “Oh, my!”
“Do you like it?”
He’d carved a portrait of her in quiet repose, capturing well the nuances of her high cheekbones, thin nose, oval chin. Even the unusual arch of her eyebrows. Though somewhat crudely done, it clearly revealed the affection of the artist for his subject. And he’d painstakingly sanded the hardwood until it was as smooth as pebbles on a beach.
“It is wonderful, my son. A gift that I will treasure always.” She clasped it to her heart. “You are an artist with your chisels.”
He laughed. “I think you would not have said the same about my first try. Or second. But I am very happy you like it.”
*
Halkidiki, Greece
June 15, 2014
Konstantinos “Kostas” Lykourgos was grateful that his guest, Theodora Rothschild, wasn’t an early riser. He didn’t dare offend the woman—he needed her help, and he’d heard stories of how ruthless she could be over the most minor perceived infractions—but he cherished the opportunity for a quiet breakfast alone with Ariadne. He’d missed his daughter terribly while she was away at Oxford, then soon gone again for several more weeks island-hopping with her friends. The time they had together recently was too often scheduled time, devoted to business, but being on the yacht was helping to change that.
His family loved the sleek, long Fincantiere superyacht, the largest ever built in Italy, nearly
as much as he did. A floating palace, the Pegasus had seven decks, two helicopter landing pads, a fifty-foot indoor seawater swimming pool, and storage for a large submarine, not to mention the latest state-of-the-art technological advancements.
And the yacht’s huge ultra-luxurious interior was more impressive than any five-star hotel. Twelve elite cabins could accommodate twenty-four guests in extreme comfort, while additional living space below housed the ship’s fifty-two-person crew. A theater, spa, wine cellar, and other specialty areas were all housed within a ship larger than a football field.
Not that such luxury could easily impress his current visitor. Kostas might have billions from his shipping empire, but Rothschild was a powerful businesswoman in her own right, accruing many millions annually from her legal and illegal enterprises. And he’d heard that TQ, or The Broker, as she was more commonly known, had an impressive and priceless collection of stolen artifacts and treasures from around the world.
“When are your friends coming?” he asked his daughter as a pair of stewards poured them more fresh-squeezed orange juice and strong Greek coffee. Around them, side tables with freshly pressed linen tablecloths held the type of fare the family enjoyed: fresh fruit, cheeses, croissants, and honeyed yogurt. His guest preferred a more American-style breakfast, so sterling-silver warming trays had also been set up nearby, awaiting the eggs Benedict, Florentine crepes, and other dishes she’d requested.