by Kaely Steel
Serving Fallon
G Force Five Book 3
Kaely Steel
Copyright © 2018 Kaely Steel
Serving Fallon is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
All right reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author.
ISBN 978-0-9937701-5-9
Cover design by Covers by Combs
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Dear Reader
About the Author
Books By Kaely Steel
Dedication
Dedicated to you, Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading so authors everywhere can keep writing.
Chapter 1
FALLON
After years of planning, I was finally face-to-face with the G Force, my creation. The five men I had been instrumental in recruiting were now mine.
And I was theirs.
“There are just a few loose ends to clean up, gentlemen. After that we prepare for battle. The General has only just got started.”
They eyed me warily as I approached with my right hand extended, to greet them one at a time.
“Hello Ledger.” His ruffled blond hair enhanced his surfer-boy appeal.
“Fallon.” Ledger’s handshake was firm and warm, inspiring confidence. Reputedly as good in the kitchen as he was in the bedroom, I looked forward to sampling both.
“Wulff.”
My bearded, dark-haired pilot acknowledged me with a nod. His handshake was dry and to the point like the man himself, except for those mesmerizing silver eyes. Eyes that had seen far much for one lifetime.
“Dare.” I.T. Genius. He had originally come to us to offer his services.
“Fallon.” Keen blue eyes watched me from behind dark-rimmed glasses as he clasped my hand in both of his and stroked my inner wrist with his thumb, causing my pulse to leap. Clearly the computer was not the only piece of equipment Dare knew his way around.
“Hart.”
“That’s me.” The former firefighter’s handshake was brief, as if he didn’t much like being touched, which meant he needed it the most. He’d been ambushed in a fire and badly scarred.
Last but not least, I faced the newest G Force member- ruthless, ex-military loner. “Kiernan.”
“Nice to meet you.” His big black hand, a weapon so lethal it had almost killed a man, swallowed mine. I would have to prove myself to all of them, but him the most.
“I know my presence must seem unorthodox.”
Dare spoke up. “We almost never see anyone from The Group here. And certainly not without a heads-up.”
“I know.”
On the surface these five men might appear mis-matched, but they had much in common. Each of them had lost everything. Each of them had nothing to live for. Nothing, that is, until I recruited them and gave them purpose. Since all five had been legally declared dead they, and their work, were untraceable. Until now they took their orders from The Group, a powerful free-world organization against corruption. I was one of the twelve members.
Would they trust me?
Would they even believe me?
“Can we go inside?”
The interior was just as I had expected; big, dark, masculine. Imposing yet comfortable at the same time. The double-height stone fireplace, oversized furniture, and dark wood ceiling beams gave it the appearance of an exclusive hunting lodge. The lack of a television screen or modern electronics made it seem like a step back in time. A time when life had been simpler, or so we were led to believe.
I doubted life had ever been simple. Mine certainly had not.
“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?” This from Ledger who, I knew, considered the kitchen his domain.
“No, thank you.” They remained standing, their body language not exactly welcoming. Can’t say as I blamed them. We had all, at one time or another, placed our trust in the wrong person.
I took a breath. This was more difficult than I had anticipated when I came up with my strategy to command G Force from the inside and expose the traitors within The Group. “Dare, I’ll need you to get me set up in the command center. I have something you all need to see.”
DARE
Dark-haired and exotic-looking, Fallon definitely classed-up the place. Knowing her reputation as a powerhouse within The Group, someone accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed, I was surprised to see how tiny she was in person. Yet what she lacked in height she more than made up for in sheer, magnetic energy.
I straightened. “Of course. This way.”
It never occurred to me not to agree. Not only was Fallon something of a legend, even among the members of The Group, she was our boss. As commanders of G Force, The Group not only governed us, they owned us. And they never let us forget that we owed them our very existence.
The others took their cue from me and together we made our way down the stairs and through the bulletproof door into our command center, the likes of which would be envied by the Pentagon. I often believed The Group wielded more power.
I took my usual position at the head of the boardroom table where I could reach all the necessary controls.
Fallon took a seat to my immediate left. “I apologize for showing up unannounced.” Her emerald green eyes shone like polished jewels in her porcelain-white skin.
“Do the others know you’re here?” I asked. G Force, along with the ranch’s location, was a well-kept secret.
She shook her head. “There have been issues among The Group.”
Her words confirmed my recent suspicions. Though we were isolated at the ranch, I had still picked up a ripple of discord among the ranks of The Group’s members.
Fallon passed me a thumb drive. “What you are about to see does not leave this room.”
Once the screen came to life, I knew why.
FALLON
I studied the men’s faces as they watched the screen in silence. They were even more magnificent in person. I appreciated their concentration on the footage I had viewed so often I knew the scene by heart. The video depicted one of The Group’s most trusted allies, The General, accessing confidential files, an act he could never have achieved without inside help.
“Do you have any proof this is real?” Wulff asked.
“I did. The proof, unfortunately, disappeared.”
Ledger spoke up. “Seems a lot of that happening lately. Intel disappearing. Any idea who was responsible?”
I sighed. Tomas. It had to be Tomas. No one else had the opportunity. “Someone I believed I could trust.”
Kiernan nodded. Like all of us he had been betrayed by someone he was close to.
“What do you need us for?” Hart asked.
“The General, and those helping him, must be eliminated.”
Heavy silence met my words. G Force were used to obeying The Group as a whole, serving on the side of justice and championing the underdog. I was taking them in a new direction, but with every confidence they were more than capable of the work ahead.
“Do you have a plan?” Wulff asked.
“I have the beginning of a plan. One I can’t possibly execute without you five.”
“What
if we refuse?” This from Ledger.
My eyes rested on each of them individually as I spoke. “You won’t refuse. Your very existence, and mine, rests on the outcome.”
“And if we fail?” Hart asked.
“You won’t fail. G Force was not created to fail.”
I knew this was a lot for my men to adjust to without warning. They were used to carrying out an assignment and helping right injustice, secure in knowing that, no matter how small or insignificant their assignment might seem, it was part of a bigger picture. Sometimes, like recently with Bree’s family, it became personal.
I left them to digest my findings as I moved my things into an empty bedroom on the second floor. To the outside world the ranch was off-grid and self-sustaining, manned by a group of eccentric drop-outs from society who kept to themselves.
One key component of the G Force’s success was that it, and the members, were untraceable. The men got in, took care of business, and got out before anyone even knew they had been there. Both our enemies and our allies coveted what we were able to achieve and the way G Force enhanced our organization’s power. Like any successful organization The Group had been targeted before, but never like this. Never from the inside.
During this past year The Group had been plagued by a dissident faction trying to infiltrate us, using people close to our members like Vincent’s stepsister, Bree. Their ultimate goal was unclear. Take us over? Indoctrinate us? Eliminate us?
Evidence suggested our ally, the General, was behind the movement. Other than Tomas, I didn’t know which others in The Group had been turned.
Right now, the only people I could turn to were under this roof. Could I get them to trust me? Even if I didn’t fully gain their trust, I needed their loyalty and obedience. Whatever that might take.
The sound of my boot heels on the wooden stairs warned them I was on my way to where they had gathered in the great room. They all turned at my entrance, then they looked to Dare. It seemed he had been appointed group leader. Spokesperson, I quickly corrected myself. I was their leader.
“What is it you’re looking to accomplish while you’re here, Fallon? And how do we fit into your plans?”
“You’ll know everything soon enough. Right now I need Wulff to take me on a tour of the property. I want to know where the unfriendlies were located and how they got there. I also want to know the location of the blood you found and had analyzed.”
“Seconds after Dare found a match in the databank, the file was destroyed.” This from Hart.
“I’m aware.”
“Are you aware whose blood we found?” Dare asked.
“I am.”
I followed Wulff downstairs to the command center and through the underground tunnel to the hangar. The sleek black helicopter inside was a beauty. As it should be. State-of-the-art, it cost a fortune. While Wulff did his pre-flight check, I climbed in and found my seat belt along with the headphones that would allow us to speak to each other.
Wulff came on board and started the engine. Once the motor had warmed up and the rotors were turning, the hangar roof opened and we had lift-off. I had approved the design for the roof but it was quite a thrill to see it in action. I gave Wulff my thumbs up of approval.
Intent on the flight, he remained expressionless. I wondered if he ever gave much thought to his family having been killed in suspicious circumstances. G Force gave him the chance to avenge their deaths, but all the vengeance in the world couldn’t bring them back.
The ranch was tucked into the mountains, chosen mainly for its isolation and the natural protection the site offered. To the outside world, the G Force Five were a well-kept secret. I worried it wouldn’t always be that way. Particularly if there was mutiny within The Group.
“Tell me what you know about the two different breaches. The system went down and you lost all power with the last one.”
Wulff nodded. “That’s how we know it came from inside The Group. No one else has the capacity to shut us down. No one else even knows about our system.”
“Yet when our clean-up team arrived they discovered the unfriendlies were local. No connection to The Group or our known enemies.”
“At least that’s what someone wants us to think. Send in a couple of bumblers to deflect attention away from the first invasion,” Wulff said.
I liked the way he thought. “What else?”
“Totally different MO each time. The first invasion took place in broad daylight. Whoever was responsible knew enough about our layout to avoid any of the traps. It’s only a fluke we found the blood.” He leveled his gaze my way. “When are you going to tell us whose blood it was?”
“When the time is right.” Until I was fully convinced they were loyal to me above all others I wasn’t about to go around tossing out information they didn’t require in order to do their job.
“Thor sent us his goddaughter, Jenna. Then Vincent had his sister brought here. Now you’re here. Everyone is somehow connected to The Group.”
“Most observant.”
“None of us are here because we’re stupid, Fallon. It’s obvious something internal is threatening The Group. Your little surveillance video confirms that.”
I shifted in order to face him. “Yes, it does.”
“Are you going to tell us why you’re here? And how long you plan to stay?”
Depending how things played out I could be here indefinitely. Something I had no intention of sharing at this point. I wasn’t sure how they’d take to having their vigilante club headed up by a woman.
“For now, just treat me as another houseguest who needs your help.”
Wulff cracked an unexpected smile that emphasized his dark good looks. “We’ve come up with our own special way of gaining our guests’ trust.”
“I can hardly wait.”
Chapter 2
WULFF
I never grew tired of being in the air. Up here I felt most alive, most at one with my family in the afterlife. Maybe my flight with Fallon would give me the chance to learn why she was here. Something the others would like to know as much as I would.
There was a lot she wasn’t telling us, starting with whose blood we had discovered last month when the ranch’s perimeter was breached. And more recently, who among The Group had the opportunity and expertise to knock out our power grid.
“The unfriendlies came in through there,” I said pointing. “They cut the wire fence and blundered into our trap. I think they were set up. They weren’t ever meant to do anything other than deflect attention from the first breach.”
“That makes sense.” Fallon sat forward and studied the area I pointed out. “Any idea why someone would go to all that trouble?”
I banked and headed south, directly opposite to where the recent invaders had been discovered. “The first crew had to come in through the mountains. Not any easy feat.”
“Do we know how long they were on site before the alarm sounded?”
“Nope. They had intel that allowed them to avoid any hotspots. All I can figure is they got over-confident. And careless.”
Fallon sat back in her seat. “I’ve seen enough.”
She didn’t speak again until we were back on ground. “How’s Kiernan settling in?”
“Seems okay. Why?”
“He wasn’t my first choice to replace Pierce. He strikes me as a bit too unpredictable. But I was outvoted.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Lately, I’d sensed more than a hint of dissention among The Group, but hearing Fallon substantiate it was definitely unsettling. “I thought The Group votes always had to be unanimous.”
“A lot of things have changed recently. Which is one more reason why I’m here.”
FALLON
“Any idea how long she’s planning to stay?” I overheard Ledger ask Wulff the question that had to be on all of their minds.
“Indefinitely,” I said, as I entered the kitchen. The silence that greeted me was deafening as Ledger returned to whate
ver he was fussing with on the stove.
I had memorized the basic dossiers on each of the five men. What I planned to learn next was everything about them that was not in their files. Which would only happen once I gained their trust. Intimacy often proved a useful conduit for gaining trust.
Except where I was concerned.
I used intimacy as a tool.
I trusted no one.
“I want to commend each of you for your excellent work regarding Bree’s situation. I worked closely with Vincent to ensure her safety. It is unfortunate the outcome was not what we had hoped for.”
They all nodded. Bree’s family had been held hostage, supposedly in an effort to learn her whereabouts and what she had unearthed during the research of her dissertation. Her professor had been over his head in gambling debts and got careless, using Bree to do his dirty work before he paid with his life.
“We thought once professor Aaron was eliminated, the danger to her family was as well.” No one could have foreseen what happened next.
Group member and Bree’s stepbrother, Vincent, had been certain their father had retired from the overseas manufacturing of arms. He had been wrong. It turned out to be the father’s enemies who took out the family. Nothing to do with Bree and her professor.
“The father fooled us all. Vincent takes full responsibility for the loss of life.”
It had brought little satisfaction to any of us when G Force quietly and efficiently avenged the people responsible for murdering Bree and Vincent’s family.