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2024-10-29 19:42:56Marshall followed her next to Robby’s. At his door she knocked a few times but there was no answer. Berating herself for the jolt of fear that seized her, she set the groceries down and dug her spare key out of her pocket. Her hand shook as she turned the brass knob. Inside she found Robby passed out on the couch, vials of pills lined up next to him on the coffee table. Pausing in the kitchen doorway, she stared at his chest. It was moving up and down. Claire closed her eyes and let out a breath of relief. For a moment she’d thought—
“Everything all right?”She whirled around to find Marshall standing in the apartment doorway. She’d been so focused on making sure Robby was okay she hadn’t realized she’d left it wide open. “He’s just sleeping,” she whispered, the flood of relief draining what little energy she had left. “I’ll unpack these and get going. He’s not going to wake up anytime soon.”Probably better that he didn’t until she was gone
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Risen To The Top CHAPTER 86
Paulo couldn’t believe his luck. Considering who his target worked for, he’d assumed locating them would be much harder. Yet here he was, on the sidewalk across from the tidy brick two-story house in the quiet residential neighborhood of Columbia. All the lawns were manicured, the fallen leaves carefully raked up and placed into bags waiting at the curb for the city crews to take them away for composting. All except the house he was staring at.Its yard hadn’t been tidied up for a while, if the carpet of damp, decaying leaves was any indication. The lawn was in need of a mowing too. As if whoever lived here was either too busy to deal with it, or perhaps they didn’t care. Whatever the case, it made the property stand out in this well kept neighborhood. He cast another glance up and down the street. A jogger was headed away from him at the far end. Most of the driveways were empty, everyone off to work or to drop their kids off at school. This was too easy.
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 87
He was up and out of the chair heading for the quiet of the living room without conscious thought. Oliver had never called him before. Ever. “Hi there. How are you?”“I’m…not good. I didn’t know who else to call.” The man’s voice cracked, sending Marshall’s pulse up a notch.Claire was fine, still out with her friends, or Duke would’ve called. “What’s wrong?”A shaky sigh answered him. “I can’t get hold of Claire but she told me you were in town. Are you still?”“Yeah, what do you need?”“Just… Can you meet me at her place? I need to talk with her and it would help to have you here when I do.” He was near tears, the ragged edge to his voice making the hair on Marshall’s nape prickle. “I’ll tell you everything when you get here.”“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Marshall hung up and raced back into the kitchen to grab his keys. Alex and Sean were on their feet.“What’s up? Do you need us?” Alex asked.He shook his head. “Not yet. That was Claire’s
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 88
In the family room he eased her onto the loveseat across from the sofa and didn’t protest when she turned away from him to curl into a ball at the arm of it. He placed the throw blanket over her but she didn’t feel the warmth. Exhaustion and numbness were beginning to steal through her body and she welcomed them both.“Oliver, would you mind getting her a drink? She’ll have orange juice in the fridge.”“Sure.” Her father pushed to his feet and shuffled into the kitchen, leaving her with the last person on earth she could afford to be alone with at the moment. He’d even remembered she always kept orange juice on hand—the pure stuff, not the concentrated crap. Every morning after he’d spent the night at her place they’d sat either at the kitchen table or out on the back deck, drinking a glass of it with their breakfast. The reminder sent a fresh flood of tears to her already burning eyes.Rather than try to hold her again Marshall sank onto th
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 89
Claire rolled over and opened her eyes the next morning, for a moment confused by the rumpled state of the other side of the bed. Then it hit her all over again. Grief and shock that Robby was gone, the reality that it was really happening. She curled into a ball and focused on taking slow, deep breaths until the worst of the pain eased enough to allow her lungs to expand.A clinking sound came from the kitchen. She burrowed deeper beneath her quilt and blinked back the sheen of tears, placing her hand on the indent Marshall’s head had left in the other pillow. Twice she’d woken during the night and both times he’d tucked her back against his body without a word and stroked her hair until she fell asleep again.How was she supposed to keep her distance from him now? During their entire relationship she’d never seen this gentle caretaker side of him. With his daughter, sure, but that was different. With Claire he’d always been strong and take-charge, had a
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 90
Marshall didn’t say anything, but he seemed a bit taken aback by her rant.“Seriously,” she went on, wanting him to validate her. “You went through multiple combat tours and other stuff, and I know you saw and did awful things. Every vet comes home with shit to deal with, I get that.” She could see examples of it right now, two of his soldiers’ names lost in combat inked into the designs on the backs of his forearms beneath the sprinkling of reddish hair there. Yet he’d found the will to deal with it all on his own, where Robby had not no matter how she or her father and everyone involved with his case had pushed him.She didn’t understand why her brother had to wind up a statistic. “You came through the other side and transitioned back into civilian life. It’s not like I blame him for being depressed and disillusioned, especially after his back injury, but I’m so fucking angry at him for quitting.” That was the crux of it. He’d given up and his last act
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 91
Come on, did these people never leave their damn house on the weekend?Paulo fumed silently as he drove past for the second time that day and saw two SUVs still in the driveway. And now the damn lawn was already cut, too, which totally blew his cover and plans to hell. He hit the gas and continued down the street, searching for another option. Nothing came to mind, except for a direct assault on the house and he’d prefer not to die in this operation. His dedication didn’t extend all the way to suicide to ensure the target was eliminated. What the hell was he supposed to do now?Halfway down the block, his cell rang. A burner phone he’d picked up the day before at the local mall. He knew who it was without looking, contemplated not answering, but knew he’d be in even greater danger if he ignored it. Pulling over, he tamped down the fear and frustration twining through him and answered. “Hello?”“We’ve had no word from you in two days. Is ther
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 92
Aliyah took it without arguing and relayed the information when Alex picked up. Bob took a deep breath and drove to the funeral home, knowing that by the time they got there, Aliyah’s boss and half the CIA’s counter-terrorist people would already be working on this. And he also knew that as soon as the funeral was over, the entire team would be pulling an all-nighter except for Claire and maybe Marshall. And if Bob was in his place, he wouldn’t let Claire out of his sight for a single second until they figured out if this bastard was the threat they’d been trying to neutralize.******* By nine o’clock that night, Marshall could tell Claire was done with pretty much everything. She was done with everything surrounding Robby’s funeral, finished with her relatives, and hell, definitely finished with people in general. No surprise to him, because it had been a long, emotionally exhausting day for her.The service had go
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 93
Claire was so lost in the dizzying fog of rage engulfing her that it took a moment to realize he’d let her wrists go and for those soft words to penetrate. When they did and his meaning hit home, the breath halted in her throat. Fight him? As in, really fight him? It was ridiculous. He outweighed her by at least seventy pounds of solid muscle and had trained most of his life in hand to hand combat. She didn’t want to fight him, she just wanted… God, she didn’t know what she wanted. She couldn’t fucking think with him this close.His eyes were so blue, so intense. “Do it,” he taunted, more forcefully this time. She could practically feel the leashed energy humming in his big frame, every muscle coiled and ready, making her body respond in turn.Her compressed lungs expanded in a sudden gasp and she drew in a painful breath of air. The pain came rushing back. It hurt. All of it. The funeral, the fallout with what was left of her family, the Taliban cell’s t
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CHAPTER 181
Evelyn came awake slowly. Painfully. A sharp ache pulsed inside her head and made her wince as she tried to open her eyes. What? She was facedown over an animal, no saddle. The animal’s spine dug into her hips and stomach.Her hands were bound. The lack of blood flow and frigid temps meant they were like ice blocks on the ends of her arms. Dammit, what if she had frostbite and was too far gone to even know it? She wriggled her fingers, and the returning blood made her gasp. She kept moving, tried to wriggle her legs but they were also bound. The struggle shifted her center of gravity until she was in danger of toppling upside-down beneath the animal and being trampled. Hell. Who’d done this to her? What did they want?The smell of musty fur was overpowering, making her throat heave as her stomach rebelled.“I’m going to be sick.” The contents of her stomach splashed against the gray talus that the horse was working hard to cross. D
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CHAPTER 180
They’d followed the spoor for two hours but ground sign was disappearing as dust swirled in the wind. Duke was torn. Did he keep following the unknown originator of these tracks or go back to base camp and regroup. Base camp was calling his name but he wasn’t sure whether that was because Evelyn had destroyed his objectivity or because it was the smartest thing to do.Hell, right now he was going in circles.“Let’s mark this GPS position and head back,” he said to Sri luc quietly. The sound of horses hooves drumming against solid earth made him glance in the direction of the biologists’ camp. The student—Ivan—came flying into view, coat open and flapping in time to the rhythm of the horse.“What the feck?” They’d all rendezvoused at the snare where the tracks had been spotted, but he’d sent Ivan and the local man back to camp on horseback an hour ago. He hadn’t liked the idea of Evelyn being alone, although she’d managed without hi
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CHAPTER 179
He split them into three groups.“Can’t I go with the doc?” Lucas moaned. He might have the reputation of being the ladies’ man of the Mountain Troop, but after what Duke had been thinking five minutes earlier while trying not to kiss Evelyn Cox’s lips, legs, and everything in between, maybe he was a frickin’ ladies’ man too.He wanted her and he’d let his eyes tell her exactly how much he wanted her.What was he thinking? There was a time and a place for that sort of thing and this wasn’t it.“No.” He kept his voice light. None of them were here to get laid. “You’re with Sri luc. Jordan you go with the Great Dane. I’m with the doc.” He gave them a firm smile that told them this wasn’t up for debate. “We’ll get the biologists to give us a demo how to tranq and release the Polar bears before we head out. I want hourly radio checks.” He nodded to the men. “It might be a couple of days until the other guys get here. I’m
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CHAPTER 178
When she woke she was staring straight into the startling cobalt eyes of Officer Robert Duke. He looked like he’d wait all day for her to wake up.“I must be dreaming,” she croaked.He held out a mug of black tea.“Definitely dreaming.” She sat up, took it, and sipped. The warm liquid eased her dry throat. “Thanks. What time is it?”“0600.” His voice rolled over her. She blinked groggily. There was enough of a burr in his accent to make his voice very sexy and she figured he was laying on the charm this morning.His face was scrubbed and clean-shaven. She found herself studying his features. The vivid eyes shaded by thick brows, the cheeks scraped smooth, the jaw firm and obstinate, his nose too flat to be conventionally handsome. Yet the combination stirred up her insides like hot coals. She fought the urge run her fingers through his short blond hair. He was tall and lean and he looked really, really g
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CHAPTER 177
Evelyn shoved back the yurt flap. Mikado flung up his hands in surprise and gave a nervous laugh. “You’re back. You scared me.”“There’s a lot of that going around.”He smiled at her, brown eyes twinkling. “Ivan was worried when the horse came back without you, but I told him you be okay.”Mikado had more faith in her than she did. He returned to whatever he was doing with the cubs.She strode to the computer and opened her email and read the message. Christ, the Trust really had forbidden her to release the animals. She inhaled deeply and tried to calm the rage that continued to burn inside. They thought she was overreacting and had no proof, and in the next sentence they told her it was too dangerous for her and Ivan to go after a guy with a gun. Ivan came slowly into the tent. She didn’t know if he was scared or angry. He had a right to be both.“Did you reply to this email?” She was vibrating with em
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CHAPTER 176
For fuck’s sake. He spat in the dirt. Great. He’d spent his whole life fighting against scumbag terrorists and what happened? He ended up accused of being exactly the same sort of nutcase by someone he was trying to help. It stung. He wasn’t about to let her know that.“That’s right, love. That’s why they pay me the big bucks, so let’s move it.” He maneuvered her in front of him. “Step where the trooper steps if you want to keep your legs.” He let her walk a few paces ahead and spoke into his comms. “Jordan and Lucas, keep a low profile as we head back to the RV. See if this bastard’s hiding somewhere and decides to follow us.”They both acknowledged with radio clicks and he followed Evelyn through the bush and along the rocky path. The old guy must be damn good or damn lucky to have spotted them near that other collar. He must have night vision equipment to move so swiftly at night too. Or he had insider information.Duke moved cl
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CHAPTER 175
The midday sun beat harshly on this patch of barren rock, melting the inch of snow that had fallen during the morning. The woman beside him had finally stopped wriggling and fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. His team was in position and they’d been on stag duty while he caught a quick nap. Now he was wide awake and refreshed, but so far, nothing yet.What had made Vladimir jores turn his back on his former homeland? What made him defect to fight on the side of people who got their kicks out of brutalizing innocent civilians?Duke understood terrorists better than anyone this side of a suicide vest. He’d grown up with them, would probably have become one himself if not for the tragic death of his sister. That was the family business, right alongside farming. Being immersed in that indoctrinated shit from a young age meant he understood how people born into it found it hard to break free. It was so ingrained, so fecking normal. Talk about brainwashing. H
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CHAPTER 174
How many years had it been since she’d held hands with a guy? A soldier? A shiver brushed over her skin like a ghost from the past.It felt strange. As if she’d been transported back in time. And yet, here she was, relying on the strength of those long, strong, foreign fingers to guide her safely through the night. Adjusting her footing in response to subtle pressure changes, tuning her body to match his. Trusting a man she’d just met. Relying on a man, period.It wasn’t something she did.It wasn’t who she was.She believed in saving things, in using data to make her point, not violence. But data wasn’t going to save her Polar bears from their current predicament. Her fingers tightened involuntarily and he slowed to match her pace. The guy was fit, not even breathing heavily, despite everything they’d been through and how many miles they’d walked. She was fit too, she ran and worked out, but exhaustion was making her
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CHAPTER 173
As Evelyn lay down, her mind kept wavering back to years ago when she was still a child.When her grandfather was still the minister of ammunition, their family had been good friends with the Connery family so they always stood by each other.Her grandfather had hated L.j corporation because they and Connery corporation were rivals.They each made weapons for governments and L.j corporation were beginning to outsell Connery corporation.She remembered the old Mr Connery coming to visit her grandfather and the two of them talking in hushtones about the issues.During that period, a heated rivalry had begun and it all came to its peak one cold night, years ago.she remembered it clearly.Her mind went back through the years, reliving the moment.“Come away from there, Evelyn. Quickly now.”Evelyn knew better than to argue with her mother, but sh
