Dire Distraction (20 page)

Blind rage threatened to overtake all rational thought, but she clenched the phone until the plastic cut into her fingers, the sharp bite of pain pulling her back from the edge. “I won’t do anything more until I see my son. I need to know that he’s okay.” She paused, sucking in a breath of air, as her mind considered the unthinkable. “That he’s still alive.”

“You’re not really in any position to be making demands,” Rivon said. “But as it happens, we’re prepared for you to speak with your son as soon as we’ve finished here.”

“So what else do I need to know? You’ve made your objective crystal clear.”

“I’ll be texting a file with information and final instructions within the hour,” he said, ignoring her open hostility.

“What about transportation? It’ll be difficult to stay under the radar if I have to use my credit cards.”

“All of that has been arranged. You’ll receive everything you need.”

“And if I don’t? How can I contact you?” It was worth a try. A phone number would be the quickest route to tracking him down.

“You can’t. At least not by any direct method. But again, arrangements have been made, and as I just said, you’ll be apprised of the details very soon.”

“Whatever,” she said, her impatience growing by the second. “Let me talk to Adam.”

“As you wish.” The line went dead. And for a moment she panicked, fearing Rivon’s promise had been nothing more than empty words, but two minutes later the phone signaled an incoming video. And holding her breath, Annie waited for the call to connect.

“Mommy?” Adam’s face swam into view, blurred as much by her tears as by the quality of transmission.

“I’m here, baby. I’m right here.” She leaned closer to the picture, as if in doing so she could somehow physically connect with her child. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.” He nodded, his little face looking older than it should. “At first I was really scared. But there’s a nice man here. He has a Wii. And we’ve been playing Super Smash Brothers. It’s really cool.” He paused, his chin quivering. “But I want to come home.”

“I know, sweetie. And I’m doing everything I can to make that happen.”

He nodded again. “Come soon, Mommy. Please.”

Tears ran down her cheeks in earnest, her heart threatening to shatter. “I will, Adam. I promise. And in the meantime, you be brave.”

“Like Daddy?”

“Like your daddy.” She nodded, wondering for the millionth time why she’d made the man seem so much larger than life.

“He was really brave, right?”

“Yes,” she said, frustration and anger blending with agony. “And so are you. Just hang in there, baby. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He nodded.

“Everything’s going to be okay. I swear it is. We’ll be home before you know it.”

“Can we have hot dogs?”

Annie felt a bubble of laughter but before she could say anything the screen went blank. Adam was gone.

“Hello?” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “Adam?”

“He’s no longer on the line,” a disembodied voice said.

“When can I talk to him again?” she asked, desperation mixing with dread.

“When you’ve accomplished your objectives. I need for your focus to be complete.”

“You have to know that I can’t do anything well, knowing my son is in danger.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a professional, Ms. Gallagher,” the tinny voice said.

“That was a hell of a long time ago.”

“Just get the job done.” The connection went dead and Annie stood staring down at the phone. For one second, she considered forsaking common sense and calling in help. She and Nash might be estranged, but he’d never let her hang in the wind. Especially if he grasped the true significance of the situation. Even as she had the thought, she rejected it. She’d reached out to him once before, and he’d turned her down flat.

And besides, even if for some reason he did agree to help, she still didn’t trust the CIA. At least not with her son. His death would be viewed as nothing more than collateral damage, the primary objective being to take out the threat, no matter the cost.

No. She couldn’t risk asking for help. Nash was a Company man to the core. He’d proven that in no uncertain terms eight years ago. Which meant she was in this alone. And she’d find a way to save her son. Even if it meant killing an innocent man.

Bestselling author Dee Davis worked in association management before turning her hand to writing. Her highly acclaimed first novel,
Everything in Its Time
, was published in July 2000. Since then, among others, she's won the Booksellers’ Best, Golden Leaf, Texas Gold, and Prism awards, and been nominated for the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion Award, and two RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards. When not sitting at the computer writing, she spends her time exploring Manhattan with her husband, daughter, and Cardigan Welsh corgi.

You can learn more at:

Dark Deceptions

Dangerous Desires

Desperate Deeds

Daring
(novella)

Deep Disclosure

Deadly Dance

Double Danger

Covert operations expert Nash Brennon has spent the last eight years trying to forget Annie Gallagher, his former field partner and the only woman he ever loved. Annie betrayed him when he needed her most, then vanished without a trace. Now suddenly she's back in the game—this time as a suspected traitor and threat to national security.

Annie’s son has been kidnapped by political terrorists. The price for his life? Assassinate a UN ambassador. When Nash and his group find her, the smoldering passion between Annie and the man she swore she’d never contact again blazes out of control. But can Nash trust her? The stakes couldn’t be higher: their enemy’s endgame is personal, and one false move could cost them their lives.

Stranded in the Colombian jungle after a mission goes bad, Drake has only one objective: evade the mercenaries hot on his trail and deliver “the package” to U.S. officials. But “the package” has a mind of her own, and she has no intention of trading one set of captors for another. Madeline Reynard is beautiful, headstrong, and hell-bent on escape after years as a crime lord's pawn. She'll risk everything for freedom, even if it means deceiving the dark, handsome operative who now holds her life in his hands.

Drake has been burned too many times to let a woman manipulate him, especially a secretive one like Madeline. Even so, they cannot deny the attraction between them. Now, as enemy forces close in, Drake and Madeline must trust each other with their lives—or face certain death.

When Tyler meets Owen Wakefield, a handsome British operative, she seduces him with no intention of ever seeing him again. But then the sexy Brit is brought into A-Tac, and despite Tyler’s efforts to keep her distance, she finds herself falling for him. Trusting him.

Owen seems too good to be true—and he is. He’s hiding his true motives and identity, and no matter how he feels about Tyler, he can’t keep her secrets. One of A-Tac’s members has turned traitor and helped terrorists to hijack a shipment of nuclear weapons. As witnesses start dying and evidence starts disappearing, Owen and Tyler must race to find the mole—and prevent a final, cataclysmic act of destruction.

Lara thought working a world away would heal her. Yet volunteering to treat the sick and injured in revolution-torn central Africa can’t stop the shattering memories of losing the man she loved. A night with sexy security officer Rafe Winters seems the perfect temporary escape—until insurgents attack her clinic and Rafe becomes her only way to survive…

Rafe knows all too well that this beautiful young doctor is the insurgents’ real target: her knowledge of America's espionage system makes her a valuable prize. Helping her flee jeopardizes his hidden agenda—but her unexpected trust in him sparks a desire to protect her that he can’t ignore. Now as their merciless pursuers close in, Rafe and Lara’s only chance for escape will put everything they’ve sworn to protect—and their newfound love—on the line…

When Tucker is assigned to protect—and secretly investigate—Alexis Markham, he expects a routine mission. But this mysterious beauty has a past even darker than his: her father created a horrifying new biochemical weapon—and was murdered to keep it secret.

Alexis has spent the last decade racing to stay one step ahead of the shadowy operatives who will stop at nothing to possess her father’s formula. She can trust no one, not even her handsome new bodyguard. But the heat that flares between them is impossible to resist. Will giving in to passion bring her the safety she’s always craved, or will her love for Tucker draw him into a killer’s sights?

After the death of her A-Tac partner, Hannah doubts everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When handsome Harrison Blake joins the team, she’s reluctant to trust him—or to act on her intense attraction to him. Then Hannah receives a podcast of a gruesome murder, and the only person who can help her find the killer is Harrison.

Harrison has spent years trying to hunt down the cunning monster who killed his sister. Now investigating with Hannah, he faces a shocking possibility—his sister's murderer has resurfaced. As the danger escalates, Hannah and Harrison grow closer, the desire simmering between them ignites. And when Hannah disappears, Harrison has only one chance to save the woman he loves.

Ignoring his instincts once cost Simon a vital op—and the life of his best friend, Ryan. Now as escalating, violent attacks hit A-Tac, another person he loves is in danger. Homeland Security agent Jillian Montgomery’s investigation has suddenly brought her back into Simon’s life, and unless they can learn to trust each other, their dangerous mission will fail.

After her husband Ryan’s death, Jillian dedicates herself to saving others. She can’t afford to be tempted by Simon, even though his every touch reignites the desire they once shared. But in the last desperate minutes before disaster strikes, their second chance at love might be the most lethal trap of all…