Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series)

Rendezvous with Danger

By: Sharon C. Cooper

Copyright 2013 by Sharon C. Cooper all rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact the author at www.sharoncooper.net

ISBN: 978-0-9855254-6-0

Book Cover: MTheresa Art Designs

Editor: Claudette Freeman

Published by: Amaris Publishing LLC in the United States

Disclaimers

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Please be advised that this story has adult and sensitive content not recommended for those under the age of 18.

Dedication

To my oldest brother, Willie Cunningham Jr. -

my biggest fan

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to my amazing husband for being so supportive. I love you Al!

I’d also like to give a shout out to my critique partners:

Candace, Claire, Delaney, Trish, and Yolanda.

You each play a different role in my writing life, and I can honestly say writing wouldn’t be as much fun without you ladies!

Dear Reader

Alandra Pargas, ex-CIA counter-intelligence officer, plans to wreak vengeance on the people who tried to kill her. A little rendezvous with danger is not what scares her, though. It’s seeing the tall, dark, and dangerously sexy man she vowed to love forever that has her running for cover.

Former U.S. Special Operative, Quinn Hamilton,
left the world of covert operations after the love of his life died in his arms during a black op.
Three years later, he still loses sleep wondering if maybe he could have done something more to save her – until Alandra shows up on his doorstep
. With her lies and betrayal, he wants nothing to do with her, yet, his heart won’t cooperate. It’s not until unknown enemies come after her that he must decide if he can leave the past behind and protect the woman he’ll always love. Will they survive this last mission and rekindle the love and passion they once shared?

I enjoy reading books that are a part of a series, and now I find that I enjoy writing them as well. Join me as I introduce you to Quinn, Alandra, Malik, Cameron (Wiz) and Natasha in the second book of the Reunited Series.

Enjoy!

Sharon C. Cooper

NOTE:
If you haven’t read the prequel to Rendezvous with Danger, entitled: Secret Rendezvous, you can find it *FREE* in ebook at any online retailer.

Prologue

Quinn eased around the paint-chipped pillar, and along the musty-smelling hallway, his gun held close to his body and ready to shoot anyone who got in his way. All he needed was to leave the building without being detected.

“You have twelve minutes to get out of there Q,” Malik said through Quinn’s earpiece.

Quinn proceeded through the corridor, his body tight against the uneven wall. He made the first turn and moved down the dimly lit hallway where a single bulb dangled from a sub-standard light fixture. He heard voices coming from a room to his right, so he turned left and maneuvered down the staircase. Ten more yards and he would be home free.

He made it to the final step and halted when he heard footsteps running on the level above him and then down the stairs behind him. He ducked into a nearby utility closet, not closing the door completely.

“We have a problem,” he heard Malik say in his ear.

No kidding, Quinn thought.

“Two snipers on the rooftop of the building adjacent to the one you’re in. Sit tight.”

Missions like this Quinn normally did solo, but he was glad Malik was there. They’d run into a few snags, and his presence had proven beneficial.  

“All clear.”

No longer hearing footsteps, Quinn eased back into the hallway, down the back stairs and out of the building into the night. He made sure the information he had just stolen was secure inside his jacket, and he inched toward the gate. A tree branch snapped. Quinn slammed his body against the brick wall, blending into the darkness of the night. He stood still for several seconds and heard it again. Slowly, he turned his head toward the noise. What he saw, several yards away under the dim moonlight, made his heart stop.

Alandra. What in the… He blinked several times, unable to fathom why she was thousands of miles from home, and standing in the middle of what could easily become a war zone.

He retraced his steps. She anxiously looked around the area and then back at the small device she held in her hands. Within five feet of her, he must have made a noise because her head shot up and their eyes connected. And in slow motion everything exploded around her.

“Get down!” he yelled and saw her fall to her knees.

Without thinking he ran to her and chaos erupted in every direction. He scooped her up and nestled her behind a long concrete block and then he noticed she’d been shot.

 “Oh, shit.”

“Quinn,” she said, grasping at his shirt, her eyes wild. “Please … be careful.”

“Malik, I need you. Now!” Quinn growled into his mouthpiece giving Malik his location while he jerked out of his jacket and placed it under Alandra’s head.

“On my way,” Malik said.

“Hang on baby. We’re going to get you out of here.” He ripped open her down vest and then her shirt to determine the extent of her injury. Blood spilled from the chest wound. Damn.  He glanced around trying to decide the best route to safety as he removed his shirt, leaving him with only a black T-shirt on. Gunshots rang out around him as he pressed his shirt over her wound to slow the bleeding.

 “Quinn… I love…you. I have to tel…”

“I love you too, baby, but I need you to hold... Oh, damn. Alandra? Alandra?” he growled when her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He cradled her closer to his body, willing her to stay with him. “Lan…” he started but felt a bullet slap the back of his shoulder - and then his back. Paralyzed by the sharp pain that traveled down his spine, gripping him like steel claws, he struggled to hold on to Alandra, fighting the blackness that threatened to overpower him.

“Alandra, baby, I...need you…to hold on.”

Chapter One

“You better hope we’re not rattling any cages while we dig for answers. Whoever sealed Alandra Pargas’s records, meant for them to stay sealed.”

Quinn Hamilton looked over his friend’s shoulder. If anyone could find answers, it was former Navy SEAL and computer genius, Cameron Miller, better known as Wiz. He could get through any firewall and pilfer information, including top-secret info meant to stay a secret.
Closer than most brothers, Quinn learned of Wiz’s computer skills after they endured SEAL training and participated in numerous black ops together.

He squinted at the monitor as Wiz’s fingers flew across the computer keys, typing in code after code in an effort to hack into the CIA mainframe. Closed up in Quinn’s home office for an hour, they’d hoped to find evidence to support Quinn’s hunch – that Alandra might be alive.

“Man, I appreciate you doing this.”

“Enough to come see me behind bars when they haul my ass off to prison?”

Quinn grunted and folded his arms across his chest. “They’ll never catch you.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Wiz stopped typing and glanced over his shoulder. “I’m surprised you didn’t look into this sooner. Why now, considering you thought you spotted her months ago?”

Quinn blew out a frustrated sigh and backed away from the desk.
He moved to the large bank of windows that overlooked his
backyard, ten acres of partially wooded land with a wide creek running along the north side of the house. He leaned against the windowsill, his gaze taking in the moonlight bouncing off the water.

Why hadn’t he looked into Alandra’s possible resurgence sooner? “When they rushed my business partner, Tyler, to the emergency room after he was shot, and I saw the nurse who looked like Alandra, I thought I had seen a ghost. The days that followed, I honestly thought I had lost it, that I had somehow conjured up her spirit in my mind, and couldn’t let it go. I would see her face whenever I closed my eyes. There were times I thought I saw her in the grocery store, in the fitness gym’s parking lot, and once even driving down the street, but I knew it was impossible. Alandra was dead.”

Quinn grunted and shook his head. He thought he would have to start seeing a therapist again the way he had after Alandra’s death. He turned to Wiz.

“I decided to dig around a little because the woman at the hospital looked so much like her. There were subtle differences. She wore a lot of makeup and had long straight hair, where Alandra never wore makeup and had a mass of brown curls. The nurse’s eyes were green and Alandra’s were light brown, almost hazel.”

“Did this lady act as if she recognized you?”

“At first she looked startled. We stared at each other for a moment and then she ran off to tend to Tyler. Wiz, man,” Quinn glanced away, fighting the emotions he had tried to keep buried since spotting the woman, “Alandra and I had a magnetic connection, one I have never felt with any other woman. And that night, I felt it. My gut tells me it was her.”

“Well, your gut has never steered us wrong, but I hope you’re prepared for whatever we find.”

“Me too.” Quinn retraced his path from the window to the desk. His size thirteen’s sunk into the plush carpet with each heavy step. What he wouldn’t give to hold the only woman he’d ever loved in his arms again and talk well into the night about everything, from sports to politics. Or make love to her, until she screamed his name over and over again. He shook his head. It had been three long years. If she were still alive, she would have found some way to contact him. Wouldn't she?

He plopped down in one of the striped upholstered chairs that faced his large mahogany desk and leaned forward. “When you finish this, Wiz, I need you to do something else.”

“What’s that?”

“I want an extensive background check on Velvet Aguilar, everything from who her momma is to whether or not she has any parking tickets. Everything.”

Wiz stopped typing and looked up. “Who the hell is she?”

Quinn reclined in his seat. He ran a hand over his head and down his dreadlocks, frustrated by their lack of progress. “When I returned to the hospital, I found out the nurse’s name is Velvet Aguilar. I know from experience that Alandra is a master at disguises
and
lying.”

“I’m sure she had to be to survive as a counter-intelligence agent for the CIA.” Wiz rolled the office chair away from the desk and reared back in it. “I still can’t believe you had an affair with this woman, and I never met her.”

Quinn had good reason to keep this relationship private. Considering the terrorists, drug lords, and common criminals he’d encountered during his operative days, anyone of them could have used her to get to him. It was safer for Alandra if no one connected them, not even his closest friends. After Alandra died, he didn’t talk about her, keeping the memory of their love close to his heart.

“You might not have known her directly, but you helped me out a time or two in regards to her: A phone number here, a trace there, and I can go on.”

Wiz shook his head and chuckled. “From now on, I’m asking more questions when you call me for a favor.”

“In the meantime keep digging.” Quinn massaged the back of his neck. The long days and nights of thinking of her were taking their toll. “I should’ve done this right after she was killed.”

Wiz removed his glasses, his greenish-gray eyes looking at Quinn as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you kidding me? Have you forgotten? You were shot in the back and left for dead during that mission. I’m just glad Malik and your team found the Tangos who ambushed you.”

Quinn would never forget that day, the mission from hell. Everything about the op was questionable, from the logistical issues to the problems with their equipment and then Alandra showing up. He had lost total focus once he spotted her, making mistakes that could have cost him his life. In all his years in the military and working as a special operative for the government, he had never incurred injuries so emotionally and physically damaging as he had that night. It had taken months of rehab and therapy to get back to a somewhat normal life, and had it not been for Malik Lewis, another former Navy SEAL and a good friend, Quinn would be dead.

“I can’t imagine what you went through. To lose a fellow SEAL during a mission is bad enough, but to lose your woman…” Wiz shook his head and turned back to his computer.