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SPECIAL FORCES SAVIOR
Omega Sector: Critical Response #1
Janie Crouch
Released Dec 15th, 2015 (Print)
Released Jan 1st, 2016 (Digital)
Harlequin Intrigue
He
has to shut down the terrorists or lose everything. Including the woman who's
become a target.
Omega Sector: Critical Response
agent Derek Waterman is hunting the architects of a lethal terrorist bombing.
After weeks of chasing cold leads, he has finally found the evidence that could
expose the perpetrators. But in order to take them down, he needs help from Dr.
Molly Humphries, Omega's lead forensic scientist.
Shy Molly works to retrieve the
data--and overcome her debilitating crush on the sexy agent. Derek carefully
suppresses his mutual smoldering attraction, sure that his dark past will drive
Molly away if she knows. But when Molly is kidnapped, he will stop at nothing
to save her. Even if a lethal enemy will do everything to keep him from doing
so.
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Derek slid closer to
the ground as a bullet whizzed past his head and shattered the concrete behind
him.
Whoa. Too close.
The saving grace in
this situation was at least the entire block was empty of any innocent
bystanders. No upstanding citizen had much reason to be in this section of West
Philly. The less upstanding citizens had exited when Derek and his team had
shown up, obviously law enforcement, and the shooting had started.
“Uh, what exactly was
the intel you got on this place again, Derek?” Jon Hatton asked from where he
was also pinned down a few feet away. Although highly trained in weapons and
combat as all Omega Sector's Critical Response agents were, Jon was primarily a
behavior analyst in the Crisis Management Unit.
“What’s the matter?
You having problems remembering how to use your weapon, Jon? Too much
analyzing, not enough action in your life?” Liam Goetz, the other team member,
smacked his gum and grinned. As a member of Omega’s Hostage Rescue team, no one
ever asked Liam if he remembered how to use a weapon. Liam had pretty much been
born with one in his hand.
“I’m just asking to
see if there is any sort of plan here besides hide behind the car until the bad
guys run out of ammo,” Jon responded. “Which, at the rate they’re shooting,
should be sometime next week.”
True, the number of
shots being fired at them seemed to be dwindling. The people in the building
obviously weren’t trying to kill Derek and his team, just keep them pinned. But
damned if this entire situation wasn’t starting to piss Derek off.
The empty apartment
building across the street gave the enemy the tactical advantage. That
advantage wasn’t something Derek, as the lead tactical team specialist of
Omega's SWAT generally gave up.
But the intel they’d
received on this location had required an immediate response. Time for tactical
analysis hadn’t been available. Thus, the taking cover behind their SUV as the
bullets flew by their heads.
Derek had moved in on
this location so quickly because it had been the first substantial lead
pertaining to a terrorist attack on Chicago two weeks earlier. A bombing that
had killed or injured over five hundred people.
None of the leads
Omega had followed up on until now—and there had been hundreds of them—had
provided any useful intel. Each location had been totally cold.
Another bullet flew
by. This location definitely wasn’t cold.
“All right, to hell
with this.” Derek looked over at Liam, “Jon and I will lay down cover-fire. You
head around to the back of the building.”
Liam was grinning
like an idiot. He loved this sort of thing, danger be damned. “Now you’re
talking.”
Derek nodded.
“Remember, we need them alive, if at all possible.”
“Hey, it’s me!” Liam
actually winked at them. “I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Derek
rolled his eyes and heard Jon groan under his breath as Liam made his way down
the line of abandoned cars parked on the street. Still using their SUV for as
much cover as possible, Derek and Jon began firing their weapons toward the
abandoned building, hoping to draw any return-fire back at them and away from
Liam.
But
there were no shots at all coming at them from the house.
Derek
looked over at Jon. “Again.”
Using
the hood to brace his arm, Derek fired three shots at the house while Jon did
the same from the rear of the vehicle. Still no return fire. Out of the corner
of his eye he saw Liam make it across the street at the side of the building.
No shots were fired at him either.
The
bad guys weren’t in the building anymore; they must be on the run. Whoever had
been shooting at them just a few moments ago was Omega’s best lead in Chicago’s
terrorist attack. They were the only
lead. And now they were about to get away.
“Move
in, but be careful,” Derek said to Jon as they made their way forward, weapons
still raised.
Derek
was reaching for the knob of the door, Jon covering him from a cross angle when
they heard a rapid burst of gunfire from the back of the building where Liam
had been heading.
Both
men backed out of the doorway and sprinted around the building without a word.
Each of them knew that getting inside was secondary to helping Liam if he was
under fire. As they rounded the building, Derek was relieved to see Liam
unharmed, chasing a suspect farther down the road behind the apartment
building. Derek and Jon continued running to catch up with them. Helping
capture a known suspect was better than sticking around for what may or may not
be in the house.
“Stay
with them,” Derek told Jon, then made a sharp turn. He would run down a
parallel side street and try to cut off the runner. He forced more speed out of
his legs.
As
he made a sharp turn around the next group of buildings, Derek saw the perp
slowing down with Liam only a few yards behind him, Jon just beyond that.
It was obvious Liam was going to catch the
guy at any moment, and the perp knew it, too. He fired his weapon at the Omega
agents behind his back in some haphazard fashion without even stopping his run,
but the bullets didn’t come anywhere near either of them.
Derek turned again and began running toward
them.
“Stop!” he called out to the man, and saw
distress wash over his face. The man stopped running altogether, sliding to an
awkward stop.
“You’re under arrest,” Derek continued
between breaths. “Place the gun on the ground and put your hands on your head.”
The man turned around, frantically looking
for another way out, but didn’t put his gun down. All the Omega agents gripped
their weapons tighter. Nobody wanted to shoot this suspect, he was too
important. But they would if necessary. Especially if he turned his weapon on
them rather than where it currently lay in his hand pointing at the ground.
“Put your weapon down,” Derek repeated. He
nodded toward the ground with his forehead, as the man turned back in his
direction. “Do you understand? All we want to do is ask you some questions.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but Derek just
wanted to get the man’s gun out of his hand.
The man nodded and Derek eased his finger off
the trigger just the slightest bit. But then, almost as if it was in slow
motion, and before any of them could react, the guy brought his gun up to his
own temple and fired. He crumpled to the ground, dead instantly.
Derek’s curse was vile. Jon rushed up to the
man and crouched down to take his pulse at the wrist, but Derek knew it was too
late.
Their best lead—their only lead—had just blown his brains out rather than be taken
into custody.
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Janie Crouch loves to read – almost exclusively romance – and has
been doing so since middle school. She cut her teeth on Harlequin (Mills &
Boon) Romances when she lived in Wales, UK as a preteen, then moved on to a
passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Her favorite authors include: Linda
Howard, Nora Roberts, and Elizabeth Lowell.
Janie recently relocated with her husband and four children to Germany (due to her husband's job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure (obstacle) racing. Janie completed an Ironman Triathlon in 2014.
Janie recently relocated with her husband and four children to Germany (due to her husband's job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure (obstacle) racing. Janie completed an Ironman Triathlon in 2014.
Most of all, she loves to laugh and smile and count her blessings.
And her blessings are many.
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