Undaunted - Shirleen Davies Page 0,3

phone. She’d done it. Finally took action on what she’d learned over hours of digging through documents and working with a good friend who had the ability to hack into secure databases. They discovered secrets she doubted even her father knew.

Standing, she straightened her skirt before walking past the other cubicles to her boss’s office.

Fifteen minutes later, she left, not feeling a twinge of guilt. A life-long government employee, he’d taken her resignation in stride, congratulated her on what he considered a great opportunity. She now faced the bigger challenge.

Her parents would be disappointed and confused. All the adjectives she’d heard over the years would be tossed out once they learned her plans. Of course, they were never disappointed in her, but the decisions she made.

Such as falling in love with Scott McCall. They’d agreed he’d been a good, decent man who wanted to serve his country, and who’d never be good enough for her.

Over the last couple years and two rescues, which saved her life as well as theirs, her parents had reconsidered. Hence the trip to watch his promotion ceremony in Coronado.

Brittany also suspected their change in heart had something to do with their grief over losing her brother. Junior Blackmore, a politician the same as their father, had died at the hands of an outlaw motorcycle gang in Arizona. They’d never learned the details, only that he’d been beaten, his body found in the desert.

Since then, they’d softened, revisiting their role in helping to eliminate Scott from her life. Still, they probably wouldn’t understand her leaving an excellent job in D.C. to accept a position where she’d be required to travel to Arizona regularly. Return to the state where her brother served as a state representative and lost his life. It was a place her parents never intended to visit.

For her part, Brittany couldn’t be more excited. Instead of being relegated to a government cubicle, she’d travel, assist the senator, work with interesting people, and expand her experience. If she never came across Scott again, her life would move forward, and she couldn’t be more ready.

Chapter Two

Round Rock, Texas

“Target has entered house. Repeat, target in place.” Rock touched his earpiece, noting the three responses. “Hold for my go.”

The men had been divided into three, four-man units. Wearing full tactical gear, including night vision goggles, they were in position around the two acre property, waiting for Rock’s order. There’d be no explosives. Raider would disable the alarm before Tracker breached the front door while Fargo did the same in the back.

Abu Abdul al-Assid lived alone in a middle-class suburb north of Austin. Intelligence showed it took him less than thirty minutes to get from his office at the university to the three bedroom house, arriving most nights no later than seven. Tonight, something in his routine had changed.

Rock checked his watch. Midnight. He wondered where the terrorist, working as a professor, had been for the last five hours. Not that it mattered.

He waited twenty minutes for al-Assid to turn off his lights, then another twenty before making the call to trigger the men.

“Confirm positions.” The responses came in rapid succession after Rock’s command. “Raider. Security system deactivated?”

“Check, Rock.”

“Breachers. On my go.” Rock paused a moment. “One…two…three. Go, go, go!”

Tracker and Fargo rushed forward, followed by the men in their units. Disabling the locks took less than a minute. Flashbang grenades were tossed through the doors, the men rushing inside behind them.

While one unit cleared the rooms, Tracker, Fargo and their men swept quietly through the house to the master bedroom. They found al-Assid in the bathroom, clad only in a pair of flannel sleeping pants, brushing his teeth. Their target had been caught unaware.

Dropping the toothbrush, he whirled around. Grabbing the handle to a drawer, he tried to wrench it open before Fuse shoved his hand aside, connecting his fist with al-Assid’s jaw. Holding on as their prisoner slumped to the floor, Gunner and Moses secured his wrists and ankles.

Fuse thumbed his mic. “Target secured. Red unit exiting north door.”

“Roger that,” Rock responded. “Blue and Green. SITREP.”

Within seconds, the two responded. The house had been cleared and secured.

As quietly as they’d come, the remaining men slipped out the back and through the gate, climbing into the waiting van next to their unconscious prisoner.

Manassas, Virginia

“I don’t understand why you insist on taking a job across country, Brittany. Surely there are other senators from states closer to D.C. who’d jump at hiring you.” Marta Blackmore folded slacks, setting them inside