Christie Adams - Charity’s Heart (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Spectrum Security Inc. Book 1)

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

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A business trip to Texas forces a former British Army officer to face his demons, and changes his life forever.

Two lost souls learn the power of love

After Nick Blackmores military career came to a horrific, fire-engulfed end, he sought refuge in the cold logic of numbers. Accountancy might be a world away from his adrenaline-fueled time in the army, but at least he has his life, unlike the men who died in the RPG attack on his patrol.

The caf in the small Texas town is more than Charity Reynolds way of making a livingits her home and her sanctuary. Life there would be perfect, but for the acts of petty vandalism that are a constant reminder of the ex-husband who cant accept their divorce.

An early sortie for breakfast leads Nick to a local coffee shop and a pair of blue eyes that wash over him like a warm, tropical ocean. For Charity, the sexy accent of the Englishman on the other side of her counter shatters the protective shield around her heart and opens her up to emotions shed believed herself no longer capable of feeling.

But troubles never far away. The vandalism escalates. For Nick, the stakes are personal now, and when it becomes a matter of life and death, theres no man hed rather have on his team than Keane Ghost Brysonlong-time friend and Delta Force officer

Nine years ago

Everything was hot and everything stank. The armored personnel carrier, the men around him the whole damn country. Captain Nicholas Blackmore, of the Household Cavalry Regiment, couldnt wait for this deployment to end, so he could get away from the stench and return to the clean, fresh air of his familys country estate back in Englandand the classy, elegant woman who wore his ring and whom he was going to marry in a few months time.

He took a slow, measured breath, trying not to inhale the unholy cocktail of hot metal and stale sweat, and the foul odor of diesel and dirt. The funk didnt normally bother himdidnt bother any of them, it was part and parcel of the life theyd chosenbut ever since this patrol started, hed felt antsy. Something wasnt right, but he couldnt put his finger on it.

He swatted absently at a fly. Christ, the flies in this placethey made the horseflies back home look like gnats. And the sand. The bloody stuff got everywhere. No doubt about it24/7, the country was one big fucking torture chamber.

With a determined effort, he pushed away the seething mass of foreboding building in his gut. There was no room for that when lives were on the line. Their training would get them through this. Training got them through everything this shithole could throw at themthe weather, the conditions, the separation from their familiesbut most of all, it drilled into them how best to complete their mission successfully. He scanned the men around him, all of them focused fully on their duties. As their commanding officer, his first duty was to ensure they all returned home in one piece.

He failed in that duty when hell exploded all around them.

The first blast threw him across the vehicle. He hit the sharp edge of a piece of electronic equipment hard enough to crack a couple of ribs, and then all of them were subjected to a barrage of scorching heat and pressure. Acrid smoke and choking fumes filled the cramped cabin.

Adrenaline surged, and with his ears still ringing, Nick lurched upright and staggered toward his men. Struggling for breath, he quickly assessed the devastation surrounding them. In spite of the pain wrapping around his chest, the broken, twisted bodies spurred him into action. As he stumbled toward the nearest unconscious soldier, a burst of explosions sent the vehicle into a wild frenzy of instability. Nick crashed to his knees.

And then the fire came, flames racing from surface to surface, faster than a man could evade them. The ravenous sound of crackling goaded him into moving againthat, and the moans of pain coming from the men who were regaining consciousness. Moans that turned to screams as the flames licked closer.

Hold on! Ill get you out!

Nick had no idea whether theyd heard him or notall he knew was they had to evacuate the carrier as fast as possible, and somehow, God only knew how, maintain their defenses. The front of the vehicle was a mess of warped, blackened paneling and torn cable, and in that wreckage was a bodyThompson, the driver. Blood everywhere. The man had no chance.

The inferno advanced, sending tongues of fire ever closer to them. It was getting harder and harder to breathefire needed oxygen, but they needed it more, and there was plenty of it on the other side of the rear hatch.

Pounding on that hatch grabbed Nicks attention by the balls. The vibrations were a lifeline reaching through the hell closing in on them. It had to be men from the following APCs trying to get them out. Ignoring the explosive skewers of pain radiating from the fractures to his ribs, Nick grabbed the nearest man under the armpits, ready to drag him out, only to hear the hammering stop. What the hell was going on?