K.T. Lee - Calculated Sabotage

CALCULATED SABOTAGE

The Calculated Series: Book 3

K.T. Lee

Vertical Line Publishing

Copyright 2018 by Vertical Line Publishing, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, sold or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission, except for statuary uses, the use of brief quotations in a book review, and other quotations with appropriate reference.

K.T. Lee

www.ktleeauthor.com

Publishers Note: This work of fiction is a product of the writers overactive imagination. It is not intended to be a factual representation of events, people, locales, businesses, government agencies, or rocket science. Names are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Calculated Sabotage/ K.T. Lee - 1st ed.

ISBN 978-1-947870-06-2

Book cover design by The Book Design House

www.thebookdesignhouse.com

The Calculated Series

Calculated Extortion (Prequel Novella)

Calculated Deception (Book 1)

Calculated Contagion (Book 2)

Calculated Sabotage (Book 3)

For my family

One

Quinn King raised her gun and looked down the sight. She relaxed her shoulders, let out a breath, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed through the center-chest X at seventy-five yards and the paper target fluttered. It had been six days since Rory, her friend and sometimes-partner, had been murdered. It had been four days since her boss had officially rejected her request to find her friends killer, reminding her that Rorys death had not yet been ruled a murder. It had been three hours since Quinn had decided to investigate her friends death independently, orders be damned.

Quinn shut her eyes tight, then opened them. She fired again. The bullet passed through the same neat hole in her target as the previous rounds. Quinn emptied the rest of her magazine into the X on the head of her target. She reloaded her weapon with a fresh magazine, pulled the slide to chamber a bullet, and slipped the Glock into the holster on her back.

Quinn removed her ear protection and rolled her neck. The range master nodded at her, a small grin of admiration sneaking across his face. He knew her as Amy and had asked her out a few times. He was clearly former military and just attractive enough to not be obnoxious about it. He seemed like good people, but she just didnt need the complications right now. She had work to do and it would start with a flight across the country.

Contrary to popular mythology, even lone wolf CIA operations officers were expected to work well on a team. Quinn met Rory shortly after she started at the CIA, and theyd hit it off immediately. Rory had the charm to recruit foreign assets, and Quinn was the patient, strategic one. Some might call Quinn paranoid, but careful often looked like paranoid to the untrained eye. Within a few months of meeting, Quinn and Rory began to work on most of their operations together. However, it wasnt always practical to work on a team. Which was how Rory ended up dead and how Quinn ended up sorting through the wreckage. She rubbed a hand down her face. She considered putting a few more bullets through the holes on her practice target, but before she could reach for her gun, her phone buzzed against her hip. She didnt need to look at the name to know Director of Special Operations was calling. The only people who had this number were Rory and DSO Dan Floyd.

Hey boss. Quinn absently rubbed her neck and scanned her surroundings. The crowd was pretty thin today, but the pops from the guns firing around her kept her from fully focusing on the call.

How are you holding up, Falcon? Dans voice was carefully neutral.

Thats my name this month? Hm. I like it.

I was thinking Bluebird, but its too cute. You scare me a little, Falcon.

Ha. Like anyone could scare you. When asked about his own reputation, the Director would only shrug and say he could neither confirm nor deny the stories. He scared the bejesus out of the new operations officers. Quinn respected him and whats more, she liked him. As long as he didnt coddle her.

Youre awful calm if youre in the middle of a shootout. Are you at the range again?

Yes, sir.

You want to talk about it? Dans voice softened.

No, sir. Not unless youve changed your mind. Quinn shifted her weight and put her free hand on her hip.

We have a team on it, Falcon. Look, I can get you in with a counselor. What youre feeling is perfectly normal.

With all due respect, youd have to drag me in unconscious, sir. However, now that you mention it, I think I need to take some vacation time soon. Quinn turned around to check her back. Still just a bunch of cops and civilians practicing their aim. Their targets had more scatter than hers.

I was afraid of that. I havent authorized you to investigate Rorys death. Or pick up where she left off. Even on your own time. As I recall, I told you no. Multiple times.

I have some ideas.

I rejected your request for your own sake. You chase this down, Ill have to fire you.

Quinn raised her eyebrows. She wasnt under the impression she was irreplaceable but she was good at her job because she knew when to call a bluff. Youre a real cut-up, sir. So, I need to take that vacation. To spend as I choose. If I happen to see something fishy going on while I do some sightseeing, Ill let you know. Ive done some research of my own. Im thinking of heading out west, maybe going to visit some mountain towns.

There was a long pause on the end of the line. If Quinn was there in person, shed see Dans jaw tighten and nostrils flare, just slightly. Weve got analysts digging into the evidence and checking security video. Youre not the only person upset we lost one of our own. I need you away from this.

Then youre going to need to be a good shot to take me down. Cmon, sir. Let me take this on. You need someone who can get in there and get the job done.

You know theres a chain of command, right?

I call you sir. Will you put me in charge, sir?

Dan sighed. If you show one sign of not being able to handle this, Im pulling you. Ill take you into custody if I have to.

Quinn grinned. Deal.

Well get you some information by tomorrow. Take your time coming up with a plan for this one. The last thing I need is to lose you too. Ill be in touch.

Sounds great, sir. Thank you, sir.

Quinn cleaned up her things, tossed her target, and waved goodbye to the range master. Then, she went back to her apartment to pack. She couldnt bring Rory back, but she could make sure her friend hadnt died in vain.

Two

Cam Mitchells phone buzzed. He looked around the tastefully decorated reception, but everyone was focused on the couple sharing a dance under strings of lights. He slipped his phone out of his pocket. It was a message from Morgan Grady, his boss at the Special Operations Group at the CIA. Come to my office when youre back in town. He tucked the phone back in his pocket and considered what Morgan might have in store for him. Hed flown to Minnesota for the weekend to see his best friend and fellow operations officer, Tyler Scott, get married. Tylers new wife, Dani, leaned her head on his shoulder while cameras around them clicked. Tyler had met Dani when she helped them stop a plot to release a bioweapon and their relationship had quickly blossomed into the kind that would very likely last a lifetime.

It was possible Morgan had questions about the report he submitted about his trip to Moscow. Hed written it in his hotel room, just after his plane landed in the States and a few hours before the rehearsal dinner. Hed flown to Russia to meet with local sources to see if the politician behind the bioweapon had anything else up his sleeve, but Dmitri was nothing if not careful. Cams report didnt have much useful information in it. However, it was unusual for Morgan to reach out on a weekend for something that could afford to wait. If it had anything to do with Tyler and Dani, he should probably check on it before they were out of the country on their honeymoon. It wasnt long ago that Dmitri had orchestrated Danis kidnapping when she traveled to Europe for a conference. Cam slipped away through a side door and pressed Morgans name.