Stephanie Tyler - Night Moves: A Shadow Force Novel

BOOKS BY STEPHANIE TYLER

NIGHT MOVES
IN THE AIR TONIGHT
PROMISES IN THE DARK
LIE WITH ME
HOLD ON TIGHT
TOO HOT TO HOLD
HARD TO HOLD

BOOKS BY STEPHANIE TYLER
CO-WRITING WITH LARISSA IONE
AS SYDNEY CROFT

TAKEN BY FIRE
TEMPTING THE FIRE
TAMING THE FIRE
SEDUCED BY THE STORM
UNLEASHING THE STORM
RIDING THE STORM

ANTHOLOGIES

HOT NIGHTS, DARK DESIRES
(including stories by Stephanie Tyler
and Sydney Croft)

T he stolen Jeep, courtesy of Reid, was parked away from the road while Kell and Reid lay, belly-down, twenty feet apart in the middle of the long stretch of desert road west of Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua, Mexico.

The pitch-black road the drug kingpin they were after traveled weekly.

The night smelled like smoke and danger. Kell could taste both on his tongue; the familiar tingle began in his spine and Reid murmured in his miked ear, Any minute now and the little chickens going to cross the road.

Not much had changed in fourteen years. These days, Reids accent had mellowed; only when he was tired or angry did the deep drawl emerge, although Reid himself hadnt mellowed at all.

These days, Kell was still trying to balance the genes of his grifter parents by not caring for too many damned people while still using those skills to their fullest. He used to work jobs for Delta Force so highly classified that they didnt exist on paper and their existence would be denied to anyone outside of the men performing the task. Now he was out of the Army and doing black ops missions that were still as highly deniableand just as deadly.

This one was no exception. Six days in the hot Mexican sun and cool nights reconning for the perfect opportunity was neither fun nor safe, but it was necessary.

Juarez was a city of heaven and hell, depending on what you were looking for. The land surrounding it was a target-rich environment for illegals, slave traders, drug runners and the liketheir last chance before they had to try to cross the official border.

The man they were after had no need to crosshis empire was a million-dollar enterprise and he worked out of Juarez and lived in a mansion in the hills.

That man was their payoff and he was finally here, about six klicks away, driving at a normal rate of speed so as not to catch the attention of cops or robbers. But Kell knew this was no simple nightly joyride.

His belly tightened, as it always did at the height of the chase. Two in the cabRivera riding shotgun, his bodyguard at the wheel, he confirmed, and why was Rivera sitting up front?

Kell shifted, waited until they closed the distance and focused in on the backseat.

No waythey couldnt be this damned lucky today. Its Cruz. Which was a jackpot except for the tall blonde in ripped cargo pants and a tank top showing underneath a loosely buttoned denim shirt running along the side of the road at top speed toward Cruzs car, trying to stay out of sight and not exactly succeeding.

Kell would have to be the one to tell her that her time mightve just run out.

Hi, couldja run in the other direction because youre about to blow a carefully planned op out of the fucking water with your sweet swinging hips, and yeah, he needed a woman, and soon.

Just not this soon.

Problem, he muttered.

Take care of it, Reid growled through the earpiece from his position down the small embankment, the way hed been growling this entire trip.

Yeah, sure, take care of it. Who the hell runs around Mexico all by themselves at night like this?

Idiots. And operatives, Reid answered.

She was no operative and Kell would soon find out about the idiot part, but he suspected whatever or whomever she was running from wasnt what this op needed.

Its a woman.

We are dealing with the Mexican Cartel, Kell, not trying to get laid.

Speak for yourself, Kell muttered, and Reid cursed at him and the next thing he knew Reid was coming toward him and it was easier not to argue. Kell was usually the control freak in these situations, always had been, and since Reid was typically out of control, it all worked out.

But since Reid had nearly died on the last official op he was on, the roles had reversed. Kell had gone off looking for revenge like a one-man killing machine and it had taken a long while to reel himself back in.

Some days, he felt as if hed never left the jungle, wore his knife on his arm both in the shower and while he slept, refused to let his guard down and generally felt as though hed come unhinged and couldnt be put back together properly. Whats more, he didnt want to be. Running wild suited him, suited the missions he would be part of the foreseeable future.

It also made Reid nervous as hellbut then, Reid had been doing that to him for years, and payback truly was a bitch.

I can take the shot, Reid said, and the car was just the right distance for either man to do it except the woman running directly at them had blown that.

If nothing else, they didnt want any witnesses, and shed sped up when shed heard the sound of the car. But if he was honest with himself, the frightened woman seemed to bring out a chivalry in him he no longer wanted.

Abort, Kell said sharply and Reid cursed again as he hustled toward him in the dark. Theyd been waiting for hours in position, sanctioned by two governments to take out Rivera.

But Cruz that wouldve been a hell of a get.

A pipe dream now, since the woman was on target to run directly into him in less than five seconds.

Shit. He scrambled up just in time for her not to trip over him. He caught her against him, instead, and she started fighting him, clawing and kicking, and he nearly lost his balance and rolled down the small embankment.

Fortunately, Reid steadied them both, and she stopped fighting for a second, enough for Kell to get a hold on her.

Who the fuck are you? Kell snarled in her ear, using cruelty to suss out whether or not she was a plant and that made the woman struggle harder. He smelled the fear on her and decided that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and his grip loosened a little.

Whoever she was, she might as well be wearing a Kidnap Me sign and so what to do with her now wasnt even a questionthey couldnt leave her here. She was prey for just about anyone in this country, including himself.

Car. Down, Reid said, and dropped. Kell did the same, had the woman on the ground in seconds, a hand covering her mouth as the car with Cruz flew by, spilling light over where theyd stood seconds before.

She was pushing against him and trying to bite his hand as Reid was telling him, Weve got to followcatch them around the hill.

It was risky just the kind of mission Kell liked, but not with the add-along of a freaked-out woman. One whod ruined their perfect shot simply by running in front of their target.

One who was someone elses target, and Kell couldnt risk her getting hurt if she was innocent.

To that end, he directed his next words to her. Who are you running from?

He took his hand from her mouth so she could answer, but she didnt. He rolled off her and helped her to her feet. It was pitch black and she didnt have NVs, so she was lost. She was breathing hard, her bag was on the ground somewhere by Reids feet and when she didnt answer, he grabbed it and started to rifle through it, looking for ID.

Nothing. No wallet or passport or money. Just a change of clothing, a key to a motel room and a brush. And a loaded, illegal handguna quick swipe with his thumb had found the roughness where the serial number had been ground off and Kell swiftly unloaded the chamber and pocketed the bullets without her noticing, since she was now staring at Reid, who was muttering and cursing to himself while he checked maps on his phone. He handed her the bag and she focused her attention back on him.