Fighting for adalyn, p.1
Fighting for Adalyn, page 1
Fighting for Adalyn
Redemption Harbor Security Series
Katie Reus
Copyright © 2024 by Katie Reus. All rights reserved.
Cover art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Editor: Julia Ganis
Proofreader: Book Nook Nuts
Author website: www.katiereus.com
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Contents
About the Book
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23
24. Chapter 24
25. Chapter 25
26. Chapter 26
27. Chapter 27
28. Chapter 28
29. Chapter 29
30. Chapter 30
31. Chapter 31
32. Chapter 32
33. Chapter 33
34. Chapter 34
35. Chapter 35
36. Epilogue
37. Dear Readers
38. Acknowledgements
39. About the Author
40. Complete Booklist
About the Book
She trusted the wrong person…
And got good people killed. While Adalyn will live with that mistake forever, she finally got justice. Even if it cost more than she’d imagined. But the past has come back to haunt her—and it wants revenge. An enemy is out to destroy everything she holds dear, starting with her sister. He’s targeting all her former haunts and connections in New Orleans, using the wildness of Mardi Gras week to commit his crimes.
He thought she betrayed him and never looked back…
Rowan, veteran Marine, has hated Adalyn for getting his team killed. Until he discovers that the former CIA agent risked everything to stop the real perpetrator. Now they’re racing against the clock to stop a faceless madman determined to kill them and as many people as possible before the week is over. If they can’t figure out who he is or what his endgame is, an entire city could go up in flames—with them in it.
Chapter 1
Before
Adalyn ducked into the GP tent, glad to be out of the hundred-and-twenty-plus heat in this sub-Saharan location, saw the others were already there.
Including Rowan.
He glanced over, nodded at her, his expression serious as she approached. In their downtime, he was basically Santa Claus, all jovial and over-the-top ridiculous. But not when it was mission time. To be fair, he didn’t look like Santa Claus—unless the mythical man was built like a barn door, had tattoos everywhere, with hair that looked brown but in the bright sunlight was actually a very dark auburn. And his eyes were that same rich dark, but with flecks of gold. Not that she was making a list of his physical attributes or anything.
Three others were in the tent, the commander and two intel analysts, all monitoring the screens as Rowan’s team entered the cave system.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she watched the infrared feed. It was only noon, but it was dark where the team was headed.
“Any other word from Ali?” Rowan murmured, not looking away from the screen.
Bes Ali was an Egyptian gunrunner she’d been working with for the last two years. He’d been a valuable asset to the Company and the single person they had on the periphery of a radical religious terrorist group the CIA was desperately trying to dismantle. Their continuing existence was proving to be a threat to the stability in the Middle East.
“Your guys are good to go. Only a two-man team guarding the rockets.”
Rowan nodded, then spoke into his comm. Under normal circumstances, he would have been on this job but he’d broken his ankle. Not that he was keeping it elevated or staying off it. She was tempted to grab a chair for him, but knew better.
In sand-colored camo fatigues, covered in layers of dust and grime, he looked every inch the warrior she knew him to be even with all the dust. Or maybe that added to it.
The never-ending sand here crept into everything. She’d showered two hours ago, but after the walk to the private tent, was once again lightly coated in grit. Might as well be embedded in her skin at this point.
The grime didn’t take away from Rowan’s presence—she didn’t think anything could. He’d been born for this kind of shit, she imagined. Thanks to the relaxed grooming standards for the military in this region—because the risk of staph infection in such a dusty, dirty environs was high—he was allowed to keep a beard. Almost every man here had one.
“How’s the leg?” she murmured as they watched the lead camera move. Curtis Miller was running point on this job, was a pro.
Rowan grunted.
“As a medic, you know you should be sitting down right now.” Okay, apparently she couldn’t hold back. She shot him a sideways glance.
His lips pulled into a thin line, but he didn’t look at her.
“Fine, fine. I talked to Hailey about an hour ago,” she continued, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist responding. Where Rowan was the medic for his team, up until recently Hailey had been in intelligence. And was one of the nicest humans Adalyn had ever known. Not to mention, it had been nice to have a woman to talk to while here. To just shoot the shit with and not have to be on guard all the time. When Adalyn was embedded with various teams in country, it was always a crapshoot with what kind of people she’d end up with.
“Yeah, I got an email from her. Sounds like she’s doing well.” There was more warmth in his voice now, even though he didn’t look away from the screens.
“I hope so. She mentioned bringing me in with her, asked if I’d ever consider going private.”
Now that got his attention. He glanced over, his dark, amber-flecked eyes surprised. “Yeah? So?”
She shrugged. She wasn’t going anywhere right now. “No plans to make a change but it’s nice to be asked to the dance.”
He snorted, half smiling before he glanced back at the screen when one of the men started shouting.
“Move back, move back—” A blast of light covered the screen before it completely blacked out.
“What’s going on?” Rowan hobbled over to the panel of screens as the commander shouted into his comms.
But Adalyn knew. Oh, she knew and she was going to be sick. It had been a trap. Because that had been an explosion.
“What the hell is going on!” he shouted again.
“Hold on, pulling up satellite images… Oh.” The intel officer went quiet as a ball of flames erupted from the side of the mountainous terrain below. Another blast quickly followed, the silence of it deafening.
It seemed to magnify the horror, the loss of life, in quiet detail on-screen.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she ignored it as she stepped forward, everything funneling around her until all she could see was him. “Rowan—”
He swiveled on her, his expression dark. “You provided the intel for this op. You sent them into that cave system. They wouldn’t be there if not for you. This is on you,” he growled before stalking away, slapping the tent door open in his exit.
The words punched right into her, even if she didn’t blame him. His people had just died right in front of him. He was angry, grieving and… Oh god, her phone was buzzing again. Her boss.
“What just happened?” she snarled as she answered.
“We have a problem.”
Chapter 2
Present Day
Pressed up against the moss-covered brick of the decrepit building, Adalyn reached up and slid the skinny wire and camera through the sliver in the blacked-out window. “You see anything?” she murmured through her earpiece as she crouched down out of sight. A big green dumpster blocked her from anyone walking by the alley. Not that many people were out near the docks at three in the morning.
“Yeah, move it slightly to the left,” Skye said. She was in the van with Colt and Brooks on the adjoining block. They were running a four-person op that had ended up being more complicated than they’d planned, but that was fairly standard she’d learned in the last few months.
Working for Redemption Harbor Security wa
“How’s that?” She shifted the angle again, wishing the window wasn’t so high up.
“Perfect. And…okay, I see both girls. Tied up, looking a little grimy, but no visible injuries. Two guards. We can take them if we move now.”
Adalyn didn’t bother to ask if they were going to call the cops for this. They would after they’d rescued the young woman they’d been hired to find. Her parents had assumed she’d run away, but after a deeper look, she’d been taken for ransom, along with a friend.
The parents were now talking to the Feds, but they were moving too slow, so here her team was.
“Meet me at the loading area,” Skye ordered.
Adalyn pulled the camera out, shoved it into her pocket, then hurried down the alley toward the long unused loading dock. At one time, this had been a warehouse for processing canned seafood and the scent of it was practically embedded in the brick. Now it was apparently a place to hold victims of professional kidnappers.
Well that little ring was about to get busted up and destroyed.
Moving quickly, Adalyn hurried past one of the security cameras they’d taken over remotely. For anyone watching on the feed, they’d see puddles of water scattered throughout and a dumpster so rusted out that it had never been stolen.
She reached the loading area at the same time Skye did. “Just us?” Adalyn asked.
“Yeah, Colt’s manning the front, Brooks is watching the feed and keeping an eye out. From where you were, the targets are about forty feet away from us. I’m going to go straight at them, you’re going to circle around and move in as backup for the girls. And to see if there are any extra tangos we don’t know about.”
Their intel said it should only be two, but Adalyn had learned the hard way not to trust intel a hundred percent. Never again. She nodded, ready to save these girls and get out of Oregon. Without a word, she moved to the regular-sized door next to the ramp and huge rolling door that would have accepted deliveries from semis.
Then Adalyn worked her magic on the door. AKA she picked the lock in seconds, part of her tradecraft. Whoever had secured this place had sprung for high-end cameras, but cheaped out on the locks. Stupid, but predictable.
Stepping back, she withdrew her own weapon as Skye took lead. She cracked the door open a fraction, waited, then opened it a little more and ducked in.
Adalyn did the same. They were both wearing balaclavas, gloves, and had their hair tucked up tight in their balaclavas. But there was no hiding that they were women.
Which didn’t necessarily matter, though men almost always underestimated her sex. Women too. Fine by her. She would take any advantage she could get.
Skye half turned, motioned with one hand that they needed to split up and circle around. She nodded and moved to the right, using the empty shelving as cover as she hurried to back up Skye.
On quiet soles, she moved fast, barely pausing when she heard Skye start talking.
“Well look at you two dumbasses. Nope. Don’t even think about reaching for those weapons. Hands up where I can see them. Yeah, that’s right. Keep them high like good boys and I won’t have to shoot you.”
Adalyn stepped out from behind the shelving, saw the two young women they’d been looking for, hands tied behind their backs on steel chairs that were bolted to the concrete.
One of them saw her, looked as if she was about to cry out, but Adalyn held a finger to her mouth. Crouching down next to them as Skye kept the two men focused on her, she pulled out her blade. “Your parents sent us,” she whispered. “We’re not with the police and we’re moving fast before their backup arrives.”
The girls simply nodded as she sliced through the thick ropes that had already created burns against their wrists.
Bastards.
At least the zip ties at their ankles were easier to free. “Run to the back door and wait there,” Adalyn said as the two of them stood on wobbly feet.
And that got the attention of the men now stretched out on their bellies. “Hey, what are you doing?”
Adalyn swiveled on him, pointed her pistol right at him as she approached. “Move and you’re dead,” she growled as she divested them both of their weapons. Then she zip-tied their hands behind their backs. Then their legs together. Last, she gagged them, though it didn’t stop them from snarling at her. When one bucked, she slammed her weapon on the back of his head and he went limp. The other simply watched her with rage-filled eyes.
“Two motorcycles coming your way. Get out of there now,” Brooks snarled through the earpiece. “I’m moving in as backup, but get out clean if you can. We want to avoid a shootout.”
And that was when she heard the roar of engines. Her heart rate kicked up as she stood and raced toward the back with Skye.
Skye paused to slap small explosive devices on two of the empty shelves but they were at the back door in seconds.
“They’re heading down the alley right toward you. Must be using the back entrance.” Colt’s voice was tight and Adalyn could hear him moving.
“New plan. This way,” Skye ordered, corralling the girls back the way they’d just come. The place was mostly desolate with empty shelving, the two bolted-down chairs and a small table where the two assholes had been playing cards and listening to a radio while they guarded their prisoners. “Stay put,” Skye whispered as the sound of the motorcycles roared past the blacked-out windows.
Adalyn held her weapon, but patted one of the girls, Cheryl, on the shoulder as Skye planted an explosive on the front door. “We’re almost out of here. We’ve got a vehicle waiting to take you to your parents.”
The other girl, Francine, the one who’d originally been kidnapped for ransom, simply nodded as tears streamed down her dirty cheeks.
“Cup your ears now,” she whispered as she did the same to one of hers.
Boom!
The front door flew off and outward into the street.
“Run!” Adalyn pushed them toward the smoldering entrance as the back door flew open. She fired into the dimness of the warehouse as two more explosions went off, one after another.
Then she turned and ran with Skye as the shelving exploded outward, some of the pieces acting as shrapnel.
“Stay down until I say otherwise!” Colt was helping the two women get inside the SUV as Skye sprinted around the front, jumped into the driver’s seat.
Adalyn dove into the third seat as they peeled away from the curb, Colt barely shutting the door behind them as Skye tore out of there.
“I don’t know if they’ll be able to foll—” One motorcycle zoomed out of the alley, arrowing straight after them.
“Remember what I said about staying down,” Colt ordered the girls.
The SUV was bullet resistant but the last thing they needed was a high-speed chase in a strange city where they were all carrying weapons. “I’m taking out the tires,” she called to the front before she shoved open the back door.
Aimed.
Pulled the trigger.
The tire exploded and it was like she’d cut the bike’s puppet strings. It jerked and swiveled, sending the helmeted man flying through the air. He landed on the hood of a parked Prius and didn’t move.
Skye took a sharp turn and Adalyn shut the door, could finally breathe.
That was when she heard the two girls crying softly.
“It’s going to be okay,” she murmured as she pulled her mask off. “Everything is going to be okay.” She just hoped it was true. Because someone could be physically okay, but the mental thing was a whole other beast to wrestle.
Sometimes you never fully handled things that had happened to you. You just shoved it down deep inside and lived with it.
***
“So how’s Darcy?” Adalyn asked when Brooks sat across from her, his expression all soft and gooey after talking to his wife.
Laughing lightly, he pushed up the window shade next to their seats on the private jet. “Good. Misses me, but good. My dad and Martina have been staying at the condo with her and the girls so my angels are being spoiled.”
