Sydney Croft Unleashing the Storm 02.pdf

Unleashing the Storm – ACRO 02

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Unleashing the Storm

ACRO Series – Book 2

By Sydney Croft

CHAPTER One

TUESDAY 4 P.M. MST

Kira Donovan would be dead by now if Ender needed her to be, another victim of his steady

hand and expert marksmanship, which were part random gift of nature and part honed by

years of training.

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He lay in familiar sniper position, on his stomach on the broad, grassy slope overlooking the

farmmentallylininguponeperfectshotafteranotherasthewomanhe’dbeensentto

persuade walked in and out of the dilapidated barn without a care in the world.

The woman born as Charity Connelly was going to require a hell of a lot of training to bring her

up to spec. And she was going to have to stop wearing those shorts and T-shirts that showed off

too much tanned, curvy flesh too, because that was much too distracting for everyone involved.

MsFreakin’Doolittleandhermerrybandofanimals were going to have a rude awakening.

He sighed, put his forehead down against the cool earth and breathed in the scent of nature

thatalwaysseemedtobeapartofhimnomatterhowhardhe’dtriedtogetawayndeven

thoughhesodidn’twantthis assignment, he was here, and he had a job to do. And his jobs

always got done.

Speakingofdonewhathadn’tbeenwasthebeautifulwomanhe’dpickeduplastnight

someone who shared his tastes in bed and his penchant for no-strings relationships. That had

to be the real reason for his hard-on.

They’djustgottentothehandcuffsportionoftheeveningwhenhe’dreceivedthecallfrom

worksomethinghecouldn’tignorendwhenDevtheheadofthegencyforCovertRare

Operatives that employed him, and Ken, his direct supervisor, had laid out the plan to him,

which meant taking the red-eye from the Catskills, New York, compound to bumble-fuck Idaho,

Ender had just shaken his head in a combination of irritation and no-fucking-way.

“Whyme?”he’daskedwhenhearrivedatDev’sofficeBecausehe’dworkedforfiveyearsas

one of their top Convincers, the guy who brought home the big catches. He liked being able to

goinandpickoffthemenandwomenwho’dalreadybeenbriefedtosomedegreeaboutthe

agency’sdealinginSpecialOpsofaverydifferentkindwasalwayspreparedforoneofthese

rare-ability types to go off the deep end, but never had much more than a casual, passing

acquaintance with them.

He did not want to be one of the people who actually had to recruit the talent.

“You’vegotpatience”Kensaid

Hesnorted“PatiencewhenI’mwaitingfortherightshotyesMypatiencewherenewrecruits

are concerned is severely limited, and if you mean patience where women are concerned—

well, I just wentfrombadtoworse”

“You’vegotthebackgroundforthecoverYougrewuponafarm”Kencontinued

“Shit”he’dmutteredbecausehe’dputhisshit-kickers away when he left the farm, and the

horse, when he was sixteen, and never looked back. Hitched around the country for a year

doing odd jobs, whatever he could get his hands on—same went for women—and finally, when

he hit seventeen and got his GED, he hit the nearest recruiting office. He wanted different—

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college—something. And the Army had given him that, Delta Force and Covert Ops even more.

Hisparentshadgivenconsentgratefulthathe’dfinallycalledtotellthemhewasstillalive

HefinallyappealedtotheheadofCRO“ComeonDevYou’vegotplentyofotherguyswho

could handle this one—guys whose job it is to do this. What the hell do you need my talents for

soearlyinthegame?”

Devhadsmiledandwithhisusualstraightforwardnesssimplysaid“Becauseifshecan’tbe

convinced to join us within forty-eighthoursyou’regoingtohavetokillher”

EnderhadgrabbedthefileandlefttheofficewithoutanotherwordKenhadn’twanteda

trail—neededaquickinandoutbecauseofthetarget’shighlyspecializedandunforeseen

increasingly urgent needs, and the fewer people seen on and around the farm, the better. So it

was good-bye Ender and hello Tom Knight for the next forty-eight hours.

If he had his way, the job would be done in twenty-four. Whatever it took, no holds barred, he

was going to drag Kira the animal whisperer kickingandscreamingintoCROorhe’dcarryout

hisalternateordersFromwhatinformationhe’dgleanedfromherfilesshemightactually

enjoy being tied down, especially during this time of year.

If it could only be that easy, a seduce and convince specialnormallyWyattKennedy’sfavorite

means of persuasion. An ACRO operative who specialized in deep undercover ops, Wyatt was

convinced that ninety-nine percent of women would roll with just the right kind of persuasion,

and the other one percent would require a tranquilizer gun.

Ender had both plans covered.

Mixing business with pleasure had never gotten in his way before, and from what the first

contactpersonapsychicwho’dgoneundercoveratthesanctuaryhadreporteditmightbe

the only way to get KiraonboardCRO’spsychichadclaimedthatKira’sspringfeverwasa

majorissueandaccordingtoKenutilizingKira’sinsatiableneedforsexduringthistimewas

supposedtobepartofEnder’smasterplannopeninvitation

Now he pushed up from the ground and headed down toward the barn, taking the main route

thatledfromthedrivewayBagslungoverhisshoulderhelookedlikeamanwho’dwalkedin

from the one Greyhound bus stop in this one-horse Idaho town, without many possessions or

cares.

Still, Kira came out of the barn and headed right in his direction like she had a homing device on

himHehadn’tspottedanycamerasbuthe’dbeentoldshewasparanoid

“CanIhelpyou?”sheaskedhervoicebriskbusinesslikeandnotatalllikethe softtoneshe’d

figuredonImmediatelyhisownneedsgainedquickinterestandlethimknowthey’ddemand

to be heard sooner than later.

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God, she was pretty—naturally pretty, all long, light brown hair and full, pouty lips, wide amber

eyesandabodytofreakin’diefor

“HeyI’mTomYournewmanforhire”hesaidandyeahhe’dletherworkhiminmoreways

than one, if she was game.

Hehadn’tusedhisrealnameinyearspreferredtheanonymityof“Ender”andtheimagesit

conjured up, especially at work. It kept most of the assholes, and everyone else, at bay.

Because, at heart, he never was a social kind of guy, and things were not going to change if he

could help it.

He approached her, palm out, and shehesitatedtheskittishsidehe’dbeenexpectingshowing

through. Finally, she extended her hand, her palm rough from work, her shake strong and sure.

“HelloTommy”shesaid

“It’sTom”hesaidthencursedinwardlyandshrugged“Butwhateverit’sallgood”

Yeah, real fucking slick.

Shedidn’tsmilebutthecornerofhermouthpulledupslightly“You’rerightontime”

“Itrytomakethatahabit”hesaidbecameawareofsomethingsniffinghisassandturnedto

find a goat staring at him. It didn’tlookhappyeither

“Doyoualsomakeitahabittospyonpeople?”sheaskedandheturnedbackfromtheanimal

to her.

Son of a—“Noma’am”hesaid

“Soyoujustdecidedyouwantedtostaremedownforanhourandahalfthen?”She’dfolded

her arms over her chest, and he let his eyes skim her breasts before meeting her gaze and

smiling.

“IgotherealittleearlyandwantedtotakeanapDidn’twanttobotheryouoranythingnd

thenIsawyouwalkingbackandforthfromthebarnandwell”Heshrugged“ShitI’mared-

bloodedmanKira”

That part was more than true, and standing this close to her, inhaling the scent of apples and

honey and cloves that surrounded her, despite the other, more pungent smells close by, was

killing him.

She narrowedhereyesathimandheheldhisbreathbecausehecouldn’tscrewthisupthis

soon. Something was wrong—verywrongHe’dneverbeenspottednotlikethatHe’dbeen

hiddencamouflagedandhewasgoodenoughatthattoknowthatshe’dgottenher

information about his watching in some other way than stumbling on it herself.

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When the goat poked him in the back again, everything suddenly became clear.

KIRA WATCHED PEEPING TOM for a long moment, allowing Cheech time to sniff him out. The

little Nubian goat was a great judge of character, and if he indicated that Tom needed to be

watchedthenthat’swhatshe’ddo

ndfranklyshe’dwatchhimanywayShe’dneverbeenonefortheruggedoutdoorsytype

but something about Tom grabbed her in places no man had grabbed for a long time.

Not since her last spring fever.

Now that May had come again, the yearning had begun, the fierce, primal burn that permeated

every cell and told her she was days, maybe hours from the insanity that would consume her

for upward of four weeks.

She’dbeengettingantsyhadbeenunabletoconcentrateonsimpletasksndsimpletasksin

thepresenceofmalesforgetitItwasdefinitelytimetoscopeoutpotentialpartnersandgive

her battery-operatedtoysarestShe’dfigured her other hire, a dark-haired, brawny hottie

named Derek, would be the first mate she took this season.

But now, as she studied Tom Knight, with his piercing blue eyes and sun-streaked blond hair

that was too long for a military cut and too short for a surfer, she began to think he might be

morefununtilheworeoutHighchiseledcheekbonesfirmmouthyeahhemaynotbeher

typebutduringthistimeofyearallmenwerehertypeandbesidesshewasn’tlookingfor

happily ever after.

There’dnever be one of those. Not for her. Not for someone people thought was psychotic if

theydidn’tbelieveshecouldtalktoanimalsorwereterrifiedofiftheydidbelieveBecause

shedidn’tjusttalktoanimalsSheunderstoodthemcommunicatedwiththemthrough words

and body language and scents, but mainly, mental images and sensations that transcended

most human understanding.

And the other aspect of her gift, the part that was more of a curse, well, people really didn’t

understand that. Hence, the moves. The name changes. The prayers that her latest relocation

and identity would be her last.

CheechgaveTomaheadbuttandthenwithalowbleattoldherhe’dkeepaneyeontheman

The goat seemed to think it was strange for a human to lie on the ground the way Tom had, and

Cheechwasn’tgoingtotrusthimanytimesoon

“Ma’am?”

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