Page 1 of Avenging Kelly

PROLOGUE

January 2023

United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Operation Jackpot—Top Secret, Codeword Clearance

“Brown, you’re up!” the pill pusher shrilled, using my last name. As I thought about my nickname for her, I chuckled. I was stuck in Sin City, or so it was called for purposes of the Operation, and the pill pusher was definitely a buzz kill.

I immediately stood from my chair in the waiting room of the infirmary for my last checkup before discharge. I didn’t think I’d ever been so happy to be poked and prodded one last time, but everything had gone according to plan, and the day after tomorrow, I’d be on a plane outta hell and back to my family in Queens.

I’d had an odd message forwarded to me from Gabe Torrente — the head of Golden Elite Associates-America—a few weeks after I’d returned from my most recent mission, a fucking successful one I’d been told. “A double tap to the dome and problem solved,” or so The Gambler had said in passing.

I had eliminated another threat to our country. The only information I received on my target was a picture and the coordinates of where to find them. “Need to know, Hearts, and you don’t need to know anything else,” was the answer I always received from The Gambler when I’d become a member of Operation Jackpot. After a while, I’d stopped asking. Details were unnecessary.

The last time I’d heard from Mathis Sinclair, one of Gabe’s employees and a good friend of mine, was the week before I’d left on my final mission. He’d been involved in the continued search for my half-sister Mia, after she’d been kidnapped about four years ago, and Mathis had shown up at USDB like clockwork to give me an update on what was going on with my sister’s search and rescue after Gabe had assured me they’d find her.

At one point, I’d decided they weren’t working fast enough, which was why I’d gone AWOL to find her myself and then gotten my dumb ass arrested at Camp Pendleton, where my sister’s foster family had lived before they all disappeared. I’d been on a fool’s mission at the time because I was in no shape to do what was necessary to rescue her, but everything had changed during my incarceration, thanks to the intense training I needed for Operation Jackpot.

I’d finally received news that the operatives at GEA-A had found Mia in California and brought her home safely, though she’d been pregnant. I didn’t know by whom, but when I found out…

Mathis had just visited and brought me photographs of my little sister. He also brought bad news that I didn’t want to hear, but I jotted off a quick note to my mother about it, which I was sure pissed her off, and I started counting the days until I walked out of there and could make those responsible pay for their actions.

“At ease, Hearts,” the Cooler ordered, using my codename after we’d left the waiting room and were in the hallway. She showed me behind a curtain and pointed to the gurney, where I took a seat.

After a quick and dirty check that my heart was still beating, the woman directed me through a secret door that led to The Pit—the lab where we were experimented on like rats.

I saw Diamonds, a.k.a. Claude Adams, and Clubs, Davis Willard, sitting on gurneys in the room with me, so I gave a discreet nod to acknowledge my brothers-in-arms.

As far as the Army assumed, none of us knew each other except by codename. There had been a fourth guy—Spades—but I’d never actually seen him.

We acted as sole entities, going out on assignments alone because that’s the way things worked in our particular corner of hell. You lived alone, and you died alone if you fucked up your mission.

One day after Spades had disappeared and I’d heard nothing more about him, the three of us had had the occasion to be alone in the same room while the doctors were arguing over something we didn’t give a shit about. We’d agreed on a place we each had access to for stashing personal information about ourselves for the others to collect and memorize.

In those brief, unguarded moments, we’d promised each other that if shit went tits-up when any of us were on an op and didn’t return to Sin City the others would somehow follow up with the family of the deceased. I felt better going out since I had someone who would relay to my mother and sister that I loved them till the end.

I walked over to the wall in front of me, turning with my back to the others as I stood at attention, as required by protocol. Within a minute, the doctor, The Gambler herself, came through the door leading to the lab. “Hearts, come on back, please,” she greeted.

I turned on my heel and followed her, eyes forward. She closed the door, and I stayed at attention to await orders. “Oh, bother. At ease,” the doctor announced.

The Gambler was her codename. She was a pharmaceutical research doctor who worked with the US Military on various top secret codeword operations, or so I’d been told when we were introduced. I didn’t know her real name, whether she was military—though I doubted it—or if she even lived in Kansas. Frankly, I didn’t give a good goddamn, either.

“Let’s get started,” she stated as she extended her hand toward the table. I hopped up and kept my eyes forward, wanting the exam over as soon as possible.

After The Gambler had done her due diligence, she produced the bottle of magic juice and filled a syringe. “When you discharge, I’ll give you three bottles to keep up your regimen. You know, don’t you, that you will always be on call? You can be called back into active duty anytime they decide they need you,” she told me as she wiped an alcohol pad over the crook of my arm and jabbed me with the needle.

I sat still, taking in her words. Hearing my ass would be tied to the military for the rest of my life? That hadn’t been part of the original deal.

“With all due respect, ma’am, I was told that when I’m discharged, I’m out,” I replied.

The Gambler chuckled. “Sure, Hearts. If you can figure out how to survive without the juice, then okay… you’re out. Oh, and don’t forget about the chip in your spine. It can’t be removed by the best surgeons in the Army without damaging your spinal cord to the point you’d be paralyzed from the neck down, so what chance would a private doc stand to get it out when they’ve seen nothing like it before? Sure, you go ahead and take off,” the woman chuckled, seeming to challenge me.

I was a fucking idiot. I should have suspected they wouldn’t let me go, regardless of their bullshit promises. Uncle Sam liked to monitor its property, as I was now their million-dollar man.

I smirked at the doctor. “I’ll just slit my fucking wrists, and then I’m definitely out. I don’t care if I live or die,” I told her, meaning every word.

“Well, you’ll probably want to rethink that. I heard your little sister had a baby girl. Who would protect them… your mother?” The woman then let loose with a sinister laugh that bounced around the room like a cat’s screech.

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