Page 5 of Fast Kill

“I was talking to Janet and she gave me your number. It’s Saturday, but knowing you, you’re probably in the office. I’m in D.C. for another few days on business and wondered if you’d maybe like to get together to catch up. It’s been a long time. Anyway, hope to hear back from you. Take care.”

A torrent of emotions hit her, vivid memories flooding her brain like jagged, vibrant shards of stained glass.

She hadn’t heard from him in years. Hadn’t seen him in nearly twelve, and she’d made the decision to cut him out of her life back then because he’d been into bad shit she’d wanted no part of. Now that she was working for the DEA, she was even more reluctant to reestablish communication.

Maybe it was stupid, but knowing he’d reached out to the social worker responsible for rescuing them in order to find her tugged at her heartstrings.

When she lowered the phone into her lap a moment later, Charlie and Piper were both staring at her. “You okay?” Charlie asked with a concerned frown.

“Yeah, fine.” Except she felt like she’d just seen a ghost. Or at least heard a ghost’s voice.

“Who was it?”

“An old…” Not a friend.

That was too simple a term for what she and Dillon had shared, and it didn’t really fit now anyway, after so many years without seeing each other. More like the closest thing she’d ever had to a brother. An older, protective one.

“…acquaintance of mine,” she finished.

Taylor couldn’t believe it. Incredible as it seemed, Dillon was in town, and he wanted to see her. She’d never expected this. The logical part of her was tempted to ignore the message because of her job, but the greater sense of loyalty won out.

Bottom line, she owed him. Would always owe him for what he’d done, and the truth was, she desperately wanted to see him again.

Not ready to talk to him yet, she texted back instead.

Hey! Would love to meet up.

She suggested a place they could meet for dinner the following night. Just so she didn’t seem overly eager to see him.Does that work?

Taylor hadn’t even put the phone down when he replied.

Sounds good. Looking forward to seeing you.

A part of her was conflicted about seeing him, but she shrugged it off. It was only one dinner. What harm would it do to meet up for a few hours for old times’ sake?

Chapter Two

Show time.

DEA Special Agent Logan Granger leaned forward to peer outside using his night vision goggles as the Pavehawk lowered into a hover above the drop zone. Out the open side door, the calm, dark waters of the Atlantic rippled below with the force of the rotor wash.

Since FAST never operated unilaterally on foreign soil, they were here at the request of the Bahamian government on a joint op with their special police to find and stop a submarine suspected of carrying cocaine for theVenenocartel before it could leave port.

“Okay, boys, let’s do this,” Hamilton, the team leader said. He motioned for Freeman, the longest-standing member of FAST Bravo, to move into position in the doorway.

At the pilot’s okay, the helo’s crew chief released the Zodiac slung beneath the aircraft’s belly. The rubber hull splashed into the water and floated aft, pushed along by the force of the rotors.

When the coast was clear the crew chief signaled to the team and Freeman jumped feet first into the water. The former SEAL surfaced, his dark skin blending in with the black water, and gave a thumbs up. Four others followed, then Hamilton and Zaid.

Logan was next out the door, arms folded across his torso, and plunged into the surprisingly warm water, surfacing a moment later. He turned on his stomach in the water to face the helo, then aimed a thumbs up at Easton, standing in the doorway. His buddy jumped, and Kai went last.

Logan watched in admiration as the big Pacific Islander plunged into the water feet first and shot up through the rippling surface like a cork under pressure. A guy his size with that kind of muscle mass should sink like a rock in the water, but not Kai, because the water was his element. No one on the team could touch him in the water, except maybe Freeman, and that was saying a whole hell of a lot since the latter was a former SEAL.

With all nine of them accounted for and safely grouped together in the water, Logan turned onto his front and began swimming for the Zodiac as the helo lifted away from them. Freeman was already on board the boat, positioned at the helm, hand on the throttle as he guided it toward them. Other than the quiet sound of the motor and the moving water, all was quiet.

Logan reached the starboard side just as Easton climbed over the port side. He levered himself up and out of the water, throwing one thigh on the inside of the rubber gunwale, soaked to the skin and glad it was spring off the coast of Nassau and not somewhere in a colder climate.

Kai was the last one to pull himself out of the water. He hauled his body over the rubber bow and crouched there at the front while everyone readied their weapons.

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