Page 1 of Coming Up Aces

Prologue

Rayna kept hereyes peeled for wildlife as she drove the back way toward New Troy. Headlights shined behind her, and when they brightened, Rayna slowed down. Big mistake. The car sped up, moving into the oncoming lane, then rammed into her rear quarter panel. Rayna was a skilled driver, but the car fishtailed a few times before the other vehicle rammed into hers again. The force of the impact had her rear tires sliding toward the shoulder. The other car continued pushing until Rayna was in the weeds, then wedged against a tree. By the time she regained her bearings, her door was flung open, and a strong hand grabbed her left wrist. The seatbelt held her in place as she struggled against her attacker.

“Let go of me!” Her claws popped out on her right hand, and she raked her sharp nails across the attached arm.

“You fucking bitch!” a familiar voice shouted, his grip faltering.

Rayna disengaged the seatbelt, but as soon as she was free, the man struck again with his uninjured hand, punching her in the temple. Fuck. Her head throbbed, and her vision dimmed. The man once again pulled her left arm, and Rayna grabbed for purchase, missing the steering wheel, and her claws dug along the door’s interior. The male’s grip was strong. Since she didn’t want her shoulder to be dislocated, Rayna allowed herself to be dragged from the car.

Drawing on her beast’s abilities, Rayna twisted, landing on her feet. The man had a gun trained on her, but she was fast enough to claw him a second time on the wounded armholding his pistol. He screamed, releasing both her wrist and his weapon. Rayna didn’t give him time to retaliate. She popped a front kick into his stomach, sending him flying. She retracted her claws, picked up his gun, and moved toward him, but another voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Stop right there, Agent Bellamy.”

Rayna raised both hands in the air, finger on the trigger guard, and turned. The second man stood on the far side of his vehicle, shielded. His pistol was aimed at her chest.

“What’s going on?” Rayna allowed her voice to tremble.

“What the fuck are you?” he asked.

“Shoot her!” her attacker yelled. “Look at what she did to me!” Rayna didn’t have to look to know his arm was torn apart, dripping blood.

When the man raised his gun, Rayna screamed, “No!”

Chapter One

Rayna

BOOM!

The unmistakable sound of a rifle blasted from somewhere on the compound, followed by glass shattering. Rayna jumped out of the chair where she was knitting. Tossing the yarn aside, she rushed out of the cabin she shared with a woman named Lisa Ann.

“Melinda!” her cabinmate called after her, using the alias Rayna had given when coming to Haven. Rayna didn’t stop. She ran barefoot down the dirt road toward the other end of the compound where the sound had come from. Haven, one of The Ministry’s locations, was heavily guarded, and Rayna’s skin crawled at not having her FBI issued weapon. Being undercover sucked ass, especially in a cult where Rayna had to pretend to be a subservient female.Fuck that noise.

Speaking of noise, her King Cheetah rumbled in her chest.

Down, girl.

A few more shots were fired in quick succession, and Rayna dove to the ground on instinct, covering her head with her arms. After a few seconds with no further shots, she looked around, using her cat’s superior vision. When she didn’t see a shooter, she climbed to her feet and took off behind the cabins so she could run without being seen. When she got to the area where the barns were, Rayna skirted behind the closest building. She edged her way to the corner and sneaked a peek. What shewitnessed didn’t make sense. Haven’s guards were on their knees with their hands clasped behind their heads, and holding them at gunpoint was a group of men in jeans and T-shirts. She recognized some of the men as members of the Hounds of Zeus MC. Had the bikers killed some of the guards?

GIA agent David Spencer had a shit-ton of information on the club, and he readily turned it over after he was taken into custody for kidnapping his adult daughter, Rhiannon, who the members of Haven called Anna. David claimed the bikers were mercenaries instead of the do-gooders they were purported to be. He also had a shit-ton of information on Haven and Josiah Talbert. David alleged he had been undercover at Haven, but Rayna found that hard to believe. Ten years on a UC operation wasn’t the norm. At least it wasn’t in the FBI. Still, Spencer claimed he was innocent of any wrongdoing, vowing he took his daughter to keep her safe. However, when Special Agent Seth McCauley arrived at the scene, Rhiannon gave a different account. The FBI had received evidence against David Spencer, albeit anonymously, and were holding the man until they could figure out the truth.

Voices in the loft of the barn caught Rayna’s attention. She glanced up at the shattered window.

“Glory! Oh, Sunshine,”a male rasped.Glory? What was she doing back at Haven? According to Sandra, Glory had run away from the market a couple of weeks ago when she’d gone with others to help sell items they made to earn money.

“I’m okay,”Glory assured the male. “I’m fine, Rip. Look at me. I knew you’d come for me.”After a few seconds, she added, “And thank you for saving me.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Sunshine,”Rip said.

“I’m not. Thomas was going to kill me.”

“But you threw up.”

“Not from that. My stomach is wonky. I also threw up on Josiah’s face.”Josiah was back? The leader hadn’t been seen around Haven lately. If he had returned, Rayna needed to get eyes on the man.

“Glory, who saved you from Josiah?”

“I saved myself.”

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