Page 1 of Fire and Ice

CHAPTER ONE

Maia Pierce exited her Audi convertible in the underground parking garage of the Trident building. Located in the central business district of New Park City, Virginia, the building housed the corporate offices of McCord Defense Industries (MDI) on its eighteenth floor. MDI was the premiere advanced weapons contractor for the Department of Defense.

Protective custody detail was the most boring job in her opinion and one she barely tolerated. But after her last assignment, Viktor felt she needed a break... and a lesson.

Damn Viktor. What happened wasn't entirely her fault. Wait, yes, it was entirely her fault—her screw-up. But she'd be damned before she left those young girls behind. The RULES were to remain detached, get the mission done and get out. Hopefully, the Russians had not uncovered her identity. This was the reason why Viktor had recalled her from AGS foreign missions, so she could fly under the radar that blanketed the planet like a spider's web.

Artemis Guardian Services (AGS) or simply "The Guardians" as they were known by most of their clients specialized in small team surgical incursions: K and R (kidnap and ransom), DoD covert ops that were too politically high-risk, Corporate Security Enforcement (usually involving questionable and deadly force), and recently (and seemingly with increasing frequency) protective custody detail outsourced by the US Marshals Service.

Brett McCord was the assignment. Computer hacker extraordinaire, entangled with the local tri-city drug lord Raul Vergara, McCord had become the star witness for the prosecution. The evidence was hush-hush but had something to do with access to emails, bank accounts and an encrypted list of transactions such as payoffs and names. A conviction would cause a major ripple through the East Coast drug trade taking down major players—including dirty cops within the NPPD and spreading to cities outside New Park like Washington DC. District Attorney Mike Callahan had recently been keeping AGS busy with his crusade to clean up the streets of New Park.

Mike. Maia sighed. She had not seen him in almost two years.

MDIwas owned by Jack McCord, Brett's older brother. He was an ex-Navy SEAL and now his company was one of DoD's top small weapons suppliers/innovators. Talk about a career military. The brothers couldn't be more different. Brett was an environmental activist and preferred using computer worms and denial-of-service attacks in making a statement against companies that had rubbed him the wrong way. Heck, his FBI rap sheet included hacking into his own brother's company just for being a contractor for the DoD.

The elevator doors slid open on the 18thfloor revealing a sleek modern reception area in all white and silver. Comfortable leather chairs were arranged in an impersonal huddle around an industrial-style coffee table. A gorgeous brunette, who would look more appropriate on the cover of Vogue than as a receptionist to a defense company, leaned past her IMac to scrutinize the newcomer.

Maia's lips curved imperceptibly. She was used to catty appraisals. Though her beautiful red hair was pulled back and hidden in a chic bun, she was 5'7" with legs that seemed to go on forever and curves in all the right places. Her tailored cream silk suit hid well-muscled arms and thighs, the skirt skimming her toned butt like a glove. She was endowed with a delicate bone structure that flattered her unusual clear blue eyes and her lush sensual lips had come in handy in situations involving lecherous dictators.

"Maia Pierce for Brett McCord."

The receptionist inclined her head briefly and pressed the intercom button.

***

"Miss Pierce is here," a husky voice relayed over the intercom.

"Send her right in," Jack McCord responded. He glanced at Derek Lockwood, his business partner and best friend. "She better be worth our time."

Though Jack was no sexist, he was disturbed by this development in Brett's protective custody. A hit had been uncovered in time that involved his brother's former security detail. Local law enforcement was so deeply wrapped up in Vergara's web that it had become necessary to bring in outside players. This AGS team came highly vetted by Derek Lockwood and Mike Callahan, but sending a woman to head the protective custody of a witness who could take down a violent drug kingpin brought their judgment to question. Okay, maybe he was a tad sexist.

The door to the conference room swung open and the stunning vision of Maia Pierce swept through. It took all of Jack's discipline to keep his jaw from dropping but he couldn't help the uncomfortable stirring that shot straight to his groin. The picture of her on the advanced dossier of the Guardians had not prepared him for this.

Jack was rich and extremely attractive and he had no shortage of beautiful women on his arm and in his bed. But he had never, in his entire life, seen a woman this exquisite.

Derek moved quickly to hug the visitor and Jack felt an odd twinge of possessive jealousy.

"Hey, gorgeous!"

"Derek." Maia flashed a dazzling smile up to his friend before nodding to Mike Callahan with a more reserved, "Counselor."

Jack's brow shot up, noticing the way Mike Callahan's face turned instantly stony and although Miss Pierce's face revealed nothing, he knew in his gut there was a story there. Interesting.

"I gotta ask, how do you stop the bad guys? By flashing your boobs?" Brett piped in obnoxiously.

"Jesus, Brett," Derek muttered.

"Actually, you'd be surprise how effective that play is," Maia drawled, not flustered in the least.

Jack swallowed a chuckle as Bret visibly stilled, then his idiotic brother gave a shit-eating grin, stood up and shook hands with Maia while his eyes drifted to her ample bosom. "I guess you know I'm Brett—your assigned pain in the ass."

"And I'm Jack McCord, welcome Miss Pierce," Jack rose up to his full 6'3" and grasped Maia's hand firmly. "You'll have to excuse my brother: he's been under a lot of stress from the recent attempts on his life."

"No apologies. I get that all the time, although not often quite as direct."

Facing the four men in the room, she opened her briefcase and switched to all business. "Shall we get started?"

Jack nodded his go-ahead.

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