The Guardian Agency: Colin (Brotherhood Protectors World)
Available now exclusively at Amazon
When hope is lost, truth is blurred, and your life is on the line, it’s time to call in the Guardian Agency…
He’s ex-Army. She’s a witness in danger. Together they must fight the ghosts of the past to survive the killer on her trail.
Summer Curley is on the run after her witness-protection detail is gunned down. With no one to trust, she can only hope that hiding will buy her time enough time to make a plan.
Colin Hazard’s Army career ended after weeks as a prisoner of war. Now he finds purpose as a bodyguard and when he’s assigned to locate and protect an important witness, he dives into action.
But keeping Summer safe is only the first problem. Colin soon learns the case and the woman are far more complex than he expected. Between her secrets and the ghosts of his past, staying alive could mean sacrificing his heart.
~Reviews~
This book was absolutely fantastic and filled with suspense and so much action packed and the chemistry between them was out of this world.
5 stars! Terra, Amazon reviewer
Once I started this fast paced action I couldn’t put it down. Guardian and Brotherhood Protectors together are well worth reading.
5 stars! Nancy, Amazon reviewer
~ENJOY AN EXCERPT~
CHAPTER ONE
Colin Hazard’s cell phone chimed. He finished his last set of pushups and flopped to his back, his shoulders shaking. He reached blindly, his hand skimming the edge of the weight bench until he found his phone.
There was one message and only one word: PROTECT
The one word didn’t surprise him. As a bodyguard with the Guardian Agency, that was his job. The timing felt suspect. Rushed. Forced. He’d just wrapped up a case that tripped a few of his hot buttons and he needed the downtime. Naturally, he hadn’t broadcast the struggle. He’d kept the client safe and come home to work off the residual effect.
Did they think he was a machine, or was the agency afraid he’d go rogue again if they didn’t keep him in the field?
He paused and breathed through the misplaced frustration, concentrating on the reality rather than the memories clawing at him. He was overthinking the situation, assigning opinions and biases to people who probably weren’t thinking about him at all, beyond his skills as an employee.
So what if he’d just wrapped up a case and hit send on his final report less than twenty-four hours ago? The lawyers, Gamble and Swann, who’d offered him a post with this investigation and protection service had made his role clear. His job was to respond to the call whenever it came through. Didn’t matter that he’d never had back-to-back cases before.
With the phone in his hand, he rolled to his feet, bouncing on his toes like a boxer and rolling his shoulders. “Today’s a new day,” he said to the mirrored wall, using his psychiatrist’s words.
He studied his reflection with a critical eye, trying to decide if he liked the view today.
In general, he could look at himself and find the familiar. The red hair, the freckles dusting his pale skin, and the squared off jaw all felt normal. There were the scars, old and new, some of them triggering scarred-over memories better left undisturbed. The eyes… he looked away from his reflection. What kind of fool stared at his own eyes when there was work to do?
Back-to-back cases might not be the norm, but clearly he needed the distraction more than he realized.
Stripping off his shorts, he showered quickly and dressed while he waited for the details on the case to come through. The next alert from the phone wasn’t a text or even an email with a file attached. It was an incoming call from Gamble and Swann.
“Mr. Hazard.” A woman’s voice greeted him, precise Ivy League education winding through it. “You’re needed in Eagle Rock, Montana for a face-to-face briefing for your new case.”
Montana? Seriously? And he’d never heard of Eagle Rock. The lawyers had parked him in Denver, Colorado and told him this would be his region. He preferred the city, the mountain views, and the options for day trips and weekend getaways when he needed the space. “All right. I can be on the road within ten minutes.”
“A private plane will be waiting for you at Denver International.”
His jaw clenched. Planes sucked. Tiny planes were worse. He couldn’t imagine an airfield in a town he’d never heard of equipped for a substantial aircraft big enough to hold its own against wind and weather.
“No time for me to drive?”
“Not unless we delay the briefing.”
Clearly that wasn’t ideal. Warning bells sounded in his head, not unlike the alarms on a plane falling from the sky. “Is the client in Denver?”
“Details will be provided at your meeting.”
So what they needed to share they didn’t trust to phone calls. Interesting. Now, his curiosity was in high gear. “Guess I’m headed to the airport.”
“Thank you. Further instructions will come through shortly,” she said and then disconnected.
He tucked the phone into his pocket and went to grab his gear. All of this felt like a colossal waste of time, but he wasn’t the man in charge anymore. Didn’t want to be. He’d learned the hard way that leadership carried a heavy, nearly unbearable price.
He grabbed his overnight bag and held a brief debate over the handgun and knife he carried most of the time. He had the training, experience and permits for both. Hopefully a private plane meant bypassing typical security hoops.
Now he was wasting time. He had to get to the meeting before he could make any sort of educated guess about the assignment or how it would go down. Locking up his condo, he took the stairs to the garage.
He tossed his duffle, weapons included, into the trunk of his Audi R8 coupe before sliding into the driver’s seat. Once there, the first layer of tension eased off his shoulders. Control and power rested under his hands, under the hood of this flawless machine. He started the engine, soaking up the comfort and rush. His shrink had encouraged this, called it an investment.
An investment in sanity, Colin thought, backing out of his parking space.
The call came through, his hands-free system announcing Tyler, the agency-assigned tech and research assistant he’d never met personally.
“What’s going on, Ty?”
“We’ve got an all hands on deck, Col,” the other man mimicked his tone perfectly. “You’re departing from the private charters flight terminal. I’ve sent the directions to your navigation app. You won’t have to worry about security lines.”
“Thanks.” He swallowed his opinion of flying on a small plane all the way to Montana. He wasn’t sure skipping the lines was worth it. He looked at the sky, hoping there weren’t any storms out there waiting for him. “Where is Eagle Rock anyway?”
“Foothills of the Crazy Mountains.”
“Never heard of those,” Colin admitted.
“You will soon enough,” Tyler muttered. “The case is tricky,” he continued. “And time sensitive.”
“Aren’t they all?” Colin deadpanned. “If there’s such a rush, why fly me out for a briefing? We couldn’t have done this online or with a conference call while I’m en route?”
“No. This time around no one has much faith in the security of standard communication.”
That was actually more distressing than flying. Guardian Agency had the best secured network he’d ever seen and he’d worked some highly confidential operations during his military time. “Fine.”
“Safe travels,” Tyler said, ending the call.
His assistant should probably give that sentiment to the flight crew. Thanks to his control issues, Colin wasn’t the best passenger in any type of vehicle, but airplanes were especially harrowing.
He cringed when he reached the airport and passed rows of small aircraft on his way to the designated terminal. To his shock, the capable-looking, sleek corporate jet on the tarmac was waiting for him. He hadn’t seen the inside of one of these since… He had to swallow the annoying surge of emotion. Since just before his final deployment with the U.S. Army.
His dad had surprised him, flying in to take him to the Indianapolis 500 for one last weekend before his unit deployed.
That trip had been a whirlwind of color from the clear blue sky to the logo-ed up cars on the track. Sounds of engines and fans. The pre-race spectacle and the race itself. The scents of the hot track, soft rubber, and the raw power as the drivers circled the track, vying for the lead.
He’d had no idea that singular day, the memory symbolic of everything he stood for would become his touchstone, his lifeline when the mission went to hell.
Colin kept that trip front of mind now as he boarded the plane and buckled into the luxurious leather seat. Once they were in the air, he opened his laptop and started combing news reports for information and insight about Eagle Rock.
No wonder he’d never heard of it. The place was tucked away, protected and isolated from the rest of the world. Remote was only part of the story. From the overhead pictures, sprawling ranches surrounded a smallish town that was hemmed in by a ridge of rugged mountains. Checking ranch names and ownership it seemed the rich and famous were turning this little pocket of privacy into their own western playground, he thought, reading on.
Great information, but so far, he was coming up dry on why this town should be in the news or what any of the names he could tie to the place mattered to the agency he worked for. Did they have a serial killer on the loose, he wondered, closing the laptop. In his short experience, the agency didn’t seem to take those kinds of cases. But what else would necessitate the avoidance of standard communication. He’d know soon enough.
The jet landed and taxied well away from the runway and right up to an open hangar. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and tried to walk rather than run out of the aircraft. Luxury aside, it still amounted to being trapped in a can he couldn’t escape.
A man waited for Colin inside the hangar, a cowboy hat shading his eyes. Despite the casual jeans, button-down shirt open at the collar, and clean boots, he had a physique and poise that telegraphed his ability to turn lethal at a moment’s notice.
“Colin Hazard?”
“That’s right,” Colin replied.
The man didn’t smile as he stuck out his hand. “Hank Patterson.”
Colin nearly choked. He’d read through several reports detailing operations by Patterson and his SEAL team. He hadn’t known the man had retired out here. This man couldn’t possibly be in need of protection. What kind of SEAL—active or retired—would even accept a bodyguard?
“I run my own protective services agency these days,” Hank said, leading the way to an office just off the hangar. “We’re based here in Eagle Rock. Your group reached out to mine, the Brotherhood Protectors, as a precaution.”