Morgan’s Son – Excerpt
Morgan’s son has been kidnapped! Undercover operative Sabra Jacobs loves Jason as if he were her own son. Her new partner, Craig Talbot, doesn’t want this dangerous mission. Will these two highly intelligent operatives be able to keep their eyes off each other while pretending to be married to pull off the mission?
Reprint from Book 5: Morgan’s Son
Love & Danger Series
Release date: July 22, 2019
© 2019 Blue Turtle Publishing
Available in ebook/paperback/audio
“Jake, who do we have to rescue my son?” Laura looked at him steadily, struggling to keep her voice even and low despite her excitement at Jason being located. To Jake’s right and left at the War Room’s familiar oval table sat Wolf Harding and Sean Killian, their faces kind but impassive. Jake’s brow furrowed.
“Well,” he rumbled hesitantly, flipping through some reports before him, “we’ve got one member available from each of two different teams that have just come out of the field.”
“It isn’t a good idea,” Wolf said, looking across the table at Laura. “Putting members from two different teams together to create a new, untried team.”
Laura felt her throat closing up with tears at Wolf’s pronouncement. Since her own release from the hellish prison on Garcia’s Caribbean estate, she seemed to burst into tears easily and often unexpectedly. Her therapist, Pallas Downey, assured her that her response was normal for anyone who had been drugged, raped and had her family kidnapped. Holding tightly to a delicate, embroidered handkerchief beneath the table, she tried to focus calmly on Wolf’s concerns. “Why not?” she asked quietly.
With an apologetic shrug, Wolf said, “Teams are teams, Laura. Team members have adjusted to each other’s quirks and foibles, so to speak.”
“Team members often know intuitively what their other half is going to do,” Jake offered. “If you throw together two people who don’t know each other, it can be detrimental to a mission—especially one as complicated as this rescue attempt for Jason.”
As tears clawed their way up her throat, Laura turned to Killian, whose face remained unreadable, as always. His green eyes glittered as she looked into them. “What do you say, Killian?” In spite of his taciturn nature, Laura knew Sean’s depth of experience was something they could all count on.
“I say it depends on the individuals concerned.”
“Well,” Jake said slowly, “that’s true.”
“Who are they?” Laura asked, trying to blot her eyes as inconspicuously as possible.
“We’re lucky,” Jake said. “The woman is Sabra Jacobs. She’s been with Perseus since Morgan started it. She’s got time in grade, she knows the system and she takes only high-risk assignments.”
“Sabra?” Laura whispered the name, hope springing to life in her breast. “Why, Jason knows her! Between assignments, Sabra lives here, near us. She’s baby-sat for us many times. Jason loves her. He calls her ‘Auntie S’ because he can’t quite pronounce her name yet.”
Jake held up his hand. “I know it sounds like good news, Laura. But unfortunately, Sabra’s partner, Terry Hayes, suffered a heart attack overseas. We can’t ask him to climb out of his hospital bed and join us.”
“Who’s the person on the second team?” Laura demanded, hope spiraling crazily through her despite Jake’s words of caution. Sabra Jacobs was one of the most dependable, solid women she’d ever met. If there was anyone who could rescue Jason, it was Sabra.
Jake grimaced. “A merc by the name of Craig Talbot. He’s only been with Perseus six months. He’s an ex-Marine helicopter pilot who came to us after Desert Storm.”
“That sounds like a wonderful combination!”
“Laura, I wish I could be as enthused as you are,” Jake warned, “but Talbot has been involved only in low- and medium-risk assignments.”
“So what?”
“So, he doesn’t want any high-risk assignments.”
Laura sat there assimilating Jake’s words. “But why?” she managed to ask after a moment.
“I don’t know.” Jake glanced at Wolf. “All we know is that shortly after Desert Storm, Talbot, who was a captain, resigned his commission from the Marine Corps to knock at Perseus’s door.”
“Do you have Mr. Talbot’s personnel file?”
“Yes.”
“I want to see it.”
“Laura, the first thing we have to do is find out if these players are willing to take this assignment. Sabra no doubt will jump at the chance, because she has a personal stake. She’s close to you and your children.”
“Is she here?”
“Sabra should be here in about half an hour,” Wolf said, looking at his watch.
“And Craig Talbot?”
“He’s still in the air,” Killian muttered. “We’ve sent someone to the airport to pick him up. We should be able to talk to him in about an hour and a half, if traffic cooperates.”
Laura looked at her watch. It was shortly after noon and she should be hungry, but even the thought of eating these days made her nauseous. Her therapist assured her that, too, was a normal reaction after what she’d experienced. Still, she had to keep up her strength. She would have to force herself to eat.
“I want to be here when you interview them, Jake.”
“Of course,” he said, picking up his nearly cold cup of coffee and taking a swallow.
“Are they well rested?”
“Sabra is, but Talbot’s just coining off an assignment that should have been labeled high risk.”
“What happened to his partner?”
“Died in an auto accident. Talbot wasn’t with her. He was tailing one of two suspects in Vienna, Austria. Jennifer Langford, his partner, was tailing the other one.”
Laura felt her heart squeeze. “Oh, how awful—”
Jake slowly rose. “Laura, I really don’t think you should be here, under the circumstances. You’re still too raw from your own ordeal, and sitting in on team debriefings won’t do you any good. You’re white as a sheet.”
Shamed, Laura touched her cheek, then stood. “I know you’re right, Jake, but I can’t help myself. My son, my husband… It’s so hard to stay home, to go through the motions of my day….”
Jake came around the table and placed his arm gently across Laura’s drooping shoulders. “I know how hard this is on you,” he rasped. “We’re doing everything humanly possible to locate Morgan.”
Laura looked up into his dark, worried features. “I don’t know what we’d have done without the three of you,” she said solemnly. “You’ve held Perseus together. I—I’m so grateful.” Then the hot tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks. Managing an embarrassed, apologetic laugh, she eased away from Jake and wiped at her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and again leveled her gaze on Jake’s.
“Please let me stay for the interviews and assignments, Jake. Then, I promise to get out of your hair and leave you to the unpleasant realities. Okay?”
“That’s fine, Laura,” Jake said gently, his harsh features softening. “Come on, let’s all go get something to eat. When we get back, Sabra should be here and, with any luck, Talbot about an hour after that.”
“I’m just so glad Sabra is coming,” Laura whispered. “So glad.”
“She’s one of the best,” Jake agreed, guiding her toward the heavy oak door.
