AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
ARES
JUNE
The investigation of a serial killer whose killing spree went on for more than fifty years had been one of the most repulsive cases of my career. Whether my next assignment—if I took it—would be any less so was a toss-up. Human traffickers and murderers were equally vile. I’d learned that firsthand while at the CIA.
“I appreciate you meeting with us about this,” said Merrigan Shaw-Butler, the managing partner of the firm I worked for, K19 Security Solutions. “I know things did not end well for you at the CIA.”
Didn’t end well?That was a gross understatement.
While I’d initially thought the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency was a decent guy, the fact that he cleaned house the day the Senate confirmed him meant I’d lost my job.
Why? I still wasn’t certain. Other than being guilty by association. Since I was a deputy director, it had to mean I was just as corrupt as my former boss had proved to be, right?Wrong.
Kellen “Money” McTiernan fired me without as much as a conversation, let alone a formal inquiry of any kind.
The only saving grace was, less than ten minutes after beingescortedout of the George Bush Center for Intelligence, I got a call from Kade “Doc” Butler—the founder of K19 and Merrigan’s husband—asking me to come work for them.
“Director McTiernan specifically recommended you for this assignment,” Merrigan continued.
Wrong thing to say.I shook my head. “Sorry, but I can’t.”
“Look, I know what went down back then wasn’t fair or right. But consider this a very prestigious olive branch. Hell, it’s practically a tree,” said Doc.
“I can assure you, you won’t be working with Money or even the CIA. You’ll interact directly with the United Nations Security Council.”
“If I won’t be working with him or the agency, why was the CIA involved in the first place?”
“The UN put a call out to all lettered agencies, asking for their top human trafficking experts.”
“I’m hardly that, Merrigan.”
“You were the agent in charge of breaking up the largest trafficking ring in US history, Ares. Don’t be modest,” said Doc.
What good had that done me, though? Yeah, I led the team that took down over a hundred despicable, depraved motherfuckers. That it had resulted in the rescue of over twenty-five hundred victims got me promoted to deputy director. Then sacked a few months later. “I don’t trust him.”
Doc rested his arms on the table, and his eyes bored into mine. “I don’t expect you to, but I do expect you to trust me.”
He had me there. Doc had proved he believed in me by hiring me the same hour McTiernan let me go. Of course I trusted him. In a way, he’d saved my life. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d been forced to leave intelligence entirely. It was the only thing I’d ever wanted to do.
“While you’ll operate under the UN coalition’s umbrella in the same way the other member countries’ COs will, you’ll still work for us.I’masking you to do this, Ares. Merrigan and I. Not McTiernan. You’re a damned good agent and an outstanding leader. This is your chance to make a real difference in the world. To do the kind of good that made you go into intelligence in the first place.”
Well, hell, didn’t that just pull at my heartstrings?
Doc wasn’t someone you asked for a couple of days to think something over. You were either in or out.
I leaned back in my chair and focused on a blank spot on the wall. It’s what I always did when I needed to think. Maybe it was even a meditation of sorts, allowing me to tune out the rest and focus.
“Ares?”
I turned back toward him and gave him the answer he wanted. “I’ll do it.”
2
ARES
OCTOBER
