Mettle: A Spartan Riders Novel
Description
Talia McKinnon said goodbye to love the day she signed the divorce papers and moved across the country looking for a fresh start. With work occupying her days and nights, a relationship is the last thing on her mind, until a run-in with a hot-as-Hades, leather-clad biker changes her mind. He’s everything she shouldn’t want but has to have. The problem is, he’s not that easy to catch. Tucker “Country” Abrams believes in two things: brotherhood and women. He takes his job seriously and his women hard, but at the end of the day, the only loyalty he has is to his club. So when a night with a beautiful stranger threatens to change everything, he’s quick to apply the brakes. But when time reveals that Talia may be much more than a one-night stand, Tucker is tasked with an impossible decision. Will he push her away, or get closer to her than every woman before her?
Chapter 1
Mar 20, 2022
Several weeks ago…
“One of our agents in the field has gone dark. We suspect they’ve been compromised.”
“When was the last time they were heard from?”
“It’s been more than a week without a check-in, but that’s not the concern,” the special agent in charge added when he read the look on his agent’s face.
“How do we know the agent isn’t dead? What if their cover was blown?”
The SAC ran stubby fingers through his oily hair, cringing at the feeling. He’d been at it for two straight days, fielding calls and pushing papers, all concerning the disappearance of one of his workers. This wasn’t good. Worse, they suspected a leak. Didn’t take much of a leap to know who might be behind it.
“The cover wasn’t blown, that’s one thing we’re sure on.”
The agent sat forward, interest in their eyes. “Surveillance?”
“Better. We placed a second agent on the ground, and they’re in deep enough to have a finger on the pulse of the operations. Says the agent in question is fully enmeshed in the club. Doesn’t go anywhere alone. Coupled with the radio silence, we can only assume the worst.”
The agent nodded. Rubbing their hands on their pant legs, they looked at the SAC with an eagerness to please that he was proud to see. “Send me in.”
“It’s not that easy—”
“Sir, send me in. I can do this.”
“This is a tough case. It’s going to take you far from home. I’m not sure if you’re ready—”
“Sir, this is what I have been training for. My whole career had been building up to this moment, and I’ve got nothing to lose. There’s nothing tying me here. Let me at least try. I want to make a difference, and these women that are being kidnapped right off the street, torn away from their families, need me. Please, let me prove that I can do this.”
Human trafficking. It wasn’t anything new in the world, to be sure, but it was new to their community. A plague that he intended to see wiped off the map, if he had anything to say about it. If the agent could pull this off, if they could get the lead they needed to shut down the operations and get those women home, it would be something for the record books. It was a career-making case, which was why everyone wanted in on it. Half the department had come begging on his doorstep when the case file had first landed on his desk nine months ago, making it difficult to know who to choose, who was right for the job.
He’d thought he’d made the perfect choice: young, fresh, good-looking. Exactly what the Spartan Riders club looked for when they were recruiting fresh blood.
Apparently, he’d been wrong.
Now he was interviewing replacements, looking to send in yet another innocent soul that would likely get chewed up and spit out by that group of hooligans. But what else could he do? Getting personally involved wasn’t an option. This was his job, these people weren’t his friends, and he wasn’t going to play favorites.
“This could very well be the last case you ever work, do you understand that?”
“I understand the dangers, sir. Send me in.”
He considered it for the span of another heartbeat. A second. Third. Then sighed deeply, resigned. “We’ll do everything in our power to keep eyes and ears on you at all times, but,” he said, raising his voice when the agent’s entire face lit with excitement, “there are no guarantees. The hard work is going to fall on your shoulders. You have to figure out the way in yourself, then you have to figure out how to stay in. Find your mark and play it for all it’s worth.”
“I will, sir. I won’t let you down.”
“Forget about me. Don’t you let those families down.”
The agent looked properly shamed, eyes downcast but no less eager to get started. “No, sir. I’ll do my best, youhave my word.”
He grunted. Only time would tell. Rapping his knuckles on the arm of his chair, he said, “You’re dismissed. Make sure to go downstairs and let them know you’re on the case. They’ll take care of you, get you a plane ticket, make sure you have everything you need to get started.” Namely a backstory, some cash, proper identification, a car, a place to stay. Things the agent would need to build a false life that would hold up under inspection.
The agent nodded but made no attempt to leave.
“You have something you need to say?”
“Sir…” The agent hesitated. “Who was the agent? The one that went dark?”
He scowled. “That’s classified.”
“I understand that, sir, but how am I supposed to know who to look out for if I don’t know?”
“That’s exactly the point. If you don’t know, then you won’t be tempted. Keeping your identity protected is the number one concern while you’re in there. Knowing who the other agent is will only serve as a distraction we can’t afford. So just focus on the mission. Get in, get what we need, and get out.” With that said, he dismissed the agent from his office once again, and when he was finally alone, he slumped back in his chair, filled with worry.
His gaze strayed to the door, thinking of the agent who’d just left, as well as the one he’d likely never see walk back through, and felt an overpowering sense of defeat crash down on his shoulders.
He only hoped that this time he’d gotten it right; otherwise, God help them all.
Mettle: A Spartan Riders Novel
35 Chapters
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