Hardened Hearts

By Lena Jakes

Harper Dorsey’s twin brother is killed in the line of duty and her close childhood friend Harrison Morgan’s actions are thought to be the cause. Four years later, Harrison’s military career has stalled despite having been cleared of all wrong doing, and Harper has isolated herself from her family and begins a career that takes her deeper into dangerous territory. When Harper is sent the mysterious gift of a new job from a secret employer who promises to answer all her questions about her brother’s death - and Harrison’s involvement with it - she must decide if Harrison really is the enemy she has thought him to be all these years. When Harrison turns the tables and begins his own personal battle to get his friend back, and hopefully more, he has to prove that he has the key to her hardened heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lena Jakes
• Release date: Nov 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301165308

Lena Jakes

Originally from California (both north and south) Lena Jakes now lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her three dogs and two sons who often laugh at her sudden outbursts and scrambling for something to write a thought or idea down before it leaves her. As the oldest of seven children Lena often escaped into the worlds she found in books full of heroes, romance and adventures. Today, she still escapes, but now she runs to the heroes she writes about.

Book preview

HARDENED HEARTS

Lena Jakes

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Lena Jakes

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

Adult Reading Material

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

EPILOGUE

To Theresa - I've been encouraged, reassured, and even humored... but never has anyone pushed. Without you, Harper and Harrison would have never found each other, and for that, the three of us owe you a huge debt of thanks. This is my gift to you - from all of us that could use a domineering friend in our lives.

To anyone that reads this - Harper and Harrison haven't won any awards, but they're important to me, my friends, and my family. I hope you enjoy them, their journey, and the promise of their teammates' adventures to follow. This is the first of many dreams and proof that dreams can come true.

[e-mail] / www.lenajakes.com

CHAPTER ONE

Lord help him, even with stark shock, deep disdain, and complete hatred shining in her brilliant lavender eyes, Harper Dorsey was quite frankly the most stunning woman Harrison Morgan had ever seen.

He stood stock still in the corner of an abandoned hotel in the middle of a war zone, watching his childhood friend pretend - rather convincingly - that he didn't exist. Granted, he was a few years older than she was, but as he and his sister Mikelle had befriended the kids down the street, Harper and her brothers Hank and Rob, none of them had known what life would have in store for them.

Through life, love, holidays and hardships, the close knit group had survived grade school, high school, college, and various early adulthood occupations. No one had been surprised when friendship had turned to romance for Mikelle and Hank, and as their immediate family grew larger, the group had grown closer - until Rob's death four years ago.

Where Harper had gone on to make a name for herself as a pilot for a private security firm that tended to specialize in helping Uncle Sam more than it did any real protection work, Rob and Harrison had taken a more grounded role in military intelligence. Brothers in their own right, they had worked well together as a team. Having grown up together, they had complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Often paired together, it was a partnership that had served the military well. One mission changed both of their lives, and the lives of everyone they knew when it went horrifically wrong, leaving eight of the ten-man team wounded, Rob dead, and Harrison charged with misconduct leading to Rob's death. It had taken two years of rumors and investigations, and another two years of hearings, but finally Harrison had been officially cleared of any wrongdoing.

No amount of paperwork would ever convince the twin sister of the man who had died Harrison had been completely innocent. When her twin brother died, the invisible bond and legendary connection that had held Harper to the rest of the group had died as well.

Forcing himself to breathe as he watched her talk to a foreign diplomat in a different corner of the room, Harrison knew that Harper's assignments had gotten longer and deeper into dangerous territory whenever she accepted them, which was often.

Standing in the middle of a war zone, each carefully dancing around the other as though the tension between them didn't exist, was ironic considering Harper had made it her own personal goal to avoid her brother's home on holidays on the chance that Harrison would have been there. It was perhaps hardest for Mikelle and Hank, both in positions Harrison didn't envy. How did one decide between your brother or your sister-in-law, and vice versa? The strain between Harrison and Hank had been present, but it hadn't been debilitating.

All that stood between Harrison and the family security he'd once known was the little five-foot-five fireball with long dark hair, lavender eyes, and a stubborn streak a mile long. His family included her, her laughter, her presence. Without Harper, the family itself was a shell, and she was the important part missing. Her absence also served as a constant reminder that Rob was dead.

He was innocent in Rob's death, but Harper didn't believe it. Over the years he had learned to abide by the rules of the silent war between them in the hopes that she'd one day forgive him.

That day, he realized as she walked past him without so much as a glance in his direction, wasn't today.

CHAPTER TWO

Damn him, how dare he show up on her turf?

Okay, so perhaps the heart of a war-torn nowhere town wasn't necessarily her turf officially, but damn him all the same. He'd been cleared - on paper. Or so she'd heard. That didn't mean that she believed.

He may not have pulled the trigger, but he knew something. She'd known him too long to believe his version of the truth. The fact remained, anyone in any official capacity had cleared Harrison, and of course, her sister-in-law Mikelle had never doubted his innocence. Hank, Harper's very own turncoat brother had even jumped on that bandwagon after a time, but Harper wasn't ready, not even after four years.

Now, here he stood, a few feet apart from her, a half a world away from their real homes, after four years of carefully choreographed avoidance. Fate was a mischievous bitch when she wanted to be.

Harrison, standing at an easy six foot three, had what most considered classical good looks. He was tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, squared chin, broad shoulders, and a mind that the military had begun drooling over before he'd graduated high school. Life may not have always been easy for him, but it was easier for him than for most others.

She hated the light in his eyes, knowing brother now had none.

It was impossible to turn her attention to the diplomat's speech presented before her. The little man with slicked-back hair and an air of superiority didn't have a microphone or a podium, but the tiny man was giving a speech all the same. Even if it was for one person he felt was truly beneath him. If rumors were to be trusted or true, he was on his way out of office in the next rounds of political turn over anyway. The powerful president that had bought his assignment had been ousted. It was only a matter of time before this man's well ran dry.

Not that it mattered to her - Harper's directions were to get the diplomat and his detail out, and that's what she'd do. The fact that Harrison's lying hide was here as well was unfortunate.

...the hall.

Pardon? Harper asked, appalled that Harrison had forced her attention away from her job.

My team. It is in the room down the hall. The man's thickly accented voice also held a definite note of irritation at having to repeat himself.

This is a holding area, sir. You should not let them stray from here.

The little squat of a man squared his shoulders. They are not sheep, Ms. Dorsey. He was still a few inches shorter than she was, but his ego helped make up the height difference. Tanned from too many artificial beds during his recent trip to the United States and with hair that she was fairly certain came from a box, did little to give him the leadership quality that should have taken him far in his career. Clearly it must have been the green of his money because the green of his eyes was simply beady.

I understand. Let's go get them and head to the roof. I should have my clearance shortly.

With a curt nod that showed he did not appreciate taking orders when he was accustomed to giving them, the man headed off before her, not looking to see if she kept up with him or not. It wouldn't have been hard; he walked as though heading up a parade, waiting for people to wave at him.

Without meaning to, or even realizing that she had, Harper held her breath as she passed Harrison. It all came back in a rush when he reached out and grabbed her elbow.

Where's your vest?

Harper looked up at him, stunned that after four years he was actually speaking to her. It took her a moment to comprehend he was asking her a question. Her mood soured even more as she realized it was an irritatingly valid one at that.

This is what we're doing? After four years, you're just going to pick up where we left off? You trying to protect me? Really?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Now, answer the question. He shifted, his head tilted as he enunciated each word. Where. Is. Your. Vest.

With her free arm, she lifted a black vest with Velcro straps from the table next to her. It wasn't the form-fitting t-shirt material the others were wearing. It's too big.

As reasons went, it wasn't a good one. She did in fact have one that fit her, but somewhere between piloting in, locating her detail, and now, Harper had become consumed by Harrison's very presence and had somehow inexplicably lost it. She was carrying the one two sizes too big with her in the hopes that hers would show up just as suddenly as she'd lost it.

Too bad. Reaching around her, he grabbed the vest, holding it for her to slide her arms through. It was a face-off, one that anyone who knew of their history was interested in watching and did with obvious amusement.

You're making a scene, she whispered through clenched teeth.

I'm not explaining to your brother that yet another sibling died because she was being stubborn and reckless.

Without realizing she was moving at all, Harper raised her hand and swung. The connection was biting and sharp. It was also loud enough to draw the attention of several of the uniforms around them. Though all she'd done was slap him, she was breathing hard, eyes narrowed, and nearly deaf. Her heart was beating enough that she'd lost the ability to hear anything around her other than the rapid rush of blood as it flowed through her.

Harrison didn't flinch at the contact, hadn't even moved to avoid it. However, he moved instantly at the first sound of sirens, heartbeats before the earthquake-like tremors overtook the building. With a curse, Harrison pulled his sidearm, grabbed Harper's elbow again, and pulled her down next to him under the table they had been standing next to.

Still want a fight or you think maybe now you can put the damned vest on?

Already scrambling to tighten her vest, protocol had begun to take over; Harper did what she did best - started making lists. I need to get Volzhski. Gather his two aides. Get all three up to the roof. I have to get that air clearance. Where's my damned clearance?

You're not going to get clearance if we're under fire. Harrison shouted over the chaos that had begun to take over the ballroom they had been using as a waiting area just moments before. With the windows broken by the initial gunfire, bullets had begun spraying the inside of the room. The attack was unorganized and had the appearance of someone just pulling a trigger blindly rather than aiming, but that didn't make the bullet's ability to kill any less dangerous. The military personnel had begun screaming orders, while the few locals had begun just screaming.

Lucky for me, I'm not military.

True enough. Come here! He forced his gun into her hand as he turned her back to him and began pulling on the straps to her protective vest. She was right, it was too big, but he'd make it fit as best he could.

Taking his gun from her and tugging on her vest straps to make sure it was as good as it was going to get, he assessed the situation. His own team was three floors up. He'd been unable to sleep which was what had brought him downstairs to begin with. That, and knowing that Harper had taken the last minute civilian assignment.

Harrison knew he had maybe another thirty seconds before his own men met him in the heart of the chaos, leaving him with zero time to hustle Harper out of the ballroom and make sure she was on her way to safety before going back to do his own job. There was no doubt he would see her safely out of the pandemonium - whether she wanted him to or not.

Where's your guy? he shouted at her. The noise level had raisen several notches in only a matter of seconds. Harper now held her own weapon, and had finally emerged from her list making world. It may have helped her get organized, but it scared him when she was focused on a mental list rather than the bullets that had just buried themselves inches above their heads.

Conference room across the hall.

Damn. That would take him out of line of sight for his own men. Let's go.

Keeping his hand on her back, they half crawled half ran the short distance from the bar they'd been dunking behind towards the hallway. The sound was lower in the hallway than it had been in the ballroom. The lack of windows prevented bullets from entering the hallway, and they were able to stand and run faster, though their weapons were not holstered again.

Volzhski, let's go! Harper shouted at the smarmy little man who now hunched huddled in a corner just outside of the room.

My men, he whimpered, no longer worried about the appearance of importance. His over-inflated sense of self-preservation was still intact enough to realize that his self-given importance would likely get him killed.

Take him. I'll get the others. Harrison yelled, pushing Harper forward. Staircase is on the left at the end of the hall. Duck beneath the windows. Wait for an escort before running to your bird.

Knowing when to fight and when to put it on ice, Harper nodded, and shoved the small man in the bad suit and worse hair ahead of her towards the end of the hall. She didn't stop to smell the coppery scent of blood, notice the thickness of the stirred up dust as it filled the air or the level of shouts from room to room. Her only focus was getting to the roof and her helicopter.

Clearance. She needed her clearance. Grabbing the headset that had been attached to her hip, Harper holstered her gun only long enough to twist and pull her ponytail tight before pulling the headset over her ear. Moving the mic down to her lips and slamming the device into an on position, she began doing her own yelling into the handheld device as she used her body to crowd Volzhski into the stairwell. It's gone to shit here, Mac. I need my clearance!

Static sounded for two heartbeats before a male voice sounded over the earpiece. Roger that. You got your cargo?

One, getting help with the other two. With or without the aids, I'm getting this one out of here.

Agreed. Uncle Sam will help with the others. Hold for clearance.

Breathless now, the old man before her was feeling every one of the fancy cigarettes he smoked hourly as he began to slow on the staircase. I will not leave without my aids.

If they breach this building before you leave, none of you will leave at all! Harper shouted as the building rocked again. The sudden change in the building's stability threw her off balance and Harper pitched suddenly, slamming against the old brick wall shoulder first. With a curse, she pushed the sweating man in front of her. What in the hell was that, Mac?

Feel like an earthquake? the voice in her ear asked. It was surreal to feel an entire building moving unnaturally but hearing a voice in her ear from miles away calmly holding a conversation with her. At the same time, she could just as easily picture the short chunky popcorn munching guy with thick glasses kicked back as he worked on her civilian clearance before the military took her job from her.

Yeah.

You're being rammed.

"What?"

The unfriendlies got themselves a tank and now they're ramming the building.

"With a tank?"

It's crappy, but it's a tank. Hold for clearance. The voice was calm, clearly a safe distance from the action. His particular - skills - were much more valuable to her removed from bullets and makeshift tanks in a closet of a room surrounded by state of the art computers than he was holding a gun. Harper rarely wished she could change spots with him.

With a grunt, Harper reached out to grab the man before her. This is our stop! Shouldering her way through the door, Harper paused in the doorway when four giant men with even bigger guns appeared out of nowhere. Despite the fact that she'd seen them each before, had worked with them often, and had given a couple of them rides to safety more than once, they all knew that alliances changed with the wind. This wasn't the normal group she usually worked with. She wasn't getting through until they knew she was supposed to get through.

Let's go ladies! Harrison's voice sounded behind her. A nod from him as he passed her with human cargo served as her passport. Two of the four men with guns acted as mobile walls on either side of them as they turned their backs on her, facing the line of people surrounding them. The other two grabbed Volzhski and Harper effectively herding them