Sabre

By KC Kendricks

Sam Breeden is a highly skilled operative known as SABRE. Genetically engineered, Sam is very good at what he does, but his propensity to act on the truth, and not his orders, continually lands him on the bad side of his handlers. When he's instructed to find, and eliminate, a mythical assassin known only as Absinthe, Sam quickly becomes aware all is not as it seems. He suspects the evidence against Absinthe was planted and goes against his orders. 

The man called Absinthe holds the key to Sam's past. He inserts himself into Sam's orbit – and bed – with the intent to lead Sam to the truth. He's not guilty of the crime, but he's far from innocent. He knows Sam's been played by his agency and the path to their survival means walking a crooked line.

Finding the truth isn't easy, and believing it is even harder. Sam and Absinthe make a desperate play for freedom, because if they can't get free, they can never be together.

* * *

"What is your name, anyway?"

"You can call me 'Darling'."

I snorted. "Well, 'Darling', I'm very interested in where you're getting your information."

"I just bet you are, SABRE."

We stared at each other, and not with lustful longing or budding friendship. ­­But maybe there was a bit of grudging respect floating between us.

"Look, 'Darling'. I know you can't tip your hand too far. I want to know why and how a middle-aged banker, a do-gooder, ends up dead in the middle of what might be a mob hit."

That got his attention. "Mob hit? How do you figure?"

"You said look into Hawkes. I did. He's got Chicago political connections and that could indicate organized crime. If you can believe anything on the Internet, that is."

He scratched his chin. "The only dot that connects here is Hawkes is the one who wants Milan's death investigated. He called McCune and invited the NSCA to become involved, being Milan is an American citizen, and all."

I stretched, arching my back and wiggling my toes. "Darling" was correct, but I sensed something more sinister at work. I beat my pillow to fluff it. "And Hawkes is part of Sinope, something the Internet doesn't know. He'd have the clout to have Milan silenced and to make any evidence implicating himself vanish. So why would he call the NSCA if he's implicated in anything? That's a hanging dot for me. It doesn't connect based on what little we know."

"So we really need to know what Milan was doing."

I stared at him again. "We? We? Who's 'we'?"

"Darling" looked out the window, a heavy drape strategically held in front of his body.

"London's nice, but I like Paris. City of Light and all that."

I stepped out of my jeans and draped them over a chair. I either had to avail myself of the laundry service or have some new clothes delivered.

"Darling, I'm not fond of Paris. I killed man there."

I was surprised by the compassion in his blue eyes. "I know it was self-defense."

How much about me did he know? Did he know I still had nightmares about what had happened in Paris? I shook my head.

"It doesn't matter that he pulled a gun and got off a shot at me. There was a truth to learn and I failed. He couldn't tell me after I put him down."

"You won't fail this time. You've got me on your side."

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
• Release date: May 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533739452

KC Kendricks

KC Kendricks calls herself an accidental writer. After completing her first novel writing as Rayne Forrest, she was urged to submit it to a publisher, and everything snowballed from there. Today, the author has had over seventy books published. In July of 2021, she tried to retire but her employer offered her a deal to work at home. She accepted. Now she balances work, writing, and hearth and home in a controlled chaos. A native of scenic western Maryland, the author enjoys most activities that don’t include snow. In warm weather she might be found walking the dog, biking on the C&O Canal towpath, planting delicacies in her garden for the deer to munch on at night, playing in the creek, or lazing on the patio with her Kindle reader or laptop. She recently began to research her family history and can't drive past a cemetery without stopping to search for family sites. Her mission is to photograph old tombstones before the elements erode the stones and the names are lost to time. For more about KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest’s writing life, please visit the Between the Keys blog at http:kckendricks.blogspot.com . If you’d like to know more about the author’s country lifestyle and her daily activities full of simple country pleasures (and a lot of work), please visit the Holly Tree Manor blog at http://hollytreemanor.blogspot.com . KC can be reached through her blog, Between the Keys. All comments are strictly moderated by the author and personal messages are treated as such. Follow the author on Twitter for up-to-date announcements at Twitter.com/KCKendricks.

Book preview

About SABRE

Sam Breeden is a highly skilled operative known as SABRE. Genetically engineered, Sam is very good at what he does, but his propensity to act on the truth, and not his orders, continually lands him on the bad side of his handlers. When he’s instructed to find, and eliminate, a mythical assassin known only as Absinthe, Sam quickly becomes aware all is not as it seems. He suspects the evidence against Absinthe was planted and goes against his orders.  

The man called Absinthe holds the key to Sam’s past. He inserts himself into Sam’s orbit – and bed – with the intent to lead Sam to the truth. He’s not guilty of the crime, but he’s far from innocent. He knows Sam’s been played by his agency and the path to their survival means walking a crooked line.

Finding the truth isn’t easy, and believing it is even harder. Sam and Absinthe make a desperate play for freedom, because if they can’t get free, they can never be together.

Praise for the writing of KC Kendricks

KC Kendricks never disappoints!"—Fallen Angel Reviews

..beautifully moving in all the right places...KC Kendricks gives us a well-crafted tale- The Romance Studio

Good to the last word....- Sensual Reads

...Seriously entertaining and totally engaging...- Joyfully Reviewed

...solidly written contemporary romance...-Jessewave

CHAPTER 1

The fingers I felt sneaking between my thighs to nudge at my balls was reason to wake but not move. Where was I? More importantly, who the fuck had I bedded down with last night? And why, oh why, had I sucked down five shots of whiskey in less than an hour? And why had it hit me so hard?

There was stealthy movement behind me. If he thought he could get me from the rear he was mistaken. I rolled over and glared at my agency handler, surprised.

What the hell was he doing here?

Where’d you come from and you know I don’t catch.

C’mon, Sam. All the wasted years. All the chances missed. Don’t you want to know what you’ve let pass? Just this once?

I’ve heard it all before, Nate. From ‘we could die tomorrow’ to ‘I’ll love you forever’. The answer is still no. You’re not sticking your pencil dick up my ass.

I sat up and reached for my jeans to cover my lap. The thought of him ogling my manhood left me cold. Very cold. He wasn’t the stud I’d brought to my hotel room last night.

What did you do to the guy who was here? I asked as calmly as I was able, given the circumstances.

Oh, him. I handed him his clothes and shoved him out the door. You sure can pick ‘em. He was hot.

As if I didn’t know that. I smirked. You don’t know the half of it.

My memories of last night were a little foggy but one thing stood out. Whatever his name was, the guy I’d tricked had given me the best blowjob of my life.

Yes, the man had been fucking gorgeous. A tall, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed god with dark hair and just the right amount of scruff on his face that perfectly framed his very talented lips. And Nate the Asshole had tossed Mr. Gorgeous out before I could properly fuck him this morning. Now I had to admit something I’d preferred not to let him know.

Did you happen to get his name as you tossed him out?

Nate rolled his eyes. That can only mean one thing. You didn’t even ask him. That’s pretty stupid, Sam.

Hey. I didn’t fuck him. Hell, I didn’t even suck him. He did me, jerked off into my belly button, and fell asleep.

You’re getting too old for the spy game. You might want to start planning your retirement.

I didn’t like his tone. Officially, I’d messed up on my last assignment. Unofficially, I accomplished what I set out to do, which was to discover the truth. Maybe the young punk knew something I didn’t.

So what if he did? I wasn’t ready to allow the Agency to put me out to pasture. I might have fucked up a few nefarious plans of the upper echelons, but I closed the case. I was tired of dealing with this annoyance.

Why are you here, Nate? I’m on vacation.

You were, but McCune wants to see you, pronto. Like an hour ago.

To keep from grinning, I curled my lip at the little sycophant. Had trouble finding me, did you?

The façade of civility he wore cracked for a split second. I would’ve missed it if I’d not  been watching for it. Behind his air of genteel obedience to the Agency, he was a dishonest, simpering fool, and that was the reason I wouldn’t trick him.

No. We’ve had eyes on you since you were debriefed. Now get dressed. He’s waiting for us.

My perverse streak had to twist the proverbial knife in him a bit.

"You mean he’s waiting for me."

Nate snapped. Go to hell you fucking freak.

With that bit of nasty, he exited my hotel room and slammed the door behind himself. I got to my feet and made a quick trip to the bathroom. I knew how to shower in a hurry, but I took my time. McCune knew I was supposed to be taking what we both knew was a well-earned rest.

He also knew I detested my handler but he’d sent the weasel to fetch me anyway. Something was going on.

Thirty minutes later I stepped out of the hotel and into the passenger compartment of a waiting limousine. Nate glowered at me from the far corner of the back seat. I ignored him for the entire twenty-minute drive. 

It was easy. I closed my eyes and pretended to nap until I sensed the nose of the limo point down a steep incline. We’d arrived at the National Security & Counterintelligence Agency’s underground parking facility. Once we stopped, I didn’t wait for Nate. I climbed out of the car and entered the stairwell. He was too much of a pussy to climb. He’d take the elevator. He was lazy. That’s why he was soft.

McCune’s administrative assistant waited in the hall for me when I reached the eleventh floor. I barely heard her speak.

"Be careful, Sam. He’s resurfaced. I sent the file to your private cloud."

I froze on the spot. There was only one he who would have Deborah slinking around and whispering. He was myth and legend. I needed confirmation and so I kept my voice low.

Absinthe?

She nodded before she raised her voice to begin our usual bickering.

You’re in the deep shit, bucko. He’s been waiting for you for two hours and he has other appointments with people a lot more important than you.

More important than me? I don’t think so.

She opened the door.

You’re an egotistical bastard, Sam Breeden. I’ll be glad to see the last of you.

Oh, you love me, Deborah. You know you—

The inner office door opened and Melvin McCune glared at me.

Get in here. Now.

I stepped into his office and was not at all happy to see my handler once again present. I walked to the broad expanse of windows behind Melvin’s desk and peered out at the city. The District of Columbia was a lovely town in the spring and Melvin had a good view of the yearly cherry blossom explosion on the mall.

Are you two going to be all shitty with me when I’m technically on vacation? Tell me now so I can tune you out.

McCune motioned me to get out of his space.

You’ve already had a nice vacation. We sent you to a goddamned Club Fed for six months. All you had to do was obtain a confession and you fucked it up.

I invited myself to sit in one of his leather wing chairs. I got the truth, Melvin. The truth. I can’t help it if it made seven federal prosecutors look bad. I stretched out my legs and crossed my ankles. And as for being at a Club Fed, it’s incredibly boring to be stuck in one place for months on end.

Nate snorted. Not enough willing ass for you?

I didn’t take my eyes off McCune as I spoke to my handler.

You’re a disgusting worm, Nate. Why am I here?

McCune flipped a folder at me. He’s back.

I needed to play stupid to protect Deborah. She fed me all sorts of intelligence and I wouldn’t burn her for all the tea in China.

Who’s back?

Absinthe.

I raised an eyebrow and did my best to look surprised.