Shielding Abigail-Delta: Delta Force Defenders Novel

By Jennifer Becker

Aaron "Hound" Bradford has only ever had two loves: Being a Delta Force operative and computers. He lives in a fortified house outside of town and watches the world through his monitors. His life forever changes when none other than his FBI contact, Blade, comes to his door. The problem is she is supposed to be a he and she needs his help tracking down a killer.

 

Abigail Sharpe-code name Blade-is a field agent for the FBI. For two years she has been tracking a serial killer. When several agents are killed because of her, she is suspended, and the case given to another. With no other choice but to solve the crime herself, Abigail enlists the aid of the only man she knows who can help her. 

 

Between their computer skills and Aaron's military background, she knows they can capture the killer before he finds another victim. Together they follow the clues that lead to the serial killer and a very deadly connection to Abigail. The closer they come to finding the killer the closer the two get to each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Sep 18, 2018

Book preview

Shielding Abigail

A Delta Force Defenders Novel

By Jennifer Becker

Editing by Mad as a Hatter Editing Services. Jenny Dillion.

All rights reserved. Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.

Copyright © 2018 by Jennifer Becker

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 One

Abigail Sharp, a field agent for the FBI led her team through the remote woods of Utah near the Idaho border looking for a suspect known only as the Doll Maker. He dressed all his victims up and placed them near park entrances after he killed them. According to BAU, Behavior Analysis Unit, the suspect was believed to be a male in his late thirties and targeted women in their late twenties to early thirties with auburn hair and blue eyes. He would kidnap them, rape them and leave them to be discovered. Abagail had been chasing the Doll Maker for the past two months. She used her computer skills and some help from a computer colleague, Hound from California to track the Doll Maker.

Abigail walked on silent feet through the woods that led to a cabin falling apart in the middle of nowhere. Pine needles littered the ground making walking silently a challenge, but one she was up for. The closest road to the cabin was fifteen miles away. They had parked a few miles back and walked in, so the suspect didn’t hear their approach. The trees were so dense the only way in was on foot or if you had a four-wheeler. She couldn’t risk using one and alerting the Doll Maker they were close. It was the closest she had ever gotten to him. It had only been through an anonymous tip that they even knew where the suspect might be.

Abigail looked to her left and saw three of her team members in their blue FBI jackets and hats easing their way through the trees. She looked to her right and saw four more team members which included her pain in the ass teammate for this assignment, Dan Fischer. She met him when she came through training, and he thought he was the greatest gift to womankind, and all should bow down to him. Or at least get on their knees and suck his cock. His words, not hers. Abigail didn’t like his cockiness, but he was a hell of an agent, so she put up with him. There run-ins were few and far between. This case was top priority so every available agent was on it. He asked her out every now and then, but she always said no.

Dan looked over at her, sensing her looking at him and gave her a reassuring smile. This was it. After two months of hunting the Doll Maker down, she was finally going to catch him. Abigail smiled back at Dan and nodded. Anticipation thrummed through her veins. It took all her years of training not to just run up to the door and snag him. She couldn’t get ahead of herself. There was no proof the suspect was here. It was a hunch and a lot of computer research based off the tip.

She turned back to the cabin and signaled the team to spread out and surround the cabin. She wouldn’t let this suspect get away. The team surrounded the cabin, Dan and Abigail went up the front steps to the door. The rotten boards of the porched creaked under their feet, and Abigail had to move slowly over the boards, so as not to make more noise than she already was. She tested the door and found it locked. That wasn’t surprising. The front window on the left side of the door was boarded up so she couldn’t see in. She put her ear to the door but didn’t hear a sound inside. Pulling away she nodded to Dan who dropped down to one knee and pulled out a lockpick. He unlocked the door and stood off to the side with his weapon ready and his flashlight over his gun. It was daylight out but with the window boarded up it would be pitch black inside.

Ready? he whispered to her.

Abigail cocked her gun and pulled out a flashlight and held it over her gun and took a step back and aimed at the door and nodded.

Dan counted down from three. At one he opened the door. Abigail raced in with Dan right behind her. They spread out and searched the premises. The cabin was only a few hundred square feet. It had a small kitchenette with a few cupboards. The living room only had a couch in it. There was no back bedroom. After a quick sweep, she ordered her team to stand down.

This doesn’t make sense. All my intel has this guy right here. Abigail growled in frustration. She was so sure he would be here. Her data had never lied to her before. She poured hours of time and resources into locating the suspect off the tip. He should be here. It didn’t make sense. She wanted to kick something in frustration but refrained. It wouldn’t help her. Just contaminate at evidence if the suspect had been there.

Maybe we missed him? Dan suggested while he rummaged through the fridge.

Are you seriously looking for a snack? Abigail gaped in shock. Can’t you wait until we get back to town?

Contrary to common belief I don’t eat 24/7, Dan said while looking through the fridge.

You know you’re not going to find him in there. Abigail holstered her gun and looked around but didn’t see any indication someone had been staying here. It looked like it had been abandoned for years. If the suspect had been using the place he was very clean. Even the cobwebs in the windows hadn’t been disturbed.

No, but I can tell if he went on a recent shopping trip, can’t I? Dan pulled away from the fridge with a take-out container. He looked at its contents and sniffed it. Still smells good.

Thank you for that demonstration, Lassie. Next, you’ll tell me the guy fell down a well, and we have to go after him?

Dan clutched his heart in fake shock. Ouch, Abbie straight to the heart. And here I was trying to impress you with my detective skills.

You want to impress me, show me where the Doll Maker is, Abigail said dully.

I’m working on it, smart ass.  We know he’s been here. The food is recent and hasn’t gone bad.

True, but that could mean he left an hour ago or days ago. Food in a fridge isn’t going to help us that much. It helped some. If the place was abandoned, then there wasn’t power servicing the structure. So, it was only the interior weather keeping it cold.

Is it cold? she asked.

Not super but as cold as the room. Which meant it couldn’t have been there very long. Maybe a day. They could have just missed him.

That still doesn’t help narrow down a time when he was here. Just then an ear-piercing scream rang through the cabin. Abigail immediately pulled out her gun and looked around for the source.

No, but that might, Dan said as he threw the container on the floor and took out his weapon.

Abigail went back on the porch to see if she heard it again. Her teammates were looking around for the source as well. All remained silent as they stood there and listened. The trees made noise bounce, and without hearing it again, Abigail couldn’t pinpoint from where it was coming from.

Forget it, Abbie. Could have been a bird or a hiker nearby. Dan walked off the porch ready to call it quits.

No, Abigail refused to give up. She knew the suspect was here. She could feel it in her bones. They were so close. That scream had been the victim that had been stolen three days ago. Abigail went back inside the cabin and looked around. The room didn’t fit the profile. This room didn’t look like a place that had been inhabited. There were no towers nearby or power sources so why would the suspect put take-out food in a fridge that didn’t have any power.

To throw them off the track. He was here. The cabin was camouflage. There had to be another place he was holding her. An underground chamber made the most sense.

Abigail was stepping back to alert her team to look in the surrounding area when the floor creaked under her boot. It shouldn’t have surprised her with how old the cabin was, but it didn’t sound like a normal floorboard creaking. Abigail turned her flashlight to the ground and saw she was standing over a rug. A rug and creaky floor. Trapdoor.

Abbie, what’s taking so long? Let’s go. He’s not here. Dan called to her from the doorway.

Dan, I think I found a trap door, she whispered while slowly stepping off the rug. She didn’t want to alert the suspect that they were still there.

Dan stepped back into the cabin and helped her throw back the rug. Sure enough, there was a trap door. Well, I’ll be, Dan muttered.

Abigail alerted the team they found a door and to send a few men up. She wanted to leave the rest of the team topside just in case the suspect escaped. Also, the fewer people down the hole, the less likely they were to make noise and scare the suspect away. She had worked too long to find the suspect to allow him to slip through her fingers all because someone made too much noise. I’ll go first, Abigail said after four team members came into the cabin.

You sure? Dan made it sound like he was trying to protect her, but she knew he was a glory hound. He would love nothing more than to brag he found the suspect first or saved her if need be. It was why she never dated him when he asked. It didn’t hurt that she had a no dating colleague’s policy. It was better not to get emotionally involved with anyone in her line of work. She didn’t like anyone like that anyway.

Hound had been the only man she had bonded with, and sadly it had only been over the computer. She would help him out with some of his mission work, and he would lend her his expertise. She had found Hound several years ago hacking into the FBI database. She caught him, but it had taken a while. He was the first to match her if not surpass her in computer skills. Per protocol, she should have reported him, but soon she found herself liking him and they started helping each other out. She just made him promise to stay out of their database without permission. He still tried sneaking in the stinker, but she always caught him. Or he just let himself get caught. They talked online on occasion, and the only names they went by were Hound, and she called herself Blade. It allowed her to keep some separation from work and if he ever tracked her down, he would never know who she really was.

Being FBI and privy to more networks, she had been able to track him down. Hound was really Aaron Bradford who lived near Fort Irwin in California, and he was a member of the Delta Forces. There was no picture of him but after all the years talking to him she bet she would know him in an instant. Hound just had that kind of persona. She longed to meet him, but she had never taken a vacation and had no reason to hunt him down. Their relationship worked the way it was. There was no reason to mess with it.

I’m sure, Abigail said getting refocused. She couldn’t think about Hound right now. She couldn’t afford any distractions.

Dan opened the door, and Abigail used her flashlight to look down. It wasn’t a far drop. Maybe seven feet. It was a long dugout tunnel that stretched both ways further then she could see. The tunnel was lit every so many feet with an overhead light. There must be a generator down there.

Ladies first, Dan said with a cocky grin.

Chapter Two

He was expecting her to chicken out and he would have to lead. Not a chance. Abigail swung her legs over the opening and pushed herself into the hole. She dropped down into a crouch with her gun aimed down the tunnel to the left before turning to the right to make sure the coast was clear. She stepped out of the way to allow Dan to drop down then the other team members.

Which way do we go, Abbie? Dan asked her.

Abigail looked both ways not sure. They looked identical, and all was quiet. We split up. You go right, and I’ll go left.

Abbie we shouldn’t be separated down here. Who knows how long these tunnels go on for not to mention if there are side tunnels. We could be down here for days and have no way of finding each other. Tell her something she didn’t know. She didn’t want them to be separated. She would have no back up down here, but it was the only way to get to the girl in time. A life depended on her.

We’ll cover more ground this way. We’re running out of time. He only keeps his victims alive for three to four days max before he kills them. This girl has already been missing for three. You take two agents, and I’ll take two agents.

Fine, Dan grounded out