Hard Edge

By Capri Montgomery

Ares Aseop never thought he would be dishonorably discharged from the Air Force. He definitely didn’t think when he went to work for Code Black Security that he would be put in charge of the woman he thought was the reason he was involuntarily moved from the base he loved to the base that led to his being kicked out of the military. But when Ares meets Calista Kate Strands once again his desire for the woman who is older than he is and was once his commanding officer heats up strong. Saving her life means more than a paycheck to him. Can Ares figure out who is hunting her before the tangled web they both just got mixed up in lead them into a kill or be killed situation. Find out in Hard Edge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capri Montgomery
• Release date: Sep 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463782088

Capri Montgomery

Capri Montgomery started off writing poetry, crossed into the world of mystery and then found herself writing suspense with a huge chunk of romance. Capri is now crossing back into the mystery world with smart women solving problems they were never asked to solve and of course there is always that handsome man and that beautiful woman who could be so much more if ever they would stop stepping on each other’s crime solving toes. Of course the suspense romance is always with her so her suspense romance worlds will always be here with you too. Follow Capri Montgomery on her blog and on Twitter to keep up with the latest mystery and romantic suspense world building books.

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Copyright © 2019 Capri Montgomery

All Rights Reserved

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author’s permission is illegal and punishable by law.

Publisher’s Note:

Hard Edge is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any stock photo/graphic art drawing parts of the cover were free on Pixabay.

Cover design by Capri Montgomery

Table of Contentsf

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About the Author

Hard Edge

Capri Montgomery

Ares Aseop never thought he would be dishonorably discharged from the Air Force. He definitely didn’t think when he went to work for Code Black Security that he would be put in charge of the woman he thought was the reason he was involuntarily moved from the base he loved to the base that led to his being kicked out of the military. But when Ares meets Calista Kate Strands once again his desire for the woman who is older than he is and was once his commanding officer heats up strong. Saving her life means more than a paycheck to him. Can Ares figure out who is hunting her before the tangled web they both just got mixed up in lead them into a kill or be killed situation. Find out in Hard Edge.

Chapter One

Ares Aesop ambled in shoulders back, head high and eyes wide open. When he received the call demanding him to come back to Pensacola he was beyond pissed at the order. It wasn’t just that he hated that moment of having somebody wakeup thinking his day he had just got ready for wasn’t important so he must alter his plans it was simply that he hated leaving his version of heaven for hell. He was doing just fine in South Lake Tahoe forgetting about the mission he had just successfully completed. Staying at Black Bear Lodge with the fire place in the bedroom being perfectly located in the best places to ski or trek through nature.

He was at peace spending the time at the lake but he hadn’t rented a boat to enjoy it. He really just needed some time to clear his mind. The best part was the temperatures were unusually cool and not freezing. He had been told it was a rare winter warm breeze that the meteorologist swore would turn to ice come the weekend. He could handle ice if he had packed for a strong winter but he hadn’t. He was hitting the road two days before the weekend hit so he could get back to Arizona preferring to take the long road through the southern section so he could go back to the Valley in Arizona without having to go through Flagstaff, Sedona or any other area of the state already covered with snow. He took that road going because it was out of the way and he wanted to just escape from the world he lived in plus the people were nicer there whenever he managed his way up there, rarely, but he did make it during the summer months to escape some of the triple digit days. Of course he should have factored in the weather before he left home but his mind was wrapped around plotting his escape from home so much that he forgot the important things of what if there is an off center snowstorm where he was going. He had his chains to meet the tire chain rules of any location so that was set. He had his eye drops to help with the dry winter air, his nasal spray as a just in case, high level sunscreen because the mountains and lakes were a magnet for the sun even on a cloud laden day so he had to keep his body healthy and strong. He had his leather coat, the winter sweater his mother had been gracious enough to gift to him even though she knew he wasn’t a fur, real or faux, wearing man. Of course she had put that sweater in a box with rabbit fur earmuffs and wool gloves. That wasn’t his usual go but usually when at home for more than a hot minute the average lows were forty-two degrees Fahrenheit during the late night and rarely hitting freeze zone where he was at. It could drop below freezing on a storm driven weather front but most people weren’t stuck on oh God it’s going to snow ice either. He laughed to himself at his friend’s little sister uttering those words. It’s going to snow ice tonight, when the freeze warning had come in. Lana it cannot snow ice. It will either snow or you’ll get an ice storm but not both at the same time, her brother Lex had told her.

Ares never worried much about the earmuffs and wool knitted sweaters. He had tossed it all in the car but had failed to put more than one pair of his boots in his vehicle. It wasn’t that the Valley area was hot as the usual triple digits but it wasn’t down under the higher fifties in the later morning hours right now. While night hours could hit freezing zone in early winter time he could be in and out of wherever he was going before caring about that.

He got the call before he even had a chance to enjoy the unusual warm weather which meant he had to pay an exit fee for taking up space at the lodge and having to leave it behind. But he had to go because when duty called a man who wanted to keep his career in good standing with the new guy would get off his butt and head in to answer the call.

Ares had put in a lot of effort proving his dishonorable discharge didn’t define him. A year and a half trying to be the best didn’t come easily for him. With his last mission the General he was protecting seemed to be trying to make him punch him. The only saving grace he had was his girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend Tonisha. She had been the chime of sweetness and after his stay in D.C. he was anxious to get home to her. There was so much they could do to celebrate his staying on the good side of the boss until he came home and caught her humping a Marine snake who knew she was taken. And they were in his bed. He guess he could say it was for the best seeing as though he wasn’t in love with her the way a man should be before proposing a life together. He wanted to fall in love. He felt like he was there before but that hadn’t been real and while he didn’t have infinite confirmation of that he figured he was right. The kind of love he wanted didn’t come along much in this world and he was starting to think it didn’t come along at all. Love might not but once in a lifetime career second chances, if the person was lucky, could come around and he had gotten his second chance with Code Black Security.

Bane Denmark was over all of them linked to the east region no matter where they lived was a driving man. He had the idea in mind to retire from the Navy with his full twenty plus one until the Navy SEAL Elite-1 team took a hit and two went down in death and Bane got a hit to his left leg that kept him walking slower in inclement weather and his arm where lifting could be difficult if the temps fell under sixty-five. He was a fighter but he said sitting on his butt on desk duty in the Navy wasn’t something a SEAL could handle. He had started his company and despite injuries he had still been able to go out on assignments when needed without being watched over and over again. The company had grown fast and strong and Bane had opened up the western region bringing his brother Jason Denmark in to be the man over the San Diego office. Bane had gone in hard on his own company making Code Black Security highly coveted and Ares didn’t want to screw anything up here. He had a second chance