Alliance: Part Two: A Box Set

By Jambrea Jo Jones

Alliance: Part Two a box set

4 Reward Vacation can be its own reward.

5 Annihilation It's the end of the world as they know it...

6 Avenger Sometimes going back is all you can do...

A government agency isn't a place you'd expect to find love.

Not all are soldiers, but the Alliance has a long arm and touches many lives.

The Galaxy may just be big enough for espionage, murder, science and honour among men.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781839430398

Jambrea Jo Jones

Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug. She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She's addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime.

Book preview

Pride Publishing books by Jambrea Jo Jones

Single Books

Wishing Star

Tell Me Now

Rayne’s Wild Ride

Playing With Fire

The Billionaire’s Bribe

Alliance

Retribution

Salvation

Freedom

Reward

Annihilation

Avenger

Collections

Saddle Up N Ride: A Fistful of Emmett

Stealing My Heart: Stealing Michael

Totally Five Star: Vegas Sin

Anthologies

Unconventional at Best: Operation: Get Spencer

Unconventional in Atlanta: Where Tomorrow Shines

An Unconventional Chicago: Love Don’t Die

Unconventional in San Diego: Blood on the Moon

Unconventional in Kansas City: Playing with Fire

Stand to Attention: On the Home Front

I Need a Hero: Saving the Day

ALLIANCE: PART TWO

Reward

Annihilation

Avenger

JAMBREA JO JONES

Alliance: Part Two

ISBN # 978-1-83943-039-8

©Copyright Jambrea Jo Jones 2017

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright August 2017

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2020 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

REWARD

Book four in the Alliance series

Vacation can be its own reward.

James Rodrick deserved a vacation. Running around the galaxy protecting people can be a rough road. His first officer was nicely settled and a cure for a deadly disease had been found. Time for a break. Alphonse Carter was not what the doctor ordered. A con man on the run does not a vacation make.

Alphonse Carter lived life high on the hog pretending to be something he wasn’t. His undercover identity was discovered and now he must flee before he is caught by the wrong side. Hijacking a captain with Alliance ties wasn’t in the cards, but he had to take what he could.

Will mistaken identity cause havoc or romance?

Dedication

To my GRL girls! Rhonda, Ivelisse, Susan of the many names and Jaime Samms. Thank you for the wonderful memories that I will cherish forever and for hanging with me for most of our time there! Next year we’ll do it all over again!

And…to the fantaboulous Joy.

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Closer: Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails

Thing One & Thing Two: Dr Seuss

Chapter One

This was the life. James Rodrick pulled a pair of solar goggles from his pack and lay back on the lounger. He needed this vacation. The last few months had put a strain on his belief in right and wrong. Zeb II was the perfect place to put his worries behind him and relax.

His best friend and ex-first mate, Maverick Sayers, was married and settled on Adair and it was time for James to evaluate what he wanted out of life, but that would wait. Right now he wanted to do nothing but clear his mind. The day was heating up. Maybe later he’d take a swim.

Jim activated the e-reader feature in his shades. A little light reading, a nap, a good dinner and a cocktail followed by dancing later on would do nicely for the rest of the day. He loved to dance and didn’t get to do it nearly enough. Usually he was busy hauling cargo. The life of an ex-Alliance soldier was boring unless they turned mercenary.

He’d left the Alliance after what had happened to his good friend Rave Anders. A few years ago Rave had been wrongly accused of theft and sent to a prison planet. Rave never talked about what had happened to him on that waste of space, but Jim didn’t need much of an imagination to figure it out.

His good friend had changed and Rave’s partner, Kain Sims, had disappeared. The last Jim had heard they were back together and things were going well. It was Rave who had helped Jim get going with his cargo business. Jim needed the stability and having his own ship let him be in control. He didn’t have to worry about the mucky grey area the Alliance seemed to bleed into all too regularly. There was only a right way and a wrong way.

Jim pushed thoughts of the Alliance from his mind. The book he was reading was about life on Earth a millennia ago. Fascinating stuff about creatures called dinosaurs. The book touted itself as non-fiction, but Jim wasn’t too sure if it was, especially since the author spouted what amounted to speculation. The great flood of 2050 had wiped out all the physical evidence of life on Earth before humans, then World War III had pretty much destroyed the planet as his ancestors had known it.

The only good thing to come out of the war was space travel. Jim wouldn’t have been where he was today without it. He wondered if he could get a crew together to go exploring some of the old world, but that would be too much work. He’d need permits to even think about heading to Earth. The Alliance guarded it too closely and they wouldn’t let someone who’d walked away from them poke his nose around.

It was a nice thought though. Jim read more on the theories of what had happened to the creatures and hoped it would keep his attention.

Who was he kidding? He was getting restless. It had only been an hour and the story was okay, the sun nice and hot, with a cool breeze coming off the sea, but he wanted to do something. Jim tossed his goggles aside and sat up. Maybe he’d go for a run. This was the first day of his vacation and he wasn’t handling it very well. He still had six days to go until he could go back to his ship—he’d scheduled an overhaul of the systems to force himself to relax. Usually if they took a break from freighting, he and Maverick would hit up a few places and visit with friends but now it was just him. And a pity party for one was not cutting it, so a run it was.

The com he’d carelessly tossed to the side in the sand buzzed before he got completely out of the lounger.

Rodrick.

James, how’s vacation going?

A smile worked its way over his face. It was good to hear from his former first mate.

Maverick! Why’re you calling me? Shouldn’t you be wallowing in matrimonial bliss?

So…vacation isn’t going as planned?

What makes you say that?

You sound tense and you’re avoiding the question. Maverick’s laugh echoed across the com. What’re you doing right now?

Getting ready for a run, if you must know.

You need to be getting ready for a good hard fuck.

Mav! Maverick’s husband’s voice was distant, but clear.

Jim missed Maverick, but he was happy he’d finally made a go of it with Voss. Things had been hairy for a while when Voss had almost been forced to marry someone else because his uncle had gone crazy with a plague that was travelling around the universe. The entire situation was one of the reasons Jim had forced himself to come alone to a pleasure planet.

He’d had to hedge the truth while helping Voss out and he’d hated every second of it. Jim was an honest man and lying was too much of a gray area that always came back to bite him in the butt. He’d learned that the hard way at a young age.

You leave my sex life out of it. Did you call for a reason or just to mess with me?

Just to mess with you. Okay, not really. Voss and I were thinking—

Uh oh.

"Now, James—shut it. We were talking about setting up a better trade route with other planets close by. I know when we were running freight it was few and far between for drops to Adair. Would you be willing to sign the Reward up for more frequent port calls?"

Miss me already?

You may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but you’re my pain and we’re—family. I’d like to have you around more.

We can talk after I’m done here. I’ll head that way and we can discuss it in person. Now let me get on with my vacation.

Yeah—because running is so much fun.

It relaxes me.

I know something else that would rel—

Didn’t I say to leave my sex life out of this? Go spend some time with your husband.

Maverick’s laughter was all he heard before the call ended. His friend did have a point. It’d been a while since he’d been laid. The island had a nice bar. He’d have to see about picking someone up for a night of fun once the clubs opened at twilight. And if that didn’t work he could always hire someone, it was a pleasure planet after all. Anything a person desired could be found or bought here.

Jim gathered his things and headed for his room to grab running gear. He changed out of his swim trunks into a pair of running shorts. They were nice and tight, keeping everything where it needed to be. His shoes were next then his shades. He loved those babies, one of his first splurges. In addition to the e-reader, a music player was programmed into them so he didn’t have to worry about carrying around a bunch of different devices. He could use some of the hard pumping beats from Nine Inch Nails. Good oldies, none of that weird instrumental crap that seemed to be all the rage these days.

He set a slow pace to get a feel of the path, Closer pounding in his ears with the heavy bass and sexual heat flowing through him. Jim increased his pace and followed the sidewalk, passing an alleyway. A motion caught his eye and he turned to see a group of men huddled around a door. Nothing seemed out of place so he kept on with his run, thinking about later tonight and what kind of man he wanted to hook up with.

* * * *

A movement at the mouth of the alley stopped Alphonse Carter from entering the door to the club. It probably saved his life. He’d have to find the jogger and thank him—later. Blocking the door stood a man with a sword that Al was about to be pushed into. The pause had given him a chance to brace his arms against the doorway.

What’s with the old hardware, man? Put that thing away before you kill someone. Al swatted at Tommy’s hands, making him shift the rusted sword away from anything vital.

You have some splainin’ to do, and the boss man? He don’t care none if you’s a little—messy. The punk stroked his sword and grinned.

Overcompensate much? Al snorted. Tommy, you’re going to hurt yourself or get—I don’t know—tetanus or something from that rusty piece of crap. Now stop being a fuckhead and take me to Vincent.

Al pushed past the goon squad. He had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. His contact had sent him in blind. The big deal was weeks away. A shipment of Promise, the newest mind-altering drug on the market, was due to change hands soon. It was his job to make sure that didn’t happen and he’d have no Alliance support on this one. He was deep undercover. The last-minute call had him on edge and Al took a good look around the abandoned warehouse until his gaze landed on a big sheet of plastic covering about twenty square feet of the floor. He was almost on it. The tip of his shoes brushed the edge, but he didn’t let the panic show as it crinkled against his foot.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Not good.

Vincent sat in a chair on the other edge of the plastic, impeccably dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a rose in the lapel. A laser dangled in his hands, a bonus accessory. A pair of black gloves and a red tie completed the ensemble. On each side of Vincent stood two bodyguards in matching attire, their hands loosely by their sides, no weapons visible.

Hey! The three amigos! Lookin’ sharp guys. Brash was the only way Al knew how to be. If he was going to die, it wouldn’t be begging for his life.

Thank you for showing up, Phonse. I have a matter to take care of before I get to you.

Well, at least it seemed his cover was still intact. Vincent hadn’t called him by his real name. That had to account for something. Maybe he was just here to see someone else get punished. To keep Al in line. He’d seen it before in his undercover work. These kinds of guys were all about brute force and showing they had power with bloodshed.

Boss, you said— Tommy waved his sword around and stepped to the middle of the plastic.

The sizzle from the laser stopped Tommy in mid-sentence. It took a second for Al’s brain to catch up with his body. He lay flat on the floor with hands covering his head. As if that would really protect him from the slice and burn of a laser weapon. He looked across to see Tommy with a round hole in his head. No blood because the laser had cauterized as it inflicted its damage. Al wondered what the plastic was for, those lasers didn’t make a mess. There had to be more coming, because if they were just planning on using the laser, they wouldn’t have worried about the protection.

Now then, Phonse…or should I say Alphonse Carter. Not very inventive on your undercover name there, were you?

Fuck, man. I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about. Al stood, but didn’t move any closer.

"Now, now. No need to lie. Tommy should have never vouched for you. Of course, he thought he’d be the one to off you, but I couldn’t leave someone who is so lax in background checks alive, can I? And he would have gone too easy on you. He may have carried a sword, but he had no idea how to use one to its full potential. Lorenz on the other hand, he’s a thing of beauty with his knives."

One of the bodyguards moved beside Tommy’s corpse. He had blades in his hands. How could Al forget that they liked to get up close and personal? One of the trademarks of the Legion Clan was knife work, so others would know a rat. The last agent assigned to their case had been flayed alive and there was no way in hell Al would stand here and let that happen to him.

There had to be a leak somewhere. Al was sure as hell going to survive this so he could find the bastard.

Chapter Two

"Go after him, Lorenz. Bring him back alive. I want to watch him squirm. And find out who his contacts are. We can’t have the Alliance come down on this deal. It’s too big and I’ll be damned if they get their hands on my money. Frank—go with him. Alphonse can be bloodied up a bit, but not dead. Get it? Or you two will be down there with Tommy."

Vincent waved them away. They were his two best men and would get the job done. It was time to cleanse his force and get some smart men on his side. There was no way that Alliance agent should have been able to waltz out of the building. Vincent calmly stood and shot the other three men in the room. One tried to go for a weapon, but he was dead before it cleared.

He despised this level of his organization. They were scum and he hated that he needed them to do the grunt work, but he didn’t like getting his hands dirty, making them an evil necessity. Vincent shouldn’t have to clean up his own messes. That’s what he had staff for. His father had taught him well—stick with the upper class and leave the dirt to the servants.

Now he needed to get someone on cleanup duty. These bodies didn’t ever need to be found and no one would miss them. He went to the back of the warehouse where he’d left his communicator. There was only one man for this job. Erik Angel. He’d get it cleaned up and thank Vincent for the opportunity. The man had been on the scene for a while. He never claimed affiliation with any of the clans, he did merc work. Give him enough money and he’d do whatever you wanted, up to a point. When Vincent had been drunk one night he’d made the mistake of offering Mr. Angel money for a sexual favor.

Vincent had been lucky to get out of there with his balls intact. He’d never made that mistake again. But now he needed Mr. Angel to take care of all these bodies so he could get the next crew in here to finish up the packaging. Next week this shit would be out of here and he’d be sitting on a gold mine. Literally. Better than exchanging money any day. Half the sale was in property and the other in credit. He was a smart man and knew a good investment when he saw one.

Boss—what the hell?

Jerome, my good man, is your crew ready? I’ll just be a moment and I’ll have this mess cleared away. Vincent grinned.

He enjoyed watching the nervous gulp and nod from one of his lackeys. Vincent knew they called him crazy behind his back, but he wasn’t. Calculated, yes. A killer, yes, but nuts? No. He just did what needed to be done so he could make money.

Yes, sir. We’re ready whenever.

Why don’t you go ahead to the tables in back and get started. Don’t worry about this out here. Like I said, I’m getting that taken care of.

It would do this crew good to see the others on the ground dead. They’d work more efficiently in the hopes that this wouldn’t be their fate.

Yes, sir. Jerome gestured to someone Vincent couldn’t see and he waited until they all filtered past, looking each of them in the eye until the last was gone.

Vincent reached his com unit and placed a call to Mr. Angel.

Angel.

This is Vincent Legion and I have a cleanup job for you.

Where?

My warehouse.

Same terms?

Yes, the money will be transferred as soon as you agree.

I’ll be there in five minutes.

There were no goodbyes, just the end of the communication. Not that Vincent expected any less. He moved the money over and went back to his chair to wait. He figured Mr. Angel would show up first, before his men brought back the spy. Alphonse was an agent. He’d have a few tricks up his sleeve. Lorenz and Frank were two of his best men, but Alphonse had been able to stay undercover in his operation for over a year. No other agent had lasted that long. So either the man was good, or Vincent was getting sloppy. And he refused to believe that he was getting sloppy.

His father was probably rolling over in his grave right now at the mess this whole thing would cause. If Alphonse made it to the Alliance it would make more work for Vincent. He’d have to change up just about everything. Including the terms of the sale. Phonse had worked his way up pretty quickly and he knew about this warehouse as well as the alternate one and who Vincent planned on selling the goods to. Not to mention knowing about the gold mine. No way could Vincent accept that now as terms of payment. He’d had plans damn it and this fucking agent wasn’t going to ruin them.

Vincent was riled up, but Mr. Angel chose that moment to walk in and he forced himself into a peaceful frame of mind. Erik—he’d never call him that to his face—looked brilliant, in a long black coat, black pants and top. Even his gloves were black. It was hot outside, but Erik didn’t sweat. He stood to greet the other man, but he didn’t offer his hand because Erik Angel didn’t touch—anyone—ever.

Mr. Legion, I didn’t expect you to still be here.

Yes, I’m waiting for my men to return with a problem child.

I see.

No more words were spoken and Vincent once again returned to his seat.

Erik was efficient. He used the plastic to roll up one of the men. Vincent didn’t stop him. He had more in the back. He’d need it when Alphonse returned. One by one the men were taken from the building through a back door.

This part of the neighborhood didn’t have a lot of foot traffic and that was how Vincent liked it. The local police force was in his pocket anyway, but it wouldn’t do for a stupid tourist to see something they weren’t supposed to.

He hated killing them because there was always some kind of mess. They had family that couldn’t always be shut up with money.

Now he was happy he’d stayed and could watch Mr. Angel in action. His tight body flowed when he walked, no motion was wasted and he never once took off his coat. Vincent still didn’t see any signs of perspiration. It couldn’t be possible, or shouldn’t be. But Mr. Angel was efficient and quick.

Lorenz and Frank should’ve been back by now. He wondered what was taking them so long. He should have just said shoot to kill, it would have been easier.

Erik jerked his chin up with a goodbye and left the building one last time. Vincent wondered what he’d need to do to make Mr. Angel his. All that power—Vincent wanted to control it, mold it into his own. Thoughts of Mr. Angel as his pet had Vincent harder than he’d ever been, but he’d have to wait for that. Now wasn’t the time to tame the beast. Later, after this drug deal went down, he’d send someone to fetch his Angel. Yes, from now on he would call him Angel and the man would learn to love it or die while Vincent forced the matter.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. He waited many years to enjoy the powers of the merc. He’d have to keep him dosed with a little Promise. Vincent chuckled to himself, but his mirth left him when Lorenz and Frank walked in looking worse for wear and empty-handed.

Vincent didn’t stand. He waited until they were both in front of him.

Sorry boss. They said in unison.

Why am I hearing sorry? What the fuck happened? There are two of you, it should have been an easy catch.

That fucker is fast, sir. And brutal. I didn’t see a weapon on him, but he fucked us up good. But that’s not all—he kidnapped some guy off the street. Frank filled him in.

I don’t care. You should have grabbed them both.

The locals were starting to get involved and we didn’t think you’d want that kinda heat. At least not now. Lorenz tried to soothe him, but that wasn’t going to work.

I pay the locals to keep their mouths shut.

They weren’t the police. Frank tried for calm, but Vincent could already hear the panic seeping in.

I don’t care. Vincent stood.

He might have said he would kill them for not bringing him Alphonse, but he couldn’t because they were two of his most trusted advisors. He stood and got into Lorenz’s face.

You’re lucky I don’t shoot you both now, but I need you to find out where Alphonse Carter went and figure out who he kidnapped. Report back to me, but don’t come back if you have bad news. Is that understood?

He didn’t raise his voice at all and he didn’t need to. He took delight when Lorenz flinched.

Yes, sir. Lorenz cleared his throat. We’re on top of that.

Good. Vincent stepped around the duo and left the warehouse.

It was time to adjust his plans. No way would the Alliance scum take control of his business. He’d worked too hard growing his work to outdo his father, he would not be stopped now.

A shadow in the alley had Vincent pulling his laser free and clicking the safety off. He flattened his back against the brick wall and took a deep breath. Was it Alphonse? Did he come back? He couldn’t be that stupid.

Vincent peered around the corner only to be pulled deeper into the dark space, his laser jerked from his hand. Vincent struggled, he wouldn’t go down like some punk in a dark dirty alley. Not him! But he couldn’t move.

Did I hear that you’re going after Alphonse Carter?

He knew that voice, but he couldn’t place it. He couldn’t speak. The person had a hand around his throat so he gave a swift nod and choked as the arm squeezed tighter.

Stay the fuck away from him or I will come after you and no one will be able to save you.

The arm loosened.

What— Vincent had to clear his throat. What’s it to you?

He was able to turn to see none other than Mr. Angel. This put an interesting spin on the situation. Why did a merc care about an Alliance agent unless—no, not Erik Angel. There was no way the guy was Alliance. Ex-Alliance—maybe, but still, what was so special about this one guy.

None of your fucking business, but leave him alone.

Vincent didn’t have time to react as something smashed into his face and the world went dark.

Chapter Three

Al dashed behind a building, narrowly escaping the notice of Thing One and Thing Two, Vincent’s right and left hand. They were getting too close and he was going to have to do something quickly. He didn’t want innocent bystanders to get caught in the cross fire. Not that he had a weapon. He’d dropped the fuckin’ laser about a mile or so back.

He peeked around the corner and was spotted. His best bet might be to take them both out, but they were big. Shit. He moved forward with the wall behind his back so no one could sneak up on him.

You’re screwed. Just come with us nice like and everything’ll be peachy.

The snort was unintentional, but it made Thing One’s face turn a really angry shade of red.

Knock him out and be done with it. We’re attracting attention! Thing Two looked around all nervous like.

That could play into his favor. He kicked out at Thing One, going for the knees causing him to stumble, but not go down and Thing One even managed to take a swing, connecting with Al’s face. Al stayed on his feet too, but not by much, if it wasn’t for the wall he might be down for the