Second Coming

By Carol Ann Brown

Kyrie takes her team to her hometown of Auburn Heights, Montana to track down a team of serial killers. That is, if she can bury the memories of the trauma she faced at the hands of a trusted family friend long enough to walk through the front door of her family home. On top of that, she continues to struggle in deciding who she is more compatible with; does she stick with life-long best friend and lover, Derrick Chamberlin? Or does she risk everything and succumb to the powerful connection that draws her ever closer to her new boss; sexy and mysterious, ex-Special Forces soldier, Matthew "Fox" Foxworth. As if she didn't have enough to worry about...it's Thanksgiving! She will have to deal with concerned parents, nosey sisters, and Derrick's parents. All of whom have no idea of their current relationship status. Kyrie will use her quirky humor to confront the three greatest fears of her life: psycho killers, commitment, and family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carol Ann Brown
• Release date: Sep 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781495197093

Carol Ann Brown

Carol Ann Brown is a real estate agent in Northern California. Carol sells new homes and is one of the top sales agents in her office. Carol attended the College of Alameda in Alameda, California. She also attended Anthony Real Estate School, where she received her real estate license. Carol’s hobby is writing, and she has written another manuscript called Destined, which is also a fiction story.

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Second Coming

SECOND COMING

A KYRIE SHEA NOVEL

Carol Ann Brown

Carol Ann Brown

2015

Also by Carol Ann Brown

One For The Girls

Copyright © 2016 by Carol Ann Brown

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2016

ISBN 978-1-4951-9709-3

www.carolannbrown.com

1

AWARENESS FLOWED INTO ME and I stretched and yawned. I’m flat on my back… in a bed. Funny. I do not remember how I got here. The last thing I remember, I was exhausted, sitting in a chair in the hospital room of my boss who had taken two bullets a few days before while trying to protect me from a cop killer firing toward us at a crime scene.

I opened my eyes, I could tell from the look of the ceiling, and the tall metal poles hovering next to the opposite side of the bed holding IV bags, that I was still at the hospital. The room was mostly dark, only a miniscule amount of light crept under the hospital room door. I could hear the nurses muffled voices on the opposite side of it.

More awareness, I felt an arm tighten around me, a leg locking around mine. I looked over, realized I was in my boss’s hospital bed with him. He was sound asleep, his breathing soft and steady. It felt wrong to be in his arms, but at the same time strangely right. Wrong, because I have a man in my life, my best friend and lover, Derrick Chamberlin. It felt right because I had become increasingly aware over the last few months of working as an agent for the very secret, very elite squad known as Dark Force One, that I was more than a little attracted to my new boss. And savior.

Saving me has become a habit for Fox. It began six years ago (before he was my boss) when my Nancy Drew nature got me mixed up in a conspiracy that almost cost me my life. Thanks to him, it did not cost me my life, but it did get me abducted and raped by a man I thought was an honest, hard-working FBI agent named Jordy Fitzpatrick. Turns out Jordy was a dirty agent, and was secretly a member of a syndicate that set out to control the entire drugs, arms, and human trafficking markets.

Fox. My hero.

Fox is a nickname; his real name is Matthew Jordan Foxworth. He is absolute perfection at six-four, with wavy black hair, and the dreamiest blue eyes I have ever seen. His body is a smorgasbord of muscle. He is also ex-Special Forces. The ex is used loosely; being one of the most accurate snipers in the world still makes him the go-to guy when the government needs special sniper work done; a lot of it takes place in foreign countries and involves some serious threat against the United States.

I suspect him of having super powers as well; he can enter a room so quietly that you do not even realize it until he is right next to you. He has a clenched jaw stare that shuts down even the machoest of men; he also has another stare that causes a woman’s insides to melt.

He is also second in command of the Dark Force squadron, which consists of a little over a hundred extremely fit ex-military guys like him. And me.

To say I look out of place is, well, an understatement.

I’m Kyrie Shea, I will be turning twenty-four in a couple of months, I’m five-seven, and weigh a hundred-thirty pounds give or take. My body is tone due to my interest in outdoor hobbies like hiking and mountain climbing. However, nothing compared to the well over six feet tall muscle masses I work with. We also have mandatory fitness testing periodically so my team and I work out together weekly. Working out in a gym with all males is not one of my favorite things, I endure because I love where I work.

Well, now I do.

My first couple of weeks however, I was positive I had made the second biggest mistake of my life. Uproar erupted when I came into the squad, and ignited quite a series of events: I tried showering with my team (only one locker room) to try to fit in. It resulted in two other teams storming the locker room when the heart rate monitor built-in watches we are required to wear set off alerts as the guys watched me dressing. The spectacle resulted in a doorway cut into the wall of my office granting me access to Fox’s private bathroom located between his office and mine.

Next, I got my sexy lace panties stuck to the front of Fox’s zipper after my hooker borrowed two sizes too small clothing exploded at the seams and fell off after busting a naked, drug-dealing murderer with an anaconda-sized penis. Results were as expected, boss angry but aroused, as well as the anaconda-penis guy. The rest of the team, hysterically laughing.

Things went really downhill from there; I got into a fight with one of the biggest guys in the squadron after he confronted me in our cafeteria filled with other agents, making obscene remarks as to how he thought I was hired. I had to defend my honor, right? I jumped across a table and began socking the hell out of the guys face. It was stupid because it only took him one backhand to snap me back to reality. That is, after the ringing in my ears went away, and the tweety birds stopped flying around my head. His hitting me got him picked up and thrown fifteen feet across the room by a very angry Fox. When the guy wobbled back over Fox punched his lights out, and fired him. I could go on but…

Back to the situation at hand.

Out of respect for mine and Derrick’s relationship-whatever it was at this point-I decided it best I get out of the hospital bed. I tried pulling from Fox’s hold, it tightened, and his still sleeping body slid partially onto mine.

"Fox!"

His eyes opened, stared into mine for a few seconds as awareness flowed into his brain. He looked down our bodies and I felt an all too familiar feeling against my leg; hot… Hard… Growing!

Let me up! I gasped, nervously staring into his hungry, longing eyes that were intently focused on mine. I quickly averted my eyes, afraid he could will me to surrender to him-another super power I suspected him of having. I eyed his naked chest. What happened to your hospital gown?

I removed it. It was restricting my movement.

His eyes washed back down our bodies, then returned to mine. His blue pools of desire stared at me.

About that kiss you owe me… he said, reminding me of the promise I’d made in haste when he was shot and I feared he’d die; I promised him I’d let him kiss me if he promised me he wouldn’t die.

"What about it?"

I’m ready to collect… With interest.

Holy crap!

His lips were on mine before I could register an objection. His mouth was hot and possessive. His tongue teased me… My thoughts slipped to other areas of my body I would like him to use it on.

Oh… God. I felt that yearning low in my abdomen. His powerful hand slid up my belly, between my breasts, to my neck. His fingertips gently caressed, then took hold of it, tilting my head back as he slid completely on top of me and kissed me so deep, so divinely sensual I thought I would pass out. A burning spread through me and I inadvertently moaned aloud.

Slut! My brain screamed at me. Oddly enough, that did not have the effect it should have. Instead, it fueled the burning desire building inside me, and my hands wandered across his chest, down his abs, around and down his back.

Fox moved his mouth to my ear and he licked my earlobe. I dug my fingers into him.

I told you, you liked me, he whispered, smiling against my neck.

"No… no, I think you’re evil!"

I could feel him smiling again. You want me.

I want…

He bit my neck gently, causing me to moan again.

Get a grip! Boss is in nothing but his underwear and on top of you. "I want you to… stop!" Not by a long shot.

Then why are you squeezing my ass with both hands? he laughed softly.

I realized I was and jerked my hands back. It was an accident!

He laughed again and brought his head up, his eyes watching mine as he placed a soft kiss on my lips.

Are you going to try and have sex with me? I blurted. That slut part of me, hopeful. The good half was terrified and feeling guilty already.

"Kitten, I don’t try."

I realized I was white knuckling the bedrail, used it as leverage to pull myself from underneath him. I fumbled around, found the control button, and pushed it. The rail went down and so did I. I hit the floor, legs open, dress wound up around my waist. Fox smiled down at me.

The hospital door opened and two of my team members walked in, their eyes going directly to my tiny lavender lace panties. Grins stretched across their faces. I wrestled to untangle my dress and pull it into place. My face was hot. Hell, all of me was hot! I was blushing from head to toe.

DK reached down, offering me a hand. I took it and he pulled me up effortlessly.

Morning, boss, he said, he and his partner’s eyes moving over to Fox as if they hadn’t just seen me with my dress hiked up, exposing my underwear to our boss. I guess that is a testament to how bizarre things were now that I was a part of the Dark Force squad.

I need to be somewhere, I said, grabbed my purse, and ran out the door.

EIGHT LONG WEEKS HAVE PASSED and I have not heard from Fox. He has been on mandatory medical leave following the shooting. Over those eight weeks, he has talked with every other member of team Alpha (our team) except me. I am hurt, and pissed.

I have tossed and turned all evening, not really sleeping like I should have been, struggling with my dilemma. Today will be Fox’s first day back and I cannot decide how to react when I see him. Should I do the angry pissed off thing? Should I act as if nothing happened? Part of me thinks maybe he had good reason not to call me, but I cannot think for the life of me what it would be. It makes me sad when I think of the closeness we shared at the hospital, and then nothing.

Maybe he had decided that what had happened between us in the hospital room was a mistake, and he was trying to put some distance between us so things could cool down before he told me so. Even though part of me felt it had been a mistake as well, another part of me did not want him thinking it. I sighed deeply, frustrated with my confusion over my feelings.

Scamper crawled up next to me and licked my cheek.

That’s a sweet boy, I scratched his head. I love you, too.

Scamper is my housemate. He is still a kitten right now, but shows signs that someday he will be ginormous; he has oversized feet, and his head seems a bit disproportionate for his body. He is sweet, cuddly, and very affectionate.

At least I can count on you to show me some love, I smiled, rubbing his belly.

The no love thing is probably part of why I’m on the grumpy side. I have not had any real love in eight weeks, seven hours, thirty-nine minutes, and forty-two seconds. But who’s counting? My best friend and lover, Derrick Chamberlin, has been away the last eight weeks as well. He is an FBI agent, totally hot, incredibly supportive, and gives very good love. He and his team have been tracking and shutting down a child molestation ring that has already led them to arrests across five states. We talk every other day, but I miss him.

I climbed out of bed and shuffled off to the shower. I did not want to, but I needed to get to a meeting sight. It is three-thirty a.m., and I am supposed to meet my team at four-thirty. We are going to back up the local police on a drug raid. We often help several of the surrounding police departments due to the fact most are small and low on manpower.

It is also part of our cover.

Most Dark Force agents are used for secret government work, taking-out threats against our country that our military cannot officially be involved with. Think 007, American style. I’m not involved in that side of things. My expertise lies in a completely different area.

I did the hair and make-up thing for all the good it would do. In another hour and a half I’d be covered from head to toe in our mandatory uniform of multi-pocketed cargo pants, pullover long sleeve shirt (winter wear), military issue work boots, and ski mask that covers everything except our eyes for identity protection. All black. Today, because it was cold, would require a fleece jacket, and heavy coat. Also black.

It’s November, a very cold twenty-five degrees out, and according to the weather channel, will not get above thirty all day. Good thing I was born and raised in Auburn Heights, Montana. A Maine winter should be a cinch. This will be my first here, having moved to Hollow Cove only a few months earlier when I accepted the job with Dark Force One.

I dressed, gave Scamper fresh food and water, kissed his head, grabbed my jacket and coat and was out the door. I pulled them on as I rode the elevator down to the parking garage. My new BMW 5 SUV was parked not far from the elevator. My last car was recently turned into Swiss cheese by a barrage of gang bullets. I jumped in, started it up, cranked up the heat, put on some Ozzy Osbourne music, and headed north. It was not long until I was at the vacant lot where we were to meet. Even though I was early, my guys (that’s what I call my team) were already there.

They were wrestling around, hyped up on adrenalin. Guys just love this adrenalin shit. I have to admit, I like it too. Most of the time. Today not being one of them. Today I would rather be in a cozy bath, or curled up in my bed with a good book. It was freezing out, and I was not feeling myself. Could this thing with Fox be making me feel this discombobulated? I slid out of my SUV and walked over to my team.

My guys are always ready to party, whether it’s a work related party (they call all busts partying) or a real off-duty after hours one. They are hardworking, dedicated, and very good at their jobs. They are also very protective of the littlest team member, me.

Alex Montoya, my partner on the team, wrapped his arms around me to share warmth. Montoya is six-four, has perfectly styled black hair, pale green eyes, and the lean beautiful body of an underwear model. Too bad for the female population that he’s gay.

Hey, Wildfire, he smiled. Now we can get this party started.

Morning, Chicklet, Ghost smiled, kissed my cheek. Ghost’s real name is Vinny Monetti. He is six-three, shaves his head like his idol Vin Diesel, and has several tattoos on his chest, back, and arms. He’s a good guy, loves women, but has recently found one who has rocked his world. I am his go-to girl for relationship advice, so we have become close as well.

Looking good, baby, DK kissed my other cheek. William Johnson is his given name. He acquired the nickname Dark Knight (we shortened it to DK) because of some night missions he performed in (CLASSIFIED). DK, hum… think LL Cool J with pale blue eyes. He thinks I need a real man, which he associates with having a larger man-part. His flirtations are relentless even though he knows we will never be more than friends. He is many years away from wanting anything serious from any woman.

These three guys are the closest to me on the team. Two others that are coming around are X-man (Xavier Boreanz) and Mac-10 (Mac Beihn). Both are six-four, brown hair, green eyes, and have slightly more muscle mass than the other guys do. They kinda look like matching bookends, though not related.

X-man bumped his hip against mine and smiled. Mac ran his hand down my arm and said hey.

All these guys are affectionate without being lecherous. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they make sexual comments, talk about women, and getting laid. However, they know where to draw the line.

Train, real name Nate Franco, is another member of the team. Train is seven-four and completely lives up to his nickname: He can mow though a group of bad guys like a train barreling though an eighteen-wheeler stalled on its tracks. And once, when I pissed him off, I swear I saw steam come from his head. He is huge, with muscles that have muscles, and stays mostly quiet around me. Which makes him even scarier. The guys tell me he is fun when he cuts loose, but I have not seen it. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement.

Let’s get suited up, he said, his voice deep and authoritative. Train is also in command of team Alpha while Fox is on leave.

Hop on, Montoya said, turning his back to me.

He gave me a piggyback ride to the Lincoln Navigator that carries our gear. The back of the Nav contains bulletproof vests, assault helmets, a battering ram, rifles, and other assorted supplies.

I slid off Montoya’s back, lost my footing, and fell backwards. Arms caught me.

Sorry, I turned with a smile, quickly wiped it away when I looked up into the sexy blue eyes of Fox, who was already completely covered head to toe.

Staring at him in his SWAT get-up was a little de’ja’vu, and caused a bit of stirring within me. The first time I met him, the day he shot and killed my abductor six years ago, he was dressed exactly this way, only showing his beautiful eyes.

Hello, Kyr’, he said, his voice smooth and sexy.

I noticed he was still holding me. I pulled from his grip.

Hi, I replied. It was all I could do to make myself turn coolly away from him and back toward Montoya, who handed me my bulletproof vest. I took off my coat and fleece jacket, pulled the vest on, then slid my jacket and coat back on. I took my ski mask from my pocket and slipped it over my head.

We lined up in front of Fox, he ran down our orders. Team Bravo was standing a couple of feet to the left of us, listening as well. After we were all clear on our part in the takedown, we all loaded into Navs and headed for the factory we would be entering.

As instructed, Bravo team took out the guards that were patrolling the outer perimeter. My team moved into the building first, securing it as we went. Team Bravo came in behind us and headed the opposite direction, toward the distribution room.

Gunshots echoed the building when we pinned down a half dozen of the drug manufacturers behind a group of large vats in the manufacturing room. The vats were used to heat and store honey. They were using honey to cut the drugs into suckers and cough drop sized candies in an attempt to lure younger kids into using drugs. The honey candies also made it more difficult for cops to recognize them for what they were.

The vats they were hiding behind were empty. The drippings coming from the vats hovering over their heads on the other hand, told me they were full, sparking an idea.

We had a good enough position, and enough ammo that they eventually would have no choice except to surrender, but they had automatic weapons and enough ammo to make us wait for hours. I was not in the mood for a standoff. I was restless, angry, and starting to think I might be getting sick. I never get sick. Thinking I was getting sick was however, better than the alternative.

"Cover me!" I said, took off running toward a metal staircase, not giving my guys time to object to my taking lead. It was not that they had any doubt in my abilities, they just had not gotten past the fact I am a girl. Every ounce of their overprotective macho beings screamed objection when I volunteered to do something dangerous.

My guys fired continuously toward the baddies, keeping them pinned down until I reached the top of the staircase. In its current position a vat blocked them from shooting at me, and me from shooting them. I switched on the controls, the giant metal container started to move slowly. From the look of the honey, it had cooled. It would be far thicker and stickier now. Perfect.

I pressed another control button. The vat dipped and dumped tons of honey onto the perps. The weight of the honey, and the frightening feeling of smothering under the thick substance, caused them to drop their weapons.

I did not realize how much honey a vat could hold. It spread like lava across the entire area and puddled two inches deep. We subdued the honey covered drug manufacturers and turned them over to the local police.

I heard your new agent had quite a creative way of taking down perps, but I wouldn’t have believed anything like this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, Lieutenant Murphy of the Hollow Cove Police Department chuckled.

We were getting bored, needed to bring in some comic relief, Fox replied.

Murphy and his guys laughed, started herding the bad guys out of the room.

Comic relief! I’ll comic relief his ass. I took a step toward him, Montoya, Ghost, DK, X-man, and Mac blocked me.

Whataya think guys? X-man grinned.

About what? I looked up at him, confused.

I think we have to, DK smiled.

Have to what? I looked over at him.

"Come here little Honey Bear," Mac grinned.

Ok. Some days I am a little too slow for these guys. I realized all too late what they were about to do.

You wouldn’t, I said, backing up.

They surrounded me, took hold of my arms and legs and hoisted me in the air. I squirmed like a kid on an all-day sugar high. My squirming had no effect in the amazingly strong hands of my teammates. They took me to the deepest portion of the honey and placed me into it. I brought a couple of them down with me. Before we knew it, we were all rolling in the honey, laughing, and throwing globs of it at each other.

Laughter broke out from across the room. Team Bravo and some of the cops had come in, were watching us with great amusement. Fox and Train stood arms crossed watching us too. It was hard to tell if they were smiling or laughing, both still had their masks on.

We got to our feet and sloshed our way through the mess toward the exit. DK threw his arm around my shoulder, took my hand in his free hand, and lifted it to his mouth. Then, he licked my palm.

You know, we could have a whole lotta fun cleaning this stuff off each other, he grinned.

DK was the only one of my teammates who openly requested me to have sex with him. I will admit that if I were going to do it with a black man, he would be very tempting. I had heard all the myths about black men being larger than white men, some of my girlfriends had even said it was true. However, after the naked, drug dealing pimp we took down a few weeks ago-who looked like he had a friggin’ anaconda for a penis, curiosity was replaced with a fear I would never get past. Yikes!

I smiled, gave him a gentle shove. I’m afraid you’re going to have to have fun cleaning yourself off pervert.

He laughed as we all climbed into the van that Fox had sent to all our busts for us to ride back to headquarters (HQ) in. It seems that since my addition to the team we seemed to always end up covered in something: Garbage, ice cream, denture cream, seaweed... After having to completely re-do three Navigators, the van became our ride back from takedowns. The inside is not finished out, it’s all metal, and completely cleanable with some detergent and a high-powered hose.

I gave one of the guys on team Bravo permission to drive my SUV back for me.

We showered, dressed in another set of black clothes, then met Fox and Train in the parking lot. Where they sat waiting with the engine running.

Fox was taking us to breakfast.

Sitting face to face for an hour with the man who hurt my feelings…Great!

2

HAPPY CAKES is a restaurant that serves breakfast all day and night. They are best known for their delicious pancakes, in any variety you could think of. They also have any other breakfast food you could imagine. I always order two eggs sunny side up, two strips of bacon, toast, and orange juice.

The server brought all our orders. The guys were starting to dig in; I was working hard not to look at Fox. I caught myself staring at his tired, beautiful eyes. I could tell he had not been sleeping well.

So how are you, boss? DK asked what we all wanted to know.

Good as new, Fox replied, taking a bite of egg. He always orders the same thing as me, except instead of bacon he orders those little sausage links.

Glad to hear it, Ghost said, reaching for the salt. We missed you.

Yeah, things just seemed off without you, X-man said.

It did seem off, but I was not going to say so. I’m still pissed at him.

I was told that you guys did a great job during my absence, Fox said.

Train was a real slave driver, Mac joked. He was determined not to let us get lazy.

Fox smiled, gave Train an encouraging nod.

Oh, Lord! His smile had a way of making my insides feel all squishy. Unfortunately, in a very good way. He had the most gorgeous, disarming smile I had ever seen. It had a similar effect on the guys.

Without the inside-squishy part.

They all just seemed less guarded when he did it. Although the first few times he did it in front of them, I thought they were all going to have seizures from the shock of it. Apparently, before I joined the team, no one had ever seen him smile, tell a joke, or laugh. I brought a sense of humor to the entire team, but especially him.

Crap. I am comedy relief!

I guess it stems from my philosophy for handling a job as mentally and emotionally demanding as ours, you have to have humor or you will go completely nutso and end up in a rubber room. Besides, crazy things just seem to happen to me.

It wasn’t all work and no play, Fox smiled again. "I heard you all managed some fun." He looked over at me.

Yeah, Honey Bear here got us into several hilarious situations, Mac smiled, looped an arm around my shoulder.

There was the nude beach fiasco, and the frisky gorillas at the zoo, Ghost chuckled.

We were chased by out of control seniors down at the old folk’s home. And the so-called zombie at the morgue was fun, DK added with a chuckle.

Fox says I am a disaster magnet, I say mishap magnet. I mean, if no one is hurt or killed it does not equate to a disaster in my book.

Don’t forget about the half-naked beauty contestant’s fight, X-man chimed in.

"I really don’t see how you can blame any of that stuff on me, I said defensively. I can’t help it if people overreact with me."

The group all laughed. Only thing more disarming than Fox’s smile, is hearing him laugh. Fox’s laughter is intoxicating, I found myself smiling. He looked over at me; I wiped away the smile with great internal difficulty. I needed him to know I was upset with him, but I was having a hard time of it.

I’ll be back in a minute, I let out a sigh, stood, and took off toward the restrooms.

I splashed water on my face, dried it, and then leaned against the sink. What does it matter? It was just lust, right? I mean, I know I love Derrick deeply, and even though we do not have a formal commitment to just see each other, that is the way it has been the last six years. Chances are we will end up married someday… So why does this thing with Fox bother me so much? I’m just letting him distract me because Derrick asked me to help him look for a damn house! My fear of commitment is showing. That is it, that is all it is. I inhaled deeply, let it out slowly, and then returned to the table.

What’s wrong, Chicklet? Ghost asked.

Yeah, you seem distracted, Montoya said.

I’m fine, I forced a smile in their direction.

I think its cause she ain’t gettin’ any, DK smiled over at me. Derrick is still out of town, right?

I shot him the middle finger.

You know we love you, Wildfire, Montoya smiled. If you’re lonely, any one of us would gladly volunteer to fill in for Chamberlin while he’s away. Montoya only