Truth Tells: The Truth Series, #2

By Lacey Dancer

A family is taken hostage while under government protection. Because the Raynors are transported to another country, normal government channels are not possible. Felicity is called in to rescue the hostages. Time is short. Despite the lack of sufficient data for the rescue, with Ace leading the team on the ground, Felicity gets everyone back to the United States. Cameron, her second in command is seriously wounded. A governmental leak is suspected. Felicity hunts the informant through the halls of government and secret agencies and even into the private sector. Utilizing her extensive information network and her global contacts she searches for the man behind the plot to kill Adam Raynor and stop his private consortium formed to destroy the stranglehold of the drug cartels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sydney Clary
• Release date: Aug 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986645421

Lacey Dancer

International, Award-Winning Romance and Suspense author, Sydney Clary a.k.a. Lacey Dancer, has written and published over 36 books over her lifetime. She is working on adding 20 or 30 more to the count as well as bringing her backlist into the 21st century. Currently, she is concentrating on writing stories in two new series. The first is called the Live Oak Series which is a romance/suspense story set in North Florida. The second is The Truth Series, a thriller/suspense series set in Montana and other places around the world. Finally, she is enhancing and republishing the very popular Pippa Romance series.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Felicity entered the dojo as she slid her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She could hear the sounds of fist hitting flesh. No words echoed in the sunlit room, no grunts of pain. She could feel the intensity of the concentration and focus even before she saw the two men measuring each other as they circled, looking for an opening, a dropping of guard, an advantage over the other.

Ace with his rangy body had the longer reach. Cameron had more muscle mass giving him a weight advantage. Both moved with a balance that spoke of training and experience. Cam was younger by six years. Ace was cagier, and eerily silent.

Cam caught Ace with a midbody blow that had Cam not pulled it, would have put Ace on the floor writhing in pain. Ace retaliated with a sweep of his leg that Cam had to jump to avoid going down. Ace caught him before Cam touched the floor and sent him flying. Cam managed to keep his feet, planting and pivoting for an offensive return.

Ace moved with a laser focus that was as merciless as his attack strategy. She could see his plan, the way he maneuvered his body to force Cam into the position he

wanted. Cam was a different kind of fighter. His power was in his body and he knew how to use it like the expert he was. Neither man gave an inch willingly.

Although she entered almost silently, Felicity was aware that Mia had joined her.

How can you watch them go at each other like this? Mia asked, barely above a whisper. She winced when Cam took a blow that sent him into a controlled roll with Ace following like a hunter after prey. Every day they come in here for two hours. I know Ace has bruises. This is more than training.

Felicity didn’t take her eyes from the restrained warfare that honed exceptional skills to the finest degree. Each man was taking his bruises and lumps while using skilled control to keep crippling or killing blows from doing the damage each was more than capable of inflicting. Cam and Ace were sharper for the time they spent hammering at each other.

If you can’t watch in silence, leave, Felicity commanded quietly.

The younger Eurasian woman was new addition to the Farm staff. Her skill set was cyberspace. There she could put Cam and Ace to shame. She was trained in martial arts and she had been a trainee at Skye Farm less than a year before. She had skills in weapons and stealth but no field experience. At the moment, Mia was still on probation, learning her place in the community of ex warriors who populated the Farm. Plus, Mia was in the final stages of recovery from an assault that had almost cost her life.

Mia swallowed the rest of what she wanted to say. She liked Ace. In many ways, he was the brother she didn’t have. Once they had been lovers. Now they were only friends. When she wasn’t arguing with Cameron, she liked him too.

He had been beside her bed, encouraging her, bullying her through the pain of her recovery from a savage beating. When she had cried from the agony that even the drugs couldn’t completely subdue, he had held her, telling her that she would regain her strength.

She trained with Felicity every morning now that she was almost healed. Their sessions had never had this ferocity even when she had been well. There was an ugly edge to every move, an intensity that said if either of them wanted, the fight would be to the death.

She understood training for protection. She even understood the need for death if an opponent aimed to kill. She watched in horror as Cam slipped just slightly. In less than a blink, he was on his back with Ace straddling him, his hand curved in a mimed blow that would crushed Cam’s larynx if he had finished the move.

Damn it, Ace, Cam grunted, breathing hard as he glared at the man astride him. You’re a tiger. You always pounce when I give you the least room.

Like you don’t do the same to me, every chance you get. Ace pushed to his feet and extended a hand to Cam.

Accepting the gesture, Cam rose and slapped him on the back. Your win today.

Makes us even for that trick you pulled yesterday. I have a black and blue lump on my thigh for that one.

Cam chuckled as he picked up two towels and handed one to Ace. He wiped the sweat from his face. I want my breakfast. I’ve earned it, haven’t I, boss?

Ace glanced up as Felicity strolled toward them. He had known the moment she had come into the dojo. She had made no sound, but he had sensed her presence as surely as if she had said his name. Despite sensing her, he hadn’t allowed

his concentration on the bout with Cam to waver. Losing had never suited him and giving Cam a millimeter of an advantage meant loss.

It was a good work out, she said mildly.

The emotionless delivery was all Felicity. His lover of the morning was gone. The woman who allowed emotion to show did not exist outside the security and privacy of the house she had designed and had built. So far, he had only seen his lover and her feelings when they were alone, never in public, even within the safety of the grounds of the Farm.

This Felicity was all business and cool with it. She was the boss. He knew, if he asked, she would give him a blow-by-blow account of the workout he and Cam had just concluded. She would analyze every move, pinpoint the good and the bad. There would be no criticism in her comments, only information. It would be up to them what they did about correcting the flaws.

You earned it. It will be the last break for any of us for a while since Taranda is flying in the new trainees this afternoon. We have two additions conditional on our background checks. I keyed the information into your unit, Cam. I need it yesterday.

Cam scowled but didn’t argue. No one, absolutely no one, entered the gates of Skye Farm without a complete background check. All of their clients knew that. The fact that Felicity was possibly adding to the list wasn’t completely unheard of, but it was very rare. There was always a reason, often not one he was immediately given.

That means my breakfast is on hold.

Felicity inclined her head as she toed off her boots, stripped her socks and tucked them in the neck of the leather. She moved to her locker on the far side of the room to get her workout gear. Jeans and a shirt were not acceptable even for the short session she was giving Mia.

Mia frowned slightly but took her cue from Felicity. No questions, no matter how much she wanted to ask, were allowed. Normal conversational ones, yes. But about work, none. Felicity was the boss and that was in every aspect of the Farm. No questions of orders, of others, of protocols were acceptable. Every action, every word had a reason and only Felicity knew the whole.

How Cam and Ace accepted that aspect of the work was a mystery. She knew she had bitten her tongue more than once just to keep her part of the contract she had signed to be employed on the Farm.

Skye/Sea Farm was an anomaly in the world she thought she knew. It existed as a security operation, providing personnel and equipment to those who could afford the fees. It was also a training facility for private and governmental interests. Applicants had to pass stringent requirements, and more were refused than granted. Mia suspected, but hadn’t asked, that the Farm also did assignments for the government when necessary. The head of it all was Felicity. Enigmatic, emotionless, relentless Felicity Ramsey. Mia admired her more than anyone she had ever met but she knew she didn’t understand her.

She had to remind herself that because of Felicity she was alive and healing well. She had already had surgery to deal with the facial scarring from her assault. She’d had the procedure on the Farm with a specialist flown in for the day. Felicity had paid for the special treatment and had dismissed her questions with a cool reminder that her employment as one of the staff strictly dealt with the financial issue.

Are you ready?

Mia stared at the woman to whom she owed her life. So much had changed in the last six months. She didn’t understand everything about the Farm. She sensed there was more beneath the surface than she could begin to guess. The money involved in running the operation that she had become a probationary part of had to be a deep well. The amount of computer equipment and the supporting software, much of it designed by Felicity herself, as well as the satellite feeds were extraordinary. She had been in cyber heaven when she had been shown the office that was swiftly turning into her domain.

I’m ready, she said with a slight bow before Felicity.

Felicity circled, allowing Mia to set her own pace. Mia was gaining strength and stamina every day. She moved more fluidly, more confidently than she had since her beating. She still wasn’t sure that Mia was right for the Farm. Time would tell on that question. Until the world beyond the gates was safer for the younger woman, Mia had to stay either as staff or guest. With Mia’s computer skills, Felicity preferred the former to the latter.

I can give you a hand, Ace offered as he walked across the compound with Cam. I would rather wait for breakfast.

He preferred sharing his meals with Felicity when time allowed. Besides, he was curious about the additions. The fastest way to gain information was to be involved with the background checks.

You take one, I’ll take the other. I don’t like this kind of thing on my best day. This client knows the ropes well enough not to make a last-minute request.

Ace didn’t like or trust changes in plans either. The new trainees were not a part of the covert operations of the farm, but they were just as critical in a different way. Strangers were always a danger in a situation like the Farm.

Felicity will have made that clear. Charged them through the nose for the additions as well, Ace replied.

Cam grunted as they entered the control room. Two walls were nothing but digital displays that could show almost any place in the world. The computers were doors to anything and anybody for those who had access to the programs Felicity and company had developed. Cam took up his favored position in the corner, where he could man the digital surfaces of three units without leaving his seat.

Ace preferred a more open position where he could move around. Sitting still had never been his choice. Neither spoke as they began the in-depth searches. The screens flashed with information, flipping through data driven by the programs or the operators.

I’m not getting anything, Cam muttered. Me either.

Not so much as a parking ticket.

I don’t trust anybody this clean, Ace muttered as he pushed back from his position to pace to Cam’s. He stopped in mid step to glance at the closed door.

Felicity entered.

How do you two do that? Cam demanded. Ace cocked a brow at him.

You knew she was there. You sure didn’t hear her. I didn’t.

If you two are done playing games, give, she said, ignoring the byplay. Cam and Ace had their own dialogue. Cam with his golden skin, amber eyes and sun-streaked hair was the complete opposite of Ace with his black hair and dark green eyes. Cam was more volatile and Ace more intense. Neither suffered fools nor asses silently. To be so different in looks and attitude, they were almost brothers in their quickness of mind and body.

Nothing, Ace answered. Me either.

She inclined her head. Her own research had been the same. The company is paying double for each. If either of you see anything, feel anything off, I want to know yesterday.

Ace frowned slightly. You’re feeling something. He knew better than to question if he wanted to know something.

Felicity stared at the screens with the rows of information. Her instincts had never been wrong. Something was in the wind. If not with these two additions, it was somewhere in the near future. Her data was rarely wrong. But data could only tell someone what already was and then predict events on those facts. It couldn’t completely forecast without error what didn’t exist yet. That missing information could get a person killed.

Ace didn’t like her silence or the way she was studying the data on display. No expression showed in her hazel eyes, no tension in her sleek, muscled body. Even her voice was relaxed, her whiskey smooth delivery of words without any audible emphasis.

We know what feelings that have no concrete basis mean. Only a dead fool ignores those feelings.

Cam swore.

Ace searched Felicity’s face. He found nothing to give him a clue about what she was sensing. She looked as calm and emotionless as she always did. She had given them only part of what bothered her.

If I know anything, see anything, feel anything, you will know it, he said quietly.

Extra security, Cam added. His boss had a preternatural instinct for trouble. He had seen her tune in to hidden agendas too often to ever discount her feelings. No movement after lights out.

She nodded. Essential personnel only. Mia isn’t.

I can keep her busy in cyber space. We’ve got enough work to keep her occupied. Cam hesitated then asked, How did the workout go?

Mia’s injuries had been extensive. He knew Felicity would never have consented to allow Mia to train if she hadn’t been sure that Mia was up to the challenge. Still, he worried. He couldn’t forget what Mia had looked like when she had arrived at the Farm, swathed in bandages and strapped to a stretcher, pins sticking out of a cast on her hand and her face so battered that, if he hadn’t known who was coming in, he wouldn’t have recognized her.

Felicity heard the concern in his voice in spite of his efforts to hide it. She had a feeling, this one had its basis in the fact that Cam was dealing with emotions he had never faced before. She didn’t get involved with her people and their personal lives unless it affected their assignments. But she did keep watch. The stakes were too high for her to be less than vigilant.

Mia was a wildcard. She could be an asset in so many ways. In one, she could be a major problem. She lacked the toughness that was part of Cam’s makeup. She still believed in dreams and the good in the world. Cam, Ace and she knew better. In spite of what had happened to her, Mia was still tender, vulnerable.

She is gaining ground rapidly. She wants to push.

Cam cursed again. This time anger unlined the single word. She needs a keeper.

Tell her that, Felicity invited. She glanced at Ace. Ready for breakfast?

More than. I want meat. How do you feel about steak?

I have the warm fuzzies for steak, she murmured as she headed for the door with him walking beside her.

Ace hadn’t missed Cam’s concern for Mia. He also knew Mia was showing more than a passing interest in Cam. He liked them but he wasn’t sure that the vibes he was getting were going to work in the long run. Cam had a toughness that Mia would probably never achieve.

He might be only seven years older than Mia, but he is decades ahead of her, he murmured quietly.

Although Ace and Mia were no longer lovers and hadn’t been for over a year, Felicity knew Ace had a soft spot for the younger woman. She had one herself. Their choice.

She is on probation here. What if she can’t stay? "Two of our people are in a relationship with civilians.

That’s part of why the ranch exists in the valley beyond these mountains. Our people live there, in houses of their choosing. They come to work here, every day. It’s a job, high security definitely and the civilians have limited contact with anyone from the Farm except the person with whom each is involved. One is married with no children."

Risky.

She nodded as they entered the dining hall and headed for her table that over looked the grounds. Very. Partners, with or without children, can become hostages in the wrong hands. That is when the arm units we all wear really provide an extra level of security. The offsite versions, given to each civilian, carry a small adaptation. They are linked to the user’s heartbeat. Any interruption, any unexplained changes triggers an alarm. Steps are taken depending on the extremity of the change. We protect our own, even those who matter to them.

Benny deposited two mugs of coffee in front of them. What will it be today?

Steak. Rare. Omelet with cheese and mushrooms, Felicity ordered.

Double it, Ace decided. Only add onions to my omelet.

Toast?

They declined almost as an echo of each other. We are coming up on an anniversary. Felicity lifted a brow at Ace’s comment.

He grinned at the silent dialogue. Felicity was a piece of work and an endless fascination. She never made unnecessary movements or used extra words.

I have more clothes in your closet than mine.

You also have the chest of drawers on your side of the bed, she replied before she took another sip of coffee. I cleared the space after you left for the dojo. Good thing I did. We would have been short a bed with the two extras.

I could ask if you did the clearing before or after the call about the add-ons.

You could.

He laughed. You cleared it first. I’m off probation. He caught the faint change in her eyes, a quick flash of emotion that was hardly longer than a blink. He was getting better at reading her.

You never were on probation. You never had the choice that Mia has.

He didn’t touch her. She had never asked him for restraint in front of others, but he knew, without being told, that she wanted nothing that made her noticeable, even to her own people. Her whole life was a life of living in the shadow of death. One slip and more than her life was at risk. She took no chances, never dropped her guard around anyone but him. Then, only if they were in a secure location and alone.

I had a choice. I made it and I don’t regret it. He kept his tone even. Anyone could listen to this conversation and get little emotional input.

Benny arrived with their breakfast, and they ate, fueling for the day to come. It was a full schedule, leaving little time for personal concerns. After they finished, they parted company. He to his room to pack what was left of his clothes for the move to her home.

He entered the house without her. A first, courtesy of a few simple keystrokes that she had input right after breakfast. Even the elevator responded to him, another gift she had not made into the very real gesture of trust it was. He couldn’t forget that no one, not even Cam, had ever been in her home with or without her. He put his clothes in the chest and the few remaining hanging things in the closet on the rack across from hers. He stood for a moment in the silence. Oddly, this house was more a home in six months than the house he had owned and occupied for years.

The more he learned of Felicity with her shadows and darkness, the more he understood that she had changed his life in ways he could never have predicted. He was no longer a government agent. He no longer had to follow rules blindly then watch the politicians and bureaucrats destroy what he had sought to protect.

Felicity had a purpose beyond anything he could have foreseen. She had created a world that operated to protect and save, to destroy the monsters that those in power, who could be bought, protected and encouraged. She risked her very existence to seek out the monsters, find the truth from their own words and then mete out the justice that the legal systems of the world ignored or supported.

A faint sound behind him made him turn and reach for the gun at his back. Alpha, Felicity’s lead Doberman, eyed him with his head cocked to one side. The dark eyes were calm in spite of the gun pointed at him. It had taken months for Alpha and the rest of the pack to trust him. If he had pulled a weapon in the first weeks, Alpha would have attacked with no warning. The lead dog and the rest of the pack understood now that a weapon in his hands was not a threat to them or Felicity.

You are noisier than she is, Ace said as he holstered the weapon then stroked the dog’s sleek neck.

Alpha went to his bed and picked up a thick length of rope. He shook it once, his eyes gleaming with challenge.

Ace laughed. Alpha had suckered him into more than one game of tug of war. He outweighed the dog, but Alpha’s lower center of gravity and his heavily muscled body made winning a real workout.

If she catches us playing when we have work to do, she will give us both the look.

Alpha shook the rope harder.

Ace figured he could spare a minute. Maybe two. At least the other three of the canine team were with Felicity. Actually, it was five sweaty minutes that he and the dog enjoyed. Today’s romp had ended in a tie. He grinned as he entered the elevator with Alpha at his side.

Felicity was at the door when it opened on the first floor. She looked at him then the dog. You’re better at a poker face than Alpha is, she informed them.

Ace laughed then patted the dog. I told him that we would hear about it.

The chopper is bringing in the group of trainees. It will be landing in ten.

They are early.

The weather is getting heavier in the valley. Taranda basically shoved them into the seats and told them to buckle up or get left behind.

I bet they listened to her, Ace said as he followed her to the front door. Taranda was a black and beautiful no nonsense Amazon with a bawdy laugh and razor reflexes. He had flown with her three times and learned she flew like there was no one else in the sky but her. She had a love affair with speed and taking chances.

Felicity turned into him, her back against the closed front door. You two got to play. I didn’t.

His brows rose at the look in her eyes. Six months should have taken the edge off the need he had for her. If anything, it had sharpened his urges to the point that all it took was a glance or a hint and he was brick hard and ready.

She was generous and creative in bed or out. More importantly, she had an appetite to match his. He reached out for the top button on her shirt. Persuade me, he invited after a sharp nip on her bottom lip.

Her eyes gleamed like a feral cat ready to pounce. She knew how to play nice, and she knew how to scratch and claw. His bite was an invitation to the claws. I would rather tease you a lot.

You do that by breathing. He got one button undone and started on the second. His arousal was swift and rock hard.

Felicity leaned in to nip his lip then followed it with a delicate, lingering lick to take the sting away. It will take Cam forty-five minutes to get everyone gathered in the courtyard.

I can work on setting a speed record.

She laughed. Before Ace, she had never taken time for herself. With him, she took her moments and felt better for every break. It wouldn’t be the first time Cam had handled the initial meeting at the hangar.

Ace knew a challenge when he heard one. He bent and scooped her over his shoulder. He managed to hold onto her as she wiggled around so that she could use her teeth on his ear and his neck and her hands on his shirt. The woman was as limber as an elastic band. Keep that up and we won’t make it to the bedroom.

What makes you think I care? she demanded as she managed to get his shirt unbuttoned to the waist. I love the hair on your chest. She threaded her fingers through the pelt, found his nipples and teased them. His shudder of response demanded more. It feels really good against my skin.

I know something that feels better against your skin, he said as he dumped her on the bed and yanked his shirt off. He toed off his half boots. His jeans took seconds to remove. He watched her as he stripped. The approval and raw hunger in her eyes were hot and avid. She wore the cloak of civilization very lightly. With her, he could be the man he really was. His edges, his shadows found a mate in hers.

Speed record, remember. Strip.

She laughed at the demand. Make me.

He yanked her up and pulled the shirt over her head without bothering with the buttons. Boots off or your jeans are going to end up around your ankles.

She easily toed them off just in time for him to strip the jeans down her legs. She pulled him to her, body to body, heat to heat. Thirty-five minutes and counting, she breathed as she rolled with him until she was on top. He was ready and so was she. She came down on him in one smooth move, taking him to the hilt.

Let’s see who says uncle first.

CHAPTER TWO

Ace stared at the ceiling as his body slowly recovered from Felicity’s attack and his counter. There was an edge that he recognized. What’s bothering you, Felicity? Ace asked as he lay beside her.

Her head was on his shoulder, her body quiet against his. Usually, she was almost boneless with relaxation. Not this time. They hadn’t set a speed record, but they hadn’t been slow either. Fast and edgy from his side had fed on the intensity of hers. There had been a fierceness in