Excerpt 2 CAPA nominated HARD TO HANDLE by Karen Wiesner

Hard to Handle, Book 8 of the Incognito Series
by Karen Wiesner
Romantic Suspense
978-1-60313-469-9 (trade paperback); 978-1-60313-470-5 (electronic)Whiskey Creek Press

Find out more about this book and series:
http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction7a.html


Exclusive Excerpt

Copyright Karen Wiesner

Leaving his station, Dez made the trek through the compound. Angelo surprised him with a smile when he entered the office. Obviously, the morning meeting had been convened. Ash was nowhere in sight. What’s going on?
Angelo waved him in. “We’re pleased with your progress, Dez. Ash’s evaluations have been more than satisfactory.”
“You’ve been briefed on the recent mission then?” Dez asked without betraying his uncertainties.
Angelo nodded and invited him to sit down. Dez gave his mission summary, and, after a few questions from Angelo during which his answers were accepted without question, he could see that he wasn’t going to be reprimanded. His superiors had noted the anomaly in the mission parameters but saw no reason to point a finger since they’d gotten what they were after.
Dez’s thoughts left that situation when Angelo didn’t dismiss him after the debrief. He continued to look at him assessingly across his desk.
“Is there something else?” he asked calmly.
#2 picked up the panel in front of him and handed it to him. “We’re giving you your first mentoree.”
Most operatives were given their own mentoree after fifteen years of active service. Dez took the panel, glancing at Angelo suspiciously. “I’ve only been serving nine years,” he reminded for the sake of accuracy.
“Most operatives aren’t as valuable as you are, Dez, as I’m sure you realize. Eight months ago, you were promoted to the top team as 1st string, and your successes since have accelerated the mentorship schedule.”
Dez looked at the file saved on the hand-held and recognized the operative pictured there. Nova Granger, brought in at age sixteen and trained for the last seven years. She’d been 5th string on the Green Team while he was leader.
“Newly awarded Level 5 status, she’ll be making the transition outside of the compound starting today. What’s your assessment of her?”
Calling on memories that he kept like circular files, Dez nodded. “She’s good at everything she puts her hand to. Instincts are excellent. She usually rectifies mistakes before they become a detriment.”
“She’s been under my mentorship since she was brought in,” Angelo added. “And I admit I’ve spoiled her more than was warranted. We...we shared some things that... In any case, she’s one of the most talented operatives I’ve ever brought in.”
New recruits were given two full years of eighteen-hour-a-day training. If they survived it, they went on to Level 7 status, but were on a probationary period for at least a year in which they weren’t allow to do high-level field work. While on the Green Team, Nova performed well, usually excelling, particularly on missions where she acted as bodyguard to a woman or child. Dez noted in the panel file that she’d advanced to the 2nd Position on that team since his promotion.
“Time to take off the kid gloves,” Angelo advised.
“She’s reckless,” Dez said honestly. “On any mission we went out on with women or children involved, she couldn’t be trusted to stay on profile. She became ruthless and uncontrollable, frequently having to be restrained or even sedated as the only means of keeping her from blowing the primary undertaking.” Dez glanced up from her file. “I heard about the mission she sabotaged a couple weeks ago.” He hadn’t been in the least bit surprised by her actions either. If his opinion about her performance had been sought before they sent her out with Leventhal, the complications she caused could have been avoided.
Despite his expert opinion, Dez admitted to himself that part of Nova Granger’s appeal for him personally came down to the very passion that got her in trouble so often. She remained capable of sympathy, righting the wrongs of humanity—not simply focusing on the greater good, per their training drills. She saw people as individuals with hearts and souls and never categorized them impersonally as “innocent” or “hostile” the way so many operatives did—and had to in order to survive the abomination of sins they faced every single day.
“She hasn’t changed much on that count,” Angelo agreed, standing.
Dez automatically got up and followed him out of the roost, down to the training level. “She thinks she’s invincible, believes she can right any wrong,” Angelo said. “But she’s impulsive and doesn’t think beyond the moment. She’s also restless and easily bored—and when she’s bored, she talks a lot about going back to her former life. Escape.”
Angelo halted in front of the observation glass just above the training area. Dez saw Nova below, working with Susana and Hunter’s older charges, Crista and Thomas.
“She’s skilled with children. Maybe they trust her so easily because she looks so young. Her intuition where young ones are concerned borders on the psychic.”
Dez couldn’t argue. Even at twenty-three, she could easily pass for sixteen. It was a problem he’d battled most of his life, too, though it served the Network well on several missions requiring someone who looked young but wasn’t. Dez looked much younger than his twenty-six years. Nova’s youthful appearance had to be a large part of the reason why their superiors put her on the interstate human trafficking mission, despite their awareness of her volatile nature in that very situation. And Dez well remembered how supernaturally well she seemed to sense the crimes against children.
Behind the glass, he observed an indulgent smile lift the corners of Nova’s mouth as she complimented the young girl for her performance.
Nova looks young, but there’s something indefinably attractive about her. She’s lean, muscular and yet voluptuous the way other women in the Network aren’t. I never liked noticing that when I was her leader, even though I did anyway. I don’t wanna remember now how often I looked at her, wanted her, dreamed about being with her. Teaching her pleasure and intimacy. Simple trust.
“We can’t seem to make any headway with Nova in one area in particular,” Angelo said without looking away from the training in the room below them.
“Other than the children here, she doesn’t have any friendships. She doesn’t let anyone get too close.”
“Not even you?” Dez asked.
“Especially not me. No matter what we’ve been through, she doesn’t trust men. We need her for an upcoming mission—we need her to be ready. We need you to get her to trust you.”
“Trust me?” In his years as her team leader, he’d made headway in that, but never broke through the way he’d strived to.
One of Angelo’s thick eyebrows rose, and he gave a sad smile. “The only time we saw an improvement in her impulsive behavior was during the years you were her leader. You taught her to be a team player. In small but tangible ways, she responds to you and you alone.”
Dez wasn’t sure the assessment was warranted. It was true that he’d used a velvet glove approach to get her to come over to his side during those years. And she’d responded to him as she had to no one else before or after.
“Befriend her. Get her to confide in you. Do whatever you have to do to ensure that she’ll turn to you in her time of need.” His superior turned to him. “The only catch is, you’re not cleared to let her know you’re her mentor or that you’ll be working together on this mission we’re grooming her for.”
Dez stared at him in surprise. Just how am I supposed to do that?
Angelo took a step closer. “You’re cleared for anything beyond that one boundary,” he said, inclining his head toward the panel Dez still held. “Her history is included along with your objectives.”
As #2 walked away, Dez understood the core without the specifics. His superiors essentially wanted him to seduce Nova, make her trust him so she became emotionally involved with him. All the while, she’d be kept in the dark about the new nature of their professional relationship until they reached their mission goals.
“The only time we saw an improvement in her impulsive behavior was during the years you were her leader. You taught her to be a team player. In small but tangible ways, she responds to you and you alone. Befriend her. Get her to confide in you. Do whatever you have to do to ensure that she’ll turn to you in her time of need.”
Dez pondered on the woman they wanted him to manipulate. Betray her. That’s the bottom line here.
Even as his mind railed against the idea of following orders in this case, he knew he hadn’t gotten as far as he had in the organization with disloyalty. Law of the jungle, baby—survival of the fittest. And I’ve made it my personal life goal to be top of the food chain before I’m thirty-five.
He looked down into the training area again and knew his feelings for Nova Granger couldn’t have been covered by duty or even survival during those years she’d been a member of his team. If he engaged her and drew her into his trust, he’d get too close. Maybe close enough to break open the emotionless fortress he’d built around himself for as long as he could remember. Nova had done the exact opposite with her heart. She cared passionately about the individual in a big, impersonal world. Maybe he was afraid to face how much he needed to care about someone and to be cared for back.

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