Redemption Lost Read online

  Redemption Lost

  Cindy M. Hogan

  O’neal Publishing

  Contents

  Also by Cindy M. Hogan

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Also by Cindy M. Hogan

  About the Author

  Also by Cindy M. Hogan

  Also by Cindy M. Hogan

  Audio, Print, and eBook

  The Watched Trilogy

  Watched

  Protected

  Created

  * * *

  Christy Spy Novels: Christy’s story continues from the Watched Trilogy

  Adrenaline Rush

  Hotwire

  Fatal Exchange

  Redemption Lost

  * * *

  Christy and Rick Novellas

  The Royal Guard

  Secrets in the Sand

  Secrets in the Storm

  * * *

  Code of Silence Series

  Kate Unmasked

  Kate Concealed

  Kate Empowered

  Kate Unleashed

  * * *

  Gravediggers

  * * *

  Sweet and Sour Kisses

  * * *

  Novellas

  Dangerous Truth

  The Descension

  REDEMPTION LOST

  Copyright ©2016 by Cindy M. Hogan

  First Edition

  All rights reserved

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

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover design by Novak Illustrations

  Edited by Charity West

  ISBN:978-0-9972555-1-5

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  For all those seeking redemption.

  There’s a way.

  There’s time.

  Chapter 1

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  CHRISTY

  Christy breathed in the chilly night air, a thrill running through her. She was exhausted, but happy. Another successful mission was coming to an end, and she had an envelope full of evidence to show for it. She reached the door of Paris Division 57 headquarters and turned to take in the city lights. A halo of light from the Arc de Triomphe lit the tops of the trees, making everything seem magical—more alive. She grinned, then turned to the retinal scanner.

  “Excellent work, Christy,” Director Siron said just moments later when Christy handed over the envelope. “I know I can always count on you to come through on a mission.”

  “Just make sure the scumbag pays for what he’s done.”

  “If these documents contain the information I think they do, we’ll have no problem with that. You look beat. Go get some rest.”

  Christy nodded and headed back into the light chaos that was always Division HQ. She kept her head down, hoping her lack of eye-contact would get her out of there faster. Now that she’d handed over the evidence, her fatigue was taking over. She needed to get home and sleep.

  But before she could slip out, Ace intercepted her.

  “I know you’re beat,” he said. She blinked at him and yawned, not dignifying his comment with a response. He tucked a chunk of his long, light brown hair behind his ear. “I’m sorry—I’m tired too, but Jeremy got a message he thinks you’ll be interested in.” Despite his obvious exhaustion, his brown eyes twinkled with interest, making his rugged good looks even more striking.

  “Can I look at it tomorrow? I don’t think I’ll be able to read anything right now.”

  “Christy,” Jeremy said, suddenly appearing. “You’ve got to see this.”

  A grin slipped onto her lips. His was the only voice that could have convinced her to stay and give the message a look. She followed Jeremy into Ace’s tech corner in a separate wing of the building. He wore designer jeans, boots, and a t-shirt that was just tight enough to make her heart race. They stood at Ace’s desk, his various computer monitors glowing harshly in the dark room. Christy’s eyes burned and her body felt squishy and tingly. She needed a bed.

  “I got this message last night and didn’t know what to make of it at first. It was forwarded from the Bresen Spy Academy and not just to me, but over a wide range of addresses. Since Bresen doesn’t know where you are, they sent out a wide net. Smart.”

  That got her attention. Even Bresen thought this was important. She blinked hard, trying to get some moisture into her eyes so that she could read the screen in front of her. She leaned in and the boys moved back, giving her room. The message was brief, addressed to someone named Ari.

  Ari? It took a moment for her to remember, possibly because she was so tired, but just as likely because she’d been through so many aliases since then. Ari was her alias at Bresen.

  Ari -

  I need you. Come to the place where it all began.

  Melanie

  Immediately, she knew who had sent the message. Marybeth Byrd, her good friend from D.C. While Christy had gone on to join Division 57 as a spy, she’d been hired on to be a spy in the world of politics, with a completely different organization. It’d been over three years since Christy had seen or heard from her. Her heart turned cold. Marybeth was in danger.

  “Ace,” Christy said, turning to him and moving to the side of the computer. He raised his dark eyebrows, expectancy in his eyes. “It’s Marybeth Byrd, a good friend of mine. She works for that political spy organization, Polity. She’s in D.C. somewhere. Could you get me her contact information?”

  “I’m on it.” He reached out a tattooed arm toward his chair. Christy stared out the high, narrow windows that gave a glimpse at the star-strewn sky, memories of her time at Bresen Spy Academy flooding back to her. Distantly, she heard Ace roll his chair in front of his computer and start typing. Her arm warmed as Jeremy’s brushed hers. Something suddenly occurred to her. “When was the original email sent to the academy?” She whirled around and looked at the computer screen.

  “Last night.” Jeremy said, his voice calm. Christy’s anxiety calmed slightly. “They sent it almost instantaneously to me.” He yawned. They were all exhausted.

  “What if something happened to her in the hours it took you to find the email?”

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” Jeremy put his arm around her and gave her a side hug. She wished she could melt into his arms, but she knew tha
t anything more intimate would signal Division about their true relationship.

  Ace’s fingers raced over the keyboard, the tip-tapping of the keys made everything seem even more urgent. He mumbled as he worked. “Sneaky. I’ve got you. Oh, no you didn’t. Uh, huh. Okay. There you are.” He swiveled on his chair. “Is this her?”

  On the screen was a large picture of Marybeth from three years ago, exactly as she used to be. She wore her brown hair down, a light wave emphasizing its rich thickness. She had soft features and expressive eyes.

  “They really should have a bit tighter security than that.”

  “You have her phone number already?” It had only been a little over five minutes.

  “No. But I’m close. Are these guys legit?” Ace asked.

  “Who?” Jeremy asked.

  “Polity.”

  “As far as I know. Is there something that leads you to believe they aren’t?”

  “Maybe,” Ace said, still typing away. “Their site is disorganized. Nothing like Division’s organization. Anyway, I’ve got her alias now and a record of her mission details.”

  Christy put her hands on his desk and leaned in to read what was there.

  Marybeth: Learn all about being a senator by becoming a nanny for Senator Alvarez.

  “What?” she said, frowning. “Is that it?”

  “See what I mean?”

  “It’s like the mission details were set up by a kid,” Jeremy said.

  “I think even an organization kids would put together would give better instructions than that.” Christy scratched at her temple.

  “Maybe they simply don’t put all mission details in this section of the records. It was easy to find, all things considered.” Ace pushed back in his chair.

  “Well,” Jeremy said. “That’s not our problem, thank goodness.”

  Ace pulled up a couple other screens, and then Marybeth’s address and number appeared on the screen. “Give it a try.”

  Christy was surprised to feel her hands tremble as she dialed Marybeth’s number. She hoped she’d answer. She prayed she could answer.

  “Hello?” The soft, sweet voice of Marybeth said over the secure line.

  “Marybeth,” Christy said, relief rushing over her. She was alive.

  “Christy?” Marybeth said. “Is that you?”

  “It’s me.” Christy grinned.

  “Christy. Oh, thank heaven.” Marybeth’s voice filled Christy’s heart with warmth. “Sorry for contacting you. I didn’t get you in any trouble, did I? I had to get a hold of you because of what happened.”

  “No. No trouble, and that was pretty great that you thought to send it to Bresen. I’m glad they sent the message on.”

  “Yeah. I was hoping. We should have set up ways to get in touch with each other. What were we thinking?”

  “We had no idea how hard it might be to find each other being spies.” Christy chuckled.

  “No we didn’t.”

  Christy stepped out of little room and started pacing the long walkway between the many tech specialists’ areas. “So, what’s up?”

  Her words came out in a fast stream. “My friend Bradley Durham is missing. The police think it was a hijacking, and they say they’re doing everything they can, but they don’t have any leads and I don’t think they can do anything. They’re looking for some random thief, but that’s wrong—I think someone was trying to get to Alvarez and they accidentally got Bradley instead.”

  She drew a breath and Christy cut in quickly. “Slow down, Marybeth. None of these details are making sense to me. Start from the beginning—what happened?”

  Marybeth took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’ll try to make more sense. I work for a senator—Senator Alvarez. Bradley works for him, too. He’s kind of his right hand man, really. Anyway, the other night, the senator was supposed to be at this rally, but he couldn’t make it. He sent Bradley in his place last minute—no one knew. He took the senator’s limo and everything. Well, somewhere between the Senate building and the convention center, the limo disappeared. The driver was found this morning, wandering around with a head wound, but there’s been no sign of Bradley.”

  Christy’s brow furrowed as she pieced the details together. “So, they let the driver go, but not Bradley—so you’re thinking they weren’t after the car.”

  “I think they were after Senator Alvarez. He was supposed to be in that limo. They took the limo, thinking they had Alvarez, and didn’t realize until they got—wherever they were going—that they had the wrong man.”

  “So you want us to find your friend.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you think Senator Alvarez is still in danger?”

  “Yes.”

  Christy walked back to Ace’s area and put Marybeth on speaker after shutting the door. “I just put you on speaker, Marybeth. I want my team to hear what you said. Could you start at the beginning and tell your concern?”

  Marybeth did so, in a much more concise and straightforward manner this time. “If anyone can find Bradley, I know you can. I’m worried about him, and worried about Senator Alvarez too. He’s a great man. He has a good family and knows how important families are and his legislation speaks to that and so many other fabulous causes. If they get to Alvarez, all the great things he was working on will never happen.”

  “I’m sorry to have to ask you this,” Jeremy broke in. “But have you talked to Polity? To your handler?”

  “Yes. They say there isn’t enough evidence to make it their problem.”

  “Okay.” Jeremy squinted.

  “Please. I know you guys can do this. I mean, you guys are the real deal.”

  “Well, I can’t promise anything, but I will take it to Division and see if they’ll give us permission to act on this.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful,” she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “We’ll get back to you as soon as we know.”

  “Thanks, you guys.”

  They said their goodbyes. Her mind was already whirring with the next steps they needed to make. The exhaustion she felt earlier was still there, but she pressed it down, forcing herself awake through sheer willpower.

  “I’ll go talk to Siron.” Jeremy left to go get the go ahead for the mission. Christy waited with baited breath.

  “So, you really want to head back to D.C.?” Ace asked.

  “For Marybeth, yes. If she thinks this is important, then I trust her.”

  Finally Jeremy returned. “It’s a go.

  Chapter 2

  CHRISTY

  Christy straightened her black tie over her womanly curves then groaned, feeling completely uncomfortable in the new, severely starched and ironed navy blue uniform. She tried to ignore the pressure that her shiny and still very stiff shoes put on the tops of her feet as she walked to her bed to retrieve her Capitol police hat. She pulled it down hard onto her head, yanking it to just over her tightly coiled bun.

  Marybeth had identified a list of Senator Alvarez’s enemies in the Senate. It was a short list, just two senators—Senator Miller and Senator Edwards. Christy and Jeremy would be acting as their guards for a few days to try to determine whether they could be involved in a hit on Alvarez. Marybeth thought they were the two most likely culprits.

  Jeremy stood in the doorway wearing the same uniform, a grin on his cleanly shaven and handsome face.

  “Don’t you dare, Jeremy. Don’t you dare.”

  “What?” he asked. “I think you look beautiful.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Only men with just the right tone and muscle could pull off these uniforms.” She raised an eyebrow. He moved toward her.

  “And would you say I’m one of those fortunate men?”

  She bit her lip as he took her face in his hands. Her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed her.

  “No, no, no. None of that—you promised. Not while we’re on the job.” Halluis glared at them from the hallway, his normally sardonic face stern. His thin mustache quivered with conster
nation.

  Christy blushed and stepped back from Jeremy, shrugging ruefully. Working with him and not being able to touch him was hard, but being away from him would be harder. It was a balance—and a sacrifice—but they both lived with it for the sake of the job they were called to do.

  “Sorry, Hal. Last time, I promise.”

  Jeremy shook his head and sighed. “Scout’s honor.”

  Halluis narrowed his eyes at them. “I’ll keep you to that. You two better get a move on. Traffic is a beast here.”

  Christy nodded. “You’re all set for the day, right?”

  Halluis grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Oui, chasing a missing limo, trail cold for three days. I imagine it will be very fruitful.”

  “We have to follow every lead we have, you know that,” Jeremy said. “Like you said, Bradley Durham has been missing for three days already. That means we’re going to need an extraordinary amount of luck if we’re going to find him. Luck follows the diligent.”

  “Yes, well I noticed you assigned yourselves the leads that might actually, you know, lead somewhere.”

  “Are you questioning my direction this early in the game, Halluis?” Jeremy’s tone was light, but Christy saw the twitch at his temple. He was irritated.

  “Come on, boys, let’s get some food,” she said, pushing Jeremy toward the door.

  Halluis stepped quietly down the stairs, and Christy stomped behind him, trying to break in her shoes as quickly as she could. Ace was in the kitchen finishing up a large bowl of cereal and plate of eggs.

  “Morning, slackers,” Ace said. “I was wondering when you were going to make it down.”

  Christy snorted. It was barely five a.m.—you had to get up early in this city if you wanted to get anywhere on time.

  “You have info on Durham for me?” Halluis asked.