Can they find forever in the wreckage of their lives?
FINAL EXIT
EXIT Inc. #3
Lena Diaz
Releasing Jan 31st, 2017
Avon Books
Lena Diaz concludes her sexy, suspenseful EXIT Inc. series as an FBI agent teams up with a beautiful assassin to uncover a deadly government conspiracy...
After a tragic mistake nearly destroyed his life, Special Agent Kade Quinn will do whatever it takes to save his career. His latest mission? Track and capture the remaining EXIT operatives to determine if they’re still a threat. But his next target—a stunning female assassin—is both elusive and dangerously appealing.
Bailey Stark has outsmarted the FBI so far, but she’s tired of running. Tired of watching her friends ambushed by government agents in tactical gear and never seen again. She suspects they aren’t being evaluated—they’re being exterminated—and she’s determined to convince Agent Quinn his mission is a lie before it’s too late. Bailey doesn’t want to rely on him. She definitely shouldn’t desire him. But she knows teaming up with the skilled, sexy agent may be her only hope.
Kade doesn’t want to believe Bailey’s claims, but he promises to keep her safe. Trusting one another is difficult. Fighting their attraction is harder. And as they uncover the disturbing truth behind his mission . . . staying alive will be nearly impossible.
Friday, 11:55
p.m.
It was a perfect
night to catch a killer. A warm breeze blew out of the south at about six miles
per hour. Rain-heavy clouds covered the half-moon, plunging the cliff where
Special Agent Kade Quinn stood into darkness. He was betting on the old cliché,
third time’s a charm. And also betting on the numbers—that his six, shiny new
special agents could take down one highly skilled, remarkably cunning,
experienced assassin.
Not the kind of
odds to go to Vegas over. But he had to work with what he had. If things went
as planned, Bailey Stark would soon be in custody like the dozens of other EXIT
Inc. Enforcers that his team had managed to capture. The
now-defunct company could never again fool the public into believing that all
it did was offer vacation packages, so-called “EXtreme International Tours.”
The clandestine organization’s true legacy as a corrupt front for
government-sanctioned murder would end with the capture of the last few
Enforcers. By the time his mission was over, every last one functioning members
of society.
And innocents like
Abby would never again become the victims of killers like Bailey.
Between the
nightmare of his wife’s death and the near-constant ache in his ruined left
leg, Kade had his own, very personal, debt with EXIT. And he planned on
collecting. He scanned the tree line. Past the red oak and Ponderosa pines, the
Colorado Rockies squatted like dark sentinels watching over tonight’s
operation. Below him, in the middle of a wide, nearly treeless valley, was
ground zero, the two-story cottage that Bailey believed would be her sanctuary.
Instead, it would become her last stand. A quarter-mile-long driveway connected
a two-lane highway to this remote property. At close to midnight and
an hour’s drive from Boulder, the road was essentially deserted. Kade couldn’t
have asked for a better place to launch an ambush. And if his intel was
correct, Bailey should arrive within the next half hour.
Only a few minutes
later the two-way radio on his belt crackled to life. “Big Bear to Lone Wolf.
Come in.”
Kade rolled his
eyes and pressed the transmit button. “Kade here. What’s the situation report,
Nichols?”
“You’re ruining my
fun, boss.” He shook his head but played along. He had to pick his battles.
“Lone Wolf to Big Bear. What’s the sitrep?”
“Much better.” A
chuckle sounded through the radio. “A beat-up, dark blue Camaro just turned off
the highway. One occupant. Looks to be our target. She’s heading toward the
cottage.”
“Use the SUV to
block the road behind her. If she gets spooked, I don’t want her doing a
one-eighty and making it to the highway.”
“Affirmative. Big
Bear out.”
Kade clicked off
the mic and belatedly wished he’d downed a handful of antacids before driving
out here. Being assigned these eager, raw newbies had to be his penance for his
breakdown after the accident. They were also the reason he was here in person
rather than monitoring the mission remotely per the usual protocol. Tonight’s
target had already tricked his team and gotten away—twice. Kade was here to
make sure that didn’t happen again.
“Cord,” he said
through the two-way. “Sitrep.”
“You mean you
aren’t going to call me Little Bear?”
“Do you want me
to?” He was half-afraid of the answer.
“Hell no. I’m not
in junior high.”
“You guys know I
can hear you, right?” Nichols chimed in.
“Sitrep,” Kade
growled.
“She just passed
my ten o’clock,” Cord announced. “Dom should have her in his sights in a
few seconds.”
“Already do,”
Dominic confirmed. “The car is pulling up to the house. We’re all set.”
“Radio silence in
three, two, one.” Kade clicked off the transmitter.
They couldn’t risk
the sound of static or a mistimed transmission alerting their target. Or at
least, that was the official reason for breaking communications. Unofficially,
he needed a few moments of silence to get his impatience under control. What
had happened to the bureau’s standards? Big Bear, Little Bear? Hell, two of his
agents—Dom and Jack—had tattoos. Since when had the FBI allowed tats? Quantico
was going soft.
He looked through
the binoculars. Instead of driving into the attached garage as expected, Bailey
did a three-point turn and parked the Camaro pointing down the driveway. Was
she suspicious? Had she purposely positioned her vehicle for a quick getaway?
His hands tightened around the binoculars. The driver’s door opened. A petite
woman in dark-colored shorts and a white T-shirt emerged. A pistol was
holstered at her waist and her shoulder-length, curly red hair reflected like
flames in the soft glow of the porch light. Even at this distance she had the
kinds of curves that made men pay attention—including Kade, much to his
chagrin.
He had more reason
than most to despise Enforcers, and yet his breath caught every time he looked
at one of her photographs in the case file. He couldn’t imagine the effect
she’d have on him if he ever got within a few feet of her in person. It was bad
enough that his pulse quickened whenever those deep green eyes gazed back at
him from her pictures. But what he hated the most was the odd feeling of
kinship he felt toward her, a tug of empathy when he saw the shadows in her
eyes, the same shadows he saw every time he looked in a mirror. He couldn’t
help wondering what had happened to harden her and make her look so lost, so
sad, so incredibly . . . alone.
Exciting and intriguing, Kade and Bailey were a great team. I loved how quickly they trusted each other considering they started out as enemies. There was a twist that I did not see coming at first, and another I was expecting. I would highly recommend reading the first two books, but it can be read as a standalone.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
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