Take No Quarter Read online

  Table of Contents

  Books by Desiree Holt

  Title Page

  Legal Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Read more from Desiree Holt

  More exciting books!

  About the Author

  Totally Bound Publishing books by Desiree Holt

  Single Books

  Crude Oil

  Beg Me

  Down and Dirty

  Interlude

  Intermission

  Four Play

  Game On

  Swingtime

  Party of Three

  All Jacked Up

  Top or Bottom

  Rodeo Heat

  Night Heat

  Cupid’s Shaft

  Trouble in Cowboy Boots

  Strike Force

  Unconditional Surrender

  Lock and Load

  Advance to the Rear

  The Sentinels

  The Edge of Morning

  Night Moves

  Dark Stranger

  Animal Instinct

  Mated

  Silent Hunters

  Cat’s Eyes

  Pretty Kitty

  On the Prowl

  Corporate Heat

  Where Danger Hides

  Double Deception

  Masquerade

  Erector Set

  Erected

  Hammered

  Nailed

  Anthologies

  Night of the Senses: Carnal Caresses

  Christmas Goes Camo: Melting the Ice

  Treble: Trouble at the Treble T

  Subspace: Head Games

  Bound to the Billionaire: Made for Him

  Three’s a Charm: Double Entry

  Collections

  Heatwave: Summer Spice

  Feral: Black Cat Fever

  Clandestine Classics: Northanger Abbey

  Strike Force

  TAKE NO QUARTER

  DESIREE HOLT

  Take No Quarter

  ISBN # 978-1-78686-462-8

  ©Copyright Desiree Holt 2019

  Cover Art by Cherith Vaughan ©Copyright February 2019

  Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

  Totally Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2019 by Totally Bound Publishing, United Kingdom.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

  Totally Bound Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book”.

  Book four in the

  Strike Force series

  Can her Delta Force soldier save her from the killers?

  Trey McIntyre gives his life to Delta Force, gladly, as spotter for sniper Beau Williams. He believes in protecting his country in all situations, but he longs for a woman like his three teammates have, who will fit into his life. He’s learned, however, that they aren’t so easy to find.

  Kenzi Bryant is a hotshot corporate attorney who can’t seem to find a man who’s not threatened by her powerful personality and situation. That is, until she meets Trey—and something between them just clicks.

  But for two strong people, the road to a happy ending has a lot of bumps. And while they’re navigating theirs, Kenzi is suddenly endangered by a former client. As much as Trey wants to be with her, he has to leave on a mission. When Kenzi’s badly injured by an attempt on her life, Trey has to learn how to balance his priorities and Kenzi has to learn that there are times when she has to give up control.

  But can they do it?

  Dedication

  So many people help me produce a book, beginning with Joseph Trainor, cop and former Air Force non-com, who answers my myriad questions; Margie Hager, my beta reader extraordinaire and incredible friend; my fabulous virtual assistant, Maria Connor; and last but far from least, the very talented and eagle-eyed editor Rebecca Fairfax, who makes my books sing. I love you all and dedicate this book to you.

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Colt M4 Carbines: Colt’s Manufacturing LLC

  MH/AH-6M Little Bird: The Boeing Company

  Chapter One

  “Fifteen minutes to the drop zone.” Lt. Slade Donovan, code name Shadow, spoke into his throat mic, giving the members of his Delta Force team, code name Sierra, a head’s-up.

  They were flying through the night in a Boeing MH/AH-6M Little Bird helicopter flown by a Special Operations Aviation Regiment pilot. SOAR provided aviation support for Special Forces and had been dialed up to fly this mission. Coincidentally, the pilot, Lt. John Wannamaker, had flown this team on other assignments before, which gave everyone a secure feeling. ‘Nothing like knowing your team,’ Slade always told them.

  Trey McIntyre, code name Storm, leaned back against the inner hull of the chopper, closed his eyes and began the process of centering himself. Next to him and across from him, other members of Team Sierra were doing the same thing. This included the newest additions, Brock Sullivan and Axel Weber. The whole team had just completed six grueling weeks of training to make sure the newbies fit into the team. Being able to trust that each person knew what he was doing was just as important as the tasks themselves.

  Under normal circumstances, they would not be deploying so soon after finishing their last op, but just as they’d wrapped up the training session, word had come down from the brass that Dana Roberts, a journalist, had been kidnapped by the Lopez Garcia cartel she was investigating, and Sierra Team was tasked with retrieving her. This was not their first adventure with narcotrafficantes. Sierra Team had been deployed before as part of larger missions to work in concert with the Mexican military when an especially vicious cartel situation had arisen.

  Trey had wondered why the cartel hadn’t killed the wo
man, since journalists who wrote unfavorably about cartels were not too popular. This year alone three had been beheaded and placed in a public square for people to see, although not by this cartel. Then he’d learned that the cartel had contacted the media conglomerate she worked for and asked for twenty million in United States dollars or they’d send her home in pieces. Cartels were never about to pass up an opportunity for a big payday.

  Of course, the briefing made them aware that Lopez Garcia’s style was a little different from the other cartel leaders’. They called him El Lobo. The wolf. Wolves, Trey knew, were among the world’s smartest, most perceptive animals—and also one of the most vicious and bloodthirsty. The word was Lopez Garcia ran his cartel like an alpha wolf ran his pack, with prescribed, ritualistic behavior and a defined pecking order. Everyone acknowledged that this kidnapping was abnormal behavior for him and his cartel… If someone had gone off the reservation and done this on their own, there could be a lot of bloodshed over it.

  This team was due some leave time after three back-to-back missions and had been on the verge of getting to it, but when the call had come to gear up, they’d killed that idea. Each of them was aware that the primary focus of all units of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta—was counterterrorism and hostage rescue, so today’s mission was one they’d rehearsed for many times. They had been in situations that were far worse than this and succeeded. Trey knew each man on the team was mentally and physically ready to get this job done.

  Now they were in the darkened cabin of the helo, flying into the night over Quintana Roo, a state in Mexico that was a combination of thick jungle and tourist hotspots. Like him, each man was going over in his head what they knew. Hector Lopez Garcia, leader of the cartel, owned a massive finca—country estate—deep in the heart of the Quintana Roo jungle. A helo with very sophisticated equipment had done a previous flyover and reported that it was protected by heavily armed manpower and surrounded by thick stands of trees and other jungle growth.

  ‘No external electronic security,’ the pilot had reported. ‘Nothing showed up on our instruments and they’re ninety-nine-point-nine percent accurate.’

  ‘I’m surprised,’ Slade had commented.

  ‘They don’t need it. The cartel owns three hundred acres of pure, overgrown jungle with the main building itself square in the middle. By the time a person reached the house, everyone would hear them coming.’ Then he’d grinned. ‘Except you guys, of course. I think you invented the word stealth.’

  Trey knew that their training would definitely come in handy today. Intel had reported there were at least twenty heavily armed guards—sicarios—at the finca. Their orders were to get in, take out as many of them as they had to, grab the hostage and get the hell out of there. He was sure the cartel was egotistical enough to be confident no one could breach their security and make off with their prize. Trey grinned in the darkness. They hadn’t met the men of Delta Force yet. And after tonight, they’d probably hope never to meet them again—at least any who were still alive.

  When Slade signaled five minutes to drop, each of them went over their gear again, double-checking both their rifles and handguns. Then they were hovering just at the tops of the trees, at the spot that had been selected as the best for insertion. Someone tossed a rope from the cabin and one by one they rappelled down, fast and neat just as they’d done so many times. The moment the last man was standing and the rope pulled up, Slade signaled the helo to get gone. It banked and lifted away, off to where it would wait for the signal to return and retrieve them.

  Once on the ground, they made their way as quickly and quietly as possible through the thick stands of palm, poinciana and Caribbean pine trees, as well as a wide variety of dense flowering shrubs. Dressed all in black, hands and faces also blackened, and with the stealth for which they were famous, they made their way through the jungle to the main house. Here was where it would get dicey, but they had gone over the plan so many times Trey knew they could all recite it from memory.

  At the edge of the clearing, Slade held up a hand for them to stop and Trey pulled the thermal imager from a side pocket in his pants. It didn’t take long for them to determine which rooms had people in them. Knowing Dana Roberts was a small woman and that there was only one other female in the house, they quickly pinpointed her in one of two locations.

  “I count twenty bodies in the house,” Trey whispered. “Not counting our target. How copy?”

  “Good copy,” came back all the whispered responses.

  They had no intel on whether Hector Lopez Garcia himself was at this location or not, but the prevailing theory was no. In a way, they were glad. Retrieving the hostage was their primary mission. They didn’t need any distractions. Capturing Lopez Garcia could be on someone else’s menu.

  Trey noted exterior lights on the corners of the roof, throwing circles of light onto the grass. Slade pointed and gestured for them to stay beyond the perimeters of the lights. Then he whispered into his mic.

  “Sierra Team, move out.”

  Trey clicked his mic to show he understood, knowing the other team members were doing the same. Then, like a choreographed dance group that had performed a routine multiple times, they moved slowly toward the house itself, alert for any guards sure to be patrolling outside. Even as isolated as the house was, it was a given that the cartel leader would not leave the exterior unprotected.

  Their orders were to pull out all the stops for the mission to succeed. If that meant eliminating every one of Lopez Garcia’s men, they were prepared to do that. No one would be shedding any tears over the vicious cartel members.

  They had barely moved into the clearing towards the house when two guards came into sight, one from each side of the building. They spotted the team and lifted their weapons to fire, but before they could shoot or give any kind of warning, Slade’s gun spoke twice, followed by two rounds from Axel, who was next to him. The shots were so close together it seemed as if they’d all come from the same weapon.

  “Two tangoes down,” Slade whispered into his mic.

  Stepping over the bodies, the team moved toward the house. At a signal from Slade, they broke through two large sliding glass doors, startling the people inside. Marc and Brock tossed smoke grenades into the room and as the men in there reached for their weapons, even as they were coughing and choking, the team disposed of them before the tangoes could get a shot off.

  “Eight more down,” Slade informed them.

  The team spread out, moving from room to room, with Slade and Trey heading for the first of two rooms where they believed the hostage was being held.

  “Sierra Team, this is Sierra One,” Slade whispered. “Remember, we want Lopez Garcia, too, if he’s here. Keep an eye out for where he might be hiding.”

  “This is Sierra Four. So far no trace of him.”

  “Damn fucker,” Marc Blanchard, Sierra Three, growled. “I’d like to kill that motherfucker myself.”

  Everyone on the team knew that Marc had a hard-on for anything to do with drugs. They had destroyed his first marriage before it had even got started. And though he was very happily married now, he still hadn’t forgotten the devastating effects drugs could have on people. He’d kill everyone in the cartel given the opportunity.

  “We’ll get our chance,” Slade told him. “Meanwhile, let’s find the package and get the fuck out of here.”

  They moved through the house, the team clearing it room by room, the sound of a gun battle as cartel members confronted them a continuous barrage of noise. Reports of tangoes down sounded in their headphones as they reached each room.

  Trey’s assignment was to cover Slade’s six as they headed for the two rooms identified as probable locations for the hostage. It was a stroke of luck that when they burst into the first one they hit pay dirt, but what they saw pulled them up short. Dana was there, disheveled and with a bruise on one cheek, but doing her best not to look terrified. Trey was seized with a desire to kick the
shit out of whoever had laid hands on her—most likely the man dressed in black pants and shirt who stood behind her, one arm around her throat, his other hand holding a gun to her head.

  “Don’t worry, Dana.” Slade spoke to the frightened woman in a calm voice. “Everything’s gonna be just fine. Trey, let the team know what’s happening and get someone up here to cover the rest of the upstairs.”

  Trey clicked his mic. “Sierra team, we have located the package but need assistance. How copy?”

  “Good copy,” came back from everyone.

  “Sierra Five on the way up,” Axel added, followed by Brock, and Trey repeated the messages to Slade.

  “Put down your gun,” the man growled, “or I shoot her then you and your men. Do it now.”

  At his words, Trey shifted his position ever so slightly so he could cover the room. Axel and Brock had just reached the hallway behind him and stood with their guns ready.

  “I think you might want to reconsider that.” Slade spoke in his low, deceptive Texas drawl, one that often lulled people into a false belief that he wasn’t so sharp or so aware of things. “I promise you I’m better at this than you are and, if I miss, the other members of my team won’t. Unless you want to bleed out here on this nice carpet, drop the gun and let the lady walk over here.”

  The man snorted. “You do the walking, right out of this room, or she is a dead woman. Get out of here now. All of you.”

  “Now, see? I just can’t do that.”

  The rest happened so fast Trey hardly saw Slade’s finger tighten on the trigger. The man moved his arm slightly and the crack! of a shot and the collapse of the man’s body happened in a nanosecond. Slade reached for Dana as the thug fell, and pulled her to him.

  “Oh, my god!” She leaned against Slade, who put an arm around her to steady her.