Forged Risk Read online

  Forged Risk

  Aegis Group Task Force #1

  Sidney Bristol

  Website | Facebook | Mailing List

  Inked Press

  Forged Risk

  Aegis Group Task Force #2

  The only place Evan Ivanov has ever belonged is with his team. He takes it as a matter of pride when his team is recruited to join an off-the-books task force, but the job quickly becomes far more complicated than he could have imagined when he's sent back to his home city of Kiev. Instead of capturing an infamous criminal who makes bad guys disappear, he ends up releasing the criminal’s daughter, a beautiful young woman who has been a prisoner most of her life.

  Felecia seizes on the opportunity to get away from her father. Though she tells herself not to trust Evan, he's there for her at every turn. But this rescue comes at a price. She must help the team even when that means putting herself in danger. The more she reveals, the closer she becomes to Evan and the harder it gets for her to want to be free of the team. Falling for her white knight isn't possible. Not when she has enemies circling.

  Evan struggles to balance his relationship with Felecia with his duty to his team and finds them at odds. She must learn to go on trust and follow her heart as they follow her father's clues, only someone's hunting them.

  Explore the whole Aegis world in these series...

  It all began with the Aegis Group.

  Dangerous Attraction

  Dangerous in Training

  Dangerous Games

  Dangerous Assignment

  Dangerous Protector

  Dangerous Secrets

  Dangerous Betrayal

  Dangerous Heat

  Dangerous Connections

  Dangerous Exposure (2020)

  More Coming Soon!

  Within Aegis Group, special teams take on special jobs, beginning with the Alpha Team.

  Dangerous in Love

  Dangerous in Action

  Dangerous in Transit

  Dangerous in Motion

  Dangerous in Charge

  Other specialized teams exist under the Aegis Group umbrella, including Lepta Team.

  Dangerously Taken

  Dangerously Involved

  Dangerously Deceived

  Dangerously Broken

  Dangerously Entwined

  Troy Team has signed on to work an ultra-secret case in the Aegis Group Task Force series.

  (prequel) First Risk: a newsletter exclusive serial

  Stolen Risk

  Forged Risk

  Technical Risk

  Necessary Risk

  Intercepted Risk (2020)

  Targeted Risk (TBA)

  Hard Risk (TBA)

  Burned Risk (TBA)

  Final Risk (TBA)

  Stay tuned for the appearance of the Omega Team and Dangerous Ladies!

  In Dangerous Games it continued with the Gone Geek girls.

  Beauty and the Geek

  Mr. Purr-fect and the Geek

  The Jock and the Geek

  The Gamer and the Geek

  The Adorkable Girl and the Geek

  The Fake Boyfriend and the Geek

  When the Seattle office of Aegis Group opened the Twisted Royals took the stage.

  The Origin Story

  Alpha Prince

  Her Prince

  Bad Boy Prince

  Noble Prince

  For short reads, tune in this December for the Body of Danger novella series kick-off.

  Heart of Danger

  Spirit of Danger

  Soul for Danger (2020)

  The other Smith brother takes us to the Texas SWAT series, a small town suspense series.

  Fighting Redemption

  Stolen Redemption

  Forbidden Redemption

  Reckless Redemption (coming soon)

  Thanks to the SWAT team, Ransom, Texas enjoys a slower pace of life beginning in The Love Barn.

  Give Me Back My Man

  Summer of Love

  Party out of Bounds

  Table of Contents

  Prologue.

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

  16.

  17.

  18.

  19.

  20.

  21.

  22.

  23.

  24.

  25.

  Epilogue.

  For Dr. Mary. I hope you never read this.

  Thank you for all your help.

  Prologue.

  Monday. Aegis Group Offices, Seattle, Washington.

  Evan Ivanov swiped his finger across the screen of his phone, studying the grinning, laughing faces of his nephews. His sister had posted the images on social media with the caption, Happiness is a family gathering. From the looks of it, she’d invited everyone. Except Evan.

  How many times had he told his sisters, his brother and parents that if they gave him even twelve hours’ notice he could be home? Some days he could make it there in less time. He had his bags permanently packed with his job. He didn’t mind. Hell, he’d like the invite.

  Evan wished he could blame the exclusion on his move to Seattle, but the truth was that he’d always slipped between the cracks where his family was concerned. He just didn’t fit. Never really had. His team was more like family than his blood.

  Harper Wright filled the doorway of the SCIF, or Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, room. The room was a glorified closet barely big enough for three chairs across the back of the room, which meant at least two people would be standing in addition to their boss. Evan had grabbed the chair in the corner, out of the way. It wasn’t anywhere near as comfortable as the conference room where most teams got their briefings, but Troy Team jobs were often of a sensitive, classified nature. So they made do with the tight quarters.

  Harper tipped his head back and downed half the bottle of water in his hand. Judging by the athletic shorts, sweat and odor he’d come from the gym. He grinned at Evan and said, “Hey, Ukie.”

  “Hey,” Evan mumbled.

  Back in the beginning Harper’s insistence on giving everyone nicknames had irritated Evan. It had seemed like calling him Ukie, short for Ukrainian, was some sort of insult that went over his head. It had taken Evan almost a year to realize that this was Harper’s way of claiming people. He gave them nicknames. They weren’t always flattering and people rarely liked them, but that was Harper’s way. But Evan knew this was where he fit. It was maybe the only place he’d ever belonged.

  “Any idea what the deal is?” Harper settled into the chair in the other corner.

  “No.”

  Tucker Papadopoulos, the team’s second in command, strode into the small room.

  Harper stretched out his legs. “Redneck, hey man, you know why we’re here?”

  Tucker didn’t miss a beat. “Nope.”

  He took the remaining empty seat. It was a given, whoever got to the SCIF room first got dibs on the chairs. These meetings were often long affairs and no one wanted to be left standing.

  Evan turned his phone off and slid it into his pocket, putting thoughts of his family out of mind. He was the odd one out there, the different one. Nothing would change that.

  “Well, we’re talkative today.” Harper thumped his bottle on his knee.

  Neither Tucker nor Evan responded to that.

  Harper began to hum a tune.

  It was late in the day for a briefing. Whatever this was, it had to be a last minute emergency sort of call, which meant they were likely to head
out soon. Evan would appreciate the distraction.

  Familiar voices grew closer.

  A moment later their Team Leader, Logan Muller, and the head of the Seattle Aegis Group office, Zain Lloyd, entered the room. Logan was a big man with reddish skin, black hair and cheekbones. Evan had never asked, but it was obvious the Native American lineage ran strong in him. Zain was dressed casually in jeans and a dark T-shirt. His left arm was some kind of high-tech prosthetic that looked like it had come off Iron Man or something with the way it lit up. Word was Zain had lost the limb while on an op and the injury was the reason for his discharge, but not the end of the road for him.

  “Where’s Silva?” Logan asked.

  “Don’t know,” Harper answered.

  Logan muttered something under his breath.

  Zain checked his phone. “He’s in the building.”

  Nearly every Aegis Group employee had opted into having a subdermal tracking device. In the early days they’d toyed with various trackers that could be worn, but time and time again those devices failed them by being too easily removed.

  Zain glanced up. “How are you guys doing? Enjoying the warmer weather?”

  “Warmer weather?” Harper laughed. “Seriously?”

  Zain shrugged. “It’s warmer than it was.”

  Logan cocked his head to the side then as if listening.

  “What?” Zain asked.

  Logan called out, “Silva, get in here.”

  A moment later the last member of their team, Jamie Silva, squeezed past Zain to stand up against the wall opposite Logan.

  “Thanks for joining us, asshole.” Harper lobbed his now empty water bottle at Jamie.

  “You’re welcome.” Jamie blew a kiss at Harper, caught the bottle then dropped it in the waste basket.

  “Guys,” Logan barked.

  Jamie muttered something under his breath. If anyone was late, it was usually Jamie.

  Evan focused on Zain. They’d been brought in late in the day. Nothing about this was normal.

  “What do you have for us?” Logan asked.

  “Nothing normal.” Zain blew out a breath and instead of turning on the projector or pulling out a tablet, he slid his hands in his pockets and glanced at each of them. “This isn’t a onetime job. You guys have an opportunity I can’t in good conscience pass up on, but I also can’t take the contract without allowing each of you to opt out of it.”

  Evan leaned forward now. So this wasn’t an emergency job. It was something else entirely.

  “It seems that Troy Team has impressed the DoD so much that you have been recommended for a very special job.” Zain took a moment and glanced at each of them, as though he could impart just how serious this was with a look. “The DoD wants to retain the team and use you for a special, joint Task Force between DoD, CIA, FBI, NSA and probably a few others. There is no end date. You would start immediately. All of your support would come from the Task Force, not us. I couldn’t even be your emergency call. They were very clear that you would not know the nature of your missions except the objective. And you would all have to move to DC in the next week to be available to start in seven days.”

  Evan sat there in stunned silence. Even Harper had nothing to say to that. Logan’s mouth twisted up and he shook his head, but the others were all quiet.

  It was gratifying to get this kind of recognition, but what did that really mean? Why them? What was the job?

  The whole part about moving didn’t bother Evan much. Seattle, like every other place he’d lived, had never felt like home. He was still on a month-to-month lease at his apartment, so if he gave notice today he’d be within the two weeks required for move-out.

  Damn.

  He’d already made up his mind.

  If the team was all going, he’d do this. Why shouldn’t he? It wasn’t like he had a reason not to.

  “What would you have us do?” Logan asked.

  “From a business perspective, it’s good. Real good for us.” Zain’s mouth twisted up like he’d tasted something sour. “But not being able to watch over you guys? To make sure you have everything you need? I’m struggling with that. I’ve pushed them on it, but they aren’t going to budge. Whatever this Task Force has been put together to handle has to be pretty serious if they aren’t sharing information. And that’s not even touching on what you all would be giving up.”

  Logan pushed off the wall, mostly blocking Evan’s view now. “Do you trust them?”

  “I trust you guys. And Agent Clark. She’s good people, but she’s the assistant to the director of the Task Force on this one, she’s not the one calling the shots.”

  Tucker jolted. Evan glanced at the other man out of the corner of his eye. Did Tucker know this Agent Clark?

  “How long do we have to decide?” Harper asked, his voice unusually serious.

  Zain grimaced. “I need to give them an answer by tomorrow morning. I suggest you each think this over and let me know as soon as you can what your decision is.”

  The room was quiet for a few moments.

  Tucker muttered something under his breath, pushed to his feet and left the room without saying a word to any of them. He was normally a quiet guy, kept to himself a lot, but usually he had some input on a job.

  Logan glanced after the man then at the rest of them. “I’m headed to the pub if anyone wants to go talk this out?”

  “Come on, Silva.” Harper stood and smacked Jamie’s shoulder.

  Jamie remained leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “I might pass, guys.”

  Harper glanced at Evan.

  Evan shrugged.

  Jamie was that guy, the one who was always dating some new girl he thought might be The One. His latest girlfriend didn’t have many fans among the team.

  “Talk this through,” Zain said again. “See you guys in the morning.”

  He gave Logan one last nod then headed out of the room.

  “Evan?” Logan turned toward Evan.

  Evan nodded and got to his feet. If this move was what was best with the team, he’d go. But the question was would the others feel the same?

  Some of them had put down roots here, like Jamie. They might not want to move across the country again.

  “I’m in,” Harper said and stood.

  Jamie pulled out his phone, his face creased and deep in thought.

  Logan nodded at Evan and headed out of the room. He followed, aware that both Harper and Jamie hung back.

  “What do you think of this?” Logan asked once they were in the hall.

  “It sounds like it could be a good opportunity, but it’s a lot to ask.”

  Logan nodded.

  Evan wondered again what Tucker knew the rest of them didn’t. “You ever worked with this Agent Clark?”

  Logan shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

  They passed through the lobby and out into the foyer. Evan jabbed the button for the elevator and they waited.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked Logan.

  “I go where the boss tells me.” He grimaced. “I won’t mind being away from all this rain though.”

  “You think the others feel the same?”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  “Would Zain split us up? Fill in for those who wouldn’t go?” It had just occurred to Evan that the Troy Team they had now didn’t have to be the only Troy Team there ever was.

  He stepped into the elevator and leaned against the wall, gripping the railing.

  This could tear apart their team.

  “No,” Logan said, his voice a lifeline in the momentary darkness. “No, I don’t think that would work. These people want us. I think so long as four of us sign on, it’s going to happen.”

  Evan took a deep breath. Okay, that wasn’t so bad.

  “Can I count on you? You in for this?”

  “Yeah.” Evan nodded. “I think I am.”

  1.

  Nine weeks later. Monday. Task Force Headquarters, Washington
, DC.

  Evan fastened the top button of his suit and clipped the name badge on his lapel. The logo was for a fictional company that existed, but served as the front for the Task Force operations out of a DC office building. The move to DC had been as quick as Zain warned them. Unfortunately, their job was a lot of hurry up and wait broken up with odd jobs that made little to no sense at all. Most days Evan was a glorified chauffer. To date, they’d only done one real operation, and that had been a near disaster.

  Today’s summons to the headquarters for a briefing was likely more nothing, but Evan couldn’t shake the hope that they might get to do something.

  He pocketed his phone, a notepad and pen, his keys then did a last look over the apartment. Each of the guys had been given a place in the complex next door to the office building. Evan agreed with the others, the government probably owned it, not that it mattered. At least not much.

  Evan carefully didn’t look at the security cameras he’d installed. One of the reasons their first job for the Task Force had been such a disaster was because there was a very high likelihood there was a mole on the Task Force. Suspects ending up dead and locations revealed. It was all too coincidental.

  They couldn’t be too careful, and the team was in too deep to simply leave.

  Satisfied his place was in order Evan headed out the door and locked it.

  Harper and Jamie were descending the stairs from the second floor. Evan picked up his pace and joined them.

  “Hey, look who actually slept in his own bed last night.” Harper delivered a sharp jab at Jamie’s ribs.

  “Fuck off,” Jamie grumbled.

  “Girlfriend get tired of you?” Harper chuckled.

  “No, she’s visiting her best friend.”

  Evan smothered his own laugh and relaxed while listening to the other two men banter.

  Jamie’s previous girlfriend had dumped him upon hearing about his offer to move. No sooner had they arrived in DC than Jamie got very close with a Department of Defense contractor who’d helped them salvage their last job. Evan liked the woman. Unlike Jamie’s previous girlfriends, she was a good fit for him and Evan could see the two of them putting down roots together.

  Someday he wanted that. But for now he had these idiots and that would do.