Read Online The Omega Team: Hot Target (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Jordan Dane - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jordan Dane
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be done for him. The choices he had made were his forever, even the guilt he carried in his heart for Elena and Ariana’s deaths.
Rafael lay on his bed in the dark, feeling like a condemned man. He had showered but put on jeans and a T-shirt, knowing he wouldn’t sleep as he waited for a knock on his bedroom door. The shell casing Athena had found would finally bring justice. It had been long overdue.
He didn’t care what happened to him. He hadn’t cared about that since Elena and Ariana were brutally taken from him. But tonight his gut twisted over how Athena would look at him. She would know he’d crossed a line. There’d be no hope of return. He had no business being a part of the Omega Team—men and women worthy of the ideals they fostered—and he had no right to claim Madero blood. Not anymore.
When his thoughts drifted to Jacquie, his eyes burned and he shut them tight. Her sweet face came to him in the dark, along with the velvet feel of her skin. Her innocence shined through her eyes and in her gentle smile. She would never share her body and soul with a man like him. She deserved better.
The man he used to be died five years ago. He just hadn’t buried the body.
***
Minutes later
“No, this must be a mistake.” Jacquie gasped.
She stared at her laptop screen until her eyes burned. Memories raced through her mind as she replayed everything she knew through her head. Please…this can’t be. When her vision blurred, she realized she’d been crying. No way. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath.
“This can’t be right. I gotta run it again.”
She punched the keypad and double checked her findings. Twice more. Rafael Madero’s police personnel record kept coming up. Dressed in uniform with his hair short, he held his chin high and had stared into the camera that day, a different man than the brooding and withdrawn man she knew. Jacquie couldn’t get her mind to accept what she’d found.
Why would Ruiz do this?
It had to be a conspiracy. Why would a Cuban politician ask for Athena by name, to solve a cold case murder on foreign soil? It was too much of a coincidence that her boss was related to Rafael, but why would Ruiz plant Rafe’s fingerprints and how had it been done? Rafael’s passport had only one stamp for Cuba. He’d never been to this country before now.
None of this made sense.
Yet Rafael’s face still stared at her from the screen. She couldn’t look at it anymore. Jacquie stood and headed for the window, fidgeting with her hands until she stuffed them in her pockets. Lightning streaked across the horizon and rain sluiced down the glass in a steady stream, casting a painter’s tableau of city lights across her bedroom.
“What’s the connection?” She shook her head and chewed her lower lip.
A sudden impulse gripped her. Jacquie had to discover the link between the Maderos and the drug cartel leader, Hector Borrego. She raced back to her laptop and ran a query on several keywords. Link after link filled pages of her Internet search. She scrolled down and looked for anything that would tie Athena or Rafael to a Cuban drug kingpin.
When one article had a photo of Rafael and his wife and child, Jacquie stopped breathing. With trembling fingers, she clicked on the link and a news story spread across the screen.
“Oh my God.”
She didn’t need any more confirmation. Cartel boss Hector Borrego had been connected to a police investigation into the murder of Rafael’s wife and child. The online post talked about leads that were proven false, but the damage to the investigation had been done. Rumors insinuated that Elena Madero, Rafe’s wife, had been part of the cartel. It didn’t matter that the rumors were unfounded. Since the murder had an unsavory connection to a drug deal, all the dead ends turned the case cold and no suspects were found.
Rafael had more than enough motive to wield his own justice, but would he have done
Rafael lay on his bed in the dark, feeling like a condemned man. He had showered but put on jeans and a T-shirt, knowing he wouldn’t sleep as he waited for a knock on his bedroom door. The shell casing Athena had found would finally bring justice. It had been long overdue.
He didn’t care what happened to him. He hadn’t cared about that since Elena and Ariana were brutally taken from him. But tonight his gut twisted over how Athena would look at him. She would know he’d crossed a line. There’d be no hope of return. He had no business being a part of the Omega Team—men and women worthy of the ideals they fostered—and he had no right to claim Madero blood. Not anymore.
When his thoughts drifted to Jacquie, his eyes burned and he shut them tight. Her sweet face came to him in the dark, along with the velvet feel of her skin. Her innocence shined through her eyes and in her gentle smile. She would never share her body and soul with a man like him. She deserved better.
The man he used to be died five years ago. He just hadn’t buried the body.
***
Minutes later
“No, this must be a mistake.” Jacquie gasped.
She stared at her laptop screen until her eyes burned. Memories raced through her mind as she replayed everything she knew through her head. Please…this can’t be. When her vision blurred, she realized she’d been crying. No way. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath.
“This can’t be right. I gotta run it again.”
She punched the keypad and double checked her findings. Twice more. Rafael Madero’s police personnel record kept coming up. Dressed in uniform with his hair short, he held his chin high and had stared into the camera that day, a different man than the brooding and withdrawn man she knew. Jacquie couldn’t get her mind to accept what she’d found.
Why would Ruiz do this?
It had to be a conspiracy. Why would a Cuban politician ask for Athena by name, to solve a cold case murder on foreign soil? It was too much of a coincidence that her boss was related to Rafael, but why would Ruiz plant Rafe’s fingerprints and how had it been done? Rafael’s passport had only one stamp for Cuba. He’d never been to this country before now.
None of this made sense.
Yet Rafael’s face still stared at her from the screen. She couldn’t look at it anymore. Jacquie stood and headed for the window, fidgeting with her hands until she stuffed them in her pockets. Lightning streaked across the horizon and rain sluiced down the glass in a steady stream, casting a painter’s tableau of city lights across her bedroom.
“What’s the connection?” She shook her head and chewed her lower lip.
A sudden impulse gripped her. Jacquie had to discover the link between the Maderos and the drug cartel leader, Hector Borrego. She raced back to her laptop and ran a query on several keywords. Link after link filled pages of her Internet search. She scrolled down and looked for anything that would tie Athena or Rafael to a Cuban drug kingpin.
When one article had a photo of Rafael and his wife and child, Jacquie stopped breathing. With trembling fingers, she clicked on the link and a news story spread across the screen.
“Oh my God.”
She didn’t need any more confirmation. Cartel boss Hector Borrego had been connected to a police investigation into the murder of Rafael’s wife and child. The online post talked about leads that were proven false, but the damage to the investigation had been done. Rumors insinuated that Elena Madero, Rafe’s wife, had been part of the cartel. It didn’t matter that the rumors were unfounded. Since the murder had an unsavory connection to a drug deal, all the dead ends turned the case cold and no suspects were found.
Rafael had more than enough motive to wield his own justice, but would he have done
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