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  Lovin’ Danger

  Mata Hari Series, Book 4

  Jo-Ann Carson

  Jo-Ann Terpstra

  Nanaimo, B.C. Canada

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

  ©2015 Jo-Ann Terpstra

  ISBN – 978-0-9738902-6-6

  Cover design by Nina French

  Contents

  Introduction

  Praise for Lovin’ Danger

  Aknowledgements

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  More Books by the Author

  About the Author

  Chapter One of Black Cat Blues

  Introduction

  Lovin’ Danger

  Intrigue, Adventure, Love

  Sadie Stewart wants it all: the danger and intrigue of being a spy, the glamour of modeling on the international stage and the love of a good man. But after she survives a second assassination attempt on her life, her world spins out of control. Art dealer, Sebastian Wilde, a Viking with cool, blue eyes and the body of a Norse God wants Sadie safe and by his side. And Sadie’s boss, the infamous master-spy, Jeremiah Cole, wants to control her. When Sadie faces the assassin alone, she defies both men and risks everything.

  Lovin’ Danger is the fourth story in the Mata Hari series, which can be read as a stand alone novella. If you like Indiana Jones and Covert Affairs, you’ll love this story, which combines all of their best traits in a fast-paced captivating and sexy, romantic suspense.

  Buy Lovin’ Danger today, if you want adventure and romance in your life.

  Smart, Sexy Suspense

  By Jo-Ann Carson

  Praise for Lovin’ Danger

  “…pulse-pounding thrills, spicy sex and unforgettable characters….

  ~ Mimi Barbour, New York Times Best-selling author

  More Praise…

  “We once again meet up with Sadie Stewart and Sebastian Wilde in this fast paced novella. Sadie’s world is spinning out of control. Her boss, Jeremiah Cole, has told her she needs to cut Sebastian lose. She finds evidence her great aunt was a spy. KOTL has made another attempt on her life. Her dog is poisoned. What is a girl to do when her man is away and she is all alone?

  …If you like the action and suspense of a James Bond movie, then this series and book are for you. Jo-Ann Carson is a master at keeping you intrigued with her stories from page one. She serves up a healthy dose of smart, sexy suspense. Highly recommend…” Morgan’s Musing 5 Star Review on Amazon

  “This book grabs you from the beginning and doesn’t let go. Sadie Stewart is attacked by drone in NY city while at the park. And when that doesn’t work her beloved dog is poisoned. In order to get the antidote Sadie needs to meet her would be assassin alone, with no backup…” Must Love Books 5 Star Review on Amazon

  “A spy’s life isn’t easy. Old and new enemies, including a Greek millionaire with a flair for technology, decide to target Sadie Stewart’s loved ones in order to get close enough to the beautiful super spy and kill her. Complications increase when Sadie discovers being a spy runs in her family. Next-door neighbor Beatrice adds loads of flair to an already diverse and intriguing cast. And then there’s the sexy giant of a Dutch man who’s a perfect match for Sadie… I hope this series never ends!” JReads 5 Star Review on Amazon

  “…Ms. Carson writes an action-packed suspense with incredible pacing and well-developed characters that readers will thoroughly enjoy. Sadie is a strong and sassy heroine and is well matched with Sebastian; the chemistry between them is off the charts and the adventures they experience while traveling Europe to complete her mission are described in great detail and with fantastic imagery. Readers will not want to put this book down and will be eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.” Molly Daniels (InD’tale Magazine, June 2015) 5 stars, 5 steam pots for steaminess and a crowned heart for excellence

  “…My inner self squealed, “A female James Bond”… The plot is fast paced and filled with twists and turns I didn’t expect. I was glued to my kindle and this is a must read for anyone who loves romantic suspense.” Mrs. N., Amazon 5 star review

  Aknowledgements

  I could never have written this story without the loving support and encouragement of my family and friends. Obsessed with plot lines and timelines I’m not always easy to live with, but luckily they are a persistent crop of people who never give up on me.

  First, I’d like to thank my husband Piet for being my sounding board throughout the writing process and not caring when dinner turned up late, burned or missing in action. He finessed conversations about drones in the middle of breakfast and helped me figure out tricky escape maneuvers during dinner. His patience, not to mention his brilliance, helped me work out the knots in my story. And then there’s his steady love… Honey, you are my rock. Thank you for being you.

  My two daughters, Hannah Myles and Jasmin McKenzie, went and grew up on me and now have beautiful families of their own. But the love that binds us is strong and I thank them for listening to my many writing “owies” and cheering me on. Ladies, you rock.

  My friends make my world a comfortable place to play in. Special thanks go to Marisa Radcliffe for her work as my kick-ass beta-reader.

  I am also grateful for what I call my publishing team. Dr. Philip Newey, my copy-editor, fixes my grammar and helps me polish my final copy. Nina French, my cover designer extraordinaire, knocked it out of the park with the bare-naked-man design. Thank you both for sharing your talent.

  And last, but never least, I’d like to thank my writing buddies (you know who you are) who inspire me. A very special thank-you goes to New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Mimi Barbour, for reading an early version of the novella and giving me an endorsement. She is an amazing mentor and friend to many authors. I maintain she’s part angel.

  It takes a legion of caring and creative people to write a story. I am so very grateful for my legion.

  With love

  Jo-Ann

  1

  Chapter One

  New York City, Wednesday April 1st, 2015

  Sadie woke gasping for air, her body covered in sweat, her nerves trembling. Damn dreams. They always haunted her before something really bad happened. She glanced at her radio clock, 8a.m., too early to face the day. Settling her head back into her soft pillow she reminded herself premonitions were useless superstitions. That’s when she heard a knocking on her front door. Grabbing her Glock 36 resting on the bedside table, she listened for more sounds. Her senses sharpened as the world slid into slow motion. More knocking, harder this time. She shook her hair out of her face as she moved towards the sound.

  Releasing the safety on her gun, she looked through the security lens. A soon as Sadie recognized her visitor, the tension in her body eased and she drew a long, deep breath. Not an assassin this time. She put the safety back on the gun and placed it on the entrance table, then released three deadbolt locks and cracked the door open. After taking a good look around, she opened it wider to greet her friend.

  Wearing a pink, sweat suit and smelling of pe
ppermints, her neighbour Beatrice pushed past Sadie and strode into the room. She had the awkward gait of a woman determined to be three steps ahead of her body, but held back by an arthritic hip. A fluffy labradoodle puppy, Casanova, followed at her heels. His tail wagged like an out-of-control metronome. Bee took a quick look around the apartment, then turned and fixed her eyes on Sadie.

  Sadie closed the door and stood in front of the table where she had placed her gun. Beatrice knew she lived a dangerous life, but didn’t need to know how dangerous.

  Beatrice looked her up and down as if Sadie hid secrets in her belly button. “Took you long enough to answer the damn door.”

  Sadie shrugged and stared back at her. Curlers with bristles held the woman’s blond hair in neat rows on the right side of her head, while her hair fell loose on the other side. It didn’t take a Sherlock to know the woman had rushed over. “Do you know what time it is?”

  “I need a favor,” Beatrice began.

  So they talked and talked. The banter flowed back and forth like a tennis rally for five minutes and then stopped at the net. They stood facing each other in an uncomfortable silence.

  Beatrice looked over her pearl rimmed glasses, perched near the bottom of her long nose. “Cheekbones, ya only live once.” Her tobacco-worn voice made her words sound prophetic and sometimes Sadie thought they actually were, but not today.

  Sadie had things to do. The spook part of her wanted to rest after spending a late night sleuthing around a gala event at the Met Opera. The model part of her wanted to soak her aching feet, currently holding at a nine on her ten-point, blister scale. Standing for hours on stilettos never got easy. And the girly-girl part of her wanted to phone her lover, Sebastian, and have a good, long chat. Well, maybe a dirty-chat.

  She sighed at that thought. There was so much for her do in her hectic life and not enough time to savor the best parts. And on top of that, not being able to succeed at her new goal—to find balance in her life—frustrated the heck out of her. No one wrote, “How to Find Balance,” articles for spies. No one espoused instant remedies for the chaos created by what life threw at spooks. She had to figure it out on her own.

  Beatrice raised a brow.

  Sadie’s eyes slid down to the ground. Casanova, a chocolate labradoodle they shared, sat between them, his leather lead in his mouth. He looked from one woman to the other with hope in his gorgeous eyes. Drool foamed at the right edge of his mouth. As if he understood they neared a decision, he let out one long, pathetic groan.

  “Okay, you got me,” Sadie said. Cassy had clinched the deal.

  ***

  Four hours later, Sadie looked around Bryant Park in mid-town Manhattan checking out the scene. It’s natural for people to enjoy spring, a time of fertility, energy and growth; but this one, coming on the heels of a wicked winter, created an unprecedented thawing-out excitement in the city that hung in the air like a delicious contagion, infecting everyone with joie de vivre. A hundred people flowed through the small park. Groups gathered sipping coffee and chatting as if they hadn’t seen each other for a decade. Old men played chess with young men. Lovers held hands. A lone musician played a Stradivarius violin. Laughing children skipped along the path. And they all smiled as they shared in the warmth of the sun. Sadie breathed it all in. Maybe an afternoon in the park would help her with her balance goal.

  As if he heard her thoughts, Cassy nudged her thigh. The heat of the sun sizzled on Sadie’s skin. The day seemed perfect. Almost too perfect. That creepy-cold-as-ice feeling tip toed up her spine. Was she imagining it? Had to be. Premonitions aren’t real.

  She sat with Beatrice and her two friends at a square, card table. Sadie’s eyes swept her surroundings, on guard for the unexpected. But who would bother her in a park?

  “Now get this straight, Cheekbones. It ain’t poker we’re playin’ here. Don’t go all cut-throat on us.”

  Sadie screwed up her face. Beatrice liked to call her, “Cheekbones,” because she made good money pouting in front of cameras. The world thought she was beautiful, but when Sadie looked at herself in the mirror, all she saw was the skinny girl from the wrong side of Seattle. If others wanted to give her attention for her looks, that suited her fine. It made a great cover for her work with the CIA. Sadie shrugged. “Just tell me the rules.”

  “What? You never played bridge before?” The lady to her left, called Mabel, paled. Her face contorted, as if she had gas.

  “It can’t be that hard,” Sadie said widening her eyes and forcing her mouth to remain straight.

  “I ya yi.” Jane, the lady to her right, slapped the table with her hand. “A virgin.”

  Beatrice shook her head. “Ah, don’t worry about it. This one’s smart as a whip.” But her hand trembled, as she shuffled the cards.

  “So we have partners?” Sadie knew how to play bridge well enough for an afternoon with the ladies, but playing Beatrice was much more fun. “Do we have a secret handshake or something?”

  Beatrice gave her the evil eye. “Pick up your damn cards and sort them in suits.” She exhaled a lungful of cigarette smoke. “Talkin’ about partners. Where’s that handsome giant of yours.”

  “In Amsterdam.” Sadie sighed. “He has an important business meeting.”

  “Sheesh, you two. You need to spend more time together. Make it real, you know.”

  Real? Her relationship with Sebastian couldn’t be more real. But she got Beatrice’s point. Being a long-distance couple had its challenges.

  “You two, shut up already,” said Jane. “Are we here to play cards or talk men?”

  Sadie smiled. “So when do I get to give my bad cards away?”

  Bee grumbled and pointed two fingers at her own eyes and then at Sadie’s, the classic, “I’m watching you” look.

  Sadie laughed. “Okay, I’ll be serious.

  Beatrice grunted. “You need to figure out how many…” Her words faded.

  People in the park started murmuring all at once. Some stood and pointed to the east. Sadie couldn’t see anything, but she could hear a buzzing sound, like a large mosquito. Scratch that, like a horde of mosquitoes. The buzz grew louder and louder.

  Then she saw it. “Ladies, take cover.”

  As she stood up, she pulled her gun from her purse and aimed it at the approaching drone, just in case. It floated in space surveying the area with a camera. About two feet in diameter, it looked like an electronic, hunter spider with a big body in the middle and many arms stretching out, each equipped with propellers. Below the body hung a lens the size of an eyeball and below that a square package. That package could be dangerous.

  People started screaming and ran to get away from the specter. The drone made wide circles above the people.

  The rotating eye faced Sadie and stopped. Oh no! It stopped. The grumble of the engine increased and headed straight toward her. The whooping of the tiny propellers and the buzz of the engine grew louder and more distinct.

  Mabel and Jane ran for the library which adjoined the park, but not Beatrice. Standing at Sadie’s side, she raised her purse, ready to take a good swing at it. “I didn’t tell you to bring a friend.” Cassy barked.

  “Call 911,” Sadie said. “Take Cassy and run.” The drone, now ten yards away, closed in.

  Should she shoot? It might explode. Sadie started jogging backwards. The drone followed. If she could get into the library and close the door she’d be safe, but then others might not be. Was it on a timer or remotely controlled? She couldn’t risk taking her eyes off of it to look for a control man on the ground. He could be in the crowd or miles away.

  A security guard in uniform came out of the library. Thank God. He started moving people back. The police would be on their way. But not in time.

  How could she draw the drone away from the crowds? Where in Manhattan are there no crowds? Five yards and closing in. If she threw a coat on top of it, would it be blinded? Maybe, but a blind drone could still be dangerous. What if she threw a rock at it? W
hat if… Time was running out. And Beatrice hadn’t moved from her side. Cassy kept barking and leaped into the air.

  Sweat beaded above Sadie’s upper lip. Ah hell. She steadied both her hands on her gun and shot above the package, hoping to kill the engine. “ Boom!”

  2

  Chapter Two

  Leonidas Krykos IV followed what the press called “the Manhattan drone attack” and he called “a fucking disaster” on the big-screen TV in his hotel room. His own, on-the-spot view through the lens of the camera died the moment the drone exploded into a million pieces.

  Sadie Stewart. What a bitch. He clenched his jaw.

  Police and fire sirens blared. People who initially ran away from the drone, now wandered back to check out the scene. City police had cordoned off the area where his drone, which he named “Avenger,” exploded. Scores of men in uniforms searched the area for clues. They would find bits and pieces of his machine, but they wouldn’t find him. Hopefully.

  Leon studied the TV screen, hoping to spot Sadie, but the crowds of spectators grew and pressed in around the tape. He doubted she had stuck around, or returned. Why would she take that risk? No, she was probably somewhere far away and safe. Damn it.

  The drone should have worked. He scratched the stubble on his chin and grunted. He had followed her and her friend to the park, then went back to his room and readied the drone. But allnd his efforts were for nothing.

  What a fucking mess. He’d spent a week creating the drone from scratch so that no one could trace it back to him. Avenger worked perfectly and she had been the best solution. Efficient and deadly. But she fucked up. Or he did.

  He poured himself a cognac with a shaking hand and gulped it down.

  The woman had pulled a gun. A gun! Why would the bitch have a gun? And why would she be a crack shot? They said she was a beautiful model, not a commando. There was more to this woman than he’d been told.

  He unclenched his fists and began pacing the room. How could this have happened? He had followed her for two weeks, watched her go to shoots, dine with other models and lift weights in the gym. He’d followed her on her runs in Central Park.There had been nothing in her behavior to suggest she was a fucking sharp shooter.