Precipice (eBook)

Alex Croft (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
356 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9748-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Private security contractor Nadia Kapoor has spent the last couple of months recuperating from injuries sustained during a daring rescue mission involving fashionista Brinn Gallagher in Sicily and Tunisia. The SPNI agent is finally cleared for full field duty while navigating the intricacies of her blossoming relationship with Brinn's brother, Ross. Kapoor's first assignment back entails providing security for a wealthy foreign businessman, Kabir Aslam, who is visiting the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois. Unbeknownst to Nadia, her meddling and estranged mother, Mahira, orchestrated this undertaking to coerce her into meeting the man her family is desperate for her to marry. The ensuing public confrontation throws her life into disarray. All Nadia has known further comes apart at the seams when Mahira and Kabir are violently abducted and her previously thought of as deceased father steamrolls into her life. Ross Gallagher, chief financial officer at Gallagher Incorporated, a family-owned Chicago-based fashion house, is balancing on a tightrope between fear of hurting Nadia and deepening his romance with her. He gets caught in the crossfire as mercenaries attack Kapoor's apartment and he is forced to flee for his life. Still reeling after their narrow escapes, Ross and Nadia are swept into the shadowy world of espionage with her Pakistani spymaster father. Their cross-country race against time to save the abductees leads them to San Francisco and a deadly confrontation on the infamous prison island of Alcatraz. Ex-Army Ranger Ewan Kane investigates the sudden disappearance of his SPNI colleague and friend, Nadia, along with Ross. With no active lines of inquiry and hope fading of finding them alive, he travels to California with Maggie Gordon after she receives a seemingly random text message believed to be from Kapoor. This last-ditch attempt at obtaining answers drag them both into the firing line. Precipice is the third book in the Sultry Chicago series.

Alex Croft has lived and worked in four countries, while traveling to many more. Drawing on life experience and exposure to different cultures, the author weaves aspects of healthcare, humanity, the power of conviction and intrigue into the story lines. Precipice is the third book in the Sultry Chicago series. A fan of different genres of fiction, the author incorporates elements of suspense, action, adventure, humor, psychology, and romance into contemporary writing to enhance the reading experience.

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Private security contractor Nadia Kapoor has spent the last couple of months recuperating from injuries sustained during a daring rescue mission involving fashionista Brinn Gallagher in Sicily and Tunisia. The SPNI agent is finally cleared for full field duty while navigating the intricacies of her blossoming relationship with Brinn's brother, Ross. Kapoor's first assignment back entails providing security for a wealthy foreign businessman, Kabir Aslam, who is visiting the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois. Unbeknownst to Nadia, her meddling and estranged mother, Mahira, orchestrated this undertaking to coerce her into meeting the man her family is desperate for her to marry. The ensuing public confrontation throws her life into disarray. All Nadia has known further comes apart at the seams when Mahira and Kabir are violently abducted and her previously thought of as deceased father steamrolls into her life. Ross Gallagher, chief financial officer at Gallagher Incorporated, a family-owned Chicago-based fashion house, is balancing on a tightrope between fear of hurting Nadia and deepening his romance with her. He gets caught in the crossfire as mercenaries attack Kapoor's apartment and he is forced to flee for his life. Still reeling after their narrow escapes, Ross and Nadia are swept into the shadowy world of espionage with her Pakistani spymaster father. Their cross-country race against time to save the abductees leads them to San Francisco and a deadly confrontation on the infamous prison island of Alcatraz. Ex-Army Ranger Ewan Kane investigates the sudden disappearance of his SPNI colleague and friend, Nadia, along with Ross. With no active lines of inquiry and hope fading of finding them alive, he travels to California with Maggie Gordon after she receives a seemingly random text message believed to be from Kapoor. This last-ditch attempt at obtaining answers drag them both into the firing line. Nadia's murky family secrets and shady business dealings threaten to destroy everything in their path. Precipice is the third book in the Sultry Chicago romantic suspense series. Long-hidden truths are exposed while the characters scramble to come to terms with their new reality and the choices that continue to bind and haunt them.

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Steadying her breath, Nadia Kapoor took aim with her 9mm pistol and squeezed the trigger. She emptied her extended magazine, quickly reloaded, and fired off at the paper target pinned in the distance until the last bullet was spent.

“Not bad at all,” the proud female voice behind her remarked. “You’re an ace marksman now that you relax your left shoulder into its shooting position and don’t stiffen up.”

“That type of unfortunate slipup is inevitable after having your chest wall crushed in a major rockfall,” Nadia muttered as she lowered her Glock 19. Her recent hastily arranged work trip to Italy had led to an avalanche of events that left her injured and fighting for her life. The long road back to recovery had been tough. “I’m just relieved to be getting my mojo back... Thank you for helping me unlearn my newer maladaptive protective behaviors.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Turning, Kapoor regarded Maggie Gordon, a petite redhead in her late forties dressed in blue jeans and a maroon long-sleeved top that matched her fiery personality. Her leather ankle boots added a couple of inches to her height. The woman’s heavy Scottish accent stubbornly remained even though she had been living in the United States for over twenty years. As the no-nonsense proprietor of The Club, an indoor shooting range located a good twenty minutes’ drive from downtown Chicago, Gordon specialized in acquiring custom-made firearms and excelled at instructing on how to improve marksmanship. This facility appeared hidden in plain sight in the middle of a quiet, leafy suburb in Illinois, one Kapoor never had known even existed... until a few months ago.

Maggie handed her three more clips. “Now, do it again—faster.”

Discharging round after round, Nadia finally holstered her Glock 19 sidearm before removing her ballistic glasses and ear protection.

The Scot tutted, “I like the tight grouping, but damn, girl, most people aim at the central chest target. ‘Head, chest, groin’ is a new combo for you... Let me guess, man trouble?”

“You picked up on that, eh?”

Maggie tucked a strand of her shoulder-length hair behind an ear. “I got a wee bit suspicious that something is up when you phoned me at the crack of dawn. Well, do you feel better? You were all tense when you got here this morning.”

Nadia half shrugged and pushed the button to retrieve her paper target. “I appreciate you opening up early for me.”

“That’s what friends are for, right? I totally get the need to let loose once in a while. Firing off slugs at an inanimate object is preferable to lashing out and causing destruction in other parts of our lives.”

The two women had first met at a social function a few weeks earlier and quickly became fast friends.

Glancing around the upscale establishment, Nadia took in the more than a dozen 25-yard lanes and seven 50-yard lanes catering to the diverse needs of customers while providing a wide range of weapons to choose from, such as handguns, shotguns, and rifles accompanied by a variety of ammunition on sale. Gordon serviced a very select group of clientele and had a rigorous screening process in place before she allowed anyone to join her shooting range. The onerous application form consisted of about thirty double-sided pages that included a consent to obtain a federal firearm background check, along with in-depth personality and temperament tests that put Myers-Briggs to shame.

Without fail, the Scot would decline prospective customer applications if they even gave off the faintest whiff of a bad vibe. Nadia respected Gordon all the more for trusting her gut and doing so. No one wants an armed lunatic near them, not even at a gun range.

The overall noise level inside The Club was surprisingly low, with management prioritizing soundproofing in addition to supplying controlled fresh air flow in this air-locked shooting range environment, thus reducing heavy metal particles exposure released from firing lead-containing bullets. Firearm safety training classes were also on offer to both novices and experienced shooters alike. Strategically placed surveillance cameras further kept a close watch on the indoor spaces and outside parking lot. Currently, the other target shooting lanes stood empty behind a protective bulletproof clear glass-enclosed section, but they would fill up soon enough.

Maggie usually kept a close eye from where she manned the retail section that included a broad selection of firearms, customized accessories, and ammunition. Additionally, the Scot allocated bookings for private back room let-’em-rip blast sessions supervised by one of her elite range instructors. These well-managed remedial gatherings were often reserved by a divorcée support group composed of a handful of lawyers, psychologists, counselors, and social workers.

Half of the expansive rectangular building featured a second story comprising of managerial offices, a viewing deck, restrooms with showering facilities, and large group rooms. Apart from having a passion for guns, Maggie founded and hosted a quilting club on-site. Nadia had come to learn that this specific group had morphed into a de facto women’s wellness session, providing a safe haven and offering practical assistance to those ladies who found themselves in precarious domestic situations, albeit for a few hours per week. What came to be add-on services such as gratuitous community transport, a nurse-led health clinic, legal advice, self-defense classes, computer browser access, psychological support, and financial counseling, yielded to the greatest need.

Gordon’s worried green eyes regarded Kapoor. “It is always a concerning sign when you keep quiet, especially after such a deliberate and baiting remark about causing potential destruction in your life.”

Nadia took hold of her reeled-in paper target and examined the compact shot grouping. “You make me sound like a blabbermouth.”

“Och! Only sometimes.” The Scot smiled teasingly. “Hiding and moping is not quite your style... Fine, let’s turn to a safer topic: How are things at work now that the doctor has finally cleared you for full-time active field duty with SPNI?”

SPNI stood for Saint Philip Neri Industries, a well-respected multinational private security corporation named after the patron saint of the U.S. Army Special Forces, headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. Their handpicked contractors consisted almost exclusively of ex-law enforcement or military officers, and SPNI had satellite offices all over the world. Nadia had been based at their Chicago division for over a year. Occasionally, her assignments took her overseas as her last one did a couple of months earlier when she accompanied Ross Gallagher to Italy. Ross, the chief financial officer at the highly successful family-owned fashion house, Gallagher Incorporated, needed her assistance to rescue his designer sister, Brinn, from a dangerous situation. Their desperate escape during a tropical storm battering down on the Mediterranean Sea stranded them in the Republic of Tunisia in northern Africa, which in turn set off a flurry of events that Nadia still grappled with...

“After many weeks of intensive physical rehabilitation, I am absolutely looking forward to getting back to a sense of normality in my life. I have a high-profile overseas client meeting booked for this morning. They insisted on an in-person meet and greet with their proxy, and we will take it from there. It’s all a bit unusual having a dog and pony show like this, seeing as most of the SPNI contracts are already signed by the time I get on board.”

“Odd indeed.” Gordon tilted her head. “In my experience, the people who insist on special treatment and regard themselves as the self-appointed elite are often whack jobs, fucksickles, and weirdos... I’m guessing you aren’t rocking up to that get-together in those black casual trousers and mustard colored, long-sleeved knitted top that you currently have on.”

“Nope. I have set aside one of my branded corporate power suits for the happy occasion.”

“Nice, a well-chosen power suit can be as effective as body armor. It’s wonderful that you get a kick-ass wardrobe allowance. Well, I hope your meeting goes well.” A moment later, she asked, “Any word from your mother?”

Nadia drew her lips into a thin line and looked back at several scattered sofas and numerous stools perched around high-top tables, all of which offered comfortable seating for those watching and waiting while their friends blow off steam at the gun range.

“No. Mahira is back to her usual radio silence after a torrent of text messages since we left Tunis. She tends to cut all contact when she doesn’t get her way, and then sneakily plots to eventually circle back with some elaborate scheme for round two... Last I heard, she returned home to Pakistan.”

Kapoor’s adoptive mother was one of the complications that had recently crossed her path. Though, if the woman had not taken her in along with the three other wounded and fleeing refugees from Italy, they might never have made it back to Illinois... In addition to Ross...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.3.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-9748-4 / 9798350997484