Five Hours Until You Die: A Kyrie Shea Novel

By Carol Ann Brown

Special Agent Kyrie Shea has a new to-do list:
*Find a serial killer who has been targeting men.
*Discover the truth behind the gypsy who keeps giving her ominous warnings and telling her stuff about her past that she shouldn't know about.
And...
*Help re-plan an entire wedding that's supposed to take place in just a few short weeks.

Warnings and serial killers she's used to. Dealing with a friend imploding over a wedding - not so much!

To add to her stress - the two most powerful men in her life have just told her she needs to be with them both. Does that mean what her wild imagination thinks it does?

Probably not,

Right?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carol Ann Brown
• Release date: Oct 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532357619

Carol Ann Brown

Carol Ann Brown is a real estate agent in Northern California. Carol sells new homes and is one of the top sales agents in her office. Carol attended the College of Alameda in Alameda, California. She also attended Anthony Real Estate School, where she received her real estate license. Carol’s hobby is writing, and she has written another manuscript called Destined, which is also a fiction story.

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Five Hours Until You Die: A Kyrie Shea Novel

FIVE HOURS UNTIL YOU DIE:                      A KYRIE SHEA NOVEL

Also by Carol Ann Brown

One for the Girls

Second Coming

Death Comes at Three

Four Faces of a Killer

FIVE HOURS UNTIL YOU DIE

A KYRIE SHEA NOVEL

Carol Ann Brown

Carol Ann Brown

2017

Copyright © 2017 by Carol Ann Brown

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2017

ISBN 978-1-5323-5761-9

www.carolannbrown.com

Dedication

To my wonderful and amazing daughter Heather. My best friend and computer wizard, thank you for everything you do to keep me sane…ish.

1

SOME WOMEN IN MY POSITION might be shouting I just won the relationship lottery! WooHoo! I mean, when two of the sexiest men on the planet show up on your doorstep-wearing tight jeans, and T-shirts that look like they’ve been painted onto their ex-military, muscular bodies-and tell you that you need to be with them both… First thought… Actually, my first thought was to look around for Ashton Kutcher, and ask myself why was I getting Punked?

Since I was not a celebrity, my next thought, well, I guess any red-blooded female would think it’s true. As great as it sounds, it’s probably not what you think. Maybe. I’m not completely sure…

Ok, I have two options: 1) I can grab my keys off the wall-hook next to the door and run for my car, get as far away from here as possible. Or 2) I could close myself in and hear them out.

I opted for the first. I was a chicken, no doubt about it. Relationships freaked me out. And the intensity of my feelings for them both scared the bejeesus out of me.

You see, heavenly body number one, Derrick Chamberlin (Ex-Navy Seal turned FBI agent. And my best friend), the one I really was sleeping with (up until recently), was almost too much to handle. I couldn’t imagine the amount of energy drinks I’d have to consume to take on body made for sin, Matthew Fox Foxworth (Ex-Special Ops soldier, records so classified he’s a ghost). Not that any good girl such as myself would entertain such thoughts, right? Um…

Soooo. Anyhoo, getting as far away from them as I could was a good idea at the moment. I’m Kyrie Shea, and I track down serial killers when I’m not lusting after my best friend since childhood, and my sexy boss. The agency I work for is called Dark Force One, and it’s full of ex-military guys much like the two that tempt me more than chocolate. Thus proving, I’m not a total slut: I don’t go around drooling and having fantasies about the hundred-plus squadron.

The agency is mostly a front; Our agents frequently do classified missions all over the world for our government. So, the ex in ex-military is used loosely. I’m not allowed into that side of things for two reasons: 1) because I’m not military of any kind. And 2) because I’m a woman. Don’t even get me started!

Dark Force is made up of all men, and me. It was founded by my birth father (whom I didn’t realize existed until about six years ago) and his team of six top military intelligence officers. The now over one-hundred-strong squadron has done a lot of rescue missions, and taken out a lot of bad guys. They’ve also pissed off a few. That’s how I found out about Harry Stone: Birth father extraordinaire.

It’s an old vengeance cliché; bad guy exacts revenge by seeking out nemesis’ family. In this case, me. I was an easy target; I was a smart–yet naïve–sixteen year old with aspirations of becoming the best FBI agent in history; I studied hard; everything from forensics to martial arts. I even dabbled in behavioral analysis. None of which did me any good when the charismatic FBI agent, Jordy Fitzpatrick, came to my Montana hometown to play out the revenge plot set down by his fellow syndicate buddies.

The evil monster became attached to me, in a very inappropriate way. I was only sixteen, he was twenty-four. I was infatuated, he was obsessed. He shared my interests and treated me like the adult I thought I was. Everything came to a climax when I discovered what his little plan was, and what he was capable of. Needless to say, it didn’t end in the best way for me-I was held captive for a year and subjected to a lot of bad things being done to me and witnessed done to others. But it ended worse for him.

He’s dead now.

His footprint on my life is why I find it hard to trust myself in regards to relationships. I recognize the problem, don’t seem to know how to fix it. The two loves of my life are trying to help. Derrick has been in my life since we were two, and I trust him as much as I can trust any man right now. Matthew is working hard to prove his worthiness to be trusted. It seems to be working. He did save me by putting a bullet in Jordy’s head when he helped my father rescue me.

That was years ago.

My life’s complicated on every level now, but a lot of it’s good, and regardless of the occasional–ok monthly–psycho out to get me, I’m beginning to find myself looking to the future, not just living solely in the moment. I even recently did something adult-like and bought a house.

I haven’t completely moved in yet. Baby steps, right?

When I can’t go to Derrick, I seek out my best female friend, Jill Mason. We also grew up together, and she recently moved here and took a job with the Hollow Cove morgue. And she’s at work right now.

Perfect.

Dead bodies should be able to distract me from the little carnal thoughts running through my brain. I’d never tried to juggle two boyfriends before. The whole sex with more than one man at a time threw me off it. That just wasn’t something I was interested in as a reality. My fantasies, however, were running rampant, I hadn’t realized how going cold turkey, after having years of earth-shattering sex with Derrick, would make me so twitchy. And moody.

And God help any bad guys who get in my way until this is resolved!

Jill was focused on examining a fresh corpse. To distract myself from the gore, I told her about how Derrick and Fox had shown up with the possible offer of a lifetime.

Ohhh, I’m so jealous! Jill shrieked.

You bitch, you are not! I replied. You’re totally in love with Nick.

She smiled. But it’s a fantasy come true. Mmmm, both those sexy bodies…

Get your mind out of the gutter and help me figure this out! I whined.

You know what my suggestion would be. She pegged me with her devil-whore grin. Jill has always been the little voice of the devil with regards to corrupting my soul. Especially ever since I admitted having feelings for both.

"I am not having a threesome!" I practically screamed at her. All the while, I admit, thinking about it was a pretty good fantasy. But alas, my conscious would never allow it to become reality.

Don’t knock it til you try it, baby. And there was that grin again. Jill has been with lots of men. Well, more than I can count with both hands. Some people would consider her a whore, I reserve that term only for women who’d try and steal another’s man. Hey, as long as it’s between consenting adults and no one’s getting hurt, I say live and let live. It’s not my place to judge, lord knows I’m not a saint.

I sighed, wished I could be more like her at times. My life would definitely be more interesting. But me, I had to try to always do what’s right, dammit.

Besides, surely they didn’t mean be with both literally. Could they? They were two alpha males, I just couldn’t see them sharing me in that way. I fanned myself.

Do you really think they meant it sexually? Jill asked, finally serious. I don’t think they could keep from killing each other.

So, I’m freaking over nothing, right?

Probably, she said, grinned. If not, give serious thought to…

Stop it! I fanned myself again. Odd I’d feel so hot in a freezing morgue. "And that’s no way for the soon-to-be Mrs. Nick Stevens to be talking. Or thinking!"

I knew bringing up her impending wedding would distract her.

She grinned widely. Her blissful I’m-getting-married grin. I can’t wait. Can you believe you’d ever hear those words come out of my mouth?

And I’m happy for you. Truly.

"I know you are, Maid of Honor."

Yep, that’s me: maid of honor, double-relationship slut, serial killer stalked, insane person. Yay me!

As Jill made a Y cut into the chest of the body on her table I decided relationships should be off limits to discuss over dead bodies. I felt queasy. I admit, not entirely because of the body. I needed to pull out my best weapon to prevent my anxiety from escalating: Avoidance.

So, what happened to this guy? I asked, eyeing the attractive young man who looked to be in his late twenties.

A jogger found him on the side of the road out on route seven

Any idea yet what killed him?

Not yet, I’ll need to complete the autopsy to be certain. I did find what appears to be one pin prick on the body. Toxicology will take a few days.

‘kay. Well, I need to get going.

‘kay. Love you. She blew me a kiss. And Kyr’… stop worrying so much. I gave her a soft smile. After all, deep down I know she just wants me to be happy.

On my drive to HQ, in true avoidance style, I focused on this so-called maid of honor job instead. What did that entail? I’d never been one-well, not in the true sense; running off with my sister to Vegas on an hour notice so she could marry my teammate–whom she only knew for a few months, didn’t count.

I decided whatever they were, I needed to step up to my maid duties. That is to say, if I could figure out what the hell they were.

Internet, here I come.

LOCKED SECURELY IN MY PARTNER’S OFFICE (I’d be avoiding Fox for a while), my partner and I surfed the internet for a list of bridesmaid duties. I love the Internet, you can find anything there!

Montoya and I shared a glance.

Wow, he said.

Um… yeah, I replied, eyes narrowed at the list on the computer monitor. Who’d a thought a maid of honor had so many duties.

How are you gonna get all that done? You work a million hours a week, you’re still trying to get that house you bought fixed up before your lease on your apartment runs out… and have you seen your office?

I… No. Why? Actually, I’d already been avoiding Fox. We share a connecting bathroom, so I’d been avoiding my office, too. It had been a few days since I’d been in it, having enlisted my teams help in retrieving files for me, and busying myself with helping them on their cases.

He grinned. You really need to see for yourself.

Is Fox due in today? I asked casually.

He came in right before you got here, picked up some things, and then left again. I think he’s on some training mission, running mock scenarios with some of our agents that are being sent… well, you know. Out of the country.

The guys were never to mention specifics, all that cloak-and-dagger, secret crap for our government. But it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which areas of foreign countries they are sent to. Pick an enemy, and you can bet we’ve got guys there.

"I guess I should go and check on my office," I said, hoping he didn’t pick up on my avoidance-thing with Fox. While the guys know Fox and I are attracted to each other, they have no clue how deep our feelings for each other have gotten. Hell, I’m still trying to figure out why I’m so drawn to him.

He grinned again. I’m going with you. I gotta see this.

This couldn’t be good.

Does it smell… like roses out here, to you? I sniffed the hallway on the way to my office.

Montoya laughed.

Definitely, this was not gonna be good.

I opened the door and my jaw about dropped to my knees. What the…

Word got out that you and Derrick had broken up. These are all date offers. A few weeks ago Derrick and I had decided to stop seeing each other for a while. So I could process my feelings. I hadn’t told anyone except my team… Ugh! Gossiping, school-girl wannabes! Damn!

No way! This is a joke, right?"

He shook his head, grinning again. He and the guys take great pleasure in my getting blindsided by stuff like this. I walked over, took a card off one of the twenty vases of flowers.

Kyrie,

Wondering if you’d like to go to a movie sometime?

Brent

I checked a few others… They were all date offers! I debated telling Montoya to spread the word I’d turned lesbian. I had two macho, possessive men fighting over me already, hell could freeze over before I risked adding more.

I took a deep breath. You have to help me put a stop to this.

DK, another teammate, stuck his head in my office door. Hey, baby. He smiled. What’s up?

Have you seen this? I flailed my arms toward all the flowers. What am I gonna do?

Well, if you decide on moving forward with the offers, he pointed at my desk. Start with that vase with the vibrant orange roses on the corner.

Why? I asked, wondering why… he… cared. Crap!

Those are from me, he grinned, showing a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, made more brilliant by his caramel skin. DK is a beautiful, blue-eyed black man that looks a lot like LL COOL J. And he frequently tries to tempt me with promises of bigger satisfaction than I can get from any white man.

I stared at him for a few seconds, too shocked to speak.

Um… I stumbled for words. DK, I don’t think us going out is a good idea. And besides, Derrick and I are still trying to figure things out. Not really a lie.

That’s ok, baby, I was just puttin’ it out there.

Thanks for the offer, I gave him a soft smile.

Anytime, he replied, adding a friendly shoulder hug. You two ready to go to the pier?

I was glad DK was a self-proclaimed womanizer out for a good time, there’d be no hurt feelings to contend with. I wasn’t sure about the rest of the guys who made offers. Some of the names I’d only heard of, I wasn’t sure which guys in the 100+ squadron they were.

Avoidance is good… Avoidance is my friend.

DK, Ghost, Montoya and I spent the rest of the day at the pier, undercover, watching for signs of drugs being sold there. The local police had gotten word that there were, and since drug money has also been linked to terrorist organizations, we watch all drug situations closely. X-man and Mac (two other of my teammates) were busy with security for some kind of fancy-smancy foreign government official who was in town. There was several here for some kind of conference. They’d be tied up with that for days.

The four of us helped make a few busts, but no bigtime players.

I drove home to my apartment, checked the parking garage for Fox’s and Derrick’s vehicles, and then rode the elevator up to my floor. I’d have to face them sooner or later, but hopefully not tonight.

Scamper, my best four-legged friend, met me at the door. He meowed up at me, then began weaving in and out between my ankles.

Hello, big boy. I kneeled, rubbed his head. You wouldn’t believe the day I had.

"Meyooowww," he replied.

Ok, so maybe you’ve been around long enough to know how my days go. I scratched under his chin. Let’s get you fed.

We walked to the kitchen together, I poured some food in a bowl for him, then placed it on his King of the Jungle placemat on the floor. I sat down next to him to pet his head as he ate. There was a noise in the hall, Scamper turned and looked enthusiastically toward the door. The reasons for it sent sadness to my very soul. He still longed for Derrick. We used to have a routine; I’d come home and feed Scamper, then Derrick would show up (or vice versa) and we’d all snuggle on the sofa for a while, watch TV, then head off to bed.

I catch myself looking at the door a lot too.

I’m sorry, I said, swiping a tear that came out of nowhere. Mommy just doesn’t know what to do. I love them both, but can’t hurt either by choosing. Maybe you’d be better off with someone who isn’t bogged down with emotional baggage.

Scamper left his food bowl, crawled into my lap, extended his body up enough to place his head against my chin. He gently nuzzled it. Then, with stinky fish breath, licked away my tears.

I’d never loved him more.

I STOPPED TO PICK UP COFFEE AND DONUTS for my team on my way into work. When I drove onto the lot I called the guys to find out how close they were to the office.

Where are you guys?

Just pulling in behind you, Montoya replied.

I looked in my rearview mirror. DK, Ghost, and Montoya waved from inside Ghost’s Dodge Charger. They parked next to me and got out. DK opened my car door for me.

I got everyone coffee and donuts, I said, climbing out.

Awesome! Ghost said. Ghost was like a bottomless pit, especially for sweets. I didn’t understand how he downed the amount of food he did and still looked so fine. Today, Ghost was dressed in washed out jeans, a NAS T-shirt, and black biker boots. His bald head (shaved to look like his idol Vin Diesel) gleaming. He shot a smile and a wink in my direction. Thank God I didn’t have to worry about date offers from him, he’d recently found the love of his life. He carried around the diamond ring around to prove it. He was waiting for the right moment to pop the question.

He took the boxes of donuts from me.

Where are Mac and X-man?

They’re already upstairs with Fox, DK replied, retrieving the coffee containers from my passenger seat.

The mention of Fox froze me mid-step for a second.

I took a deep breath, reached for Montoya’s arm as the others headed for the elevators. As soon as they were out of earshot I looked up at him. I had to look up to everyone around here, they were all well over six foot tall.

I need you to do me a huge favor.

Sure.

Don’t leave me alone with Fox, ok?

He looked at me as if I’d just ask him to have a tooth pulled in my stead. Oh, God. What did you do now?

Um… I couldn’t tell him the truth, but I could read his thought process. He thought I’d gotten myself in trouble by breaking one of Fox’s rules. Fox runs the place like a platoon, and has just as many rules as our military for the way things are done. I’d just let Montoya’s misconception run.

Never mind, he said abruptly. I don’t need to know. Probably best I don’t know, plausible deniability and all that.

Good enough for me. I nodded.

We entered Fox’s office, I passed out the coffee and donuts. Fox watched me, a well-controlled smirk of amusement at the corner of his mouth. He and Derrick probably had a really good laugh at my chicken-induced disappearance. Fox took a drink of coffee, glanced at the guys, who were busy chatting away, then locked eyes with me and winked.

I planted myself in a chair in front of Fox’s desk and sipped on my coffee while he went over our current cases.

You’re all doing an excellent job clearing cases, unfortunately with the amount of teams I have out of the country right now, I’m going to need you to pull some extra shifts and overtime, Fox said. I didn’t envy Fox his job, he’s second in command of the entire squadron. Under, guess who? My father.

Sure thing, boss, X-man replied. Whatever you need.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

And, starting next week, we’re all on nights.

It was our turn to go nightshift. Fox handled shifts on a six month rotational basis. Most of the time we end up working twelve hour shifts anyway.

Fox handed out new cases, finalized one’s we’d closed, then ended our little pow-wow.

Agent Shea, I need you to stick around. I have to go over something with you, Fox said, just as we all got to our feet.

Uh-Oh.

I really need Kyr’ to help me with… Montoya started bravely.

This won’t take long, Fox cut him off.

But, boss, I…

You’re dismissed. Fox said, locking eyes with him. Fox’s way of saying the subject closed.

"Montoya looked to me. The guys had all stopped at the door, were watching the three of us.

There a problem, Montoya? Fox asked.

Um… Montoya grimaced. I flicked an eye glance toward the door, releasing him from our agreement. I’d been foolish to put him in a no-win situation. No, sir.

He and the guys left the office, closing the door behind them. I sat down again.

Thank you. For the coffee, Fox said.

You’re welcome, I replied, began nervously chewing on my lip.

I sat quietly, waiting for him to comment on my fleeing the day of the offer. Or jump his sexy ass across the desk and rip my clothes off and… Don’t go there! Don’t go there! Don’t go there! I warned my brain.

I put some files on your desk. Agent searches. I need them ASAP.

Of course. I’ll get right on them, I slid forward on my chair, burying the blush my little slip into fantasy caused.

As soon as you get the routine searches done, I’ll do a more thorough one.

They must be really important for you to do a second search, I replied, suddenly interested. Generally, the routine searches I have clearance for covers an agent good enough for any federal work. I wondered what these agents were being cleared to do.

Potential Dark Force agents, Fox replied, as if reading my mind.

Really? I said excitedly. You’re adding new men?

He gave his almost imperceptible nod.

That’s great, we could use the help. The guys will be psyched.

I need you to keep this between us. For now.

Can I ask why?

You can ask, he replied, his eyes telling me I wouldn’t get an answer. I also read that it wasn’t because he didn’t want to tell me. He couldn’t. For whatever reason.

I nodded. I’ll go get started.

I left his office through our adjoining bathroom. I was shocked when I opened my office door to find over a hundred files on my desk. That was enough for a whole new Dark Force. Were we expanding that much? Was he firing everyone and starting over?

What the hell?

2

THE AGENT SEARCHES had taken a couple days to complete. There was still no word from Fox on why there were so many. I blocked out my curiosity by calling Jill, I got her voice-mail.

Hey, it’s Kyr’, I just wanted to know what I could help you with. With regards to the wedding stuff. I looked up maid of honor duties on the internet, so I’ve some idea, but let me know if you need anything. I really want to help. Call me. ’Kay, talk to you later.

It was a little after three. I decided to meet up with the guys, who were still doing undercover work at the pier. I’d changed back into my jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. I pulled on a hoodie jacket. Even though it was April, this year most days the temperature only reached the mid-fifties during the day. It could get as low as thirty-five at night.

Being undercover, we were forgoing our normal uniforms of cargo pants, polo or T-shirts, and police issue work boots. All black, of course. Can’t be all mysterious and intimidating in bright colors, ya know.

I found DK, Ghost, and Montoya halfway down the pier. Ghost looked at his watch.

It’s four o’clock, Ghost said.

No wonder I’m starved, DK replied.

Me, too. I want a dozen corndogs, Ghost said, rubbing his six-pack abs while eyeing the concession stand.

I want two dozen, DK replied.

I bet they eat every dog in the place, Montoya mock whispered in my direction.

You’re just jealous you can’t suck down the quantity of wieners we can, Ghost kidded.

Montoya and I shared a glance and a grin at the suggestiveness of that statement. It didn’t take them long to catch on to what we were grinning about, they burst out laughing.

A hand clamped onto my arm, abruptly halting my laugh. The guys’, too. I turned to the middle-aged woman that wore way too much makeup, and she was dressed like a gypsy right out of some old werewolf movie.

Your life is wrought with blood, she said.

Excuse me?

Evil surrounds you. The bloodshed haunts you. Her eyes locked with mine.

Crazy person! Ghost said, drawing her attention. Get your hands off her and back away.

She let go, looked into my eyes. The devil stole your innocence. And he’s never left you.

My mouth fell open, I was too shocked to speak.

Lady, go peddle your spiel elsewhere, Montoya said. "We’re not interested." The gypsy ignored him, stared at me.

I saw you, she said, putting a finger up to her temple, tapped it. In a vision. You were covered in blood, as if you’d been bathed in it.

Ok. That’s it! Ghost raised his voice. Get lost or I’m arresting you for harassment. He flashed his badge, then reached for his cuffs.

I only came to warn her, she replied, took a step backwards.

Come on, DK said, taking hold of my arm, his face as grim as mine. Let’s go.

Take this, the gypsy shoved something into my hand. It’ll help protect you.

Get the fuck out of here. Now! Montoya said.

The gypsy skulked off, glancing back at us every five feet or so. As soon as she was out of eyesight I looked down at my hand, screeched, and tossed the object she’d placed there into the air.

It landed at our feet.

Is that a… Montoya started.

Monkey foot? Ghost finished. Man, I hate it when the freaks come out.

Just wait a few months till Halloween, Montoya said.

You ok, baby? DK asked.

How did she know that stuff about me? I asked, looking off in the direction she’d gone.

"Maybe she already knew we were federal agents. Agents see a lot