Discernment Undercovers: Bombshells of Yesterday, #2

By Angelica Kate

When Javier Bunson is sent in to help with a hostage negotiation, he faces a ghost from his past. The little girl being held hostage is a direct result of a one-night stand with his best friend Brayden's little sister. Worse yet, these two men are charged with safely resolving this hostage negotiation at any cost.

Shania never told her brother about that night and, even now, doesn't want to discuss this as her daughter's life hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, Javier was always good at math, and it seems he might have a deeply personal reason for seeing this situation end without any harm coming to the hostages.

When the adrenalin dies, will he be able to claim the result of one bad decision without ruining everything he has worked so hard to build?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angelica Kate
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223061090

Angelica Kate

Angelica Kate writes contemporary romances with strong characters and inspiration to keep the readers coming back for more. She is a lifetime scribbler who has been journaling since an early age and finally parlayed that into more structured storytelling. Angelica loves strong female leads and the men that adore them, despite their scars and baggage. When not writing, she spends time on Florida's sunny shores near her home in Sarasota, FL, with her puppies Tesla and Harley Quinn, her daughters, and a host of kooky amazing friends. TWITTER: @AngelicaKate5 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/authorangelicakate INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/aknaff12/ Email Angelica directly: [e-mail] HAPPY READING AND CHASING HAPPINESS WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO FIND IT!!

Book preview

Chapter 1

Javier

I splashed water on my face and tried to convince my body I had more than two hours of sleep. After a week of chasing fugitive Raye Martizne across the country, we were finally headed back to my hometown, Chicago. I hoped the man could be stopped before he caused any more harm, but the slippery sucker had been eluding us for far too long since he escaped from prison.

The planning of his untimely release from a life sentence had been at the urging of four other men; it would seem that they left the facility with him. Unfortunately, what those poor saps hadn’t known was that Raye would use their deaths over the last week to detract from his capture. He was the last man standing as he had maliciously taken out all the rest of the men, which was a good ploy as they couldn’t talk about his plans or even be used as leverage against him. If I were a criminal mastermind, I would probably do the same thing. Instead, I was the US Marshal fugitive task force agent charged with bringing him to justice, and I needed to get ahead of him before any more civilians were caught in the crossfire.

Heading into Chicago brought back memories that didn’t belong in my head during such a dangerous mission. My best friend Brayden’s family lived here, and God, if I didn’t miss them every day. I hadn’t visited the area in four years; instead, Brayden and I opted for sunny beach vacations when we could to catch up. I never told him one of the biggest reasons I didn’t want to return was a woman he loved most in the world – his sister.

Images of the last time I had seen Shania played like a movie loop through my head, and they were not safe for work. She had turned twenty-one that weekend, and I had found out I had been accepted to the fugitive team in Texas. It was a bittersweet time, filled with a touch too much tequila and some revelations from both of us about feelings held too long in check. Brayden had been out with a woman he met on a dating app that night when things became a little too hot to handle, and one thing led to another. Shania slipped from my bed that night with a post-it note on the pillow: We can’t ever tell anyone! Best birthday ever!

I was mad, angry, and then relieved all within a few breaths. Brayden would have killed me if he had found out. His parents, who I respected as they had allowed me to live in their home after my own family died at the hands of a drunk driver my junior year of high school, would disown me. I couldn’t even look myself in the eye for a few days after that night, and I had not spoken to Shania since. I knew it was cowardly, but it was just easier this way. I had only seen Brayden three times for vacations since. While we were burning off steam, we somehow managed to keep Shania from the conversation, which was good – because I hadn’t gotten her out of my head in all these years.

The truth was, I had fallen for her hard when I was fifteen, and that night had just been the culmination of years of longing. She was smart and wanted to be a lawyer, like her dad. The long blonde hair, sea foam blue eyes, and body that could have taken her into modeling came together to make one stunning vision of a woman. The issue was that her sharp-witted tongue and sense of humor made her stand out amongst the beauties I’ve met in this life. Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons, not least of all my job as Marshal that always put his life in danger, she was not someone I could ever be with, so this course of staying away was needed. I knew that one long, passionate night with her was enough to hold me for years – because I lived it every second now.

A knock at my hotel door had my head swiveling.

Hand at the ready, above my weapon, I moved to the entrance and glanced through the peephole.

I relaxed at the sight of my friend and dropped my hand from my weapon.

Hey, what’s up, I asked Jake, another agent standing beside him with a look that didn’t bode well for us as I already knew it was bad news. He found Angela.

Shit, I said. Five minutes in the truck. Do we have the address?

Jake gave a curt bob.

"Let me grab my stuff and phone in