Targeted (Firebrand Book 1) by Sandra Robbins Page A

tremor shook her body, and his heart lurched at the fear he saw in her eyes. “It’s nothing concrete yet, but I need to make some phone calls. I’ll join you in the kitchen when I’m through.”
    She narrowed her eyes and frowned as if waiting for him to tell her more. He didn’t say anything as he returned her steady gaze. He wasn’t fooling her. She knew he didn’t want her upset until he knew something for sure. After a moment she nodded. “Okay. I’ll get the food ready. Join me when you’re through, and I’ll call Max downstairs.”
    He nodded and watched as she walked from the room. Then he pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in Reese’s number. He answered right away.
    “Ash?”
    “Yeah, it’s me, Reese. I just had a phone call, and I know who’s behind everything that’s happened so far. It’s Edwardo Diaz.”
    “The Mexican drug lord?”
    “Yeah, that’s him. I gathered from my caller that it’s payback time for the Lugar de la Vergüenza mission.”
    Reese was silent for a moment. “So you were right. What’s the plan?”
    “I don’t have one yet, but I think we need to start with John Steadman. He’s the CIA operative who sent us down to Mexico. Can you get in touch with him and see if he knows anything about Diaz’s whereabouts or what might be going on down there? In the meantime I’ll stay here, but I think we need to keep the Firebrand patrol outside the house.”
    “You got it, buddy. I’ll get on this right away.”
    “Thanks, Reese.”
    Ash disconnected the call, shoved the phone back in his pocket, and closed his eyes. Even after two years he could still see the horror and aftermath of Lugar de la Vergüenza as it was that night. He’d had a gut feeling that someday he would pay for what happened there, and he’d been right.
    Eduardo Diaz had a vendetta against him, and he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just taking Ash’s life, he wanted to take his brother’s family, too. For now there was nothing he could do except wait for Diaz to make the next move, and with a vicious drug cartel involved it promised to be a deadly game.
     

Chapter 4
    Max hadn’t quit talking to Ash from the minute they sat down to eat, and the two had practically ignored Lainey. That suited her fine because it gave her time to study them. Her concerns about how Ash would behave toward Max had proved unfounded. From the minute Ash reached out his hand to shake with Max, they’d bonded in a way that shocked and surprised her.
    The absence of a male figure in the house had been difficult for Max, even more so now that he was getting older. He needed a father to play sports with him in the back yard, one who could guide him through the difficult teenage years and teach him how to grow into a man who accepted responsibility for the well-being of those he loved. A man like Richard. But Max had been too young when Richard died to remember much about him. Even his pictures hadn’t sparked any memory or any curiosity in the boy. The photographs of the larger-than-life uncle he’d never met had been another matter.
    Now that he could ask the flesh and blood man about his daring exploits and his lifestyle Max had come to believe so glamorous, he was taking advantage of the situation. Max was too young to distinguish the fine line between military hero and paid mercenary. And he hadn’t yet learned how to gauge a man’s character by his commitment to care for those he loved. How would he react when he discovered Ash wasn’t the kind of man to follow through on promises he made?
    Lainey picked up her coffee cup and was about to take a sip when she realized Max had just asked her a question. She glanced around, and he and Ash were both staring at her. “I’m sorry. Did you say something to me?”
    Max nodded. “I was telling Uncle Ash about the solo I’m doing in the school musical tomorrow, and he said he wants to come. Isn’t that cool?”
    She narrowed her eyes as she studied Ash