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A dangerous undercover assignment...
Another exciting True Blue K-9 Unit thriller
To take down a serial bomber, NYPD K-9 officers Brianne Hayes and Gavin Sutherland must go undercover—as a married couple. But now the bomber is targeting them to halt the investigation. As the clock ticks down, can Brianne, Gavin and their K-9 partners find the culprit in time to save the city—and their own lives?
With over seventy books published and millions in print, LENORA WORTH writes award-winning romance and romantic suspense. Three of her books finaled in the ACFW Carol Awards, and her Love Inspired Suspense novel Body of Evidence became a New York Times bestseller. Her novella in Mistletoe Kisses made her a USA TODAY bestselling author. Lenora goes on adventures with her retired husband, Don, and enjoys reading, baking and shopping...especially shoe shopping.
Also By Lenora Worth
Love Inspired Suspense
True Blue K-9 Unit
Deep Undercover
Military K-9 Unit
Rescue Operation
Classified K-9 Unit
Tracker
Classified K-9 Unit Christmas
“A Killer Christmas”
Rookie K-9 Unit
Truth and Consequences
Rookie K-9 Unit Christmas
“Holiday High Alert”
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
Deep Undercover
Lenora Worth
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-09683-6
DEEP UNDERCOVER
© 2019 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk
Version: 2020-03-02
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Gavin glanced at Brianne, his eyes apprehensive.
A streak of lightning made a jagged dance over the skyscrapers, and a roar of thunder shook the sky. The flowers in the dish gardens bent in the brisk wind. Brianne turned away from the street to give her K-9, Stella, a command so they could move inside. Before she could get to the diner door, the rain started coming down.
Something else started to pour along with the rain. Bullets.
Gavin didn’t have time to think. He covered Brianne’s body as the dark SUV sped by, one tinted side window in the back open enough to show the tip of a long-barreled revolver. With a silencer.
TRUE BLUE K-9 UNIT:
These police officers fight for justice with the help of their brave canine partners
Justice Mission by Lynette Eason, April 2019
Act of Valor by Dana Mentink, May 2019
Blind Trust by Laura Scott, June 2019
Deep Undercover by Lenora Worth, July 2019
Seeking the Truth by Terri Reed, August 2019
Trail of Danger by Valerie Hansen, September 2019
Courage Under Fire by Sharon Dunn, October 2019
Sworn to Protect by Shirlee McCoy, November 2019
True Blue K-9 Unit Christmas by Laura Scott and Maggie K. Black, December 2019
Dear Reader,
This was a challenging story, but I loved these characters and so enjoyed working with the other amazing authors in this series. New York City is an amazing place with one of the most dedicated police forces in the world. I hope I did them justice with this story.
Brianne was a go-getter while Gavin used caution. I believe our environments shape our personalities, so I tried to show that with these two very strong but different personalities. Please note that while I talked to several experts and did a lot of research on both New York and law enforcement, any mistakes are solely my own. God Bless the NYPD!
Please visit me at my website www.lenoraworth.com or chat with me on Facebook.
Until next time, may the angels watch over you. Always.
Lenora Worth
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
—Luke 12:2
To the men and women of the New York Police Department.
Thank you all for protecting one of my favorite cities.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Note to Readers
Introduction
Dear Reader
Bible Verse
Dedication
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
Extract
About the Publisher
ONE
K-9 Officer Gavin Sutherland held tight to his partner Tommy’s leash and scanned the crowd, his mind on high alert, his whole body tense as he tried to protect the city he loved. People from all over the world stood shoulder to shoulder along the East River, waiting for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display. This New York tradition held a lot of challenges. He searched again in the park and along the riverfront on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
The upbeat crowd grew more rowdy as the late afternoon sunshine began to slowly descend beyond the Manhattan skyscrapers to the west. Even with the patriotic excitement of the crowd, anything could go wrong. The setting sun hit asphalt and concrete with a laser-like heat while the merging of people seemed to crush in on all sides.
The smell of someone’s perfume wafted up and out over the trees to mingle with the scents of cotton candy, street food and that other unique smell of sweaty humans having too much fun.
His partner, a black-and-white springer spaniel, knew the drill. Tommy worked bomb detection. People were always surprised that a springer could be so focused and sharp. Tommy had been trained to find incendiary devices. Period. End of discussion. His quiet, steady work didn’t require barking or bringing attention to himself. He knew to sniff the air and the ground. Sniff, sit, repeat. Be rewarded. But Gavin didn’t have to get defensive about his partner. Tommy lived for bomb detection, play toys and rewards.
Lately, Gavin had been the one who needed defending. He’d worked hard all of his life and done things by the book and yet a few choice words during a time of chaos and grief had put a target on his back. As a member of the NYC K-9 Command Unit, based in Queens, he took his job seriously and he’d like to keep it.
Pushing aside the bitterness he’d tried to shed over the last few months, Gavin studied the immediate crowd. A woman with a curly-haired baby laughing at the man by her side. A kid in a Yankees baseball cap tossing a soccer ball in the air, his expression bored. A man wearing a plaid cap carrying a dark backpack. Two young girls in jeans and flag-embossed shirts shoving through the crowd to get the perfect selfie with the backdrop of the city.
Tommy held his head up and sniffed. Too many scents. “It’s okay, boy. You’re doing great.”
Glancing up, Gavin spotted his backup, K-9 Officer Brianne Hayes, a rookie who had been paired with him to continue gaining experience. Her K-9 graduation ceremony should have taken place in the spring but had been postponed due to a tragic event that had rocked the entire K-9 Unit.
Back in April, their chief, Jordan Jameson, had been found dead under strange circumstances. He’d been murdered, but the death had been staged to look like a suicide. His administrative assistant, Sophie Walters, had discovered a suicide note, supposedly from Jordan, the morning of the scheduled graduation. Soon after, his body had been found. But they all knew Jordy had not committed suicide. The whole department was on a mission to find out who’d killed him. But a few key officers were not on the case. Jordan had three brothers in the K-9 Unit, and though they were naturally more driven than anyone to find the killer, the Jamesons had been assigned to other cases to avoid conflicts of interest.
No one had forgotten how Gavin had complained about being passed over as chief when the position had been given to Jordan. He and Jordan went way back but they hadn’t been close in years. Differences in style going back to their days in training at the Police Academy. Ancient history, but Gavin had learned the hard way not to air his grievances—not with so many Jamesons around to remember every angry word he’d uttered about losing out on the promotion.
They’d both graduated and become police officers. Jordan had gotten married to a good woman who was now pregnant and a widow. Gavin had worked with him, practically side by side, and watched him prosper but had always wondered why Jordan managed to stay one step ahead of him. Now Jordan was dead. Gavin’s resentment seemed silly and frivolous. The guilt of that ate at him.
When Jordan became chief, Gavin voiced that resentment. Just another thing between them. Then, shortly after his death, Jordan’s position had been given to his brother, Noah Jameson. Gavin had complained again, blurting out his feelings without even thinking. So much for not airing his grievances. After that, Jordan’s brothers and the department had unofficially deemed him a person-of-interest in Jordy’s death. Unbelievable. He’d been easily cleared—he’d been on duty working a big fund-raising event in Manhattan the night before Jordan had disappeared and his roommate had verified he was home the next morning when Jordan went missing on a jog—but things might not ever be the same.
“Hey, Sutherland, want a bottled water?” Brianne asked.
“Sure, Hayes. Bring it.”
Gavin tamped down his resentment about not being promoted, then said a prayer for patience and acceptance. He had to take the high road on this and see things through by helping to find the real killer. He might not have been Jordy’s buddy like in the old days, but he sure hadn’t killed the man. Now he worked twice as hard as anyone in the department to show his worth. So here he stood on a national holiday, hot, tired and wishing he was out on a boat somewhere.
Brianne headed toward him, her auburn hair caught up in a severe bun. He’d noticed her hair when she’d had it down. Straight and sweeping her shoulders in a soft sheen of deep red. That fire-colored hair matched her fierce determination to prove herself since she was one of only a few female K-9 officers in the city that never slept.
Brianne’s partner, Stella, was also in training with the K-9 handlers. The gentle yellow Lab had been pregnant a few months ago when she’d arrived in New York, a gift from the Czech Republic. She’d given birth to eight puppies that had all been farmed out to various officers and their families for socialization and possible future training as either K-9s or service dogs.
Brianne had taken on the job of training Stella in the basics, hoping to someday use her in bomb detection. They’d already started practicing—sniffing explosives, getting a treat and then doing it all over again. Once the dog learned she’d be rewarded for finding that particular scent, they’d move on from sit–stay–pay training to seek–find–reward. Stella now trained at the center and soon she’d be training doing the same thing Tommy specialized in—searching out bombs. Brianne had a way with animals from what he’d heard. Her smile had a way of calming him, Gavin had to admit.
“Thanks,” he said now as she handed him the ice-cold water, her lips pursed in professional determination.
“I’ve been along the perimeters of the park,” she said, her golden-brown eyes moving over a thousand faces, her heart-shaped face glowing with a sheen of perspiration. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Hot and humid and crowded. Can’t wait for the show.”
Gavin smiled at the droll sarcasm and gulped down half the water. Then he poured some in his hand for Tommy to drink. The spaniel lapped it up and wagged his tail. Brianne had already done the same with Stella.
Scanning the area again, he said, “I think the crowd grows every year. Standing-room only tonight.”
Brianne wiped a hand across her brow. “Stella keeps fidgeting and sniffing. She needs to get used to this.”
“Give her time. She’s a rookie like you.”
Brianne gave him a mock frown. “And you got stuck with me today.”
He didn’t mind that but he grinned and played along. “I drew the short straw.”
Or at least it felt that way at times, but not today. He’d had a thing for Brianne Hayes since he’d noticed her on her first day of K-9 training. But he’d never acted on his feelings because they worked together and because this job demanded his full attention. They mostly picked on each other and flirted in a playful way. Fine by Gavin. He’d dated off and on but most women couldn’t handle his long hours or dark moods.
“I drew the short straw,” she shot back. “I’d rather be sitting on my tiny back porch with the sprinkler wetting my feet. But Stella and me, we can handle you.”
As if she’d heard them talking about her, Stella stopped and lifted her nose into the air, a soft growl emitting from her throat.
Brianne held tight to the leash. “Steady, girl. You’ll need to contain that when the fireworks start.”
But Stella didn’t quit. The big dog tugged forward, her nose sniffing both air and ground.
Gavin watched the Labrador, wondering what kind of scent she’d picked up. Then Tommy alerted, going still except for his wagging tail that acted like a warning flag, his body trembling in place, his nose in the air. A whiff he recognized had hit his odor receptors and sent an alert to his somatosensory cortex so he could process the smell. And it had to be a familiar smell.
“Something’s up,” Gavin whispered to Brianne. “He’s picked up a signature somewhere.”
Brianne whispered low. “As in a bomb scent?”
“That’s his specialty.”
Gavin checked her to make sure she wouldn’t panic. Instead of panic, he saw something else in her eyes. Apprehension and anticipation. Brianne’s adrenaline faintly shouted at him.
Stella’s, too. The rookie knew enough training to expect a reward soon.
“This can’t be good,” Gavin whispered, watching the crowd. A mass of people side by side. With a bomb nearby, full-out chaos would hit. They’d have to work quietly and quickly to get this situation under control. “We need to verify and contain.” He did a sweep of the area. “If we find something, we need to call for backup immediately, okay?”
She nodded and did her own scan of the area.
“We’d better get to work,” she said as they both let their partners take the lead, guiding them in a rush through the crowd. “We might not have much time.”
It didn’t take long to find what the dogs had alerted on. The man Gavin had spotted earlier wearing the plaid cap and carrying a black backpack.
He wasn’t carrying the backpack now.
Gavin leaned toward Brianne. “We need to keep an eye on that man up ahead. Don’t let him get lost in the crowd. You follow him, and Tommy and I can search for the backpack.” Hurrying ahead, he reached for his radio to alert the other NYPD officers in the area.
Brianne nodded, her gaze zooming in on the man pushing through toward the south. “Think he’s the one?”
Gavin didn’t take his eyes off the man. “Yeah, I do.”
The woman he’d noticed earlier sat with her baby girl on a crowded bench, her child in her arms. The kid with the soccer ball kicked it into the air. The ball got lost in the fray, but someone caught it and sent it back to the kid.
“We need to stay calm and see what he does next,” he said to Brianne. “See where he goes. The dogs could be wrong, but I doubt that. Stay on the radio.”
Tommy alerted again, his eyes on the man ahead but then the dog lifted his nose in the air and changed courses. Gavin pushed his way through shoulder-to-shoulder people, some laughing and ignoring him, some glaring at him full-force. He’d only made it a few feet. Not good.
Gavin stayed focused, trying to keep his eyes on the man who seemed oblivious to all the people shoving at him or to Brianne following him. They got caught up in a large group of teenagers pushing forward around a big oak tree.
Tommy ignored the girls and kept tugging toward the tree. Gavin spotted the backpack, zipped up and sitting on a beach towel by the tree. Tommy headed to it, dug his paws in and lifted his eyes back to Gavin. He didn’t need to inspect the bag. If Tommy detected a bomb, Gavin believed him.
“Good work, Tommy.”
Gavin called Tommy back away from the area and took in the scene. People all around. He started pushing, trying to guide them away. “Excuse me, folks. Need to clear the area, please.”
But he didn’t have to say a word. People in New York knew this drill only too well. A man pointed and shouted after he saw Tommy and Gavin—and the backpack. “Suspicious package.”
Then someone else started shoving and running away. “Bomb!”
“Go,” Gavin called, waving his arms. “Leave the area.” Then he stood and spotted Brianne up ahead. She’d already lifted her phone off her waist clip, her eyes meeting his.
“Get back,” Gavin shouted, since people were beginning to whisper and stare. “Clear the area,” he ordered, lifting his arms to wave to the people near the bench while he and Tommy kept a safe distance away. “Clear the area. Move away from the riverfront.”
Brianne and Stella whizzed back toward him. He heard her radio it in through her mic. “10-33 in progress. East River Park. Intersection of East Houston and FDR.”
“Stay back, Bree,” he called. “Keep searching for the suspect.”
She nodded and, giving Gavin one last glance, turned back to her search.
Gavin kept his hand up to keep anyone from approaching too close and he made sure he and Tommy were a safe distance away. The crowd parted and scattered, parents screaming, searching for children, the group of teenaged girls taking off like a pack to get out of the way, families grabbing each other and pushing through the masses.
In the meantime, he radioed for patrol officers to keep the crowd back and listened in on further instructions until the bomb squad arrived. He could expect to see a whole slew of law enforcement agencies arrive soon, including the FBI, ATF and the New York City Fire Department, just in case. Dispatch had already alerted officers up and down the riverfront on both sides of the firework barges. Unless they found more suspicious packages, the show would go on. But it might be delayed if this turned out to be more than a lone, random act.
Gavin prayed that wouldn’t be the case.
* * *
People were running, screaming, shoving. The little boy with the soccer ball fell and cried out in pain. Someone helped him up while his ball went flying and dropped into the frightened crowd. The woman with the baby abandoned her stroller and took off running, holding her wailing child close to her shoulder. Her husband called after her and caught up to hold his family tight.
People shuffled to get away, some tripping and getting up while others stopped to help. An elderly man pushed a woman in a wheelchair. Too close.
Gavin hurried with Tommy toward the couple, hoping to get them away from the backpack, his heart pumping.
But before he could get to them, a boom and flash, smoke all around, people screaming and shouting, calling out to their loved ones. Gavin felt the blowback hit him in the gut, knocking him down. He stumbled while Tommy leaped into the air and fell over Gavin.
His ears ringing, Gavin sat up and rubbed Tommy’s fur. “Thank you, boy. Good boy.” His partner appeared intact and ready to get back on the job.
Gavin moved toward the smoke, searching for the old man who’d been pushing the woman in the wheelchair. Had they managed to get out of the way?
Tommy sniffed as they neared the area, the acrid smell from the explosion causing people to cough. The backpack had been incinerated. Gone. A black hole covered the spot where the blanket still burned. Searching for the wheelchair, Gavin also looked for Brianne and Stella. The last time he’d seen them they were coming back toward the tree.