Debra Webb - Damaged

It was definitely her.

When she’d settled inside and the limo pulled out onto the street, Dakota followed. A few turns and twenty-one minutes later, the car stopped in front of a run-down building on a deserted street.

When Lucky Malone climbed out of the car, Dakota’s attention zeroed in on her. She had a killer body. Even the conservative dress pants couldn’t hide a backside like that. The equally modest blouse tightened over nicely rounded breasts as she moved. She said something to the driver before closing the door, then seemed to brace herself before entering the building.

Dakota slid out of his truck and hustled to the other end of the alley. It was quiet, until a low roar put him on alert. The roar grew louder until a dark sedan skidded to a stop between him and Malone’s limo.

The sedan’s front doors flew open. Two men bailed out and rushed Malone’s car. Dakota heard two unmistakable sounds. Silenced gunshots.

A new kind of tension ignited in Dakota’s veins.

A hit team. The driver was dead…and Malone would be next.

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This book is dedicated to the sweetest little boy,

Dakota Bailey, and his awesome mom, Lynn Bailey.

I’m so glad you’re family.

Debra Webb wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain and within the confining political walls of Berlin, Germany, that she realized her true calling. A five-year stint with NASA on the space shuttle program reinforced her love of the endless possibilities within her grasp as a storyteller. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Debra has been writing romantic suspense and action-packed romantic thrillers since. Visit her at www.DebraWebb.com or write to her at P.O. Box 4889, Huntsville, AL 35815.

Dakota Garrett—Former military, Garrett is a member of the new Equalizers. His only concern is getting the job done.

Lucky Malone—Brand-new at the Colby Agency, a quick errand for Lucas Camp combined with a secret she must keep for Victoria Colby-Camp draws Lucky into a race for her own life as well as Victoria’s.

Dr. Lionel Byrd—He has turned the secretive Byrd Institute into a place that inspires fear. Only one person has ever escaped his special method of treatment. Byrd will do anything to ensure Dakota Garrett doesn’t escape again.

Victoria Colby-Camp—Victoria is facing possibly the biggest challenge of her life. Can she protect those she loves or will fate prove a foe she cannot defeat?

Lucas Camp—He is certain the new owner of the Equalizers is up to something dangerous…something that involves the Colby Agency. Can he find the truth in time to protect those he loves?

Jim Colby—When he sold the Equalizers to an unnamed buyer, he had his doubts. Has he made a mistake he will live to regret?

Ian Michaels and Simon Ruhl—The Colby Agency’s seconds-in-command.

Mildred Ballard—Victoria’s personal assistant. She never misses a day at the agency and Victoria has no secrets from Mildred. Mildred never imagined that a rare day at the spa would take her from the office at a time when the schemes of two men would coalesce into a dangerous game where Victoria’s life is the prize.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chicago

Thursday, June 2,

6:15 a.m.

Dakota Garrett waited in the darkness.

The garage smelled faintly of gasoline and oil. The mark evidently preferred servicing his vehicles at home. He didn’t look the type in his meticulously pressed suits and little bow ties. How many high-level accountants could, much less would, change the oil in the family sedan? Only one terrified of trusting another with any aspect of the family vehicle’s operation.

Darnell Raspberry manipulated and supervised every asset possessed by his boss, Devon Wallace—the single most powerful man in the Midwest. Wallace had built an empire of wealth and power during the latter half of his life. Too bad he’d started using innocent people as his stepping stones. One of those people had come to the Equalizers for help. Wallace operated above the law. And, thus far, no one had been able to stop him.

It wasn’t Dakota’s job to stop Wallace. He could care less about the man or his activities. At some point in the past half decade he’d stopped analyzing right from wrong. Dakota’s singular goal was to accomplish his mission.

Get the job done.

What else was there? For him…nothing.

Anger whispered through him, making his jaw clench. Dakota pushed it away. The past was the past. Dead and gone. Emphasis on the dead. He operated in the moment and only in the moment.

Justice could be served outside a courtroom. That was sufficient for Dakota’s conscience.

The door leading from the kitchen of the Raspberry home to the dark garage opened. Dakota braced for action.

Darnell Raspberry stepped into the garage and carefully locked the door behind him. The three quiet tones that followed assured him that he’d properly set the home’s elaborate security system.

The makers obviously hadn’t counted on someone like Dakota Garrett needing to get past their so-called state-of-the-art system. For him, cutting off the link to the home’s attached garage had been as effortless as taking his next breath. Raspberry had no clue that a cold, harsh reality waited for him just a few steps away.

Raspberry rounded the hood of his two-door hybrid, the one he used for traveling to and from work. Nothing pricey, not at all like the fine home attached to the double-car garage or the luxury sedan he’d purchased for his family. The garage’s overhead light as well as the interior one in the vehicle stayed dark as Raspberry climbed into the driver’s seat. The smart little accountant had thought of everything. He had a careful routine. Don’t turn on the light. Start the engine and hit the remote. Barrel out of the garage and close the door.

His goal was simple: protect his nice little family.

Didn’t matter that his boss ruined the lives of nice little families every day.

The hybrid’s engine started. Dakota pushed away from the wall. Until the vehicle shifted out of Park, both doors would remain unlocked. Dakota had the passenger-side door open before the unsuspecting man had time to blink or to shift into Reverse.

Dakota pressed the muzzle of his weapon to Raspberry’s pale temple. “Drive to the office as usual,” he ordered, “and we won’t have a problem.”

Raspberry’s eyes bulged with fear. The faint lighting from the dash allowed him a peek at Dakota from the corners of his eyes. “What do you want?”