This book was so much fun to write… it almost wrote
itself. You’ve heard me say that before – right? And in most cases, it’s true.

Well this time, that wasn’t the case. I beat my
brain cells silly for these words to come to me. I think I was a bit burned out
from writing so much in only a matter of a few months. I did the three
Christmas novellas for the Holiday Heartwarmers Trilogy right after I finished
Special Agent Maximilian. Then I took on another full-length book – the first in
my new Mob Tracker series which I’m hoping to sell. Therefore it had to be
better than good. I tingled all the time
I wrote it so I believe it worked well… Good Lord, I hope
so.

But, I knew the readers were waiting for another
Undercover FBI story – they wrote and told me they were. And so I hurried to
get this started.

And there I stayed spinning my wheels… for a few
days, I plotted like crazy and nothing gelled. It was all rolling around
together in a congealed mess. Then all of a sudden, I woke up in the morning
with the first scene. And I was off.

Of course, it’s been edited quite a bit but the
essence is there. In my mind, I had visualized this – A sweet FBI Hostage Negotiator
wanted to be taken seriously, to be tough like the others in her team but she
was their pampered Barbie-doll…

I
hope you think it worked J

Chapter
One:

“Smile at me one more time with those gleaming
pearly-whites, and I’m liable to smash them down your throat. You got it?”
Special Agent Kandice Warner had just arrived at the FBI office and greeted her
co-worker.

Some of the other staffers who’d been watching
laughed. One clapped, and the agent Kandice had been directing her threat to
gloomily shook his head. “Kandi, what’s with the compliment? And your eyes are
friggin’ twinkling. You gotta look like you mean it. God-almighty, sweets, it
wasn’t at all believable.”

Hands on her hips, posing, Kandi grouched, “I practiced
that for half an hour. What was wrong with it this time?”

“Well, first of all, your eyes were soft, you got
too damn close, and when you’re sarcastic to a perp, ya just don’t pat his
arm.”

Laughter rang out in the main room where a dozen or
so others worked. Catcalls and whistles followed. One voice was louder and
could be heard over the rest. “Kandi just doesn’t have the personality of a
pit-bull, Wesley. She’s our sweetheart.”

“Yeah, man, leave her alone. It’s bad enough that
we’re a bunch of hardened agents. We like her just the way she is.”

Wesley Snow, chubby with longish hair, glasses that
never stayed up and a friendly disposition, snarled to the others, “Hell, this
isn’t my idea. Kandi insists she needs to learn how to be scary, like the rest
of us.”

Horrified, Kandi jumped in. “I never said that, you
goofball. I said I wanted the criminals to take me more seriously. Not to
decide they can run when I have a gun pointed at them.”

This brought more laughter and Kandi, not having the
heart to continue with her snit, giggled with them.

“Give it up, sweetheart. We’ll look after you, same
as we bin doin’ since forever. You’re like our mascot.” Bobbi, her best friend,
came over and wrapped her in a hug, her brown eyes softening and her
darkish-coffee skin glowing with health and vitality. The warmth, the smell of
her vanilla body lotion, even the ruffling she gave Kandi’s curls, should have
given Kandi a soft feeling. And it did… But the dissatisfaction still hovered
and wouldn’t fade.

“I can’t let it go, Bobbi. They have to start
believing I’m competent, or my credibility goes right out the window.”

Bobbi nodded, her hand now holding one of Kandi’s.
“Look, the reason that asshole ran away from you yesterday wasn’t because you
didn’t scare him enough to follow orders. You were cool and said most of the
words I would have used.” The rest of her co-workers nodded.

“I did?” Kandi knew they all considered Bobbi a
level-headed agent who came off as being one not to mess with. Maybe this isn’t
so bad after all.

“Hell, yeah.” A male voice added.

“S’truth.” Wesley nodded and joined in.

“Then why did he wink at me and run away?”

“Cause you were smiling beseechingly, and you made
one small mistake… I never say, please stop.”

Kandi lowered her head in disgust. “I did say that,
didn’t I? He knew I’d never shoot him.”

“Honey, no matter how good you were in training, or
how thorough you are when it comes to talking these assholes down in a crisis
negotiation, you don’t have the killer instinct.”

“I guess you’re right.” Kandi pushed her hands
through her headful of blonde curls that bounced every which way, and grinned
sadly. “I’m nothing but a wuss.”

“Oh, no, honey. That’s not what I said. Why, we’ve
watched you stand up to some of the meanest sons-a-bitches ever and you never
back down. By the time you’re finished with the pricks, you have them following
you like puppy-dogs, willing to do whatever you say. It’s uncanny. I wish I had
your talent.”

The rest of the room muttered various agreements,
until their new boss entered and ended everyone’s fun.

Kandi watched the room settle down, busy agents now
avidly working, typing and making phone calls. She caught Wesley’s wink before
his head went down too.

This guy scared the stuffing out of all of them. He
had the coldest disposition of anyone Kandi had ever met. His reputation
preceded him, and the fact that he’d been demoted from his hoity-toity position
in Washington, as the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative
Division, to the lowly Seattle branch as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge
must have been very demoralizing for the man whose gritty personality terrified
them.

Not that anyone had the guts or the stupidity to
bring it up when he’d arrived yesterday. Fred More, the SAC, had accompanied
him into their office and made the introductions.

“I’m sure we were all sorry to see Neil Ware leave,
but that old agent put in his time and deserved his retirement. So I’m pleased
to introduce you to the man we’ve chosen to take his place, ASAC Dan Black.”

Most of the team had been happy to see Neil leave
for various reasons. Kandi had wished him well and a happy retirement, but the
others were glad to have done with the snarky, exacting asshole. Now they had a
different man to deal with. And he looked to be worse.

Standing next to his latest assistant, Fred had
looked short, plain and insignificant. Prior to that, Kandi would have
described the SAC as six feet tall, nice-looking and obviously in authority,
but the new man had a way of overshadowing other males in his vicinity.

Though Fred had been somewhat ingratiating when he’d
said his piece and hurried from the room, his final remark rang in the quiet.
“Dan Black knows more than most of you put together so work hard for him,
follow his instructions and make us proud.”

Left alone with the dark-haired stunner, his
expensive gray suit making every other man in the room look dowdy, Kandi’s
colleagues had shuffled nervously.

Expecting the man to say a few words of greeting,
make an effort to reach out to his people, Kandi, and everyone else, was
robbed. As they were introduced, he shook their hands, studied each person for
a few seconds. At the end of the introductions, he nodded and left them all
standing there while he disappeared into his new office.

Uncomfortable, wondering why he’d stared at her the
longest, Kandi mourned their old boss. Feeling mean, she wanted Neil to enjoy his
retirement but, contradictorily, she also wished him back at work.

Dan Black’s eyes had been cold and uncompromising,
digging into soft places she only shared with people she liked. And he
certainly wasn’t one of them. Okay, she had no reason for this aversion she
felt. In fact, he had her total deference as a co-worker, a boss she would be
working for.

Was he familiar? Did he remind her of someone? She
ignored her misgivings.

Of course, there had to be respect. But she’d hold
off on her final verdict until she got to know him better. Added to that, when
and if he ever stopped making her nervous, or leaving her trembling like a
schoolgirl with a crush on the new boy in class, then… and only then, would she
decide to let him in.

Once he’d disappeared behind his glass walls, like
everyone else, she’d gone to her own cubicle with its old-fashioned separators
which only measured half-way to the ceiling. Head down, she began filling in
some of the endless reports while she had the chance.

But before getting too involved, she leaned over the
wall, saw Bobbi on the phone and mouthed “Lunch”, and smiled when Bobbi
empathically nodded. Then she sat back down and went to work.

In her job as the FBI’s only Crisis Negotiator in
the area, one never knew when the next call would come. Thankfully, it had been
a quiet morning and they’d gotten a lot done.

Because Bobbi got a callout about an ongoing case,
they never did get their lunch together. Kandi just spent the day at her desk.

Her only complaint was that every time she looked
up, her gaze automatically lifted forward and it was just her luck to be in Dan
Black’s direct path. Utterly nerve-wracked to find his eyes on her each time,
she smiled with her lips only and resumed work. It had been a long day.

***

Wesley, glasses halfway down his nose, broke into
her reverie, “Kandi, we’re on. There’s a hostage situation at a downtown bank.
Ten people are being held, two kids.” Bobbi put her phone down and leapt to her
feet. She went to Dan’s door and gave him a brief rundown, while the rest of
the team grabbed their equipment and headed to the SWAT vehicles.

Kids! Blast it! Kandi hated seeing children involved
in these types of crimes. Her heart filling with its usual soft squishiness,
she sought her weapon and followed the group. The last person she expected to
tag along was their cranky new boss.