Military intelligence officer Lieutenant Barb Carolus is ordered to investigate Colonel Locke, a rogue officer suspected of selling military weapons on the black market. Colonel Locke is from Barb’s home planet and she knows exposing his crimes will tarnish the reputation of those rare people like her who’ve escaped the poverty and gangs of their home world to become officers. But orders are orders and she always does her duty.<br><br>For the mission she’s teamed with the unconventional -- and in Barb’s opinion, entirely unprofessional -- undercover agent Taya Borovsky. Working with Taya will test Barb’s by the book approach to the limits, especially when attraction overcomes her irritation with Taya. Bitter about upholding standards nobody else does, Barb gives in to her desires.<br><br>When the mission goes bad, Barb and Taya are on the run and outgunned. To survive, Barb must learn from Taya’s unconventional methods and improvise a solution to complete her mission and save their lives.

Loose Cannon

“Thirty-five percent extra and we shake on it,” Taya said, extending her hand to Vince.


He hesitated. “Boss?” he asked. Locke hadn’t shown any sign of listening to the conversation, but he must have been. He nodded and waved a hand. “Done,” Vince said, taking Taya’s hand. “Let’s see it.”


Barb nodded and headed into the ship. She didn’t like leaving Taya outside by herself for even a minute. She retrieved the cash and counted out the right amount. Before she left again, she checked the hidden recording devices filming the whole scene to make sure they were running. They were, though she’d have to wait until later to see if they picked up a recognizable picture of Locke.


When she went back out, the four lads were carrying one of the crates across to Taya’s ship. Taya had opened the large cargo bay airlock. Not the inner door. The airlock would be far enough. No reason to let anybody any further into the ship than they needed to be.


Chapter 15