Written Words continues to with daily publishing of excerpts from books by fellow author-members of the Jet and Lei Crime Kindle worlds. Today features a dollop of Steven Konkoly’s Kindle World crossover between Russell Blake’s Jet series and Konkoly’s Black Flagged series.
By Steven Konkoly
Jet pressed her lips together, spreading the burgundy shade of lipstick evenly. The dark red accentuated her tan skin, leaving just enough color to attract attention—or distract a bodyguard. She examined her appearance in the full-length mirror, searching for the smallest detail that might draw the wrong kind of attention. A missed button, frayed sleeve corner or errant wrinkle could spell disaster. The hotel staff dressed impeccably, one of the luxury resort’s signature touches.
Finding nothing out of place on her tight-fitting outfit, she affixed a brushed silver, oval name tag just above the left breast pocket of her royal blue suit jacket. Today she was Selena Amador, Senior Concierge, La Joya Azul Resort and Spa. Tomorrow she could be a visiting European banker in Buenos Aires. Whatever they wanted her to be. She was their chameleon, and more often than not—their viper.
Jet turned from the mirror and approached the white-marble-topped, dark mahogany vanity next to the spacious sink, noting the watchful eye of the team’s mission leader—and her stand-in husband for the operation. Without either of them saying a word, she removed a suppressed compact pistol from the top of the vanity and tucked it snugly into the custom holster sewn into her black leather Prada shoulder tote. A knockoff bag, she suspected. The Mossad’s budget didn’t include disposable thousand-dollar accessories—unless those accessories killed people. With the bag in place over her left shoulder, she smiled at Gilad.
“How do I look?” said Jet.
“Deadly as always,” he replied, without expression. “I just hope deadly enough.”
“I can handle two thugs at close distance,” she said. “The second guard will still have his eyes on my breasts when the first guy’s brains hit the wall.”
“Those aren’t your best assets,” he said, shifting casually in the bedroom’s door frame.
“I keep lobbying for implants,” said Jet, making a final adjustment to her jacket collar.
“We’d prefer to focus on investments that will get you out of trouble, not in,” he said, finally betraying a thin smile. “I’m thinking more along the lines of an advanced Krav Maga course.”
“I could teach those courses by now,” she said, stepping back.
Gilad raised an eyebrow, challenging the inherent smugness of her statement. She was right, to a degree. Unless the master Krav Maga instructors had invented a series of new moves, there was little point—she had mastered every technique offered. He imperceptibly shook his head.
“If the guards are more alert than intelligence suggests—you walk away. It only takes the blink of an eye to pull a trigger. We’ll find another way,” he said.
“I just need to get within thirty feet,” she said. “This ridiculous outfit will get me close enough.”
“You’re good, but not that good,” he said.
“Really?” said Jet. “I’m the best shot on the team.”
“You need to ensure two dead-center head shots. A skull ricochet might hit the door, alerting the guards inside. Fifteen feet minimum. Preferably five. The closer you get, the narrower their focus,” he said, shifting his eyes toward her chest.
“I thought they weren’t my best assets,” she said, pulling her jacket tight.
“They’ll have to do,” he said, winking at her.
Her concealed earpiece crackled. “Strike, this is overwatch. Shift change underway.”
Gilad’s eyes darted up and to the right momentarily, a subtle tell that he had received the same message.
“Five minutes,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Let them settle in.”
She nodded, slipping her hand into the shoulder tote and checking the holster action. Within a fraction of a second, Jet pointed the suppressed Glock 26 subcompact at her image in the mirror.
“Maybe twenty feet,” said Gilad, finally smiling.
About Jet – Black
At a luxury resort on the coast of Uruguay, Jet prepares her Mossad team for a daring attack against a Russian mafiya boss suspected of selling bioweapons to the Iranians. Simultaneously, Jessica Petrovich readies a small team of Black Flagged operatives with order to kill Dr. Anatoly Reznikov, the source of the mafiya bioweapons.
There’s only one problem: both targets are located in the same suite, and neither team knows the other is coming!
Two of the most lethal femme fatales in recent thriller history are about to come face to face in the explosive return of the Black Flagged saga.
About the author
Steven graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1993, receiving a Bachelor of Science in English Literature. He served the next eight years on active duty in various Navy and Marine Corps units.
From leading Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations as a boarding officer in the Arabian Gulf, to directing Close Air Support (CAS) as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) assigned to a specialized Marine Corps unit, Steven’s “in-house” experience with a wide variety of regular and elite military units brings a unique authenticity to his writing.
His first novel, The Jakarta Pandemic (2010), explored the world of “prepping,” well before television and books popularized the concept. Hailed as a “grippingly realistic” family survival story, The Jakarta Pandemic introduced thousands of readers to the unfamiliar concept of “survival in the suburbs,” motivating many of them to take the first steps to better prepare themselves for a major disaster. His recently launched series, The Perseid Collapse, continues Steven’s legacy of engaging (and informative) post-apocalyptic (SHTF) fiction.
Steven lives with his family in coastal, southern Maine, where he wakes up at “zero dark thirty” to write for most of the day. When “off duty,” he struggles to strike a balance between a woefully short sailing season and unreasonably long winter.
You can contact Steven directly by email (stevenkonkoly@gmail.com) or through his blog (www.stevenkonkoly.com).
About Amazon Kindle Worlds
Kindle Worlds is an Amazon initiative that allows authors to publish stories set in another author’s fictional universe. The Jet Kindle World is based on the character Jet, created by bestselling author Russell Blake.