The Lost Soldier_Phoenix Agency Read online




  Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Desiree Holt. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original The Phoenix Agency remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Desiree Holt, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Table of Contents

  THE LOST SISTER

  Acknowledgments

  Terminology and Definitions

  The Phoenix Agency

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Books by Jen Talty

  About the Author

  THE LOST SISTER

  A PHOENIX AGENCY KINDLE WORLD NOVELLA

  book 1 of 4 in the RAVEN SISTERS series

  JEN TALTY

  Acknowledgments

  This book is a slight departure from my general Military Romances because of the psychic abilities of the characters. Bestselling author, Desiree Holt, created the Phoenix Agency and I’m honored she trusted me to write in her world.

  I like to set my books in places that I have some intimate knowledge of and this book is no exception. My daughter recently moved to Baltimore and as I explored the city with her, it gave me a good feel for the Raven Sister’s home base (also home to The Phoenix Agency). However, the action took me back to a childhood haven, an unexpected twist. The scenes set in Lake George, and also in Vermont, are adaptations of my days as a camper at Y.M.C.A Camp Chingachgook as I remember it many, many years ago. I am sure the grounds have changed tremendously since my days there, but the visions are permanently engraved in my brain, and probably the first place that ignited my passion for storytelling.

  Sign up for Jen’s Newsletter (http://eepurl.com/crLz6r) where she often gives away free books before publication.

  Join Jen’s private Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/191706547909047/) where she posts exclusive excerpts and discuss all things murder and love!

  Terminology and Definitions

  Precognition/Visions: the ability to see the future in a vision before it happens.

  Remote Viewing: the ability to project one’s mind into a distant or unseen target.

  View VS Vision: When I refer to a “view” it’s when a character is using Remote Viewing abilities which happen in the present, real time. When I refer to a “vision” a character is seeing a possible future outcome or event.

  The Phoenix Agency

  They served their country in every branch of the military – Army Delta Force, SEALs, Air Force, Marines. We are pilots, snipers, medics – whatever the job calls for. And now as private citizens they serve in other capacities, as private contractors training security for defense contractors, as black ops eradicating drug dealers, as trained operatives ferreting out traitors. With the women in their lives who each have a unique psychic ability, they are a force to be reckoned with. Risen from the ashes of war, they continue to fight for those in need. They are Phoenix.

  Prologue

  IT WASN’T EVERY DAY that Brett Radcliffe, former Marine, got to show off his psychic skills in front of someone. Over the years, he’d kept it to himself, simply because he didn’t understand it and feared it.

  Now he embraced it.

  He bit back a smile as he closed his eyes, concentrating on the information given to him by Rick Latrobe of The Phoenix Agency. Training came with any job, in or out of the armed forces, so Brett had no problem with the rigorous schedule the Agency had him on over the course of the last three months. Besides, Brett was itching for his first assignment. It had been over a year since he’d been in the field. His body, as well as his mind, had been healed, and it was time.

  In his mind's eye, he raced through the jungles of South Korea near Palbaekgusip, heading toward the North Korean border. His mission: to find the SEAL team currently camped out, waiting for the ‘go’ on their mission. Brett had no idea why the team was near hostile territory, and it didn’t matter. His job, or this training session, had been to hone his skills and prepare him for his first assignment.

  He found the team with ease and gave Rick the coordinates.

  But something nagged at his brain as he allowed himself to look closely at the SEAL team’s base camp. The images weren’t clear, though that wasn’t uncommon, but he felt a presence at the camp that shouldn’t be there. He crouched down behind a bush. Realistically, he knew his body wasn’t present and couldn’t be seen by others, but his mind and spirit were, and could be detected, as was this other apparition.

  “What is it?” Rick asked, lulling him into the present, something Brett didn’t like doing because it could distort the view.

  “I’m not sure.” Brett stepped further away from the camp, circling it in his mind and forcing his brain to look at the area from above. A sharp pain rippled from the back of his head to his eyeballs. “Fuck,” he muttered, trying to stay focused, but images became cloudier and cloudier, as if a dense fog had rolled in off the mountains.

  “I’ve sensed two other remote viewers. One of them is definitely not a friendly.”

  Chapter 1

  HAZEL RAVEN HIP-CHECKED the back door to the home she shared with her three sisters while balancing a large pizza, a bag of wings, and a two-liter bottle of diet soda, but of the caffeinated kind. “Anyone want to give me a hand?” She wiggled her key in the old lock. Damn thing got stuck all the time.

  “Did you get dessert, too?” Willow, the youngest of the four sisters at twenty-five, snagged the wings off the cardboard box.

  “There’s some cookie thing in the bag you’re carrying.” Hazel kicked off her shoes, before locking the door. Their house, which was also their office, had been built in the late nineteen-forties and still had much of its original charm with vaulted ceilings, large plank wood floors, and no central air-conditioning, which on a hot summer evening made her wonder why they loved the house so much.

  Situated between Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, the neighborhood consisted of undergrads, grads, and medical students, with the occasional young professional tossed into the mix.

  “Where is everyone?” Hazel made her way through kitchen, then up the spiral staircase to the living quarters. At one time, the house had been set up as a duplex, which served the sisters well, allowing their office to be the main two front rooms and giving them the ability to work when needed, but also allowed them to separate the Raven Agency from their personal lives.

  “Savanah went to interview some of the relatives from the Kae Gyeon case and Alexis is in her room, studying.”

  Hazel laughed, but her heart swelled with pride. Alexis would make a fine doctor someday. Hazel breezed by her sister’s room, tapped on the door, and yelled, “Dinner.”

  “Coming,” Alexis called.

  Hazel was the second oldest sibling, though she and Savanah were Irish twins being only ten months apart, but somehow Hazel ended up being the responsible one. Not that Savanah wasn’t, but she had a rebel streak that often got her in trouble.

  The same could be said about Willow, though she tended to be more reckless, fearless even.

  Where Alexis was more grounded, like Hazel.

  But all of the sisters appreciated their special gifts and it made perfect sense for them to use their psychic abilities to help others. S
o, four years ago, they formed the Raven Agency, a local private investigative firm dedicated to helping the lost be found and the broken be fixed.

  Hazel tossed the pizza box on the table in the upstairs kitchen and glared at Willow who sat on the counter, fiddling with her weapon in one hand, and a wing in the other.

  “What?” Willow asked with a smirk.

  Hazel shook her head. There was only five years between she and Willow, but sometimes Hazel wondered if her parents hadn’t lied about her age, because Hazel often felt light years older than her siblings.

  Alexis strolled into kitchen, tugging her long dark hair into a ponytail. She and Willow were both brunettes, both on the taller side, and both skinny as a rail. Hazel and Savanah were blondes, on the shorter side, and a lot more curvy, yet they all had two traits that were identical: their dark brown eyes and the desire to use their gifts for good, unlike others.

  “I hate organic chemistry,” Alexis said. “It’s going to be the death of me.”

  Willow laughed, tossing a napkin at her sister. “Try going through boot camp. Now that will kill you.” The Navy, while she only served four years, had given Willow her unnatural obsession for weaponry.

  Hazel placed a slice of pizza with extra cheese on a plate and sat down at the table. People thought the girls were weird for living together, but they couldn’t imagine not being under the same roof. As young girls, they’d been picked on and bullied for being different. At one point in their lives, they’d turned their back on their talents, trying to ignore them. But they couldn’t do that and they learned to rely on each other.

  “Anything else on the Gyeon case?” Hazel asked.

  “There’s something the family isn’t telling us, but I can’t pinpoint it,” Willow said. “And I can’t seem to get into Mr. Gyeon’s thoughts.”

  “Do you think he’s telepathic and blocking you?” Alexis asked, twirling her ponytail and nibbling on a chicken wing.

  “No, but it’s possible there is an outside force doing it. Or it could be I don’t understand Korean, since I do occasionally pick up a few things. I’ve tried looking the words up using a language translator, but it comes back all gibberish.” Willow finally set her weapon down and joined her sisters around the table. “Savanah can’t find a location on their missing son. Literally, she has nothing, which doesn’t add up.”

  Savanah’s razor sharp skills had never failed, so it struck Hazel as odd that Savanah couldn’t at least get some kind of trail on what might have happened to Kae Gyeon.

  Hazel dropped her pizza as the room spun and swirled into a kaleidoscope of images that floated through her mind.

  She heard her sisters call her name, but she was lost to them. Gripping the table, she let the pulses of broken pictures race by like a time lapse film set to hyper speed. A wave of nausea rattled in the pit of her stomach. There was a misconception that people who had premonitions saw things clearly. That assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.

  Often times, Hazel only got glimpses into potential outcomes, especially when she was trying to connect herself to a person in order to help protect them, or save them.

  Quick images of thick, dense trees…men with guns…

  “Savanah!” Hazel bolted upright, fighting the urge to regurgitate her extra cheesy pizza. She’d think twice about that order next time.

  “What is it?” Willow placed her healing hands on Hazel, sucking in the earth-shattering pain searing in her brain.

  “We need to find Savanah. She’s in danger. Grave danger.”

  Not wasting any time, the sisters ran through the house. They knew the drill. It wasn’t the first time Hazel had gotten a premonition about one of her sisters, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  But thus far, this had been the scariest.

  While Alexis raced to the main office to start making phone calls, she also ran a trace on Savanah’s phone, while Hazel and Willow made their way to the car.

  “What exactly did you see?” Willow asked as she slipped behind the steering wheel. Her skills on the road surpassed most race car drivers.

  But only because she had no fear.

  “Guns. Lots of guns and they were all aimed at Savanah.” Hazel mentally flipped through the images, trying to break them apart. There were times her premonitions were a mirage of more than one possible outcome.

  “What else?”

  “Focus on driving and let me deal with what went on inside my head.”

  “Yeah, because your mind is a dark and dangerous place,” Willow said, her dry humor coming out in spades.

  Hazel inserted her ear piece. “Anything?” she asked taping the mic.

  “I’m sending you her phone coordinates now,” Alexis said. “I’ve called three times. Straight to voice mail.”

  Not unusual for Savanah to ignore her cell if she were in the thick of a case. “Have you sent the S.O.S. code?”

  “I did,” Alexis said. “Still nothing.”

  “Stay on it.” Hazel craned her neck, doing her best to compartmentalize the images of her sister. She needed to approach this exactly like she would if it were a case.

  “What about you?” Hazel turned her attention to Willow, who had a death grip on the steering wheel as she weaved in and out of traffic. “Can you get her thoughts?”

  “Nothing. Either she’s blocking me, which we know she can, or someone else is, or…” Willow let her words trail off. “Maybe she’s getting laid.”

  Something Hazel wouldn’t put past Savanah.

  Hazel glanced at her phone and stared at the address Alexis sent.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Hazel said. “Savanah’s phone is sending signals from the mall.”

  “She hates shopping. Why would she go to the mall?” Willow asked.

  “That’s a good question.” Hazel pulled one particular image from her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to zoom in. Premonitions often intertwined themselves in the here and now, especially when they involved another psychic.

  Even more so when the people were intimately related, like sisters.

  “I have an array of colors with Savanah sitting in the middle of them and there are at least three guns aimed at her. She’s calm, almost too calm. In the background I see a boat, which is weird.”

  “What kind of boat?”

  “It’s changed three times,” Hazel admitted.

  “You’re still having visions?”

  “I wouldn’t call them visions. More like a bread trail, only the images are fading…no, more like melting.”

  “Like when mom and dad died?” Willow never minced words. Normally, that would be considered a good trait.

  “Same but different.”

  “Elaborate,” Willow said as she maneuvered the vehicle into the parking lot of the mall near the east end department store. “Because, while I can’t be sure, Savanah’s ability to project is less than stellar, and I really get the vibe that’s she’s helping to secure the block, but also there is a small window I’ve been able to project my thoughts to, though I have no idea where they went.”

  “You think she’s managed to channel you?” Hazel’s heart pulsed against her ribs. The sisters had always known they were different, but early on they did their best to squelch their abilities.

  However, as they embraced their unique talents, they worked on honing the psychic traits that were but a whisper in their psyche with the help of their parents.

  “It’s something we’ve been working on, figuring her key trait being remote and mine being telepathic that when you merge the two, you can help a captive maneuver themselves out of danger.”

  Hazel understood the concept, but also knew that her little sister needed to go through the motions of explaining it. Hazel looked at her phone, matching the coordinates to their current location. “We need to go inside.”

  She tapped her earpiece. “Guide me little sister.”

  “You’re thirty feet away,” Alexis’s voice boomed through the tiny bud in
Hazel’s ear.

  “Based on the map of the mall, her phone should be ten paces in front of the pretzel store,” Alexis said.

  “That’s fitting, considering Savanah can’t go five minutes without carbs.” Willow slammed the driver’s door shut and pulled her weapon from its holster.”

  “Put that thing away.”

  “We have no idea what we’re walking into.”

  Hazel laughed. “A freaking mall, now hide the gun.”

  Willow groaned, but thankfully did as asked. Her idea of handling any kind of conflict generally meant the use of a weapon.

  Hazel scanned the area, noting the lack of cars in the parking lot. Who wanted to shop when it was a balmy eighty degrees out and the sun shone bright in the evening sky? She held the door open for a mother and her two young children, eyeing Willow, who smiled gracefully, as if she weren’t packing at least three guns.

  The images continued to swirl, constantly changing and morphing into things that made no sense. Hours before their parents had been murdered four years ago, she’d had a similar experience. It wasn’t a vision, but more of a mirage of potential events that morphed with each change in her parent’s location until the images went from swirled, blurred colors to black. As long as the visuals remained in some shape or form, she had to believe Savanah was okay.

  Standing in front of a pretzel and hotdog store, she looked for her sister, but she was nowhere to be found. The store to the right had a picture of a lush wooded area and to the left, an outdated travel agency with images of boats in the background.

  “Over here,” Willow said, pointing to a garbage can as she lifted the lid, holding up a phone.

  Hazel blinked. She’d been too late. Her sister had been kidnapped. She moved in a three-hundred and sixty-degree circle. The world around her churned like a child who filled their fingers with paint and swirled their little hands on the canvas. Images of men in uniforms toting guns, appeared in the soiree of colors. Behind them, her sisters’ face appeared. She mouthed something, pointing at the men, and then over her shoulder, only Hazel couldn’t see through the rivers of blue, green, red…lots of red.

 

    Trouble's Wedding Caper Read onlineTrouble's Wedding CaperWhiskey Smash (It's all in the Whiskey Book 7) Read onlineWhiskey Smash (It's all in the Whiskey Book 7)Taking a Risk Read onlineTaking a RiskSaving Love Read onlineSaving LoveCove's Blind Date Blows Up (Hot Hunks Steamy Romance Collection Book 3) Read onlineCove's Blind Date Blows Up (Hot Hunks Steamy Romance Collection Book 3)Playing with Fire Read onlinePlaying with FireTee Time Read onlineTee TimeThe Return Home: The Aegis Network Read onlineThe Return Home: The Aegis NetworkPrivate Conversation Read onlinePrivate ConversationAfter the Fire Read onlineAfter the FireColor Me Yours Read onlineColor Me YoursProtecting Ainsley Read onlineProtecting AinsleyA Christmas Getaway Read onlineA Christmas GetawayThe Blind Date Read onlineThe Blind DateDark Legacy Read onlineDark LegacyRivers Edge: A Candlewood Falls Novel (The River Winery Book 1) Read onlineRivers Edge: A Candlewood Falls Novel (The River Winery Book 1)Nightshade Read onlineNightshadeRough Ride Read onlineRough RideSweet Temptation: A Club Temptation Novella (Club Temptation Collection) Read onlineSweet Temptation: A Club Temptation Novella (Club Temptation Collection)The Right Groom Read onlineThe Right GroomSummer's Gone Read onlineSummer's GoneColor Me Smart Read onlineColor Me SmartThe Lighthouse Read onlineThe LighthouseInvestigate With Me: A With Me In Seattle Universe Novel Read onlineInvestigate With Me: A With Me In Seattle Universe NovelCove's Blind Date Blows Up Read onlineCove's Blind Date Blows UpDestiny's Dream Read onlineDestiny's DreamNY State Trooper- The Complete Box Set Read onlineNY State Trooper- The Complete Box SetGeorgia Moon Read onlineGeorgia MoonThe Lost Connection Read onlineThe Lost ConnectionRough Edge Read onlineRough EdgeRemember Me Always (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 7) Read onlineRemember Me Always (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 7)The Lost Soldier Read onlineThe Lost SoldierRough Around The Edges Read onlineRough Around The EdgesTrouble's Wedding Caper: Book 8 of Cat Detective Familiar Legacy mystery series Read onlineTrouble's Wedding Caper: Book 8 of Cat Detective Familiar Legacy mystery seriesGeorgia Moon (It's All in the Whiskey Book 2) Read onlineGeorgia Moon (It's All in the Whiskey Book 2)Winter Wedding Read onlineWinter WeddingJim Beam Read onlineJim BeamProtecting Clover Read onlineProtecting CloverSassy Ever After_All That Sass Read onlineSassy Ever After_All That SassDare To Love Series: Don't Dare Me (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read onlineDare To Love Series: Don't Dare Me (Kindle Worlds Novella)Whispers Read onlineWhispersThe Lost Soldier_Phoenix Agency Read onlineThe Lost Soldier_Phoenix AgencyThe Lost Soul Read onlineThe Lost SoulBurning Lies (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 4) Read onlineBurning Lies (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 4)Sail With Me: A With Me in Seattle Universe Novel Read onlineSail With Me: A With Me in Seattle Universe NovelRemember Me Always Read onlineRemember Me AlwaysThe Return Home: The Aegis Network (the SARICH BROTHERS series Book 4) Read onlineThe Return Home: The Aegis Network (the SARICH BROTHERS series Book 4)Paranormal Dating Agency: Spring Fling (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A Twilight Crossing Novella Book 2) Read onlineParanormal Dating Agency: Spring Fling (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A Twilight Crossing Novella Book 2)Paranormal Dating Agency_The Blind Date Read onlineParanormal Dating Agency_The Blind DateBurning Kiss Read onlineBurning KissJane Doe's Return Read onlineJane Doe's ReturnWild Irish: Whiskey Wild (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Love Whiskey Style Book 1) Read onlineWild Irish: Whiskey Wild (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Love Whiskey Style Book 1)When A Stranger Calls (New York State Trooper Series Book 7) Read onlineWhen A Stranger Calls (New York State Trooper Series Book 7)Dark Water (New York State Trooper Series Book 2) Read onlineDark Water (New York State Trooper Series Book 2)The Phoenix Agency_The Lost Sister Read onlineThe Phoenix Agency_The Lost SisterBurning Skies_Special Forces_Operation Alpha Read onlineBurning Skies_Special Forces_Operation AlphaDeadly Secrets (New York State Trooper Series Book 3) Read onlineDeadly Secrets (New York State Trooper Series Book 3)Sassy Ever After: All That Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Witches and Werewolves Book 2) Read onlineSassy Ever After: All That Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Witches and Werewolves Book 2)Burning Heart (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 5) Read onlineBurning Heart (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 5)Wild Irish_Whiskey Wild Read onlineWild Irish_Whiskey WildBrotherhood Protectors: Rough Justice (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Out of the Wild Book 1) Read onlineBrotherhood Protectors: Rough Justice (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Out of the Wild Book 1)Rekindled Read onlineRekindledDallas Fire & Rescue: Igniting his Flame (Kindle Worlds Novella) (First Responders Book 2) Read onlineDallas Fire & Rescue: Igniting his Flame (Kindle Worlds Novella) (First Responders Book 2)The Butterfly Murders Read onlineThe Butterfly MurdersSpecial Forces: Operation Alpha: Burning Desire (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fire Protection Specialists Book 1) Read onlineSpecial Forces: Operation Alpha: Burning Desire (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fire Protection Specialists Book 1)Dallas Fire & Rescue_Stealing his Fire Read onlineDallas Fire & Rescue_Stealing his FireSpecial Forces_Operation Alpha_Burning Skies Read onlineSpecial Forces_Operation Alpha_Burning SkiesSassy Ever After Read onlineSassy Ever AfterBurning Lies_Special Forces_Operation Alpha Read onlineBurning Lies_Special Forces_Operation AlphaThe Omega Team_Her Last Hope Read onlineThe Omega Team_Her Last HopeSpecial Forces: Operation Alpha: Burning Skies (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fire Protection Specialists Book 3) Read onlineSpecial Forces: Operation Alpha: Burning Skies (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fire Protection Specialists Book 3)The Omega Team_The Lighthouse Read onlineThe Omega Team_The LighthouseBurning Bed Read onlineBurning BedSassy Ever After: Lady Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Witches and Werewolves Book 1) Read onlineSassy Ever After: Lady Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Witches and Werewolves Book 1)Dare To Love Series_Don't Dare Me Read onlineDare To Love Series_Don't Dare MeLove Lies Beneath Read onlineLove Lies BeneathSassy Ever After_Lady Sass Read onlineSassy Ever After_Lady SassMurder in Paradise Bay (New York State Trooper Series Book 4) Read onlineMurder in Paradise Bay (New York State Trooper Series Book 4)To Protect His Own (New York State Trooper Series Book 5) Read onlineTo Protect His Own (New York State Trooper Series Book 5)In Two Weeks (NY State Trooper Series) Read onlineIn Two Weeks (NY State Trooper Series)St. Helena Vineyard Series_Harmony's Mistake Read onlineSt. Helena Vineyard Series_Harmony's MistakeThe Phoenix Agency: The Lost Sister (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Raven Sisters Book 1) Read onlineThe Phoenix Agency: The Lost Sister (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Raven Sisters Book 1)Igniting his Flame Read onlineIgniting his FlameLove Lies Beneath_Barefoot Bay Read onlineLove Lies Beneath_Barefoot BayLady Sass_Witches and Werewolves Read onlineLady Sass_Witches and WerewolvesWhiskey Wild_Love Whiskey Style Read onlineWhiskey Wild_Love Whiskey StyleLady Sass Read onlineLady SassThe Omega Team_The Last Flight Read onlineThe Omega Team_The Last FlightSt. Helena Vineyard Series: Harmony's Mistake (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read onlineSt. Helena Vineyard Series: Harmony's Mistake (Kindle Worlds Novella)Deadly Seduction (New York State Trooper Series Book 6) Read onlineDeadly Seduction (New York State Trooper Series Book 6)