Gunning For Hire, Jo Gunning Thrillers: Book 3

Sample Chapter

CHAPTER ONE

Ellen Holmes stood near her bedroom window, staring into the darkness.

In the distance, she could see the lights of Hermosillo, Mexico, the capital of the northwestern state of Sonora. The city lights were beautiful, but she wondered what darkness and despair they hid. Hermosillo was safer than a lot of other places in Mexico, but it had its fair share of problems.

She sipped some chamomile tea and sighed. This was not where she wanted to be, where she expected to be. She should’ve been on the estate outside Nashville. It was spectacular there this time of year, the late September trees just about to turn, the air crisp and clean as a mint julep. Plenty of things to do, like the music festivals she was missing. Not like here. Sure, Hermosillo had its share of entertainment, the Assumption Cathedral and an art museum, a small mall. But once you’d visited those places, there wasn’t much else. They had sports, but not like the plethora of professional teams throughout the United States. And Ellen didn’t like sports much anyway.

The lights twinkled in the distance as she ruminated. It had been necessary to come here, for Chandler’s new business. She understood it was important, but as she’d said to him time and time again, how much money did they really need? They had plenty. They lived well. Yet Chandler wanted more. Always the next conquest, always the pursuit of power.

She’d argued against leaving, told him it would be better for her and the boys to stay in Tennessee. But Chandler had insisted they all come—life would be too lonely without them, and he couldn’t make regular trips back and forth.

Thinking of it, Ellen frowned, knowing there was more behind his reasoning than just that.

He didn’t trust her.

Ellen couldn’t blame him. He shouldn’t, although not for the reasons he might think. As she sipped more tea, the silent room felt almost deafening around her. She didn’t think he knew what she’d been doing. If he did, he’d be furious. But she couldn’t stand on the side, couldn’t let things proceed.

They’d argued about the consequences of this new business venture many times. Chandler just insisted that everything would be okay, that the Mexican government wouldn’t let anything bad happen. She snorted at the thought. Like the Mexican government would really do anything—certainly not to the cartels. And she was sure the cartels were involved, in some way. They were known to be diversifying, getting into the iron ore trade and mining.

The lights glimmered, and so did her thoughts.

Wherever the cartels were, so was the danger. If they were involved in Chandler’s business, innocent people would get hurt, just like the residents of Allende, Coahuila, who were collateral damage of a DEA operation that went wrong. She shook her head. There were so many dangers beyond the cartels as well. Not only property theft, but kidnappings and extortion. She shuddered at the thought of what could happen to their boys. And anything bad that might happen to them—just like in Allende—would get brushed under the carpet. No one would care.

A dark thought hit her. Would Chandler even care?

More brooding as she nursed the tea. He’d said everything would be okay, that they would be safe. So why did he want them to spend so much time at the rented compound in Hermosillo, to not go out except under guarded supervision? Her arguing had been futile. And here she was, in this beautiful home on the outskirts of the city. She had several bedrooms and bathrooms at her disposal—not that they had visitors—plus a huge family room that looked onto a spacious back yard with a swimming pool and garden. There was even a game room for the boys. As in Tennessee, they had a cook, a housekeeper, and a nanny here. Ellen only had to snap her fingers to get anything she wanted. But she felt like a prisoner.

She tapped a finger on her mug. The supervision had made it hard to set up tomorrow’s meeting, but she’d managed to arrange it. She’d be driven to a doctor’s appointment, and a bodyguard would accompany her into the building, but the driver and bodyguard wouldn’t go inside the examination room. That would be embarrassing—not only for her, but for them too. Some lines you didn’t cross.

And that would give her an opportunity. That was where she would meet her contact, where she would put the wheels of her plan in motion. It hadn’t cost that much to bribe the doctor, to buy his cooperation and his silence.

A small smile crept across her face. Chandler was too busy to pay much attention to a routine appointment. She was sure he didn’t know anything yet, and she would explain things to him when it became necessary. He wouldn’t be happy with her, but he would get over it. Ellen could get him to understand. This wasn’t just for her, it was for their boys, for all the innocent people caught up in something they never asked for, something that they had no knowledge of.

Ellen closed her eyes and tried to picture Tennessee. Better times. Then she finished the tea, still looking off into the distance. The house stayed quiet, the boys in bed. Chandler was out at a meeting. She didn’t know who he was meeting with, but she knew what it was about—this business, that would bring them so much money, and so many problems. Not for much longer, though.

She lingered at the window, her tea almost gone. Then she felt something in her stomach, a tightening that was more than nerves. She set the cup on a small table and put a hand across her waist, willing the sudden pain to go away. A wave of nausea hit her, and she stumbled, almost knocking over the table. Ellen ran into the bathroom without even turning the light on. She threw up the tea and hovered over the toilet. Another spasm, and she retched again. Her body shook as she knelt. After drawing in a few deep breaths, she finally staggered back into the bedroom. Dizziness washed over her, and she lay down on the bed. Another stabbing pain knifed through her, and she groaned.

What was happening?

She couldn’t be sick now, not with the meeting tomorrow. Closing her eyes, all she could do was cry in silence, hoping the pain would go away.

I couldn't put down this book. Jo Gunning is a great character. A compassionate, caring woman who can fight like a man, has been seasoned by military combat and is not afraid to dispatch an enemy with a gun, knife, or in physical conflict. ~Reader review