Fallon’s Flaw E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Fallon returns to Africa and Bullard's home base to follow the only active lead they have in their hunt for their plane saboteur. Once home, Fallon finds Dave, Bullard's right-hand man, heading out to check on a lead for Bullard, and Dave's niece, Linny, is home for a visit. Fallon and Linny have shared both good and bad moments, as the two of them dance around a long-term attraction—which Fallon refuses to pursue, not wanting his relationship with Bullard and the crew at the compound to change.

Linny plans to confront Fallon but instead finds an old beau dropped dead on the front steps of the compound, considered her second home. Uncle Dave is everything to her, and Bullard sent her to medical school, yet it's Fallon she keeps coming back to see.

As her world implodes, the same issues facing Fallon take a turn for the worse, ... putting them all in danger.

Leseprobe

Fallon’s Flaw

Bullard’s BattleBook #6

Dale Mayer

Books in This Series:

Ryland’s Reach, Book 1

Cain’s Cross, Book 2

Eton’s Escape, Book 3

Garret’s Gambit, Book 4

Kano’s Keep, Book 5

Fallon’s Flaw, Book 6

Quinn’s Quest, Book 7

Bullard’s Beauty, Book 8

Bullard’s Best, Book 9

Bullard’s Battle, Books 1–2

Bullard’s Battle, Books 3–4

Bullard’s Battle, Books 5–6

Bullard’s Battle, Books 7–8

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Epilogue

About Quinn’s Quest

Excerpt from Damon’s Deal

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

Welcome to a new stand-alone but interconnected series from Dale Mayer. This is Bullard’s story—and that of his team’s. All raw, rough, incredibly capable men who have one goal: to find out who was behind the attack on their leader, before the attacker, or attackers, return to finish the job.

Stay tuned for more nonstop action as the men narrow down their suspects … and find a way to let love back into their own empty lives.

Fallon returns to Africa and Bullard’s home base to follow the only active lead they have in their hunt for their plane saboteur. Once home, Fallon finds Dave, Bullard’s right-hand man, heading out to check on a lead for Bullard, and Dave’s niece, Linny, is home for a visit. Fallon and Linny have shared both good and bad moments, as the two of them dance around a long-term attraction—which Fallon refuses to pursue, not wanting his relationship with Bullard and the crew at the compound to change.

Linny plans to confront Fallon but instead finds an old beau dropped dead on the front steps of the compound, considered her second home. Uncle Dave is everything to her, and Bullard sent her to medical school, yet it’s Fallon she keeps coming back to see.

As her world implodes, the same issues facing Fallon take a turn for the worse, … putting them all in danger.

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Chapter 1

Fallon Carter walked into the main hall of Bullard’s big compound, the original one in Africa, dropped his bag, placed his hands on his hips, and looked around. He smiled and murmured, “Home,” to the empty room. But even that sounded and felt strange. A hollowness permeated the room, the space around him. He frowned, not sure whether it was because it lacked Bullard or because something had changed while he was away. Africa had been home to Fallon for a long time, but this was the first time it felt wrong.

“Dave, are you here?” he called out, then walked into the kitchen. There he found Dave, with a checklist and several bags at his feet.

Dave looked up in surprise. “You’re earlier than I thought you’d be,” he said.

“Seems like I’m just in time. What’s going on here?” he asked, as he motioned at the bags. “I made good time coming in from the airport. Where are you going?” He spied the full coffeepot, headed around the large island counter, and poured himself a cup. Coming back around, he saw an odd look on Dave’s face. “Talk to me,” he said, his voice sharp. “Do you have news on Bullard?”

“No,” he said slowly. “We do have word that somebody may have been picked up out of the water—”

“But no confirmation that it’s Bullard, right? I imagine, out in that area, an awful lot of drownings and potential drownings are to be found, particularly with the refugee issue.”

“And that’s why we don’t have any real confirmation,” he said. “But my underground network says that a couple men were picked up over the last few months.”

“And?”

“And I’ll go check to make sure,” he said. “I’ll probably be gone a few days.”

“It’ll probably take you that long just to find out where these men are,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s good news that there’s anything to check out. Do you want me to come?”

“No,” Dave said. “I hate to even leave here, but, if one of those men is Bullard, we need to know.”

“Hell yes,” Fallon said forcefully. “I just don’t like the idea of you going alone.”

He chuckled. “And I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone.”

At that, Fallon looked around and asked, “Am I alone?”

“Not quite,” said a woman from the doorway.

Fallon turned to see Lindsey, Dave’s niece, her arms crossed over her chest, as she leaned against the doorjamb. Fallon stared at her in surprise. “What, school’s out?”

“School’s been out for a while,” she said, with a quirk of her lips. “I go back in September.”

“So you’ve got some time off, is that it?” He looked at Dave. “Is it safe to leave her here alone?”

Dave’s lips quirked. “Well, I was kind of hoping that she could help look after you and that you could help look after her.”

“I can’t babysit,” Fallon said. “Quinn’s on his way to meet me.”

“It’s not a case of babysitting,” Dave protested.

“Save your breath, Dave,” Lindsey said. “You know perfectly well that Fallon sees me as a little girl.”

“You’re well past the little-girl stage. You’re a doctor, for Christ’s sake,” Dave muttered under his breath.

“It won’t matter to Fallon, who thinks education isn’t of any value if it doesn’t come hand in hand with experience,” she said.

“I never said that,” Fallon said, rolling his eyes.

“Well”—she sighed—“that’s all it’s ever been for you anyway.”

He sighed, looked at Dave, and asked, “How long will you be gone again?”

Dave chuckled. “It won’t be that big of a deal,” he said. “The two of you will get along just fine.”

Just then the front door opened, and footsteps could be heard coming down the long hallway. Fallon smiled. “That’ll be Quinn.” He felt the relief washing through him, knowing he wouldn’t be alone with Lindsey now. He’d always called her Linny Brat. But, in truth, she was Dave’s niece, now about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. And too damn attractive for her own good.

Just enough heat existed between the two of them that Fallon had deliberately held back on his feelings because he didn’t want to screw things up here for himself. He’d met way too many people who had changed their own pathways because of relationships, and, if Lindsey was intent on being a practicing doctor, the last thing Fallon wanted to do was change that. He had seen the dedication and the purpose in her over the years, but they’d only crossed paths at the compound off and on for a week or two, occasionally three weeks at a time. Then he was off again, gone on missions, and she was here. The frustration and irritation between them confirmed that he should continue to keep his distance, if he didn’t want to change the status quo completely.

“Hello,” Quinn called out, walking into the kitchen, where he heard the voices. As soon as he saw Linny, he opened his arms, and she ran into them, the two of them chuckling with joy at seeing each other.

Fallon often wondered why she didn’t have that same relationship with him. From the look on Dave’s face, as Dave studied Fallon’s own expression, Fallon realized that Dave knew more than he was letting on. Fallon glared at his old friend. “If you’re not gone for too long,” he said easily, “it won’t make much difference if we get along or not.”

“I hope it won’t take me long,” he said, “but I need to know enough to confirm whether anything’s out there on Bullard or not. If there’s any chance …”

“We need to know, for all of us,” Fallon said.

Quinn turned and asked, “What am I missing?”

“There’s been word of a few men picked up out of the ocean,” Dave said.

“Bullard?” Quinn asked, his voice excited, yet sharp with fear.

“Nobody knows, and none of the pictures are clear enough to identify him.” Dave sighed. “A couple could possibly be him, but, at the same time, it depends on how long he’s been out there.”

“It’s been a long time,” Quinn said. “He shouldn’t still be in the ocean.”

“Exactly, but I can’t not go,” Dave said.

Immediately Quinn nodded. “Absolutely. We’ll be here and keep everything running while you’re gone. We’ll also look after little Linny here for you.”

“Well, little Linny here,” Lindsey said, with a half laugh, “is just fine and was planning on looking after you guys.”

“We’re both old hands in the kitchen,” Quinn said easily. “But, if you’ve got some of your uncle’s special treats, you know that we’ll be up for that.”

“Is it always about sweets?”

“Always,” he confirmed immediately.

She smiled, looked at Uncle Dave, and said, “See? I told you that I’d be fine.”

He nodded and shot a sideways glance at Fallon. “In that case,” he said, “with you guys here early, I can get to the airport sooner myself. I wouldn’t mind having a little bit of a breather, just in case.”

“Do you want a ride?” Fallon asked.

“No,” he said. “I’m just taking a car and leaving it at the airport.”

“Good enough,” he said.

With that, Lindsey gave her uncle a quick hug, while Fallon watched.

Fallon said, “Seems like one of us is always walking out the door.”

“We are,” Dave said. “And it’s been quite a bit worse lately. Check in on the big console to see where everybody is. I’ve left detailed notes. Plus, the guys in Australia have a good idea of who is where and what’s been happening.”

“Is there anything we need to know?”

“Linny already knows. She’s been acting as my command central assistant for the most part,” he said, glancing at his watch. “It’s later than I thought,” he said worriedly, as he snatched his bags and raced to the front door.

“I can drive you,” Quinn said. “I’ll get you there faster.” Dave stopped, looked at him, and frowned. Quinn took over the decision-making and said, “Come on. I’ll be back home again in a couple hours. It’ll take Fallon that long to get settled in anyway.”

“Hardly,” he said. “You know us. We hit the ground running.” But he was talking to empty air because Quinn was already racing out the front door to get Dave to the airport. Sipping his coffee, Fallon sat here for a few moments, studying the empty doorway. He turned and looked at Lindsey. “Anybody else around?”

“Nope, nobody at all,” she said.

“Any danger of attack here? Anything strange since Bullard’s disappearance?”

She turned, stared at him for a long moment, and said, “No, nothing.”

“That’s almost more disconcerting,” he said.

“It is?” she asked. “I don’t deal as intimately with the workings of the company as you do, but I know Uncle Dave’s been worried.”

“With good reason,” he muttered. “We don’t know whether somebody is trying to take over the company to put it out of business or to implement some other nefarious scheme they’ve dreamed up in their head, or whatever.”

“But somebody has to know something. I can’t believe you guys haven’t found any answers yet.”

He immediately took offense. “It’s not like we’ve had a whole lot of time.”

“You’ve had weeks,” she pointed out.

He glared at her. “Thanks for reminding me.” He picked up his coffee cup, topped it off, then headed toward their big command center. She followed him. He didn’t really mind that, yet, at the same time, her comment had hit a sore spot. He asked her, “Was everything really connected to that last asshole out of France?”

“If it is, it makes no sense. So far, all we’re doing is finding various heads of the legendary Greek Hydra, but we haven’t found out who’s behind it all.”

“So, in other words, somebody has laid a pretty good trail, leading off in a lot of different directions.”

“But,” she quipped, “it’s closer, another rung up the ladder, so it shouldn’t be too hard for you guys to find him.”

“Well, you’d think so,” he said. “The question is, what’s behind it though? Because we don’t have a tangible target. We thought we did with Kingdom Securities—and had some ideas before that—and maybe it still is partly from that corner, but we don’t know enough yet.”

“I presume you’ve tracked bank accounts and things like that,” she asked.

“I’ll check in with the Australian team to see where they’re at with it,” he said. “But, from what I understand, that’s what they’re working on. Among other things.”

“Right,” she muttered. She stared at the map that showed all their team members all over the place. “I don’t even know how Uncle Dave keeps track of all this.”

“Very carefully,” he said, with a half smile. “He knows every one of us really well, and I’m sure he’d like to keep us close.”

“With good reason,” she said admittedly. “But, with Bullard missing, that’s hit him the hardest.”

“Bullard’s loss has hit all of us,” he said. “I’m trying hard not to be a pessimist about it, but it’s not easy.”

“Well, that was always one of your flaws, wasn’t it?”

“One of?” he asked in a sardonic tone.

“Well, you’re often pessimistic about things.”

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” he said, protesting.

“I would,” she said, with a shrug.

“Huh,” he said, not knowing how else to respond.

She smiled and changed the subject. “Dinner is already in the oven. I put it in, knowing you guys were coming in after a lot of traveling. I’ll go throw in a pie or something to go with it.”

He looked at her, surprised. “Is dinner that easy for you?”

She nodded. “Keeping track of all these guys isn’t.”

He looked back at the console and nodded. “Yeah, it can be difficult at times.”

“Putting a pie in the oven is easy,” she said, then walked away, leaving him alone. He watched as she disappeared, wondering at this woman, who seemed capable of handling so many different aspects of life. She hadn’t had it easy. Her parents had been murdered by a terrorist on the streets in a car bombing. Dave had immediately swooped in, picked her up, and brought her here. Everybody had immediately coddled her. She’d been what? Fifteen or sixteen? Too old for all the coddling but too young to be on her own.

She’d been very driven by the world that they lived in, not wanting to be touched by it, yet unable to stay away from it. She’d always kept herself at a distance, watching as they operated, realizing that what they did was valuable, yet still she was frustrated because nobody had been there in time to save her parents. Fallon could never change that, since they hadn’t even known about it until it happened. They later discovered that her father had been targeted, and Bullard’s teams had carefully made sure that the culprit was taken care of.

That had helped Lindsey to heal and to see what they did as having as much value as anything else in the world. Then she had turned to medicine, and they’d all been grateful because it gave her an outlet like nothing else. She’d been laser focused on it, an interest that just never quit.

Fallon had worked for Bullard for a long time now. He didn’t remember exactly when he’d come on board, but it was before Linny lost her parents. So quite a long time ago. He’d been back and forth, come and gone. He hadn’t been here at the immediate start of Bullard’s security business, but Fallon had come on board soon afterward. He found himself wondering just how long ago it had been but didn’t want to bring up some of the pain she’d been through by asking her.

The loss of Bullard right now affected them all, bringing up memories that they didn’t want. Fallon had to continue to wait until they found a lead, and then he would be up and gone himself. Now he wanted that because he could actually do something. Maybe they needed to bring in some more of the team; yet he didn’t want to leave Linny here alone. Fallon would argue that nobody would head out in these scenarios without backup. But there was no backup for Linny.

Pondering that, he sent Dave a text. What if we have to leave?

Dave immediately answered, Leave her behind.

Easy to say, he wrote. But not without backup. We need to bring some of the team back from Australia.

No, they’re the ones who gave me the leads on these men, he typed. We can’t afford to do that.

We can’t have her in danger.

Are you expecting an attack?

I’m not expecting an attack, but I can’tnotexpect to be attacked either, he clarified. Anywhere within my circle could put her in trouble.

Dave sent back, Maybe I shouldn’t have left.

No, he typed. You are one who can find him. Dave had the mannerisms of somebody who was much less aggressive. He could be infinitely more dangerous than people expected, since he was as well-trained as the rest of them. Fallon had an awful lot of history that was pretty hard to walk away from, but he also understood that no way he wanted to leave Lindsey alone. I’ll find a way around it, Fallon typed.

I can’t have her hurt, Dave wrote.

No, he typed, neither can I. At that, Dave sent him a little heart emoji. Fallon stared at it and frowned. Still he wished Dave well. If anybody could ferret out where Bullard might be hiding, it would be Dave.

*

Baking was something she could do blindfolded. Lindsey hated to admit just how much seeing Fallon again affected her. They’d had this truce, where she allowed him to look at her as a little kid and to bug her the same way, but she was damn tired of it. She’d lost her virginity a hell of a long time ago and had spent time with somebody who she thought had been important, only to realize afterward that he had been a blip on the radar, when her focus had come back to that damn Fallon—the one guy she couldn’t stop thinking about.

She was hug-friendly with everybody else here, but, with Fallon, they kept a wary distance. She figured it was because, one day, they would go up in flames together. She couldn’t wait for that day, but he seemed determined to keep her at arm’s length.

She had talked to her uncle about it a couple times, and he’d explained how Fallon struggled with some things—one being breaking up a family unit by having a relationship with somebody close to the family. She didn’t quite understand that but figured that it went along with stepbrothers not wanting to have relationships with stepsisters or not having a relationship with your best friend because you were afraid of losing that initial friendship. And she understood that, but, at the same time, they were adults, and, if this was something they both wanted, they should certainly go for it.

But then the woman inside her was desperate to have this relationship. She felt like she’d been waiting and waiting since forever. She kept coming back here after her semesters, if she wasn’t doing various trainings, though it seemed like her entire world was training.

She needed to take as many breaks as she could because her medical school schedule was deadly. But she was struggling with that as would anybody. She could only do what she could do, but it was hard sometimes. Still, seeing Fallon here was one thing, but realizing that he didn’t want her here was another.

She understood that the company was in turmoil, with Bullard missing and presumably dead, not to mention the assaults against other team members. They were trying to keep a lid on the news globally, as far as she understood from her uncle. It was easy to see that tension in the air when she came home this time. Her uncle was visibly rattled, and, though he was holding it together, when he gave himself a moment to unwind, the grief he felt was evident.

It was too early for everybody to determine that Bullard was gone, gone, but she understood that their business tended to make the disappearances seriously hard to accept. The fact that two men had survived the plane crash was enough to keep hope alive, though, in this case, she wasn’t sure hope was something they should keep alive.

How many more trips like this would her uncle make? Always looking for that one threadbare line of hope that he could tug to see if, by any chance, he found Bullard there. She then realized that Uncle Dave was nowhere near ready to walk away. She understood that, she really did, but it was just so damn hard to see anyone suffer; and they were all suffering here.

This had been one of the things that had always amazed her about this “family” because they were all so damn close. She had only ever seen one other like it, and that was at Levi and Ice’s compound. Linny had gone there once, or maybe twice, though she had to think about that. She had seen them here several times. She’d been doing a practicum in Houston and had stopped in for a few days. She’d thoroughly enjoyed that visit, meeting friends again, old and new.

She knew that they were working as hard as anyone to find Bullard too. Theirs was a weird relationship, which she didn’t quite understand—between Bullard, Levi, and Ice. Uncle Dave had just smiled and said that love took many forms. She wasn’t sure whether that was a cop-out or Bullard really had been in love with Ice. Yet she absolutely adored Levi, so it was kind of hard to see how that would all work. But Linny felt sorry for Bullard, if that were the case.

Sometimes though, one had to force the hand of what was going on in their world in order to make progress happen. While she was busy rolling out pie dough, feeling eyes on her, she looked up to find Fallon leaning against the doorframe. “Well, did you solve the problems of the world?” she asked, as she turned her attention to a bag of apples.

He watched as she peeled and sliced them. “That looks really good.”

“Yes,” she said in a dry tone. “Amazing, isn’t it? I can actually bake.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You’ve always pulled off wicked desserts.”

“I’m not just another housewife in the making,” she said in a dry tone.

“No, according to Dave, you are one hell of a surgeon.”

“Well, I will be,” she said, “but I’ve got a lot of surgeries to get through first.”

“And I thought you were about to become a doctor.”

“No, that was two years ago,” she said cheerfully. “I am a doctor already. Now I am trying to get my surgical practicum completed as well.”

“What kind of surgery?”

“Not sure yet,” she said. “An awful lot of choices are out there. But I’ll probably specialize in general surgery.”

He nodded. “Interesting choice.”

“Well, it’s not as if I haven’t seen my fair share of gunshot wounds,” she quipped.

“And we appreciate your service,” he said more formally.

She studied him quietly. “You do know that there’s not a very good chance of Bullard surviving, right?”

“Sure. We all know that,” he said, his tone easy and relaxed. “But we also know him, and we’re holding out hope.”

“That’s the problem with hope,” she said. “It keeps things alive, well past the point that they probably should be.”

“I think it’ll take a lot longer than a few weeks for us to walk away from this.”

“Got it,” she said. “I just feel bad for my uncle.”

“He’s pretty affected by it, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I’d forgotten how close they were.”

“Well, Bullard pulled your uncle out of a really bad patch way back when,” he said. “So it makes sense.”

“Maybe,” she said, “but death is death, and grief and loss are hard on us all.”

“I think it’s harder on civilians because they feel helpless to do anything, not having been trained, like us,” he said. “I would love to see Bullard step through those doors, as hale and hearty has ever,” he said. “But it’s hard to imagine at this point.”

“Exactly,” she said. “I see death on a daily basis, and that’s pretty damn hard to deal with too.”

“And yet you chose it. How come?”

She appreciated the questioning tone in his voice; it wasn’t a complete judgment call. It seemed like he was trying to understand.

“I did choose it,” she said, “because, so many times, we pull people back from the brink of death or improve the quality of their lives. I feel like I’m doing something constructive to help the world out there, and I don’t want to stop.”

“Do you ever think you’ll get tired of it?”

“I’m sure I will,” she said. “But hopefully there’ll be another case, where I feel like I can make a difference.”

“And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?” he said, with a quirk of his lips.

She looked up in surprise, as she tossed sugar and cornstarch and cinnamon over her apples. “What do you mean?”

“It’s all about making a difference in the world,” he murmured.

“Isn’t that why you do what you do?” she asked.

“It is, I suppose,” he said. “I just don’t usually put it in those terms.”

“Maybe you should,” she said, with a smile.

“Maybe, but again it’s not necessarily something I think about.”

“It would have put you on this pathway a long time ago,” she said.

“The question is, what difference would it have made at that point?”

Chapter 2

Fallon had long since left to go do whatever it was that he did, and Linny sat, hovering over a pie, wondering at how different her world was every time she came here. Suddenly a security alarm sounded, and she spun around and stared.

Fallon called to her, “Don’t open the door.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she murmured, as she stared at the front door.

“Come into the back, please.”

“What is it?”

“One of the outside alarms has been triggered.”

“It happened a few days ago too,” she muttered.

He gave her a hard look.

“I didn’t know what it was,” she said. “They told me it wasn’t anything important.”

“I wonder if they would agree with that now,” he murmured. Just then his phone rang. “Quinn, where are you?” he asked.

“I’m about ten minutes out,” he said. “Just before I left Dave, he told me something had been going on with the alarm system.”

“Like what? Because it’s just gone off,” he said. “Any idea what it is?”

“No,” he responded. “He just said that it’s been going off at odd hours.”

“A short in the line?”

“Or somebody testing it.”

“Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that,” Fallon said.

“No, I don’t either. I’m booking it now, so about seven minutes out.”

“Okay, I’ll go check it out,” he said.

“Or you could wait until I get in,” he said.

“That’s the problem with just the two of us here,” he stated. “I need to go check this out now, but I don’t want to leave Lindsey alone.” He heard her, as she gasped. He turned and glared at her.

“Well, the cameras should be up and running, and he’s also got a new system,” Quinn said.

“I was just trying to figure that out, when the alarm went off. It seems like we have two cameras outside, and one more at the north end of the driveway. That’s new.”

“Right. Have you checked them to see what’s going on?”

“I’m trying to bring them online, but they’re not coming up.”

“Well, give me five more minutes to get there, and we’ll do a full check.”

“I also need to check what the armory is looking like now. I think Dave’s struggling, keeping up with everything.”

“I’m sure he has,” Quinn said. “Almost there.” And he hung up.

She looked at him and said, “You’re not blaming my uncle for this.”

“I’m not blaming your uncle for anything. Maintaining a place like this is a ton of work in the best of times,” he said. “So I can’t really say who, what, when, or anything else about what’s going on, but, if we have an intruder, I want to make sure he doesn’t get in through the normal methods.”

“You want him to get in another way?” she asked curiously.