JARED: The Justice Brothers Series Read online

  JARED

  Book 1: The Justice Brothers Series

  By

  Taylor Lee

  “Jared, Book 1 kicks off USA Today best-selling author Taylor Lee’s provocative new series, The Justice Brothers.

  On her first mission, Officer Hailey Michels confronts the leader of a dangerous Cartel.

  Her chance to become a hero evaporates when the powerful Cartel member turns out to be an undercover agent.

  It was bad enough to blow his cover but when she discovers who he really is, Hailey’s budding career, along with her heart, takes a decided nose dive.

  The rookie cop learns the hard way that when tangling with the Justice Brothers, Justice—like Love—isn’t always fair or easy.

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  Prologue

  Hailey Michels snagged a gasping breath, praying the sharp intake wasn’t audible. It was bad enough that her heart was a staccato drumstick beating against a tightly strung snare drum. Surely he could hear it; but the tall shadowy figure standing less than twenty yards in front of her didn’t look her way. She could only hope the misty hangover from the pelting rain that had drenched her and the woods around them gave her cover. Hailey cautiously leaned back against the towering Norway pine. Grateful for the huge trunk that was nearly as wide as she was, Hailey dug her boot heels into the wet ground, praying for purchase on the slippery leaf-strewn path.

  It took her a full second that felt like a lifetime to come to grips with the fact that the man less than half a basketball court length away was one of the bangers they were chasing. Hailey knew that if she had the sense of a mindless mosquito facing a can of Raid she would be terrified—but her racing heart, spitless dry mouth, and blood rushing in her ears spoke to exhilaration not fear. Not even the badass tats decorating what she could see of the gangbanger’s corded neck above the collar of his leather jacket sounded a warning bell. Heck no. Her excitement flared realizing that she, Officer H. C. Michels, a rookie cop on her first honest-to-God mission, had a chance to bring down a member of the feared Dragon’s Curse gang. Inching her hand behind herself, Hailey reached for the 9mm Glock tucked in her back holster. Cautiously drawing the weapon, she silently racked the slide, grasped the leather grip with both hands, and pointed it at the hardened criminal in front of her.

  Steadying her grip on the lethal weapon, Hailey promised herself that if necessary she absolutely would shoot to kill. A tiny shiver of doubt tricked up her spine but she immediately squashed it. Admittedly, she’d never killed a man. To be completely honest, she’d never shot a gun outside of the CQ tactical gun range. But by God, she’d put her ballistic scores up against the best recruits in her academy class. Okay, so she wasn’t at a Friday night GSSF Match at the local range, and the man in front of her wasn’t a paper target silhouette. No, to the contrary. The tats on his neck and fierce dragon insignia decorating the back of his jacket confirmed his membership in the Dragon’s Curse gang, an offshoot of the Balkan Organized Crime network.

  From a crash course on Cartels for new police officers, Hailey knew that the BOC was one of the world’s most vicious Cartels, trafficking in cocaine, heroin and MDMA. They gave the South American Cartels a run for their money in sheer violence and fervent devotion to spreading their vile empire worldwide. The Croatian-based syndicate had invaded the unsuspecting upper Midwest in the guise of the Dragon’s Curse. In addition to their poisonous products courtesy of the BOC, the fierce motorcycle gang had aligned with the Aryan Brotherhood, America’s largest prison-based white supremacist alliance. The combination of the finest shit the DEA had seen to date and a fanatical adherence to the principles of “white-might” hate made the rag tag crotch rocketeers the most dangerous gang ever to set up shop in the normally placid Northern Lake Country. Sucking in another surreptitious breath and with a clamoring heart, Hailey acknowledged that a member of the vicious gang was standing mere yards away from her.

  Hailey had been thrilled when Lieutenant Justice included her in the raid. Not believing her luck, she’d quickly agreed when he admonished her that she was back-up only and was to stick to Sergeant “Solly” Solberg like ‘ugly on an orangutan.’ Shaking with excitement, Hailey had huddled by the big Swede with the ruddy cheeks and ample gut who’d always treated her respectfully. Hailey didn’t kid herself; she knew that behind her back Solly likely joined in the chauvinistic trash talk that the guys usually managed to squash when she entered the room. But Hailey wasn’t deaf or blind. More than once, hearing the smothered chortling, she’d whirled in time to see one of her randier teammates mimicking wanking himself off at the sight of her backside.

  Hailey’s sisters in blue warned her when she arrived that the old prejudices against women recruits were alive and well. Even in the supposedly enlightened, politically correct Duluth PD, it was assumed that an attractive women got to where she was by spending a good bit of time on her back—or her knees. Over beer and harder booze, her sarcastic female colleagues scoffed at her surprise, asking what the hell she’d expected. As Mitsi, the longest serving and most outspoken of the female detectives had snorted, “Look, Goldilocks, given your blonde hair and showgirl gams, you may as well accept the fact that that righteous rack of yours is the ‘go to’ jerk off trigger for every one-pump-chump in the locker room.” According to Hailey’s cynical friends, the only redeeming factor in this particular police department was that Commander Justice came down hard on the adolescent-testosteroned perpetrators and more than once had relegated a particularly outrageous chauvinist to an enervating stint on traffic duty.

  Focusing on the sinister man in front of her and acutely aware of her solitary vulnerability, Hailey wondered how she could have lost her squad. One minute she was joined at the hip with Solly, a mountain of a man, the next she was struggling to find the team. It was clearly her fault. Admittedly she was a city girl, unaccustomed to traipsing around a dense forest on a moonless night. When the storm hit and the skies opened up pouring sheets of icy rain on their squad, Hailey lost her bearings. Huddling under an outcropping of brush, she’d frantically scanned for a sight of her team, trying to determine how she’d lost them. In fairness, she comforted herself, it wasn’t hard to do. The sleeting rain, thick branches, and virtually identical trees along the myriad paths in the thick woods distorted her sense of direction. She had been about to give up and simply try to find a hiding place when the rain abruptly stopped. It was as though a giant hand had reached up into the sky and shut off a gushing fire hydrant. Miraculously, at the same moment a break in the overhanging cloud cover allowed a stream of moonlight to pierce the bleak night. Not daring to believe her luck, Hailey was about to go find her squad—or die trying—when she saw him.

  Marshalling her courage, Hailey took a deep breath and raised her Glock in outstretched hands. To help steady her shaky knees she gingerly pressed back against the sturdy pine; but when she did, the root securing her foot gave way. Before she could brace herself her leg shot forward across the slippery ground. Careening down an embankment she hadn’t known was there, only her frantically flailing arms and smashing against a broken tree stump kept her from landing flat on her face. Her cheek hit the ground at the same time that she painfully wrenched her ankle. Unable to stifle the cry that fled her lips, Hailey managed to hold on to her Glock.

  The stabbing agony shooting up her ankle signaled a likely sprain, maybe even a break. The pain vanished into the dark night when she sa
w the yawningly empty space in front of her where seconds before the gangbanger had stood. The hard steel muzzle against the base of her skull underscored the obvious. In case she’d missed it, his deep voice expelled a warning she didn’t need to hear to know that she was doomed. His guttural threat said it all.

  “Move an inch, asshole, and it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.”

  Hailey froze, then cried out in surprise when he hit her wrist with a sharp knifehand strike, sending her Glock skittering across the ground and well out of her reach.

  At the pained shriek, the assailant grabbed the DPD cap off Hailey’s head, jerking her long blonde ponytail free. Kneeling over her back, his strong thighs straddling her hips, his surprised grunt and muttered expletive, “What the Fuck” confirmed that he saw that she was a woman. Certain that he would rape her then kill her, Hailey desperately fought back. With a frantic cry she arched up her hips trying to buck him off. Her attack caught him by surprise and she managed to free herself enough to scoot forward; but he caught her boot and yanked her back across the rough ground. Stretching his full length on top of her, he pressed the muzzle of his pistol harder against her neck. His raspy voice was layered with menace.

  “Goddamn it, I told you not to move.”

  Knowing that she had nothing to lose, Hailey fought to jerk free but she was pinned so tightly between the hard ground and an even harder man that moving wasn’t an option. In fact, she could barely breathe.

  Still pressing the steel muzzle against the base of Hailey’s skull, he grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head back with his free hand. Pressing his lips against her cheek, he growled, “Jesus Christ, woman. Do you have any idea what one false move on your part could do? Christ, this extended Sig of mine would blow your head clear across the fucking lake and they’d never find enough pieces to identify you. Hell, there wouldn’t be enough left to attract the goddamned minnows, much less a decent sized walleye.”

  Driving her harder against the damp ground, he added, a note of incredulity striping his harsh tones, “Which brings me to the bigger question of this fiasco. What the hell is a Barbie Doll doing playing Big Bad Policeman all by herfuckingself in the deep, dark National Forest in the middle of the night? Didn’t anyone ever tell you, Sweetheart, that Ken, not Barbie, gets to play the badass cop?”

  Hailey violently shook her head, determined to free herself from his fierce grip. Righteous anger at his chauvinistic taunts spurred her on. Thrashing from side to side, she didn’t care how inane her angry order sounded.

  “Damn you! This is…unacceptable! I demand that you let me up! Now!”

  Obviously not impressed with her impassioned command, the big man snorted.

  “Not fucking likely, Sweetheart.” Tightening his grip even further, he added, his voice dropping dangerously low, “And for the last time, Sugar, don’t move.”

  When Hailey ignored his order and raised her hips, trying valiantly to free herself, to her surprise he laughed. If she didn’t know better she would’ve thought that he was actually amused. The rasp of his beard brushing against the sensitive curve of her neck, and a deep insinuating chuckle confirmed it was unlikely that she would share his amusement. His hard thighs pressed against her bottom, she was startled at the flagrantly sexual intimation in his voice.

  “On second thought, Sugar, maybe you should move. Especially if you keep moving like that!”

  He ran his tongue across her ear, and then bit down on the tender lobe, sending a shockwave of sensation streaking across her thighs. Stunned at his audacious action, and even more so at her untoward response, Hailey gasped when he traced his hand over her butt and wrapped his huge hand around her thigh. Running his fingers along the inside of her upper thigh, he let the searching digits lie suggestively close to the apex between her legs.

  At her shocked shriek and fierce attempt to break free, he chuckled mockingly.

  “Hmm. Hell yeah, Honey, keep it up. You can move that hot little ass of yours all you want. Any way that makes you feel as good as it’s making me feel.” He added with a derisive chuckle, “I have to admit, Sugar, it’s been a while since I’ve had a receptive woman squirming on the ground beneath me.”

  Shocked that he had felt her reaction to his overtly sexual overture, Hailey tried again to break free. But he merely used her raised hips to draw her closer to his strong body. To her horror she felt his arousal pressing against her upraised bottom. As if that wasn’t enough, he grasped her thigh several critical inches higher, his strong fingers probing the tightly stretched crotch of her regulation trousers. Hailey prayed that he didn’t hear the soft moan that escaped unbidden from her lips—but his throaty chuckle confirmed that she’d prayed in vain. To her dismay, he slid his hand across her belly then reached up and dragged his roving fingers across her breasts. Halting at the full curves, he whistled appreciatively.

  “Daaamn, don’t tell me that the little fighter not only has a great ass, but has tits that would make any Barbie Doll blush.”

  He laughed aloud at her outraged shriek, but before Hailey could try to deal with the challenging mix of rage and unwanted arousal sweeping over her, a deep voice shattered their clearly erotic grappling.

  “Is it asking too much, Agent, to request that you get the hell off my rookie cop?”

  Too shocked to do more than gape at the imposing man standing in the shadows at the side of the clearing, Hailey was stunned to see her boss, Lieutenant Jake Justice. His mouth was set in a stern line that competed with the obvious amusement lighting his slate gray eyes.

  The man on top of her rose up on his knees. Still straddling her backside, he gazed up at the formidable commander, a slight grin twisting his full lips. Keeping one big hand on Hailey’s back, he tossed his head and snorted derisively.

  “I’ll consider it—when you tell me when and why the big, bad Duluth Puhleeze Department decided to send a Barbie Doll look-a-like who thinks she can fight her way out of a Sig Sauer in her skull on a solo midnight mission. Or did Miss Sweden convince you that a perp would be so bowled over by her baby blues and righteous tits that he’d just beg her to take him in?”

  Commander Justice laughed and shook his head. Holding out his hand, he pulled Hailey’s audacious attacker to his feet and clapped a big arm around his shoulders in a bear hug. When the dark-haired man stood next to him, it was clear that her assaulter was as tall and as muscular as her commander. Lt. Justice reached down to help Hailey up, but to her surprise her assailant brushed Lt. Justice’s hand aside. Instead, he leaned over and grasped her under her arms, lifting her up next to him. Too shocked at the unexpected turn of events and shaking too hard to stand alone, Hailey allowed herself to sink against the strong man holding her protectively against his side.

  Lt. Justice shook his head and raising his hands in mock surrender, he flashed Hailey an apologetic grin.

  “While I can see that you have already…ahem…met him, let me formally introduce the man who was shamelessly accosting you.”

  Her commander stepped back and held up his hands with a rueful shrug. “Officer Michels, meet my baby brother, Jared Justice.”

  At Hailey’s startled gasp, Lt. Justice added with a grimace, “Which makes you, my somewhat clueless rookie, one of a very small group of insiders who knows that my outrageous brother, aka DEA Agent Jared Justice, is also my crack undercover agent in the Dragon’s Curse Cartel.”

  Chapter 1

  Jared raked his eyes over the pale young woman clinging to him, then turned on his brother with a sneer.

  “Somewhat clueless? Damn, Bro, that’s like saying the kid who just took the training wheels off his trike is ready to fire up the streets with his V-Rod Harley. Hey, don’t smile. This ain’t funny, Jake. Where did you get this little prom queen? Off a California beach after you tracked her down from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition? Jesus, man, what the hell were you thinking? Letting an inexperienced rookie roam the woods alone? With a gun for God’s sake!” He added caustically
, “Christ, Lieutenant, she could have killed someone. Like me, for instance—totally by accident of course. But I prefer DEA to DOA, thank you very fucking much.”

  Lt. Justice grimaced, pinning Hailey with a frown, and nodded at his brother in apparent agreement.

  “Without calling her out, which I will do later, let’s just say that as her commanding officer, I’m responsible for the fact that Officer Michels, fresh out of the Academy, was on this mission.” He emitted a heavy sigh. “I’ll grant it may not have been my wisest decision. However, I’m still not sure how Officer Michels managed to lose the squad in the middle of an exceedingly dangerous operation and ended up facing a supposed DC Cartel member all by her lonesome.” Turning from Hailey to Jared, the beginning of a smile tugged at Jake’s lips, “But you are correct, Agent Justice. Officer Michels does indeed hail from California. Which may help explain her inability to navigate our Superior National Forest in a torrential rainstorm in the middle of the night.” Winking at his brother, Jake grinned, “Although I plead innocent to the unfounded charge that I discovered her on the cover of SI.”

  “Humph!” Glancing at the young woman standing beside him, her cheeks flaming hot with what he assumed was a mix of anger and embarrassment, Jared was disinclined to let his brother off the hook—or miss the chance to further embarrass the rookie. “I dunno, Bro, she sure as hell looks like cover girl material to me.” Seeing what looked like angry tears puddling in Hailey’s azure eyes, Jared took pity on the new recruit. After all, not five minutes earlier and sporting an impressive hard-on, he’d been firmly ensconced on her curvy backside. Not exactly by-the-book behavior for an officer of the law, he admitted, even if he was undercover.

  Hell, he thought to himself, if he had any class at all he’d be as embarrassed as she seemed to be. Fortunately class wasn’t something Jared aspired to. And Christ, knowing his cover was likely blown, combined with happening upon one of the sexiest chicks he’d seen in a lifetime of memorable hook-ups, who the hell could blame him for indulging. Plus this little rookie needed to know that playing cops and robbers didn’t cut it in the real world of violent Cartels and unscrupulous men.