Calculated Sabotage by K T Lee

Calculated Sabotage by K T Lee

Hi All!
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Calculated Sabotage and I am here today to with an extract from the book!

Title: Calculated Sabotage
Author: K T Lee
Publisher: Vertical Line Publishing
Published: 5th October 2018
Pages: 232
Format: ebook
Source:: N/A
Add It: Amazon UK Goodreads.
Summary:CIA operations officer Quinn King will do whatever it takes to find the person who killed her partner. She follows the evidence to Innovative Rocket Technologies, a start-up company and current darling of the rocket world. Their most recent launch, however, ended in an explosion that Quinn believes is connected to her partner’s death.

The CIA sends Cam Mitchell to provide backup for Quinn — and to make sure she isn’t too emotionally invested. With Cam watching her back, Quinn embeds herself at IRT. She soon discovers there is more to the failed launch than IRT has shared with the public. And someone has a vested interest in keeping that information under wraps.

When the CIA finds new evidence that someone is actively sabotaging the next launch, they call in Parker, Ree and Mike from the FBI to help manage a growing number of loose ends. However, once Cam and Quinn realize why the rocket is being sabotaged, it puts them right in the crosshairs of a killer.

Calculated Sabotage is Book 3 in The Calculated Series. All books in The Calculated Series may be enjoyed as standalone novels or as a series

Extract

Quinn King raised her gun and looked down the sight. She relaxed her shoulders, let out a breath, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed through the center-chest X at seventy-five yards and the paper target fluttered. It had been six days since Rory, her friend and sometimes-partner, had been murdered. It had been four days since her boss had officially rejected her request to find her friend’s killer, reminding her that Rory’s death had not yet been ruled a murder. It had been three hours since Quinn had decided to investigate her friend’s death independently, orders be damned.

Quinn shut her eyes tight, then opened them. She fired again. The bullet passed through the same neat hole in her target as the previous rounds. Quinn emptied the rest of her magazine into the X on the head of her target. She reloaded her weapon with a fresh magazine, pulled the slide to chamber a bullet, and slipped the Glock into the holster on her back.
Quinn removed her ear protection and rolled her neck. The range master nodded at her, a small grin of admiration sneaking across his face. He knew her as Amy and had asked her out a few times. He was clearly former military and just attractive enough to not be obnoxious about it. He seemed like good people, but she just didn’t need the complications right now. She had work to do and it would start with a flight across the country.

Contrary to popular mythology, even “lone wolf” CIA operations officers were expected to work well on a team. Quinn met Rory shortly after she started at the CIA, and they’d hit it off immediately. Rory had the charm to recruit foreign assets, and Quinn was the patient, strategic one. Some might call Quinn paranoid, but careful often looked like paranoid to the untrained eye. Within a few months of meeting, Quinn and Rory began to work on most of their operations together. However, it wasn’t always practical to work on a team. Which was how Rory ended up dead and how Quinn ended up sorting through the wreckage. She rubbed a hand down her face. She considered putting a few more bullets through the holes on her practice target, but before she could reach for her gun, her phone buzzed against her hip. She didn’t need to look at the name to know Director of Special Operations was calling. The only people who had this number were Rory and DSO Dan Floyd.

“Hey boss.” Quinn absently rubbed her neck and scanned her surroundings. The crowd was pretty thin today, but the pops from the guns firing around her kept her from fully focusing on the call.
“How are you holding up, Falcon?” Dan’s voice was carefully neutral.

“That’s my name this month? Hm. I like it.”

“I was thinking Bluebird, but it’s too cute. You scare me a little, Falcon.”

“Ha. Like anyone could scare you.” When asked about his own reputation, the Director would only shrug and say he could neither confirm nor deny the stories. He scared the bejesus out of the new operations officers. Quinn respected him and what’s more, she liked him. As long as he didn’t coddle her.
“You’re awful calm if you’re in the middle of a shootout. Are you at the range again?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You want to talk about it?” Dan’s voice softened.

“No, sir. Not unless you’ve changed your mind.” Quinn shifted her weight and put her free hand on her hip.

“We have a team on it, Falcon. Look, I can get you in with a counselor. What you’re feeling is perfectly normal.”

“With all due respect, you’d have to drag me in unconscious, sir. However, now that you mention it, I think I need to take some vacation time soon.” Quinn turned around to check her back. Still just a bunch of cops and civilians practicing their aim. Their targets had more scatter than hers.

“I was afraid of that. I haven’t authorized you to investigate Rory’s death. Or pick up where she left off. Even on your own time. As I recall, I told you no. Multiple times.”

“I have some ideas.”

“I rejected your request for your own sake. You chase this down, I’ll have to fire you.”

Quinn raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t under the impression she was irreplaceable but she was good at her job because she knew when to call a bluff. “You’re a real cut-up, sir. So, I need to take that vacation. To spend as I choose. If I happen to see something fishy going on while I do some sightseeing, I’ll let you know. I’ve done some research of my own. I’m thinking of heading out west, maybe going to visit some mountain towns.”

There was a long pause on the end of the line. If Quinn was there in person, she’d see Dan’s jaw tighten and nostrils flare, just slightly. “We’ve got analysts digging into the evidence and checking security video. You’re not the only person upset we lost one of our own. I need you away from this.”

“Then you’re going to need to be a good shot to take me down. C’mon, sir. Let me take this on. You need someone who can get in there and get the job done.”
“You know there’s a chain of command, right?”

“I call you ‘sir’. Will you put me in charge, sir?”

Dan sighed. “If you show one sign of not being able to handle this, I’m pulling you. I’ll take you into custody if I have to.”

Quinn grinned. “Deal.”

“We’ll get you some information by tomorrow. Take your time coming up with a plan for this one. The last thing I need is to lose you too. I’ll be in touch.”

“Sounds great, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Quinn cleaned up her things, tossed her target, and waved goodbye to the range master. Then, she went back to her apartment to pack. She couldn’t bring Rory back, but she could make sure her friend hadn’t died in vain.

About the Author

K.T. is a mom, engineer, and writer of books about women in STEM fighting international crime. When K.T. began to write the kind of books she wanted to read, she mixed clever women and the sciences with elements from thrillers (and a dash of romance) to create The Calculated Series.

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