Up to Trouble Book One
An FBI agent with an attitude about his assignment.
A civilian witness to a terrorist plan in need of protection.
A mole within the FBI ranks that endangers them both.
Civilian Mark Beecher overheard portions of a terrorist plot and is in need of protection. What FBI Special Agent Aaron Pearce thinks will be a simple babysitting job ends up more dangerous and life changing than he could have ever anticipated when an informant within the Detroit FBI office sends them on the run.
With no one to turn to, they hole up in a loft apartment and attempt to unravel the terrorist’s full plan from the bits and pieces Mark overheard. Working together within the confines of the loft, the two grow closer and their attraction eventually erupts into passion.
But the informant is determined to find them, and when he does, Pearce is taken hostage. Now on his own, Mark realizes their roles have been reversed, and he is forced out of hiding—and his comfort zone—to try and save Pearce’s life.
Holed Up is an opposites attract, forced proximity, FBI and civilian mystery thriller that kicks off the Up to Trouble series.
Pearce leaned in close, and for a thrillingly horrifying second Mark thought the man intended to kiss him. But instead, the agent said loud enough for only Mark to hear over the braying fire alarm: “It’s okay, I’ll get you out of here. Just stay close to me, okay?”
Mark nodded, and Pearce looked away, scanning the room and the other agents. Finally, he heard Pearce ask Agent Bata, “Is there a freight elevator in this building?”
Bata nodded and motioned for Pearce to follow. Pearce turned and leaned in close again, closer than before, and whispered into Mark’s ear, “Follow me. We’re going to the freight elevator. If anything happens, stay with me, no one else. Got it?”
READ MOREMark shivered at the wet heat of Pearce’s breath and cursed the swiftness of his erection despite the situation. He nodded and, adjusting his messenger bag to hide his condition, followed Pearce as Bata led them down the hallway, both agents with guns drawn. A few steps down the hall, Pearce turned and motioned over Mark’s shoulder for the other two agents, the ones who had been guarding the door, to stay behind.
Mark followed Pearce and Bata through the crowd of agents and directors dutifully making their way to the exits. The fire alarm buzzed, and at certain spots along the wall, strobe lights flashed. They exited the office through a secured employee entrance and found themselves in the main elevator lobby. There were two stairwells in the building, and the evacuating crowds flooded both. Lines of vaguely anxious people had formed at each stairwell as they waited for those on the lower floors to clear out. Pearce reached back and grabbed Mark by the arm, pulling him along behind as he shouldered his way through the slowing crowd. Mark followed and tried not to think about the man’s strong grip and how it might feel on his cock.
Around the corner from one of the stairwells, Agent Bata stopped at a large gray elevator door. “Here, this is the freight elevator.” He pressed the call button and turned to find Pearce’s gun in his face. “What? What are you doing?”
“Hey!” Mark exclaimed and tried to step forward, but Pearce held him back.
“Quiet,” Pearce said without looking at him. “Bata, holster your weapon and step back from the elevator.”
“He’s been helping me since I came to the FBI,” Mark protested, and Pearce grabbed him by the front of his T-shirt and pulled him around to press him up against the wall beside the doors to the freight elevator, never taking his eyes off Bata.
Bata raised his hand holding the gun and slowly placed the weapon in his shoulder holster. “It’s okay, Mark. I understand what Special Agent Pearce is doing.”
“It’s nothing personal, Bata,” Pearce said.
The elevator sounded its arrival and Mark jumped. Pearce pushed him into the elevator car and backed in after him, his gun still leveled at Bata. “I just don’t know who I can trust around here.”
Mark looked out at Agent Bata with wide, frightened eyes as Pearce pressed the button for the third floor. As the elevator doors closed, Pearce locked his gaze on Bata’s and said, “I’ll be in touch.”
COLLAPSE