The Brain Wars

*** Book 10 in the Extreme Travel Series: ***

After escaping from the government, Team Kes is found in France and forced to take care of a major threat in Asia, from someone who's psychic. Terrorist groups are coming together under one leader, threatening to destabilize the entire world. It's up to Team Kes to save everyone or die trying...with at least one member's life on the line.

Excerpt

Ah, the beach. This wasn't just any old beach, but one on the French Riviera.

It was nice to be married to a multi-millionaire, but just a pain that our two homes in Colorado were currently off-limits. Actually, the whole United States was off limits to all of the Denver CIA Extreme Risk teams, but I tried to stay focused on the positive, in the here and now. Sitting on a beach with our families was pretty sweet, even if we'd only been there for a short time.

I rested on my towel on the sand, wearing a thin black_and-down shirt covering my bikini since I was fair-skinned and a redhead. It was early April, and since we had a problem with our jobs back home, we were forced to flee for our lives. The teams had split up, deciding we needed a vacation in different locations so we wouldn't be found as easily.

Team Kes—aptly named after me because I thought I should rule the team—had headed for the beach. Since three of our members—Marc, James, and I—had extra-sensory perception, we figured we'd be safe since one of us would always be on guard.

The five members of Team Kes were lounging around with our spouses and children, just enjoying our time off when our daughter, Emma, ran up to me. "Daddy said we have to be careful."

I opened my eyes, shielding them from the sunshine, and watched the adorable twin standing over me. The little girl looked just like me with long wavy dark red hair and green eyes.

"Mommy's asleep," I said. "Tell Daddy he's in charge." Good way to get rid of a kid so I could daydream.

She leaned down and pulled on my arm. "No. Daddy needs you. He said we have to be careful."

I stood up and headed toward my husband, Dr. James Hamilton. "What is it?" I asked.

As Emma ran off to play with the other kids, James stared out to the water. The sky was clear, so I was sure he wasn't referring to the beautiful weather when Emma had told me we had to be careful. He shook his head. Something was really wrong. From his demeanor, my hair stood up on the back of my neck.

He looked around at the other agents. "Team Kes, pow wow."

The other three men—Ben, Ian, and Marc—left their posts and all crowded around us.

"Something's not right," James said in his adorable slightly British accent. "I have an extreme feeling of dread. I'm sure we've been found out."

Ben crossed his arms, addressing James. "Is it your psycho sense?"

"No, I'm not reading any minds," James said. "I just feel dread and lots of it. I can't describe it, but I'm pretty sure we're in trouble. I think we've been found."

I scanned the area. "You're right, James. We're being surrounded." I returned to my towel and pulled it off the sand. "Time to go."

Ben raked his eyes over me. "You're really hot in a bathing suit. Are you ever going to model for the CIA?"

I pulled my black_and-down shirt closed. "Idiot," I whispered, even though he was my boss. "Your wife is right over there and you're flirting with me in front of James. I think you've hit a new low, and considering we're in trouble, rock bottom."

"I'm being serious," he said, still checking me out. "Are you running at night or something?"

"No, are you?"

"Guys," Ian said. "I think we need to get out of here without alerting any of our family members to potential danger. If we're found, it means someone told where we were, since we don't have tracking devices anymore. I don't want to endanger anyone. Let's just go."

Marc lifted his binoculars and scanned the horizon. "James is right. Someone's got a boat offshore."

"A tourist, maybe?" Ian asked. "It's close enough to summer. Maybe we're overreacting."

"Not quite." Marc lowered his binoculars. "I agree with James. I get the same feeling of foreboding."

"Fine." I picked up some of the kid's toys. "Three psychics agree. Let's get out of here." I had a glimpse of something evil and my face paled. "I think it's too late," I said in a low tone. "If they get here before we can leave, I'm going to make a run for it. It's my fault they're coming."

"No," Ian said. "It's not your fault. We all did too good a job for the CIA, so it's everyone's fault."

"You and Ben aren't even psychic," I said. "Why would you two be at fault?"

Ben grinned. "We're good. The U.S. government doesn't like good. Isn't that what Wilson said?"