DARC Ops: The Complete Series Read online

  DARC Ops Box Set

  The Complete Series

  Jamie Garrett

  Wild Owl Press

  Contents

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  Glossary

  Get Your Free Book

  Dark Secret

  1. Mira

  2. Mira

  3. Jackson

  4. Mira

  5. Jackson

  6. Mira

  7. Mira

  8. Mira

  9. Jackson

  10. Mira

  11. Jackson

  12. Mira

  13. Jackson

  14. Mira

  15. Jackson

  16. Mira

  17. Mira

  18. Jackson

  19. Mira

  20. Jackson

  21. Mira

  22. Jackson

  23. Mira

  Dark Web

  1. Carly

  2. Carly

  3. Carly

  4. Tansy

  5. Carly

  6. Tansy

  7. Carly

  8. Tansy

  9. Carly

  10. Tansy

  11. Carly

  12. Carly

  13. Carly

  14. Tansy

  15. Carly

  16. Tansy

  17. Tansy

  18. Carly

  19. Tansy

  20. Carly

  21. Tansy

  22. Carly

  23. Tansy

  24. Carly

  25. Tansy

  26. Carly

  Dark Heart

  1. Jasper

  2. Fiona

  3. Jasper

  4. Fiona

  5. Jasper

  6. Fiona

  7. Jasper

  8. Fiona

  9. Jasper

  10. Fiona

  11. Jasper

  12. Fiona

  13. Jasper

  14. Fiona

  15. Jasper

  16. Fiona

  17. Jasper

  18. Fiona

  19. Jasper

  20. Fiona

  21. Jasper

  22. Fiona

  23. Jasper

  24. Fiona

  25. Jasper

  26. Fiona

  27. Jasper

  28. Fiona

  29. Jasper

  30. Fiona

  31. Jasper

  32. Fiona

  33. Fiona

  Dark Control

  1. Matthias

  2. Laurel

  3. Matthias

  4. Laurel

  5. Matthias

  6. Laurel

  7. Matthias

  8. Laurel

  9. Matthias

  10. Laurel

  11. Matthias

  12. Laurel

  13. Matthias

  14. Laurel

  15. Matthias

  16. Laurel

  17. Matthias

  18. Matthias

  19. Laurel

  20. Matthias

  21. Laurel

  22. Matthias

  23. Laurel

  24. Matthias

  25. Laurel

  26. Laurel

  27. Matthias

  28. Laurel

  29. Matthias

  30. Laurel

  31. Matthias

  32. Laurel

  33. Matthias

  34. Laurel

  35. Matthias

  36. Laurel

  37. Matthias

  38. Matthias

  39. Laurel

  Dark Threat

  1. Sam

  2. Clara

  3. Sam

  4. Clara

  5. Sam

  6. Clara

  7. Sam

  8. Clara

  9. Sam

  10. Clara

  11. Sam

  12. Sam

  13. Clara

  14. Clara

  15. Sam

  16. Sam

  17. Clara

  18. Sam

  19. Clara

  20. Sam

  21. Clara

  22. Sam

  23. Clara

  24. Sam

  25. Clara

  26. Sam

  27. Clara

  Dark Lies

  1. Macy

  2. Tucker

  3. Macy

  4. Tucker

  5. Macy

  6. Tucker

  7. Macy

  8. Macy

  9. Macy

  10. Tucker

  11. Tucker

  12. Macy

  13. Tucker

  14. Tucker

  15. Macy

  16. Tucker

  17. Tucker

  18. Macy

  19. Macy

  20. Tucker

  21. Macy

  22. Tucker

  23. Macy

  24. Tucker

  25. Macy

  26. Tucker

  27. Macy

  28. Macy

  29. Tucker

  30. Macy

  31. Tucker

  32. Macy

  33. Macy

  34. Macy

  35. Macy

  36. Tucker

  Dark Discovery

  1. Annica

  2. Cole

  3. Cole

  4. Annica

  5. Annica

  6. Cole

  7. Cole

  8. Annica

  9. Annica

  10. Cole

  11. Annica

  12. Cole

  13. Cole

  14. Annica

  15. Cole

  16. Annica

  17. Cole

  18. Annica

  19. Annica

  20. Annica

  21. Cole

  22. Annica

  23. Cole

  24. Annica

  25. Cole

  26. Cole

  27. Annica

  28. Cole

  29. Annica

  30. Cole

  31. Annica

  Dark Enemy

  1. Holly

  2. Logan

  3. Holly

  4. Logan

  5. Holly

  6. Logan

  7. Holly

  8. Logan

  9. Holly

  10. Logan

  11. Holly

  12. Logan

  13. Holly

  14. Logan

  15. Holly

  16. Logan

  17. Holly

  18. Logan

  19. Holly

  20. Logan

  21. Holly

  22. Logan

  23. Holly

  24. Logan

  25. Holly

  26. Logan

  27. Holly

  28. Logan

  29. Holly

  30. Logan

  31. Holly

  Also by Jamie Garrett

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Jamie Garrett

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. All requests should be forwarded to [email protected].

  Glossary

  Hacker: In mai
nstream media, a person who gains access to a computer system in order to access information and/or cause damage. Originally (and gaining in popularity again) it meant someone who was a highly skilled computer expert, and usually involved in a hacker community or subculture.

  Air walled/Air gapped: A security measure used to ensure a computer is physically isolated from potentially unsecure networks, such as the public internet or another network (for example, a local network in an office).

  White Hat: Internet slang referring to an ethical computer hacker or security expert. They may be hired by other companies to break into their computers and networks to test their security and vulnerabilities to a real attack.

  Black Hat: Internet slang referring to a computer hacker or security expert who does not play by the rules. Also called crackers, or dark-side hackers, they are people who attempt to find computer security vulnerabilities and exploit them, usually for personal or financial gain, along with other malicious reasons.

  Grey Hat: A computer hacker or security expert who may sometimes skirt the edge of the law or certain ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent of a black hat.

  Honey pot: Traditionally a honey pot is a decoy computer system used for trapping hackers or spammers. Honey pots are setup to purposefully engage and deceive hackers, and identify those responsible for malicious activity. The term has also been used to describe spies or hackers (usually female) who use their looks and skills to break into secure networks or facilities (for example: stealing someone’s keycard or convincing them to tell them their password).

  Encryption: The translation of data (including text and images) into a secret code. To read an encrypted file, you need the secret key or file to decrypt it.

  NGO: Stands for Non Government Organization. NGOs are non-profit, voluntary citizen’s groups which are organized on a local, national, or international level. Usually task-orientated and formed with a common interest, NGOs engage in a variety of services and functions.

  Ping: An electronic query from one computer on a network to another to determine whether there is a connection to it and whether the other computer is working.

  R&D: Stands for research and development.

  Doxxed: To ‘dox’ someone is to search for and publish private or identifying information about someone online, usually (but not always) with malicious intent. For example publicly sharing anything from an individual’s credit card information to private sex tapes.

  MRAP: Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected; a vehicle that is designed specifically to withstand an IED attack and ambushes.

  DEFCON: Started in 1992, DEFCON is the world’s longest running and largest underground hacking conference. Held annually in Las Vegas, attendees include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, researches, students and hackers. The event includes speakers on computer hack and cracking related subjects, and hacking wargames social events and contests.

  DarkCoin: DarkCoin (renamed Dash in March 2015) is an open-source currency similar to Bitcoin but completely anonymous. It’s operated by the first decentralized autonomous organization.

  Get Your Free Book

  Grab your free copy of the DARC Ops prequel and find out where it all began. Standalone, it can be read at any time in the series.

  Click here to download.

  Dark Secret

  1

  Mira

  It was almost too easy back in Germany. She had even had the luxury of being polite about it, adding “entschuldigung” before “ich bin nicht in dich” for her slightly clingy and considerably older nightclub stalker. And off he'd go, the sulking pile of moody Berliner disappearing into the darkness beyond the pulsing lights of the dance floor.

  Italian men, being more tenacious, required a little more cruelty. “L'amore non è cieco,” she'd say to even the most ruggedly handsome of shirtless Veronese concrete laborers. By the time Mira had left Italy, she'd become an expert in halting an almost hilarious variety of unwanted advances, the wreckage of male egos stretching from Verona to Calabria.

  Even on the dusty back roads of Dak Nong Province, where the Vietnamese delicacy of fertilized duck eggs were served from vendor carts, it was necessary to speak the universal language of bothered women. Even there, to the kids on the dirt bike who kept smiling and whistling, it absolutely had to be said. “Hãy để tôi yên!”

  Of course, it helped to have the element of surprise on Mira's side. Her rejections were delivered flawlessly from such a foreign, pretty mouth. They'd land with the effectiveness of a stake through the heart of even the most ardent of seductors. But on returning to the United States, she'd suddenly lost that edge. There was no longer anything surprising about her replies, unless she said something particularly nasty. She'd sometimes like to say something nasty. But that wasn’t her style.

  Why did she have to be so goddamned polite and cerebral?

  Why couldn’t she, with some confidence and verve, instruct her car mechanic to stop talking to her tits? And why couldn’t she tell the rude French Canadian, when hearing his français and noticing a red plastic poppy on his lapel, to “fuck off, eh?”

  She obviously knew the language, having been born into it, so it wasn’t so much a matter of linguistic competency as it was psychology. Attitude. Some mental block or another. It was precisely this deviation from her norm that allowed breathing room—or a breeding ground, rather--for the one-way flirt fest masquerading as her and Chuck's healthy and professional workplace relationship.

  He'd come by her cubicle that morning to deliver yet another sweet treat from Landon's Bakeshop, this time a bite-size wedge of tiramisu with a side of “Landon's. The only place where you don't mind me thinking about you.”

  She couldn’t afford to be rude to him, that much she knew. But her self-respect could certainly afford a little acknowledgment. Or at least something more than the quiet acceptance of his constant compliments.

  “I loved your speech last night,” he'd said, a sudden wave of seriousness washing over his tiramisu-crumbed face. “Very moving. And you looked so poised up there.”

  What was it about Chuck that kept her so complacent? What kept her content with being his office prize? Was it hypnotic suggestion? God knows his eyes were creepy enough.

  To his credit, he'd say things that any woman with a pulse would enjoy. He said them well, and with a smile. And he wasn't exactly hideous-looking, even beyond office standards. He was also the personal assistant, and great chum, to her boss, Senator Langhorne. And although he was roughly as low as Mira on the office totem pole, his influence with the Senator was real and powerful. Chuck once got an intern fired for something as trivial as a sports team allegiance. Go Redskins, or else, was the message to anyone who, unlike Mira, gave a shit about sports. Still, as much as she tried, she just couldn’t imagine Chuck pitting the Senator against her like that. It seemed that no amount of her extremely soft rejections could push Chuck that far over the edge. It would take something big for such a turnaround, for the unthinkable, for him to stop wanting her pretty face around the office anymore. Maybe a break-up would do it. Or a date not ending in sex. Yet another reason for Mira's constant cool rejections was that she was using them as a buffer against the looming threat of date invitations. She liked her job too much for that.