Tryzub

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Book excerpt

Chapter One

Sabrina Brooks and Hoyt Wexford had reserved their favorite table at Keens Steakhouse on West 36th Street in Manhattan that Friday evening. They had dressed well for the occasion and caught the eye of more than one customer who thought they might have been a celebrity couple. Bree and Hoyt ordered a lobster salad and decided to split the steak and lobster entrée along with a bottle of blush wine. After the waiter brought the wine, Bree was reduced to tears when Hoyt placed the small velvet box on the table.

“I love you more than anyone else in my life,” Hoyt gazed into her eyes as she looked up after staring dumbfounded at the $10,000 two-carat three-stone diamond ring set in 14K white gold. She knew that, on a NYPD detective’s salary, this was not a small investment on his part. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know we’ve both had a lot on our plates lately with our careers and all, but that’d be a great reason to have someone to share our burdens with.”

“Was that supposed to be a speech?” a tear trickled down her cheek.

“You know I’m not good at speeches.” 

“You’re wonderful at everything you do. You’ve made me the happiest girl in the world.”

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.”

“You mean you’re not getting down on one knee and everything?”

Hoyt rose from his seat just before Bree hopped out of her chair and threw herself into his arms. The diners in the high-class restaurant looked up in bemusement, and she showed them her ring to a round of applause. She hugged him again before they finally took their seats.

“Omigosh, I’m so excited I won’t be able to eat,” she waved her hand at her face.

“Don’t you even go there,” his dark blue eyes sparkled as he smiled mischievously, his thick black mane framing his ruggedly handsome face. “With the prices in this place, I’ll sit over there and spoon-feed you.”

“That sounds like a plan,” she giggled.

It had been almost a year since he gave her his friendship ring, and things were as hectic in their professional lives as ever. The Brooks Chemical Company had thrived and prospered since Sabrina took control of her father’s enterprise. They had made enough money for her to open up a second research facility in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn. It was a half hour drive from their headquarters on Staten Island, allowing her and BCC vice-president Jon Aeppli to conveniently travel between locations. Yet they were experiencing the expected growing pains and Sabrina was working seven days a week to keep things running smoothly.

Hoyt had earned his detective’s badge during Operation Octagon in playing a key role in ending the terrorist threat to NYC. He was next assigned to the Organized Crime Unit at Police Plaza in Manhattan where he became part of a twelve-man task force. It was a six-team crew assigned to investigate the growing influence of the Russian Mob in the metro. They were working in conjunction with the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service, the successors to the KGB. It tied Hoyt up in more red tape than ever, and the bureaucratic restrictions grew ever more frustrating as he struggled to overcome the challenges of his new position.