Treasure (version 2)

Chapter 1 Suddenly

Treasure is dedicated to every woman that has ever looked at herself and wished she were more like somebody else.

Thank you in advance for reading Treasure (revised plot). This book was formerly called Not the It Girl. I had two versions of Treasure on Wattpad. The first version had elements of a romantic triangle and is no longer available. This version (revised plot) does not include the triangle and focuses solely on the main character, Treasure (Zara Peters).

This updated version also has other wonderful modifications not in the first version of Treasure. I personally liked by both books. I revised this version for those that find the tension in a love triangle sometimes overwhelming. With the original Treasure, lots of drama ensued because 3 women were involved and readers said it was too much emotionally so I made a milder version.

And for those first-time readers to Treasure the word that readers use to describe it is ADDICTING. So get ready for a wild ride.

***

Bomb blasts shook the deep backwoods of Louisville, Kentucky leaving the grounds trembling and the trees quaking. Roman Gray's team made another successful hit. His men and members of the Drug Enforcement Agency spread out into the night.  Their mission: to wipe out an illegal opioid facility that trafficked drugs to high schools in Kentucky and neighboring states. 

The DEA joined forces with Gray Enterprises to end the disastrous organization. The company was a national security firm, owned by billionaire Roman Gray. His team stopped the bad guys all over the world. Batches of the drugs got tainted and killed hundreds of students. The DEA thought that they had destroyed all the facilities in a prior raid. But Roman's national security surveillance unearthed a complex of stored underground facilities.

Rolling booms spread throughout the forest as one bunker after another got destroyed. It was a stealth operation prior to their discovery. They did most of the damage to the facilities and components before the drug cartel arrived and engaged. Automatic weapons fire blazed through the air; the shouts of men fighting to the death rang out.

Roman and his second in command, Maxwell DeVaughn, along with a host of other men rushed through the darkened fields. They wore camouflage and infrared, night-vision glasses. They were way ahead of the warfare that raged behind, aimed at destroying the water towers that kept the facility in operation. They crunched through the darkened field racing the clock. It wouldn't be long before the bad guys discovered them.  The only saving grace was that they had scoped out the woods weeks in advance of the raid.  They knew where to hide their getaway vehicles.  It was just beyond the ridge near the water towers.

"Let's go," Roman whispered to his men.  He and one group of team members scaled the massive water towers placing explosive devices in critical positions while the rest of the team on the ground prepared the charges. Roman and Max handled the west side of one of the towers.  They attached special zip lines that pulled them up above the canopy of trees and attached the devices.

"I can't believe how well this is going," said Max.  Another boom exploded in the distance.

"Yes!" Roman cheered. "Another successful strike. I'm so pumped up right now.  I can't wait to see these things come down." He and Max slapped one detonator on after the other, while the other team members did the same. "They will be years trying to recover from this."

"They won't be recovering from this," said Max. "We've wiped out their solar panels, they're off the electrical grid systems, wiped out the bunkers and now the water supply. It's over, man, finally over."

Just as Roman slapped another magnetic disk on the tower his cell phone rang. The sound drifted through the night amplified by the wind.

"Damn it, Roman. Have you lost your mind?  You know we don't bring cells on a mission. We can get killed from the sound or let them track us."  He glanced at the phone and saw who was calling when Roman pulled it from his pocket.  He shook his head. Even Max knew that he wouldn't miss this call. Max looked down on the ground and saw their men looking up as if to say—what the hell?