j. r. maddux

Summary Shot and left for dead by ruthless drug runners, FBI Special Agent Monica Rincon begins a grim struggle to live. Her partner, victimized in the same incident, is missing and presumed dead. When she manages to survive, she finds herself ostracized by her peers and superiors and accused of negligence in the line of duty. But when the facts come to light she is vindicated and returned to service. Posted in Phoenix, Arizona, she is assigned to babysit a budding congressional investigation into a drug and human trafficking syndicate that functions eerily like a smoothly operated multi-national corporation. Battling against sexual and racial bias in her own ranks, the newly reorganized cartels, a powerful drug lord known to his friends and enemies alike as El Dragon, and a ruthless hit man, she helps to save a congressman from assassination and finds herself elevated to head the investigation. But is it just a public relations ploy? Did they hand pick her because she had no chance to succeed? Early on, she runs afoul of a powerful White House aide who displays great eagerness to shut the investigation down and protect people in powerful places. A beautiful young woman, Monica soon finds herself labeled by the press as "the FBI Diva," and courted separately by a fellow Bureau agent and a handsome Captain in the Border Patrol. One is a friend, but the other may have ulterior motives. Which is which? When the tide seems to be turning against her, she receives assistance from a shadowy figure south of the border known only as “The Devil's Right Hand.” As she charges relentlessly toward the final confrontation with corruption in high places and El Dragon, she also grows closer to learning the true identity of her anonymous ally. But will it be worthwhile if the price is her life?