Red cleared his throat. “And Thane almost fell for it.”
The admiral’s brow wrinkled. “Not for long.”
“Sorry to interrupt…Shit. Admiral!” Ditz, aka Clay Sacks, stood in the doorway to their office.
Austen rose to his feet. “How you doing, Ditz?”
“Keeping my ass out of hot water.” They shook hands. “Team is gonna want to go out for beers, sir.”
“I’m here on the QT.”
“Any more people see you around, it won’t be a secret anymore,” Red stated.
Ditz grinned. “Are you staying for Lt. Bach and Rayne’s housewarming party?”
The admiral nodded. “You bet.”
Petty Officer Sacks glanced toward the comm room. “Where’s Kayla? Did she come with you?”
“She and the kids are with Marg, but Nina doesn’t know she’s here. Want to keep that quiet for a couple days.”
“You got it, sir.”
The admiral surveyed the black bag hooked over Ditz’s shoulder. “You got the video from the Erotic Bean in there?"
Ditz patted the leather case. “Yes, sir. CDR Hunter asked if I’d review them with Nina.”
“Let’s have a look.”
“Ghost!” Red’s tone held a definite wave of warning. “Not your battle.”
The admiral’s brow rose, then he glanced at Josh. “Your call, Commander.”
Austen only deferred to one other person other than his wife and that was Captain Redding. A set of eyes like the admiral’s couldn’t hurt.
Josh stood up. “Let’s go see what’s on the video.” He paused. “But I’m not lying to Callahan’s wife about Kayla being here, if she asks.”
The admiral’s rigid jaw tightened with a grin. “I can handle her.”
He snorted. “Nobody can handle that woman.”
Austen chuckled. “Good to know she’s keeping you on your toes, Commander.”
They filed out of the office with Josh in the lead. At the hatch access to the comm center, he slid his card through the reader and keyed the pass number into the control pad.
The thick metal door opened with a click and a hiss.
Josh appreciated the admiral’s involvement. He sure wouldn’t refuse the man’s help. Nor would he forget Austen’s warning about Dixie.
Back in the day, a story had circulated that Austen and Kayla were deeply in love by the time the Blood Shark turned his attention on her. At the time, Austen held the rank of commander. Alpha Squad was privy to the budding romance and kept it to themselves. Kayla had worked directly for CDR Austen. Relationships in their department were forbidden and carried serious consequences. Yet, if anyone wanted to count backwards nine months from when their son Adam was born, the numbers didn’t lie.
The SEALs considered Ghost a legend in their community. Josh surmised the Navy would rather sink a thousand ships than fire him. By the time Austen killed the Blood Shark, he’d been promoted to captain. With his Special Ops service and degree of excellence, the veteran SEAL was offered the position of Admiral and command of the West Coast Chain.
Snow White, aka Kayla, retired and married Ghost after giving birth to their son. Their daughter, Sloane, was born a year or so later.
Even though Josh and Dixie weren’t in the same place romantically as Ghost and Kayla, Dixie was important to him. Getting to know her again last night proved they shared more than a past. They shared a future that never found its feet, but two separate paths had become one again.
Josh hoped like hell when Captain Redding said he filled Ghost’s boots, that didn’t include a repeat of history like the bloody ride of terror Kayla and the admiral had endured.
Chapter Six
Five minutes later, and after Austen’s diversion tactic of exemplary proportions, Nina finished peppering the admiral with questions. Ditz had seated himself at the control console with the video playback equipment. Josh, Captain Redding, and the admiral stood behind the comm specialist’s chair to watch the Erotic Bean’s recording.
“Ditz, start the playback before Dixie opened for service,” Josh asked.
“Yes, sir.”
They watched as her staff worked behind the counter. Dixie was in and out of camera view doing whatever the hell she did as the boss. Then at zero-seven-hundred hours, she unlocked the front door.
A line of seven people waited outside. Dix held the door open as customers poured in. No one appeared suspicious. Other than a brief hello, no one lingered to talk with her before they lined up for their morning brew. On three times fast-forward speed, the video was slow enough to watch the movements of the customers, but quicker than real time.
The clock on the bottom right corner of the playback screen showed zero-seven-thirty.
Josh and the admiral saw it at the same time.
The admiral said, “Slow the video.”
Ditz reset the playback speed to real time.
A man wearing a ball cap, keeping his head down, walked up to the counter. Tall guy. Lean build. Maybe six feet, wearing a blue cotton shirt and jeans, kept looking around while Sabrina, one of Dixie’s employees, took his order and turned her back to pour him a regular coffee from the commercial-sized carafe. Meanwhile, the guy kept his head down but surveyed the coffeehouse.
“Could just be looking for an acquaintance,” Ditz said.
“Maybe,” Josh responded. The guy paid Sabrina with a bill, waved off any change and wandered toward the bookshelves. “Is there a video feed in there?” he asked as the guy disappeared into the second aisle. The shelving units were taller than the man and camouflaged his movements.
Ditz clicked through the different camera views. “Nope, unfortunately not. She’s got three views that encompass most of the store and one down the hall toward her office, but none located in the book aisles.”
“Shit.” Josh glanced at the timer on the feed.
A few seconds later the man reappeared. Looked around, then headed straight for the exit, the brim of the cap shadowing his features.
Ghost glared at the monitor with a gaze only a professional hunter could pull off. “That’s your man. When you review the other tapes, you’ll find he came in, ordered coffee, detoured into the bookshelves, delivered the note and departed.”
Josh had good gut instincts as well. “You’re probably right. Ditz, play back when he’s at the counter and zoom in on his hands.”
Ditz nodded and reversed the video. This is where their equipment excelled. Alpha Squad’s comm expert zoomed in for a closer look. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.
“He’s wearing a ring,” Josh said. It was too blurry to make out the details, but he wore it on his right-hand ring finger. “Can you clarify any more than that?”
“Sorry, sir. Even with our equipment it still relies on the quality of Dixie’s security system, and this is definitely a cheap model.”
Nina bowed closer, her long, red ponytail dripping over her shoulder. “Ditz, can you capture the ring and send me a copy?”
“Sure.”
He quickly typed out the commands and a square appeared around the guy’s hand, then he sent Nina the pic on a secure server.
“What is it?” Rayne asked, following Nina to another console where the redhead quickly sat and logged in, then brought up the picture. Her fingers were like gunfire over the keyboard. “Just going to see if I can—”
When Nina stopped mid-sentence, both Josh and Ghost turned. Wasn’t often Mrs. Callahan interrupted herself. Nina wheeled her chair backwards so they could see the screen. On the left was the blurry image of a gold ring with an engraved symbol. On the right side of the screen was the same ring, but the image appeared crystal clear.
Josh crossed the dimly lit room. Ghost and Red followed.
Finally, a solid clue.
“So, we have ourselves a privileged psychopath,” Josh said.
The fraternity ring, identified as a secret society from one of the best universities in the country, sat boldly on the page.<
br />
“Or a smart one!” Cricket interjected.
Josh nodded at Rayne to go ahead.
“I’ve been researching the different types of psychopathy. They’re said to struggle with feeling empathy or remorse. They form deep attachments to people or ideas that can lead to dangerous behavior. Plenty of people have psychopathic tendencies but lead normal lives. One of the risk factors are the environment where they grew up.”
Josh gnawed on his upper lip. “So, he might be a victim of sexual violence or abuse.”
Cricket nodded. “Possibly. Violent and manipulative psychopaths are amazing liars. They’re driven by impulse, even though they’re rational. If the guy chasing Dixie is highly intelligent, and many are, he knows you’re after him, CDR Hunter. He might try to lead you in the wrong direction with a red herring.”
The admiral added, “Or he’s a narcissist who believes he can’t be caught, which is usually their downfall. Commander, you’ll have to choose a path to follow until it reaches a dead end or you have him cornered.”
Rayne glanced at Josh with an expression of concern. “That’s true. They often appear kind and harmless until it’s too late. One common element is they view everyone as inferior to them. If you’ve got the right guy and that ring is for real, then it probably means he comes from money and that would feed into his psychopathy.”
Josh rubbed his jaw, pondering his enemy. “Also means he has connections, which explains how he’s been able to follow Dixie for the last twelve years. Jesus, I wish we could bring the BAU in on this but as far we know, he hasn’t harmed anyone.”
“As far as you know,” the admiral echoed. “Problem is, you don’t know. I suspect he has. You just don’t have the bread crumbs yet.”
Cricket folded her arms across her chest. “Sir, the medical study behind psychopaths is vast. I don’t know if NCIS can perform a search to track Dixie’s movements over the last twelve years and cross examine that against the number of sexual assaults or murders, but if they can, that’s where I’d start.”
“Too vast,” Ghost said. “There’s a lot of sick bastards in this great country of ours. NCIS and police data systems would be shitting out reams of possible leads.”
Nina crossed her legs and hooked her forked fingers over her kneecap. “Maybe not, Admiral.” She shifted her attention to Josh. “Rayne told me Dixie started receiving the notes in New York.”
“That’s correct. About four months after she started working at a trading and import firm.”
“Then that’s where I’d look first. Someone who comes from money. His parents had the funds to send him to an Ivy League college. My gut tells me this guy had access to her. A lot of access. Enough to create a twisted fascination about her. I’m willing to bet he’s a sexual psychopath, from the notes she’s received. Especially the one about binding her ankles and hands and…well, that tells me he’s overdosing on a sexual fantasy. Since he hasn’t made his move yet, he probably played it out with other women.”
The admiral pursed his lips, then nodded. “With money, he has options. He could satiate the fantasy at a BDSM club, hire a prostitute or entice a woman with the offer of money. Finding his current sexual outlet would take manpower and thousands of hours.” Austen shook his head. “The fastest way to end this is do what I did. Draw the bastard out of the shadows.”
Josh considered the same thing. “I don’t have a lot of time to catch this guy. We’re deploying in August. I need to pick up the pace.”
Ghost glanced at Nina’s monitor. “We’ll keep an eye on the coffeehouse. This guy wants Dixie. Make your relationship public. He’ll see it as a threat.”
He cleared his throat. “We don’t have a relationship.”
Red and Ghost both raised a brow.
“We don’t.” He glanced at Rayne, who smiled, but written on her face was the same doubt as the rest of his audience. “He’ll come back to the shop. I just have to wait. Next time he shows, I’ll follow him.”
“He knows who you are, Commander,” Rayne said. “If he sees you, he won’t get near the Erotic Bean.”
The hatch to the comm center opened and Lt. Elijah Bach stepped inside. When he reached the group, he glanced at the video paused on the stalker’s hand.
Rayne continued. “I’m in the Erotic Bean all the time. If he’s watching the place, I won’t look out of the ordinary. If I see him, I’ll call you.”
“Whoa, whoa. Fucking whoa!” Lt. Bach growled.
“Here we go,” Nina said, rolling her eyes.
Bach pointed at her. “Stay out of this, Mrs. Callahan.” He glared at Rayne. “You’re not getting involved with this. Not a chance.”
“But—”
His green eyes blistered with emotion. A mix of concern and love. “I’m serious, Rayne.”
Cricket smiled at her favorite SEAL. “I’m not getting involved, Lieutenant. I’m just doing what I always do. I hang out, read, and drink coffee at the Erotic Bean.”
Bach shook his head, his gaze sheering a few layers off the woman he’d fallen for. A significant age gap existed between Rayne and Bach. Josh also noticed Elijah seemed to dwarf her sweetness with his gruffness. Eli had always spent his down time on blondes with big boobs and one-night stands. Rayne reminded him of Nancy Drew. She had spunk and intelligence, but she wasn’t brassy in any way.
“I appreciate the offer, Miss Levy, but the lieutenant is correct. Involving you could be dangerous, and I wouldn’t want that on my shoulders. Ditz, can I get a copy of that video? I’ll take it and a picture of the ring to NCIS. We know more than we did an hour ago.” He glanced at his watch. He had just enough time to get to the NCIS headquarters downtown.
Ditz swung around in the chair and held out a USB. “Here it is. I’ll watch the other videos and see if we can’t identify him again. I’ve got a training work-up in an hour, but I’ll see what I can find in the meantime.”
“Thank you, Petty Officer Sacks. I realize this isn’t Navy business.”
Before he and Ghost headed for the exit, Rayne asked, “Can you convince Dixie to come stay with us?”
Lt. Bach coughed and grinned at him. “Think the commander has that in hand, Miss Levy.”
Elijah’s lithe and soft-spoken sweetheart smiled. “I know she’s safe during the day, but I’m talking about at night.”
Josh shook his head and glanced at Bach. Best friends since the first day on BUD/S, they had a tendency to think alike, but he had to wonder how a player like Elijah had convinced this charming lady with a halo to join a bad-boy like him. Her parents must have shit their pants when she’d decided to live in sin with his buddy.
“I assure you, Miss Levy, Dixie will have my protection at night.”
Elijah snorted, echoed by Ghost.
Rayne’s expression looked like someone burst her unicorn balloon. “Oh, I see.”
Elijah’s shoulders rose and fell with a chuckle, then he covered his mouth by pretending to scrub his jaw.
Nina mumbled something under her breath that sounded like animals, then answered a call from an inbound helo.
Josh surveyed the faces in the room. “Obviously, you’re all reading this situation incorrectly. My primary purpose is to keep Dixie safe.”
“Yeah, yeah. ‘Course,” was uttered from everyone present.
“Cricket, I’ll be at NCIS. Text me if you need my authorization for NavSpec ops,” Josh stated.
“Yes, sir.”
Standing straight and tall, Miss Levy’s hands were clutched in front of her, but her attention had drifted to Elijah. The gooey look in the lieutenant’s eyes made Josh roll his.
Jesus. He and Dixie hadn’t looked that ridiculous when they were in love. In fact, maybe it had never been love, but only the sex. The kind that gave him wet dreams when he wasn’t with her, but when he was…man, they’d made orgasms into supernovas.
Josh had to assume Cricket did the same for Lt. Bach.
“After you, Commander,” Admiral Austen said.
> ****
Josh dropped off the admiral by his rental vehicle inside the security gates of NAB after they’d met with Lt. Manchester. As expected, the NCIS agent saw a need for further investigation. But, because there was no connection to the Navy, he gave Josh a name at the local PD and said he’d call to hand off the case. He also kept the file folder containing the stalker’s notes and the knife he’d used to kill the cat to test for trace evidence.
“We’ll see you at the barbeque,” the admiral said, getting out and walking around to the driver’s window.
“You will. Thanks for the help, sir. I appreciate it.”
“I sincerely hope you don’t have to go through what I went through. These guys are hunters, like we are. They’re hard to catch. You deploy in August. That’s not a lot of time.”
He tapped on the steering wheel of his pickup. “Concerns me, too.”
The admiral placed a hand on the driver’s door. “Once you start this ball rolling, you’re gonna wind this guy up. If you leave before he’s caught…well, let’s just say it’s hard for you to concentrate when you’re halfway around the world.”
Josh had considered the same thing. “I can’t wait to catch Dixie’s stalker until after I return.”
Ghost shook his head. “Nope, but if you start this game now, you can’t drop the anchor and hope the ship won’t run aground. When I was in your position, the only reason I deployed with my men was because I thought I had nothing else.”
Josh understood the direction of this convo. “Until you recognized Kayla was your something.”
Ghost’s blue gaze zeroed in on him. “Exactly. Even when I knew without a doubt she was the woman who would change my life, I resisted. I almost lost her a few times. And that thought alone takes my fucking breath away like no mission ever did. You told Manchester that Dixie’s an old friend, but you’re full of shit. As Frogs, we don’t get many chances at normal. At some point, you’re gonna realize one woman is the counter-balance to the dark parts of our profession.”
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