“God damn!”
“Commander, you know this guy?” Elijah asked.
“Dixie’s first job in New York. She worked for Ardon Corporation. She said Gavin Kallis owned the company and mentioned he was a senator now.”
Tex swiftly did an internet search, entering Chandler Kallis’s name. The page populated with images. The senator’s son in an expensive business suit, standing in a modern corporate office full of other suits. Pics of him at parties with beautiful women hanging off his arm. Yup. Sabrina had assessed him accurately. Chandler was a typical, dark-featured, good-looking man.
A low growl rumbled in the admiral’s throat.
Everyone’s attention swung to Ghost.
Josh knew Ghost rubbed shoulders with politicians and policy changers. “Have you met this guy, Admiral?” Josh asked.
“No, but I know his old man. Corrupt as they come and has his eye on the Presidency. Ardon trades overseas. It’s never been proven, but they were suspected of having ties to the Middle East and assisting Islamic terrorist groups in the transportation of weapons and narcotics between regions.
Tinman, sitting across from Tex, tapped the table with his fingers. “That’s why Chandler told the commander he was untouchable. Guys like the senator have connections. They have the sharpest lawyers money can buy and back doors to scurry out when things get too hot.”
Ed Saxton, who the men called, Cracker, folded his arms over his chest and nodded. “Gavin Kallis is a dirtbag with a hefty bank account. And by the looks of it, his son is a psychopath with power, money and a serious sexual dysfunction. He must have laid eyes on Dixie while she worked at the company. Maybe she turned him down. Guys like that don’t take refusal well.”
Josh shook his head. “I was with Dix when she told Det. Dean about the men she’d dated. There weren’t many. Chandler Kallis wasn’t one of them.”
The admiral rolled his massive shoulders. “Years ago, we were on a mission in Saudi Arabia to track down a group responsible for trafficking women.” He narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember. “Fox?”
Master Chief Briggs fingered his wiry beard. “Yes, sir. I remember. That’s when we heard about Ardon Corporation. Got a lead they were transporting women on their ships from King Abdul Aziz to Kuwait. Other than the manifested cargo, we found nothin’.”
The admiral nodded. “Cobbs figured they’d received a heads-up that we were coming and had removed the women before we got there.”
Josh didn’t like where this was going. “That suggests an internal leak?”
Admiral Austen clasped his large hands together. “Commander, there are so many leaks in the US Navy, it’s fucking amazing we haven’t sunk to bottom of the Pacific.”
Even if they could prove Kallis was Dixie’s stalker, he’d lawyer up and walk. “Mace, call Det. Dean. Tell him what we’ve discovered.
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Josh’s cell rang. “Sabrina. Thanks for calling.”
“Hi, Josh. I’m just getting ready to close the shop.”
“Close it now. Get your ass down to Coronado PD. Ask for Det. Dean. The police are bringing in a sketch artist.” It might be a moot point but gathering as much evidence to support that Kallis was the stalker would help.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll close up now. Everything okay? Dixie’s all right, isn’t she? She sounded fine when I spoke with her, but that doesn’t mean she is.”
Josh concurred wholeheartedly with that assessment. “She’s safe. Tomorrow is Sunday, what time do you open?”
“Same time, seven a.m. I don’t start until three tomorrow. Dix said she’d open the shop.”
“I doubt that. Can you task one of the other staff?”
“Um, yeah. I’ll try. This is all getting a little scary.”
Josh understood Sabrina’s concerns, and she didn’t even know the half of it. “Things always get messy before the air clears.”
“You’re sure Dixie is okay?”
“She is. If anyone asks of her whereabouts, tell them she’s down with the flu. Don’t share any other information. If that guy you saw the other morning comes into the Erotic Bean or you see him lurking near the shop, call me immediately.”
“I understand. Bye.”
Placing his hand on a hip and rolling the cell in his left palm, he started plotting what they knew so far.
“Commander!” He glanced up at Ghost. “Best thing to do with your men is voice your thoughts.”
The admiral’s suggestion made sense, but this wasn’t company business. “I need to get in touch with Gesem. I don’t know what Kallis has planned, but he said he spoke with her.”
The kitchen sat next to the living room. The only distinction between the two being the flooring and furnishings. The admiral took a seat on the chintz sofa.
Elijah joined the admiral and said, “Not a bad idea. She can confirm whether or not he approached her. My guess is that he’s lying. Why would she open up about you to a stranger?”
Good question. The bigger concern was Gesem’s tendency for routine. She thrived on it, which made it easy for a predator to track her movements. Worse, had she actually come to San Diego?
He dialed her number and the call went to voice mail. “Hey, Gesem. It’s Josh. Listen, I need you to call me back as soon as you get this message.”
While weighing the pros and cons of allowing the team guys in the room to get too deeply involved with Dixie’s problem, a tall, well-built man in his fifties stepped into the kitchen from the patio.
Elijah immediately jumped to his feet. “Thomas. I’ll speak with you outside.”
The man’s hazel eyes quickly surveyed the scene, the creases of concern evident, but he turned and headed outside.
Eli sighed. “That’s Rayne’s father. Decent guy but he doesn’t like me.”
“Wonder why?” Josh grinned at his friend and Elijah followed Rayne’s dad outside.
Greg LaPierre spoke quietly with Tinman, then took a seat beside Ghost. When Josh had accepted the post at Coronado, Elijah explained that LaPierre had worked with the Canadian JTF2 Special Forces, but immigrated to the US with his wife, Mattie. Greg was related to the Austens and worked on the base as a liaison. But with Ghost’s earlier explanation, it blew Josh’s mind that the admiral could overcome what he’d learned about Kayla and Greg’s relationship and still be his friend.
As the admiral had said, it must have been a hard pill to swallow. He’d bet a million bucks the road to happiness had been paved with a thousand feet of skid marks.
Turning his thoughts back to Chandler Kallis, Josh was almost dead certain he’d identified Dixie’s stalker, but hesitant to tell her until he was absolutely sure. He hoped Gesem would call him back soon. She might be able to provide more intel.
“Thoughts, sir?” Tinman asked.
“I need to know if that bastard approached Gesem. By now, he’s perfected his technique. Charismatic, especially with women. He’s a predator with a pedigree.”
Fox took a seat in the armchair to the right of Ghost. “This woman you were involved with, where does she work?”
“Office of Naval Intelligence. She’s based in Little Creek.”
Mace, Tinman, Stitch, Cracker and Tadpole, aka Nathan Young, grabbed kitchen chairs and joined the circle while Tex and Ditz remained at the table.
Mace said, “Orders, Commander.”
“Appreciate the offer, Mace, but I can’t ask you to get involved. This is my problem.”
Tinman wrinkled his brow. “We’re involved. Mace and I are pushing paperwork until the next BUD/S Orientation class. Fox and the guys from Alpha Squad are staying local for the remainder of their workups, and most of ‘em are on leave shortly, prior to deployment.”
Before Josh could debate their involvement, his cell rang again. Caller id unknown. “Hello, CDR Hunter, here.”
“Yes, Commander, this is Det. Dean. Listen, I did a background check on Chandler Kallis.”
“Let me guess. He’s been
charged with assault or rape and got off every time. I’m here with my men, I’m going to put you on speaker.”
A loud exhale pre-empted the detective’s words. “Ten allegations. Five charges. Three of the cases went to court. He has good lawyers. Got off every time due to circumstantial evidence. He used the he said, she said argument.”
“When was the last trial?” Josh asked.
“Five years ago. But what’s interesting is the trail I found. I compared Kallis’s assault records with Dixie’s locations over the last twelve years. They’re a match. At least by state and dates. I’m going to dig deeper into this to see if there are any unsolved murders or serious assaults matching the timelines and locations.”
“That sounds like a lot of work. Thank you, Detective.”
“I would highly recommend that Miss Hammond be extremely diligent. I hate to admit our justice system has loopholes for the wealthy, but the truth is, once a suspect goes to court, it’s really about his legal representation versus guilt.”
Josh ran his fingers through his hair. “Yes, we’re well aware. I’ll keep my eye on Dixie. Sabrina said she’ll be at your office shortly to work with the artist.”
The detective signed off with, “Be in touch.”
Tex and Ditz spoke in low voices. When they stopped and both turned in their seats to stare at him, he knew there was more bad news coming.
The admiral said, “Spit it out, Tex. What did you find?”
“An opportunity, sir. I searched for property ownership under both the name Kallis and the corporation name. Chandler’s old man owns an estate here in California.”
“Does it fall within range of the cell tower you identified?” Josh asked.
Tex nodded. “Place called Ramona. About fifty miles northeast of us.”
“Good. Get me the address.” He shifted his attention to Ditz. “Why do you look like that?” The comm specialist had a distinctly wary expression.
He cleared his throat. “You’re not going to like this, sir.”
Josh stood and joined Ditz at the table. The other Frogs swiveled in their chairs to have a look. The video from Dixie’s shop paused on his screen.
“This video is from five days ago. Prior to Dixie finding the first note.” Ditz pressed play.
The security camera picked up Dix working at the customer counter. Two women and a man stood in line. When the man approached, Josh could see Dixie’s body language. A reaction of surprise. Familiarity. A handsome grin widened the guy’s fetching features. Dix quickly rounded the coffee bar and the man embraced her. He faced the camera and looked right into it, then winked.
Chandler Kallis.
Josh’s blood ran cold. “I’m gonna put you six feet under, you arrogant fuck.”
Tex held out a scrap of paper with an address. Josh accepted the offer with a nod as Elijah strolled into the room.
“What did I miss?” his buddy asked.
“Got a bit of a drive ahead of me. Sorry to leave the party, Eli, but I have to check this place out.”
The scratch of chair legs on the tile floor announced that the men had all stood up. Josh surveyed the attentive gazes of the team guys in the room.
When he looked at Admiral Austen, the ranking officer gave him a knowing smile. “We should all be able to fit in three vehicles. Let’s head out.”
Chapter Thirteen
By the third pitcher of margaritas, the SEAL wives and Dixie weren’t crying, but rather laughing their heads off. The kids spent the evening playing in Marg’s giant swimming pool and looked like wrinkled prunes by the time their mothers dried them off and put them to bed.
Dixie was floored by Marg’s gorgeous mini mansion. Lush green grass encompassed the pool deck. Perfectly sculpted gardens bordered the wrought iron fence. Her kitchen was a marble and stained-wood gourmet paradise, complete with all the modern appliances, including a wine fridge.
Aside from Marg opening up her wonderful home, she was a nice woman.
“Okay,” Nina said, “Time to get serious.” She lifted her crystal margarita glass.
Dix marveled at the gold-colored stem of her glass with two tiki heads blown into the design. She’d never seen Mexican drinks served like this before. Unlike Marg, Dixie’s kitchenware came from flea markets and Target. Lifting her drink, she perched it against the circle of glasses.
Nina continued the toast. “Here’s to my protégé, Rayne, and her short-lived housewarming party that Dixie Belle here fucked up.”
“Hey, hey, I didn’t fuck it up,” Dix countered, laughing at the same time. “My demented admirer did. Besides, you took me hostage. We could have stayed.”
“Not a chance.” Lumin, Tony Bale’s wife, piped up.
Nina nodded at the blonde Dixie had mistaken for Josh’s girlfriend. “Can’t argue with the counselor.”
Lumin’s straight platinum hair swished back and forth. “Our husbands are on a mission to track down that sick bastard. In fact,” she held up her index finger, “I’m willing to bet fifty bucks they’ve already figured out who he is.”
Fox’s wife, Kate, snorted. “Oh, you can count on it. Here’s to our warriors, who never stop until they bang-bang the tango.”
They clinked their glasses.
“Tango? What’s that?” Dixie asked.
Marg Cobbs smiled. “Slang for terrorist but it works for all bad guys.”
“Ah,” Dixie drawled. “Got it. You ladies certainly know a lot of weird lingo.”
“Part of the job.” Nina licked the salt from the rim of her glass. “You gotta get with the program, Dixie Belle, if you’re gonna join this club.”
Dix snorted and wished she hadn’t revealed her middle name to the brazen redhead. “That won’t be happening. Josh is probably on the phone with Gesemmmm, right now. She’s probably camped out at his front door with her toothbrush.
“Woooo,” the women spouted in unison.
Ditz’s wife, Shelly, shook her head. “Ya know, men can be so blind, but when they zero in on one woman, there’s no turning back.” She elbowed Stitch’s wife, Naomi.
“Agreed,” Naomi said. “CDR Hunter isn’t interested in some gal he left in Virginia.” She flipped her hand as if swatting the idea away like a pesky fly. “He’s looking out for you, Dix.”
Kayla Austen shook her head and her pink lips slipped into a smile. Dix noticed that when Kayla spoke, the other women listened. The admiral’s wife was the most reserved female at the table, but still friendly. “Dixie, your admirer, like most predators, has manipulation down to a science. He knows women and what sets us off. What he said about Josh’s old girlfriend was by design.”
Dix clutched her margarita glass with both hands. “You think he knew we were listening?”
Nina knocked on the table. “Hell, yes. He knew you were at the party. Probably knew you were listening. Might even been watching.”
Well, that would explain why they’d hustled her into Rayne’s car parked in the garage and made her hide under a blanket in the back seat. If he watched, he would have thought Rayne was just running out for a last-minute item. Afterwards, the women left in three different cars. By the time he would have figured out the decoy, Dixie was long gone.
“That’s why you had me hide in Rayne’s car.”
“Ding, ding.” Lumin said. “See? You’ll make a good SEAL wife.”
Dix nearly choked on her drink. Lumin painting a picture of her future with Josh, including a wedding ring, was way off target.
As the evening wore on, Dix got the summary of not only Kayla’s history, but all of the women. They weren’t just tales of bringing a bachelor to his knees, but near-death experiences for Kayla, Lumin, Rayne and Nina.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she hadn’t finally found her tribe.
There was a brief moment when Marg spoke about her husband, Patrick. Kayla, who sat on the widow’s left side and Nina on her right, each placed a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulders. It had been six years since Patri
ck had died, grief still evident in the woman’s eyes until she regained her composure.
Fox’s wife, Kate, had Dixie’s phone. They’d all taken a turn scrolling through the texts she’d received from her stalker.
Dix grinned when Kate jerked the phone a little closer to see a particular text message. “Man, whoever this guy is, he needs to write a few erotic romances…he’d be a bestseller.
The gals laughed and somehow it made Dixie feel a thousand times better than she had in twelve years of being stalked. Making fun of her predator took away his power. At least for the moment, and that’s how she’d been living. Moment to moment.
“Hey, I got an idea,” Rayne piped up. “His last text came in this afternoon. You said he uses burner phones, but keeps them for at least a day or so before he tosses them, right?”
She shrugged. “That’s what the cops told me when they tried to track him before.”
Rayne bounced in her seat like she sat on a pogo stick and chuckled with a distinctly evil tone. She pulled out her own phone and the women leaned in to see what she was doing. Rayne typed in the stalker’s number then attached a pic.
“Oh my God!” Lumin laughed her head off.
Rayne poked the send button.
“Are you crazy?” Dixie asked.
Nina took the phone and held it up, showing the image to all the women.
They roared with laughter. The rest of the gals pulled their phones and while laughing hysterically, started a rapid-fire attack of sending her stalker the hairiest private female body parts imaginable.
Dixie laughed at the same time, saying, “Wait. Wait. Won’t he be able to find you?”
Kayla winked. “Burner app, my dear.”
Dixie howled with laughter. If her stalker still had the phone he’d last used to text her, it was overflowing with hairy girlie parts.
Nina sipped from her drink, then choked, obviously struck by a funny thought. She waved her hand and cleared her throat. “Okay, we have to give this asshat a name.”
“Dr. Demented,” Rayne spouted.
Dixie Under Siege (A Warrior's Passion Book 2) Page 14