Under Suspicion

by Sommer Smith

  He hoped Keilani wouldn’t ask questions about their mission, but he really didn’t know enough details to fully explain to her what was going on. If she knew how little he understood about what was happening, would she feel even more frightened than she already was? If so, she might give up on the job before it was even started. And he still wasn’t sure if this whole experiment—bringing a civilian in to help with the dolphins—was for the benefit of the public or the navy, or possibly both. The admiral had just convoluted the situation. The dolphins were well equipped to find drugs. It wouldn’t take any additional complicated training for them to handle the task. Was there something else going on?

  It was odd that someone would be bold enough to smuggle drugs right under their noses, and it seemed a strange coincidence that Keilani was here to help with the dolphins’ increased training for drug smuggling prevention and encountered what he was sure was that very thing on her first day. But the investigation team was refusing to disclose anything to him right now other than what they believed was absolutely necessary. He was frustrated by the slow process, but mostly because he wanted to be sure his dolphins were safe.

  Keilani was every kind of contradiction he could think of right now, also. She seemed fragile, but expressed a toughness he didn’t expect. She was young and beautiful, but her résumé provided an impressive list of skills and experiences. She had every reason to be bold and confident, yet she was quiet and unobtrusive in her manner. He didn’t quite know what to do with all of this information, so he just stored it away.

  More important, he needed to keep tabs on their surroundings. No one around them had behaved suspiciously as they left, but it was essential to keep watch in a situation like this. He decided to phone ahead to prepare his roomies for what was happening. Emmett answered his phone on the second ring.

  “What’s up, bro?” Typical Emmett.

  “Just a heads-up on a situation we’ve got going on.” Micah explained the day’s events as succinctly as he could. “Just need you and Xavier to keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual. Will you tell him?”

  “Uh, he’s already gone. I can tell him, but you might want to just call him.” Emmett explained Xavier’s plans to complete a report he had coming due on a recent assignment. “Sorry I missed all the fun, though. See you when you get here.”

  “Okay. It’s no problem. I’ll talk to you later, man.” Once Micah had disconnected, he did a more thorough search of the mirrors he had been watching the whole time.

  Things were quiet. Micah didn’t like quiet. It always led to something, and he didn’t like waiting, either.

  Keilani, too, seemed to be on edge. She said nothing as they drove, only stared out the front windshield as if her thoughts were somewhere else. Micah didn’t have that luxury.

  Once Micah had taken care of all the details, he concentrated on getting Keilani’s things. Her car was parked a few blocks from the base where she had left it before her swim. They were just easing into the parking lot when Micah’s senses began to prickle with awareness. SEAL senses, they sometimes called them.

  “Stay in the truck no matter what. Lock the doors.” Micah barked the order at Keilani as he opened his door. He ignored her surprised expression. A quick scan proved the threat was out of sight, but it didn’t matter. It was still there.

  He stayed low, prepared to dive for cover if the danger manifested, half jogging between the vehicles in his search. He had silently pulled his Sig and held it at the ready.

  He traveled stealthily up and down the parking lot, but there was no one there. Just to be certain, he made another pass and scanned all the nearby rooftops. He finally decided it was something else.

  He knew better than to disregard his instincts, so he tapped on the truck window. “Stay there, but unlock your car. I’ll get your things.”

  Keilani nodded and fumbled for her keys, which she must have tucked into her wetsuit with her Glock earlier. She hit the button on her key fob and just as Micah was about to step around the front of the truck and approach her Honda, an explosion rent the air.

  Throwing himself to the ground, Micah instantly made his evaluation. The lock switch on her car had been set to trigger a bomb, on a slight delay, that would have blasted her to the next county had she been about to get in it. Fragments of what was once her Honda littered the ground around him, some of them still flaming brightly. He thought Keilani might have screamed, but his focus was elsewhere. He made his way back around to the driver’s-side door of his truck and jumped in just as she was about to get out.

  “Are you okay?” Keilani asked, releasing the door handle.

  He only nodded and threw the truck into Drive. She was examining him from head to toe as if sure he was lying.

  “Really, I’m good. We have to get out of here, though. The perp will be coming to see if the job is done.” The tires squalled as he pulled away.

  As if in answer, more tires squalled as a black van sped toward them.

  “Too late.” Keilani cringed and fell down into the seat as Micah whirled the truck around and toward the road.

  “Just hold on.” Micah gunned it out of the lot, looking for obstacles to put between them and the shooter. A parade of multistoried buildings provided an alley to his left. It seemed his only option.

  “Stay down, just in case,” he said when he noticed Keilani trying to get a look.

  She did as he asked, but her slumped form betrayed her frustration. The metallic ding of a bullet hitting the truck assured them it was a good precaution.

  “I’ll let you know if anything good happens.” He winked at her.

  She jumped and made a small shriek as a bullet cracked the windshield. She was making it difficult for him to concentrate on keeping them on the road. When she looked up at him, she seemed even more frightened. He had been told he looked kind of scary when he got in the zone, but this was the first time he believed it.

  Focus, Kent. Focus.

  Everything in him wanted to charge toward their pursuer and end the danger for good, but with Keilani to protect, that wasn’t an option. Her petite form folded up below the dash served as a reminder for him of why he chose this job.

  Skidding into the alley, Micah increased his speed again, hoping to spot a new defense option when they came out the other side. From what he could gather, there were two men—one driving and one shooting. He was going to have to think fast. The farther east they traveled, the greater the chance of more civilians getting caught in the crossfire.

  He made a gutsy decision.

  Slamming on the brakes, Micah sent the truck sliding up next to a curb outside a bank. He took out a dumpster along the curb to make room. Keilani’s seatbelt caught, but she was ready, hanging on to the handle at the top of the cab. The shots had slowed, making him suspicious. He needed to act quickly. He pointed. “Keilani, get inside that bank and run to Eli Colby’s office, first door on the right. Give him my name and Code 724. He’ll lock you in the vault. Go!”

  “What?” Her response was a squeak. He would have thought he asked her to crawl into a pit of vipers from the terrified look on her face.

  “Just do it. I’ll explain later.” He had his Sig at the ready, knowing the black van would round the corner any second now. He watched her, ready to do whatever it took to catch the attention of the driver in hopes of drawing fire away from Keilani.

  He let out a relieved sigh when she obeyed, then rushed back down the sidewalk in the direction from which they came. When the van turned the corner, he was ready.

  Two quick shots blew out both of the driver’s-side tires. Micah ducked behind a car when the shooter returned fire. Sirens in the distance assured him Keilani had made it safely into the bank vault. It also informed the men in the van they were out of time.

  Two men in jeans and plain T-shirts fled the disabled van, ski masks over their faces, one still shooting
in Micah’s general direction. He quickly responded by winging the shooter in the firing arm—which Micah noticed was his left.

  The men were nearly out of range, so Micah opted to conserve rounds, considering he had no more cartridges in the truck. He would remedy that ASAP.

  A quick discussion with an officer sent two in search of the fleeing men, but Micah didn’t expect them to be apprehended. As soon as he could get away, he sprinted back to the Federal Reserve Bank.

  Keilani was fuming. “Why did you do that? The man shoved me into the vault like a condemned prisoner. He didn’t even let me finish telling him what happened.”

  “Good. He did his job.” Micah knew his expression hadn’t softened any. He pointed her to the door.

  “What exactly is his job?” It was obvious she had no intention of letting it go that easily.

  He held open the door to the bank as she stepped outside. “With the naval base and the presence of the SEALs, the trained dolphins and other security issues, we have contacts around the area in case of dangerous situations. The bank, having a secure vault, is an obvious choice.”

  He had given no consideration to her feelings on being stuffed into the vault. It made her feel a little uneasy. “What if I was claustrophobic? And it kind of scared me being manhandled that way.”

  So that was it. She didn’t like tight spaces.

  He looked her over. “You seem to be fine.”

  Micah didn’t miss the mutinous expression that met his grin as she took off for the truck.

  He thought she was muttering under her breath. She was going to be even more unhappy in a moment. “We aren’t taking the truck.”

  She halted. “What? Why not?”

  He shrugged. “Protocol. We’ll walk to meet my roommate, Emmett, then we’ll get another vehicle.” He glanced at the once-shiny truck now riddled with bullet holes, the front end smashed from moving the dumpster out of the way. “I’m not especially happy with the condition of my truck right now, either.”

  She winced. “I’m so sorry. I can pay for repairs.”

  He let out an incredulous laugh. “No. Besides, I think it’s totaled.”

  It was obvious she felt terrible about it, but he had no idea what to say to her to make it better, so he said nothing.

  “Will your insurance go up?” Her eyebrows crinkled together.

  He just shook his head. “I’m a SEAL. That’s not even an issue.”

  She clearly didn’t understand, but he couldn’t take the time to explain it to her right now.

  “We have special allowances for things like that. It’s sort of a benefit. Our auto insurance is covered through the navy.”

  People were beginning to look in their direction, curious over recent events, and he could see them putting the pieces together in their minds.

  “Keilani, we have to get going.”

  It took another second or two, but she finally started moving. He couldn’t really blame her. She had been through a lot in one day.

  “We’re going to get you settled and safe.” He hoped the quiet promise wouldn’t prove to be false.

  “I’m fine.”

  Her body language said otherwise.

  * * *

  Having Emmett with them proved to be a big help with perspective. He had some angles Micah hadn’t thought of just yet. They took Emmett’s Jeep back to their house to the tune of a million questions.

  “Dude, how’d you tear up your arm? You gonna be good to swim? ’Cause I could work with Keilani.” He added a few more comments, but Micah never got past that one.

  “Emmett, you know next to nothing about the dolphins.” In other words, back off.

  “I’ve been thinking I’d like to learn. Maybe she could teach me some things. You could use a hand, right, O Great Dolphin Master? It might come in handy on missions. Wouldn’t you want my help, Dr. Lucas?”

  Emmett was deliberately refusing to take the hint. “Funny. And it’s not a good time. My arm is fine. It’s not deep. Keilani and I can handle things.”

  “But you shouldn’t get to have all the fun. Besides, with your aversion to commitment you probably won’t do the same job forever, right? Someone will need to take over for you eventually.” Emmett kept looking at Keilani, probably trying to gauge her reaction to his remarks.

  Now Emmett was just playing dirty by reminding him of his determination to remain single while letting Keilani know he was emotionally unavailable. But he wasn’t having it.

  “That doesn’t mean I want you to move in and try to take my job.” I saw her first. It was juvenile, but there it was.

  Emmett laughed and thumped the steering wheel before throwing up his hands. “All right, fine. So you’re a little attached to your dolphins. I guess you’re allowed to change your mind. I’ll leave it alone.”

  Uh-oh. He had played right into Emmett’s hands. Rookie mistake. Emmett knew exactly where Micah stood with Keilani now. He would be sure to read too much into it. Micah would never hear the end of it.

  If he were to be honest, Micah really didn’t know where he stood with his feelings about Keilani. He probably felt more tenderness toward her than he would have liked. But with his dangerous career, any relationships were out of the question. She was his responsibility for now, and he didn’t want Emmett making things more difficult for her. His friend had a tendency to take things lightly and Micah needed to set up a boundary. The last thing Keilani needed was the worry of someone being too friendly with her while she was in serious danger.

  Keilani, however, seemed to be oblivious to the double meanings hiding in the conversation between the two men. He was thankful for that. But she also looked exhausted and that angered him. He felt the deep frown cutting into his face.

  “Hey, Emmett, we’ve got to do some research on these activities in the bay tonight. Do you think you could do some scouting for us?”

  “You mean off duty?” He looked a little dubious. “I could try. I have that thing with Hudson, but after that, maybe?”

  “Good. Don’t mention it to anyone. Not even Hudson.” He also glanced at Keilani, who understood and nodded.

  “You think they have an inside?” Emmett looked pretty angry at the suggestion.

  “I sure hope not. I can’t think of anything worse. And besides, who could it be? We’re brothers, all of us. No one on the team would betray the rest of us like that.” Micah hated the prickling of doubt that he felt. But it was there. He couldn’t ignore it.

  “You’re right. It couldn’t be.” Emmett shook his head and offered a jovial grin to them both.

  When they rolled up to the house, everything looked peaceful. Micah was thankful for that, at least. He showed Keilani to her room, gave her a pair of his shorts and a T-shirt, then offered her his shower. Her grateful expression was all the thanks he needed.

  He moved to the living room and sat for a moment with Emmett to drink some coffee. It didn’t have much effect on him anymore, but he still drank it, mostly out of habit. Maybe it would speed up his thought processes. Besides, he wouldn’t be able to settle down to sleep any time soon.

  “She’s pretty good-looking.” Emmett had at least waited for Keilani to get in the shower before making the comment. “Must be a real trial to be forced to work with her for the next several weeks.”

  Micah narrowed his eyes. “That’s totally irrelevant.”

  “Not really. She’s single. I’m not as phobic of commitment as you are. She won’t be in danger forever. I mean, maybe I could even volunteer to protect her and get you off the hook. You could concentrate on the dolphins.” Emmett played it off, but Micah knew what he was up to. What was his problem? Why wouldn’t he let it go? He supposed it was just Emmett’s personality. He didn’t want to be left out if something was happening.

  “Leave her alone, Emmett. You already know I’m trying not to get inv
olved. You shouldn’t, either. She has too much to be concerned about for romance right now. Especially with a SEAL.” If he refused to give Emmett the reaction he wanted, maybe he would let it drop.

  Besides, they needed to get down to business. “If I have it figured right, the target area is right under our noses. They must be disguising it somehow when they aren’t working. They likely didn’t expect any activity in the early-morning hours, which is why Keilani surprised them on her swim.”

  Emmett frowned, but he let his previous conversation topic go. “You think they know the routines?”

  “Looks like it. That’s not an easy feat, considering our crazy schedules.” Micah drained the mug.

  “They could have a spy.” Emmett reached for the cup in Micah’s hand and took both mugs to refill them.

  When his phone buzzed, Micah picked it up as Emmett stepped into the kitchen, but before he could even read who the message was from, a scream pierced the silence. He rushed to the bathroom as his blood iced over.

  FOUR

  Micah dropped the phone into his pocket on his way to the bathroom door. “Keilani, are you okay? What’s going on?”

  The shower had shut off and now the bathroom was eerily silent. Finally, she answered him through the door, her voice small. “I’m fine. I’m sorry—I—I just panicked.”

  He thought for a beat before asking her what she meant. “What? Panicked over what?”

  She spoke through the closed door again. “Just a minute. I’ll show you.”

  He could hear her rustling around in the bathroom while he waited, reassuring him that she was physically unharmed. Finally, the door opened.

  Her face was pale, even after being freshly scrubbed in the heat of the shower. “My phone chimed as I was turning off the water. When I checked the messages, I found that someone had sent me all of these pictures.”