Deadly Lies (Deadly SEALs Book 4)

by Alana Albertson

  But Meeks never told me the SEAL’s name. I had always assumed it was Joaquín. Though today, I would put my money on Paul.

  Could Tiffany possibly being alive be connected to Paul’s murder?

  I was no longer undercover, but I could easily fix that. Tiffany didn’t know that I was an NCIS agent. She thought I was just another stripper. I wasn’t. But I was in charge that night. And I had, like so many times in my life, fucked up.

  The scent of whiskey and testosterone had disarmed me that night. Though I had been sent to watch all the SEALs, for some reason, I had focused on Grant, not Joaquín. Joaquín was Tiffany’s job, her target. All the rest of the SEALs seemed to look up to Grant. Technically, Paul had been the officer in charge, but the men respected Grant.

  And, so did I.

  It felt almost wrong for me to think about that night while I was standing next to his shell-shocked wife, Mia. But Grant was not Mia’s that night. No, far from it. Grant was a broken man. Mia had left him high and dry. His green eyes were sad, and he’d been drowning his pain in liquor. And in me.

  I was not Ashley that night. I was Autumn—the good-time stripper. And what a good time we’d had.

  Grant undressed me with his bloodshot eyes, which wasn’t hard to do when I was wearing nothing more than a crop top and short shorts. “What’s your name, babe?”

  “Autumn.”

  “My favorite season. I’ll drink you up like a pumpkin spice latte.”

  Normally my reaction would be to roll my eyes. The line was cheesy, yes, but Grant didn’t seem like the rest of these men. He wasn’t grabbing my tits or my ass. He hadn’t once called me or any of the other girls “whores,” and though I could tell that he wanted me, he hadn’t been disrespectful. He treated me like I was some girl he’d met at a bar, not some stripper his Team was paying to entertain him.

  And that was the thing—I wasn’t a stripper. I was deep undercover in the SEAL Team, trying to crack the case of a drug cartel. I was an NCIS agent, an Ivy League graduate with a degree from Harvard, a woman who was still incredulous that she had to use her sexuality on her job.

  But ever since I had become Autumn, something in me had changed. I no longer judged women for doing sex work. And more importantly, I cared about these girls. Just because they took off their clothes for a living, didn’t give men the right to sexually harass or assault them.

  And there was something about Grant that stood out to me. In a good way.

  I forced my gaze off Grant’s chiseled face and turned my attention across the room to another SEAL.

  Joaquín Cruz.

  Damn, he was gorgeous, but totally in the opposite way of his buddy Grant, or even their sexy scumbag friend Mitch. Joaquín was perfection. Tall, dark skin, tattoos for days, and eyes that could seduce a nun. But there was something more to him. Something sinister. Something twisted. Something silent.

  He met my gaze and gave me a pained smile. Did he know I was undercover? The way Joaquín met my eyes made me think he could see right through my deception. Could he?

  Grant placed his hand on my jaw and turned me back to face him. “Let’s go upstairs, Autumn. I’d like to get to know you better.”

  I swallowed hard. I would LOVE to go fuck Grant, have him destroy me. But I was working. I was not here to hook up with the SEALs. I was here to watch.

  “Maybe later, bad boy. How about I give you a dance instead? And then we can party.”

  Grant nodded his head. “The stage is right there, baby.”

  Right. These fucking SEALs had so many stripper parties that they’d installed a stage in the basement as part of the movie theater.

  This house. It was Paul Thompson’s parents’ house. He was from a long line of SEALs. But I had known what I was in for when I took this job. So off to the stage, I went.

  The music came on, and I began to dance for Grant. For Mitch. For Joaquín. Grant sat in a chair in front of me, his eyes never leaving my body. Mitch hollered and threw some money at me.

  But not Joaquín. He almost looked disgusted. After a few minutes, he left the room, Tiffany on his arm.

  And that was the last time I saw her alive.

  I turned my attention back to Mia, who was staring toward the door as if she expected Joaquín to emerge and give her the answers she so desperately craved.

  I took her hand. “Mia. Mia.”

  She finally turned back toward me. “Tiffany? Are you sure? She’s…she’s dead. Joaquín killed her. He told me he killed her.”

  “But didn’t he also tell you that he didn’t kill her? And that he raped you.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded. “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Neither do I. Let’s get out of here and make a plan.”

  I led Mia out of the jail and into Grant’s waiting truck. We had been away from Mitch and Grant for less than a few days but, somehow, these last few days seemed like an eternity.

  And it definitely was an eternity to Mitch. Sienna was still missing, and Mitch was cationic. I needed to go to him. But at the moment, I had to follow this lead. Of course, finding Sienna was the number one priority, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that seeing Tiffany wasn’t a coincidence.

  I drove, since Mia was in even worse shape than I was. Ever since her finding out the other day that Joaquín could be innocent, she’d been despondent. It was almost as if she had believed that he hadn’t hurt her for so long, once a glimmer of hope actually appeared, she didn’t know how to process it.

  I didn’t know Marin at all. I had to rely on Mia to be my guide. “Do you know of a good hotel around here.”

  She nodded. “Go to Tiburon. Grant and I spent the night there after he proposed.”

  I pursed my lips. Proposed. Mia had Grant. Someone who loved her unconditionally. Would I ever have someone who felt about me the way Grant felt about Mia? Could it be Mitch? “Okay.”

  We made our way from San Quentin to Tiburon. This part of California was beautiful. I had a view of all three bridges. We finally reached the Tiburon Lodge, and I booked us a room. Once inside, I took Mia’s hands.

  “Mia, listen to me. I may be crazy, but I think that was Tiffany. I mean, I knew her. I never forget a face.”

  “I keep asking this, but what does that mean? What if it is her? Then Joaquín would go free! Didn’t you see her dead?”

  I shook my head. “No. I didn’t. The next morning, Joaquín said she was dead, and then there were cops and paramedics everywhere.”

  “So, did someone else die? Didn’t they have a body?”

  “I don’t know. I assume. Joaquín was arrested and the paramedics took away a body.”

  “So, she’s alive, and her mom raised my son, and now she’s visiting Joaquín. I can’t make heads or tails out of this!”

  Neither can I.

  “Did she know you were NCIS?”

  “No, she didn’t. She knew me as Autumn.”

  And then an idea hit me.

  It was crazy. But it had been done before.

  The same idea that must’ve hit Mia when she went undercover as Ksenya.

  “Mia, we can’t give up. I can find her. Follow her. Make her trust me. Find out her secrets.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  My heart raced. “I have to become Autumn again.”

  Autumn. I had buried her deep in my soul. An undercover job that I never wanted. An undercover job that humiliated me. But part of me was Autumn. That carefree, sweet stripper with a dirty mouth. Autumn didn’t judge. She loved everyone. She wanted to help.

  Maybe in general I should be more like Autumn. Mitch would love her.

  And she would now do what Ashley couldn’t do during the Joaquín Cruz case. She would get to the bottom of this mystery. She would figure out if and why Joaquín had lied. She would figure out whose body was carted away. And she would figure out the secrets of the Se7en Deadly SEALs. If it was the last thing she did.

  7

  Mia

/>   ASHLEY LEFT ME ALONE IN the hotel room so she could go gather what she needed to transform back into Autumn. Of course, she was an NCIS agent, but she hadn’t even asked permission to do this. And I doubted that she would. She was willing to risk her career to see if Tiffany was alive.

  And now I was back in the same hotel that I had spent the night in after Grant and I had become engaged. I closed my eyes and tried to remember how happy I had been that night. Happy that for that brief moment, I had something to look forward to in the future.

  But now, I had to focus on the past.

  Joaquín.

  I needed to see him. Speak to him. Alone. If he was going to lie to me, I wanted to look in his eyes.

  There was no chance he would be open with Ashley, but maybe, just maybe, he would tell me the truth.

  He owes me that. After he ruined my life.

  I paused. Did he ruin my life?

  Or had he saved it?

  My mind was flooded once again with all the what-ifs. All the ways I had explained the case to myself at first came rushing back. Before Joaquín told me to my face that he had been the one to rape me, or, as he’d called it, made love to me.

  But I had never believed him. Ever. Even when he stood before me and forced me to undress at gunpoint, to show him how much I loved him, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t.

  And maybe now, I didn’t have to.

  Visiting hours were tomorrow. Tomorrow, I would sneak off and confront my brother. I needed to find out about Tiffany. And more importantly, I needed to see if she had anything to do with Sienna’s disappearance.

  I picked up the phone and called Annie.

  “Hey, Mia. Julián is right here. We’re having so much fun together.”

  “Is he being a good boy?”

  “Yes. He’s a delight. Here he is.”

  “Mama!”

  “Hi, mijo! I miss you so much. Are you having fun with Gabriel and Cherie and Pat and Annie?”

  “Yup. Mama, when can I have a baby sister?”

  I laughed. Grant and I would love more children. Neither of us had experience with a baby since we didn’t find out that Julián was alive until he was a toddler. But I wanted to settle into my role as an NCIS agent before I took on any more responsibilities.

  “I’m not sure, baby. But I love you. Mommy will be home in a few days. Be good.”

  “Love you, Mama.”

  We hung up, and I called Grant.

  “Hey, babe.” His deep voice always made me melt.

  “Hey. Guess where I am?”

  “Well, you already told me—Marin. The Lodge?”

  “Good guess! Wish you were with me. I just talked to Julián, and he asked for a baby sister.”

  Grant laughed. “Well, let’s give him one.”

  I smiled. I was so grateful that Grant loved children. He was the best father.

  But so was Mitch. My heart sank. “Soon. Any news about Sienna?”

  “No. The investigation in Disney is winding down. They told Mitch to go home. But he won’t leave.”

  “Yeah, I don’t blame him. Leaving is so final. He went to Disney with her; now she’s gone.” I flashed back to the hospital the night my baby was born. Walking out of that place without my newborn was the worst feeling in the world. “Why don’t you both come up here?”

  “That’s a big fat no.”

  Breathe, Mia. “Well, why not? Julián is with Pat and Annie. We’re following a lead up here.”

  Grant loudly exhaled. “A lead to what, Mia? Sienna? Because those are the only leads worth following right now. She vanished from Disneyland, not the Golden Gate Bridge.”

  Now, it was my turn to exhale. I needed to tread lightly, or Grant would lose it. “Of course, I know that. Finding Sienna is the only goal.” And I meant that. With all my heart. But I couldn’t push aside the belief that discovering what Joaquín was hiding would lead me to Sienna. After all, Joaquín had supposedly been involved in hiding Julián. It wasn’t a far stretch. Two Navy SEAL kids, both linked by the Team.

  I was still figuring out how exactly to bring up my plan to Grant when he spoke. “This better have nothing to do with Joaquín. Tell me, Mia. Tell me you are not going down another rabbit hole with your brother.”

  Should I lie. I decided to remain silent.

  “Mia?”

  “Fine. I am. But it’s not what you think. We went to visit him to see if he could shed any light on this case,” I lied. I hated lying to my husband, but sometimes it was necessary. “And Ashley saw a girl that she thought looked like Tiffany. Can you believe it?”

  “Angelita Mia Cruz Carrion! What the fuck are you doing? And now you have Ashley roped into your delusions? Tiffany is fucking dead. Sienna could be alive. Now get your ass back down to San Diego so we can help Mitch.”

  I seethed. He had no right to talk to me like this, no right at all. “Look, I know you’re stressed out, we are all. But I think I’m on to something, and I’m not just going to let it go. This could save Sienna. I’m not going to just ignore my gut and listen to you and then miss the one clue that might save her. You are welcome to come up here with me, but I’m an NCIS agent now. Ashley and I are on it.” I paused, wondering if I should throw in this last zinger. “And by Ashley, I mean Autumn.”

  “Autumn?! Is she going undercover again? Are you about to become Ksenya? Should I be speaking in Russian?”

  “Whatever, Grant. I’m not going to get into this with you now. I love you. But you need to trust me. I’m going to see Joaquín tomorrow. And the minute we wrap things up in Marin, we’ll come down to San Diego. Call me the second you hear anything about Sienna. Good night.”

  Grant didn’t even bother to say good night. The dead phone line told me exactly what he was feeling—rage.

  And I got it. But I was going to see my brother tomorrow and get answers.

  And nothing and no one, not even my husband or this mystery girl who resembled Tiffany, was going to stop me.

  8

  Autumn

  UNLIKE MIA BECOMING KSENYA, BECOMING Autumn did not require any crazy plastic surgery for me. And the only accent I had to use was that of a SoCal girl, which was easy. After all, I was a native.

  And I hated to admit it, but I loved Autumn. She was like my alter ego. Ashley was too serious. Autumn was all fun. But in order to make her real, I had delved deep into her psyche. What made Autumn tick? Why did she do the things she did?

  Autumn had taught me compassion and understanding. Both of which were daily struggles for me. I was too judgy. Like how I had judged Mia and Joaquín. It was a constant struggle, and one I would have to work on to grow as a person. As a woman. As an agent.

  I drove to the nearest mall and headed to the nearest cosmetic counter. Time to get some new makeup. Then I grabbed a few new pieces of clothing and some push-up bras in bright colors.

  Back at the lodge, Mia and I ordered a quick dinner. She was a bit distant, and I knew she was always plotting something. But at this point, I needed to trust that we were working together toward the same goal, not separate ones.

  After dinner, Mia told me she wanted to take a walk around the water. Though I really wanted some fresh air, I needed to be alone, so I waved her off.

  Once I was in costume, I sent Mitch a selfie. I knew he was still a fucking mess, but I’d do anything I could to brighten his day.

  Almost immediately, he replied to the text.

  Mitch: Autumn? Is that you?

  Ashley: Yes, bad boy. I’ll save you a dance.

  The phone rang.

  “Hey. Are you okay? Any updates?”

  “No. None. They’re saying it’s their number-one priority. It just hit the media. They want me to do a press conference, but I don’t even think that will help. And I’m a fucking SEAL. I can’t go on national television and expose myself. They also suggested that I go back to San Diego, but I can’t return home without her. I just can’t.”

  “I get it. That would be awful.” Then
an idea hit me. “What if you come up to San Francisco? I’m working on a lead.”

  “Lead? Lead for Sienna? What is it?”

  I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t fully focused on his daughter. I was. But I believed finding out if this girl was Tiffany could help. “I mean, yes and no. But I think it’s connected. We went to visit Joaquín yesterday. And I saw a girl there. I swear it was Tiffany.”

  “Tiffany? The dead stripper? Are you fucking serious right now? That’s what you’re doing when my baby is missing? That’s your priority?”

  I knew he was pissed. Rightfully so. But I believed the key was somewhere between Joaquín being innocent and Tiffany being alive.

  I believed that Sienna had been taken as part of some weird SEAL child-trafficking ring. It had to be similar to when Julián was taken. And Joaquín knew where he was the entire time, at least I thought he did. Hell, I didn’t know what I thought anymore. And I was no longer certain that Joaquín had been behind any of it.

  “Listen to me. Finding Sienna is my number one and only priority. I promise to you. But I think this could be a lead. And no one else is going to investigate this. Tiffany’s mom was harboring Julián—a kidnapped Navy SEAL’s child. Both SEALs on the same Team. There could be a link. You have to trust me.”

  He let out a guttural grunt. “Trust you? Trust you? Why should I? I don’t trust you at all! You probably only went out with me because you thought I murdered Paul. Well, I didn’t. And then you left me alone at Disneyland with Sienna. Maybe if you had stayed, she wouldn’t be missing.”

  My chest constricted, but I forced myself to remain calm. I had dealt with plenty of distraught parents in my time as an agent—that was the grief talking, not Mitch.

  “I know you don’t mean that, that you don’t blame me for Sienna going missing. I was called back to work. I didn’t want to go. But I get it. You’re lashing out because you are angry. Hurt. Helpless. But I believe there’s something to this theory. And I’m going to investigate it, whether you want me to or not.”