Protected in His Arms: Elite Texas SEALs

by Castillo, Holly

  Longing settled into her bones. Her family moved so often she struggled to keep up with where they were. Last she had heard they were working at some ranch in Montana. Each of her siblings had done like her and pursued their dreams, taking them away from the nomad life they had been raised in. She hadn’t seen her parents or brothers in at least two years, though she talked to them frequently on the phone.

  “Evie!” Anya stood, smiling brightly. “Did you finally get some sleep?”

  Evie forced her lips into a smile. “I got a little rest. Thank you.”

  “You sure as hell don’t look like it.” Elena shook her head and walked over to her, giving her a gentle embrace. “I hope you can get some sleep tonight.”

  “You don’t need to fuss over me. I’m fine.” Evie squeezed Elena back in their hug before quickly changing topics. “It smells amazing in here. Snap, what have you whipped up this time?”

  Snap turned from the stove and grinned. “Roast beef, honey-glazed carrots, and sour cream mashed potatoes with some brown gravy to make you drool.”

  “Just the sound of all of that makes me drool.” Evie smiles again, but it came easier and felt less forced.

  Evie had felt Santo’s eyes on her from the moment she walked into the room. Could she move past the hurt he’d caused her and forgive him? She wanted to. She desperately wanted to be able to lean on him and be wrapped in his strong arms as they both grieved the loss of an incredible person in their lives.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Santo stand and begin to approach her. Her arm tightened around Elena, and her good friend knew immediately what to do. “Anya and I are going to take Evie onto the back porch so she can enjoy the sunset.”

  “Don’t stay out there more than ten minutes or you’ll miss out on first dibs on the food.” Snap chuckled.

  Anya stood quickly to join them just as Evie’s phone began to ring. The light-hearted chirping sound startled her so much she jumped before fumbling in her back pocket for the device. She didn’t recognize the number but slid the call to accept it without thinking twice.

  The voice of a soft-spoken, older man asked to speak to Evie Gordon. Her hand tightened on the phone. “Speaking.” Her voice trembled slightly and she wrapped her free arm around her waist to hide the way her hands were shaking. Her gut told her the caller had to be the coroner.

  “We’ve done a thorough analysis of Judge Francis O’Connor’s body and have ruled her death a homicide. I understand you want to make funeral arrangements, and you can move forward with that now. Her body will be released by tomorrow morning.”

  “Did you…” She paused and cleared her throat. “Did you find anything to lead you to the killer?”

  “I wish I could discuss the details with you, but it’s turned into a homicide investigation, and you’ll have to go to the sheriff for any questions going forward.”

  Evie nodded into the phone before realizing he couldn’t see her. “I understand. Thank you, sir. I’ll begin the funeral arrangements tomorrow morning.”

  “I’m sorry for the unpleasant news, Miss Gordon. If it’s any comfort, it doesn’t appear she suffered much.”

  Evie swallowed back the bile rising in her throat and glanced over at Santo. The compassion in his eyes gave her strength. “It does help. Thank you, sir. I’ll contact the sheriff with any additional questions.”

  She disconnected the call and took her eyes off Santo to realize everyone in the room watched her with concern and curiosity. “It’s been ruled a homicide.” She barely got the words out. She didn’t think she could cry anymore, but a few tears slipped past her defenses and she hastily wiped them away.

  Anya and Elena made their move, then, wrapping their arms around her and directing her to the back porch. She took one last glance at Santo’s face and saw the same anguish etched in his features she felt. Her heart ached, and for the first time since he’d called her the night before, it ached for Santo.

  Chapter 15

  Santo watched Evie pick at her food, moving it around on the plate but not eating any of it. He’d learned in the navy that you never knew when your meal might be the last you’d have for days, so he always ate, no matter how upset or tired or frustrated. Evie didn’t have such training, and he could tell she was already getting weak.

  He wanted to help her, to soothe her, to tell him he understood her pain, but she didn’t want to have a thing to do with him. She didn’t make a sound through the entire meal, and the team picked up on the somber mood, and the conversation revolved around a few instances at the clinic for Anya and a story of an unruly horse Elena attempted to train.

  Santo admired her friendships. Glad that she had them to watch over her. But, damn it, he wanted to watch over her, too. He wanted to be in her circle of trust and be special to her. She had to forgive him at some point.

  She tried to offer to clean up after dinner, but the team wouldn’t hear of it. Santo kept an eye on her as she sipped on a cup of tea Snap had made for her. When she grabbed a handful of sugar cubes out of the jar on the table and headed toward the back door, he knew exactly what she had planned.

  He had barely taken two steps to see her when a hand grabbed his arm, stopping him mid-stride. He looked down at Anya and she watched him with sisterly love. “I know she seems tough, but she’s hurting. Don’t push too hard for the answers you need. If she trusts you, she’ll tell you in her own time.”

  Santo’s heart ached when Anya mentioned trust. He made have done irreparable damage to their trust. But he’d be damned if he’d give up. He kissed the top of Anya’s head and squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”

  When he stepped outside, the sky had turned magnificent shades of purples, reds, and oranges as the sun sank on the horizon. He headed for the barn, knowing he’d find Evie inside. Her whispers of encouragement and tender voice brought a smile to his face when he saw her feeding a couple of sugar cubes to one of the horses in the stalls.

  He made a point to shuffle his feet on the gravel just outside the barn so he wouldn’t take her by surprise. She turned sharply, her expression tense, but let her breath out slowly when she saw him. “Why are you so scared, Evie?” He kept his tone neutral as he entered the barn.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because a killer is lurking around and he hasn’t been caught.” Her sharp, sarcastic tone surprised him. He’d never seen her like this.

  “You’re safe here. You know that, right?”

  Evie brushed her hands off on her jeans and patted the horse on the neck. “What do you want, Santo?”

  “I want to talk to you. Without getting into an argument. Without you shutting down on me.”

  “Without you accusing me and lying to me? This should be rich.”

  “I deserve that. I get it—I hurt you. If you step back from that, you’ll realize just about anyone would ask the same questions I did. Hell, now that her death has been officially ruled a homicide, there’s a good chance the sheriff will ask you all of those questions and more.”

  Evie folded her arms around her waist and tilted her head to the side. “It doesn’t change the fact that you did it to me. I thought we were growing close. I thought we were—I-I don’t know, creating a relationship. Clearly, I’m a fool for thinking anything was happening other than a way for you to pass time.”

  “Evie, that’s not true. And it’s not fair. If you’re trying to hit below the belt, you’re doing a damn good job.”

  “Then tell me what all of this is about, Santo? Tell me why you doubted me—no, suspected me from the very beginning?”

  “Francis was like my older sister. She’d been my support for a long time. I saw you and all I could think about was Francis telling me you were her defense and that no one would get past you to get at her. I let my anger at her death impact all thoughts.”

  “She said that about me?” Evie’s voice came out barely above a whisper.

  “Yes. So do you understand why I felt that way? I realize you couldn’t have done it—I rea
lized I jumped to a conclusion that wasn’t fair to you.”

  “How do you know I couldn’t have done it?” She lifted her chin. “What has made you change your mind?”

  Santo clenched and unclenched his hands. “I believed you after we talked at the hospital.”

  Evie shook her head. “I’m not stupid, Santo. You needed proof or you would still have doubts.”

  How does she know me so well already? We’ve only had a couple of dates. This is insane. “I made a few phone calls. I confirmed you were in Corpus.”

  Evie gave a sharp bark of laughter. “Well, that’s a relief. At least my alibi checks out. I’m thrilled you now feel like talking to me.”

  “Damn it.” Santo ran his hands through his hair, frustration gnawing at his stomach. “I know I screwed up yesterday. And I’m screwing up this apology right now.”

  “Oh, this is an apology? You’re telling me you checked out my story as part of your alibi?”

  Santo took a few steps toward Evie. “What would you prefer for me to do? Would you prefer me to lie and tell you I blindly trusted you? I care for you, Evie. I like you a lot. But we’ve only spent a couple of days together, and that’s hardly enough for me to know what kind of person you are.”

  Evie closed her eyes tightly and let out a shaky breath. “I just—I never expected to be treated that way by you. I trusted you. I thought you would be my shoulder to cry on, the person I could lean on through all of this.”

  “Evie, I’m sorry the way things played out. Do you at least understand why, now?”

  Her head jerked in a nod and she swiped at a tear that had slid down her face. “I understand. It doesn’t make it easier, but I understand.”

  “Evie, I can be that shoulder you need to cry one. I want to be the person you lean on through all of this.”

  “There’s just so much I want to know and don’t want to know, and my mind is racing.”

  “Racing with what?” He took a couple more steps toward her. She reminded him of a skittish foal, nervous about his approach and he had to make it slow and easy.

  She waved a hand in the air. “Everything. What did she do to have someone want to kill her? Who killed her? How did they know her schedule? What was she doing at the courthouse so late last night? It’s all spinning in my head.”

  “Something tells me you have some ideas that might answer some of those questions.”

  Evie narrowed her eyes at him. “And you expect me to trust you with any of my thoughts?”

  “Who else can you? If you know something that could put other people in danger, do you really want to tell Anya or Elena?”

  “Maybe I should just go to the sheriff.”

  “Maybe. But you don’t seem inclined to trust him either.”

  “He’s a good man. But I don’t think he’s going to know what to do with the thoughts I have.”

  “Evie, let me help you. Can we make peace and try to get through this together? I don’t want this to keep weighing so heavily on you.”

  “And what do you expect to do with the information? You’re just a cowboy. What are you going to do? Form a posse and go hunt down the bad guys?”

  Her comment reminded him vividly of her comment the previous night that they weren’t in the “Wild West” any longer. He finally stood close enough he could see her beautiful blue eyes, and the pain and tension hurt her more than he wanted to acknowledge. “I have connections, Evie. If you know who did this, we can bring him down very quickly. I just need to know who.”

  Evie shook her head. “I don’t know.” Her voice sounded raw with tears. “I’ve been researching all day. I’ve put notes on everything I can find. But I can’t pinpoint the group that ordered her murder, nor can I narrow it down to the specific person.”

  “But you know what she was mixed up in, don’t you? You know what she was doing that was so dangerous.”

  “What are you going to do with this information, Santo? What if I’m wrong? What if it tarnishes her memory?”

  “I’ll be discrete. Please, Evie, I can help.”

  “After you hear what I have to tell you, you won’t want to have anything more to do with me.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because what I did probably led to her getting killed.”

  * * *

  Evie wasn’t sure if she should—could—trust Santo. Would he go directly to the authorities when he heard what she had to say, even though she didn’t have concrete proof? Or would he scoff at her for being foolish and imagining things that didn’t even exist?

  She needed to talk to someone. She needed to bounce off all of her ideas with someone who could discuss it with her and help her understand if she was going down a dark rabbit hole that would leave her in Wonder Land. She needed Santo.

  She realized she’d started wringing her hands together and forced them apart and shoved them in her pockets. “I don’t know where to begin. There’s so much involved in all of this.”

  “All of what? What was she involved in, Evie? Or should I say, what were you involved in with her?”

  Evie paced along the wall, staying a couple of feet away from him. “I took an advanced computer course a few years back and we took a deep dive into the dark web. I thought it was harmless and fun when I discovered all sorts of hidden games and conversation rooms. Yes, the teacher warned us not to use it, but it was intended to help us understand coding on an extensive level.”

  “The dark web? You’ve been screwing around on the dark web? Are you out of your mind?”

  Evie pivoted on her heel to face him and marched up to his face. “If this is how you’re going to react to the information I give you, this conversation is over as of now.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “All right. I get it. I’ll shut up.”

  “Good.” She turned away from him and stared at the barn wall for several seconds and she drew in a deep, steadying breath. She turned back to face him, bracing herself against the wall. “It started completely harmless. I even bought a book on coding in the dark web. That’s how Judge O’Connor found out about it. I was reading it during a lunch break and the next thing I knew she was asking me to help her navigate the dark web forums for discussions.”

  “Wait, wait, wait… You’re saying Francis was messing around on the dark web? That you taught her to do it?”

  “You’re pushing that line again.”

  “You don’t want me to ask any questions as you tell me all of this?”

  “I’d like to finish telling you everything before you go nuclear on me!”

  “I’m not—” He let his breath out slowly, visibly trying to control his frustration and she wondered for the hundredth time in the last five minutes if she should have opened her mouth in the first place. “I’ll stop interrupting you. I’m sorry.”

  Evie began pacing again, raking a hand through her hair over and over again. “She told me she wanted to bring justice to the world. She told me she wanted to bring down the terrorists threatening America. So I taught her certain keywords to focus on her hunt and ways she could narrow it down and try to get into secret rooms. I never taught her how to code, because I didn’t want her to start experimenting with hacking, which could prove very dangerous.”

  She paused and glanced at Santo. His facial expression nearly made her cringe. The muscles in his jaw twitched from him clenching it so tightly.

  “She used it for about six months and always showed me what she was doing. There were a lot of chat rooms she joined, and she would observe them. She rarely joined the conversations, and I couldn’t see that it provided much information. Some items she did find were written in Spanish and she would read them to me, speculating they were code to represent terrorist activities.”

  Santo opened his mouth to ask a question and Evie cut him a sharp look, hoping she made it clear the time had not come for him to ask questions. He sighed heavily and tilted his head to the side, popping the tense muscles in his neck. She needed him to l
isten to everything.

  “I cautioned her about the dangers of getting entangled in anything on the dark web and asked her what she planned to do with anything she found. She said she’d made a connection with someone in a powerful position who could help once she had concrete proof. Then about one year ago she told me she’d shut down all access to the dark web because it wasn’t producing the results she’d hoped for.”

  She paused, trying to get her emotions under control. She struggled with the idea that her actions from nearly two years ago had led the judge down the path ultimately resulting in her death. She wanted to know how far Judge O’Connor had gone.

  “She lied to me.” She watched Santo’s expression closely, and other than a slight tick in his eye, his face remained tense and frustrated. “After you talked to me last week, I became worried. Your questions made me wonder if she had been hiding something from me. So I went digging through her office Friday. She had a folder locked by a password I couldn’t crack before she came in, and a drawer in her desk locked. She’s never kept a drawer locked as far as I know.”

  She leaned against the barn wall again and rubbed her temples. She could tell what she had already told him disturbed him, but he seemed to be determined to respect her wishes and let her finish her story.

  “Monday, after she left early, I went into her office and managed to unlock the file on her computer. They were all screenshots of conversations she’s been actively engaged in with people from South America. It appears predominately Colombia. I’d planned to break into her desk, but she’d left the drawer unlocked. The only problem is that it was completely empty except for a note at the very back of the drawer. It just said “Judge Mitchell has file,” and I don’t know if that has anything to do with the undercover work she’s been doing or if it was just left over from one of her old case files.”

  She let out a shaky breath, thankful she’d been able to power through telling him all the information and felt parched from talking too much. She watched Santo closely, waiting for his reaction. He wearily ran a hand down his face and she could hear the scrape of his beard shadow on his palm. “Is that everything?” His voice rasped.