Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Secrets (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Secrets & Seduction Book 4)

by MJ Nightingale

  He sighed heavily before continuing. “When Christmas time came, my dad had a stroke and I rushed home to be with him and my mother. He recovered, and I went to Vegas with a buddy for New Years. I was so excited to see her. I went to the little trailer she was living in, but she was gone. The place was abandoned. I could have searched for her then, but I figured she had moved on.”

  Fiona picked up from the Congressman’s story finishing the timeline for him. “When she found out she was pregnant with me, her parents were so ashamed, they moved. She hated having to live with them. She never told me why, but it was probably because she couldn’t do it alone. Raise me.”

  “What happened after that? What happened to your grandparents?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. She eventually moved us out and we moved around a lot. I remember that. She never talked about her parents other than the fact that she was glad they were out of her life.”

  “Do you want me to look into that? Them?” he asked.

  She shook her head in the negative. “No. If they would have wanted me, I’m sure when my mother died they could have taken me in. But they didn’t, and I ended up in the system.”

  “God, I feel so horrible about that.” He threw his napkin onto the table in disgust. What kind of parents had they been to their only daughter, let alone granddaughter.

  “You can’t live in the past, father. I know that now. You have to move forward or you just stay still.” Clearing her throat, she added. “How could you have done anything when you didn’t even know I existed?”

  He just nodded silently, still wishing things had been different.

  “Can I ask you why you didn’t ever marry?”

  He smiled. “Well, you know, I did almost get married. I came close twice, but things happened and those relationships ended. And I think I always had your mother in the back of my mind. I wanted to find someone like her. Fresh. Feisty. Full of compassion.”

  “I missed knowing that part of her. I remember her as sad, and lonely. Angry and confused. But we did have some good times. They were few and far between. My first day of kindergarten, she cried. I remember that.” Fiona confessed. She looked up into the eyes of the man who was her father. “I’m glad you found me.”

  “I’d like to hear about those happy memories you have of her. And Fiona, I’m so happy too. It was a shock! Seeing you last week. But I am so glad that I found you. It would be an honor to have you in my life.” His voice was thick with emotion. He had a daughter. A beautiful daughter who seemed to want him in her life. He would do whatever it took to make that happen.

  At that point, he got up from the table and she did as well. The embrace they shared was heart felt, and lasted a good long while. Looking on, Monica knew that both of these people’s lives would be richer by having the other in it. She was glad to be here for her new friend. Looking across the table at Julie, she could see that she was moved as well by the sight they were witnessing before them.

  This kind of reunion was special. It was big. It meant something.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The only part of his plan that wasn’t fool proof was getting the three women into the back of his van. He parked next to the tiny woman’s flashy convertible. He figured he would hide behind his van and nab whichever one of the three girls came around the back of the van first. Once he had her at gunpoint, it would be easy to force the other two girls to get into the back of the van. He would threaten to shoot the one he was holding if they screamed or tried to do anything crazy.

  His only hope was that this time there would be no males escorting them to their vehicles. After almost three hours of waiting inside his van, he spotted the three women walking alone on the sidewalk towards the parking lot. He scanned the rest of the parking lot and only saw one person clear across the lot. It looked like they were walking to their vehicle and the timing looked good. This man should be able to get into his car and pull out before the girls arrived at their vehicles. There would be no witnesses to his abduction of the three ladies.

  He mopped the sweat from his brow using a napkin labeled with the insignia of the company where he worked. Happy Helpers Catering. He had been able to get a job with them a year and a half ago with fake identification.

  It had been pure luck that the woman named Julie Hurt hired that company among the dozens in the Riverton community to cater her event. It was fate. He and Monica were meant to be together. And after his long dry spell, he was anxious to get underway. First, the one called Fiona, then Julie, and finally Monica. That was the plan.

  He saw the car with the man in it pull away and quickly hopped out of the company van. The owner let him borrow the vehicle because his car was being repaired, he’d told him. He used that excuse twice this week, but the old man still bought it. He used his own car to follow Victor and Monica, but for this threesome, he needed the van.

  He had his gun in his hand. He was ready, and his pocket contained another company napkin and a vial of chloroform.

  He was in luck when the first girl came around the vehicle. She was distracted and speaking to the two other women. She only let out a squeak when he grabbed her.

  “You scream and I shoot Julie.” His whisper was fierce. Deadly. Exactly as he intended it.

  Fiona’s hand quickly covered her mouth. She wouldn’t scream and put Julie at risk. But Monica’s eyes went round. Her world stopped turning. The man before her was vile and worse, she recognized him instantly. It was her biggest nightmare, only it wasn’t a nightmare. It was very real.

  “Open the door and get in. Now!” he commanded fiercely. Burt tried to keep the excitement from his voice. This was going to work, but he had to move fast.

  Fiona squashed the panic that immediately threatened to overtake her. This man was holding Julie and if she didn’t do what he said he might shoot her. One mistake and she would be dead. Their best bet was to get into the van and figure a way out from there. She followed the man’s directions and reached for the handle to the back door of the van.

  Monica felt her knees buckling beneath her and almost collapsed, but Fiona had her by the crook of her elbow with one hand while she opened up the back of the van with the other.

  “Come on, Monica,” she coaxed. “He’s got a gun and he has Julie. We need to do what he says.”

  Julie’s eyes were closed and she was shaking her head in the negative. Tears were seeping from her eyes. The man was holding her very tightly and the gun was pressed against her temple. She felt the power in his arms and though Patrick had taught her some things, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to disarm him before he fired a shot.

  “This is all my fault,” Monica cried as she crawled in behind Fiona into the back of the delivery van. Tears were coursing down her face.

  “No, it isn’t!” Fiona whispered fiercely. “This is all on him.” Fiona’s statement was for herself, and Julie as much as it was for Monica. Rape survivors eventually figured that out. She didn’t want to forget it. She knew they all needed to keep their wits about them.

  “But I know him,” Monica cried. “He’s the man who raped me before.”

  Fiona’s look was one of shock, but she kept crawling forward to make room for the others. When she turned, she saw their kidnapper place a cloth over Julie’s face. Within a few seconds she ceased struggling and it was clear she was unconscious. “Now girls, don’t either one of you scream,” he said as he crawled in behind Julie. He pointed the gun at Fiona. “I need you both to fall asleep until I take you to a special little place I have. Monica you first.”

  Monica crawled forward on her hands and knees, trembling. The idea of this man touching her again was so vile, but there were the others to think about. The tears were flowing down her face in rivers and she didn’t know if she could survive this again. “We will get out of this Monica,” Fiona promised just as the cloth was placed around Monica’s mouth and nose.

  “You keep thinking that, pretty girl. And just maybe you’ll get out of h
ere. Or maybe you won’t. But not this one. Not Monica. She’s mine,” he stated as he pushed Monica over to get closer to Fiona. His brown eyes were feral. He still had a gun pointed at her. He crooked his finger at her beckoning her to come closer, but she was trying to think. Find a way out before it was too late.

  She didn’t have much of a choice she thought as she scanned the contents of the van. She made her way over to the vile creature who was still by the open door. Her friends were unconscious and she knew she couldn’t leave them and bolt out that door as tempting as it might be. She saw nothing that could help her, but vowed to herself that as soon as she woke up, no matter where this man had taken them, she’d find a way out. For them all.

  She, who had battled against all odds and finally found a man who loved her for herself and a father she never knew she had, she wasn’t done living yet. She wasn’t going to let a man make her a victim again. She pushed a long strand of hair away from her face and felt for her earring as he reached for her. As the man named Burt covered her face with the cloth, she yanked out the earring hiding it in her hand. She threw back her hand as he cupped her face with the cloth and surreptitiously dropped it so that it fell outside of the vehicle. It was one of the small studs that had been given to her by Cookie two years ago for Christmas. She struggled a bit while he covered her face and with her other hand got the other stud out. She palmed that one, too. Hoping it would fall free of her hand while she was unconscious. She wanted it to stay in the van so that it would be the next crumb on the trail. It was asking a lot, but she had nothing left to lose as everything began to blur.

  * * *

  Burt did not even notice the earring on the floor of the van as he closed the rear door. He didn’t notice the other one on the pavement as he quickly hustled to the drive side door either. Time was of the essence, and he wanted to get the girls far away from the golf club before anyone noticed they were missing.

  The only thing on his mind was getting them to the marina and his boat before they woke up. With any luck, he would have them inside his boat and covered and be on his way to the fish camp. It was the perfect spot. They could scream all they wanted there. No one would hear them.

  He’d found the old dilapidated structure six months ago on one of his fishing trips. It clearly hadn’t been used in over 30 years. Surprisingly, it still stood. It was about a quarter of a mile out from the coast line and tucked inside a little inlet about 15 miles away from Riverton. But it was far away from any other signs of civilization. That was why it was so perfect. It was there that he planned to have his fun. He couldn’t wait.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Cookie received the call around four o’clock. He thought Fiona would have called by now and he was actually about to call her. He’d been anxious to find about out about her luncheon with her father. He’d figured she might have driven over to Caroline’s after lunch to talk about it with her. But he was concerned that he hadn’t even gotten a text.

  He just finished asking Victor if he’d heard from Monica. “Nope. Sorry buddy. I did send her a text about an hour ago, but I’ve got nothing. I just figured they had a lot to talk about and she would text me a soon as it was convenient.”

  “Yeah. I haven’t heard anything either.” It was at that moment he got a phone call from a number he didn’t recognize. He answered it immediately. “Knox speaking.”

  “Hi, Mr. Knox. This is Congressman Reynolds. Um, Fiona’s dad.”

  “Yes, sir. What can I do for you? Is Fiona okay?” he asked, immediately concerned by the unexpected phone call.

  “Um, well, I’m not sure. The girls left the club about an hour before me. I saw a friend and had a quick drink with him before I left. She seemed fine when she left and she promised to call me tomorrow. But, I’m standing in the parking lot of the Golf Club now and I noticed that her car was still here. And, Julie’s convertible is parked right next to it. I didn’t see them inside, so I was just checking to see if they were all right.”

  “Maybe they’re still inside.” Even though he said the words aloud, something inside of him made him think something was wrong. If there had been car trouble, one of them would have called. At the very least word would have gotten to him.

  “I don’t think so,” the Congressman confirmed his fears, “because I saw them leave the building though they might’ve come back in and I didn’t notice. I also found a purse on the ground and it looks like the one Julie was carrying.”

  Immediately Hunter’s radar went on high alert. “Shit. Can you stay with the vehicles? I’ll be right there.”

  Victor had been standing next to him the whole time and from what he heard knew there was a problem. “What’s going on?” he asked full of concern for his wife.

  Instead of answering his question, Cookie rushed to Commander Hurt’s office which was just down the hall. Victor was right on his heels. “The girls’ cars are in the parking lot, Commander, but they left over an hour ago. Congressman Reynolds found Julie’s purse on the ground, but there are no signs of the girls anywhere,” Cookie stated as he walked into Patrick’s office.

  Patrick blanched. He had been on the phone with another commander and immediately put an end to the call. “I’ve got an emergency, Commander Johnson. I’ll call you back when I can.” He hung before hearing the other man’s response.

  Patrick was already out of his seat crossing the room quickly. “Let’s go to my jeep. We need to find our women. Tell me what else you know. Report.”

  “That’s all I know. But my gut tells me something is not right.”

  “Get Tex on the phone and have him track the girls.”

  “On it,” Cookie stated, already hitting the speed dial. Victor was on his tail.

  All three men flew through the double doors of the complex and followed Commander Hurt to his jeep which was parked right out front. They climbed in just as Tex’s voice came on the line.

  “What’s up, Cookie?”

  “I need a location on Julie and Fiona. Stat.”

  From the sound of his friend’s voice, Tex knew something wasn’t right. He ran downstairs, cell phone pressed to his ear, and opened the door to his basement office where he had all of his equipment set up. Everything was on, so he hastily hopped into his seat, tapped a few keys, and three dots appeared on one of the monitors.

  “Separate locations, sir. Strange.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I’ve got one at the Riverton Golf Club and one at the marina. The third is somewhere in the . . . ocean. I can send you the coordinates. Were the girls supposed to be together? Did the girls get separated?” Tex’s mind was flying as were his questions. The more he knew, the better he could help. He was clearly confused by the location of the third tracking device.

  Cookie repeated what Tex had just told him so that Patrick and Victor could hear.

  “What are these tracking devices?” Victor asked, clearly lost by what was going on, but definitely worried about his wife.

  Patrick explained. “Because of what we do, Ciccone, sometimes our wives’ lives are in danger. We have a friend who keeps an eye on them through little tracking devices they carry with them.”

  Victor spoke next. “If you guys are thinking what I’m thinking and someone nabbed them, then I don’t think we should be heading to the golf club. Your wives have definitely left us a trail.”

  “Hang on, Tex is saying something,” Cookie interrupted, trying to listen to two conversations at the same time.

  He repeated what Tex just said for Victor and Patrick again. “The tracker at the golf club hadn’t moved in an hour. It was Fiona’s left earring. The tracker at the marina stopped moving 30 minutes ago. That was Fiona’s right earring. The tracker in Julie’s bracelet was still on the move. It looks like it’s somewhere over water near Jordan’s pass.”

  “Call Matthew. We need a chopper to meet us at the marina,” Patrick yelled as he violently turned the steering wheel to turn his Jeep around to head in the direction of th
e marina. Victor and Tex were right. Their women had left them a trail.

  Cookie spoke into the receiver to his friend, Tex. “Got to go, buddy. Keep an eye on Julie’s tracker while I get Matthew to get me a bird up in the air.”

  “I’ll send location updates to yours’ and Patrick’s phones. Turn on the app and you’ll see where they are at all times. I’ll keep it updated in real time. I’m here if you need me,” Tex stated before disconnecting. Cookie hit Matthew Steel’s number on speed dial. He’d also call Congressman Reynold’s when he was done. He’d let him know they had a probable location on the girls, and that he could head back to his hotel. They’d call him later with an update.

  It was a twenty minute drive to the marina, he thought, as Matthew’s phone rang once. They had to find them. The fact that the third tracker was on the move gave him hope. They were moving, he told himself, they had to be okay. They just had to.

  “Steel here,” Matthew’s tone was sharp as it always was when he answered this line. It meant business needed to be done.

  As they went into action, and Victor listened in on the conversation Cookie had with his team leader, he worried about Monica. He hoped she was still with Fiona and Julie. The girls had trackers and that was great, but his heart beat furiously wondering if his wife and theirs were safe. All he knew was, like Cookie and Patrick, he would do whatever it took to get them all back safely.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Julie woke first and was terrified by her surroundings. She was lying next to Monica in what appeared to be a filthy cabin. Her mind reeled for a moment and she nearly thought she was back in that jungle hut. But she bit down on her lip hard to keep from panicking until she tasted blood. It helped to revive her as well. Her hands were tied loosely behind her and she sat up to take in her surroundings. When she saw Monica, she scooted over to where she lie. She was also beginning to stir. As she shifted her weight from one butt cheek to the other, she felt her bracelet snag against the tether. It gave her a bit of relief to know Patrick could find her as long as she was wearing it.