Securing Sidney

by Susan Stoker

  “Matthew and I talked it out for at least an hour, pros and cons, and I finally decided that my idea wasn’t exactly the best. He agreed that maybe I could see what information I could gather, and if, later in her life, when she was an adult, she wanted to reach out to her family, that would be her decision, and not something I’d forced on her. If Matthew had approached the topic calmly and rationally when I’d brought it up, I probably wouldn’t have reacted so badly. But because he was worried for me, and how the whole thing could blow up in my face, he initially just vetoed my idea straight-out. It annoyed me, but now I understand.”

  Sidney remained silent, thinking over everything Caroline had said.

  “Rocco forbade me to get a tattoo,” Caite blurted.

  Sidney stared at her in disbelief. “You wanted a tattoo?”

  “Why are you acting so surprised?” the other woman asked.

  “You just don’t seem the type,” Sidney soothed. And she didn’t. Caite was too…cautious…to want to mark her skin with something as permanent as a tattoo.

  “Yeah, well, I got pissed at Rocco and told him he wasn’t the boss of me and he didn’t get a say.”

  “I bet that went over well,” Caroline teased.

  Surprisingly, Caite blushed. “He refused to let me give him the cold shoulder and seduced me. Then, once he had me relaxed and sated, he told me that he liked my body as it was. And while ultimately it was my decision if I wanted to get a tattoo or not, he wanted me to really think about it for a while before I did something I might regret.”

  “And?” Sidney asked.

  “He was right. I was feeling insecure because it seemed I’d noticed more and more hot, tattooed female sailors on base, women I figured he saw and interacted with on a regular basis, and I didn’t want Rocco to regret picking me when he could have someone cooler and more hip.”

  Sidney didn’t want to admit that both women had a point. Decker was extremely blunt. Then again, so was she. They’d both said some things that morning that, had they thought about them first, maybe they wouldn’t have said quite so candidly. He spoke his mind, but when she recalled their conversation, she admitted he hadn’t said he wanted her to quit working with abused animals altogether, just that he wanted her to stop with the front-line stuff.

  But then she thought about the picture Victor had posted earlier, and mentally shook her head. Even if she reported it to the cops or animal control, it would take them forever to investigate, and Victor could just move the puppies somewhere else and continue to abuse them.

  “You want to tell us what you’re thinking about so hard over there?” Caite asked.

  Sidney forced herself to pay attention. “It’s nothing.”

  “You and Gumby okay?” Caroline asked gently.

  Sidney nodded. “Yeah. We’re great. We just had a little disagreement this morning. But everything’s okay.”

  “Good. You guys haven’t been dating that long, right?” Caroline asked.

  “Right.”

  “Just remember, when these guys fall, they fall hard. And when they do, they’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. Not all military guys are the same way. Some will sleep with anyone who spreads their legs, simply because they can. But Matthew’s team is different…and I think Rocco’s team is the same way. When they commit, they commit. They won’t cheat. They won’t give up when things get hard. They don’t always communicate the right or best way, but deep down, they mean well and would kill anyone who dares hurt you.”

  Caite nodded vigorously. “I saw that firsthand. Rocco was pissed at that commander guy who wanted me dead, and the only reason he didn’t jump in the ocean to save me himself was because he wanted to make sure the threat to me was gone.”

  Caroline looked at Sidney then. “Make no mistake, if Gumby has decided you’re it for him, you could hurt him deeply by putting yourself in a situation where he has to kill to protect you. He’s a SEAL, but that doesn’t mean he can’t go to prison.”

  Sidney was a little freaked out that Caroline seemed to sense she was thinking about doing something she shouldn’t. Something she promised she wouldn’t. “I know, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”

  For a second, she thought Caroline was going to call her on what she’d just said, but eventually she simply nodded. “Good. But I’ll tell you one thing, if it was Matthew in danger, I’d sure as hell do whatever it took to help him.”

  “Me too,” Caite piped in.

  Sidney was amused. “We know. You already did, and you hadn’t even had a first date yet when you did it.”

  All three laughed.

  “True,” Caite said. “I guess I did throw myself headfirst into a situation I didn’t think all the way through when I went after Rocco, Gumby, and Ace in Bahrain, did I?”

  “It all turned out okay, though,” Sidney soothed.

  The three women talked for a while longer, and even though she liked Caroline a lot, Sidney knew she clicked a lot more with Caite. She was new to a relationship with a SEAL, just like Sidney, and they were closer in age. And Caite was just as funny today as she’d been the other night when they’d been three sheets to the wind.

  “This lunch is on me,” Caroline said when things were winding down.

  “No way,” Caite protested. “I invited you, I got this.”

  “I can pay for myself,” Sidney added.

  The waitress came over then and, instead of putting a bill on the table, said, “It’s your lucky day, ladies. A Matthew Steel called in and paid for all three of your meals with a credit card…including tip. So you’re good to go whenever. No rush though, I just wanted you to know.”

  Sidney stared at the waitress in disbelief.

  After the woman left, Caite huffed out a frustrated breath. “Well, that was sneaky.”

  Caroline simply smiled. “Rocco and Gumby are off their game. They’ll learn soon enough.”

  Sidney had to admit it was a nice thing to do. If Decker had done that for her, she would’ve been extremely flattered.

  But then, when she thought about it, she realized he had done the same sort of thing for her time and time again. He was considerate and attentive, and she’d soaked in every single thing he’d done for her almost without thought. Opening doors, getting up and refilling her drink when she was comfortable on the couch. Letting her have the last piece of pizza. Setting the alarm on his watch instead of his clock so when it went off, he didn’t wake her up. Washing her dishes. The list went on and on.

  Feeling guilty about what she was planning on doing after lunch, she almost changed her mind. But then she remembered the frightened faces of the puppies…and she couldn’t walk away.

  She’d have a heart-to-heart with Decker tonight and explain why she’d done it. He’d understand. He had to.

  “Thanks for inviting me,” Caroline said as she stood.

  “Thank you for coming,” Caite told her, and gave her a quick hug.

  Sidney wasn’t expecting Caroline to turn to her for a hug, so she felt good when she was included as well.

  They all walked to the door, and Caroline waved as she headed for her car.

  “Thanks for coming too,” Caite told Sidney as they walked toward her Accord. “I didn’t want to admit it, but Caroline intimidates me. It’s silly, but she’s been a military wife for so much longer than me that I’m scared I’m going to say something stupid when I’m around her.”

  Sidney understood that for sure. She felt the same way. “And she already has a group of friends. So I know what you mean.”

  Caite smiled. “I guess we’re making our own group now, aren’t we?”

  “Yes! So, groupie, shall we hit the road?”

  “Lead on,” Caite said.

  Once settled in the car, Sidney felt the slight antsy-ness she’d endured throughout lunch come back full force. She didn’t mind helping Caite, but every minute she spent driving her back to work, then coming back to this side of town to Victor’s house, could be one mor
e minute the puppies were being abused. Victor might kill them before she could get a chance to save them…and that would be like Brian and his damn shed all over again.

  Knowing what she was about to do was shitty, and a betrayal to Rocco for putting his girlfriend in possible danger, but not able to stop herself, Sidney turned to Caite and asked, “Do you mind if we make a quick stop before I drop you off?”

  “Of course not. What’s up?”

  Sidney’s stomach clenched. She’d done it now. She had to keep going. “Nothing much. I just need to stop and check something out. We’re close, and it should only take a few minutes.”

  “No problem. I’ve still got like twenty minutes before I’m supposed to be back. But that’s totally fluid, so if it takes a bit longer, it’s okay. I’ve got a great boss, and he knows that I work a lot of overtime I don’t claim, so he’s pretty lenient about my start time and me getting back late if I take an outside lunch.”

  Sidney started the engine, relieved her friend wasn’t asking for more details—and feeling guilty as hell at the same time. Might as well throw one more pile of guilt on top of the ones she already had.

  Taking a deep breath, she did her best to smile over at Caite and pulled out of the restaurant parking lot. She had puppies to rescue—and no matter what Decker said, there wasn’t anyone else who could do it, and those precious pups didn’t have any time left. She’d left them there long enough.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I’m not sure about this,” Caite said ten minutes later.

  “It’ll be fine. I’m just going to go and look,” Sidney tried to reassure her. That wasn’t exactly a lie. She was going to look…and if she saw the puppies in Victor’s backyard, she was going to sneak in and grab them. “You stay here.”

  “Maybe I should go with you,” Caite said uneasily.

  “No!” The word came out louder than Sidney meant it to.

  She felt bad about lying to Caite about what could happen. But she’d had enough run-ins with Victor to know that he could get violent, and the last thing she wanted was Caite getting hurt. She had to convince her to stay in the car. Sidney could handle it if she got roughed up, but if something happened to Caite because of her, she’d never forgive herself. Hell, Rocco would never forgive her, and Decker would probably dump her ass in a heartbeat.

  Taking a deep breath, she thought fast. She didn’t want to scare Caite, but she needed to make sure she stayed put. “This isn’t a big deal. I just want to peek over the fence and see if the puppies this asshole posted about are there. We’ll be more conspicuous if there are two of us lurking around. You need to stay here. No matter what. Do not come looking for me and don’t follow me. All right?”

  Caite studied her for a moment. “Okay…but for the record, I don’t like this.”

  “It’s seriously not a big deal,” Sidney said, hating that the more Caite protested, the more uneasy she felt. “I’m gonna leave the keys in the car so you can keep the air conditioner on. I’ll take my phone and if I need your help, I’ll call or text. Okay?”

  “Okay. But why are we parked three houses down if this isn’t a big deal?”

  Caite was asking all the right questions, and she clearly had a pretty good sense that what Sidney was about to do wasn’t exactly safe. She decided to tell her just a little bit about Victor. Enough that she wouldn’t freak out, but so she’d stay away from his house. “Fine. The guy who has the puppies is an asshole, and he wouldn’t be happy if he saw me. But trust me when I say that this has to be done now.” She clicked on her phone and brought up the picture she’d saved from Victor’s post. “Look. These are the precious pups I’m trying to rescue.”

  Caite bit her lip as she looked at the picture. “They’re really cute.”

  “Yup. And scared to death.” Sidney knew Caite couldn’t deny that. They looked terrified in the picture.

  “Fine. But I’m only giving you ten minutes. If you’re not back, I’m coming after you.”

  “Great,” Sidney said with enthusiasm. She didn’t need ten minutes. Five tops. She smiled at Caite. “I’ll be back before you know it,” she said brightly as she opened her door and climbed out. She put her phone in her back pocket, gave Caite a thumbs-up, and shut her door.

  The smile left her face as she headed for Victor’s house. The area was quiet this time of day, as most of the neighbors were probably at work. Deciding to work her way to Victor’s house via the nearby backyards, to be less obvious, Sidney took a look around and, not seeing anyone, slunk around a house two doors down from Victor’s.

  There was about a four-foot space between the fences surrounding each backyard on this side of the street, and the ones that backed up to them, creating a narrow, unkempt alleyway. Glad she was wearing jeans, since the weeds were knee high in places, Sidney cautiously approached Victor’s yard.

  She heard the puppies before she saw them. The privacy fence kept her from seeing in, just as it kept any nosey neighbors from doing the same.

  Testing the wood on the fence, Sidney was thrilled to discover it was old and rotting. It took a minute or so she didn’t have, and all her strength, but she was able to break off one of the planks at the bottom in one of the corners. Lying down on the grass, Sidney peered into the yard and saw the puppies were indeed there.

  One of the pit-mix puppies was sleeping, but the other was pulling at the huge chain around its neck and yipping pathetically. They were covered in dirt and feces, and Sidney’s resolve strengthened. She was doing the right thing.

  Tugging on the boards, she managed to make a hole big enough that she could shimmy under into the yard. Once inside, Sidney realized that all her fears were warranted.

  There was a stack of metal crates against the house that hadn’t been there two weeks ago, and blood was splattered on one part of the fence. There were also several stakes in the ground with empty chains discarded next to them.

  The most heartbreaking sight was the carcass in the corner of the yard. It had obviously been there for quite a while, as Sidney could see bones amongst the fur.

  Trying to block out the sight, she hurried over to the puppies, and the brown guy woke when she picked him up. He immediately began to shiver in fright, and Sidney’s heart broke even more.

  Because she was concentrating on figuring out how to remove the chain from around the puppies’ necks and get them out of the yard, she didn’t hear Victor until it was too late.

  The second he wrapped something around her throat from behind, she dropped the puppy and reached for whatever it was around her neck. She felt bad when the puppy let out a pained yip, but she wasn’t able to worry about him—she was concentrating too hard on breathing.

  “Gotcha, bitch,” Victor said into her ear. “Think you can steal my dogs again? Wrong. But if you wanna take care of the assets so much, I’ll help you.”

  Sidney knew she was in trouble when Victor began walking toward his house. She tried to get her fingers under whatever was around her throat but couldn’t. Her body was bent backward, and she couldn’t even figure out how to kick or otherwise hurt him so he’d let her go.

  The second they were inside, her hopes crashed even further when she saw another man was there.

  “She actually showed up?”

  “Of course she did. I told you she would,” Victor said.

  Sidney could barely breathe, but was still relieved he wasn’t strangling her to death…yet.

  “Well, fuck me! I’ll call Dallas,” the other man said.

  “You do that. Tell him the fight is on. Tonight. I’m not wasting any time. We’ve waited long enough for this.”

  Sidney began to scream, but Victor tightened whatever was around her neck, enough that it finally cut off all her air. She tried to suck in oxygen, but nothing happened. Despite fighting with all her strength, the tightness around her neck didn’t relent. Her legs gave out, and Victor lowered her to the floor.

  “Don’t kill her,” Sidney heard the other man call ou
t.

  “I won’t. She’s our main moneymaker and entertainment tonight,” Victor said.

  It was the last thing Sidney remembered hearing before she lost consciousness.

  Caite chewed on a fingernail as she waited for Sidney to reappear. Ten minutes had gone by, and she still hadn’t returned to the car.

  As she was debating on what she should do, Caite blinked in surprise when she saw movement at the house Sidney had been headed toward.

  Two men came out of the house carrying a large metal dog crate between them. They headed for the small pickup parked in the driveway. The cage was covered with a tarp, and they set it on the ground as one of the men lowered the tailgate.

  When they picked up the cage once more, the tarp slid off—and Caite was shocked to see a body lying inside.

  Sidney.

  It was easy to recognize the long black hair hanging through the holes in the bottom of cage, not to mention the light blue blouse she was wearing.

  Instinctively, Caite hunkered down in the passenger seat of the car and watched with horrified eyes as the men placed the crate in the back of the pickup. They quickly recovered it with the tarp, hopped into the cab, and backed out of the driveway.

  Caite lifted her phone and took a picture of the truck, then squinted to try to read the license plate. She jotted it down on a piece of scrap paper in Sidney’s car, feeling sick as the truck disappeared down the street.

  She quickly clicked on Rocco’s name in her contacts and held her breath as she waited for him to answer.

  Gumby was shooting the shit with his teammates, waiting on their commander to return from his lunch break, when Rocco’s phone rang.

  Wondering if Sidney was done with her lunch yet, Gumby wasn’t paying much attention to his friend’s phone conversation. He was anxious to talk to her. He had a feeling she still wasn’t thrilled with him, but he knew that messing with the urban dog fighters would end up badly for her in the long run.