SEAL INVESTIGATIONS: A 5-Books SEAL Romance Series

by Lola Silverman

  “Yeah, I bet.” Yates didn’t even try to tone down the sarcasm in his voice. He already knew they had most likely been back there beating on Tasha for hours. She would be lucky if she got out of this with just a concussion or something.

  Suddenly Yates saw two uniformed officers supporting Tasha between them. The threesome was walking down the hall, although Tasha was basically dragging her feet each step. She was filthy. She looked as if she’d gone crawling around in a dirty hole. It occurred to him that there was no way she’d gotten this way by being anywhere inside a police station.

  “What did you do?” Yates growled at Gorman.

  “What?”

  Romero lunged forward, catching Yates before he could pound Gorman’s face into the desktop. “It’s not worth it,” Romero gritted out from between his teeth. “Talk to Tasha and get as much information as possible. Finish the investigation. That will make things right.”

  It was obvious that Gorman didn’t like that idea. “You’d all be better off taking this one as a freebee and getting the hell out of here. Just forget what you think you know, because you don’t know shit.”

  “No,” Yates spat. “You don’t know shit. I know plenty. And eventually I’m going to know it all. Then I’ll take your boss, and I’ll beat his face in while I tear his empire to the ground piece by piece.”

  “Breckin?”

  Tasha’s weak voice made Yates stop everything else. He ran to her side. Shoving away the other officers, he swept Tasha into his arms and turned his back on the police. “We’re leaving. If any of you want to challenge that, go right ahead. I’m in the mood to bash in a few heads.”

  “This is a police station,” Gorman blustered. “You can’t make threats like that.”

  “‘This is a police station’,” Yates parroted in a high falsetto. “You’re not supposed to treat the public like this. Serve and protect, remember?”

  There was a flicker of something in Gorman’s eyes. “Just get out of here, and don’t come back.”

  Yates was happy to comply. He cradled Tasha close and walked out of the station with Romero and Cassidy hot on his heels. It was time to figure out their next move and end this before it cost any more than they’d already had to pay.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Tasha came to slowly once again. The first thing she noticed was the temperature. She was warm. Not just warmer, but pleasantly toasty, as though she were curled up with a very warm blanket or lying in front of a fire. She stretched and realized that she was no longer on a hard metal floor. The sour stench of the harbor was gone. There was nothing but the sweet scent of masculine spice.

  Breckin.

  The thought brought her roaring to full consciousness. Tasha sat up and looked wildly around the room. They were in another hotel. The room looked different from the one they’d stayed in just the night before. Had it really only been one night? It felt like a century.

  “Breckin?” she gasped.

  “I’m right here.”

  She felt him grab her hand and lace their fingers together. Tasha looked down. She was a mess. Her clothing was tattered and filthy. She smelled like that horrible container. And she was forgetting…

  Tasha sucked in a huge breath of shock. “Rachel!”

  “What about Rachel, sweetie?” Yates asked in a soothing tone of voice.

  It was obvious that he thought she was either jumbled or just completely confused. Of course he couldn’t possibly guess what she’d seen while she had been stuck in that container.

  “I saw her,” Tasha insisted. “I wasn’t dreaming. She was in that container with me.”

  “Hang on.” Yates was all business now.

  He perched on the bed beside her. His expression was intense. Every line of his face and jaw was etched with hard purpose. This was a warrior, a man who would never ask for quarter, nor offer any. She admired him already, but looking at him now made her incredibly proud that he had chosen her out of all of the women who very likely threw themselves at his feet and begged for his attention.

  “Are you telling me that you and Rachel were kept in the same place while you were supposedly somewhere inside that police station?” Yates asked tersely.

  “Yes!” Tasha closed her eyes. Everything was so fuzzy. Rachel had wanted her to tell them something. What was it? “She was a mess. Not just dirty. I mean she was a mental disaster. You could tell that they’d been playing psychological games with her, you know?” Tasha winced when she saw a flicker of horror mingled with guilt cross Yates’s expression. She had to remember that this young woman was like a little sister to him. The idea that she was going through this had to eat at him and the other SEALs like acid.

  “If she was kept with you, that means she was here in the city,” Yates murmured thoughtfully. “Romero and I figured that they had already transported her to Baltimore. We found that photo of her and the others in front of that ship, the Brazen Belle.”

  “I think she was on that ship,” Tasha said slowly. “She kept talking about the boat. She hated the boat. She hated being there. She talked about the other women on that boat. Then she said the men who took her knew who her brother was.”

  “Yeah, we figured that.” Yates looked grim. “What else did she tell you?”

  “She kept saying that her brother was going to kill them all. She was screaming it when they came to get me.” A memory ghosted through Tasha’s mind. “There were two men arguing about killing us. The one kept saying that it would be better to just shoot us in the head. The other guy told him that wasn’t what they were ordered to do.”

  “Orders,” Yates said softly. “Usually when men talk like that they have a military background.”

  “Do you think these men are soldiers?” Tasha hated to imagine that soldiers could turn so mercenary as to sell American women to overseas buyers like cheap knock-off jeans.

  Yates grabbed her and held her close. “Let’s get you into the bath. A little hot water will jog your memory some more. Plus, I need some time to stop mentally freaking out.”

  “Rachel didn’t want to fight,” Tasha murmured. “I told her we needed to get ready to fight when the men came back. She wouldn’t let me. She kept telling me to go and get help. I’m not sure she believes she’s going to make it, Breckin. I think she’s just trying to make certain that you guys will rip these people apart for what they’ve done and keep more women from suffering her fate.”

  “Poor Rachel.” Yates put his face in his hands. “Every time I think we’re close, we just find another rabbit hole to fall into.”

  “You’re doing more than most people ever would,” Tasha said softly. She cupped his face in her hands and gently stroked his cheeks, chin, and then his nose. “Believe me, Breckin. I know what people will and won’t do. You guys are ripping this thing to shreds. These guys are scared. I can tell. Can’t you? Believe in what you’re doing. I promise we’re going to see this thing through to the end.”

  He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the enormous bathroom. They were in yet another top dollar suite, complete with a luxurious sunken tub in the center of the tiled bathroom. Yates turned on the hot water and dumped in a liberal amount of bubble bath. The suds immediately frothed to the lip of the tub and began spilling over. The scent of eucalyptus filled the room.

  Tasha let Yates help her out of her stained clothing. When she was naked, he gently assisted her into the tub. She sighed as the heavenly heat of the water began to ease the aching of her muscles. She felt a pang of guilt as she realized that Rachel was still trapped in that container somewhere in the city.

  Not for long.

  YATES STRIPPED OUT of his clothes and put one foot in the tub. Tasha’s eyes shot open, and she looked up at him in obvious surprise. He smiled and sank down into the hot water behind her. He took a minute to settle himself, sliding his legs along the outside of hers. Tasha stiffened for the span of a few breaths. Then she seemed to melt back against him. Her palms caressed the tops of his
thighs, and the silky skin of her bottom nestled against his groin. Yates tried to keep things casual, but it only took a second for his body to let him know exactly what it wanted to happen next. Still, this wasn’t about him. It was for Tasha.

  “Is this all right?” he whispered in her ear.

  There was a brief pause. Then she turned her head so that she could look up into his face. “Yes. I trust you, Breckin.”

  “I love the way you say my name,” he growled.

  “Breckin.”

  Just hearing it was enough to make him hot and ready for her. Yates let his hands begin on her arms. The water made her skin twice as silky. He rubbed up and down, massaging and caressing until he heard her moan with pleasure. It wasn’t just about sexual fulfillment. This moment was more than that.

  He kissed her neck, working his way carefully over the sensitive skin at her nape and down over her shoulder. She let her head droop forward. He could tell how much she enjoyed the attention. He tasted her skin and savored the saltiness of her sweat. Gently sucking at the junction where her neck met her shoulder, he felt her shudder and buck against him.

  Sliding his arms around Tasha’s body, Yates cupped her breasts and began to knead them as he continued to kiss her neck. She pushed back against him, rubbing her sweet bottom in a maddening way against his groin. He was going to die of his arousal, but he wanted too badly to bring Tasha pleasure to care about his own for the moment.

  His fingers found the juncture of her legs. He threaded them through her pubic hair and gave it a tug that caused Tasha to open her legs. There wasn’t much room in the tub with the two of them in it, but there was enough for Yates to slip two fingers down between her nether lips and caress the hot folds within. She was so wet. Even in the water he could feel the satiny texture of her cream saturating his fingers. She squirmed and moved against him. Her panting made him crazy with lust.

  “Breckin.”

  The way her voice broke over his name made him want to hear it again and again. He curled the tip of his index finger and slipped it inside her opening. He found the pad of muscle there and began to rub tiny spirals over the sensitive circle.

  “Oh, baby,” he growled. “You like that, don’t you?”

  There was no doubt in his mind that she did. Tasha pressed her head back against his shoulder. He could see that her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip. Her breath puffed out in little pants, and when he added his thumb to her clit he felt her entire body shudder with the needful sensations.

  “Come,” Yates begged. “Come for me.”

  Her hands clenched around his forearms. He could feel each individual finger where it dug into his muscles. It didn’t stop him. Her pussy squeezed his fingertip over and over again. He continued to rub. He could feel her heart beating in the pulsating throb of her clit. It was glorious. And when she finally went limp against him, Yates withdrew his index finger from her body and held her tight against his chest.

  “You are mine,” he whispered. “All mine.”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  It made him feel incredibly good to hear her say that. Perhaps there was a part of him that didn’t quite believe that an incredible woman like Tasha, who was so fiercely independent, could be tamed by one man. Yet here she was, with him. It was like a dream.

  Soon enough the water began to cool, and Yates helped Tasha out of the tub. He wordlessly dried her off with a large, fluffy towel. He wrapped her body in one towel and found another for that beautiful hair. The length was damp, and he carefully patted it until it began to curl softly about her shoulders.

  She looked sleepy. Without waiting for a yay or a nay, he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. The bed was rumpled from her earlier nap. He shoved the covers back and laid her on the mattress. Once the light was off, he joined her. It was quiet in the hotel suite. There was no telling how long this false sense of peace would last. Maybe it didn’t even matter. Romero and Cassidy were in a room next door, and Yates knew without asking that the two of them were taking advantage of every single second they had together. Perhaps that was the lesson in this entire situation. There was no way to know what lurked around the next bend. The only thing he could do was enjoy each and every joy that came along as if it could be the very last one of his life.

  Hugging Tasha close and tucking her lovingly into the curve of his body, Yates resolved to do just that. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against her hair. Inhaling deeply, he reveled in her warm, feminine scent and listened to the deep, even breathing that told him she was already asleep. If this was to be his moment, he wanted to get the most of out of it. It didn’t matter what tomorrow was going to throw at them. For now he had tonight.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Wait.” Cassidy looked as if she might be in danger of choking. She grabbed her glass of orange juice and sucked down half the contents in one gulp. “Are you saying that Tasha saw Rachel? Like she was in the same prison or container or whatever—with Rachel?”

  “Yes.” Tasha nodded.

  Cassidy leaped to her feet, causing a few of the other diners in the restaurant to look up in consternation. “Then what are we waiting for? How could you wait until now to tell us? She could be right around the corner or something, right here in DC!”

  Romero grabbed Cassidy’s arm and pulled her back into her chair. “That’s not how these things work, sweetheart. Tasha was in no shape to tell us anything last night. She’d been drugged multiple times. She can’t even remember where she was taken or how she got there.”

  “I’ve got nothing,” Tasha said apologetically. She felt horrible. Cassidy’s blue eyes were welling with tears, and Tasha had nothing to offer her in the way of hope other than the knowledge that her friend was still alive. “She told me very little. I know that she has seen the Broker and talked to him—or them—or whatever. I know that she was kept with a bunch of other women on that cargo ship. I also know that she was removed from general population for a reason. She said she thinks that the Broker knows her brother.”

  From the corner of her eye she saw Romero and Yates exchange a significant look. She had a feeling the two men would be having a very serious conversation with their commanding officer quite soon.

  “It’s only been two weeks,” Cassidy whispered. “How does she seem?”

  “Honestly?” Tasha hated to say this, but they had to hear it. “She’s feral. I cannot imagine what the woman has gone through. But she’s strong. She’s obviously a fighter, and she hasn’t given up. She kept saying that he was trying to break her.”

  “Oh God,” Cassidy whimpered.

  Tasha put her fingertips to her temples and tried to think past her emotions. “What do we know?”

  “We know that the Broker uses and discards club owners like underwear,” Romero mused. “He tells them that they’re special and calls their little club the Inner Circle, but every last one of them is disposable.”

  Yates picked up the threads. “We know that Hanson Pharmaceuticals supplies all of the drugs for the operation, and that local law enforcement is tapped in whatever area the operation is utilizing at the moment. Honestly, once diplomatic credentials are established, it isn’t all that difficult to find a dirty cop or ten.”

  “All right,” Cassidy said with a sniffle. She used her napkin to wipe her eyes. “We know that the women are taken from their starting locations to a ship called the Brazen Belle in Baltimore Harbor.”

  “Good.” Tasha gave a hard nod. “And we know that The Broker has diplomatic immunity and that the State Department is waiting for Homeland Security to figure out what’s going on in order to make a move.” Something occurred to Tasha. She pointed at Yates. “You said that your team was being watched. Something about a special watch list, right?”

  “Yes.” Yates frowned. “You’re thinking that it’s not a negative thing.”

  “Right,” Tasha breathed. “What if they’re waiting for you to do what they can’t?”

>   Romero nodded. “Let’s say this is possible. What do we need to pull the rug out from under this organization all at once?”

  “You need the money trail,” Tasha reminded them. “We only have bits and pieces of that.”

  “The smarmy little accountant who shot himself in the head told us that the guy is so suspicious that he only trusts family connections for this sort of thing,” Yates remembered. “So maybe we need to start backtracking with that thought in mind and cross check any names on those invoices with families that have diplomatic immunity here in the US.”

  “That list has to be huge,” Cassidy moaned. “What else do we have?”

  “The men that were guarding me and Rachel spoke like military men,” Tasha reminded them. “What if we found out that the fires and explosions came from a military source? Could your Sparks guy find a culprit that way?”

  “He might be able to.” Yates didn’t look as hopeful as Tasha would have liked him to be. Then he smiled at her and gently touched her cheek. “I’ll call him and get that started.”

  “Okay. So what else?” Tasha prodded.

  “We need Trapp,” Romero said in a flat voice. “This all begins and ends with him. He pissed someone off, and they took Rachel as punishment. I think that has become obvious.”

  Tasha glanced around the table. “Not all of the cops in town can be bad guys,” she reminded them. “What if we somehow manage to get the word out to the good guys about The Hunting Ground?” She thought a little more about the club that was scheduled to be center stage of this next merchandise round-up staring tonight. “In fact, let’s go hand out flyers in front of that club. Tonight.”

  Romero and Yates looked dubious, but Cassidy jumped right on board. “Oh my God, you might actually be onto something with that! If we just blatantly tell their target audience that they’re on the menu, it could draw out just about every one of the big boys.”

  “And probably land you two in jail for some sort of lame libel charge,” Romero predicted darkly.

  “They might have a point,” Yates said slowly. “Let me call Sparks and tell him to get his ass down here. We need reinforcements. If push comes to shove, we might just have enough to sway the balance in our favor.”