Wounded at Home

by Mitzi Pool Bridges

  Table of Contents

  Excerpt

  Other Mitzi Pool Bridges titles

  Wounded at Home

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  A word about the author…

  Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  He went to her and pulled her into his arms.

  “I think you did wonderfully well. Better than I would have.”

  She laid her head against his chest. He kissed her hair, inhaled the smell of flower blossoms that he associated with her.

  “How can you say that?”

  “You kept everyone in the bank safe, Sky. Don’t forget that. If you had given the signal and I had gone in, he would have shot me, walked out the door, and shot more people. You saved our lives.”

  “Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”

  “Because you’re worried about Dory.” But not herself.

  She lifted her head. He brushed her lips with a barely there kiss. She sighed. Maybe it was a sigh of relief that, for the time being, the danger was over. He wanted it to mean more. He risked choice number two and went back for another. Instead of pulling away, she leaned into him. He deepened the kiss.

  Then he couldn’t think anymore. Time stopped. He slid into a depth of emotion he’d never experienced before. Sensations swirled around him in a kaleidoscope of blazing colors. Here was the woman he wanted. Though she didn’t realize it yet, she wanted him as well.

  When they broke away, they looked at each other. Sky looked shell-shocked. Dirk blinked to bring himself back to the present.

  This was the real deal.

  Other Mitzi Pool Bridges titles

  available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc.:

  ~*~

  FIND MY BABY

  ~*~

  The Callahan Series

  Book One: PROMISE KEPT

  Book Two: PROMISE BROKEN

  Book Three: PROMISE HER

  Book Four: PROMISE MADE

  Book Five: PROMISE RENEWED

  Book Six: PROMISE THEM

  ~*~

  The Lobster Cove Series

  CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

  ANGEL IN DISGUISE

  ~*~

  The Wounded SEAL Trilogy

  WOUNDED AT THE LAKE

  Wounded at Home

  by

  Mitzi Pool Bridges

  The Wounded SEAL Trilogy

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Wounded at Home

  COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Mitzi Pool Bridges

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

  Cover Art by Kim Mendoza

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

  Publishing History

  First Crimson Rose Edition, 2016

  Print ISBN 978-1-5092-0729-9

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-0730-5

  The Wounded SEAL Trilogy

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  For All The Men Who Serve Our Country

  They Stand To Fight

  Or Die For What Our Country Stands For

  God Bless

  Chapter One

  Skylar Chapman’s arms prickled with goose bumps when she walked into the cool air at County where prisoners were held until trial. She didn’t know if it was the difference between the steamy air on Houston’s sidewalks and here, or the fact that her sister was in jail for the murder of her husband. She couldn’t keep her mind from swirling with the bizarre situation Dory had found herself in.

  Following directions, Sky found the door where two deputies stood guard. After showing her pass, she stepped into the room. The smell of old sweat mixed with fear and anger, sent her stomach contents up to her throat. Swallowing twice, she took a few uncertain steps. She wanted to be anywhere but here. Her gaze swept the room. Her sister didn’t belong in this place. Dory’s home was richly furnished and immaculately clean. She could never live with this. The dull gray walls, the tiled floors that looked clean enough but were faded to an indistinguishable color from thousands of footsteps, would drive her crazy. Small, metal tables and chairs held a few inmates and their families. Cameras were everywhere. In the distance metal clanged against metal, loud voices cursed in anger; a TV in the corner was at a low volume. The smell itself, including the underlying scent of strong cleaning products, undoubtedly would send Dory into one of her fits of rage. To be in here under lock and key must be driving her insane.

  When Sky caught sight of her sister, she muffled a gasp of surprise. Dory didn’t look anything like the sister Sky knew. Her perfectly groomed looks were gone, replaced by a slumping, straggly blonde stranger who sat at one end of an old, scarred table, her eyes glazed.

  She and her sister weren’t close, never had been. They were too different. One introverted, the other an extrovert. Which was only the beginning; one had talent in many of the arts, the other none. Their mother had died when Sky, at the age of eighteen, was barely out of high school. Dory was two years older and was already in college. Sky knew even before then that they were destined to lead totally separate and different lives. For that reason, they rarely saw one another.

  A hysterical phone call from a sister she hadn’t heard from in months had brought Sky here.

  When Dory saw her she sat up a little straighter, looking at Sky as if she could make all of this right.

  Something welled up in Sky. Something nasty. She pushed it down and went to sit across from her sister. “Hi.”

  Dory came to her feet. The guard headed toward them and she sat back down. “I knew you’d come.”

  “You sounded desperate.” And looked it. Besides her disheveled appearance, her eyes, besides being red-rimmed and swollen, had a haunted look Sky had never seen before.

  “I didn’t kill Martin.” Tears fell down Dory’s bare face. Something else Sky hadn’t seen since her sister turned thirteen and discovered makeup.

  Sky reached across the table to take her hand. The guard shook his head sternly and she pulled back. “I know you didn’t.”

  Dory looked at Sky, her eyes beseeching.

  A deep well of sorrow swept over her. Sky was more than sorry Dory was in this predicament, sorry someone else wasn’t here to help her sister, and sorry she’d been talked into coming.
<
br />   “Everyone thinks I did, even my high-priced lawyer. Why do you believe me?” Hands to her face, Dory burst into tears.

  No doubt Dory hadn’t changed since childhood. This could go on and on. She was the drama queen to end all drama queens. Everything, from the time Sky could remember, had to be Dory’s way or there were tantrums. Their parents gave in. Always.

  Sky raised her voice to be heard over the sobs. “Dory, we’re family, remember. You may be many things, but you’re no killer.” Spoiled, yes. Pampered, yes. Self-centered, yes. Murderer? No. And just that quickly, Sky realized it was true, and didn’t regret coming.

  Dory looked at her gratefully. As a kid she had been impossibly popular. And, of course, she was already beautiful. She excelled in dance and music. She was a virtual virtuoso on the piano, her talent captivating everyone in her orbit. Being a perfect blonde with gorgeous blue eyes didn’t hurt. Everyone adored her. But where were her rich friends now? Where were her tennis buddies—her country club lunch group?

  Sky looked around at the dejected prisoners facing visitors of all ages and sizes. Dory had no one other than a sister she barely talked to a few times a year.

  “Have you spoken to your lawyer?”

  Dory heaved a deep sob. “Jacob the Jerk? He said the evidence against me was damning and is urging me to plead out. I can’t do that. I won’t. If you don’t help me, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  “What can I do your attorney can’t?”

  Dory leaned across the table, her eyes bright with anticipation. For the first time since Sky arrived, she saw the self-confident Dory. “I’ve had nothing but time to think about this since they threw me in here. There are two people who have a bigger motive than I to want Martin dead and buried. I need someone who will follow through and find what the cops can’t or won’t, so I can get the hell out of here.” She sat back, a satisfied look on her face and crossed her arms. It was as if she were a kid again. She wanted something, so automatically it would happen.

  Sky was afraid that time had passed. “Dory…I’m not a cop. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

  Her sister leaned closer, drilled her with those teary blue eyes. “I’ve been denied bail. I don’t trust my attorney. If you can’t come up with the person who killed Martin, I’ll die in here.” Her voice hitched and tears fell again.

  Sky wanted to run screaming from this room full of desperation and hopelessness. It took a concerted effort to hold herself in her seat. “You’re being unreasonable, Dory. There are people out there who can help you, but I’m not one of them.” She paused. “Why don’t you hire a PI? Or insist your attorney does?”

  “You don’t understand, Sky. I trust you. Not a stranger.”

  “Why?” This was a turn she’d never expected. She should have. But their parents weren’t here to work their magic and make the ugly disappear. Her sister’s rich friends had abandoned her. Who was left? Sky let out a disgusted sigh. Once again her sister was demanding and this time it was Sky who was expected to give Dory what she wanted. Then again, she couldn’t let her sister be convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. If her attorney couldn’t help her, who was left?

  Sky knew the answer. Her insides cringed, and gorge rose once more to her throat. Swallowing past it, she took a few deep breaths. She had to do something for Dory, but there was no way she could act like a cop and do what she wanted.

  “Because you’re my sister, dammit. The money went from Steel Financial to the bank where you work. God knows where it went from there. You’re smart. You can follow the money. I know you can.”

  “Are you saying you want me to find the missing money?” Though her voice was a few octaves higher than normal, Dory didn’t seem to notice.

  “Exactly. When you do, you’ll find the person who killed Martin.”

  Sky thought her head was going to blow off. “You make it sound so simple.” When it wasn’t. Ten million dollars had gone missing the day Martin Oakes was killed. So far, it hadn’t been found. Not that the bank and the FBI weren’t looking. They were. The bank had bent over backwards to find out where the transfer went after it left their computers. Everyone they called in—including teams of auditors, and lawyers—had failed miserably. Computer experts and the best PI firm money could buy hadn’t found a dime of the stolen millions.

  The feds had questioned Dory for hours. Were they blind? Stupid? What? Houston’s Police Department had her sister incarcerated for murder, but the Feds were asking questions of everyone who worked at the bank, none as intensely as Skylar Chapman, who was a financial advisor at Union Bank.

  Sky had questioned the employees as well. Not like the Feds, but in her own way. She had her own questions she wanted answered. Questions she’d pose over a cup of coffee in the break room; a where were you when it happened slipped into the conversation. Like the Feds, she’d come up with no answers.

  “Who had a motive to kill Martin?” As if Dory’s answer would make sense. Her sister wasn’t known for heavy thinking.

  Bur Dory was more than ready to offer her ideas. “For starters, there’s that bitch, Steel’s administrative assistant, Cherise Prince. She and Martin had an affair a year ago. I found out and he broke it off. At least he told me he did. She was furious.”

  “Furious enough to kill him?”

  “You know that old saying, hell hath no fury…I believe it. She hated him and she hates me.”

  “So she killed him and framed you.”

  “That’s right. All we have to do is prove it.”

  Sky released a ragged breath. To her sister, everything was simple. And there was no we involved. “Who else?”

  “None other than Quentin Steel himself. He has to know Martin’s passwords. Cherise may be a tramp, but she’s smart. If she wanted the password she’d find it. One of them is guilty. I know it.”

  Quentin owned Steel Financial Services and had been Martin’s boss. Of course he could have done it, but the authorities had checked him out thoroughly. His alibi was airtight. His credentials made him look like a saint in a business suit. The city’s charities would cry real tears if his largess came to a halt.

  “All I have to do is find the money. Right?” Sky’s stomach muscles drew tighter at the thought.

  Dory leaned close again. “You can do it, Sky. You’re the smart one in the family.”

  “Really?” Since when? Sky was the one who stood, forgotten and ignored, in the shadow of her talented and beautiful sister. She stood to leave. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “You’re going to help me, aren’t you? You have to. I have no one else.”

  She looked at her sister again—at the desperation in her beautiful eyes, the frightened look on her face, and relented. Prepared to accept the burden her sister had put on her shoulders, Sky let out a sigh of resignation. “I’ll do what I can.”

  When Sky walked out of the jail, the heat and humidity of a typical spring day in Houston hit her. She dreaded the coming summer. Friday evening traffic hardly moved. Impatient drivers honked horns impatiently. A driver of a black SUV gave the finger to the guy in a dark blue VW next to him. Sky hurried to her car. Why, she didn’t know, since she wasn’t anxious to join the fray. Once behind the wheel with the A/C on, she thought of her sister and the dilemma she was in. She knew her sister was innocent, but the authorities were not looking at anyone else. Dory was right. They thought they had the killer behind bars. However, they were trying to find the missing ten million dollars.

  Screw them all!

  If need be, she’d find the killer herself, and she’d find the money. Then her sister could resume her pampered life and her friends would once again flock to her side. And I won’t hear from her again until she wants something else.

  Sky ignored the inner voice and the more-than-truthful prediction, but it made her angry. Once more she was catering to her spoiled sister’s needs. God knows what she’d have to do, where she’d have to go, and what kind of trouble she’d get into before this was o
ver. If it ever ended.

  The trip home seemed to take forever, but when Sky parked at her apartment complex, anger at the entire situation propelled her out the car. She was about to do something so out of character it made her head spin. How she would even start on the treacherous road her sister had put her on, she didn’t know.

  After a hot shower, she’d think about it. Right now, she wanted to kick off her heels, drink a glass of wine, and try to forget her sister was in jail for a crime she didn’t commit. Maybe then her nerves would settle down and she could think of a way to at least begin to help her sister.

  Opening the door with her passkey, she remembered why she’d decided to live here. The Galleria area was safe and it wasn’t too far from the bank. The rent wasn’t cheap, but there was security and she felt protected. The overcast sky threatened rain as she walked into the foyer. The familiar scent of fresh flowers from the display on the small entry table, the odor of lemon floor cleaner, and a wave from the porter as he mopped up a spill in the hall didn’t reduce her rapid pulse rate or relax the quivering muscles in her stomach.

  How could she do this? She was a financial consultant at the bank and had no expertise in snooping and gathering evidence. She shied away from trouble. She certainly didn’t go looking for it.

  Frustration warred with exhaustion. That hot shower was looking better and better. In reality, nothing had made her feel better since the night she was notified her sister had been arrested. Her heels clicked on the polished tile floor as she walked down the long hallway to her apartment. There had to be a way to find the person who killed her brother-in-law. Regardless of the rift between them, her sister would not pay for a crime committed by someone else, even if she was justified in killing the bastard. Sky would have to check out Dory’s two suspects. How to begin, she didn’t know.

  Keys in hand, Sky reached to unlock the door. Stopped. The door was slightly ajar.

  Her heartbeat accelerated. Had she been robbed?

  She had nothing of value. Her furniture wasn’t the cheapest and it certainly wasn’t worth stealing. Neither was her TV. Since she didn’t watch it much, she hadn’t bothered to buy the latest and best. No one in his right mind would want an old nineteen-inch that looked as if it came from the Stone Age.