Heroes in Uniform: Soldiers, SEALs, Spies, Rangers and Cops: Sexy Hot Contemporary Alpha Heroes From NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors

by Sharon Hamilton

  “Here let me help you, Mary.”

  “Thanks.”

  Not the sound of assassins, Mallory thought.

  “I don’t know why they don’t double bag the heavy stuff. This always happens.”

  Gage peered out through the peep hole, then turned away from the door and returned his gun to the back of his jeans. “Two women. Crouched over an assortment of cans and jars on the carpeting.”

  “Just a woman who dropped her groceries.” Mallory felt relief at that and then anger. “I hate this. I hate jumping at every sound. What did I tell you about not wanting to let Considine intimidate me.” She set her weapon on the coffee table, then pushed her now slightly damp bangs off her brow. “If he could see me now.”

  Gage went to her and took one of her hands in his own. “You’d be an idiot not to be afraid. Not to be on your guard.”

  “This is personal between me and Considine.”

  “Personal, how?”

  Mallory drew a deep breath. “The summer I graduated from high school, I took a five day trip to Manhattan. Me and Cassie, my best friend.” Mallory shook her head slowly. “Best friends doesn’t adequately describe how we felt about each other. Cassie and I weren’t related by blood but she was my sister in every way that mattered. We were done with finals and wanted to blow off steam. We were set to start college a couple of months later and wanted to kick up our heels before we had to buckle down.” Mallory paused. “The night before we were due to go home, Cassie disappeared.”

  Gage squeezed her hand. “What happened?”

  “We were doing the club thing. Having a good time going from club to club. We wanted to hit as many as we could in the time we were in New York. So we could say, hey, we’d been there. We weren’t drinking heavily. We both knew to keep our wits about us and we weren’t looking to pick up anyone for more than just a dance or two. It was fun. Harmless. Before we’d gone out that night, as we had on the previous nights, we’d said that we wouldn’t separate.” Mallory lowered her head. “But we did get separated. The crowd thickened and I lost sight of her. I didn’t think much of it at first. I figured she was somewhere in the club. I took out my cell phone and called her. Her cell went to voice mail. Not surprising if she couldn’t hear her phone ringing with all the noise. I began making my way through the mob, looking for her. But an hour later, I couldn’t find her.”

  Mallory’s throat closed as memories of that night returned and emotion swamped her. “I checked the restrooms and then went to check outside the club, in case for some reason she’d stepped out there. When I didn’t find her, I waited. Eventually, she would need to leave there. I kept trying her cell. She never picked up. The crowd eventually thinned as the night wore on and I checked inside the club again. At that point, it wasn’t hard to see that Cassie wasn’t in there.”

  Mallory swiped a tear that fell onto her cheek. “The cop who took my frantic call told me that unless I had evidence of foul play, he couldn’t file a missing persons report for forty eight hours. Cassie was nineteen. An adult. She could come and go as she pleased. He suggested that she’d met someone and would return soon. He asked me if I’d been back to our hotel. I hadn’t and he suggested I check back there. She wasn’t at the hotel.”

  Mallory’s voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “I called home. Cassie’s parents and my parents flew in from Chicago. An investigation began, but Cassie wasn’t found.

  “Months went by without any word. I missed that year of college. After she disappeared, each time the phone rang or a car pulled into our driveway, I was terrified that her body had been found. I know most people want to know what happened when a loved one disappears, but for me as long as no body turned up, I could hold onto the hope that she’d be found and brought home.

  “And then one day the call I’d been fearing came. Cassie’s body had been discovered. Her identity confirmed. She was found in a city in Asia. In a Dumpster.”

  Gage brought her against his chest. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  Mallory put her arms around Gage’s waist. Her eyes welled with tears, soaking into his shirt. “Cassie had been a victim of human traffickers and sold into slavery.”

  “Were her traffickers ever caught?”

  Mallory swallowed to clear the tears that clogged her throat. “To this day, we don’t know who trafficked her or who she was sold to. Her killer was never found.”

  “That’s why you’ve been tracking the disappearances of young women all these years,” Gage said gently. “You’re trying to find the people who sold Cassie.”

  She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. He knew that he’d drawn the correct conclusion.

  She raised her head from his chest and looked up at him. “And now, I finally have a lead to a human trafficking operation.”

  “You think Considine is the one who abducted Cassie.” Gage said it as a statement not a question.

  “Yes. I can’t let him do the same to those twelve women. I won’t.”

  Gage took her face gently between his broad palms. “You’re doing all that can be done. Wilder will be apprehended and through him, Considine. Because of you, Considine’s operation will be shut down.”

  Mallory swallowed the last of the tears and straightened her spine. “It has to go down that way, Gage. He has to be made to pay for what he did to Cassie. I have to give that closure to her parents. I need it for myself.”

  His eyes became shadowed. “I hope having that gives you what you need.”

  She sensed they were no longer talking about her. “Why were you at the cabin, Gage?”

  He lowered his arms, releasing her. “Let it go, Mallory.”

  “I would, if you could.”

  He was silent for so long, Mallory was afraid he would remain so, but he began to speak. “Six months ago, I was working on a case involving a drug cartel. The bust was big and we arrested several top people including the guy who ran the operation. During his arrest, the leader opened fire. Took down a couple of our guys. I took him out.

  “It was a clean kill. Internal Affairs cleared me. Used necessary force, etcetera. The guy I shot had a brother who was his second in command. The brother got away before we could arrest him. We couldn’t find any trace of him and with his business severely crippled, if not entirely wiped out, we believed he’d left the country for parts unknown. I believed that.”

  Gage’s features went taut. His brows lowered over his eyes that darkened with pain. “I was married at one time. My ex-wife and I have been divorced for longer than the marriage lasted, but out of that mess we got twin boys. It was my weekend with them. The boys wanted to go to the zoo. I never saw it coming. One minute we were watching the monkeys and the next my sons were on the ground, bleeding. Dying.”

  “Gage . . .”

  He shuddered and bent his head. He fell silent, his throat working. “The brother of the man I’d killed was the one who shot my sons. I shot and killed him right after he fired those two shots, but it was already too late. Ben and Josh died instantly. They were four years old.”

  Tears fell onto Mallory’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Gage.”

  “After my sons were killed, I couldn’t do the job anymore. Didn’t want to. I didn’t want to be around anyone. Mitch had a cabin he used during summer months. He offered it to me for as long as I wanted it. I closed up my house in Washington. Would have resigned my position with the police department, but my superior wouldn’t accept my resignation. Gave me leave instead.” Gage closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his expression was so pained, so raw, it took her breath. He stared directly into her eyes. “My call. My lapse in judgment cost my son’s lives.”

  Mallory’s voice broke along with her heart. “What happened wasn’t your fault, Gage.”

  Her cell phone rang. Once. Twice. She allowed it to ring and put her arms around him.

  He stiffened. “You should get that.”

  Mallory didn’t answer the phon
e and she didn’t release him.

  “You need to get that,” he said.

  Not wanting to crowd him, Mallory took the call. It was York. Billy Wilder was in custody.

  Snowbound: Chapter Ten

  A light rain was falling, turning the snow on the ground to slush when they left Mallory’s apartment. Gage activated the windshield wipers and in the absence of conversation, the swish swish of the blades moving across the glass became the dominant sound in the car.

  He pulled in to the lot of the Bureau office. Mallory popped the door latch, then noticed he hadn’t done the same. “Aren’t you coming in? This is what we’ve been waiting for.” But she noticed his expression was grim and she felt a frisson of alarm. “Gage?”

  “I’m going to park the car here for you and take a cab to pick up the truck.”

  She nodded slowly. “Okay, but I can drive you once this is done with Wilder.”

  “I’m picking up the truck and driving to the cabin right after. Now that Wilder is in custody, Considine will have no reason to come after you. You’re safe.”

  Which meant his job here was done. She hadn’t wanted to crowd him earlier, but he’d already withdrawn. “Gage, let’s talk about this.”

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  “Being alone on the mountain isn’t the answer.”

  “It’s the only answer I’ve got.”

  Gage watched her without blinking, then leaned toward her and kissed her briefly. “They’re waiting for you.” He leaned across her and gave her door a shove.

  Mallory stared at him for a long moment. She left the car before the tears burning her eyes welled and he’d see them. She barely made it through the door when the tears spilled onto her cheeks.

  “Mallory, hold up!”

  It was Special Agent Tom Cole, who’d also participated in the raid on the warehouse calling out to her now. Mallory swiped the back of her hand over her eyes, drying them.

  Tom was at the other end of the lobby and jogged to her. “You here to watch Wilder being questioned?”

  “Headed there now,” she said.

  Tom pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Me, too. I have some time before another appointment and I want to catch some of this. I’ll ride up with you.”

  When they reached the interrogation room, Mallory was surprised to find the room was empty.

  Tom put his hands on his hips. “No one’s here yet.”

  They waited in the hall for York to arrive. Forty minutes later, they were still waiting.

  Tom glanced at his watch. “That’s it for me. Enjoy the show.”

  Another ten minutes passed and Mallory was still waiting. Had the questioning been delayed?

  She took the elevator to York’s office. Jane, the woman who had been York’s assistant since Mallory was assigned to him was at her desk. “Is he in, Jane?”

  “Yes. I’ll let him know you’d like a word with him.”

  Again, Mallory was left to wait.

  “How about a coffee while you’re waiting?” Jane offered.

  Mallory didn’t think her nerves needed the added boost of caffeine and shook her head. “No, thanks.”

  Jane’s phone buzzed. She took the call then said to Mallory. “Go on in.”

  Mallory pushed off the wall and entered the office. York was seated at his desk. His heavy jowls were more pronounced by the tight set to his mouth.

  Mallory got right to the point. “What’s happening with Wilder’s interrogation, sir?”

  York uttered a sound of disgust. “There isn’t going to be any interrogation. Wilder was found dead in his cell in lock up.”

  “How did this happen?”

  “Don’t think I haven’t been asking the same question of everyone in the holding block. All that is known so far is that Wilder was found hanging in his cell. At this point we don’t know if it was a suicide or if he was murdered. I’ll let you know what our people find out.”

  * * *

  The Don felt his control slipping and it was because of the woman. Agent Mallory Burke. She’d survived his people’s attack on the mountain and survived the fire.

  He went to the drinks cart in his den and splashed a liberal dose of Scotch into a crystal glass then tossed it back. He poured another.

  At this point, his original reason for pursuing her no longer applied. If it was just to prevent her from divulging what she’d learned of his organization when she’d insinuated herself at the club, that was now a moot point. She’d had ample time to give a full report to her superiors. His precaution of moving the women had been right. Without them there was nothing to prove an allegation of human trafficking. And now that he’d had that fool Wilder eliminated, her only known link to the Don had been severed.

  But she was investigating other avenues. She’d learned nothing of any significance yet, but if she continued to dig, it was likely she would. The woman was dogged. Relentless in her pursuit. He had no doubt she would go on digging.

  So far, she’d eluded him. Played him for a fool. His grip on the glass tightened and his knuckles whitened. No one played him for a fool.

  She would learn that lesson soon. A lesson she would take to her grave.

  Snowbound: Chapter Eleven

  Mallory let herself into her apartment. The trail to the women had gone cold with Billy’s death. Though they had no proof, Mallory laid the blame squarely at Considine’s door. Considine hadn’t let Billy live to tell what he knew.

  Another day over and they were no closer to finding the women. She tossed her purse on the kitchen counter in a mild display of the frustration and helplessness she was feeling.

  All she had were the dating sites. She was at a standstill with nowhere to go from here until/if one of them made contact.

  She would have liked to be able to talk this out with Gage. He was a skilled investigator. She welcomed his input. And, she wanted his arms around her. Wanted his strength. His comfort. His touch.

  She didn’t want to recall making love with Gage, knowing all she would ever have were memories. She closed her eyes, trying to contain the images, but they would not be contained. They remained front and center in her mind and with them, her feelings for him. Impossible to ignore, they made her yearn for something she would never have.

  She’d fallen in love with him. He didn’t return her feelings. What he felt for her was a sense of responsibility. He’d made himself responsible for her safety and as soon as Billy Wilder was arrested and the threat to her from Considine was gone, Gage had left. Once she was out of danger, Gage’s job was done.

  He was so hurt, so closed-off. Pain and guilt had a choke-hold on him that he could not break. No doubt he would have blamed himself if Considine had harmed her. He couldn’t carry any more guilt. He was bowing under a weight of blame for the death of his sons. She didn’t know what to do about that. Tears stung her eyes.

  The phone in her kitchen rang. Mallory snatched a tissue and wiped her eyes as she picked up the receiver. After her greeting a man apologized for dialing a wrong number.

  “It’s okay,” she said in a monotone. She replaced the phone on the wall mount.

  Her thoughts returned to Gage. Overwhelming her. Overpowering her. She slid down the wall to the floor and cried.

  After, she picked herself up off the kitchen floor and went into the bathroom. She washed her face, pressing the damp cloth to her eyes. There would be more tears later but for now she had a job to do.

  Considine had a weak spot. Somewhere. She was going to find it.

  She was returning to the kitchen when her front door burst open. Two men charged inside. Her purse was on the counter, her service weapon inside.

  Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Mallory ran. She lunged for her purse but before she could reach her gun, she was pulled back by the hair. She reared back with her elbow, jabbing the big brute who held her in the sternum. His breath whooshed out and he released her. The man cursed. His was the voice from the wrong number. The hair
on the back of Mallory’s neck rose. This was no random break in. She was the target.

  She was fighting for her life now. She spun away from the brute but the other man with him struck out with his fist and Mallory tasted blood. She landed a solid hit, then the brute recovered and grabbed her from behind. The man she’d struck knocked her to the floor, and kicked her in the side. She felt something break. He kicked her in the head and then she felt nothing at all.

  * * *

  Gage spent his first day back at the cabin attending to chores. Without the generator, the food in the fridge and freezer had spoiled. He’d anticipated that and had stopped for supplies on the drive up. He’d used most of the wood in the crate on the last night he and Mallory had spent here and was now outside, splitting logs.

  The air was crisp and fresh. Snow glittered like crystal in the bright sunlight and crunched under Gage’s boots as he made his way over it to the shed for more wood to cut. All trace of what had gone down here with Considine’s men was gone. There was nothing but snow as far as his eye could see. He suspected it would take some time for the creatures that lived on this mountain to venture out from wherever they’d taken refuge during the storm.

  He’d come to these mountains seeking refuge but the mountains hadn’t been able to give that to him. Nothing could.

  Mallory.

  Her name flashed in his mind.

  He rolled his shoulders, now feeling on edge. Restless. The mountain, despite its wide open space felt oppressive. Dropping the ax atop the wood pile, he went into the cabin for the keys to Mitch’s truck. He needed to get away from here for a while. He’d take a walk down the mountain and a trip into town, maybe for more supplies. Though he couldn’t think what, he must have forgotten to get something.

  Main Street was quiet when he drove into town. It was a work day and traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular was light. On impulse, he parked in front of the bar at the end of the street and went inside.