Mission to Protect

by Terri Reed

  They collected her lenses and bags then headed out the door. The small hairs at his nape quivered with a sense of foreboding. He glanced around, assessing the area for a threat as he ushered Felicity to the vehicle. Were they being watched?

  He couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t out there. Boyd Sullivan, aka the Red Rose Killer, had targeted Felicity. Westley doubted the man would give up easily. Yet, Sullivan wasn’t the immediate threat. Whoever killed Felicity’s father had also tried to harm Felicity by poisoning her. All in an attempt to keep her from finding the tablet?

  When they arrived at the training center, Westley put Felicity’s things into the small room they used for the overnight-shift staff. He made a mental note to look at the schedule to coordinate the sleeping arrangements. This wasn’t ideal, but would have to do. Keeping Felicity safe meant making the best of the situation.

  “I need to check in with Captain Blackwood,” he told her.

  “I’m going to check on Dakota,” Felicity said. “Don’t look at the tablet until I can join you.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured her. He watched her walk away, feeling like she’d taken the sun with her. He nearly laughed out loud. When had he become poetic?

  Disliking having her out of his sight, he followed her to the kennels. He greeted the trainers, who were busy taking care of the dogs. Felicity had kneeled down beside Dakota’s crate and was petting him through the metal rungs. The dog licked her hand.

  “I gave him his pain meds,” a rookie trainer, Lila Fields, told them. “He was whimpering.”

  “Thank you,” Westley said. He liked the single mom. She was competent and compassionate, and very interested in working with dogs suffering from PTSD, though she’d made it clear she didn’t want to discuss why she had the special interest.

  Felicity glanced up at him with surprise in her eyes. “I thought you were calling the captain.”

  “I will, but I wanted to see Dakota, too.”

  She searched his face as if trying to decide if he was telling her the truth. He arched an eyebrow. He did want to make sure the dog was resting but that wasn’t his only motivation. But he certainly wasn’t going to cop to needing to keep her within arm’s length, even though they were safe within the confines of the training center.

  A slow smile teased the edges of her mouth and a twinkle appeared in her eyes. She went back to talking to the dog. Did she suspect his true reason for following her? And if so, what did she think? Judging by the smile, she wasn’t displeased. His heart rate kicked up a notch. For the millionth time he admonished himself for his base reaction. Now is not the time.

  Then again, he could be completely wrong about what she was thinking. She wasn’t as easy to read as he apparently was.

  After a few minutes, Felicity rose and they went to Westley’s office and switched on the tablet.

  It wasn’t password-protected. “That’s weird,” Felicity said. “Why wouldn’t he use a pass code?”

  Westley pressed the button for the home screen. There were no apps or email icons, only several folders. All untitled.

  “That’s so not like my dad. He’s usually so organized. You know, ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’”

  “Let’s have a look at file number one.” He clicked on the icon. An album of photos spread across the small screen.

  Felicity gasped. “These pictures are from my parents’ wedding.” She touched the screen, her finger hovering over her parents’ images. Her mother looked so pretty in her white wedding gown, her hair piled upon her head and surrounded by a pearl-trimmed veil. Her dad looked handsome in his mess-dress uniform. “I’d only seen the portrait of my parents’ wedding day that used to hang in the living room.”

  “Your parents look happy,” Westley said.

  They did. Both were smiling. Dad’s arm was wrapped around her mother’s waist while she held a bouquet of white gardenias. Her mother’s favorite flower.

  Felicity double-tapped the photo so that it took up the whole screen. As she peered closely at the image staring back at her, a knot formed in the pit of her stomach. Her mother had a distinct bump in her belly. “She was pregnant with me.”

  Westley tilted his head. “How can you be sure?”

  “Look. Can’t you see it?” She paced away from his desk, the confines of the office suddenly closing in on her. “This explains so many things.” Like why her mother was always hypercritical. And the lectures about making good choices and the consequences of poor choices. “My mind is blowing up.”

  “Let’s not be overdramatic.”

  “Overdramatic?” She stared at him. “Are you kidding me?” She made a slashing gesture with her hand. “You don’t get it. My whole life my mom told me to wait for love. To not get serious about a guy too soon. That every decision I made needed to be well thought out. Not something done in haste or in the heat of the moment.” She shook her head at the irony. “Now I understand. Makes total sense. She acted in the heat of the moment and regretted it. Regretted me. No wonder I can never get her approval. She didn’t want me to begin with.”

  Westley came to her side and took her hands. “Look at me,” he said. “You can’t think that.”

  “But it’s obvious, isn’t it?” She felt like the world was crumbling under her feet. “They had to get married. My dad was an honorable man. Of course he married her.”

  “They had to have loved each other,” Westley insisted. “They wouldn’t have stayed together for as long as they did if they hadn’t loved each other on some level.”

  “Maybe. But they eventually did divorce.” She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that her parents had loved each other. Doesn’t every child want that?

  She didn’t question her father’s love. He had made it clear every day of his life. But her mother... All the doubts and fears that she had as a child rose to the surface. She’d tried so hard to make her mother happy and proud. But she’d been doomed from the get-go. “I was a mistake.” Numbness stole over her heart.

  “Don’t say that. Don’t let this define you or define your relationship with your mother.”

  She met his gaze. “But how can I not?”

  Determination lit the depths of his eyes. “You can talk to her,” he suggested, his tone gentle.

  “Like that’s going to happen.” Just the thought of asking her mother such intimate questions about her life and her marriage made Felicity’s insides clench. “You don’t know my mother. She can be intimidating at the best of times. I shudder to think how she would react if I asked her if she regretted having me or if she regretted marrying my father. We don’t talk about things like that.”

  Westley drew her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. “You’re right—I don’t know her. But she can’t be all that bad, because I like her daughter a lot.”

  He liked her? A lot? The admission surprised her, pleased her. Stirred up all the emotions she’d been trying to ignore. She liked him a lot, too. More than liked him, if she was being honest with herself.

  But where could their relationship go? Their future in the air force depended on not becoming involved. There were lines they shouldn’t—couldn’t—cross.

  As much as she wanted to see where this attraction would lead, she knew the best thing for them both was to deny the connection they both obviously felt for one another.

  They had a purpose that needed their attention.

  She stepped back, took a deep breath. “Let’s look at the other files.” She wanted to forget what she’d learned, but doubted that knowledge would ever go away. For now she stuffed it into a box within her and hoped the lid would stay shut. “One of the other files has to be related to the case my father was working on.”

  On the tablet, Westley closed the open file of wedding photos, and then clicked on the next file. More photos a
ppeared. These were of Felicity as a child, and shots of her father and her uncle mugging for the camera. There were photos of her mother as well, looking beautiful and serene sitting on the sand beneath an umbrella. Felicity vaguely remembered going to a Corpus Christi beach. She still had a collection of seashells in her room from that trip. Her mother did look happy here in these photos, she noted.

  “These aren’t helpful,” she said. “Try that one.”

  Westley exited the file and clicked on the next one. A window popped up and asked for a password. “This has to be it,” he said. “Any idea what your father would use as a password?”

  “I haven’t a clue,” she said.

  “I’ll try your name.”

  No go.

  “Try Colleen,” Felicity said. “My mom’s name.”

  That didn’t work, either, and neither did the other obvious passwords they tried. He closed the folder and powered down the device before handing it to her. “Hopefully Cyberintelligence can crack the code.”

  “We have to take this to Ian in the morning,” she said. She tucked the device in the deep pocket of her uniform pants. “This may be the evidence he needs to open an official investigation into my dad’s death.”

  Westley’s gaze narrowed. “I hope we’re not making a mistake by trusting the man.”

  “We’re not.” At least she prayed they weren’t. But could she trust her judgment? After learning the circumstances behind her parents’ marriage, she found herself doubting everything.

  Everything? she asked herself. Even her growing feelings for Westley?

  * * *

  The rising sun shone bright over the Texas Hill Country, washing Canyon Air Force Base in shades of gold. Felicity loved this time of day. The world seemed fresh and alive, though she felt a bit wilted from lack of rest. Taking turns on the cot in the training center hadn’t provided her much sleep. She feared Westley hadn’t received much shut-eye, either.

  Only Dakota seemed to have much energy this morning. If his hindquarter wasn’t sporting a bandage, she wouldn’t have known by his even gait and wagging tail that the dog had been recently hurt.

  As Westley drove them back to the OSI offices, with Dakota in the back seat, Felicity glanced out the passenger window at the horizon and sent up a prayer. She had much to pray for. Strength, both physical and mental. Closure for her father’s death. Boyd’s capture. An untangling of her confusing emotions for Westley.

  She told herself she had to be patient. The promise of Romans 8:28 came to mind.

  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

  She had to trust that God knew what was needed and He would provide as He saw fit. She filled her lungs with a deep, settling breath. She might not have had the rest she needed, but she felt renewed.

  They arrived at the building and rushed inside to Ian’s office, but he wasn’t there. They backtracked to the front desk.

  “Agent Steffen is off base following a lead on the Red Rose Killer case,” the woman at the desk told them.

  “Can you tell him to contact one of us as soon as possible?” Felicity tried to hide her disappointment. She was anxious to see what was in the password-protected file.

  The electronic tablet burned a metaphorical hole in the pocket of her uniform pants. But she couldn’t do anything with it until Ian’s return. Meanwhile they needed a distraction. “The BMT graduation is this afternoon. I’d like to get some photos of the setup.”

  With Dakota at their heels, they went to the photo lab, where she picked up her camera. On the way out they ran in to Yvette Crenville. The base nutritionist paused to salute. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and she looked like she’d lost weight.

  “Are you okay?” Felicity asked, worried for the younger woman. They were both targets of Boyd Sullivan. In fact, Felicity figured Boyd would have more reason to feel slighted by Yvette since the woman had made their breakup very public.

  Yvette patted her utility cap as if checking to be sure she’d put it on. “I’ve been so stressed. This whole thing with Boyd is too much.”

  “You’d feel better if you had a protection detail,” Westley stated.

  Felicity certainly did.

  Yvette rolled her eyes. “Please. I go to the hospital and my apartment. If I’m not safe at either of those two places, then there is nowhere on base that I’d be safe.”

  “Having a dog and a handler with you, getting there and back, will give you peace of mind,” Felicity told her.

  Yvette eyed Dakota and his bandaged hip. “What will give me peace of mind is Boyd back in jail.” She adjusted her uniform jacket. “I’ve been called in to talk to Captain Blackwood again. Like I would help Boyd?” She huffed. “As if. If you ask me, it’s Zoe Sullivan they should be questioning. Gotta go.” She hurried past them.

  Felicity watched Yvette disappear inside the command building. “Do you think she’s right? Zoe does seem the most likely to be Boyd’s accomplice.”

  Westley shrugged. “If she is, Linc will find out.”

  They spent the rest of the day in and around the BMT graduation events. The crush of people made Felicity nervous at first, but with Westley and Dakota watching her six, she relaxed into the process and enjoyed herself, capturing the day’s memories. This photography gig wasn’t half bad. In fact, she could see herself doing this long-term. Which she would be doing until Boyd was caught.

  As dusk settled over the base they returned to where they’d parked the SUV at the back of the lot near the north woods.

  She stopped and gripped his arm as dread made her skin prickle.

  “Boyd was here.” She pointed a shaky finger to the front windshield.

  A red rose was tucked under one of the wipers. A small square piece of paper was plastered to the glass.

  Westley plucked the note from the windshield, careful to only touch the edge.

  “Let me see,” she said.

  Together they stared at the words typed across the paper.

  I’ll get you yet.

  Her stomach lurched. Boyd was on base. And close.

  * * *

  Anger twisted in Westley’s gut. He scanned the area for the fiend, but with so many people milling about, there was no way to tell if Boyd was out there among them.

  “I feel so exposed here,” she whispered.

  He did, too. Despite the fact that they were on a military installation on high alert, somehow Boyd Sullivan managed to move around at will. They could even be in his crosshairs right now. “Don’t touch anything. I’ll call the captain from the center I need to bag this evidence. Then we’re out of here.”

  From the back compartment of the SUV where he kept supplies, he grabbed a brown paper bag and a set of latex gloves. With the gloves on, he slid the rose and note inside the bag. He placed the offending evidence in the glove box, then opened the doors to let Felicity and Dakota into the SUV. As she passed him to climb in, he touched her arm. “I’m not going to let him, or anyone else, hurt you. Not on my watch.”

  The look of trust and tenderness in her eyes sent his pulse racing. “I know.”

  He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and placing a quick kiss on her sweet lips. Her quick inhalation nearly made him steal another, but not now. If ever.

  When he closed her door, he shook his head, marveling at the way life was spinning in a direction he’d never expected. From the moment he’d learned that Felicity was in danger, his world had changed. No longer was the future clear. No longer did he know with crystal clarity what he wanted and didn’t want in life. He’d thought he had it all mapped out. He’d work at the training center until they forced him to retire. Then he’d open his own dog-training facility. But now he couldn’t envision the path before him. Not without Felicity.

  He told
himself there was only one thing he needed to concentrate on—keeping Felicity safe.

  Keeping an alert eye out for any threat, he climbed into the vehicle. He put the key in the ignition, then hesitated. “Why would Boyd leave a note and rose now?”

  “Because he’s sick?”

  “Are we sure Boyd placed them there?” An itch he couldn’t name niggled at him. “What if the intruder placed those there to throw us off?”

  “To make us think Boyd was the one who poisoned me and broke into my house?” she said. “But we know it wasn’t Boyd. It was whoever killed my father.” She patted the tablet. “The person is after this.”

  “Right.” His mind whirred with possibilities. Why would the intruder use the note and rose to scare them? Or had Boyd really set them on the hood of Westley’s vehicle?

  “Don’t you think it odd that this note was typed while the first one was handwritten?” Felicity asked.

  “It does seem strange.” Westley’s unease intensified. “Though if you think about it, for the first note he probably didn’t have access to a computer and printer.”

  “True. And whoever is sheltering him has both. I still can’t believe anyone on base would help the likes of Boyd.”

  “People do strange things.” Vicious things. Deadly things.

  “That’s true.” She sighed. “Only God knows what really goes on in someone’s heart.”

  Apprehension slithered across his shoulders. He gazed out the front windshield, staring at the dark woods. If Boyd wanted to shoot them he had perfect cover within the trees, yet they sat here unharmed. “We need to get out of the vehicle now.”

  He didn’t wait for her response but hopped out and quickly came around to her side to open her door.

  She climbed out. “You think he booby-trapped the car?”