by Brandon, B J
Ty knew the instant Melissa dropped all blocks and let go. He felt her quiet shudder, her body coming alive under his hands as her body went wild beneath him. Never had he had a lover so demanding, so achingly needy as the woman he had loved since he knew what true love was about. Every stroke of his cock plunging into the warm glove of her body, every spasm as the muscles drew him deeper and griped him stronger made it that much harder to hold onto his stamina and make it as good as he could for her. He was determined to make her come as many times as possible before he found his release. Suddenly, Ty felt the passion double as Melissa dropped the last block on her defenses and every emotion and hurt she had ever experienced crashed onto him. The emotional assault broke his ability to hold onto his own passion and he roared, rearing back onto his knees while still clutching her to him.
He snugged her tightly against him and impaled her on his raging cock, determined to sink as deeply and fully as possible. She was a part of him, body and soul, and Ty could feel her emotions as if they were his own as they raged uncontrollably. He was aware of Melissa wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, her sharp little nails digging into his shoulders as she held on and threw her head back. That long, tanned neck was displayed for his mouth and he couldn’t resist to take it, lick it and taste the salt dripping from her skin.
As Melissa came apart in his arms, her scream echoing in the early morning air of the hotel room Ty sank as deeply as possible into the cavern of his love and bit down on the juncture of neck and shoulder displayed for him. He didn’t draw blood, but it would leave a bruise, marking this woman as his if nothing else did.
Ty DuValle was tired of Melissa McKinney running and fighting alone. He was never walking away from her again, no matter the cause and he would protect her with his life. He felt the exact moment Melissa came apart for the last time, her entire body shuddered and her breath hitched. The tight glove of her body locked down on his throbbing cock buried so deep inside of her it was hard to tell where he stopped and she began. With a primal cry, Ty emptied everything he had one last time inside of her and felt the shuddered that echoed between them.
Never again would she fight alone! No one, not family or foe would ever hurt her again if he had anything to do with it.
There was still so much they had to figure out - who the mole was and why? How had he or she gone undetected for so long, and how much damage had they done to the department as a whole. But Ty was determined his woman wasn’t going to be hunting alone. It was easier to hunt in pairs, especially when it was Ty and Melissa. Once he got her fed and rested they were going to talk.
Chapter 16
May 2009
Dear Diary:
This is the last entry I’m going to make in my journals. It would be too much of a security risk considering I’m going to have a security clearance in the near future. I haven’t written much in the last three years because I have concentrated on college and graduating early. I’m lucky, I guess. I’m the top of my class and my major in criminal justice and pre-law have come to the notice of the Drug Enforcement Agency. They want me to start in their Academy as soon as I graduate and I’ve accepted. They will pay off some of my school debt and there aren’t many women in that field. It will be hard, but I know it will be worth it.
I wish my father could finally understand my goals but he has moved to the close-knit community of Lake Tanglewood south of Amarillo, and it’s a gated community. So, I’ve been told to give notice if I wish to visit. Of course, I haven’t. Why go where you are not wanted?
I’ve not seen nor heard from my sisters since the funeral, so family has been only an image for the last few years. I’ve learned to bury hurt and work on my special “talents” so that I’m better at them. Grandma would be pleased if she were still here. Dad would be appalled.
The future is uncertain but at least my path seems clear, certainly not a safe one but at least it is one of my own choosing! Only the future will prove what is to come.
* * *
After a second shared shower and a long nap, Ty woke Melissa from yet another nightmare and finally got them dressed for the office while another pot of coffee quietly brewed. They sat across from each other at the small table by the windows in silence for a just soaking up the ease that floated between them. There wasn’t the typical “morning after” uneasiness between them, just a quiet calm that cloaked both as they drank the dark brew.
“So what are we going to do about the mole?” she hated to break the easy silence but this case was getting to her and Melissa knew they had to figure it out. Soon.
“I have Lonnie pulling up Intel to see who pulled the detail off the crime site. I also have him discretely checking on who dismissed the detail on the girls’ home where Gayle was at.” Ty took a long drink of his coffee and waited. He knew his girl well, and the blow up was coming.
Wait for it… wait for it.
“Son of a bitch.” He reached for her coffee cup before she could throw it, and winked at her. Melissa’s mouth fell open at how fast his hand moved. “How?”
“Baby, the only other thing you were going to blow up about other than the detail at the site was those girls. Not even someone coming after you would have caused it.” His easy explanation scared her. Was she that easy to read? Ty reached across the small table and used his finger to lift her chin up to close her mouth. Yep, she was too damn easy!
Uncomfortable with the knowledge that Ty could read her emotions so easily, she tried to calm her anger at knowing someone had deliberately gone after the kids again and right under their noses. They had to find this monster and fast.
“So, have you talked to Lonnie yet?” she asked, taking another sip of coffee as she watched him.
“Got a text a few minutes ago.” Ty blew on his coffee as if it was just too hot to drink.
“Stop stalling and tell me,” she mumbled. “It can’t be that bad can it?”
The minute she looked back up Melissa knew she wasn’t going to like it one bit. Ty normally didn’t stall but this had to be bad. Really bad.
“Lonnie hacked into the Sheriff’s database and found out that a call came in from our Task Force office to remove the detail from both the girls and the site. It came from one phone number, a burner phone.” When Melissa started swearing a blue streak, Ty held up his hand. “However, Lonnie checked on some local busts to see if any take downs had happened over the last few months, and if so, had there been any burner phones taken. As it happened, a ring of Coyotes were caught by ICE near Nogales a few months ago and the shipment was on its way to Dallas when it was hit by two blacked out SUVs with no plates. The only things they took were the cash bags on hand and the phones.”
“So they knew what was in the shipment and what they were looking for.” Shaking her head, Melissa knew crooks were getting smarter but this was going out there.
“Not only that, but they had to know which route they were on since three different sets left with different shipments. Someone on the inside had to be giving out information.” Ty knew that they had to close the leak on both ends of the organizations if they were to stop this ring. Otherwise, they would just move on.
“Ok, so did Lonnie find out who had the burner phone?”
“No, but he had tower locations where the calls pinged off of, which tells us approximately where the individual was at.” Ty took a deep breath. “The only one in the area was Chip both times and it matches the exact times the calls were made. It’s not conclusive but if we can locate the burner phone we have him.”
As they talked, the two of them came up with a plan to trap whoever had the burner phone. If Chip did indeed have it, it wouldn’t break Melissa’s heart but it would be bruised considerable. To have one of their own dirty was a blight on the entire department. If he was actually helping the criminals then it was a crime that crossed state lines but the same agency had already screwed it up royally. To put a cop behind bars was just putting cut bait out for the sharks, and that was putting
it mildly. The cop wouldn’t last a week, if that long. Once they had a plan, the two of the headed to the office. It was time to check in with Lonnie and see what their resident Geek had for them.
As soon as they entered the Task Force bullpen Melissa knew something was wrong. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife and everyone was already at their desks working like beavers.
“Report!” Melissa shouted out before Ty could open his mouth. She stood there with her hands on hips, looking at each Task Force member expecting an answer and no one opened their mouth.
“Well, did Agent McKinney stutter or are all of you deaf?” Ty shouted, the death glare he gave each of them a promise of retribution none of them wanted to take on.
“We’ve tracked the phones to a group out of Nogales but lost it there.” Paco stood next to his desk with his hand running through his long hair. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and the five o’clock shadow on his jaw was more pronounced than normal.
“We know for a fact that’s not correct so who’s laying down misdirection?” Ty took off his sunglasses and threw them onto a desk close at hand then picked them back up. “Let’s take this to the conference room.”
The team members followed him to the large conference room with Melissa walking in front of him. They had white boards spread around the room and it was obvious someone had been very busy. Lonnie stood in a corner next to one, a dry erase in one hand and a pen sticking in his mouth. He looked up when the group entered.
“Haahahveda.” Taking the pen out of his mouth, he grinned. “Sorry. Take a seat. I think I have the coordinates of the phone.”
Melissa continued to stand, hands in the back pockets of her jeans and waited. She watched the team as they fell into chairs around the large conference tables but her nerves wouldn’t let her settle in a chair until she knew where that phone was at and who had it.
“It’s not what we thought,” Lonnie finally said, looking distracted as he turned an apologetic look back at the team. “The burner phone is in the area, not in Nogales but it’s with someone who had access to it from the FBI. That’s the group who had the routing and stats for the SUVs to take and the only ones who could have compromised that mission. Those files were locked tighter than a virgin’s chastity belt so there is no way anyone else could have hacked them.”
“If they were locked that tight what makes you think someone else couldn’t have hacked into them?” Ty asked, his skepticism that someone from inside his own agency was responsible for putting those girls in harm’s way eating at his guts. The hurt look Lonnie shot him was almost comical. Lonnie’s moist eyes shot to where Melissa stood with what could only be described as a lost little boy look.
“You didn’t tell him about me, did you?” His soft comment wasn’t lost on Ty but he didn’t have time to stroke egos at the moment.
“What?” Ty looked from Lonnie’s hurt expression to Melissa’s almost motherly one and wanted to hit something. Here was another lost soul she had saved, taking him under her wings to protect and shelter him from the monsters of the world.
“Lonnie, honey, fill us in and I’ll explain it all to Ty in a bit. I just haven’t had time to completely explain to him about your awesomeness or how you came to be with my team.” She walked up to the front of the room, ignoring everyone else but the young man standing there and pulled him close. “But I promise, I will. Just not right now. Ok?” Ty could see she was whispering something else in Lonnie’s ear and the young man nodded with his head down.
It finally dawned on Ty just how young Lonnie must be, how alone he must feel in an office full of seasoned Agents who were always fighting crime, bringing in the bad guys, and asking Lonnie to do the near impossible with little to no recognition. He closed his eyes for a couple of breaths and pulled it together, reminding himself that this team had been together a long time and he was the outsider. Even if he and Melissa had known each other in the past the others didn’t trust him past knowing what Buck had promised them he could deliver.
“Lonnie,” he asked softly but loud enough for the room to hear. Once he got Melissa and Lonnie’s attention, he grinned. “As soon as we can you and I will have a one on one to discuss your awesomeness. Deal?”
Lonnie almost blushed, but it could have been Ty’s imagination. The young man nodded and stepped away from Melissa, squaring his shoulders like the trooper he was and took his position in from of his much older colleagues. Ty caught Melissa’s silent look of what he hoped was a thank you and concentrated back on the briefing at hand.
“The calls all came from this area,” Lonnie clicked a remote in his hand and the huge screen on the wall lit up. What showed up was the string of caves where the captives were found, but spread out from there were dots where the cell towers caught the pings. They came from one end of the Lake Tanglewood Reserve area, all over the Timbercreek and Palisades communities and back to the other, as if someone was searching for something or someone. As Ty continued to look at the patterns it struck him.
“They’re grid marks!” he whispered, walking to the front of the room and standing there staring. “They don’t know the area that well so they were looking for more caves or secluded areas around Lake Tanglewood where they can hide their product.” He took control of Lonnie’s laser pointer, using it to point out two specific areas.
“There are easy egress points on the back areas of the lake. I know because as a boy in Scouts we hiked up there all the time. There is also a small airport on top of this mesa.” He pointed to the airport used by wealthier inhabitants of the Lake area. “It wouldn’t be that difficult to pay off the help or sneak in product to the area then find a hidey-hole in some of the more remote areas in the canyons. That’s why we lucked out with the one we found. No one usually goes down there unless it’s hikers.”
“So how do we find them? Most of that is private property.” Paco was staring at the screen, shaking his head but it was Danny who came up with the perfect solution.
“Departmental Simulations.” Danny’s comment hung in the air for a long time before Melissa started to laugh. When everyone else joined except Ty, you could tell the tension in the room had finally broken.
“You’re shitting me, right?” Ty asked after Melissa wiped her eyes.
“Nope.” Danny’s grin was infectious as he sat back as if he were Santa Clause delivering his bag of gifts. “They hate us down there when we tell them we are pulling simulations and the ravines are the perfect area. It won’t be hard to get the alphabets in on it and keep the ones dark on Intel as we keep eyes on them. We’ll need to keep the specifics close to our chests and see what pops up the quickest. But I say use it.”
“Most of the folks down there will like that their law enforcement is on the job, we get to sneak and peak, and hopefully, we’ll catch us some bad guys.” Paco shook his head, looking at the screen. “Logistics are going to be a bitch, though!”
“That’s because you need a man with a plan,” Lonnie groaned, but he was grinning.
“Ok, let’s get it worked out and we’ll run it by Buck. He can get the other departments to jump on it.” As they finalized their plan Melissa watched her team and how well they worked with Ty.
Lonnie was still reserved and held back as Ty tried to pull the younger man into the conversations about how to set everything up for the operation but she knew Ty would care of her IT Geek no matter what happened. Lonnie was barely twenty years old and had only been with the group a little over eighteen months but he had proven himself in many a tight situation.
A young man from an abusive home, forced to make a living on his own at fifteen by any means possible he had chosen to use his hacking skills to make a living instead of prostitution. Not many knew of Lonnie’s background or the fact that Melissa had caught him during a sting and vouched for him so he would stay out of juvie. She had specifically asked for him to be on her team so she could keep him close and Lonnie was never too far away from his mentor
nor she him. It was more than just a caretaker responsibility, Melissa truly cared what happened to Lonnie and wanted what was best for him.
With that thought, she pulled her cell off of the clip at her belt and hit the speed dial number for where they had stashed Gayle. She had been worried about leaving her there and as the final plans came together it was important to keep her on lock down until they closed this case.
“Hello,” the agent in charge answered and Melissa took a deep breath. “This is Agent McKinney. Where is the chaperone that is supposed to be with Gayle and why didn’t she answer the phone?”
“Ah, Agent McKinney, let me let you talk to the Captain.” She heard muffled voices and the phone was hushed as if being passed to someone else. Cursing and a loud growl was the next sound heard and Melissa’s stomach dropped.
“Melissa, this is Chip.” She almost dropped the phone as she heard his voice. He wasn’t supposed to be there, shouldn’t have had any knowledge where they had moved the kids for a reason. “Listen to me before you start screaming, please.”
Chip’s voice had dropped to a whisper as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear their conversation and Melissa frantically looked around for Ty. Catching his eyes, she motioned him to follow her and walked out of the conference room and to her office. As soon as Ty walked in she closed the door and leaned against it.
“Chip, what are you doing at the safe house?” she said it for Ty’s benefit as much as her own. He shouldn’t have known where to go. Putting her phone on speaker, she waited.
“I figure Ty is standing there by now and you’ve put me on speaker. Right?” Chip said through the phone, his voice still low.
“Chip, what the fuck are you doing there?” Ty didn’t shout but the tips of his ears were getting red and his eye brows were almost to his hairline.