“Is it just because she’s a woman that you don’t think she is the one procuring the women?” Conroy asked.
God bless him. Addison looked over at him with a grin. He would probably suspect his mother of stealing her own cookies from the cookie jar.
“First, she doesn’t have access to the right records,” Liam began.
“Not that you know of,” Conroy said cynically.
Liam shook his head. “Second, Si and she worked together for six years. He knows her. As for me? I don’t, but my captain, Josiah Hale’s wife Scarlett, has known Stacy for years. She vouched for her. Scarlett is one of the best judges of people I’ve ever come across. I would trust her with my life.”
“I’d still feel better if you’d met her,” Conroy mumbled.
“Jesus, back the fuck off, you twit.” Laird barked. Conroy flipped him the middle finger.
Not for the first time, Addison felt like she was dealing with Brody and his friends when they were teenagers.
“I see a car pulling up,” Cooper pointed through the front room window.
“I want to meet this paragon,” Conroy stood up.
“Sit down,” Liam said. “Addison come with me. I want the Navy folk to meet her.”
The two of them walked down the stairs from the deck and met Stacy as she climbed out of her car.
“This is quite the place,” she said by way of a greeting. “You’re Liam McAllister, right?”
“Stacy Johnson, I presume?”
“You’ve got it right,” she gave a wry grin. “Si said this was urgent and confidential, so here I am.”
“This is Addison Sanders, she’s former Navy, now with the CIA.”
Addison held out her hand and appreciated Stacy’s firm handshake, but she didn’t expect anything else from a Chief Warrant Officer.
“You’ll want to come in and meet the rest of the crew. We’ve got four former Army Rangers,” she explained. “Then there is our computer expert who also arranged our accommodation. He told me he was drummed out of the Cub Scouts.”
“He’ll be interesting,” Stacy chuckled.
“That’s one way of describing him,” Liam agreed. “We’ll get you up to speed as fast as we can.”
“I appreciate it,” she nodded. Liam had the two women precede him up the stairs, and then did the introductions when they got into the house.
“I already have some coffee brewing, Stacey,” Hudson offered.
“Thanks, that’d be much appreciated.” As soon as she had her mug, she wandered over to the dining room table and looked at the maps. “So, what’s going on here?”
“We think that the girl who went missing yesterday has been abducted,” Liam said without preamble. “She would be the nineteenth female sailor who has been taken, and we assume, murdered, over the course of fifteen years.”
Stacy went ramrod straight and set down her coffee. “You’re talking about Caroline Jakes.” She looked around the table at everyone. “Tell me how in the hell you think that eighteen members of the Navy could have gone missing without it being all over the media.” Her voice was incredulous.
“They fell through the cracks.” Conroy’s voice was stone-cold.
“That’s absolutely impossible,” Stacy said emphatically.
“Hear him out,” Addison coaxed.
She leaned her fists against the table and looked at Conroy. “All right, I’m listening.”
“I’ll do you one better. Take a look at this.” Conroy handed Stacy his tablet with the eighteen women’s profiles. As she scrolled through the data, her eyes narrowed. It took her less than ten minutes to see the pattern. “Mother of God, there is somebody in my Navy who is serving these women up on a silver platter.”
She looked around the room. “So that’s the reason for the secrecy. You don’t know who you can trust? Why me? Why was I singled out?”
“We needed someone here on the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station who could get us information on Caroline in a confidential manner,” Liam said. “Besides being the CWO in Security, you are also the volunteer liaison between WINAS and all of the communities’ rec centers. You’ve got your hands in every pie there is,” he said with satisfaction.
She looked up at the formal SEAL and gave a grim smile. “And there is the added plus that I don’t have access to everybody’s personnel file, right?”
Liam chuckled dryly. “That might have played into it. But I would have bet my last dollar that you were not in any way involved with these women’s disappearance. Si Branson vouches for you, but I’m putting my money on Scarlett Hale’s word.”
“You know Scarlett?” she asked.
“I do,” Liam nodded. “I consider her a good friend.”
“So, do I,” Stacy said. “Do you have any idea who is doing this?”
“We’re narrowing down who has access to their records. But who’s doing the actual killing? No. We don’t know,” Addison answered.
“But Addison’s developing a profile,” Liam said.
“You’re a profiler?” Stacy looked at her with renewed interest.
“I’ve had training in profiling, but I haven’t been paid to do it yet. I’ve also worked cases with similar earmarks at the CIA, so I have a good idea of what I’m doing.”
“She’s done a damn good job,” Conroy said.
“But it’s still not enough for us to go after anyone in particular yet,” Addison admitted. “So right now, we need to focus on Caroline.”
“Okay, what do you need me to do?” Stacy handed the iPad back to Conroy.
“Get us onto the base without raising eyebrows. We need to take a look at Caroline’s room. Unfortunately, she was living on base.”
“Is there any way you can wait until this weekend? If you can, I can get all of you on base.” Stacy suggested.
“How?” Liam gave the Chief Warrant Officer a sharp glance.
“We’re having the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Base’s Establishment. They’re making a real big deal out of it because Commander Bertrum is retiring. He’s been commander for twenty years.”
“What was his problem?” Conroy asked.
“What do you mean?” Stacy queried. “He doesn’t have a problem.”
“Sure he does,” Conroy said. “Twenty years in the same position. No promotions. That doesn’t say much about him.”
“Oh, got you,” she nodded. “His family was from the Northwest. I think he turned down promotions so he could stay commanding WINAS.” Liam and Addison looked at one another. That seemed fishy.
“Anyway, there are a lot of dignitaries currently in town and more coming in this weekend. It’s a big deal.”
“We can’t wait until this weekend,” Addison said. “We need to get a look at her apartment tomorrow.”
“In that case, I can get two of you on base. I’ve been known to give a tour from time to time. That would work. We’d say you’re from the state legislature or something like that.”
“You’re good at this.” Conroy rubbed his hands together as he gave Stacy an admiring look.
“Okay, I need someone that can wander off from the tour and get to Caroline’s. Liam, any chance that somebody could recognize you?”
He nodded. “Yes, there might be, so I shouldn’t go.”
“I need to go,” Conroy said as he raised his hand. “If there is any computer equipment, phones, anything electrical, I can get into it fast and nobody will be the wiser.”
“Who else?” Stacy asked.
“Hudson,” Declan said.
“Absolutely,” Laird piped up.
“He’s the one,” Cooper said.
Stacy’s head swiveled to look at the blond man. “Okay, what’s so special about you?”
“I can usually get people to talk. I might be able to ask some questions of her neighbors without them becoming suspicious.”
Addison had to admit, his smile was amazing. He could probably charm the birds out of the trees. He wasn’t her type, but he
was something.
“Sold,” Stacy said. “How else can I help?”
“You know locals from your volunteering with the parks and recs department. Who has the lay of the land who could act as a guide, or multiple guides? People who could keep their mouths shut.”
“I’ve got a couple of ideas. But some of them might not be available. Let me make a few phone calls. I’ll do that on my drive back to base this evening. I should be able to have at least one person for you before nightfall.”
Addison relaxed just a bit. It would be great if they could at least be doing something tonight. Granted, they didn’t have any idea where to search yet. But they couldn’t just sit here eating muffins and cookies.
“Okay, I have my marching orders. If you need anything else from me, here’s my card.” She passed out one to each of them. “It has my cell number on it. I have it with me at all times.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Liam said.
The woman nodded. Addison watched them go.
“How significant is it that Frankenstein did all of his killing in Mexico?” Declan asked Liam as soon as he walked back into the house.
“What? Who’s Frankenstein?”
“That’s what Conn and Addison are calling the killer, they’ve even named him that in their file,” Declan answered from his spot near the fireplace.
Liam’s eyes shot to Addison who shrugged. “He’s a monster. We needed to call him something. So, he’s Frankenstein with his two peons and the recruiter.”
Liam nodded, “Gotcha.” He turned back to Declan. “It would just mean a little more red tape for everybody, the fact that his killing was done over the border. I’d say the thing that was really beneficial is that the bodies are likely in Mexico. Bury them in the jungle and nobody’s ever going to find them, and that’s what he wants.”
“But what’s with keeping the goddamn dog tags? Could he be any more stupid?” Laird asked incredulously. Could Laird cozy up any closer to Addison? Seriously, there was enough space on the couch that he didn’t need to be right beside her as she sat on the arm of the sofa. Liam went to stand next to her and was gratified to see her smile up at him.
“That’s where Addison’s profile comes in,” Conroy said. “Hit it.” He pointed at her from the kitchen island.
Liam watched as she sat up a little straighter on the arm of the couch. She looked over to make sure everybody, including Hudson and Cooper, who were at the dining room table, was listening. “Our killer is a megalomaniac. He’s convinced that he’s invincible. We’re going to find out he has or had a prominent role in the Navy. Then take into consideration he’s been getting away with kidnapping and killing women under the radar for a decade and a half, while lining his pockets with illegal arms sales, our Frankenstein has an ego that is out of control.”
“So, he is stupid,” Laird said again. “Egotistical bastards are stupid in my book.”
Everybody laughed. It broke the tension, and Liam knew that’s what Laird had been aiming for.
“I don’t disagree with your analysis, Laird,” Addison said evenly. “I just hope that we can use it against him.”
“We will,” Declan said as he grabbed a map off the table and brought it over to Conroy. “With your profile and us being on his ass this fast after an abduction, we’ve got a good chance at taking him down.”
“Conroy, I know you’re all excited about DHS watching the shacks down in Mexico, but you can bet your ass he knows what went down in the Yucatan, he’s not going to be foolish enough to go back there. He probably even knows about the one guy we tracked down in Belize,” Liam said thoughtfully.
“Then he knows we got basically a big fat nothing burger,” Cooper said disgustedly.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Addison protested. “You found out some useful information.”
Liam hid a grin. It was sweet the way she was trying to make Coop feel good.
“Hopefully Brannon will find out more with the next guy.”
“I talked to him earlier, he has a potential lead,” Liam explained.
“Where’s he off to?” Cooper asked.
“Guadalajara,” Liam answered. “I asked him if he needed backup, but he said he needed to go in alone. He knows what he’s doing.”
“They won’t know he’s there until he’s on top of him,” Hudson said with a bloodthirsty smile.
“Are you saying there is a leak in DHS?” Addison asked.
“Not so much a leak,” Liam answered. “I’m just saying that a take-down of drugs and weapons like they found in Mexico would be pretty tough to keep a lid on no matter how hard Si did. I do believe they kept the dog tags quiet.”
“And there’s no way anybody could know I’ve been searching for him. When I search a system, I’m a ghost.” Conroy said.
Liam looked over at Declan who nodded. He’d have to take their word for it.
He pointed to the dining room table. “Hudson, give me that map—”
Liam jolted as a crash of thunder deafened him. Time started to click by in fractions of a second, so slowly, he saw each minuscule shard of glass and lick of fire as they must have been hurtling through the huge dining room window. Like he was in deep water, he dove sideways, and it seemed to take forever for him to move and knock Addison onto the floor.
It was only when something hot and heavy hit his back and he flexed in pain that time started moving in normal increments. He knew he was talking. Hell, he was yelling. Demanding to know if his people were all right, but they weren’t answering. That was when he realized he’d been deafened by the blast.
He looked down at Addison. Her gray eyes were wide.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
He saw her mouth move, but he didn’t hear her say anything. Finally, she nodded at him. Then she shoved at him. He refused to move. She pointed over his shoulder. He turned to look. Fuck. Hudson was lying over part of the table. He was bleeding but moving. Could be the glass, could just be the explosive. It had been a goddamn RPG. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been—if he had to guess, they had targeted the first floor, which was lucky for them. If they’d aimed for the second, Hudson would be dead for sure.
Liam then saw Cooper grabbing his friend and throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. It was the right thing to do to get him out of the line of fire. Liam looked at the area between the front of the house where a portion of the dining room table was, to the sliding glass door that led to the deck stairs at the back of the house.
He saw Conroy and Declan were both stumbling to their feet, on the opposite side of the room. Then he felt the pressure on his back release.
“That had to have hurt,” Laird bellowed.
“What?”
“Let me help you up.” Liam saw the piece of wood that Laird had jerked off his back. That answered where the rest of the dining room table went.
When Liam got to his feet, he helped Addison stand up. “We need to get the hell out of here, they could be setting up to hit us again.”
“Who’s stopping you?” Laird was already pushing the two of them toward the deck door. When Liam got to the sliding glass door, he saw that his nephew was already down on the driveway with his gun out, heading around the corner of the house.
“Take care of Addison,” he said to Laird. “I’m going with Dec.”
Laird looked less than happy, but he nodded. Liam went around the other side of the house. As soon as he got to the front of the house where he could see the water, it was clear what had happened. The wake of a speedboat could be seen rushing away, water spewing up behind it.
“Are the keys to our boats inside them?” Liam yelled at Declan.
Declan was too far away, he couldn’t hear his answer.
Liam was already running to the dock. He prayed to Poseidon that the key to the M28R was in the ignition as he jumped in. It was a beautiful boat, and if there was a chance in hell that he could catch that son-of-a-bitch who had tried to kill them, it was in t
his boat.
“Motherfucker!” he yelled as he hit the dash. No key.
Liam hopped out up onto the dock and went to the less powerful boat on the other side. This Skater was an eight-person boat and it didn’t have the 1,100 engine, but it had one thing that the M28R didn’t have. Liam grinned.
It had a goddamn key in the ignition!
He looked up to see where Declan was. He was running towards him, but he’d still lose thirty seconds that were too damned valuable. Liam let loose the ropes anchoring the boat to the dock and got her going. He shot out into the water like a bat out of hell. He couldn’t see the boat anymore in the dark, but he remembered which way it had been heading, and this baby had some power. There was a chance that he might be able to find the bastard.
Liam thrust the throttle down, getting as much power as possible. The boat skated over the waves of the Saratoga Passage, and the saltwater hit him in his face. It felt good after the scent of fire. He kept his eyes peeled. Not that it was doing him much good.
Did he see something?
He couldn’t be sure. Yeah, it was definitely the lights of Whidbey Island. From what he could remember they were headed toward the inlet near Beverly Beach. There were a bunch of houses and docks along that stretch of beach.
Great.
Just great.
He tried to push the boat to go faster, but there was no juice left. It was giving him all it could. Liam turned into the inlet. He reached over to the compartment between the driver and passenger seat. Maybe, please God, let there be binoculars.
“Dammit!”
He threw down the beer koozies and godforsaken box of condoms. What in the hell?
He had no choice, he was going to have to check out every boat he came across, on the off-chance that he would find something.
He had a purpose.
He was pissed.
He had a gun.
Hell, he even had condoms.
Liam pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Declan to let him know what he was doing.
SEAL at Sunrise (Silver SEALs Book 12) Page 6