“They’re not hard to get,” he told her. Anybody could walk around with those things. He had seen it before. A lot of predators kept their victims immobilized that way.
“The point is,” she sighed. “This could be anything. And maybe your friend’s death was something else.”
“No it wasn’t,” Shane stroked the back of his fingers along the bruise on her cheek. “I got a call last night that the reopened investigation on David’s car accident showed that it wasn’t an accident. Then you take that with Rick’s murder in that hotel parking lot and it’s clear; somebody is after our team. That somebody is working their way west and it makes sense that I’d be the next target from the direction he’s traveling.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “Why would anybody do this to you all? You’re the good guys.”
“We are, but we also pissed off a lot of the bad guys in the process. It comes with the job,” he noted. While they were mostly covert with their identities, there wasn’t complete anonymity. Somebody knew who they all were and whoever it was they were picking them off one by one. So far, both men killed had been assigned to the first Dove Team with Rick being the last one to come on board for their unit. He didn’t know if this were an attack on all the teams, starting with theirs, or if this had something specifically to do with his unit. Without knowing that information, he couldn’t fully know if he were looking in the right direction. It could be something in relation to their previous missions, or it could be somebody with a beef on the government sponsored teams in general. He couldn’t be sure, but he was leaning towards it being somebody pissed at his unit since both men had been a part of his unit.
“I’m supposed to be helping you stay safe,” he said softly. “And here I am putting you in danger.”
“You’ve helped me,” she said as she pulled back and looked in his eyes. “Now you have to help yourself and what’s left of the team you worked with. Go; do whatever you need to do. I’ll be safe here.”
“Freeze!” Alyssa jumped as they all turned around.
“Craig? What are you doing?” She asked breathlessly as she tried to get her wildly pulsing heartbeat back under control.
He lowered his gun. “I saw your back door open.”
“What were you doing back there?” Leo didn’t hold his tongue; that was one thing Shane liked about the man from the day he met him. He spoke what was on his mind without much censorship involved.
“My job,” Craig snapped. “Who are you?”
“Not important,” Leo said firmly. “Are you going to call it in or do I have to?”
“What happened here?” Craig proceeded to start a report without worrying about calling too much in until he got answers. Shane watched Alyssa give an account of what happened. She left out a few things, mainly her suspicion that it was a military man.
“Seems not even your security guard can keep you safe,” he mumbled.
“She’ll be safe;” Shane snapped. “She’s packing a bag and she’s coming to stay with me.”
“Pardon me?” Alyssa tacked one hand to her hip and looked at him with scolding indignation. He knew he hadn’t asked her. Sure he hadn’t checked in to make sure it was okay, but if she thought he was going to leave her there unguarded she was out of her mind crazy. He could protect her better at his place. His security at home was better than what he was able to provide for her here. He wouldn’t leave her out in the open in case the bastard came back and tried it again.
“You’re staying with me and that’s not optional, Alyssa,” he nearly growled.
“What makes you think you have the right to tell me what to do?” She sassed him. She didn’t like people telling her what to do. She didn’t like the men in her life telling her what to do. Well, tough, he thought. He was going to keep her safe first and worry about getting a tongue lashing second.
“This,” he said as he angrily reached for her, pulling her close to his body and clasping one hand in her hair. Pulling her head back he let his mouth descend on hers, kissing her ferociously with the fervor of a man claiming full possession of his woman. He heard Craig clearing his throat, but he didn’t pay the man any attention. This, this heat and passion and proclamation that he had the right to keep her safe, was far more important than the man in uniform. When Shane pulled back and looked in her eyes he could see that her anger had softened.
“Oh, that,” she smiled on a breathless whisper. “You’ll get away with it this time because I hate snakes. But in the future, don’t think your alpha male routine is going to work on me. I grew up with two of them and if I didn’t take it from them I’m not going to take it from you either.” She said in a tone so serious and honest that he knew she wasn’t kidding. They were equals, and he was going to have to ask nicely rather than just assume things would be done his way. On the other hand of that, when it came to her safety he wouldn’t compromise. She would comply.
“Pistol,” Leo chuckled. “I love that fiery spirit in a woman.” He held up his hands when Shane cut him a look that told him to keep his hands off of her. “Not your woman,” he said.
“I’m still in the room here,” Craig snapped. “And I’m trying to take the report.”
“You need to call it in,” Leo said. “I’m sure the rules of engagement don’t work different here on the Mainland. Call it in,” he ordered as if he were on his home territory. Obviously Craig decided protesting would make him look like a bigger jerk than he already came off as because he called it in.
“You’ve had several robberies out here,” Leo went into on-duty mode fast. “Could this be related?” He, unlike Shane, seemed to be keeping his mind open to other enemies. Shane, however, was certain it was the same bastard that had killed two of his friends. He would have gotten three, but Larry was fortunately on his father-son bonding trip. He had been taking those trips with his son since he was a boy and he hadn’t stopped just because he was a grown man now. His son had been homeschooled and could easily take a few extra weeks away at any point in time, but now that he was a grown man, the trips went from three to four weeks on up to several months when Larry had the time off. Family was important to him, and with the death of his wife six years ago, Larry seemed to need the connection to his son even more. He put himself on modified duty, meaning he worked when absolutely necessary; otherwise, he came in after his time with his son. Larry Junior was a photographer for National Geographic; he could work from any place without needing to be in an office at any particular time. That trip had saved his life and he didn’t even know it yet.
“It wasn’t the robber terrorizing the Row. They caught him last night trying to break into another store. One of the other officers running patrol got him.”
“I haven’t seen any news about it,” Alyssa brushed her hair back behind her shoulders.
“It’s under wraps until the nine o’clock press conference. This was a big case you know. Makes me wish I had caught him.”
“Who was he?”
“I’m not sure I should say.” He looked her over and grinned. “It’s not official knowledge yet.”
“Oh come on; who am I going to tell?” She said sweetly.
He shrugged. “Gregory Alexander Dumas,” he noted.
“Oh my God. He applied for security at my store.”
Craig nodded. “He seems to have applied at everybody’s store let him tell it. He needed a job. He probably figured if he robbed a few stores the need for security would go up. Shatrel probably hurt his ego when he went into her store and asked her about security so he decided to hurt her. He probably thought the increased violence would make somebody hire him.”
“And nobody did.”
“That’s probably why he sued you,” Shane said. “Maybe he thought he could get enough money from you not to worry about the job.”
“And when that didn’t work he decided to keep on going? Maybe,” she shrugged. “Just seems odd. Do you all have DNA confirmation? After the attack on Shatrel I would
have to imagine there’s something to take into court. Unless you have a signed confession…”
“There wasn’t anything on Shatrel that was useable, at least not from the reports I’ve read. No seamen, so he probably had on a rubber, and no hairs, so he’s probably shaved. Doesn’t matter. He confessed.” Craig shifted his notebook and pen to his other hand. “We do have more important things to worry about here. Do you know who might have done this to you?”
She shrugged. “You already arrested my prime suspect.”
“Anybody else?”
“I can’t say,” she said expertly evading the question. Shane knew she was thinking his observation might be right. The only other person excessively bothering her was the cop in front of them, and if it wasn’t him…which he was sure she was thinking it wasn’t by now…then it had to be the guy after his team. He would have to remember to thank her for not mentioning it. The last thing he needed was some overzealous hormonal cop to muck things up now.
“And where were you during all of this?” Craig fixed his gaze on Shane. Shane was ready to show him why he shouldn’t mess with a SEAL when Alyssa placed one warm palm on his chest and smiled at him. That smile could calm a tiger, at least he thought so. He knew she was trying to keep him from assaulting a police officer and ending up in jail for doing it, but good Lord, the man was working what was left of his nerves. Seeing Alyssa tied to that chair, knowing she could die at any second, was enough to break his reserve—but knowing it happened because of him was the final straw. He had brought this into her life and now, whether he left or not, she would probably still be in danger. He was going to fix this. First, he would get her back to his place, which was more secure than her place. Then, he would make sure he got details on the current homicide investigation in Austin. He needed details. His team had worked a lot of high security threat missions, they had also turned down a lot of candidates, either way he looked at it his suspect pool was growing by the second.
“You don’t have anything to say?”
“I have a lot to say,” Shane’s voice was a lethal mix of anger and measured restraint—restraint that was about to break. “I’ll just hold off on saying it until a real cop gets here.”
“Okay,” Alyssa intervened. “I think we should probably have some tea; yes? Yes, tea,” she nodded. “And you’ll help me make it.” The tone in her voice told Shane she expected him to comply with her request, but he had no plans to go help make tea. He really was starting to hate the man in uniform. He had never had such a strong reaction of hatred to somebody in uniform—one of the good guys in uniform at least—as he had right now toward this one. “Now,” she said and her low authoritative tone told him she wasn’t leaving room for argument. She practically dragged him over to the kitchen area. It wasn’t as if the kitchen was closed off. It was a flat for crying out loud, and the divider screen she had in place had been knocked over so there wasn’t anything to shield his view. He could still see the bastard gawking at her. Having a visual on his enemy was making him angrier. Craig watching his woman as if he had every right to look at her like a side of beef was going to be his breaking point. He felt his reserve, the controlled nature he had been perfecting for years, starting to crack.
“Go downstairs right now and pull yourself together,” she mumbled in a low, but serious voice.
“I’m fine.” But he wasn’t fine. He was holding on by a thread here. Control, he needed to remember his training, his skills, but right now he wasn’t able to talk himself down.
“Go downstairs right now,” she placed her hand on his chest. “Because if you don’t you’re going to do something stupid that gets you arrested, and then where does that leave us, huh? You would be stuck in lockup while whoever is after your team runs amuck in Arizona. Who do you think his first target is going to be, huh? Me.” She pointed her finger to her chest. “Because he’ll know it would nearly destroy you to know you failed at your protection detail.”
She made sense. If this guy were after his entire team, after him, then he had probably spent a lot of time studying them, learning what made them tick. “Fine,” he mumbled before walking out of the flat and going downstairs as ordered. “That woman,” he sighed as he stood in the hallway alone. “I swear she’s a peacekeeper to the core.” He was willing to bet, whether she would acknowledge it or not, that she was the rope connecting her family together. He had heard her conversation with her sister. He had heard her advising her to not shut off her heart to love and life. In the most compassionate way she could, she had told her she needed to start the healing process, and she needed to move forward. “You can’t bring him back, Eve.” She had spoken those words with heartfelt compassion. “No matter how many crazy dangerous assignments you go on, you can’t change what happened. You know he wouldn’t want this for you. You know he would want you to go on, to live your life without regrets. He was that kind of man, Eve, and you know that.”
“I know,” she had said.
Every word that he heard her utter had been supportive, yet had been a firm statement that her sister needed to hear. He also heard her conversation with Gavin and Thomas. She had advised both brothers not to push Eve too hard. “She’s coming around, slowly, but if you push too hard she’s going to retreat.” Shane knew she was right, and they probably did too. Alyssa was more psychologist than sister sometimes, or maybe she was both. Maybe how she treated her siblings was how family relations were supposed to be—supportive, loving, caring. He wouldn’t know because his family wasn’t anything like that.
He watched officers go in and out of her flat. He had spoken with one of the detectives that had arrived to work the case, and then he decided to return to the flat. He couldn’t hide out in the hall all morning. He should have been up there, by her side, helping her with the questioning process. Of course he knew she didn’t need help. She was a strong woman who could survive on her own, yet still, he felt as if he should have been there for her.
He wasn’t halfway through the door when Alyssa approached him, put her hand on his arm and urged him to leave. “I’m not going to do anything rash,” he said as if she should have known that.
“I need you to come downstairs with me,” her voice was nearly a whisper. She had something she needed to say, and for some reason the look in her eyes worried him. Had he come off as a total caveman to her because of his inability to keep his growing rage under control? He looked to Leo who was talking with another one of the detectives and he gave him a subtle head nod, as if he needed to go hear what she had to say; so he did.
She made sure they were down the hall, closer to the door to the store before she spoke again. “Detective Burns tells me they released Gregory earlier this morning.”
“What? He confessed.”
“No, he didn’t.” She looked back down the hall as if checking to make sure nobody was coming. “When Burns was questioning me about the attack I told him that I thought it could be Gregory Dumas, but that Officer Davis had told me he was behind bars already, and Burns told me he wasn’t. They had to release him this morning.”
“I don’t understand. Craig lied?”
“I’m not sure it was intentional. He may have just heard the first report that they caught the guy, and not the second report that they hadn’t. Apparently Gregory says he received a call to come to the location late last night, not super early this morning, and he thought somebody was finally going to give him a job.” She held up her hand before he could utter his next words. “I know,” she shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t understand it either. So I told Burns that Officer Davis had told me he confessed. Burns told me he didn’t. What Gregory said was, “oh so you think she cut off my balls with rejection and I went back to show her I still had some;” He did not say he actually did it.”
“That’s a far cry from what Craig said.”
“I know. That’s what I said. That’s when Burns told me that Officer Davis is still a patrol cop because he has been denied every promotion he
’s tried for. They say he’s kind of a…loose cannon I guess. He rushes to conclusions that usually turn out to not be true.” She sighed. “I seem to attract the dishonest lunatics,” she laughed sarcastically.
“I’m neither of those things, Alyssa.”
She placed her hand over his heart. “I know.” She sighed. “Anyway, I’m telling you all this because it could be that whoever attacked me has nothing to do with your issue after all. I just thought you should know that in case you were still beating yourself up about it.”
“I wasn’t beating myself up,” but in reality he was.
“Yes you were. It’s why you weren’t able to control yourself up there—barely able to control yourself,” she amended her statement probably realizing that he had, indeed, controlled at least some of his rage impulse. “Don’t take the blame for somebody else’s actions, Shane. Just figure out how to stop him, or maybe both of them.”
He nodded his understanding. She needed him alert, not stuck in some self deprecating stupor.
Betrayal of the Dove (Men of Action) Page 14