Protect and Serve: Soldiers, SEALs and Cops: Contemporary Heroes from NY Times and USA Today and other bestselling authors

by J. M. Madden

  “After that reaction to the mention of his name? Clearly, it’s not just you. He had close to the same reaction when he told me to find the brightest star and bring it to him. Based on his rapid breathing, he wasn’t talking about a ball of gas.”

  “He’s been looking for me?” She didn’t know how she felt about that.

  “No,” he ground out. “I have. Imagine my surprise when intel informs me the star he wants is a TREX cadet at Gahanna. Finally, something we can leverage against this son of a bitch.”

  “If Nash isn’t talking, he’s got reason. Besides, you don’t know I’m the star…” she trailed off when he stared her into silence. Damn, that was a scary look.

  “Michaela Nicole Starr. Twenty-seven. Never been married. Joined the Army at seventeen, was on her first tour at nineteen. Went reserve to go to school, graduated, and immediately did another tour. Interesting timing.”

  “I wanted to serve my country.”

  “You were running away.”

  She thrust out her chin. “Did you read that in my file, too?”

  “Mike,” Scott warned. Oh, shit. That look told her she’d definitely get a hell of a smoking after this. So much for a hot shower and any sleep.

  Weber’s lip twitched as he approached. “Give us a minute, Scotty.”

  “I’ll take care—” he stopped abruptly when the director swung that gaze to him. As tough as he was, one look from the director had him back in line. He threw her a glare, promising repercussion for her actions. “Yes, sir.”

  Once he left the room, Weber regarded Mike. “Do you want to try that again?”

  “Try what, sir?”

  “Lie to me or pretend to be a screw-up is the fastest way to get on my bad side. Do I need to repeat the question?”

  She shook her head and swallowed hard to push her heart back into her chest. If he wanted her to be honest, she’d be honest. It may get her kicked out for insubordination, but she’d at least have her say, first. “You just recited my file. Well, all but that last part.”

  “Are you telling me I got that wrong?”

  Damn it. She dropped her gaze, fighting the want to deny it and knowing better than to lie to the director. He’d already told her what would happen if she did. “The fact, no. But you don’t know the reason why.”

  “Does it matter?”

  She met his gaze. “Absolutely.”

  He openly studied her, not with irritation or lust in his gaze, but with curiosity. And then comprehension. With a curt nod, he started in on his assessment. “There’s only one reason a kid enlists at seventeen—escape. Bad family life. Bad love life. No life. It doesn’t matter. The reason is always the same. You come from a good home, had boyfriends, and were active in just about every club you could find. So you, Cadet Starr, are the exception to the rule.”

  She didn’t even know there was a rule. “What do you think I escaped from?” Please tell me so we’ll both know.

  “Reality.”

  That stopped her heart. It painfully skipped to a start, forcing her to suck in a breath to steady the erratic beat. Holy hell in a hand basket. He nailed it. Judging by that smug expression, he knew it.

  “Since your dad worked for the DOD and went where they sent him, your mom homeschooled you until you were thirteen, when you insisted on going to school to be like the normal kids. Instead of struggling to fit in, you had no trouble succeeding socially. Another exception.”

  Damn. It was like he read her diary.

  “Daddy took a desk job to keep you in the same school. Because of the cut in pay, Mom got a job to make ends meet. You felt guilty, so you enlisted and got your GED so they wouldn’t have to support you. Have I stayed on point so far?”

  She nodded and blew out a breath as she studied her boots. Here she thought she’d hidden her guilt. Her parents had sacrificed so much to give her an amazing life growing up. The least she could do was return the favor as they grew old.

  “College came and went,” he continued as he slowly paced. “What the GI Bill and financial aid didn’t cover, you did by working two jobs. You got a roommate your sophomore year, who turned into your boyfriend your junior year. When you graduated, instead of marrying your college sweetheart, you returned to active duty. Why?”

  “I had my reasons.” They were hers and hers alone. Her file simply stated her as out on medical leave. She never talked about it. Nash didn’t even know how to deal with it. Going active made the most sense. They needed time apart to figure out how to handle everything that had happened to them in such a short amount of time.

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “I’ve never known a woman to not fill the silence with endless rambling.”

  “Yet you’re the one who’s been talking,” she snapped, annoyed at his sexist remark. Most things didn’t bother her. The guys at Gahanna constantly trying to get into her pants. The belittling in the form of shouting by all the instructors. She refused to accept her director as one of the assholes she went out of her way to disappoint.

  He narrowed those eyes and set his jaw. Color crept up his neck and joined the red in his ears. “You’re not even trying to impress me, are you?”

  “No, sir. You told me not to lie or pretend to be a screw-up. I’d be doing both if I tried to impress you with words. You prefer results, like me.”

  His lip twitched. “Touché. How about we get right to why I’m here.”

  Finally. She didn’t like being read like a book. It was unnerving.

  “You’re being pulled from training.”

  Her heart stopped yet again, this time followed by her jaw dropping. The shock held her numb, unable to speak. When she recovered, she had to gulp several breaths to stop the room from dancing with the waves of heat coming off the dirty floor. “You’re suspending me?”

  “Graduating you,” he corrected and moved to the stairs. When she didn’t follow, he waved at them. “I didn’t come to Gahanna to leave alone.”

  She hurried after him. “Why you, sir?”

  “Why me, what?”

  “You’re the director. You have people to do this stuff for you.”

  “Not this time.” He descended the stairs. “Due to the sensitive nature of the mission, I wanted to handle this one myself.”

  If he were any more obvious, his nose would grow. “One of your rules is to never withhold information vital to the find. You asked me to not lie to you. I ask the same in return. Sir.”

  “You’ll learn very quickly when to ask for intel on your mission.” He spun on the landing and started down the next set of stairs without glancing at her. “Briefings happen in secure locations only. We’ve had too many agents in danger due to loose intel.”

  They were inside the gates of Gahanna. How much more secure did it get? No, there was something else. He didn’t want to be the one to brief her. Why? “Where’re we going?”

  “Seattle. Your first assignment is to go under as an agent for the SBI. You’re the target’s new partner.”

  That would be why.

  She stopped and swallowed several times to recover. Forcing her to see Nash after all these years irritated her. It brought up way too many memories, both happy and not so much. “Partner? What happened to his last one?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care. You’re due in first thing in the morning.” Weber took the stairs two at a time. She had to jog to keep up with him.

  First thing? She hadn’t slept in nearly three days. She was tired, hungry, and now more than a little annoyed to be forced into playing a diplomat between her agency and her ex. “I don’t suppose there are showers and maybe some food wherever we’re going?” When he glanced over his shoulder, she quickly added, “I’ll be happy with coffee and some sugar packets.”

  “You will be briefed on the drive to HQ. There, your handler will take over.”

  She had a handler? Of course she did. All new agents were assigned a handler during probation.

  “Congr
atulations and welcome to TREX, agent. Get me my intel and I’ll waive your probation. You have two weeks.”

  Not wanting to let him think he had all the say, even though he did, she marched ahead and easily spotted the giant black SUV. No one but the suits drove them. She didn’t slow until she reached for the door and cussed. It was locked.

  Turning, she leaned her butt on the door and crossed one boot over the other as she folded her arms in front of her. He approached, his attention on her.

  She held his gaze and offered him a slight smile. “I’ll do it in one.”

  TWO

  She leaned in to kiss him, her lips as light as a feather, barely a breath against his. He darted his tongue out, brushing it against her mouth, inviting her tongue to come out and play. Her scent, nothing but pure and carnal lust, wafted up into his nostrils.

  He fought his want to take her back to their apartment, to sink into her sweet, perfectly proportioned body. Hunger invaded his senses, clouding his judgment. He couldn’t ever remember wanting a woman as much as he wanted Michaela Starr. With nut brown hair that framed her slender face, and the most hypnotic dark eyes he’d ever had the pleasure of watching glaze over with insatiable need, Mike had him completely captivated from the first time he saw her in the University of Washington’s student library.

  Back in college she wore her long hair down, allowing the wind to style it into a disheveled mess that always looked like she did it intentionally. That was Mike in a nutshell. No matter what she did, she did with purpose, with one hundred and ten percent dedication.

  Those sultry lips curled into a whisper of a grin as she landed her gaze on him. Baring her teeth in the sexiest snarl he’d ever seen, she dived for his lower lip and nipped at it playfully, causing a jolt of shock that shot straight to his already straining erection.

  He closed his eyes as she trailed kisses along his jaw, his throat, and continued down. Oh yeah. The woman had the most talented mouth. He could barely breathe as she descended down toward his…

  “You still with me?”

  Nash blinked his eyes open as his director’s voice broke him of his daydream. Damn it. He wasn’t pissed Lawson cut him off before he imagined the best blowjob of his life. No, he hated the fact he couldn’t forget her, even after five years and plenty of lovers to help him get over the brightest star he’d ever had the pleasure of being blinded by.

  Jimmy Lawson, the new director of the SBI’s Seattle field office, smiled at him with his perfectly white, orthodontia-altered teeth. The kid couldn’t be a day over twenty-two, yet he outranked Nash, an agent who’d been kicking the collective ass of bad guys for over ten years. Holy hell, they just kept getting younger and younger.

  “He checked out when you mentioned interagency cooperation,” the TREX agent sitting across the round table pointed out. He didn’t resemble the one who’d originally approached Nash two weeks ago demanding answers to questions the asshole never asked. That guy was a grade A prick in a suit. Threatening to send him to the darkest hellhole with the rest of the disloyal traitors committing treason was a bit extreme and didn’t convince Nash to tell him a damn thing.

  This one relaxed in the chair, his ankle propped up on the opposite knee, his expression as calm as the rest of him. That didn’t make him any less intimidating than the first one. This guy was huge, with arms so big they cast a shadow. Jesus, he must bench press semis for exercise. Casually, Nash squared his shoulders and flexed his biceps so he didn’t look like a dwarf in comparison.

  “I didn’t catch your name.” Nash gave a single nod at the TREX agent. Did Lawson know about the covert agency?

  He sighed. “Apparently, he checked out long before that.”

  Great. Another asshole.

  “SPD Homicide Detective Dave Lee.”

  “Homicide? No one died.”

  “The day’s young.”

  Oh, yeah. That answer never got old. Nash bit back his retort and went in another direction. “Are you here as a homicide dick? Or a TREX dick?”

  Lee grinned. Hell, he even chuckled. Neither were a good sign, not judging by the way those dark eyes shined. “Both.”

  Lawson darted a wide-eyed gaze at Lee. “Dude, seriously?”

  “Don’t call me dude. What are you, fifteen?”

  He liked this guy. Well, not liked as much as hated him less. Nash didn’t bother to hide his disappointment in the bureau’s choice of directors. Since Director Vulatec retired, the entire field office had taken a dive. The teenager lookalike they’d brought in as his replacement had a college degree and no experience, but he looked damn good on paper. It was a slap in the face to all the veteran agents to have to answer to a kid half their age.

  Lawson did nothing to help his image when he called someone dude.

  “What is this?” Nash demanded, not pleased TREX made an appearance at his place of employment. Were they so desperate to get his intel they’d resort to getting his ass busted at work?

  “Until big mouth here…” Lawson trailed off when all Lee had to do was clear his throat to shut him down. In a whisper, he added, “Wow. Big…um…everything.”

  “I think what the director is trying to say,” Lee jumped in with a voice as big and booming as the rest of him. “I’m here as both a detective with the SPD and a TREX agent.”

  TREX agents could be both? Could SBI agents serve in both capacities, as well? As a member of an elite agency with a get-out-of-jail-free card personally signed by the president, Nash could take crime-fighting to a whole new level. Where did he sign up?

  But first, to deal with something bigger than him. He jumped his gaze to Lee. “Did they think sending you would intimidate me?”

  “They didn’t think,” he replied with a tip of his lips. “They knew.”

  “They’d be wrong.” Lawson beat Nash to the punch. Damn if his opinion of the kid didn’t jump a few pegs. “Nothing intimidates an agent of the SBI, especially Nash. He’s one of our star agents.”

  The mere mention of any star had his mind drifting back into his daydream of the one that got away. What he wouldn’t give to…

  “We found her,” Lee announced, breaking him of his thoughts.

  Lawson perked up. “Found who?”

  Nash ignored him and kept his focus on Lee. Way to dangle that in front of him. “You’re bluffing.”

  “Am I?”

  “Bluffing about what?” Lawson bounced his gaze between them. “Guys, what’s going on?”

  Nash studied Lee, watching for any tells. No darting gaze. No change in heartrate. The guy didn’t even have a hitch in his breath. He was either one hell of a liar, or he wasn’t lying at all. “Prove it.”

  “Prove what?” Lawson’s voice grew more agitated.

  “We will.”

  They were as full of shit as he thought. “You wasted your time.” He stood. “And mine.”

  “Have a seat.” Lawson nodded at the chair he’d just vacated. “TREX may have crashed the party, but I called you down here. We’re not done.”

  He did and waited, his peripherals on Lee. His director summoned him to his office for what he originally thought would be a commendation or at least a pat on the back. Instead he got a lecture on the State Bureau of Investigation’s image and how Nash’s high-profile bust was exactly what the agency needed or some bullshit. How did TREX play into any of it? They clearly didn’t track down and retrieve what he’d asked them to find. That meant the deal was off.

  Now they sat around the tiny conference table, staring at each other. He scratched the stubble on his chin. He really should have shaved before coming to work but didn’t even have enough time to sleep, let alone apply a razor to his face. The job demanded his time, 24/7. “Go on.”

  “Not until TREX explains why they’re really here.” Lawson shifted in his chair, resting his gaze on Lee. He didn’t falter this time. He didn’t even blink. Good for him. “I know how it works. If you want our cooperation, you have to offer it in trade.”

&nbs
p; “Memorized the interagency rulebook, did you?”

  “Despite the rumor, I’m old enough to read. I can even tie my shoes.”

  “Congratulations.”

  Even when his ears grew red, Lawson didn’t back down, impressing Nash. “Your director promised full disclosure.”

  “We haven’t lied to you.”

  “Not telling me about offering a find to one of my agents in return for whatever you want from him is the same thing. He wasn’t even supposed to know about you being TREX. Wasn’t that what you said? This was supposed to be a partnership between the SBI and the SPD.”

  Lee shrugged and finally changed positions by leaning forward. “Look, you got your arrest. That put the plan in motion. We offered a little more incentive to your boy in order to gain his full cooperation.”

  “What plan?” And how did he fit into all of this? If their incentive was to threaten him and lie to him about finding a woman he hadn’t heard from in over five years, they’d failed.

  “We need some good publicity,” Lawson explained.

  “So hire a publicist.” He didn’t give a shit about they needed. He wanted to know about the damn plan.

  “You’re going to give it to us.”

  Nash stopped himself from laughing outright. “Good publicity? Me? I’m the same guy who ended up on the front page of every Seattle newspaper after beating the shit out of that perp who shot me to escape an arrest for brutally beating a teenage girl, raping her, and leaving her for dead. After he made himself out to be the victim and got a nice, fat check from the state, I got a forced suspension and a hell of a fine.”

  Lee stiffened as his expression stilled. It was the first sign of any emotion from the TREX agent. “What about the girl?”

  It still pissed him off to think about. Guilt clawed at his insides. She should have never been there. It was his fault she’d almost died. “She suffered a broken jaw, shattered cheekbone, crushed skull. He fractured both her legs so she couldn’t escape, both her arms so she couldn’t fight back. Those are just the physical injuries. She still can’t sleep without a nightlight and will be scared of the dark the rest of her life.”