by Susan Stoker
“Done.”
Slade could feel Dakota’s head whipping back and forth between him and his friends, and it made him smile. SEALs could be crass and uncouth sometimes, but the men in front of him had hearts of gold. “Caroline get settled over at Dude’s place?”
Wolf nodded. “Yup.”
“And you guys still don’t want any kids…even when she’s dying to spend time with their daughter?” Slade asked Wolf.
Wolf shook his head. “Caroline loves children, but neither of us really want our own.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”
“No need,” Slade reassured him. “Once upon a time, I wanted a household full of rug rats, but something deep inside me knew Cynthia wasn’t the one to have them with.” It was his turn to shrug now. “Now I’m too old to even think about it.” He mock shuddered. “I’d be almost seventy by the time they got out of high school. Can you imagine?”
Wolf’s eyes flicked to the woman at his side, and Slade stiffened. Shit, had he offended her? Did Dakota want kids? They hadn’t known each other long enough to even have sex yet, much less talk about babies. Had he fucked up?
He turned to look down at Dakota, and found her staring off into space with a wistful look on her face.
“You okay, sweetheart? I hope I didn’t say something that’ll make you rethink spending the rest of your life with me,” Slade asked somewhat nervously.
One side of her mouth tilted up into a smile. “No, Slade, you’re fine. I’m not exactly a spring chicken myself. About twelve years ago, I talked with my mom about this very topic. I was considering in vitro fertilization. I was single, but was at a point in my life where I thought I’d either need to have a kid right then, or never have one.” She looked away from him then and continued.
“But after talking with her about all that she went through with me, and hearing what she had to give up, I decided that being a single parent wasn’t something I wanted to do. I loved my job and sometimes worked until it was dark out. It wouldn’t be fair to a child to work those kinds of long hours, and it wouldn’t be fair to slack off on my job so I could be home with a kid. Don’t get me wrong, my mom wasn’t upset that everything changed after she had me, but it just drove the point home that my life would be completely upended if I had a kid, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that.”
She looked back up at Slade. “So you can relax, you didn’t offend me and I’m not going to expect you to be a dad at fifty.”
“Thank god,” he breathed, and leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“But I wouldn’t object to snuggling with other people’s babies,” she went on, and looked at Wolf. “Your friends have kids?”
“Yup,” Wolf told her. “Jessyka will love you forever if you take a shine to hers. She’s got a houseful of them and is always looking for a sucker…err…babysitter.”
Everyone laughed at Wolf’s good-natured teasing.
“On that note…I need to talk to Tex, and Dakota’s about done in,” Slade told his friends. “You ready to crash, love?”
She nodded. “Definitely.”
“Do you mind if I talk with my friends for a bit?” Slade asked. He didn’t want to keep secrets from Dakota, but he also didn’t want to needlessly worry her. He wanted to talk schedules and let Wolf and Cookie know what his immediate plans were and when he’d be away from the house.
“Of course not,” Dakota told him. “You’ll be…um,” she blushed and blurted, “coming down later…right?”
Slade leaned in and nuzzled the skin behind her ear and whispered, “Yeah, love, I’ll be down later. Save me room in bed, okay?”
She nodded and her blush deepened.
Wolf and Cookie were considerate enough to look away from them as they spoke. But since they were both smiling, Slade knew they’d heard the short conversation.
Slade helped Dakota stand, knowing she wouldn’t be able to do so gracefully by herself. He’d gotten his stuff from the bike and put it and her backpack in the basement earlier. He needed to stop by his apartment and grab more clothes, and he needed to pick up some stuff at the store as well. But for tonight, they’d get by.
He walked her down the stairs—slowly, because the muscles in her thighs were obviously sore—and kissed her long and hard before heading back up to his friends.
The next hour was spent discussing the logistics of making sure Dakota stayed safe in the house, and what Slade’s movements would be the next couple of days. When they were done, Slade tried once again to thank his friends. “I appreciate this. I could drag Dakota around with me, but I think it’d be safer for her if she stayed out of sight. If Fourati doesn’t know she’s back in town—which is a possibility, though unlikely—it’s better for her to lay low.”
“You’re beginning to piss me off,” Wolf stated flatly. “If this was happening to Caroline, Alabama, Fiona, or any of our women, you’d help in a heartbeat.”
“Damn straight,” Slade confirmed.
“We take care of our own,” Cookie chimed in. “You might not’ve fought on our team, Cutter, but you’re as much a part of it as we are.”
“Thanks,” Slade said. “Seriously.”
“Again, no thanks necessary. The sooner we get your ass back in the office, the better,” Wolf grumbled.
“The new guy still not working out?” Slade asked.
“He’s an idiot. Had no clue how to set up a secure browser today. I walked by his desk and he was using fucking Google to search for something. I thought Hurt was going to lose his shit. Sent him home early and told him not to come back tomorrow if he didn’t have his head out of his ass.”
Slade smirked. Commander Hurt was pretty easygoing, but when it came to the men on the teams he was in charge of, he wouldn’t stand for anything less than perfection. The lives of the SEALs literally depended on it. He knew Greg Lambert probably had the best of intentions, but he’d clearly sent the replacement without knowing how clueless the man was with administrative matters. He’d have to give Lambert shit the next time he talked to him.
Thinking of Wolf’s team, or some of the other men he worked with on the base being put in a position of vulnerability because of an incompetent contractor, made Slade’s eye twitch. He’d been gone less than a week, but he missed it. It was crazy; who would’ve ever thought he’d miss a desk job? But he liked working behind the scenes to keep the men on the front lines safe. Sometimes it was only a matter of making sure they had fresh batteries before they went on a mission, but even that could literally be life or death.
Yeah, he was old enough and experienced enough to realize the excitement that came with being on the teams was for the young and enthusiastic. He was past that point in his life, and the only thing he wanted was to do his part to keep his fellow SEALs safe and go home to a loving woman. To Dakota.
The thought made him smile.
“And with that, I’m out of here,” Cookie said with a smirk. “I’ll talk with Abe and the others and let them know what’s up.”
“Don’t forget Dakota’s dad. I wouldn’t put it past Fourati to try to use him to get to her,” Slade said as they all stood.
“On it. If nothing else, maybe Dakota can convince her old man to move in with Benny and Jess. I don’t know how he feels about kids, but their brood would keep anyone busy. We give them shit all the time, but those kids are some of the most well-behaved children I’ve ever met. They’d love to have another adult around to entertain them.”
“Sounds good,” Slade told Cookie. “If you guys think it’s necessary, we’ll make it happen. I’ll talk to Tex and see if he’s heard anything about Mr. James being in danger.”
“Good. Later,” Cookie said, and after a chin lift, headed toward the kitchen and the side exit of the house.
“You gonna call Tex?” Wolf asked.
“Yeah.”
“All right. I’ll leave you to it. I’m headed upstairs. I’ll turn on the alarm,” Wolf told Slade. He’d already shown both him and Dakota how i
t worked and told them the code.
Slade nodded. “I’m gonna try to sneak out of bed in the morning and get some errands done early. I’d like Dakota to sleep in, but with the way she climbs all over me during the night, I’m not sure I’ll succeed,” he told Wolf with a grin.
“It’s a great problem to have.”
“That’s for sure,” Slade agreed. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yup. I got approval to skip PT tomorrow. I’ll be hanging around here with your woman until you get back.”
Slade sagged in relief. “Thanks.”
Wolf waved away his gratitude.
“Oh, one more thing. You got a coffee shop around here? And a donut place?”
“Yeah, about three blocks away. Your woman have a hankering?”
“Oh yeah. Big-time addiction. She’s been without her peppermint mochas for a while now. Figured she wouldn’t mind a surprise in the morning.”
“She’s gonna fit in with our women just fine,” Wolf told him. “I’ve tried to tell Ice that she can make coffee here, but she insists that it’s just not the same.”
The men grinned at each other in commiseration. Then Wolf lifted his chin at his friend and said, “Later.”
“Later, Wolf.”
As soon as the other man had disappeared up the stairs, Slade called Tex. As he waited for him to pick up, he marveled at how quickly his world had changed. A week ago, he hadn’t even known Dakota. Now he was literally imagining how to rearrange his entire life to make her fit. Making plans to get up early just so he could stop by the coffee shop to pick up a peppermint mocha for her. But it was the realization that he was actually excited for what his future would bring that made him sigh in contentment.
He’d been living his life as if on autopilot. He did the same thing every day, ate the same food, saw the same people. No, chasing a terrorist wasn’t exactly the shake-up he’d wanted in his life, but Dakota was. He knew without a doubt that every moment with her would be exciting, and he was filled with anticipation for that to begin now. All because of her.
“Cutter,” Tex said as he answered the phone.
“Tex,” Slade returned.
“You at Wolf’s?” Tex asked, not beating around the bush.
“Yeah. Made it here a few hours ago. Cookie just left.”
“I’m sending a tracker for Dakota,” Tex informed him.
“I don’t think—” Slade began, but Tex cut him off.
“It’s necessary. Fiona didn’t think she’d be kidnapped by sex slavers. Benny didn’t think he’d be conked over the head and his woman would have to give herself to his kidnapper. Melody didn’t think—”
“Point made,” Slade bit out, stopping Tex’s tirade.
“They’re earrings. Had a set made for a friend’s kid. I think they’re pretty kick-ass, myself. I’ll also send along a few of the others so they can be placed in her clothes too, just in case. They won’t get there for a couple days though.”
“No problem. We’ll be careful in the meantime. What did you find out about Fourati?”
“Not much. I tried doing a few searches for a blond guy in his twenties who showed interest in terrorist leanings, and came up blank. Either he’s completely new to the terrorist business and extremely lucky, or he’s incredibly smart.”
“What else has been posted about Dakota?” Slade asked.
Tex hesitated, and Slade’s stomach cramped. “He’s escalating in his determination to find her. There are new pictures being posted almost every hour on the Dark Web. Recruitment posters about how Fourati’s woman will be the salvation of Ansar al-Shari’a, and how the babies she’ll bring to the cause will be celebrated and revered for years to come.”
“What kind of pictures?” Slade bit out, ignoring the last part for the moment. Fourati could say whatever he wanted, it didn’t mean it’d come true, but pictures were another thing.
“They look photoshopped to me,” Tex said calmly. “Pictures of her wearing a traditional Tunisian outfit, bustier, silk pants, beige shawl. Standing side by side with a man whose face is blacked out. On her knees looking up at a man.”
“Okay, so he’s getting pictures from the Net and altering them.”
“Right, except…” Tex’s voice trailed off.
“Except what?” Slade asked impatiently.
“There’s one, posted a couple of hours ago, of Dakota on the back of a motorcycle. It’s captioned, “If you see this woman, take possession until the Ansar al-Shari’a ruler can claim her.”
“Fuck me,” Slade said. “Can you tell where it was taken?”
“It’s grainy, as if captured from far away,” Tex said, not answering the question.
“Maybe it’s not Dakota.”
“It is, Cutter. It’s your bike. I should know, I was there when you bought the damn thing. It’s definitely her.”
“So he’s put out an all-points bulletin on her,” Slade concluded.
“Looks that way,” Tex said silently.
“I need to find this Fourati guy and shut down his communication channels.” Slade told Tex something he already knew.
“Shutting those down will be easy. All it’ll take is me hacking into the main site he’s been using to communicate with his followers and posting a cease-and-desist order supposedly from him. I can get creative and word it in a way that any of his potential recruits will think it’s Fourati. But he has to be neutralized in order for it to work, otherwise he’ll just start a new site. But it’s finding him that’s the tricky part.”
“What if I egged him on?” Slade asked.
“Use yourself as bait?” Tex asked.
“Yeah. By now, he has to know she’s with me. And if he’s even marginally good at searching, he’ll figure out who I am. He’ll want to get rid of me to be able to get his hands on her easier. Let’s face it, if I go off the grid with her, no one will find us unless I want them to. But I really don’t want to take Dakota away from her life. She doesn’t deserve that. I’d rather take him out now so she can be free of all this bullshit. If I set myself up as an easy target, he’ll come after me to get me out of the way, and I can take him down.”
“Risky,” Tex commented.
“Yeah, but what other choice do I have? I could pass him on the street and have no idea it was him. If I control the where and how we meet, I’ve at least got a shot of stopping him and making Dakota safe.”
“And preventing another attack on US soil,” Tex added.
Slade was silent for a moment before admitting, “It might make me an asshole, Tex, but I couldn’t give a shit about that right now. He wants to make Dakota his sex slave. Get her pregnant and take her baby away from her. He wants to use her for whatever his own sick perversions are. That is not going to happen.”
“You could use her to—”
“No,” Slade said before Tex could finish. “She is not going to be bait. She’s scared to death of this guy, Tex. I’m not going to put her through that, not even if it means we catch him tomorrow.”
“Okay, it was just a suggestion,” Tex said calmly.
“A shitty one.”
“I’m missing something,” Tex said, moving on. “I don’t know what, but it’s important. Be careful, Slade. I don’t like this. My shit’s-gonna-hit-the-fan meter is pegged.”
“Agreed.”
“I know you got shit to do, but don’t let her out of your sight if you can help it,” Tex told him.
“After I get some stuff done, I wasn’t planning on it. A couple of days, max, then I’m connected to her hip. But work fast, Tex. Help me end this.”
“I will. If I figure out what we’re missing, I’ll call. Later.” Tex hung up, obviously more interested in continuing the search for Fourati than being polite.
Slade didn’t take offense. He glanced at his watch. It was late, but he had one more call he had to make. It was even later on the East Coast, but he didn’t give a fuck.
He dialed the special number he’d been giv
en and waited.
“Lambert.”
“It’s Cutsinger.”
“Have you found Fourati?” the former commander asked, not beating around the bush.
“Not yet. But I found the witness. She’s under my protection now.”
“Good. She tell you what he looked like?”
Slade proceeded to tell Greg Lambert everything Dakota had said about that day at the airport, including her description of Fourati. When he was done, Greg was silent for a long moment.
“So he’s American,” he finally said.
“Seems so, Sir.”
“You know, I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be fighting to keep citizens of our own country from blowing each other up. Gang wars are one thing. Drugs, guns, emotions running high…they’re all one thing. But the likes of people like Timothy McVeigh and Aziz Fourati, if that’s even his name, are something else altogether. I’ll never understand how someone can decide killing their own fellow citizens is the right and just thing to do.”
Slade agreed with him, but didn’t respond.
Greg sighed. “Okay. I’ll run the description past the experts here. Tell them that I have a source who ferreted out the information. If I find anything new, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, you need anything, let me know. I’m not going to tell you how to do your job, but it’s possible the only way we’ll catch this asshole is to use the witness to—”
Slade tuned the man out. Why in the fuck did everyone think the only way to catch Fourati was to put an innocent woman, who had already been through hell, in more danger?
He realized that Lambert had stopped talking and said woodenly, “I’ll keep that under advisement, Sir.” He didn’t know what the fuck the man had proposed but if it involved Dakota, it wasn’t happening.
“I expect you to remain professional,” Greg warned, obviously picking up on the fact that Slade wasn’t happy with his suggestion. “One of the reasons I reached out to you is because you’re known to be levelheaded and not fall for every fucking damsel in distress you’ve been sent to help. I can make your replacement at the base a permanent one if you go off the rails.”