“So when’s the wedding?” Christopher joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. “It’s not like you to be so protective over a woman, Ice. Is it safe to assume she’ll be the next Mrs. Foster?”
Patrick bit out a curse. He hadn’t planned on bringing his guys into the loop, but maybe it was better for everyone’s sakes if he brought them fully up to speed. Hopefully he could locate the perp and handle this on his own, but you never could be too careful. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and if the person looking for Rebecca felt like they’d been slighted or wronged because of some victory she’d had in court, he needed to do everything in his power to put an end to it. To protect her. If that included bringing in the rest of the guys on his SEAL team, then so be it. They looked out for one another like family, and if Patrick said the word, he knew they’d come to his aid immediately, looking out for Rebecca and her daughter like they were one of their own.
“I have been seeing a woman, but that’s not the issue.”
“What’s the problem then, Ice?” Mike asked, looking concerned. The member of their team with the most medical training, Mike seemed to have a sixth-sense of knowing when something was going awry. Maybe it was honed from years of tending to injuries in the battlefield, needing to simultaneously pay attention to everything going on around them while maintaining a level head to provide emergency medical treatment. Maybe he was just more attuned to the goings-on of others and recognized when something was wrong. The bottom line was that if there was trouble, Mike was always among the first of the men to sense it.
“The woman I’m seeing, Rebecca, is a successful divorce attorney in the region. She’s well-respected by her fellow lawyers and at her law firm but has likely made a few enemies over the years due to the success she’s had for her clients. Vengeful ex-spouses and that sort of thing. There’ve been a few incidents lately that have me concerned, and I think she may have a stalker.”
“Shit, man,” Brent said, his eyes blazing in anger. “What do you need us to do?”
Brent’s sister had been killed by a jilted ex-boyfriend years ago, and he didn’t take the idea of a man stalking a woman lightly. None of them did. They were trained to protect others, and the idea of a man harming a woman was not something any of them would tolerate. Ever. Patrick knew that Brent’s sister’s death weighed on him heavily, because she’d been killed while Brent was deployed on a mission. The police had failed to provide her protection, which was all the more reason why Patrick was determined to see to it himself that whoever was watching Rebecca, stalking her, was stopped immediately.
“Seriously?” Christopher asked, dropping his weights and walking over to them. “That’s messed up. Say the word, and we’re there.”
“Absolutely,” the other men agreed.
Patrick let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. He should have brought his guys in sooner—they’d have his back one hundred percent, regardless of whether they gave him a hard time about having a woman in his life again. Hell, if he couldn’t trust those guys, then who could he trust?
In the back of his mind, he realized that he’d simply been hoping he was wrong. That all those incidents were just coincidences and nothing more. If his years of military training had taught him anything, though, it was that nothing was a coincidence. Too many small things occurring in a short time frame that just didn’t add up meant trouble. He’d wait to get the name of the SUV driver back from his cop buddy, but he was virtually certain—Rebecca had a stalker. One that knew where she lived and worked. And he’d do everything in his power to protect her.
Chapter 14
Rebecca sat down to lunch with Alison, eager to tell her about the night she’d spent with Patrick over the weekend. Her best friend had sensed that something was up by the excitement in Rebecca’s voice when she’d called earlier, and Alison had convinced her to take a rare lunch outside the office. Normally the two met for dinner since Rebecca was usually tied to her desk catching up on cases from her massive workload or busy in court during the day, but some conversations just weren’t meant to be had around a four-year-old dinner companion. Since she had a rare free day with no court hearings or meetings outside of the office, she’d happily agreed to lunch.
“So tell me,” Alison said, sliding into the booth across from Rebecca at the Italian restaurant they’d chosen. “What’s up? I can tell from the look on your face that it’s good!”
Rebecca laughed, taking a sip of her iced tea. “Oh, it’s good all right.” She thanked the waiter for the breadsticks he set on the table and waited for him to walk away before continuing. After explaining that she’d run into one of the SEALs they’d noticed at dinner a few weeks ago, Rebecca caught her friend up on their encounter on the playground with the kids, the morning she’d spent at the beach with Patrick, and their dinner together on Friday night.
“So wait, the hottie that changed your tire is the one you ran into?”
“The very one. Abby and I ran into him at the playground not long after we saw them that night. He’s got a kid.”
“Divorced?”
“Yeah. But his ex-wife died. The whole story is really sad.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah, we didn’t go into it that much, but he certainly gets where I’m coming from.”
“So you guys met at the beach one weekend with the kids and then he took you out on a date date?”
“A date date?” Rebecca asked, a bemused look on her face. “He took me to dinner, yes….”
“Sweetie, the time you spent with the kiddos in tow were more like play dates. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome that you all had a great time. But when a man picks you up for dinner? That is a date date.”
“Well, let’s just say that as great as dinner was, it was not the highlight of the night.”
“You slept with him!”
“Shhh,” Rebecca chastised, looking around. All she needed were for potential clients to hear that their lawyer was sleeping around and come to the wrong conclusions. Or worse, for one of the judges down at the courthouse to hear about it.
Although she had as much right as anyone to be in a relationship, she certainly wasn’t going to flaunt it to everyone within earshot. Or divulge the intimate details. Besides, it was none of their business anyway. She’d dealt with enough over the past year, and while everyone had sympathized with her over the tragic death of her husband, she was determined to keep her private life just that from now on—private.
“You slept with him,” Alison whispered, a huge grin spreading across her face.
“We booked an oceanfront room and spent the entire night together,” Rebecca said, a flush spreading across her face. Just thinking about her night with Patrick had her nipples tightening and arousal pooling between her thighs. The man was nothing short of amazing in bed. He clearly knew his way around a woman’s body and had no qualms about showing her just how attracted to her he was. The sex had been spectacular, the stuff she’d only dreamed about before. No man had ever made her feel that way—simultaneously desired, protected, and cherished. As difficult as it had been to say goodbye to Patrick the next morning, she found herself fantasizing about when they could play out the entire night again—and as quickly as possible.
“And?” Alison prodded.
“And it was completely amazing.”
Alison begged her for more details, but Rebecca only shared the bare minimum with her best friend. Some things were meant to be private, but she was certain that Alison got the gist of how spectacular their night together was.
When Patrick had driven her home the following morning, she’d practically been floating on cloud nine. They hadn’t made plans to see each other again yet, but Patrick had promised that he’d see her soon. Without a doubt, she knew he was a man true to his word. He wasn’t the type to give assurances that he had no intention of following through with.
Besides, it was tough to figure out how to date with the kids. The
Handling her attraction to Patrick around her daughter would be another matter entirely. If they all spent time together again, it would be difficult not kissing him or holding his hand. She wasn’t sure she was ready to let her daughter know of her feelings yet though. It would be confusing enough to Abby and Logan seeing Patrick and her together, acting like a couple, and if for whatever reason things didn’t work out, she didn’t want the children to be caught in the middle. As hard as it would be, they’d have to pull off the “just friends” vibe for the time being for the sake of their kids. At least when all four of them were together. Which would make their next actual date all the more special.
“I’m so happy for you, Rebecca. After this past year, and everything you had to go through, I’ve been worried about you.”
“Thanks. I really didn’t think I could ever feel this way again. It’s early, obviously, but our connection was incredible.”
“So when do I get to meet this guy? And more importantly, does he have any single friends?”
Rebecca returned to the office happier than she’d felt in months. It had been great to share her excitement with Alison and to get out and enjoy a nice meal with her best friend. If her workload ever lightened up, she’d have to meet up with some of her friends for lunch more often. In the meantime, she had a stack of papers to get through this afternoon, and as difficult as it was, she’d need to put Patrick out of her mind and concentrate on her work.
She had a hearing tomorrow at the courthouse, and she wanted to be thoroughly prepared when she faced off with her adversary in a child custody hearing. She always felt bad when the kids were caught in the middle of their parents’ troubles, and she’d do everything in her power to see to it that her client received full custody of her two young kids. She’d handled a similar case a few weeks ago, with the cheating husband receiving only limited visitation rights with his young daughter. He’d also been saddled with steep child support and alimony payments. The man had been angry and had to be subdued by the bailiff in the courtroom when the judge pronounced his ruling. His own lawyer had finally calmed him down, but he’d been shooting Rebecca and her client icy glares as they’d all exited the building. It was certainly no wonder why her client had left him.
When she returned to her desk, she was dismayed to see a note from her assistant that there’d been two more hang-ups while she’d been at lunch, the caller ID blocked. A hint of worry worked its way through her as she remembered the car outside of her house last week. Patrick had said he’d look into it for her, running the plates, but she didn’t want to bother him when he surely had enough to do on base. She was certain he didn’t have the legal authority to run random license plates, and she didn’t want to cause any difficulties for him.
If he brought it up, she’d ask if he found out anything, but in the meantime, she might have to just let those unknown calls go straight to voicemail. Hopefully, she wouldn’t lose any potential clients that way, but her assistant had seemed unnerved at all the calls with nothing but dead air on the other line.
If she didn’t know better, it almost seemed like the calls were coming at different times throughout the day, as if someone was trying to determine when she was in the office. That was crazy, though, because if they wanted to speak with her or another attorney, they were getting nowhere by remaining silent on the other end of the line.
She had enough to worry about anyway, without wasting time on what was likely just a prank caller. Some people enjoyed getting others riled up, and if she was on the receiving end of one of those calls again, she’d simply disconnect. Eventually they’d get bored with their little game and move on, but in the meantime, she didn’t have the time or patience to worry about it.
Chapter 15
Patrick let himself fall back off the small boat, diving down into the choppy waters. Two of his other men dropped into the water at the same time, while Matthew drove the boat and the others onboard guided the swimmers in the water. They were practicing rescue ops this afternoon, and their instructor was acting as one of the victims they were supposed to be saving. He thrashed wildly about in the ocean, playing a frantic citizen, and as Patrick swam over to offer his assistance, he captured Patrick in a choke-hold, pulling him under.
People in near-death situations were known to panic, and it was entirely likely that an actual drowning victim would act similarly. Rather than relaxing their body and allowing their rescuers—in this case, Patrick’s SEAL team—to hold them up while swimming to safety, they latched on to them like a life preserver, pushing them under the water and doing anything necessary to keep their own head above water.
Patrick gripped his instructor’s arms, which were like steel wrapped around him. Most men wouldn’t necessarily be that strong, but as a trained SEAL, the instructor was every bit as powerful as Patrick. He wrestled with him for a moment, and finally Christopher swam over beside them. With each man grabbing one arm of the “victim,” they were able to subdue him and safely swim with him back to the boat. Evan and Mike hauled him out of the water, Mike immediately checking his vitals, while Matthew stood at the controls.
“One minute, thirty-two seconds,” the instructor said, glancing at his waterproof watch. “Not bad.”
They conducted a few more rescue simulations, and after another hour, they were heading back to shore. The cold rain pelted down against all of them, the stormy waters churning below. Briefly, Patrick wondered what Rebecca would think if she knew about this particular training exercise. As terrified as she’d been standing on the pier the other night, he didn’t see this sitting well with her. Anyone who was afraid to simply be over the water wouldn’t be comfortable diving in it. Certainly she must realize that his job as a SEAL required him to frequently be out on the water, though, both in training and real-life scenarios. Hopefully he’d be able to eventually persuade her that she could be perfectly safe out on the water. It wouldn’t be easy, but if anything, maybe he could at least help her to calm down enough so that she didn’t instill those same fears in Abby.
Upon their return, Patrick and his men changed out of their wetsuits and back into civilian clothing. Patrick checked for messages on his cell phone and was happy to learn that his cop buddy had pulled a name from the plates that he ran. Patrick pulled up the listing of recent hearings at the courthouse and scanned through them. He wasn’t sure how far back he needed to check but decided to start with those from this month and work backward. It was possible the man was holding a grudge from a court case long ago, but most likely, this had stemmed from a recent court decision. There was no telling how someone would act in a fit of rage, and if this guy felt he’d been wronged, he’d likely want to take out his aggression on either his ex-wife or Rebecca.
Patrick scanned through the hearings, wishing there were a way to sort them so that only Rebecca’s cases were listed. He could always call her and simply ask for a list of her clients. Searching for those names would pull up the opposing counsel and their respective client as well. He didn’t want to worry her any more than necessary though. It was always possible this name would match no one, and the driver of the SUV was simply a friend of one of her neighbors, his presence there pure coincidence.
However, the fact that he remained in his vehicle while parked on her street left him uneasy. Someone visiting a friend would be inside their house, not watching the neighborhood. He sure hadn’t done a good job of hiding if he was after Rebecca—she’d noticed the vehicle several times.
After searching for ten minutes, Patrick was dismayed to see that the man’s name matched one on a list of recent court cases. His blood boiled as he read the date of the hearing. Only three weeks ago, Rebecca had acted as the attorney for the man’s spouse. It was likely another nasty divorce proceeding. Patrick knew Rebecca had an excellent track record, receiving what was fair for her clients. That meant she’d probably won a child custody for the mother or sizable alimony payments. Maybe her client had received a large number of assets or the family home. Something that was big enough to set off this angry man and lead him to search for Rebecca, stalking her outside her home and calling her place of business. One thing was for certain—the silver SUV parked on her street wasn’t there by accident.
“Damn it,” he muttered, pounding his fist down on the desk. It unnerved him that this man was following Rebecca but hadn’t acted on anything yet. Was he planning something big? Waiting until he could be assured she was alone? At any rate, it wasn’t safe for her to be alone in her home with Abby. Not when this guy clearly knew where they lived and was comfortable casing the house. As unhinged as he seemed to be, if he got a chance to hurt Rebecca, he’d likely act on it. Repeatedly calling her office and waiting on her street night after night weren’t the actions of a sound man.
“What is it?” Mike asked, walking over to his side.
“Michael Hale. The ex-husband of one of Rebecca’s clients. My buddy down at the precinct ran the plates for me, and this guy was outside of Rebecca’s house last week. Multiple times.”
“Fuck,” Brent spat out. “Should we pay this guy a visit?”
-->