The American Soldier Collection 9: Password to Her Heart
Shawna James is struggling through life. Her only family, her brother Keith, comes to visit her when he gets involved in a mission gone awry. Shawna gets thrust into danger like she's never experienced before. Even the fear she sustained most of her childhood with abusive parents doesn't compare to being abducted by terrorists, held hostage in a Mexican make-shift prison, or having to kill in order to survive. Everything her brother has taught her comes into play, except falling in love with the five members of his team, including their gunnery sergeant. These men are older, risked their lives to save hers and Keith's, and now she questions whether they want her out of loyalty to Keith, or if they in fact truly care. They need to prove it to her quickly, because the terrorists they helped her and Keith escape from want revenge, and they'll take it by abducting Shawna once and for all.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 53,258 words
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 9: PASSWORD TO HER HEART
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
LOVEXTREME FOREVER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 9: PASSWORD TO HER HEART
Copyright © 2014 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-997-0
First E-book Publication: July 2014
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
Could you imagine, conditioning yourself to the point of not allowing another person close enough to you because such a chance scared you so terribly that it was easier to be alone? How does a person live without love, without relationships, without allowing any connections to last more than momentarily?
It will take some seriously charismatic, assertive, and determined soldiers to get Shawna James to open up her heart. But they have some weapons of their own. A bit of fate, a dash of destiny, and ultimately the password to her heart that starts it all.
May you enjoy their story. Thank you for being such loyal reading fans.
Happy reading.
Hugs!
~Dixie~
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
About the Author
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 9: PASSWORD TO HER HEART
DIXIE LYNN DWYER
Copyright © 2014
Prologue
“I can’t believe you’re sitting here in my kitchen. It’s been over a year. I was so worried about you. Are you out of the service?” Shawna James asked her brother, Keith, as he looked around the place. He appeared tired, yet on edge since he arrived fifteen minutes ago. He had visited her over the years. He also made sure she was well trained in self-defense and other moves. He loved her, but his military career was his life.
His brown hair was to his shoulders, his beard looked patchy and unkempt. Something was wrong. She just knew it.
He leaned forward, the muscles in his forearm visible with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his biceps.
“Baby, listen to me. It’s important that you listen to every word I say, and don’t ask any questions.” He looked around the small apartment. Hell, she was embarrassed, but it was hers. She paid the rent. She worked at the club behind the bar. She was the one finishing college. Shawna was a survivor and trust didn’t come easy. In fact, her brother was the only man, never mind the only person, she trusted.
She stared at him, her heart filled with so much sadness and bad memories of their childhood.
“What’s going on?”
He looked to the right and then back at her. He did just tell her to not ask any questions. She raised her stubborn shoulders as well as her eyebrows in challenge.
“I need you to listen to everything I tell you and keep it in the back of your mind just in case people come looking for me.”
“People? Who?”
“Shawna, I can’t tell you who, but I can tell you that these men are bad. They want things from me. Things that they can’t have. My cover could have gotten blown on a recent mission. It was supposed to be my last.”
“Your last mission? What about the team? Your commander? The other four men?”
Men she never met. Men she didn’t even know the names of, just men her brother referred to as his team and family.
“Well then, why did you come here? Who are these people and how come the government isn’t helping you?”
He looked down at the table and then back into her eyes. She knew that look whether he was thirteen or thirty. He had done something he wasn’t supposed to do.
He lifted up a black bag from the floor. He had arrived with it. A backpack.
He unzipped it and showed her the contents.
“There’s twenty thousand dollars in here. You take it, its unmarked bills, and you use it to get as far from here as possible. Don’t stay in one place too long. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t go to the police or even the feds. You understand me?”
“No. If you did something so wrong that you can’t even rely on help from a government you dedicated your life to, then this must be very illegal. Why are you dragging me into your problems, Keith? Jesus! Like I haven’t been through a hard enough life as is?”
“Damn it, Shawna, I’m trying to save your life because of all that. I know our childhood sucked. Hell, I got out as fast as I could. Don’t you realize all those times I showed up over the years, and taught you all those self-defense moves, and signed you up for the martial arts training and shooting instructions on guns that it might have been to prepare you?”
“Prepare me for what? I’m not a soldier. I have shit, and I work at a freaking bar. I’m struggling to pay for college and finish up so I can have a real job, a real career, and a life. I don’t even have a boyfriend because of my fears from the past. Look at this shithole I live in because I have no choice.”
She was standing now and pacing in her small kitchen.
Keith stood up and laid the bag on the table. He walked closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her brother had always protected her when things got rough, but he did leave her to deal with the mess at home. She took off when she finished high school and never looked back. Keith was her only family.
“I know you’ve been through some rough times. It was why I kept coming back to train you, to prepare you to be safe. My job in the military has taken a turn along the way that I didn’t expect. There are some very evil people out there, Shawna. People that would think nothing of taking you and raping and torturing you to get to me. So please just forget about the fucked-up shit from the past and take me seriously. They will come for you. I need you to be ready.”
“Oh God, Keith. I can’t believe this is happening. Where am I supposed to go?”
I know my life isn’t perfect. I know the apartment is shitty and I live in an unsafe neighborhood, but it’s my life, my apartment. I worked hard to get here, and I’ve been studying and working to get that degree so I can make more money and get out of here. Why is this happening?
“Bounce around from place to place. There is a passport in there but once you choose a country to relocate to you can’t come back here. That’s your last resort. If they come for you, you must not let them catch you. Use your training, your skills to evade their capture, Shawna.”
She swallowed hard, her heart was racing, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Can’t I go with you? You’ll protect me like always, Keith.” She grabbed his arm. She wanted to cry, to burst into tears and demand that he hold her, take the fear away like he did when they were kids.
“I can’t, Shawna,” he whispered, holding her shoulder and her waist. He stared down into her eyes. “It’s better if you’re not with me. Hopefully I can resolve this and you can go on with your life. I want you safe and I want you happy.”
She swallowed hard.
“And what about you?” she asked.
He released her arms and took an unsteady breath. “I’m going to finish what I started.”
He hugged her tight and she cried, holding him, not knowing if she would ever see him again. Her life was now in danger, too. What the hell was he involved in?
He pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes. “You’re strong, well trained, and smart. They may never come here but that’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”
“When will I know that you have it all resolved and that I don’t have to hide out or move around a bunch?” she asked him.
He stared at her and she could tell that he was upset.
“I don’t know. But if these people succeed and they kill me, remember to trust no one. Only trust the person who knows the password and gives it to you.”
“The password?” she asked. He smiled as he tugged on her long brown hair.
“Yes, you mean you forgot after all these years?” he asked. She thought about it and then remembered.
“Are you serious? Do you mean the cubbyhole?”
“Of course. It’s where we hid whenever they fought and yelled at one another. It was under the stairs in the house and blocked out most of the noise.”
She swallowed hard. “It was our secret place,” she said, remembering how they ran to it as soon as their parents drank too much and started becoming violent. Keith kept her safe then, and he would keep her safe now. She held his gaze.
“I’ll remember the password, Keith. Please be safe. Please come back to me. You’re the only family I have.” She hugged him and he held her close until it was time to leave. Her life just didn’t feel the same.
Chapter 1
Mercury Brooks was looking at the computer screen in the library. He couldn’t believe the e-mail he received from a friend inside the government agency. What the fuck did you do, Keith? You were supposed to be here months ago. Retired and living the life with your team.
Mercury ran his hand through black crew-cut hair and leaned back. He felt sick to his stomach. How could Keith go rogue? He had always been one of them. They conducted their missions with the upmost respect and commitment to the Corps and to the United States of America. This couldn’t be right.
Mercury looked away from the computer screen and toward the window that looked out at the open land. Their land. He and his team, Tex, Lee, Stitch, and Tiek. They’d moved out here to Texas, to an area near fellow soldiers, people who understood the life they once led and how difficult it was to fall back into civilian life. Keith was supposed to be part of this, too, but the kid never wanted to settle down. Mercury knew Keith had a tough life. As his gunnery sergeant, hell, he knew that he had someone in San Antonio from his past that he went to see from time to time between missions. But what was he doing in Mexico, Brazil, and even Argentina? Had he really gotten involved with some sort of terrorist group?
“Fuck!” he yelled out and slammed his fist down onto the desk.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lee asked as he walked into the room. Mercury turned toward his friend, well, more like family now. Lee was the team planner. Thirty-six, no family, a soldier through and through, and Keith’s closest friend. This was going to be hell.
“It’s not good,” Mercury began to say, but Lee caught sight of the e-mail and a small picture of Keith along with it.
“What’s going on? Is Keith finally coming here to settle down with us?” Lee asked.
Mercury felt his own temper flaring. “Keith is in trouble. I just got this e-mail from a friend. They think he’s a traitor. They say he’s involved with some shitheads in Mexico and Brazil and planning terrorist activities.”
“No fucking way. That’s just plain bullshit,” Lee stated, raising his voice.
“There’s a lot of fucking evidence.”
“Like what?” Lee asked, running his fingers through his dark-blond hair. He was originally from Oklahoma. Tex was from Texas, Stitch from New York, and Tiek was from Hawaii. After fifteen years together, they were more than friends. They were family.
; “How bad is it? Do the feds know where he is and who he’s with?” Lee asked.
“I only got this message. I’m just debating about digging deeper.”
“Why, Gunny? He was one of us. Do you really think Keith would do that? I mean, he’s got responsibilities.”
“Like what? He has no family, and he kept on working with the government even though he could have gotten out. I hate to think why he would do something illegal.”
Lee turned away, and rubbed his mouth with his hand.
“Can you dig a little deeper? Can you find out whatever you can? I know Keith, and there’s no way he’s a traitor, or went rogue as a soldier. You were there when we did that mission in Costa Rica. He wanted Montoya and his entire operation to go down, but our orders were clear.”
“You shouldn’t even be bringing that up right now.”
“I know, Mercury.”
“I’ll look into it. I’ll make the call.”
Lee walked out of the room looking none the happier. Mercury would have to tell the others at lunch about this. But for now, he would make the phone call and see what was happening. They owed Keith that much at least.
* * * *
Lee was furious as he headed toward the kitchen. He pulled his cell from his pocket and tried calling Keith. He didn’t know why he bothered. If the guy was on the run and wanted, then he wouldn’t answer. But Keith was also very intelligent and a great strategic planner. Lee left a message.
“If you get this, you know who it is, and I will help you any way I can, brother. Call me back.”
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