Ian's eyes narrowed, as his stunned teammates looked back and forth between him and the stranger who knew quite a few things about them while they knew nothing about him, including his name. None of them were happy with the fact either. Staying in his seat, he leaned forward, put his beer bottle down and pinned the bearded man with a warning look. "Who are you?"
He made a quick glance over his shoulder, and Ian wondered why he didn't want Angie to hear the confrontation. "My name's James Athos, and I'll explain the rest tomorrow, but for now, let's just say we have a mutual friend and I need your help."
Ian raised one eyebrow, his icy stare never wavering. "Friend? And who would this friend be?"
"A man named Carter."
If any of them were further surprised at the guy's revelation of knowing their longtime friend, associate, and U.S. government spy, T. Carter, they didn't show it. Carter was so deep into the world of black ops to the point where Ian's team had no idea who the man actually worked for. He seemed to have very high connections in every alphabet agency in Washington D.C.–FBI, CIA, NSA, et cetera–as well as in the Pentagon, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and several foreign countries. He was also the man who'd killed the hit-man targeting the team several months ago and most likely the senator who'd hired the guy, although none of them would ever know for sure. Ian's eyes flashed to the backdoor beyond Athos before returning to the man's face. "Tell me one thing...is she in danger?"
Athos shook his head. "No, and I'd like to keep it that way. I also don't want her to know anything about our conversation. Angie means the world to me and I’ll do whatever I can to protect her. What time can I meet you?"
Ian did a mental check of tomorrow's schedule tomorrow. "Oh-eight-hundred?"
As Athos nodded his agreement, the woman in question chose that moment to come back outside and lock the door behind her. Now wearing white canvas slip-on shoes and carrying a small white purse she strolled over to where her boyfriend stood. With automatic reflexes, the men relaxed their tense expressions, giving her no indication anything was wrong. When she stopped next to Athos, she looked at Brody, then the rest of the men with a friendly smile on her pretty face. "Hi Brody, hi guys. I see you've met Jimmy."
Ian felt a jealous punch to his gut as the other man put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a tender kiss to her temple. "I introduced myself, babe. I'm glad your new neighbor seems like a nice guy. I was worried you were going to get someone like the last asshole who couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself. That was until I had a little conversation with him and threatened to tell his wife after I beat the crap out of him." There was a not-so-subtle warning in there to the other men.
Angie rolled her eyes and smacked the guy in the gut with the back of her hand. "I told you I had it under control. And you didn't threaten to beat him. If I recall, you threatened to cut off George's manhood and shove it down his throat, followed by his individual fingers. Now come on, I'm starving. Take me to dinner."
"Your wish is my command, babe."
She looked back over the fence and gave the men a cute little girlie-wave. "Have a nice night everyone." As they turned toward the path leading to her driveway, Ian could have sworn she looked straight at him with a flash of heat in her eyes. But it was gone so fast he must have been mistaken. Whether it was real or imagined didn't matter to his dick which twitched inside his khakis at the sight of her retreating buttocks. Fuck, how he wanted to take a bite out of those ass cheeks.
"What the fuck?" Boomer asked. "Who the hell is he?"
Ian was still staring at the spot where the two of them had disappeared around the side of her house. "I don't know, but you can be sure I'm going to find out. You know how much I hate surprises."
No one said anything more about the mystery man as Kristen came outside with a plate of hamburgers and chicken cutlets ready for Brody to grill. A few minutes later the conversation returned to the normal banter which always occurred when they were all together. However, Ian was no longer in a relaxed and talkative mood.
Chapter 2
Angie sat across from her best friend, Jimmy, as they ate at a new Mexican restaurant she'd been dying to try. They continued to catch up with each other and she wished his visit didn't have to be so short. While they'd both been raised in upstate New York, after high school graduation, she'd attended college in Florida while he had gone into the Marines. Six years later he'd been recruited by the DEA and had to change his last name for safety reasons. He now worked in their Atlanta office. At least she didn't have to worry about his job as much as she used to since he was no longer working deep undercover assignments. Those had kept them from seeing or talking over the phone to each other for months at a time. Now he worked with a team who backed up the undercover guys. But he still had his beard and long hair which she hated but knew was necessary. He was a good-looking guy when his facial hair was trimmed close, but without it the man was an absolute hunk, and had been since she first met him their freshman year of high school. They'd tried dating once in their sophomore year but it didn't last long because both of them were afraid to ruin the strong friendship which had developed between them. He did, however, take her to their senior prom, after she broke up with the guy she'd been seeing a month earlier. Now the two friends tended to bust chops about each other's dates, yet remained protective of each other. That was why she hadn't been surprised when Jimmy had made the veiled threat to Brody and his friends...talk about hunks.
While her best friend excused himself to use the restroom, Angie's mind drifted back to her new neighbor and his friends...to be more specific, one friend...Ian Sawyer. With his black hair, blue eyes, handsome face, and a sculpted body which made her panties wet, the man could be a movie star if he wanted to. Brody had told her Ian was retired from the Navy and owned the security consulting company Brody and the others worked for. Lately, she'd been thinking of having them upgrade her burglar alarm system. Jimmy always bugged her about how easy it was to bypass the one which had come with the home she'd purchased three years ago. She doubted the owner of the company would do it himself but she often found herself fantasizing about him coming over and installing a new alarm. In her fantasies, he had on the tight faded jeans and snug royal-blue T-shirt he'd been wearing the first day she met him while he was helping his friend move in. The color of his shirt had made his eyes stand out to the point she was certain she could drown in them. And, holy crap, his deep voice had sent shivers up and down her spine before settling between her legs. When Brody introduced her to his teammates, she thought Ian had held her hand a moment longer than the others but it was probably wishful thinking on her part.
"And I was thinking of dying my hair purple and getting a heart tattoo that says 'bite-me' on my forehead."
Angie shook the wayward thoughts from her brain and stared at Jimmy, who was laughing at her shocked expression. "Huh? What're you talking about?"
"I was wondering where you were. I sat back down and asked you a question but you were on another planet. I wanted to see how long I could talk gibberish before you noticed."
She threw a piece of tortilla chip at him. "Jerk. What was the question?"
Tossing the wayward chip in his mouth, he chewed and swallowed before answering her. "How's work going? Any new clients?"
Angie was a graphic designer who worked from home. She had several corporate clients who sent her a large amount of work, as well as many individual clients, needing one-time-only or occasional projects. "I do have a new client, and I'm so excited about them. I've been contracted to be one of the designers of romance novel covers for a publishing company called Red Rose Books."
"Really? That's awesome, Ang. How'd you hook up with them?"
Grabbing her smartphone, she brought up a photo and showed it to him. "This was one I did for a former advertising client who's now writing romance books. She thought of me when she was self-publishing her first book and asked if I would design the cover for her. Someone from Red Rose saw it, thought it
was edgy and something they'd be interested in, so they tracked me down. It's a great contract with a decent payout for each one I do. I'll be doing about one or two a week so I can still concentrate on my other customers."
Jimmy smiled at her. He was always her biggest supporter when it came to her art. "Great. Mr. Abraham would be proud you've come this far."
Mr. Clark Abraham had been her high school art teacher and the first one to recognize the artistic talent even Angie hadn't known she had. He'd introduced her to the many different mediums of art and encouraged her to try them all until she found what fit her best. In addition to graphite pencil drawings and computerized graphic arts, she also dabbled in oil painting and had sold several pieces at a local art gallery over the years. Thinking of the grey-haired man who'd become her friend and mentor was always bittersweet. He'd suffered a heart attack in his empty classroom during lunch period one afternoon the year after she graduated and by the time someone found him it'd been too late. "Yeah, I know he would have." Lowering her voice a few octaves, she imitated the old man, "Reds, Angie, why are you so obsessed with the reds? Throw some blue and green in there, maybe a little yellow. Surprise me sometimes, will ya!"
The two of them laughed as they finished their meal and talked about everything under the sun. Angie was going to miss her friend when he headed back to Atlanta tomorrow morning, but for now she'd make the most of their time together.
* * *
Ian threw the pen down when he realized he'd been chewing on it and looked at the small brass anchor clock on the right side of his desk. His brother had an identical one and both had been gifts from their mother when they finally had desks to put them on. He heaved a sigh in frustration because it was only oh-seven-thirty. He had another half hour before Angie's boyfriend showed up and started answering the many questions Ian had for him. Before he left Brody's last night, he'd told the geek to find out everything he could about James Athos and call him as soon as he had it. In the meantime, Ian left a message with Carter to contact him ASAP, which knowing his friend, it could be a while. He didn't have a direct line to get a hold of the guy, no one did, and had to leave a voice mail at the number he'd memorized years ago. Carter would check his messages only when it was safe for him to do so, which meant it could be hours or days before he got a chance, depending on what he was working on.
The quiet in the empty office he usually enjoyed was getting to him this morning. Standing, he headed outside for some fresh air, with Beau following on his heels. He'd tossed and turned all night with thoughts of Angie doing erotic things to him, alternating with speculation of what her boyfriend wanted with Trident Security. Brody had called him a little before midnight with an update, brief as it was. He was able to get a copy of the thirty-three-year-old's Georgia driver's license and found out he had some minor drug and assault arrests on file with no jail time served. All which could be part of an undercover persona, as Ian had a feeling it was. The interesting part was, prior to nine years ago, James Athos didn't exist and Ian wondered how well Angie knew her boyfriend.
Pushing on the office entrance door, he stepped outside, inhaled deeply and looked around. From the outside, the complex looked like what it had formerly been–an abandoned warehouse facility on the outskirts of Tampa. Over three years earlier, when he first saw the property, Ian knew it would be perfect compound for Trident Security. The company he co-owned with his brother specialized in personal security, investigations and the more-than-occasional black-op for the Uncle Sam. The complex was once used by an import-export company until the authorities had discovered the main product being processed through there had been cocaine. After the business shut down, Ian was able to purchase the ten acre lot of land at a government auction for a fraction of its estimated value.
The property contained four identical two-story warehouses lined in a row, and was pretty much isolated from everyday traffic, sitting a good mile away from the main thoroughfare. With a mini forest of trees between the buildings and highway, it was afforded a great deal of privacy. After extensive renovations, the smallest and last of the warehouses on the property had become the living quarters for both Sawyer brothers. Ian's three thousand square foot three-bedroom 'apartment' was on the first floor, while stairs led up to Devon and Kristen's place, which had an identical floor plan. The remaining six thousand square feet of the warehouse behind the two apartments was being used as storage and were where two new apartments would be built. One would belong to Ian's goddaughter and the other was for Nick, the youngest of the Sawyer clan and current Navy SEAL out of California. It would be his for when he visited and eventually retired from the military.
Glancing over at the main gate, Ian waved hello to the morning guard while Beau sniffed along the compound’s fence-line. When a person entered the compound through a manned security gate, the first warehouse they came to was home to The Covenant, a club which catered to those who enjoyed some kink in their lives. This was another reason why the property had been ideal for them. A few years earlier, their cousin, Mitch, approached the brothers with the idea around the same time they were trying to get Trident Security off the ground. The exclusive club they all belonged to prior to that had closed down after the owner was indicted for tax evasion. The closing had left the members searching for a new place where they could practice their individual sexual fetishes without them becoming public knowledge. Since Ian and Devon were focused on Trident, Mitch, with his MBA, was the obvious choice to manage the club. There were times, however, his cousin deferred to Ian on some issues since he was the more experienced Dom.
To get from the first warehouse to the remaining three in the compound, visitors had to pass through another security gate which was unmanned. To get through that one, a person had to be either buzzed in or scan their hand print on the sophisticated identification system. The first of those buildings, which Ian was now standing in front of, was separated into two areas with the main offices of Trident security at the front. At the back end was a large vehicle garage along with the equipment, weapon and ammunition vaults. The next structure contained an indoor shooting range, a gym and training room and a panic-security room in case of an emergency. Some might call the Sawyer brothers paranoid but one never knew when one's enemies might come calling so it was always better to be prepared. In fact, several months ago, the team had almost been picked off by a sniper who'd set up in a tree just past the security system's line of detection. As a result, Ian and Devon were working on acquiring several undeveloped properties surrounding theirs so they could extend their lines of defense outward.
Ian picked up the hard rubber ball Beau had dropped at his feet and played fetch for about ten minutes until Devon strolled over to greet him, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Morning. Brody find out anything?"
He filled his brother in as he threw Beau's ball one more time before turning around and walking back inside to his office. Stopping along the way in their break room, he grabbed his third cup of coffee of the morning and a blueberry muffin from a Tupperware container. The leftover muffins from yesterday were courtesy of Mrs. Kemple, their office manager since the inception of Trident Security. She'd resigned and moved to Miami to help her daughter with newborn triplets last summer after training a new manager. Unfortunately her replacement, Paula Leighton, had become too nosy for her own good and was fired three weeks ago after Brody found her one morning looking through files in the team's war-room. It was one of the few places which she knew damn well she wasn't supposed to have access to. He'd run over to the club to help Mitch with a computer glitch and left his office door open, thinking he would be right back. After he was gone longer than expected, Paula's curiosity must have gotten the best of her because when Brody returned, she was standing in his war-room with her nose in one of his files. Ian had fired her that day. Marco had been the most relieved about the woman's termination since she'd seemed to have her eye on him for a relationship which went beyond co-workers, and the man had not been interested at
all.
Mrs. Kemple had come back for a short time to train Colleen McKinley, a submissive from the club. When Ian had been talking to Colleen's Dom, Master Reggie Helm, a few hours after firing Paula, the Dom mentioned his sub wasn't happy with her current job and was looking for a change. Ian brought her in for an interview the next day and hired her on the spot.
The only problem they faced with Colleen so far was getting her to call them all by their first names and not Master or Sir while at the office. It also took the guys a little getting used to seeing her in something other than the lingerie her Dom likes her to wear at the club. Her clothes tended to be quite conservative and professional looking at work. At least they didn't have to hide from Colleen the fact that Trident Security was run by and employed a group of Dominants, like they had with Paula. Mrs. Kemple had known about the club since it opened and never batted an eye over it.
Five minutes before eight, Ian's phone rang. It was the guard at the front gate advising him he was buzzing one James Athos through the second gate. Brody, who'd come in a few minutes ago, stood and went to the front door to escort the man in, while Ian and Devon remained in the conference room. Ian would have preferred to have this meeting after he spoke with Carter but the spy hadn't gotten back to him yet.
Brody walked back in with Athos right behind him and both men took seats at the table. Ian wasn't in the mood to offer Athos coffee or anything else and apparently neither was his brother, who also remained silent.
"I'm sure you investigated me last night and are frustrated with what you found and, more importantly, what you didn't find. Did Carter return your call, yet? Because I know that's the first thing you did after I left." Athos leaned back in his chair and rested one ankle on the opposite knee as if he didn't have a care in the world, but the Ian knew it wasn't the case. The man had something on his mind and was worried about it.
His Angel: Trident Security Book 2 Page 2