“Miss Harper? Can I get you anything?”
She glanced up at the mountainous man, who was surprisingly quiet for someone six feet and eight inches tall. She’d never heard him approach. “Thanks, Tiny, but I’m okay for now. I just need to see that Marco is okay for myself.”
Travis ‘Tiny’ Daultry had, at one time, been a professional football player. But after an injury ended his career, he became a bodyguard. When he wasn’t doing that for Trident, he was the head of security at The Covenant. Harper had never been inside the BDSM club at the other end of the compound, but she had heard it was the nicest kink club in the southeast. She’d met Tiny several times during Nina’s battle with cancer, and both women had agreed he was one big teddy bear.
The sound of a vehicle approaching had them turning in the direction of the front gate, but her hopes of seeing Marco vanished with Tiny’s declaration. “It’s Miss Jenn.”
Harper watched as the red Volkswagen Jetta was allowed entry through the far gate, then made its way past the interior one and parked a few feet away from her. Jenn barely shut off the engine before jumping out and throwing her arms around Harper. If someone who didn’t know them was observing, they’d be surprised to hear the two women hadn’t seen each other in over a year, the way Jenn squeezed her tight. “Oh my God! Are you okay? Uncle Ian called and told me to come straight here after my class. That something happened at your place and he’d explain when I got here.”
She returned the younger woman’s hug, then took a step back as Kristen and Angie joined them. “I’m fine. And according to Ian, everyone else is okay, too. They should be here soon. I’m sorry if we scared you.”
“Pfft,” Jenn scoffed. “You kind of get used to it around here after a while.” They all chuckled because it did seem that trouble followed the men of Trident, along with their women. “Where’s Kat?”
Harper hadn’t met Boomer’s girlfriend yet, but Marco had filled her in on the new relationships at Trident which had started in her absence. She was glad the men were settling down because everyone deserved their own happily-ever-after. Maybe she would find hers someday soon—with or without Marco.
“She’s still at work,” Angie informed her. “She can’t be much safer than at the state police headquarters, training their new K9’s, but we called and gave her a head’s up after Ian gave the all clear. We didn’t want her worrying about the bomb since Boomer was the one taking it apart.”
“Bomb?” The word came out on a screech filled with disbelief.
“Shhh.” Angie grimaced as she put her arm around the younger woman. “Sorry. I forgot they didn’t tell you yet. There was a bomb at Harper’s and Marco stepped on it, but it didn’t go off. Boomer was able to deactivate it.”
Her eyes wide, Jenn gaped at them. “Holy shit! A freaking bomb! Where do these weirdos come from? I swear, Kristen, sometimes it feels like I’m living in your book series. Jeez.”
The author laughed. “Where do you think I got the story line for Velvet Vixen? My life has been a romance/suspense story ever since I met Devon.”
After a few minutes of catching up with Harper, Jenn followed Angie to her apartment to check on Karen and Mara. Glancing around to be sure everyone else was out of ear-shot, Harper leaned closer to Kristen and whispered, “If you don’t want anyone to know you’re pregnant yet, you might want to stop touching your abdomen. I know it’s hard to do, though.”
Kristen gasped as she yanked her hands away from her body, her eyes darting around to see if anyone else had noticed. “Oh shit! Is it that obvious?”
Despite her worry, she couldn’t help but giggle. “Only to someone who’s been there before. Congratulations.”
The relief on the other woman’s face was palpable. “Thanks. I actually just found out this morning and haven’t even told Devon yet.”
“Then your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell a soul. But after you tell him, feel free to come over to my place and take all the What To Expect When You’re Expecting books from my shelves. I have over a dozen of them.”
“Thanks, I will.” Kristen paused. “Actually, I do have something I need to talk to you about later after all the excitement dies down. I have a legal problem. My bastard ex-husband is suing me for half my earnings as an author. This is the same man who laughed, calling it my ‘little hobby’, and was surprised anyone bought my books.”
It was a tale Harper had heard several times in her practice, but each one usually had its own twist. “I take it he’s now claiming that he’s entitled since your first books were published while you were still married to him.”
The other woman rolled her eyes. “Something like that. I really didn’t have a chance to read the whole subpoena and don’t really understand all the legal mumbo-jumbo. I was served two minutes before I was scheduled at a book signing and then I came home to this, so…”
Feeling guilty about her problems being forced on everyone else, Harper needed to apologize. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not.” Kristen actually shook a finger at her like she was scolding a child. “And don’t let Marco hear you say that. Doms get bossy when women try to put the blame on themselves where it doesn’t belong. Trust me. I know from experience, and my ass has paid the price.”
Harper was about to say something in response, but the sounds of several vehicles approaching had them looking up in anticipation. She recognized they belonged to Ian and Brody. Thank God. The vehicles parked next to the Trident office building, and when Marco emerged from the Ford F-150, she couldn’t stop herself from running into his arms and hugging him. “Thank God, you’re okay! Don’t ever do that to me again!”
He held her tight and laughed quietly. “It was never my intention to do it the first time, baby, but I’ll try not to scare you in the future.”
Despite his shirt being soaked with sweat, she couldn’t let go of him. She had been terrified from the moment he’d told her he had stepped on a land-mine. As much as she’d hated to leave him, she knew her being there would be a distraction to him and everyone else, so she’d obeyed his orders without hesitation. It had almost killed her to do so.
His hands began to slide up and down her back in comfort, but her body decided to react differently. Now that the terror was gone, the need for comfort was being pushed aside by the need for something else. A stirring began low in her abdomen and her nipples responded to the feeling of being crushed against his muscular chest. Worried he would notice, she tried to step back, but he refused to let her go.
“Please, not yet.” His voice was hoarse and filled with emotion. “I need to feel your heart beat with mine, just for a few minutes. I’ve never been so scared in my life…and it wasn’t for me, but for you.”
“And I was scared for you.” Swallowing hard, Harper relaxed against him and buried her face in his neck. “Hold me as long as you want.” She wanted him to hold her forever, but since that was improbable, she’d take the next few minutes and treasure them.
* * *
Marco toweled off from his shower in one of the spare bunk rooms above the offices, and pulled on a pair of cargo pants, commando style. Apparently, clean underwear was something he’d forgotten to throw into his go-bag, but it wasn’t a big deal. He’d gone without it during many missions since the start of his military career and gotten used to it quickly. Besides, he no longer needed to worry about the hard-on he’d been sporting earlier. He’d jacked off in the shower, since his body had still been reacting to a combination of adrenaline and Harper’s body flush against his. He wasn’t sure how long they stood there holding each other, but when they finally separated, everyone else had disappeared into the buildings or backyard. The armed guards had been walking the compound’s perimeter and were focused on keeping them all safe.
For now, the women were keeping Harper and her mother company in Angie’s apartment while the baby slept, so the men could plan their next steps. Pulling on a clean T-shirt, he headed downstairs to the
conference room, where most of his and the Omega team had gathered, along with Tiny. The head of security would need to be aware of what was happening, just in case it affected the club. Boomer and Knight were still at Harper’s house with the police and would stay there until relief showed up. In addition to the security measures which had already been put in place, there would now be two armed guards watching the house at all times. Taking an empty seat, Marco grabbed one of the bottled waters Colleen had placed in the middle of the long table, and guzzled half of it.
Ian stabbed the speaker button on the phone sitting in front of him. “Reverend, you still there?”
Of course Jake had been kept in the loop, despite being in San Diego. “Yup. Is Polo there?”
Marco leaned forward to be heard clearly. “Yeah, I’m here. Can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Thank God for that. I’m dying to hear what Egghead’s junk-trunk revenge is going to be.”
While the members of the Omega team looked confused, the rest of them laughed. Marco would gladly take the ribbing he was in for over the next few weeks because it meant he was alive. “Before we start—and Ian don’t tell me to fuck off again—I just wanted to thank everyone for…well, for everything. I know my team has always had my back and vice versa, but the Omega team stepped up to the plate without hesitation. So, again, thanks.” There were a round of head nods and a few murmurs. Theirs was typically a thankless career, so when gratitude did come, even from a fellow teammate, it tended to fluster them. “All right. Fill me in.”
Ian nodded for Brody to start the briefing. The geek hit a button on his laptop and the video feed from Harper’s front porch appeared on a wide-screen monitor hanging on the far wall. “Jake, you should have it up on your screen, too, although there isn’t much to see.”
“Got it.”
Brody leaned back in his chair. “Our perp showed up just after midnight. He knew the cameras were there and was wearing a Frankenstein Halloween mask, gloves, and hoodie. From the body type and language, I’m pretty sure it’s a guy. Either he expected cameras or did a drive-by and saw us installing them.”
Everyone watched as an indistinguishable human entered the picture, carrying a large duffel bag. The bastard had the balls to wave at the camera before going out of camera range again, presumably to crawl under the porch and set the bomb. Egghead fast forwarded the recording and about ten minutes after his arrival, the bomber reappeared and flashed his middle finger at the camera lens, before jogging back down the driveway. They hadn’t installed a camera at the end of the drive, but Marco knew that would be remedied sometime within the next few hours.
When the screen went blank, Marco turned his gaze to Ian’s. “That could be anyone from sixteen to sixty, from this state or any other. Did Boomer find any signatures?”
The boss shook his head. “No. But they did find a partial print on a piece of electrical tape. Murdock’s having it run through AFIS, so hopefully there’s a match. He’ll be stopping by in a little while for a copy of the video.”
AFIS was the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System. If their suspect had ever been fingerprinted for any reason, criminal or not, it should be in there. However, it could take minutes or hours for the system to kick out possible matches, and then those had to be double checked by a technician. Even though the system was widely used across the United States, it did have a few faults. While there were millions of prints in the system, some smaller police agencies didn’t have the manpower or resources to upload their prints, so some fell through the cracks or had long delays before they were entered.
The frustration Marco felt was evident in his voice. “So what the hell do we do now besides twiddle our fucking thumbs?”
It was kind of a rhetorical question since they all knew the answer, but Ian replied anyway. “We wait. And in the meantime, we keep Harper, Mara, and Mrs. Williams safe.”
Jake’s voice came over the speaker again. “Polo, while we were waiting for you, I called Kristen and asked if the girls could do a quick inspection of our apartment and change the sheets. You can put the baby’s crib or whatever in Nick’s office, and Harper and her mom can stay in the master bedroom. There’s still no bed or mattress in the spare bedroom, but I asked Kristen to arrange for one to be delivered tomorrow, just in case. This way they have the security of the compound and it’s nicer than the bunk rooms with the newbies staying up there.”
His teammate was right. Marco wasn’t sure what Mara’s sleep schedule was like yet and he doubted the women would enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night if the Omega team members had to go anywhere. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Have the geek scan their handprints in for easy access. And, Ian, I’ll contact Todd Wheeler. If there’s any word on the street about a bomber, my snitch may have heard about it. Hang on a second.” They waited a moment for Jake to come back on the line. “If you don’t need me for anything else, my next applicant for an office assistant just walked in.”
“Fine,” their boss responded. “Check in later.”
After the call disconnected, Marco placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Okay. Now that the sleeping arrangements are settled, I think we have to get a list of the women Harper has helped through Friends of Patty.”
“Absolutely not.” All heads turned to the doorway where Harper stood with Dr. Trudy Dunbar behind her. And from the expression on her face, Harper was pissed at him…again. “There is no way anyone from the organization is turning over any list of names to you or anyone else—even with a federal warrant, I would fight it. So come up with another plan, because that is out of the question.”
“Harper—”
“No, Marco. Just…no.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Damn, she was a mixture of sexy and delectable when she was mad. How come he never noticed that before?
Clearing his throat, Ian pointed to two empty chairs. “Ladies, please join us.” As they walked toward the seats, he continued, “Teams, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure yet, this is Harper Williams, our principal target, and Dr. Trudy Dunbar, one of our consulting psychologists.” He pointed at the new employees of Trident who were currently present. “This is Valentino Mancini, Lindsey Abbott, Cain Foster, and Tristan McCabe.” The group acknowledged each other with either a ‘hello’ or a nod of their head. “Now that everyone has been introduced, Harper, can you think of anyone who could be behind all this without breaking client/attorney privilege?”
Marco bit his tongue, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair, his gaze pinned on Harper. He wasn’t going to argue with her in front of everyone, but, boy, was she in for it when he got her alone. His hand was twitching to get at her ass. Shit. He wished she was his submissive.
“Not off the top of my head, but it could be anyone from either my practice or the past four years I’ve been working with the organization. I’ll have to go to my office and start looking through my files to see if anyone clicks. If there isn’t an issue with confidentiality, I’ll compile a list for you. But, as I said, it’s not going to be a complete list. If it’s a woman who we’ve helped disappear, I’m not going to name them under any circumstances. It would put the women and their children at risk, and then no others would trust us to help them if something happened.”
If Ian hadn’t sent him a ‘shut-up’ glare, Marco would have said something that probably would have Harper pissed off at him even more than she already was. How could she put those other women over herself and their daughter? He glanced around the table and knew he had his answer. Harper was just like all the other women and men in the room. No sacrifice was too big or small when it came to protecting the lives of innocents. He sure as hell didn’t like that Mara was in the middle of it all, but her mother was making sure she would be safe as possible by putting her under the watchful eyes of the Trident teams. Harper was trusting them with her daughter’s life, just as those women and children she’d helped h
ad trusted her with their own lives.
“All right,” Ian agreed. “We’ll get you to your office tomorrow so you can give us something to start with. Maybe we’ll get lucky between your list and the partial print.” He paused. “What if this isn’t work related? Any ex-boyfriends we should be looking at? Anyone who was interested in being a boyfriend and you turned them down?”
In silence, Marco’s jaw clenched at the questions, but his relief was immediate when Harper shook her head and answered, “No. I haven’t dated anyone in over two years. And I can’t think of anyone who I might have slighted by turning them down.”
“Okay.” The boss consulted some notes he’d made earlier on a yellow pad in front of him. “Back to your office for a minute. Is it possible to give your staff a couple of days off—at least until we get a better idea of what is going on? Or can they work from home?”
She nodded. “Yes, and thanks, I hadn’t thought that my office could be targeted, too. I’ll call my staff and make arrangements. They were able to reschedule things for the rest of the week, but I have court on Monday, if this goes on that long, and it’s not a case I can hand off to anyone. I have to be there.”
“No worries. We’ll get you there, but we do it our way. If the team tells you to duck, you start quacking. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Ian’s gaze shifted to Dr. Dunbar. “Trudy, anything you’d like to add?”
The psychologist had her brunette hair pulled into a neat bun and she pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. “I came to support Harper and to see if I could help, but I’m not a criminal profiler, Ian, you know that. And even if I was, there’s not much to go on yet.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that, but it was worth a shot. I’ll still get you copies of everything we have, though, as well as what Detective Murdock has. Maybe you’ll see something we’re missing.” He rapped his knuckles twice on the wood table and began rattling off orders. “Okay. Here’s the deal for now. Harper, Karen, and Mara will stay holed up here until we can figure out what this is all about. Devon will put together an updated schedule. I want at least six armed guards walking the compound at all times. Call Chase Dixon at Blackhawk and have his men fill in any gaps. Tiny—two armed men at the gate at all times, three during club hours. Mitch will shit a brick if we close the club again. Both gates stay shut unless letting someone through.” The big man silently dipped his chin once in agreement while making a note on the pad in front of him. Devon and Ian’s cousin, Mitch Sawyer, was the manager and third owner of the club, but had nothing to do with the security business. “I’ll call Mitch after this meeting and fill him in. Next, we’ll see if the rest of the women here can keep their off-site activities to a minimum. I don’t want a repeat of the past where the others became targets for some whack-job. Boomer, it’s up to you about Kat. She’s safe at the state PD headquarters, but if you want her escorted back and forth, let Devil Dog know. Omega team, your training is on hold for now, but don’t worry, you’ll be making it up when this is over…double time.”
Watching From The Shadows: Trident Security Book 5 Page 9