Whatever It Takes (Code Of Honor Book 5)

by Reese Knightley

Luke smiled and smoothed the line growing between Dillon’s brow. “I’m careful, I promise. I take my meds, keep my stress level as low as possible, and watch my diet.”

  “Good,” Dillon said huskily, running his hand down his chest as if looking for a scar.

  “No scar.”

  Dillon quirked an eyebrow in question.

  “They went in through my wrist.”

  His hand was snatched up and he grinned when Dillon kissed the wrong wrist. His lids drooped when the man’s tongue slipped along his skin. Luke tugged at Dillon’s shoulders and slipped his hand to his nape, bringing him closer.

  There was no more talking after that.

  Dillon

  At first, he wasn’t sure of how he felt about Luke reading his jacket. But the more he thought about it, the more an overwhelming sense of relief swept over him.

  He finished brushing his teeth and smirked at his reflection. He didn’t need to be the one to tell Luke about his fuck ups, because Luke now knew everything. Well, at least everything that was in his file.

  Entering the bedroom, he stood looking at Luke still sleeping. He’d never for a moment imagined Luke had gone through a heart attack at forty-eight. Sure, he knew that shit happened, but he couldn’t picture the strong man in the bed having one. He knew that was stupid thinking, that it was all about what was going on inside.

  Luke’s phone buzzed from where it sat on the nightstand and the man groggily slapped at the area, bringing a smile to Dillon’s face.

  “Hello,” Luke croaked into the phone. “Hello?”

  Dillon frowned and stalked to the bed as Luke rolled over onto his back, the phone to his ear, eyes on his.

  “I can hear you breathing, asshole. Either talk or quit fucking calling me!” Luke snapped and tossed the phone to the bed.

  Dillon snatched up the phone to his ear, but the call had been disconnected. It was from an unknown number. His blood ran cold.

  “How many times have they called?”

  “Three, I think.”

  “You think?” he growled.

  “No, I know it was three.”

  “When did they start?”

  “A while ago.”

  “Think, Luke. When did the calls come in?”

  Luke smiled. “You called me Luke.”

  He narrowed his eyes, but couldn’t stay stern when Luke was looking at him with those bedroom eyes. With a knee to the bed, he leaned over and placed a kiss on Luke’s lips.

  “It’s important.” He sat back on his haunches.

  “The first time was at the ranch on the day we left for my meeting in California.” Luke scooted up in the bed, resting against the headboard.

  “So, before the attack from Ted?” he asked.

  “That’s correct.”

  “And the second one?”

  “Last night in Beckett’s study.”

  “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “That’s a good question,” Luke said, rearranging the covers over his lap. His hair was all rumpled and he looked so fucking adorable.

  “I meant to. I was going to the night of the benefit but I was so pissed, and then…” the man shrugged, “I got distracted.”

  Luke trailed his fingers down his arm and then toyed with the hem of his t-shirt.

  “Then with the long period between the first call and last night, I honestly forgot,” the man finished.

  “You need to take your safety more seriously,” he growled, catching Luke’s hand before it could sneak beneath his shirt.

  “I’m sorry.” Luke grimaced. “I just wanted things to be normal.”

  He almost caved beneath the look of stress filling Luke’s face, but he hardened his tone.

  “Another attack could be coming.”

  “They don’t know where I am.”

  “Maybe.” He finally relented and leaned in for another kiss.

  “Get dressed,” he murmured when he drew back. “Let’s have breakfast and talk. I need to let Beckett know.”

  “Shit.” Luke’s eyes went wide. He lost that just kissed look and his eyes again fill with stress. Luke tossed back the covers and stalked naked to the bathroom. “We should have never come here.”

  “Hey.” He caught Luke before he could close the bathroom door. “It’s going to be okay. We just need to be careful.”

  Luke nodded, worry on his face, and quietly shut the door. Dillon wanted to snarl and rage at the pressure this was putting Luke under.

  Shoving his feet into his socks and boots, he stalked down the stairs.

  He found Beckett in the kitchen sampling the array of breakfast food the ranch cook had prepared. His face must have shown something because Beckett said a quiet word to the woman and then jerked his head toward the door.

  Dillon followed his friend out into the front hallway and then onto the wide front porch.

  “What’s up?”

  “Luke had two attempts on his life,” he said bluntly. “I didn’t think it would be a problem bringing him here, but he’s gotten three phone calls from an unknown number. The second call came last night and the third one just now. Nobody speaks, they just breathe and then hang up.”

  “Okay…” Beckett began. The man had served as a medic in Operation Enduring Freedom and remained a weekend warrior. His friend was used to combat.

  The low thrum of a chopper coming in fast filled the air.

  “Is that one of yours?” Beckett growled.

  Dillon held a hand to shield his eyes, but he couldn’t tell. He tugged Beckett back through the front door and pulled out his cell phone to fire off a text to the colonel.

  Dillon: Is that you?

  Liam: Yup.

  “It’s Colonel Cobalt,” he told Beckett just as Luke came down the stairs.

  “What’s Liam doing here?”

  “He sent me a text last night. He needs to talk to you,” he said.

  Luke searched his face and reached for the front doorknob, but Dillon stopped him.

  “Wait. Just in case.”

  Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s Liam.”

  “Humor me,” he rasped.

  Luke suddenly nodded, dropped his hand, and stepped back.

  Dillon eased the door open and gazed out at the landing chopper.

  Beckett was at the side window with a handgun. It didn’t surprise him, people always underestimated Beckett’s size, but Dillon would take the nurse watching his six any day.

  Liam and Holden jumped out of the chopper and ran hunched over through the flying dust and debris.

  Once they cleared the blades, they walked across the wide expanse toward the house.

  Dillon, Luke, and Beckett stepped out onto the porch.

  “Colonel.”

  “Dillon. Luke.”

  “Colonel, this is a good friend of mine, Sam Beckett,” Dillon said.

  “Nice to meet you.” Beckett offered his hand. “Call me Beckett.”

  “Liam,” the colonel said, returning the handshake. “Any relation to Lincoln Beckett?”

  “Link’s my cousin,” Beckett responded with a smile.

  Luke leaned in close and whispered near his ear, “Link, as in part of Fury?”

  Dillon gave a small nod of his head.

  Liam jerked his chin at Holden. “This is Sergeant Wreck.”

  “Wreck?” Beckett blurted.

  “Holden Wreck.” The soldier nodded, but that was it.

  “You go by Holden?” Beckett asked.

  “To some people.”

  “All right, let’s talk inside out of the humidity and heat.” Dillon urged Beckett inside before he could start asking a bajillion questions.

  “Brunch is ready,” Beckett agreed, and they all headed into the massive dining room. The spread of food was enormous.

  “Dig in,” Beckett said and started them off by piling his own plate high.

  Dillon followed suit and took a seat next to Luke at the table. He ig
nored the pointed look Liam gave him.

  Holden settled his big frame gingerly down in the chair next to Beckett’s as if he were afraid to break it with his size. Beckett handed Holden the basket of rolls, his eyes almost bugging out when the soldier took four of them.

  Liam placed his briefcase on the edge of the table before taking a seat and filling a plate.

  They ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “So, Holden, where do you call home?” Beckett asked, giving the quiet soldier a wide smile.

  “Beckett,” Dillon growled, and when his friend looked at him, he gave a quick shake of his head. He didn’t know anything personal about Holden, but the rumor mill said that the guy rarely spoke, but when he did, he said very few words.

  Beckett frowned and gazed back at Holden, who avoided the man’s eyes and scooped in another mouthful of food.

  The plates were cleared before Liam snapped open the briefcase and pulled out several documents.

  The colonel gazed at Beckett. “This is classified.”

  Dillon wanted to argue that Beckett was one of the most trustworthy men he knew, but held his tongue. It wasn’t his place.

  Beckett stood. “I get it. I’ll put the dining room off limits.”

  “I’ll walk the property,” Holden said, standing when Beckett stood.

  “The whole thing?” Beckett gaped at Holden.

  The corner of Holden’s mouth quirked. “The whole thing.”

  “I’ll have you know, this is a three hundred-thousand-acre ranch.” Beckett snorted a huff and marched from the room.

  “Yippie me,” Holden muttered, and Dillon almost laughed as the big man followed his snippy friend out of the room.

  “Randy Batterman died in a car accident a few days ago. He’s off the list as far as we can tell. Unless he hired a professional who’s carrying out his wishes. Which I doubt,” Liam said, putting a mark through the document before turning it face down. He lifted the next paper in the pile.

  “Who’s Randy Batterman?” Dillon frowned.

  Luke pulled out his cell and Dillon leaned closer to see a list of names. “This is a list of anyone who’s made a death threat against me,” Luke said softly.

  Dillon felt like a fist has squeezed his chest. The list was extensive. “You’ve checked all of these?” he roughly asked Liam.

  “We did. We went down every person on that list and didn’t find anything that would lead us to believe that any of them had attacked you. We checked finances to see if they had purchased that kind of firepower used on the chopper or if they even had the funds. We also did background checks and brought them in for questioning,” Liam explained, making several more checks, turning papers over as he talked.

  Dillon swallowed and then asked the question that nobody, as of yet, had voiced. “What about Eric?”

  “My investigator is all over that.” Luke gave him a soft smile. “My son has run up a gambling debt.”

  “How much?” he said sharply.

  “I don’t know. They are tracking down what they can, but there seems to be very little paper trail.”

  He swallowed, somewhat mollified that they were at least investigating the twerp, but that didn’t let the guy off the hook with him. If that little bastard was involved, he was dead meat.

  “I got three calls from an unknown number,” Luke said.

  “What?” Liam glanced up.

  “Each time was silence on the other end, just someone breathing,” Dillon stated when Luke went quiet.

  Liam narrowed his eyes. “When?”

  Dillon gave Liam the details, plus he mentioned how the attack from Ted had followed the first call.

  “Luke, have you had your phone checked?”

  “Of course,” Luke said with a frown and placed his phone on the table.

  “When?”

  “Infinity ran it through a check when you and Dave first assigned them to me.”

  “That’s a long time,” Liam said with a frown.

  “It hasn’t been that long,” Dillon said, pulling his phone out to check his calendar. “I did a check on his phone a little over a week ago.”

  “So, after the attack from Ted?”

  “Yes.”

  “Check it again,” Liam ordered, turning his attention back to the papers.

  Dillon snatched the phone. “It’s hot. How long has it been hot?” He turned to Luke.

  “Hot?” Luke grabbed the phone as if surprised. “Shit. A few days, maybe longer?”

  “Has it been losing battery?”

  “Yeah, that started about a week ago.”

  “Who were you around a week ago?” Liam asked.

  “I was at the ranch,” Luke replied.

  “Who’s been near your phone?” Dillon growled.

  “People at the ranch,” Luke answered calmly.

  “Write down the names, please,” Liam directed.

  While Luke started on the list of staff and extra security, Dillon brought up the military grade app and started it running on Luke’s phone. It would tell them if Luke had a tap on his cell.

  “The only one left is Kevin Monterey, who was again denied bail.”

  “He also denied shooting my chopper,” Luke reminded Liam.

  “If it’s really not Monterey, then it’s some unknown. Or we missed someone on this list,” Liam groused back.

  Or it’s Eric, he wanted to shout, but held his tongue at Liam’s warning look. Damn it. Luke had to wake up to the possibility! But did he? If Luke’s phone had been bugged in the past week, that absolved Eric somewhat. That report from the investigators couldn’t come soon enough for him.

  “Too bad Ted’s dead,” Luke mumbled.

  Dillon gave the general a hard stare.

  “He could have told us who hired him,” Luke said, eyes wide.

  Dillon snorted and turned to Liam. “Did you find out how Ted got the gun into the building?”

  “Yeah. A few days prior, he was caught on film entering the building as a janitor. He had the gun in his wash bucket and stashed it in a vacant desk to collect later,” Liam replied.

  “What about his finances?” Dillon asked.

  “There’s nothing suspicious in any of his accounts. The only thing significant was the ounce of cocaine and a grand in cash they found in his apartment,” Liam said.

  “Ted did drugs?” Luke frowned.

  “His autopsy didn’t show any. They suspect he was dealing.”

  “You think the drugs are related to my attack?”

  “I don’t know. We’re still trying to find his dealer,” Liam said with a sigh and tucked the documents back in his briefcase.

  Fuck. Dillon glared at the findings from the iPhone sweep and lifted his gaze to hold Luke.

  “It’s bugged, isn’t it?” Luke whispered.

  Luke

  “I’m so sorry I brought this mess to your home.”

  “Bah.” Beckett waved his concerns away. “You didn’t bring nothin’.”

  “I’m leaving Holden behind for a few days to make sure,” Liam advised Beckett.

  Beckett eyed Holden, but the big man stood still with his face like granite, not saying a word.

  “Good,” Beckett said, shaking Liam’s hand. “I could use some extra muscle.”

  “Why?” Dillon frowned and pulled Beckett into a quick and tight hug. “That neighbor still causing trouble?”

  Beckett’s handsome face grimaced and his mouth drooped.

  “What neighbor?” Holden suddenly growled, his massive hands curling into fists.

  “Let’s go,” Liam ordered.

  “Call me,” Dillon whispered low to Beckett, but Luke heard him and the worry in Dillon’s voice.

  Damn, he was pissed for bringing this here, and he sure the hell should have remembered to tell Dillon about the phone calls. At least he knew Eric hadn’t tapped his phone, but was he involved? It killed him to think that, but he’d be stupid not to. The chasm between him and Eric had been growing wider for a lo
ng time.

  “I will.” Beckett waived at them before disappearing into the house with Holden right on his ass.

  When Luke reached the helicopter, Dillon held out his hand. Grasping Dillon’s palm, Luke felt the tight squeeze and flashed Dillon a quick smile. Once he was seated, Dillon released his hand and crowded his big body next to him.

  Liam stood at the helicopter doorway with narrowed eyes.

  Luke tipped his chin, daring Liam to bitch about him finding happiness. After a moment, Liam’s expression cleared and his friend actually smiled.

  “I’ll call you with my findings,” Liam shouted just as their pilot started the chopper.

  Luke gave Liam a thumbs up before the colonel ran for the other helicopter. The flight back to Phoenix seemed longer.

  He refused to think that anyone in his household was a traitor. If it wasn’t Eric, and he was holding out hope that it wasn’t, it had to be someone from the temporary help his security had brought in.

  Stepping inside the coolness of the ranch house, he strode directly to his office. Once inside, he plopped down in the chair behind his desk. Dillon lowered himself into one of the dark brown leather chairs that he reserved for visitors.

  “I doubt it’s somebody on this ranch.” He fingered his black and gold pen.

  “Someone bugged your phone sometime over the last week,” Dillon rasped.

  “I know,” he sighed with a grimace.

  “You’ve hired extra people to watch the fence line,” Dillon pointed out.

  “But none of them have been in the house.”

  “That you know of. They could have done it while you were in the barn or when we walked to the creek last week and you left your cell phone behind.”

  Luke smiled, remembering the hot sex on the blanket by the water. He adjusted himself.

  “Stop it,” Dillon growled, but the heat beneath the man’s words wasn’t from anger.

  “Why?”

  “Because.” Dillon frowned at him.

  “Party pooper,” he smirked.

  “Who’s having a party?” Dillon’s eyebrow lifted.

  “We can.” He smoothed a hand over the hard wood of his desk. “Right here.”

  A knock on the door interrupted his seduction and Dillon laughed, rising to his feet.

  The soldier yanked open the door.

  “Sir? A black SUV is approaching the ranch,” Paul said.