“Mrs. S, you are a lifesaver,” he said, grinning before taking the coffee. He tasted the coffee and sighed. It was exactly what he needed. “Is that a new dress? You look stunning, Mrs. S.”
She laughed and fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh, c’mon, stop flirting with me, boy. It’s nice, but stop.”
“Yeah, stop flirting with my mother.”
Ace turned to survey the newcomer, staring at her in mock exaggeration. “Have you seen your mother?” He was only half kidding.
Emily was only a year older than he was, which put her at thirty-eight. Yet her mom could pass for a woman in her late forties. She had a great figure and a face that was mostly unlined. The grey in her hair only made her look better. Coralline Silver was as sweet and motherly as they came and everyone at Silver Shield adored her.
Emily Silver simply shook her head and walked away. “Briefing at the command center in ten,” she called over her shoulder.
“Am I the first one in?” Ace asked. Emily didn’t count.
“As always,” she replied, walking back to her station.
The HQ was located in a huge, sprawling mansion on an old street in Old Town, Chicago. Owned by Emily’s great grandfather, it had been in the family for years, and both Emily and her mother lived upstairs. However, the lower floor had been converted into the operating offices for Silver Shield and had been upgraded with the highest security system.
Ace really liked the house. Coming from the simple two-bedroom cottage where he’d grown up, he couldn’t imagine living in a place like this; it reminded him of a museum, but only in size. Even though it had been outfitted to suit a security agency, he could still see the signs that it had been a home, particularly in the kitchen and the lobby, which was where Mrs. S had her station.
He walked past her into what used to be a living room, but now had three tables with computers on them. One of those was his, and the other operatives would soon arrive to occupy the others.
Turning on his computer, Ace had to admit that he liked the job. He got to use his skills without dodging landmines or watching people he’d come to care about get blown up. At that thought, he ran a hand over his face. Damn, he did not want to think about that. Thinking about Mosul was hard and most days, he just wanted to never remember, but then he made himself remember because it was in Mosul that the lesson had finally hit home.
Caring for others, getting emotionally connected to them was just too hard. It was a message the universe had tried to deliver when he’d lost his parents just before his tenth birthday and also when he’d lost his younger sister to leukemia and then his grandma a few years later. But he’d been too stubborn to heed the warning till Mosul. Then he’d received the message loud and clear and it was one that he never intended to forget ever again.
“Hey, you okay?”
Ace looked up to see that a couple of the other operatives had come in. The one looking at him with concern in her large brown eyes was Tamika White. Although Tamika had never been a SEAL, she was a damn good soldier and had been in Benghazi for a couple of months when she’d faced enemy fire so she could save the other members of her unit. She still walked with a slight limp because of the bullets that had been lodged in her leg, but that did not make her any less deadly.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a shrug.
She looked at him for a few moments, her face devoid of expression, before nodding once and moving on to her table.
“He had a rough night, Tamika. Met this really sexy babe, but then her car got blown up.”
Ace didn’t crack a smile as Drew breezed in. Tamika’s face immediately showed her concern.
“There was an explosion?” She understood what it meant and how something like that could take one back to hell in a nanosecond.
He shrugged, he wasn’t ready to go into it yet even though he trusted these people with his life. “Yeah, but I’m cool.”
“Sure,” she said with a hint of a smile before turning on her computer. And that was one thing, Tamika never really smiled. She was always so solemn with an intensity that was almost frightening.
He knew something bad had happened to her years ago, but it was something she never talked about and no matter how close they had all become in the past year, she froze and clammed up anytime the subject was broached. He had an idea though. He’d overheard something once and if he wanted to find out more, he could have asked Rusty to dig, but friends didn’t do that and to Ace, they were more than just friends. Every single member of Silver Shield was like the family he didn’t have.
“Emily’s waiting for you all in the command center,” Mrs. S said, walking in with a cup of coffee.
“Who’s the coffee for?” Drew asked.
“Rusty.”
“But he’s not here yet,” Drew pointed out.
“Yes, he is. Sorry I’m late, guys, had to take care of a situation.” Rusty rushed in, dropping his bag on his table, shrugging out of his jacket and reaching for the coffee at the same time. “Thanks, Mrs. S, you are such a lifesaver.”
“A situation, huh?” Drew asked, one eyebrow raised.
Ace just chuckled. Rusty was the youngest member of their team and the only one that had not been in any combat situation, although as a member of the army intelligence corps, he had been in the warfront. However, he’d had his own share of tragedy. Ace understood Rusty a lot and even though they had different ways of showing it, they both shied away from intimacy and commitment. While Ace’s partners hardly lasted the six-month mark, Rusty never slept with the same woman twice; he had a new woman every night and sometimes, it turned into a “situation.”
They were all in the meeting room, or the command center as they liked to call it. It used to be a second living room, but it now housed a large conference table with chairs around it and several screens from which they could monitor the HQ as well as the different places they placed their security cameras. It was also where Rusty operated from.
“Okay, guys, let’s get down to business. I’d like to know the status of the jobs you’re working on.” Emily sat at one end of the table and called the meeting to order.
“I’m handling the Wallace case. Seems straightforward enough, my job is to provide security for them until they get to Arizona. We leave for Arizona tomorrow,” Tamika said with a shrug. Everyone knew that it was those seemingly straightforward cases that usually had a way of going crazy.
“She’s being threatened by the ex-husband,” Emily said.
“Yeah, and it’s getting messy. She got a restraining order, but he gets others to do his dirty work.”
Emily nodded. “She’ll be fine in Arizona.” The woman came from a tough, gun-toting family who would shoot first, then ask questions later. The ex-husband would not dare go near her there.
“Well, I had Samantha Griffiths, but her stalker was caught by the cops so I’m thinking of taking a well-deserved vacation.”
Emily and Ace exchanged looks. It was that time of the year when Drew went missing for several weeks at a time. He would disappear for a month and then return as though nothing happened, never saying a word about where he went or what decisions he took. For several days after his return, he would be down in the dumps, then a few days afterward he would show up to work his usual laughing self and all would be back to normal.
Emily nodded slightly. “Then that leaves you, Ace.” She tapped her tablet and frowned slightly. “We got a call this morning about a woman who needs protection. She should be here any minute.” She pinned her gaze on Rusty. “I need Tamika totally covered while she’s in Arizona. We can’t afford to lose sight of her.”
“Won’t happen. I’ve hooked her up with video cameras that are connected to a video encoder, which will use a VSAT terminal to transmit a live feed to our servers. Basically, it’s connected via satellite and we’ll be watching her every moment.” Rusty said this with a grin and an exaggerated wink aimed at Tamika.
“Grow up, Rosabelle,” Tamika said, shaking her head
in mock exasperation.
“When you sleep, when you wake up, when you eat…I’ll be watching every single thing.” Rusty’s grin was wider now.
Tamika brought two fingers together like a gun, slowly pointed them at Rusty and pulled an imaginary trigger. Ace and Drew choked back their laughter while Emily smiled at the sudden pallor of Rusty’s face. Tamika’s relaxed into that almost-smile she usually sported.
They were a crazy bunch that was for sure, but Ace wouldn’t have them any other way.
Chapter Five
Sierra was tired. For the first time in so long, she felt the black clouds forming around her and she felt powerless to do anything about it. She knew she should be angry. Angry at those people who thought that they could scare her off by planting a bomb in her car, and she was, or at least she would be once she could muster the strength.
She sighed as she stared at the large townhouse through the window of the taxi. She glanced down at the card in her hand, the one that Alicia had thrust into her hand the day before. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
The address said Old Town, Chicago, which was exactly where she was. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this…getting a bodyguard. Bodyguards were for celebrities and heiresses, definitely not for normal people like her, and if she was being honest, she really didn’t want to do this…have someone following her all around town. She shuddered at the thought, but knew she no longer had a choice. So with a sigh, she paid the cab fare and stepped out.
Glancing at the delicate yellow and white gold watch on her wrist, she saw that she was a few minutes early so she squared her shoulders and walked into the building.
“Hello, I’m here to see Emily Silver.”
The woman behind the reception desk looked like she was in her late forties or very early fifties. Her auburn hair had streaks of grey, however she looked really good, and when she smiled, as she was doing now, she seemed to light up from within.
“You must be Miss Newman, I’m Coralline Silver, Emily will be with you in a moment.”
Sierra murmured her thanks as she was shown to a waiting area.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
Sierra tried to smile, but her face wouldn’t cooperate so she just shook her head and said, “No, thank you.”
Once the other woman was back at the reception desk, Sierra decided to take stock. She was currently without a car and had to wait till Monday before the insurance company arranged something for her. It seemed like a small problem when her life was in danger, but she didn’t want to think too much about that. She did not want to think about anything, to be honest, but her mind kept playing back the events of the night before.
What if she hadn’t had Ace there with her? What if she’d waited till she got to the car before unlocking the door, as was her custom? What if the bomb had gone off after she turned on the car? The what-ifs kept running through her mind, threatening to drive her crazy.
“Dear, are you okay?”
Sierra looked up to find the concerned eyes of the older woman on her. She opened her mouth to give the custom answer, but something about the older woman caused her to sigh and say, “Not really. My week has been....” She searched for the right words to use.
“Shitty?” the other woman supplied, her eyes twinkling.
Sierra laughed lightly. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
She regarded Sierra thoughtfully for a brief moment then patted her on the arm. “Don’t worry so much, dear. Things do get better eventually.”
Her words lit a spark of hope in Sierra’s heart. For the first time that day, she felt a real smile on her face as she thanked the woman.
Just then a slender woman walked up to them. She was an inch or two shorter than Sierra, but carried a commanding presence with her. Even before she spoke, Sierra knew she was looking at Sergeant Emily Silver of Silver Shield Security.
She wore a simple white shirt tucked into a pair of navy blue jeans. The only piece of jewelry she had on was a thin gold chain. She had a calmness and capable air about her that Sierra envied.
“Hi, I’m Emily Silver and you must be Sierra Newman.”
“Yes, I am. Pleased to meet you.” Sierra took the hand that was offered.
“This way, please,” Emily said, leading the way. They took a right immediately after the lobby and walked into what looked like a small meeting room. “Please have a seat.”
There were two round tables with a few chairs around them. She sat down at the one closest to her while Emily went to the coffee maker.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
Sierra shook her head. “No, thanks.”
She was already nervous and didn’t need the caffeine high. She hated the fact that she was here, in this office, about to talk about getting a bodyguard. It showed her how much her life had slipped out of her control and it was driving her crazy. She liked her life in neat little compartments and hated that her work was spilling unto her personal life.
It was just too much.
But she had to do what had to be done, and if she had to get a bodyguard, then she would.
“I just want to get this over with,” she said as firmly as she could.
Emily was silent for a few moments while she made her coffee then she brought it over to where Sierra was seated. She took a sip, never taking her eyes off Sierra. It was a bit unnerving, but Sierra returned her gaze without flinching.
“This isn’t easy for you,” Emily said quietly.
Sierra shrugged, she was right, it wasn’t easy.
“My car was blown up yesterday,” Sierra said shortly.
She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Saying it out loud did not make it more real, it still sounded surreal. She was not living in some war-torn country. She was in the United States of America, for goodness sakes, so how had this happened?
Emily didn’t even look shocked, but Sierra supposed that she must have seen worse. She’d read her profile on their website and knew that she had been in one of the Middle Eastern countries, on the frontlines. Emily took another sip from her coffee mug before pushing it aside.
“I would like to call in the person I’ll be assigning to you. Is that okay?”
Sierra nodded and Emily rose. She walked to the phone that was resting on a small side table.
“Hello, Mom, could you ask Ace to come in here? Thanks.”
Sierra heard the words mom and Ace at the same time. She wondered what the odds were of two people with that same name in the same city. Her heart began to race in anticipation as she waited to find out.
She took a closer look at the woman standing before her. Her thick auburn hair was caught back at her nape in a ponytail. Her clear complexion was unlined and there was something slightly familiar about the cool eyes. Sierra tilted her head to the side and realized that the mint green eyes were the same color as that of the woman at the reception area.
“I’m sorry for asking, but Mrs. Silver…” Sierra began then paused when it dawned on her that they both had the same last names.
Emily smiled. “Yes, Mom works with me.” She walked back to the table and took her seat. “She keeps things organized and looks out for everyone.”
Sierra just nodded. Not like she understood, of course, the closest she’d had to a mother was Alicia’s mom. But Alicia had a tempestuous relationship with her mother, she couldn’t imagine them working together. They would probably kill each other first.
The door opened and Emily looked up. Sierra was seated backing the door, so she didn’t see who came in, but there was an instant awareness in the air. She felt alert in the same way she’d felt the night before at the night club. She sucked in a breath as she knew instinctively just who had stepped in.
“Hey, Ace, thanks for coming. This is Sierra Newman.”
Sierra turned then and locked gazes with the same pair of blue eyes that had literally stopped her in her tracks the night before. Her stomach dipped and for a fraction of a s
econd, she forgot to breathe. She saw the surprise in his eyes before they heated up, igniting a slow burning that began at the pit of her stomach. What was it about this man that affected her so strongly? She tried to say something, but could not think of anything to say. Her breath was coming rapidly as she sat, enveloped in the spell he had woven around her.
“I take it you both know each other?”
Sierra blinked, but could not tear her gaze off Ace so she just nodded.
“Yeah,” Ace replied, his eyes never straying from Sierra’s. “The bombing last night? That was her car.” He suddenly frowned as though something had just occurred to him. He turned slowly to look at Emily then. “She needs a bodyguard,” he said brusquely and without asking, sat at the table.
“Yes, and I’m assigning you to the case.”
Chapter Six
“No—”
“Not a good idea.”
They both spoke at the same time. Sierra glanced at Emily and looked sharply at Ace. Her attraction to the man was practically a living, breathing thing. The tension that throbbed between them was so tangible, she didn’t think she could handle it. A brief affair was one thing, but having him following her twenty-four hours a day was just too much.
Emily’s eyes moved between Sierra and Ace and she pursed her lips in contemplation. There was obviously something going on between those two and she wondered briefly if it was going to be a problem. But she immediately dismissed the worry; Ace was too much of a professional to let anything interfere with the job.
Each of her operatives were dedicated and single-minded professionals, which was why she had chosen them. They were all broken too, but that was another thing altogether. Briefly, for just a moment, she allowed her mind to stray and it brought back the pair of slanted brown eyes that were always laughing, and the rich brown hair that was just like hers. The stab of sorrow that hit her then was almost overpowering. Stiffening herself against it, she took a deep breath and let it out silently, placing her wayward thoughts firmly back under wraps.
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 3