“And your pastor is onboard with marrying you to an unwilling bride?”
He chuckled. “Poor Bailey. Pastor Black knows all about your drinking problem. I’ve warned him that it was highly likely that you’d be drunk at the wedding.” He grabbed the bottle of bourbon from the floorboard and cracked open the top. “Here you go. A little something for your nerves.”
She turned her head away. “I’m not going to drink that.”
He pinched her chin between his forefinger and thumb and jerked her face violently toward him. The muscles in her neck strained as she fought against him, but he was stronger and easily overpowered her.
“That’s a good girl,” he cooed as he jammed the bottle opening into her mouth and poured.
She tried not to swallow, but she was choking on the strong liquor as it filled her mouth. Unable to breath, she gulped and bourbon flowed down her throat. Gagging, she struggled against her restraints, but he appeared to enjoy her discomfort.
“Need a little more?” he asked. “I have plenty.”
She gritted her teeth together to try to block his efforts, but he pulled her mouth open and poured liquid in. Some of it flowed out and onto her shirt. He shoved her lips together and held her nose closed until she swallowed.
“We don’t have a lot of time to waste. I need to get back to our honeymoon condo and get ready for the wedding.” He pried her mouth open again and refilled it, then pinched her nostrils again until she swallowed.
He held up the bottle. About half of it was gone.
“Good,” he purred. “A little more and we can get back on the road.”
He continued forcing bourbon into her mouth and cutting off her airway until the fifth of bourbon bottle was empty. She could barely hold up her head. She had no idea how many shots of booze this would have been. All she knew was she had to take a nap.
Chapter 18
“You see anything, Chief?” Levi asked as he dipped the plane lower.
“If you mean trucks, hell yeah. Tons of them, but none new and none like you described. Have you considered that, if the truck was a rental, he could have traded it for something else?”
Beside him, his father nodded. “Good point, Baxter.”
“What about her phone?” his mother asked. “Is there any way to trace it?”
“It’s not like you see on television,” Chief Donahue said. “You can’t just track anyone’s phone. The phone needs to have some type of tracking app on it.”
“She carries the clinic phone in addition to her personal phone. Does that help?” Levi said.
Donahue leaned from the backseat between the two pilot seats up front. “It could. Braverman was always losing that damn thing. You have no idea how many times I had to drop it off at his house. Let me call him and ask.”
Levi and his parents continued to scan the road looking for a new truck, or even a car driving erratically since he figured Bailey was putting up a fight. His family and friends had taken to the roads and campgrounds around Homer in case Madden was holed up in that area. The state police were in the air and all police jurisdictions between Homer and Anchorage had been notified. With the timeframe they were working with, Anchorage was as far as they could have gotten without a plane, and he didn’t think that was a serious option.
In the backseat, Chief Donahue was saying, “Uh-huh. Right. Got it. Thanks, Doc.” He clicked and leaned forward away. “Braverman’s wife put a tracker on the phone about four months ago. Said she was tired of him always losing it. She’s sending me the tracking information now.”
“Finally,” Levi said. “We might have a break.”
“His wife has the app on her phone and is starting a trace. In the meantime, I’m trying to download the app to my phone so I can trace at the same time.”
“What’s the app?” Grace Van der Hayden asked.
“It’s called I’ve Lost My Phone Again.”
“Found it,” Grace said. “Downloading it now.”
“Can one of you call Braverman’s wife back and see if she’s picked up a signal?” Levi asked.
“Can do,” Donahue said. “You keep downloading that app, Grace.”
Levi listened to Donahue saying a lot of “Yes,” and “I see,” and “Perfect.” Finally, he said, “Thanks, Mary. We can take it from here.”
“She’s got a ping off the phone in Anchorage.”
“Will that phone make any kind of noise so Madden will hear it?” Grace asked.
“No,” Donahue said. “The only pinging will be on the tracker phone.”
“I can’t get this app to work,” Grace said.
“I’m not surprised,” Levi said. “The phones have to be synced together. We need to keep Mary Braverman on the line, and she’ll have to talk us in.”
“Grace, can you do that? I want to call Anchorage police to pick us up at the harbor when we land.”
Levi’s mind raced with images of Bailey being injured. Fear and fury raged in his gut, each one battling to be the strongest emotion. Fury was winning. He was smart enough to realize that in his current frame of mind, he had no business being responsible for the lives of three other people.
“Take the controls, Dad.”
“I’ve got them. Hang on. We’ll get her back.” Erick Van der Hayden brought the plane down at Lake Hood Seaplane Port with a landing as smooth as silk. He puttered up to the dock and a couple of local cops helped them moor. Then, they scrambled from the plane.
“Chief Donahue? I’m Officer Linders. This is Officer Riley. Chief said to give you whatever you need.”
Donahue nodded. “Great.” He turned to Grace. “What’s Mary saying? Put her on speaker.”
Grace did and Mary’s voice filled the air. “Looks like the phone is stationary. It hasn’t moved in the last fifteen minutes.”
“Can you see streets, Mary?” Donahue asked.
“Yes and no. Hold on. I’ll try to enlarge the map.” There was a pause and Mary said, “Got it. There’s a main street called Western Northern Lights Boulevard.”
Officer Linders nodded. “One of the main streets running east to west. It divides the town into north and south.” He leaned toward the phone Grace held. “Ma’am, can you tell if the phone is north or south of Western Northern Lights?”
“I’d guess north since it’s on the left side, but it’s hard to say. I’m not all that familiar with Anchorage. I’ve got Grace’s phone on the tracer now. I’ve got a blinking cursor for her phone near a body of water. If you start moving, I can follow along on the map and get you headed in the right direction.”
“Let’s go,” Levi said. “I need some car keys.”
Donahue put his hand on Levi’s shoulders. “Settle down. We’ll get her.” He turned toward the two Anchorage city policemen. “Give me the phone, Grace, and Mary can direct us in. Let’s roll, guys.”
The three men had taken two steps when Levi shouted, “You’re crazy if you think I’m staying here, Donahue.”
The men kept walking up the ramp, and Levi charged after them. “I’m going, Donahue. I can take care of myself.”
“I know that, Levi.” He nodded toward the two officers. “Navy SEAL. We could maybe team up on him, and possibly the three of us could take him down and make him stay here, but personally? I’m too old for that shit.”
“Just don’t get in the way,” Officer Linders said with a snarl.
They took Floatplane Drive to Wisconsin Street and then north to Western Northern Lights Boulevard.
“Grace’s phone is getting closer to the signal I’m getting from the clinic phone,” Mary said. “Looks like you need to go to the right.”
The patrol car whipped onto the boulevard, its lights and siren flashing.
“What now, Mrs. Braverman?” Levi shouted. “Where?”
“Wait,” Mary shouted. “Your signal just passed it. It’s behind you.”
Officer Riley turned onto A Street and headed north.
“Okay. It’s to your left now.�
�
Riley turned onto West Fireweed Lane.
“Now what, Mary?” Donahue asked, his voice so calm Levi wanted to grab the phone.
“To your left, sort of the way you came.”
Riley turned onto C Street and headed south.
“Yes,” Mary cried into the phone. “Perfect. Your cursor is moving in the right direction. There! There!” she yelled as the car passed an apartment complex. “It’s just to your right.”
Riley turned the car onto Twenty-Seventh Street, which fed into the complex. He flipped off the lights and siren. “Don’t want to alert him,” he explained.
“Yes. Drive slow,” she demanded.
Riley slowed. They passed the first building and headed toward a rear building with covered resident parking.
“You’re right beside it.” Mary said. “The phone is on your right.”
“We’ll take it from here, Mary,” Donahue said. “Thank you for your help.”
“Sure thing, Baxter. Let me know what happens.”
Levi’s teeth were jammed together so tightly, he was surprised he didn’t break into the enamel. He wasn’t this nervous before major ops. But then, it was only him that might die during an op, not Bailey.
Linders exited the car and began looking into the cars. At the same time, Riley was running license plates.
“I think I’ve got it. The only rental car is in slot three,” Riley said to the ones in the car. He climbed out and opened the rear door. As Levi slid out, Riley jerked him to a stop. “Stay out of our way,” he warned. “SEAL or not, this is our territory, not yours.”
Levi tugged his shoulder free from Riley’s grasp. “I hear you.” He heard him. He just didn’t have any intentions of following the man’s orders. Bailey was in danger. Danger was his job.
Slot three was assigned to apartment 4B.
“I’ll go around to the backside and see if there’s an exit. Wait until you hear back from me,” Linders said to Riley.
Riley answered with a nod.
Levi followed Linders around the end of the building, staying back and out of sight. If there was a back exit, he thought Curtis would make a run for it as soon as Riley announced his presence at the front door.
“Patio exit,” Linders said into his mic.
“Roger,” Riley said. “I’m knocking.”
From the back, Levi heard Riley’s loud pounding on a door and, “Anchorage police. Open the door.” Then bam, bam, bam again on the door.
Levi scooted under a window and slowly raised himself enough to see inside. What he saw made his heart flip.
Bailey was laying on a bed dressed in a white bridal gown. She appeared to be unconscious. If that bastard had hurt her, he was a dead man, police or no police.
He saw the shadow of movement. Curtis was moving into the bedroom. His head was turned toward the front door where Riley knocked. His right hand held a pistol.
Levi dropped back down and duck-walked away until he was clear of the window. Then he ran to the rear where Linders was stationed.
“He’s got a gun,” Levi said. “We don’t have time to knock and ask politely to be allowed in.”
“Navy SEAL reports seeing a gun,” Linders said into his mic. “Get Hostage Negotiations and SWAT team rolling.”
“Fuck that. We don’t have time.” Levi headed for the patio door.
“SEAL. Get back here. We do this by the book.”
“We do, and he’s going to kill her.” Levi approached the sliding door and pulled. To his stunned amazement, it opened.
“SEAL. Stop,” Linders hissed. “The bastard is going in,” he said into his mic.
Levi pulled out a gun.
“Damnit, SEAL,” Linders said, but he joined Levi at the door.
Levi glanced sideways. “I’m going in, with or without you.”
“You’re going to get us both killed,” Linder muttered.
“No, I’m not. Go high. I’ll go low. Go.”
Levi swept the flimsy curtain to the side and rushed into a small living room. Empty.
He gestured toward the wall that he thought separated the living and bedrooms. “Bedroom,” he mouthed.
Linders nodded.
Levi slipped into the hall and pressed his back to the wall. Pitching his voice, he shouted, “Madden. It’s over.”
“It’s not,” Curtis Madden yelled back. “The preacher will be here soon to marry us. She doesn’t want you, SEAL. She wants me.”
“Let her say that to me.”
“She doesn’t have to. I’ve told you. Now, go away and leave us. It’s our wedding day and you’re not on the invitation list.”
Levi looked at Linders.
“I’m unlocking the front door,” Linders said and did that.
Riley and Donahue entered, guns at the ready.
“What the fuck is Van der Hayden doing with a gun?” Donahue asked.
Levi glared over his shoulder and then turned back to the bedroom door. “I’m coming in, Madden,” he said.
“No, you’re not,” Linders said. “You’ll stay here until the other units arrive.”
“Yeah, no.” Levi crouched down and rolled through the door landing beside the bed with Madden on the other side.
Madden fired, the bullet plowing into the wall over Levi’s head. “The next bullet goes into her brain if you don’t throw your gun out of the room.”
“Fine.” Levi tossed his gun into the hall and raised his hands above his head. He slowly rose from the floor. “Bailey is too good for you,” he said, and threw his body over hers, fully prepared to take the bullet if that meant she would be safe. Once Madden shot him, he was sure that one of the guys in the hall would shoot Madden.
The loud blast of a handgun sounded, and Levi prepared for the shock of fire and pain. Nothing happened. He raised his head in time to see Madden slump down the wall, a bright red stain blooming on his white tux shirt.
Chapter 19
Twelve Months Later
Levi stepped off the plane wearing civilian clothes. It felt odd to not be dressed in BDUs. Felt even odder to know that he wouldn’t be going back to Coronado. His team had changed a lot over the past months. It’d started with Compass and Hawk after that piece of shit campaign in Africa. Oh, there’d been lots of shit places and shit assignments since then, but that one was the start of the team’s disintegration.
The replacement guys had been top-notch. Smart. Strong. Brave. He’d trusted them with his life, just as they’d trusted him. But the original team chemistry wasn’t there.
As she’d promised, Bailey had gone back to Texas that fall after their time together. He’d wondered if she’d stay in touch like she’d promised. She’d done better. She’d flown to California eight times for visits. The guys adored her. Z-Man said she’d done a lot to improve Dutch’s constant complaining, not that he didn’t still complain. He did, but only when he hadn’t seen her for more than thirty days.
He’d even visited her in Texas a few times and met her family. He was a little surprised to find out the “little ranch” she’d talked about was thousands of acres of prime grazing land. He was even more stunned to learn about the oil wells in Alaska and about the stash of cash Cherry Ellis was sitting on. The money didn’t change things between them. He would have loved her no matter her financial status. But it did put together many of the pieces of the Curtis Madden story. Her money had meant more to Madden than Bailey had, and for that, Levi would have killed him again, if he hadn’t died in a rental apartment in Anchorage.
There had been thousands of text messages between him and Bailey and hours of video chats. His favorite chats were the ones when no one was around and each of them were behind closed doors. Then his cougar let things get a little dirty.
But he loved her, more than he’d ever believed possible. Eighteen months ago when they’d met, there’d been attraction and lust and early love. Now, she was a part of him. She was embedded in his heart. He loved being a SEAL, but he loved her more
. He needed her more. The problem was she lived in Texas. He lived in Alaska.
He hefted his heavy duffle bag from the luggage carousel and headed for the door. His parents were picking him up at Lake Hood, and he’d told them he would taxi over. No reason for either of them to be at the airport.
The taxi from the airport to Lake Hood was quick and he found the family plane floating at the dock. He hurried down, anxious to see his family. He hadn’t been home since that bullet visit and had missed so much.
He smiled as he neared. He’d expected his parents, but he hadn’t expected additional guests.
“Mom. Dad,” he said, hugging each parent tightly.
Then he turned to Macy and Doug. Doug held a tow-headed daughter who clung to him like she was attached.
“Hey, sis.” He hugged her and then held out a hand to his friend. “Brother-in-law,” he said.
Doug pulled his hand, and they did a bro-hug with Levi’s newest niece between them.
“This is Lydia Kate,” Doug said. “Lydia, this is your Uncle Levi. The crazy guy your mom warned you about. Remember?”
Levi laughed.
Macy punched her husband. “I didn’t say that. I said he was brave and almost got himself killed last year.”
Last year. This year. Last month. He’d almost been killed more times than he wanted to count, not that his family need to know any of that.
“You look skinny, Macy,” he said.
“Oh my God, thank you,” she said and draped her arms around him.
“And just in time to get fat again,” Doug said.
Levi’s eyes opened wide. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes. Isn’t that great?” Macy said, a wide smile stretching across her mouth. “I’ve decided to keep him.” She tilted head toward Doug.
Her husband laughed.
“Let’s get going,” Erick Van der Hayden said. “The rest of the family is waiting at the house.”
“Good. I’m starved,” Levi said.
He was surprised when Doug handed off the baby to Macy and climbed into the co-pilot seat.
“What’s the deal?” Levi demanded. “That’s my seat.”
Hot SEAL, Alaskan Nights (SEALs in Paradise) Page 15
