The door opened and a small blond-haired woman walked in. Haylee wouldn’t have thought the woman was here to see her except that she made a straight line for Haylee and smiled broadly as she approached.
“Hi, you must be Haylee,” she said as she came up and dropped an Old Navy shopping bag onto the table.
“Yes, hi.”
The woman held out her hand, her bubbly smile never leaving her face. “I’m Brooke Sullivan. I’m Cade’s fiancé.”
“Cade?” The name was familiar but Haylee couldn’t put a face to it just yet.
Brooke waved as if dismissing the thought. “The men call him Saint. I never know who knows which name and I have to say I find the whole thing confusing sometimes—but I think they like it that way, quite honestly.”
Haylee grinned. “You’re probably right. Yes, I know who Saint is. Tall, dark, and handsome. The guy in charge of Wolf’s team.”
“That’s him.”
“Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you.” Brooke beamed with happiness. Haylee envied that.
The door opened again and another woman strode in. This one was dark-haired. “Hey, y’all,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“Bliss!” Brooke cried as she hurried over to hug the other woman. “You’ve been working so hard lately I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you, girlfriend?”
Bliss smiled. “I was at your house two weeks ago, Brooke. But yes, I’ve been working a lot since then. And I’m doing great! How about you?”
“You know. Planning a wedding. Taking care of my man. Running a business. In other words, living the dream.” Brooke turned back to Haylee. “This is Haylee Jamison. She’s Wolf’s lady.”
Haylee’s belly flipped at that description. Was she Wolf’s lady? She wanted to be.
Bliss put out her hand and Haylee took it. “Bliss Bennett. Sky—or Hacker, as you may have heard him called—is my fiancé.”
“Oh my goodness,” Brooke said suddenly. “I’m losing my mind.” She lifted the shopping bag and held it out. “I picked you up some things, Haylee. I hope they fit. Cade gave me your measurements so blame him if they don’t.”
Haylee started to wonder where on earth Cade had gotten her measurements, but then she thought back to El Salvador and the questions she’d answered there. Clearly, even though she’d given her answers to a nurse, these guys had access to them.
Haylee took the bag. “Thank you so much. I had to leave home quickly, or I’d have grabbed some things. I can pay you back, of course.”
“I’m not worried. I feel like we’re going to get to know each other pretty well over the next few weeks or so. Welcome to HOT, Haylee.”
“HOT?”
Bliss and Brooke exchanged a look. “You’re here, so you’re going to be briefed,” Bliss said. “But basically we’re a counterterrorism group with missions spanning the globe. We do covert ops, like the rescue where you met Wolf. If something bad is going on in the world, we’re there to put out the fire and mop up the bad guys.”
Haylee’s gaze bounced between them. “You said we. You’re both part of this HOT?”
Brooke laughed. “Not me. I bake cupcakes. But Bliss works here.”
“I’m an information technology specialist,” Bliss said.
“A computer hacker,” Brooke added.
Bliss grinned. “Something like that.”
“What is HOT?” Haylee asked. “I’ve never heard of it. I mean we were briefed after the rescue, but no one mentioned HOT.”
“It’s an acronym for the Hostile Operations Team. Like Delta Force and Navy SEALs—you’ve heard of those, right?”
“Definitely.”
Bliss nodded. “We’re Special Ops. Our missions are dangerous and secret. And though you and Brooke aren’t officially part of the mission, you are part of the mission. There’s a briefing for spouses—you’ll get it soon enough.”
Haylee shook her head even while her heart throbbed. “I’m not a spouse. I’m not even a girlfriend.”
Brooke laughed. “Oh honey, trust me, you’re a girlfriend. I’ve known Wolf for several months now, and one thing I can tell you is that I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice. Heck, I’ve never actually seen him with any woman. I mean I’ve seen him flirt with them at bars and restaurants, but he’s never brought anyone to a team gathering, much less to HQ.”
“I don’t think he had a choice, actually. He’s helping me out with a problem.”
“A problem you could call the police for?”
“I, uh… Yes, I suppose I could.”
“But he wouldn’t let you, right? Told you he’d protect you?”
“Yes.”
Brooke and Bliss exchanged a look. “You’re a girlfriend. Accept it, Haylee. Wolf has claimed you for his own.”
“He’s just being nice. I wouldn’t say there’s any claiming going on.” But the thought of him claiming her made her all gooey inside.
Brooke arched an eyebrow as her gaze dropped to Haylee’s neck and back up again. She could feel the mark Wolf had left last night. The bite mark that had made her wild with pleasure as her body exploded beneath his.
“Whatever you say, honey,” Brooke said. “Now why don’t you head over to the bathroom and see if those clothes fit? If they don’t, I’ll run out again.”
Haylee clutched the bag as her gaze bounced between the two women. They were watching her expectantly. Their expressions were welcoming though, not at all challenging or waspish. She decided to just go with it. Maybe they were right and she was Wolf’s girlfriend. She hoped so. Or maybe they were wrong and he was just helping her out. Just because her heart was engaged didn’t mean his was. She started for the bathroom when Bliss called out. Haylee turned.
“These men are stubborn as hell. They’re so used to being strong and needing no one, but they fall, Haylee. They fall and sometimes they need a kick in the pants to understand it’s happening. So don’t let Wolf get away with keeping you guessing. Fight for him. Make him admit what’s going on.”
Haylee could only stare. Her heart beat with hope and happiness, but ingrained lessons from childhood were there to keep that hope from flaring bright. Sometimes, you loved people and they didn’t love you back. “I’ll try,” she said. She had to force the words past the tightness in throat, but once she did she felt the hope swelling within.
Bliss looked fierce. “Good. And if the going gets tough, you’ve got us to fall back on. We’ve been there and we know what it’s like. But trust me, the fight is worth it in the end.”
“Ordinarily, we can’t move on something like this,” Alex “Ghost” Bishop said to the assembled members of Echo Squad and the SEAL Team that had come to join them a few minutes ago. They were in the ready room, the video Tony Davis had sent to Haylee playing on the big screen at one end. It’d been over an hour since Wolf arrived, and they’d been working and discussing plans since. “This is DEA territory. They’ve been following the Juarez Cartel for months now and, with these details, they’re ready to take them down. They’ve requested our help with the process. Echo and the SEALs are going in to help takedown the manufacturing facility. The shipments to Setter will be intercepted at the port and thoroughly searched.”
Satisfaction flared in Wolf’s chest. And apprehension too. He’d have to leave Haylee behind. Could he convince her to stay at his place? Or would she want to go home?
“What about Oscar Silva, sir?” Wolf asked. “This is the evidence to finally tie him to the operation. The only thing that connects him to the cartel.”
“Yes, it is,” Ghost said, his expression serious. “The FBI will be waiting to arrest him as soon as we storm the facility. If we arrest him first, the cartel could be tipped off that something is coming. And if we wait, then there’s a chance someone will warn him when the premises are under attack. It has to happen simultaneously.”
“Watson’s going to lawyer up as soon as this goes down,” Saint said.
“Fucker,” somebody said.
Ghost looked at his watch. “Go time is now, gentlemen. You’ll join the DEA team at Andrews and go over the plan en route. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” the men said in unison.
Except for Wolf. “Yes,” he broke in. Ghost looked up. Every gaze in the place turned to Wolf. He suddenly knew what it must feel like to be under a microscope. “Haylee Jamison. She could be in danger if she goes back home. Will she have protection?”
“We can arrange something,” Ghost said. “All right, people. Dismissed. And good luck out there.”
Chairs scraped as everyone stood and headed for the equipment room where they’d grab their packs. Everything was ready, because they’d known they were headed out again soon even if they hadn’t known precisely where. Wolf’s heart throbbed and a strange kind of panic began to swell inside him. He stopped in the hall. Saint stopped with him.
“What’s up, Wolf?”
“Haylee. I need to tell her.”
“Ghost will take care of her. She’ll know you’ve gone.”
He started to turn in the direction of the visitor’s area, but Saint grabbed his arm, his grip tight. “No time, Wolf. We have to go. This will be over in a few hours and you’ll be back here with all the time in the world to tell her how you feel.”
Wolf blinked. Tell her how you feel? Was that what he’d meant when he said he needed to tell her? He’d thought he meant he needed to tell her he was leaving on a mission. But what if he’d meant more than that? Was it so obvious to his teammates but not to him? What did he feel anyway?
Love, his heart whispered. You love her.
I barely know her.
You know her well enough.
And he did. His heart knew hers. They’d recognized each other two months ago in the Guatemalan jungle. He’d been the one fighting against the inevitable, not his heart. His heart knew the moment he first saw her that she was the one. The one.
Jesus H. Christ. So this was what it felt like to need someone so much you could barely breathe.
His throat was suddenly, painfully tight. “How do you do it?” he asked. Saint’s brows drew down and Wolf hurried to clarify. “Leave Brooke every time. How?”
Saint blew out a breath and shook his head. “I just do. Because it’s the job. She understands this is the life she chose when she said yes to me. Thank God she did, because she’s the reason I wake up every day. Do I hate the look in her eyes when I tell her we’re headed downrange soon? Yeah, I do. Do I hate it when we get the go order and there’s no time to make love to her one more time? Fuck yeah, I do. But I keep her in my heart and I know—I fucking know—that I’m going to hold her again soon.”
That was so much more than Wolf had expected. And yet his racing heartbeat eased a bit and the panic subsided beneath the surface. He had a job to do—a job that would give Haylee what she most wanted in the end. Justice for her friend. The Juarez Cartel was about to have a come-to-Jesus-meeting with the best of the best. And they weren’t going to survive it.
Wolf gritted his teeth. Then he nodded. “All right then. Let’s do this thing and get back home safe so we can make love to our women.”
Saint’s grin was huge. “Goddamn, Wolf. You’re really in love with her.”
“Seems as if I am.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t know how it happened.”
Saint snorted. “Dude, love is the stealthiest operator of all. Sneaks up silently and then slams you in the gut with the force of a rocket engine hurtling into space. You can’t escape it.”
Wolf sucked in a deep breath as they started to walk toward the equipment room again. Euphoria bubbled in his veins. He wanted to shout it to the world. “Who would want to escape a feeling like this?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Haylee was sitting with Brooke in the visitor’s area—Bliss had left them about twenty minutes prior when she got a call about some work she needed to do—when two men came strolling in. They were both tall, both wearing military uniforms, both handsome. One was older than the other, with a full head of gray hair threaded through with black. The other had dark hair with a little gray at the temples.
“Ladies,” the older one said as they strode up.
“Hello, colonel,” Brooke replied with a sunny smile. “I assume if you’re here, then my fiancé is on his way somewhere.”
“You’d be correct about that, Miss Sullivan.” He turned and held out his hand to Haylee. “Hello, Miss Jamison. I’m Colonel Mendez. This is Colonel Bishop.”
Haylee took his hand for a brief shake. Her skin tingled from the contact, though not in the same way it did when she and Wolf touched. Still, this man was stunningly attractive. It was like meeting a movie star and being awestruck even though you had a handsome man of your own at home. “Hello,” she said to them both, shaking Colonel Bishop’s hand too.
“Thank you for your help regarding the Juarez Cartel. That video you provided means we’re solving an issue that’s far overdue.”
Her gaze moved between them. Neither face gave anything away. Smooth and in control, these two. “I can’t take credit for it. A friend sent it to me.”
“Tony Davis.”
“Yes. Have you found where he went?”
“Not yet. But if he turns his phone on, we’ll find him. Miss Jamison, I need to ask you not to return home for the next couple of days. Your safety can’t be guaranteed if you do.”
Haylee swallowed. “I’ve been staying with Wolf.”
“Yes. And you can return to his house if you want to do so. Or you can stay with a friend.”
It hit her then that wherever Saint had gone, Wolf was with him. She didn’t know why she hadn’t figured that out from the first. Brooke had known right away. But this was all so new to her and she hadn’t even thought about it.
“You can stay with me,” Brooke said. “Cade and I have a house. I also have a really big German Shepard named Max who is guaranteed to make you feel safe.”
Haylee turned to the other woman. Brooke was such a pretty thing, petite and blond, so much like Nicole in a way. But not Nicole. “Oh, I couldn’t impose.”
“You aren’t imposing. Besides, we were supposed to go to Grace’s tonight for dinner and she’s already planned for us being there. She’ll make too much food as usual, and then she’ll insist I take home leftovers. If you’re there, she won’t have as much to give away.”
Haylee considered it. If she went back to Wolf’s place, she’d be alone and she wouldn’t have anyone to keep her informed about Wolf’s whereabouts. If she stayed with his team leader’s fiancé, she might learn how to deal with his absence from someone who was accustomed to it herself. “If you’re sure it’s not an imposition.”
“It’s not. We have a guest room.”
“Okay, then thank you.”
“I need to remind you, Miss Jamison,” Colonel Mendez said, “Not to contact anyone about your whereabouts. You’re new to us and how we work, but it’s best you don’t mention today either. Not this place, not the video, nothing.”
She remembered the debrief she and the dental group had gotten after they’d flown back from El Salvador. It had been stressed not to discuss their ordeal then either.
“I understand. But colonel, I am a journalist. I intend to write about my friend’s death and the things I’ve pieced together in the months since.”
“That’s your right, of course. But consider very carefully anything you mean to say that involves this organization or anyone in it. What we do is dangerous, Miss Jamison. You don’t want to compromise national security—or anyone’s safety—by being too specific.”
He meant them all, but of course she thought instantly of Wolf. No, she wouldn’t do anything that could expose him or bring him harm. He’d been willing to take a bullet for her in the jungle. She’d d
o the same for him if she had to. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Good. In a few days, when the dust has settled, you’ll want to come back for a proper briefing. There are things you need to know if you’re going to be in a relationship with one of my soldiers.”
Haylee didn’t bother to state there was no relationship with Wolf. Not yet anyway. She wanted there to be one, of course. Maybe Bliss was right and it did come down to fighting for what you wanted. If that was true, then she’d fight.
“Thank you. I look forward to it.”
“Miss Sullivan. Miss Jamison,” Mendez said, nodding at them both before he and the other man turned and strode out the door.
“Wow,” Haylee said after they were gone.
Brooke laughed. “Wow is right. That man is a legend around here. I don’t know as much about Ghost, but I suspect he’s just as interesting. Those two are the heart and soul of this place. Saint would follow them anywhere. I suspect everyone here would do the same.”
Panic was a tight ball in her chest. It threatened to lose structural integrity and flood her body with fear any second. “I don’t know what to expect, Brooke. How long will Wolf be gone? How do I keep from being scared the whole time? How do I function while he’s heading into danger?”
Brooke squeezed her hand. “Honey, that’s why you have to come to Grace’s with me tonight. Several of the HOT girls will be there—that’s the women who are engaged or married to the men of HOT, plus a couple of women who work for HOT. We’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
The raid on the drug facility was a ball-busting experience. Echo and the SEALs dropped in from the sky with a DEA FAST team and stormed the base where the workers were busy pressing pills for shipment to the US. Wolf couldn’t help but think of Haylee when he stood in the middle of the facility, sweat running down his face, gunpowder filling his nostrils, and swept his gaze over the piles of drugs and paraphernalia it took to make and package them.
HOT Justice: A Hostile Operations Team - Book 14 Page 21
