by Rebecca Deel
“Tell her the best part of your story, baby,” Remy said, his hand resting on her lower back.
She turned, her face glowing. “Besides you?” Her gaze shifted to Claire. “I reconnected with my mother and her family about the time Remy and I married. They’re really nice.”
Lily’s expression showed her discomfort at that turn of events, provided you knew her well. Zane counted himself lucky that Lily let him underneath her rock-solid armor. She and Remy were among the handful of people he counted as good friends.
“That’s quite a story.” Claire carried the empty glasses to the cart as well. “Did you look for your parents?”
Lily shook her head. “My mother found me when she was diagnosed with cancer.”
“Oh, no.” Claire reached over and clasped Lily’s hand briefly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. She’s receiving treatment and doing well. The doctors are thrilled with her progress.”
A sharp rap on the door had Remy motioning Claire into the other room. Once she was secure, he checked the peephole. “It’s Wolfe.” He opened the door wide.
Eli Wolfe strode inside, printer in his arms and a pack strapped to his back. “Lily, you look radiant. Marriage must be agreeing with you.” He set the printer on the table and shrugged the pack off his shoulders.
“Remy takes good care of me,” she said.
“As he should. It’s a husband’s privilege to care for the love of his life. The good thing is, a wife is just as privileged to care for her soul mate, too. Keeps things balanced.” He unzipped his pack and pulled out several packages of photo paper which he placed on the table. “Long time, Remy. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Still on limited duty unless I convince Maddox to spring me early.” The operative had been shot on a mission two weeks before he and Lily were married.
“Glad you’re okay, man. Really glad Rio Kincaid was on hand to save your hide.” He turned to Zane. “Brought what you asked for, Z. You into photography now?”
“Not me.” He swiveled toward the bedroom door. “Claire, come on out. Eli works with Fortress. He’s a friend.”
Eli frowned as soon as Claire cleared the threshold. “You’re Adam Walker’s sister, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. Do you know my brother?”
“Worked a couple missions with him last year.” He held out his hand. “Eli Wolfe. Nice to meet you, sugar.” The SEAL’s attention shifted to Zane. “You were right. Again.”
“Always good to know. Which part was I right about?”
“Microphones and cameras in the house. Living room, kitchen, bedrooms.”
Zane gritted his teeth, cheeks burning. These clowns didn’t have to put cameras in the bedrooms to know Claire was in the house.
“What are you talking about?” Claire asked. “Where are these microphones and cameras?”
“Your house.”
Her eyes widened as she dropped to the couch cushion. “Someone put cameras in my bedroom?” The color drained from her face. “Can you tell when this stuff was installed?”
Eli shook his head. “Sorry, sugar.”
Zane caught her hand in his. “Sweetheart, I doubt it was before you were abducted. No point in tracking your movements in the house when they planned to scoop you up and hold you.”
“Wait.” Eli scowled. “What’s this about Claire being kidnapped?”
Zane gave a rapid-fire summary of the events of the night before.
“Where are these bozos now?”
“Jail. Taylor arrested them and Claire identified them by their voices and body movements.”
Eli’s eyebrows rose. “Is that right? Good for you, Claire.”
“What about the rest of the neighborhood, Eli?” Zane’s thumb brushed over the pulse in Claire’s wrist. “Any problems?”
“Not that I noticed. Jon couldn’t find a good view of the street from the traffic cams. He’s looking for an online security camera to tap into now.”
Yeah, chances were good Jon wouldn’t find anything helpful. Whoever wanted Claire was depending on bugs and cameras to tell them when she returned to the house and was vulnerable again. His jaw flexed. Not happening on his watch. “Did you leave them in place?”
Eli nodded.
“I want them out of my house,” Claire said, grip tightening around Zane’s hand. “I want you or people you trust to rip everything out of there. The idea of someone watching me and hearing everything going on in my home is creepy.”
“As soon as we find the people responsible, you have my word your home will be free from electronic surveillance.”
“Why not now?”
“We may be able to track the signal back to them,” Eli said.
“Small chance of that,” Zane agreed. “I’m more interested in setting a trap for them if it becomes necessary. I promise it will be the last option on my list. I’d prefer keeping you a continent away from these guys.”
“I’m willing to take the chance if we can find Adam sooner,” she insisted.
“I’m not. We’ll find him, but he wouldn’t thank us for sacrificing your safety to do it.” He turned to Eli. “How is Brenna?”
He beamed, a broad smile curving his mouth. “More beautiful every day.”
“You’re a lucky man, Wolfe,” Remy said. “Hard to believe such a talented writer fell in love with a washed up frog boy like you.”
“The SEALs can toss you on your backside before you can blink. Training for that NYPD badge was a cakewalk compared to what Jon, Zane, and I went through in BUD/S.”
“Your wife is a writer?” Claire interrupted.
“She writes romance books. Her name is Brenna Mason, Wolfe now.”
“Oh, man. I love her books, especially her latest one. The human trafficking storyline must have taken a ton of research.”
Eli sobered. “It’s true she did research. Most of it was a fictionalized account of her sister’s abduction by traffickers. My partner, Jon, is married to Brenna’s sister.”
“The story was real?”
“Unfortunately, most of it was. She changed the names and places involved to protect her sister and the other trafficking victims Fortress rescued. Brenna also changed the name of the trafficking ring itself.”
“It’s safer for Brenna and her sister if you don’t mention the book being based on a real case,” Lily said. “Dana is still traumatized from the events of those two weeks.”
“She is improving, though. Time and marrying Jon worked miracles for her,” Eli said.
“Don’t worry. I won’t talk about that,” Claire said. “I’m glad you dismantled the trafficking ring.”
Satisfaction glowed in Eli’s eyes. “Jon tore apart their computer records and found the location of the girls and women who had been sold to the highest bidders. He provided the information to Maddox who mounted rescue missions for those who were still alive and provided closure to families who lost their loved ones before the rescues.”
“Your wife honored them by sharing their story and bringing justice to those responsible.” Remy pushed the loaded serving cart to the door and positioned it in the hall. “I’m glad Dana is improving. She’s a fighter.”
“That’s what we keep telling her. I think my sweet sister-in-law is starting to believe it.” He turned his head toward Zane. “How else can I help?”
“Can you spare a few minutes?”
“I’ll make time.”
“Let’s talk about Joe Ackerman.”
Eli frowned as he sat in a nearby armchair. “Not one of my favorite people. What do you want to know?”
Zane studied his fellow SEAL’s expression. “You’re one of the easiest men I know to work with. Why couldn’t you work with Joe?”
“He doesn’t follow orders. Joe has skills, no question. Maddox assigned him to our team as Jon’s backup.”
“He’s a sniper?” Remy asked.
“According to Jon, he had excellent training from the Los Angeles Police Dep
artment and came highly recommended. No one bothered to tell Maddox about Joe’s control issues.”
“Is he as good as Jon?” Lily asked.
Zane snorted. “No one is as good as Jon Smith.” He frowned. “Except Alex Morgan.” Durango’s sniper was legendary in Delta.
“Jon couldn’t whip Ackerman into shape?” Remy dropped into a chair at the table.
“He gave it his best shot. My partner thought Ackerman would be a good addition to our unit. Two snipers would make us nearly unbeatable.”
“He was with your unit for several months. Did he request a transfer or did you or Jon ask Maddox to move him?”
Eli’s eyes glittered. “Let’s just say it was a mutual agreement that Ackerman moving on to another team was in his best interest.”
Zane thought about letting him slide, knew he couldn’t. Ackerman probably had the same behavior pattern on all the teams to which he’d been assigned. Would he have been angry enough over not leading his own team that he sold out Adam to the enemy? “Explain. Might be important in helping us locate Adam.”
“Not long before you arrived at Fortress, our unit and one other was assigned to rescue a young woman taken by human traffickers. Someone in the second unit sold all of us out.” Fury lit his gaze. “The traffickers knew we were coming and set a trap for us. When the fight heated up, Ackerman abandoned his sniper’s nest.”
Zane’s blood ran cold. That tidbit of information hadn’t been in the reports he read. Then again, he hadn’t had time to review all of them yet. The two thugs who shot at them had distracted him along with his determination to take care of Claire.
Remy scowled. “Why?”
“The woman we rescued stumbled and fell when the Fortress operative rushing her from the compound was attacked. Another trafficker grabbed her and was dragging her away.”
“Weren’t other operatives close at hand?” Lily demanded.
“Fighting with other traffickers. We wouldn’t have let them take her again. I was circling around to get in front of them and take out her captor. The point is, there were a lot more of them than there were of us. Team 2’s sniper was on the ground with the rest of us because he expected Ackerman to man his post.”
Lily groaned. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Claire asked. “I don’t understand the problem besides Joe abandoning his post.”
“Jon was the only sniper firing. It wouldn’t take long to pinpoint his position.”
“Took them five minutes.” Eli stared at his clenched fists a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was thick. “By the time I realized what Ackerman had done, it was too late.”
Claire’s hand trembled in Zane’s. “What happened?”
“They hit Jon with a dart, knocked him out, and carried him off. It took us days to find him, days they pumped drugs into him, some addictive, some not. They beat him with whips, chains, anything they could get their hands on.” His voice broke. “If we had been one more day locating him, I don’t think he would have survived. Jon took months to heal and detox. He wasn’t ready to go back on missions when we met Brenna and rescued Dana. By then, he was a goner over Dana. No way he would have stayed home and let someone else rescue his woman.” He turned toward Zane, his expression hard. “Bottom line is I told Ackerman he either transferred to another unit, or I would take him out myself for what he did.”
“I don’t blame you. I take it Ackerman wasn’t the one who sold out the Fortress operatives?”
Eli shook his head. “Nope. That distinction goes to Ron Caldwell.”
“Tell me he didn’t get by with that,” Claire said.
“No, ma’am. He paid for his betrayal.” Fierce satisfaction glowed in his eyes.
“You know anything about the rest of Adam’s teammates?” Remy asked. “T. J. Moore, Cam Hollis, and Ken Simmons.”
“We worked one operation with them a few months ago. An in-and-out deal, a transport protection gig. Ackerman was down with the flu or something so we didn’t have to deal with him. Can’t say it bothered Adam or the rest of his team that their sniper was out sick. I imagine that’s why Maddox asked me and Jon to help out.”
Lily frowned. “When is Maddox going to fire Ackerman?”
Eli shrugged. “Not my call to make. The only thing I have control over is working with him on another mission. The boss knows not to put us in the same vicinity. He’s on probation because of what happened to Jon. One misstep and Ackerman’s gone.”
“The sooner, the better,” Remy said. “From what I can tell, old Joe will soon run out of teams willing to take him on before long.”
“Adam wants him transferred to another team,” Zane said.
“How do you know?” Eli grinned. “Wait. Never mind. Why did I bother asking? You hacked into the records.”
“You hacked into the system?” Claire gaped at him. “You work there. Why would you hack into any file?”
“Maddox didn’t authorize me to look at mission reports unless it pertains to Adam’s disappearance.”
“But it’s possible this guy is responsible for my brother’s disappearance. Isn’t that reason enough?”
“No proof. I don’t have access to every piece of information in Fortress.”
A snort from Eli.
He glared at the other operative. All right, fine. So he tested his skills against the company’s security and classified records all the time. Zane knew Jon did the same. They had a vested interest in making sure the firewalls held.
“But you search the records anyway, don’t you?” Amusement danced in Claire’s eyes.
His phone signaled an incoming text, saving him from having to incriminate himself. He didn’t want Claire to think bad of him. Zane pulled out his phone and swiped the screen. He frowned. “It’s Jon. He says Maddox is livid and demanding we go to headquarters and bring in Claire.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
What was going on? Zane fired off a return text to Jon, asking for details. The reply didn’t alleviate his concern. Two words. Can’t. Monitored.
What did that mean? Maddox wasn’t in the habit of monitoring his own people in Fortress headquarters. He also knew Zane was working the protective detail with Remy and Lily. He stilled. Unless his boss didn’t think Zane was capable of protecting Claire.
He breathed away the hurt wanting to surface. No. Even if Maddox did think that, the boss would tell him to his face, not in a text through Jon. Something was wrong, but what?
“What is it?” Claire’s voice was tight. “Do you think he has word about Adam?”
“If he did, we would have heard about it without dragging you down to headquarters. I don’t understand why we have to bring you in. Once we have principals secured, we don’t expose them to unnecessary danger,” Remy said, frowning. “Z, this doesn’t make any sense. Are we sure Jon got the message right?”
“Something is up, all right. I asked for clarification. Jon couldn’t say anything more because he’s being monitored.”
“Monitored?” Eli scowled. “Maddox is spying on him? The boss has lost his mind.”
“It’s up to you, Zane,” Lily said. “Remy and I can find out what’s going on if you don’t want to take Claire in.” She smiled. “We could tell the boss we don’t know where you are, that you kicked us out to have one-on-one time with the principal.”
“The only way to find out what’s going on is to do as he asked.” He turned to Claire, realized with some surprise that her hand was still nestled in his and she appeared quite content with that. Truth be told, so was he. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Are you up to making another trip? We’ll bring you back here as soon as possible so you can work, then go to sleep. I know you’re exhausted.”
“Let’s just go.” She stood. “I want to know if Maddox has heard anything about my brother.”
Zane gently tugged her back down on the couch. “Remy needs to check the van before we leave. He’ll let us know when it’s safe to come down.”
She frowned. “Check
the van?”
“Someone may have found us despite our precautions. We don’t want to take chances with your safety.”
“I won’t be long,” Remy said.
“Want me to follow you to headquarters?” Eli asked.
“I’d appreciate it.” Zane rubbed the back of his neck, hoping to ease tight muscles. Wasted effort. “This doesn’t feel right, Eli.”
“Want me to text Jon, see what I can find out?”
Zane thought about it, shook his head. “Won’t help. He won’t be able to tell you anything either, not without putting himself in danger.” Or endangering his job.
“Anybody who thinks they can mess with Jon and survive is dead wrong. And if he doesn’t take care of them, I will. No one messes with him and gets by with it, not even Maddox.”
“What about you?” Lily asked.
“Me, either,” the SEAL admitted. “I tell Jon I can take him with one hand tied behind my back. Truth is, my partner would have to be dog sick before I could take him down. And even then, I’m not sure I could.”
Zane eyebrows winged upward. That was saying something. He’d seen Eli’s skills. The man was lethal. Even before he’d been injured, Zane wasn’t sure he could have bested Eli. To know Jon was more dangerous than Eli was daunting.
“Guess that explains why Dana is so confident when she’s with him,” Lily said.
“Jon would kill anyone who threatened his wife.”
Didn’t blame Jon. If Zane were blessed enough to have a wife, he would be as protective. His gaze locked with Claire’s. Questions filled her eyes, questions he couldn’t answer. Not yet, anyway.
Eli walked to the door. “I’ll call Brenna, tell her I’ll be home later than I thought.” With that, he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.
Within a couple minutes, Lily’s phone signaled an incoming text. She checked the screen. “Remy says we’re clear. He’ll pull up to the elevator in the garage and have the lift pad ready.”
Zane helped Claire to her feet. “Get your purse and we’ll go.”
She started toward the bedroom, stopped, and looked over her shoulder. “Will we have to move to a new location?”
