SEAL INVESTIGATIONS: A 5-Books SEAL Romance Series

by Lola Silverman

  Cassidy wanted to prove she could be helpful. Wedging herself between Romero and the window, she cranked her head around at an angle. “There’s a latch on the top of the bottom pane of glass.” She pointed to the middle of the window. “Right here.”

  “Step back,” he murmured.

  She felt like some sort of schoolgirl with a huge crush as she watched him take out what appeared to be a huge knife. He casually flipped it open and then slid it into the opening between the upper and lower panes of glass. There was a muted click, and the latch gave.

  Romero looked as if it was no big deal, so Cassidy tried to affect the same attitude. In reality she wanted to jump up and down and scream “yay!” at the top of her lungs. They were finally getting somewhere.

  He slid the window up and glanced inside. Then he glanced over his shoulder and gave her a nod. “It’s a storage room. I’m going in. Stay here and keep watch.”

  “But you don’t know what this guy looks like,” Cassidy protested. “I need to go with you.”

  Romero grunted something, but didn’t argue. He threw his leg over the windowsill and disappeared inside the room with one, sinuous motion. It was as if every muscle in his body were completely flexible. Behind him, Cassidy was now worried about face-planting on the other side of the window. That would certainly make him glad that he’d taken her with him.

  He stuck a hand out the window and waved her in. Cassidy swallowed back her nerves and squeezed through the narrow opening. She could not imagine how he’d managed to get his big body through there without even seeming to touch the edges. It was all she could do not to get stuck.

  When she’d finally pulled herself through to the other side, she saw that Romero was standing motionless beside the room’s only exit. He seemed to be listening.

  “There’s a keyhole,” she whispered. “I can look if you want.”

  “And get shot in the eye?” he muttered. “No thanks. I can hear everything that’s going on. And there’s not much. There’s one guy. Probably at the far end of the hallway.”

  “The mystery man?” Cassidy said eagerly.

  The ghost of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Sweetie, I can hear with my ears, but I don’t see very well with them. I don’t know who it is. You want me to stick my head out there and ask?”

  “Sorry.” Cassidy held up her hands, feeling all kinds of stupid.

  ROMERO FELT BAD. He had been trying to joke with her, not to make her feel ridiculous. But he could easily tell that he had hurt her feelings. Very gently, he chucked her under the chin and gave her a smile.

  A look of confusion crossed her face. He could well imagine that he was playing hot and cold so quickly that her head was spinning. Still, he needed to get some distance. In the end that was probably the best way to do it.

  “All right.” He pressed his back to the wall right beside the door. “Let’s do this.”

  “What? Just bust through the door?”

  “I thought we’d at least try to be civil and just walk through, but yes.” He winked at her. He tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter how good it felt when she smiled in return.

  He turned the knob and pulled the door open. It squeaked loudly. Carefully shifting his body, he looked around the corner until he could actually see the man who had likely been stationed in the hallway. The guy was now walking toward them, probably drawn by the squeaky noise of the open door.

  Romero caught Cassidy’s eye. He held up one finger and pointed to the hallway. Then he made a walking motion with his hand. She nodded. If nothing else, the woman was gifted with fierce intelligence. She would do exactly what needed to be done, efficiently, and with panache. He could certainly respect that.

  The footsteps came closer. He saw Cassidy tense. If he was lucky she would let him lead. It wouldn’t take much to clear this problem and move on. Closer. Finally he saw a boot clear the doorway. Cassidy stayed perfectly still while Romero reached out and grabbed the guy by his head. He got a chokehold and turned so that Cassidy could see his face.

  “That’s not him,” she whispered.

  Romero nudged his captive. “Who else is up here?”

  “Fuck off.” The guy’s voice was raspy and barely audible. Romero was putting immense pressure on his windpipe.

  “Suit yourself.” Romero shrugged, and it was lights out for the thug. He laid him out on the floor where he couldn’t be seen from the hallway.

  Cassidy poked the man’s shoulder. “Is he dead?”

  “No. Just out of the way.”

  “Oh. Good.”

  “Let’s go.” Romero took a quick glance, memorizing what he could see of the layout.

  Ducking through the doorway, he took a zigzag pattern through the maze of hallways and doors. It was a regular rabbit warren of rooms. Some had beds. Some even included a toilet or a sink. It looked as if someone was using the place like a cheap motel. They all appeared to be empty, but there were locks on all the doors.

  “Romero?” Cassidy was moving slowly behind him, gazing at everything around her in a way that suggested she was deeply processing what she saw.

  He lifted his brows. “What’s on your mind?”

  “Do you get the feeling that they’re holding people against their will up here?” Cassidy’s tone suggested she did not like that idea at all.

  He shrugged. “It could be a simple case of prostitution.”

  “Simple,” she mused. “Except these rooms aren’t really big enough or nice enough for that sort of thing. Even if you rent a room for sex, it’s going to at least have a double bed. Right?”

  “Usually,” he admitted.

  CASSIDY WAS GETTING a sick feeling in her stomach. She’d seen places like this before on television specials. It looked like a holding area for people waiting to be shipped like cattle. She swallowed back the bile that threatened to make her heave.

  “Cassidy?” Romero’s voice was low and soothing. “Don’t think about that right now. Just focus on the task. Find your mystery man. All right?”

  She nodded, swiping at a stray tear that snuck down her cheek. He was right. This was not the time to fall apart. She needed to be strong. Rachel needed her to be strong. And finally, at the end of the hall, she heard a familiar noise.

  “This way.” She was so eager, she didn’t realize that she had charged ahead of Romero.

  He followed hot on her trail. “Cassidy, wait,” he muttered. “Let me go first.”

  “Do you hear that?” she asked. “I hear an adding machine.”

  “Where?” He cocked is head to one side.

  “This way.” She turned right, and then left. And finally, at the corner of the building, they emerged into what appeared to be a little office of sorts.

  In the middle of the room was a desk. Sitting there, with his head down and his fingers flying over the keys of an old fashioned adding machine, was their mystery man.

  “Found you,” Cassidy whispered.

  Romero didn’t wait. He moved so quickly that it was as if he hadn’t moved at all. One second he was behind her, the next he was in the middle of the room with the man’s head and neck resting against his midsection. One squeeze and Romero could end the man’s life if he chose to do so.

  “Hello there,” Romero said with sickening pleasantness. “I have a few questions I need to ask you about a friend of mine.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the mystery man snarled. “And this is private property! Don’t you know not to trespass on private property? I’m going to call the police and have you carted off to jail!”

  “Go ahead and try,” Romero drawled. “But I think the police might be more interested in what’s happening to all the women that go missing in this town.” The man froze. Obviously Romero had struck a nerve, and he wasn’t backing down now. “Exactly. So why don’t you tell me what you know, and I’ll promise not to break your neck.”

  Chapter Six

  “My name is Adams,” the mystery
man said in a plaintive tone.

  Cassidy could hardly stand to listen to the man. The whine in his voice was so pronounced that he sounded as though he could burst into tears at any second. How on earth had this guy managed to convince Rachel to go with him?

  “And you are the bait?” Romero sounded as skeptical as Cassidy felt. “You see a potential target down in the club and you what—you reel her in?”

  “I’m not telling you anything else.” Adams actually crossed his arms over his chest as though he were about to pout. “Any second now one of the bouncers is going to come looking for me, and you’re going to be in real trouble.”

  Romero looked nonplussed. “You mean one of those guys I flattened downstairs? I’m thinking you shouldn’t expect help from that quarter, Romeo.”

  Adams’s throat moved as he swallowed. He looked distinctly nervous. Cassidy glanced around. She felt nervous herself being up here in this warren of what appeared to be holding cells. They were still in the office where they had managed to find Adams. There was nothing but a bare bulb overhead and a tiny desk with papers strewn across it. It looked like a haphazard operation at best, the type of place where you could pull up stakes and move in thirty minutes or less.

  “Tell me how it works.” Romero put a little more force behind his words.

  Adams was sitting in a chair. Romero had zip tied Adams’s ankles to the chair legs, and bound his hands behind his back. The guy wasn’t going anywhere, and yet he was still trying not to tell them what was going on. Obviously someone had him scared silent.

  “Who are you afraid of?” Cassidy asked. She ignored the warning glance from Romero that she was supposed to leave the talking to him. That wasn’t Cassidy’s style at all.

  “I’m not afraid of anyone!” Adams argued. “I’m just waiting for my backup to get here.”

  “Look,” Cassidy said impatiently. “They aren’t coming. All right? So why don’t you stop worrying about protecting whatever piece of crap person pays your bills and worry about your own ass? Because our next stop is the police station. Now that we’ve got a witness to my friend’s disappearance, the cops will want to talk to you.”

  “Cops?” Adams squeaked. “Oh, hell no!”

  “Yep,” she drawled. “Lots of cops. So why don’t you save us a trip downtown and just spill it?”

  “I don’t know anything, okay?” Adams finally said. “I just pick up chicks.”

  “How?” Cassidy gave him a distasteful onceover. “You’re a complete ass, and you’re not even that good looking.”

  “Hey!” Adams sounded affronted. “That’s one opinion, and a minority one I might add. I have no trouble picking up women.”

  Romero butted back into the conversation with a glare in Cassidy’s direction. “And then what happens after you pick them up?”

  “I bring them up here. You know, women are all about going someplace quiet to talk.”

  “So you bring them up here to a quiet room and then lock them in?” Cassidy couldn’t believe the balls on this guy. And he didn’t even seem that brave!

  “Oh, I don’t really do that either. I just excuse myself after we’re in a room.” Adams gave an awkward sort of shrug. “The next crew takes care of the details.”

  “Next crew?” Cassidy hated to even speculate.

  But Adams was nodding. “You know, the guys who do the packaging.”

  “I shudder to imagine what that means,” she moaned. “Who are these people? Where can I find them?”

  “At this point,” Adams said nastily. “They’re going to be finding you.”

  Romero ignored his threat. “Are you the only bait?”

  “Of course not. With more guys working, we get more hits. There are probably—I don’t know—five more guys.”

  “Six of you,” Cassidy muttered in horror. “There are six of you luring women to a fate you don’t even know because you’re too busy being an ass.”

  Romero passed her a significant look. “Well, I think you’re going to be quitting the business, Adams.”

  “Why would I do that?” His utter confusion spoke to his complete lack of sense.

  Romero snorted. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to rip your lungs out through your nose.”

  Adams’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “But you’re letting me go.”

  “Yes. And I’m going to be watching you.” Romero leaned close to Adams’s ear. “I’m going to see everything you do. You won’t know I’m there, but you’ll feel me. The hair will stand up on the back of your neck, and that will be me. And if you even think about picking up another woman to hand over to this other crew you talk about, I’m going to know.”

  The skin on the back of Cassidy’s neck started crawling as her nervous system reacted to the venom in Romero’s tone.

  But he wasn’t done quite yet. “You won’t see me coming, Adams,” Romero whispered. “Not until it’s too late.”

  Cassidy shivered, chilled to the bone by the SEAL’s insane promise of retribution. She might have asked if he was really serious, except it didn’t really matter. Adams had paled several shades. His handsome face looked drawn. As Cassidy watched, a wet spot appeared on the surface of his slacks. He had actually wet himself in fear of Romero.

  As if he knew exactly what he’d managed to accomplish, Romero’s lips stretched into a tight, almost diabolical smile. “I see you understand me perfectly, Adams. I’m going to let you go now because I know you’re not going to be a problem anymore.”

  Romero pulled out a huge knife. He snapped it open with one practiced motion. Adams’ eyes grew wide, and he whimpered. The man was actually trembling in his seat. Then Romero sliced through the zip ties and took a step away from the chair.

  Adams rose shakily to his feet and bolted from the room as though his pants were on fire. Romero only watched him go, still with that creepy smile on his face. Cassidy swallowed back a lump of fear and wondered if he was altogether sane and why she was so attracted to such a scary man.

  ROMERO COULD TELL that he had thoroughly unsettled Cassidy. He shouldn’t have cared. If anything, maybe it would remind the woman that he was in charge of the investigation. She was supposed to keep her mouth shut and stay behind him. Instead she kept putting herself right in the middle of everything.

  “Let’s go,” Romero said tersely. “Before the other crew really does show up.”

  “Why bother,” she muttered. “You can just intimidate the piss out of them too.”

  Romero had to bite back a laugh. That response wasn’t entirely appropriate to begin with, but given Cassidy’s current mood, she would be sure to take offense. Of course, he should probably be trying to offend her. That way he could get rid of this crazy attraction he felt brewing between them.

  “Romero?”

  “Yes?” He was still feeling rather distracted. The woman was entirely too attractive for her own good. Sassy, intelligent, witty, brave, and beautiful were really a knockout combination.

  “Romero!” Cassidy whispered harshly.

  He tried to get control of his thoughts. “What?”

  “Don’t you hear that?”

  That was about the time he realized that his internal radar was registering the sound of boots headed in their direction. Heavy boots, as a large man might be wearing. Great. He had been completely napping on the job. If Trapp could see him now, the man would laugh his ass off.

  Romero grabbed Cassidy’s hand and pulled her out the door and into the hallway. He held his breath, listening hard to pinpoint the direction the footsteps were coming from.

  “They’ve cut off our exit,” he muttered. “We’ll have to find a new one.”

  She exhaled in a rush. “A new one? From where?”

  “This way.”

  He turned and began striding toward the window at the end of the short hallway to the right of the office door. He could see the bars of a fire escape landing there. It took only a few moments to unlatch the window and push it up. Then he shoved his
booted foot through the open space.

  “Where does it go?” she asked in a nervous whisper.

  He snorted. “Does it matter? There are four pairs of boots headed in this direction. That suggests they know there is a breach of some kind.”

  “Stupid Adams probably ran screaming out of the building while shitting himself,” she grumbled. “Nice and subtle, Romero.”

  “You’re blaming me?” He reached back inside the building and grabbed her hand. He tugged her out onto the landing and then shut the window. “Because I fail to see how any of this is my fault. In fact, you’re the one who did most of the questioning. Right? So it’s your fault.”

  “Me?” She sounded outraged, which was good. Hopefully it would keep her from really focusing on the fact that he was leading her up because there was no down from this landing. “I’m not the one who made the guy pee his pants! That was all you, soldier boy.”

  “Was that supposed to be an insult?” he teased. “Because it was more of a compliment.”

  “Ugh! Military men are all the same.”

  “Oh no you didn’t!” Romero put his hand on his chest and ascended another flight of steps. They were now three flights of narrow metal stairs up from their original access point. Apparently this went to the roof, because that was where they managed to wind up.

  “Romero?” Cassidy finally looked around. “Why did we just go up to the roof?”

  He shrugged. “Because that landing we were on didn’t have a down ladder.”

  “So how do we get down?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. I think we’ll have to decide that once we get all the way onto the roof.”

  He threw his leg over the edge of the brick facade and pulled himself up onto the roof itself. Reaching down, he took her hand and helped her do the same. She was looking rather green.

  “Don’t look down,” he suggested.

  “Brilliant, professor,” she said sarcastically. “I never would have thought of that strategy.”

  “No need to be rude.” He kept her hand in his and started toward the door he could see at the central access point. It appeared to be an interior staircase that might lead to an elevator shaft, or the inside emergency stairs.