“I-I was in…” she hurried and grabbed her glasses from the floor and placed them back on her face, “in the coffee shop yesterday morning when you ordered. I know what everyone wants. I’ll be back.” She turned and started for the door.
“Wait, Claire,” Jamison said.
The woman swiveled on her squeaky shoes looking like a swift wind could knock her over. “Yes?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He held up the papers that needed copied.
“Oh, yes. Mercy me. Sorry. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached.” She took the papers from him and disappeared out the door.
“Oh, wow. She’s got it bad,” Abel said.
“Why don’t you put the poor woman out of her misery and ask her on a date?” Riddle’s question was aimed at Nix.
“I don’t think that’s the answer, man. She just needs some getting used to me,” Nix added.
“Certainly can’t fire her. She’s the only one who knows the ins and outs of this operation,” Jamison said. “Ain’t like Carson would anyway. She’s been around since this team was formed.”
Sitting back in his chair, Nix adjusted the screen of his laptop and looked over the top at a few men who were busily chatting about something else now. He dragged himself away from the conversation because he had better interests. He knew very little about the pretty redhead, Melissia, outside of the fact that she liked dancing after kicking back a shot of tequila. He grinned at the vision of her on the dance floor. Her long, damp hair whipping about her flushed cheeks, the hem of her short skirt lashing about her firm thighs and the lavish scent of her that lingered in his nostrils and on his skin. He’d taken lots of showers, but there were just some aromas and tastes a man couldn’t forget—not that he wanted to. She’d been as tasty as a ripe peach dripping with sweet juices.
His body seized with an emotion he couldn’t describe with words. He shifted, attempting to ease the tension in his groin, but ended up making the situation worse. Up until now, he’d been able to resist the temptation of finding her at his fingertips, but after the erotic dream he’d had last night, he’d been a basket case. He could easily run a background check, but why bother when he could find what he needed online. Pulling up a new tab, he typed in her name, hoping she’d given him her real one, and a picture of her came up next to the headline, “Reality star breaks up with minor league phenomenon Brad Santiago.” The next story read, “Secret photos of sexy redhead’s beach vacation.” And another, “Melissia Easton has a million followers on Facebook”.
Nix swallowed the baseball sized ache in his throat as the words “Reality star” rolled through his brain. What the hell? Although they hadn’t done a lot of talking, not once had she mentioned that she was a “reality star”. He certainly wouldn’t have recognized her one way or the other because the last time he watched TV had been a DVR of a basketball game that was months ago. Working with Hawks, helping his dad on the family ranch, and moving to a new place recently had left little extra time for him.
Scrolling down, and just from the captions, he realized the woman who’d tempted him with her pale blue eyes and heart-warming smile had been in a relationship with the next up-and-coming baseball great, Santiago. From Nix’s standpoint, the thirty-something athlete was too cocky and had a weak wrist.
Pushing a hand a little too roughly through his hair, Nix shook his head, wanting to resist clicking on a picture of her, but he moved and “accidently” hit a button. On his screen, staring back at him, was the beauty herself from a photo dated five years ago. Her hair was at least six inches shorter then and she wore a little more make up, but all in all, the stars in her eyes and the scattering of freckles remained. Clicking the mouse, up came another picture, this time she was on the beach in a teeny-tiny bikini, dipping a toe in at the ocean’s edge.
The temperature rose.
The next frame she was on a fancy yacht with a man, “a friend” from what the caption read. Her top was off and her beautiful breasts were exposed. She was completely unaware that she was being photographed—or was she? The thought of her being violated by some slimy photographer made Nix sick. He clicked off the picture and onto another. She was wearing a white Stetson, thin tank top and cut off jean shorts that rode up high on her hips. He had a thing for cowgirls. He’d been so engulfed, both in her beauty and the shadows of her nipples under the cotton that he hadn’t heard the footsteps behind him.
“Hot.”
His attention was dragged from the screen in a rude awakening and Nix clicked off, looking up at Crow Reese, one of his closest friend on the team. “What did you say?”
“The clues are hot on this case of the predator who had all the videos of the young girls. What did you think I said?” Crow was the largest of the bunch by height and weight. He had eyes that were so dark they were almost as black as his hair, hinting at his Native American roots. Nix was learning quickly that the man’s large frame didn’t mean he couldn’t move as fast as lightning, which he attributed to years of training as a boxer. Right after Nix joined, they’d been sent to bring in a member of the Irish mob who was wanted for tossing a bomb into a café that had exploded and when the suspect took off running, Crow chased him down, catching the younger, athletic man like it was easy work.
Nix shrugged. “Exactly what I thought you said.” His phone chimed. He looked down at the number on the screen, not recognizing the out of state area code.
“You going to answer that, man?” Crow asked, leaning over a few inches to try and catch a peek at the phone.
“Nah.” He clicked a button, which sent the call straight to voicemail.
Jamison stood and joined Nix and Crow. “I just found a rat and I’m about to catch it.” Jamison was quiet and reserved, and when he spoke, a person listened and knew the man had thought over his words carefully. He had not one ounce of fat on his body although he didn’t work out every day to maintain his toned physique, but instead spent a lot of time time with his daughter during his free time. Although Nix hadn’t known the entire team before he signed on, he trusted them to watch his back and he certainly hoped they trusted him as well. A man was only as good as his team.
“A rat as in our latest suspect who’s neck-deep in drug trafficking?” Crow asked.
“The very one. I’m heading out. You coming along?” The two had been working on a case that involved dealing a few counties over and several kids got ahold of his mix and died. Crow had often said that Jamison became crazed over the cases that involved kids because he worried about his own daughter..
“Yeah, I’m coming.” Crow looked at Nix. “Are we still on for tonight at Lori’s?” Lori’s was a local honky tonk where the gang got together to relieve some tension and stress. That’s where he’d met Melissia. There was always the chance he could accidentally-intentionally run into her again, but from what he’d read, she lived in Boston. That stunk. She was probably back home or on some rich man’s yacht.
“I plan on it,” Nix answered, hearing another chime on his phone that alerted him to a voice message.
Once the two men left, Nix clicked accept and pushed speaker.
“Hi, Nix. I don’t know if you remember me. It’s Melissia Easton. We…uhh…well, we spent the night together—”.
He slammed the speaker on the phone so fast that it popped up and landed on the floor at strappy sandals. He followed thin legs up to a frowning Claire who held a cup out.
Recovering, he plastered a smile on his face. “Is that mine?”
“Yes.”
At the same time that he reached out to take the coffee, she was handing it to him and their hands collided, knocking the cup out of her hand and spilling the hot liquid onto his lap. He jumped up, let out a few choice curse words and hoped there was no permanent damage to sensitive body parts.
“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh,” Claire repeated like a broken record.
Pushing past the pain on his skin, he patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. Really. It�
��s okay.” He picked up the cup and shook it. “See, the other half that didn’t spill on me is in here. Thank you.” He took a sip to prove his point, but burnt his tongue. “Mother fu—” Seeing her wide-eyed glare, he bit off his expletive and put the cup down.
“I better get back to work.” She raced for the outer office.
Oh shit!
He looked down at his lap and sighed. It was too dark to look like he’d pissed his pants and he guessed that was a silver lining. At least it didn’t get his phone…but then he saw the device…
Oh shit!
He grabbed his cell and gritted his teeth as he watched coffee drip off the corner. He grabbed the first thing he came to which happened to be a T-shirt he was given from a charity and dried his phone.
Across the room he caught Riddle’s smile. “So, I guess the chances of you asking her out are even slimmer now?”
Nix tossed his wet T-shirt at Riddle’s head who expertly dodged it.
Making sure the speaker was turned off, he hit the button to start Melissia’s message from the beginning…
“You programmed your number into my phone while we were at the bar. I’m back in town and I thought maybe we could sit down over a cup of coffee. I have a…,” there was a slight hesitation, “problem of sorts to handle, but if you’re interested call me back.”
Nix’s heart slammed against his ribcage. It was her, the woman who’d been in his every dream, and almost every thought, since they’d parted ways. He started to hit ‘call back’, but he stopped. Hell, maybe he needed to think this over a little better. No impulsive decision ever came without repercussions. They’d had a good time—no, an incredible time—but if they got together, there was a good chance they’d have sex again and she’d leave. She lived in Boston, and according to the internet, she was some reality star who liked dating playboys. Nix lived in the mountains of Wyoming and was married to his career, barely having time to visit his family every Sunday for dinner let alone spend quality time with a woman. How could he invest any more time with someone who lived miles away?
So, he sat his phone down just as the speaker on his desk buzzed. Nix hit a button and Gage Carson’s voice came over the speaker. “Cade? Can you come into my office?”
“Right away, sir,” Nix responded. It wasn’t every day a man got to say that he worked for his hero, and Carson was the bravest that had come along. Awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the most men and women in his career in uniform, Carson was now determined to fight crime on his own soil, and why the Hawks were relied upon. He was a force to be reckoned with, a leader and fair man. Nix hadn’t expected to meet with him today, but he was interested in what his boss had in store. Maybe a new case to tackle? Or congratulations on a job well done today?
Pushing back his chair, he got up and followed the narrow hallway to Carson’s office and knocked. “Come in,” he called from inside.
Opening the door, Nix found his boss seated behind the large, cherry wood desk. He was gray-haired with wrinkles surrounding his eyes and mouth, but he was virile and had large hands that were now pressed flat on the top of the desk. “Cade!” His booming voice gave a glimpse into the man’s authority. “How are things coming along? You know you’re considered family here, son.”
Nix swallowed. Family. He liked that word. Having a large, close family he liked the thought that the men he worked with were more like brothers than co-workers. He’d learned both while in the military and years of working in law enforcement that it was important to give all trust to those around him who had a part in watching his back and possibly would save his life in the future. This was a big reason why he’d accepted the position with Hawks. Upon meeting the team, he’d felt an instant brotherhood among them. And it helped that Gage Carson, a hero among men, had handpicked Nix to come onto the team. That certainly did inflate his ego. “Things are going great, sir.”
“My men have great things to say about you. So far, so good,” Carson sat back in his chair, clasping his long, wide fingers.
Nix shrugged. “It’s easy to do a great job when working with an elite team, sir,” he admitted.
“Have a seat. And cut the sir. Remember, we’re family.” He smiled. “Did you know that your father and I were in the Navy together? Still friends after all these years.”
Nix took a seat in the wide cushioned chair. “He did tell me, si—I mean, Carson. He’s told me stories of days back when you were both on the ship.”
“You can’t believe everything he says.” His eyes twinkled.
“It’s only been good.”
“Those were the days. I learned a lot of respect for your father and it means a lot to me that you’re here, on my team. This is dangerous work and we need good, competent men.”
“I’m grateful to be here,” Nix felt a wash of confidence. He’d always wanted to land a position where he could make a change. He’d dreamt about it.
“The assignment I have for you next is one of…discreet importance.” Carson’s jaw tightened slightly. “I need a man I can trust completely. One I know will get the job done with utmost care and concern.”
“Yes, sir. I’m the man.” Nix sat up straight.
Carson unclasped his hands and grasped the edge of the desk. “I have confidence that you most certainly are. Do you think you can handle an assignment that’s not your mainstream, boring case?”
“I can think outside the box,” Nix assured him. “Although I don’t think any of the cases here could be considered boring.”
The man nodded. “Good, then you’re exactly the man to protect my daughter.”
Nix absorbed his boss’s words and blinked. “Excuse me, sir?” He must have heard wrong.
Carson’s direct gaze held Nix’s. “My daughter, Melly, she’s in a bit of a predicament. You see, she’s quite stubborn and when it comes to issues of a father and daughter nature, she tells me weekly that I need to stay out of her business. Do you have kids, Cade?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so. Once you do, you’ll understand why a parent can’t just step aside when their child, their only child, is in danger.”
“Danger?” He certainly hoped there was more to this assignment than a girl who needed a bodyguard. Nix didn’t like to think he’d left his job as lead detective to work as Carson’s personal go-to.
“Melly was in the public eye for several years, and anyone in the spotlight can find themselves the target of the nutjobs of the world. Friends who aren’t really friends. Getting into trouble. You name it. Even a sour relationship or two.”
“We all have those, don’t we?”
“I guess we do. Although Melly tells me to not worry and that she has things covered, I beg to differ. She’s not shown me that she’s focused on a path. Melly is all that I have. All the horror stories that I’ve investigated, and you know what I’m talking about, have made me somewhat paranoid...okay, a lot, but like any father I want my daughter to find her path, but she hates for me to lecture.”
“How old is your daughter?”
“Thirty.”
“Oh.” Nix slumped his shoulders.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m being the nosey parent. I have my reasons for concern. For example, recently she received letters from some lunatic who had been stalking her.”
Nix leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, wrapping his brain around what was being asked of him. “Are you asking me to find the person behind the letters?” He stifled a grin. This was a win-win situation. He’d solve the case, probably within twenty-four hours as well as getting into the good graces of Carson. Piece of cake.
“No. He was caught.” Carson tapped his fingers on the desk. “What I want is for you to watch my daughter. Keep track of what she’s doing. Who she’s seeing. If there’s anything I need to concern myself with.”
Slumping his shoulders, Nix sighed. “Uh, sir, it sounds like you’re asking me to spy on your daughter. Am I understanding—”
�
��Yes.”
“But, sir…I’m not a PI.”
“And I’m not asking for a private investigator’s services.”
Nix cleared his throat. “Am I missing something?” He swiped a hand down his cheek.
“As I said, Melly is stubborn and refuses to tell me anything. She’s always ignored any trouble. Just like her last boyfriend. I saw right through him, but she had blinders on. He wasn’t any more ready for a relationship than she was at the time. I’m still not convinced that she won’t allow the man back into her life. She’d do it just to spite me.”
“Why?”
“Follow along. To teach me a lesson. This is where you come in.”
“Yes, but like you said, your daughter doesn’t wish to have you involved in her personal life. If she doesn’t want you involved, I’m pretty sure she’ll tell me to fu—” He cleared his throat. “To back off.”
“I have that covered, son. The secret to convincing a stubborn woman of something is to use leverage.”
“I just—”
“I know you might feel this is below your abilities, but I assure you I wouldn’t ask just anyone to help when it comes to my precious gift. My daughter. In fact, you might be the only one for the job.”
“Well, I was expecting something a bit more…well, more geared toward criminals,” Nix admitted.
“No worries, son. It’s not always criminals who need a hero.”
Nix opened his mouth but completely lost his train of thought. A part of him could see this was a gift in it of itself. Knowing what he did know about Carson, he didn’t trust a lot of people. He had other men on the team he could have gone to for help, but he asked Nix. Yet, as indulgent as this was, the downfall was the chance of letting Carson down. Way down. From Nix’s experience, which could fit inside a thimble, mostly from his sister who was about the same age as Carson’s daughter, a woman didn’t like to be made to feel as if they were a damsel in distress. Kiersten was also stubborn and independent, and although Nix and his brothers still watched over her, they’d learned to be subtler with their efforts. “I hear you, sir, but why would your daughter welcome me to “watch” her?”
SEAL by Fate (Ghost Hawk Ops Book 1) Page 22
