by Rebecca Deel
“Do you know him?” Del asked.
“By reputation only.”
“Good? Bad?”
“Ugly.”
“What’s that mean?” Ivy asked.
Josh weighed what he could divulge without divulging too much. Most of what he knew of Crazy Curt’s missions weren’t public knowledge. “He was released from Delta for going beyond his orders on missions.”
Alex snorted.
“Tell them, Major,” Rio said. “They can handle it.”
“If they want to live, they’ll have to,” Alex added. “We need their cooperation.”
He sifted through what he knew of Granger’s exploits and settled for the last mission. “Curt’s unit was assigned a retrieval mission. Should have been a simple grab and go. He and his team completed the mission, were heading to the extraction point. The target’s wife ran after them, pleading for her husband’s release. Curt volunteered to take care of her.” Josh scowled. “He murdered the wife and the village. His team thought he’d calm her down, maybe knock her unconscious. They learned different when he arrived at the extraction point covered in blood. Curt claimed the villagers were planning to give terrorists the unit’s location.”
“But it wasn’t true?” Stella asked.
“This village was in the middle of the jungle, no way to communicate with the outside world unless one of them had a satellite phone. No one did. The villagers couldn’t have gotten word to the terrorists until long after the Delta team was gone.”
“How did that butcher get hired on with the marshals?” Del asked.
“He was Delta, baby, the blackest of black ops. Curt also knew a lot of secrets. Most of them were national security issues, but others were more personal, the kind his superiors didn’t want leaked. He received an honorable discharge from the military. With his missions redacted, how could the marshal service know he was a loose cannon? The special forces community is tight-lipped about personnel and missions. On paper, he looks good and he was more than well trained for government service in protection.”
“He’s a nightmare,” Alex said. “We’re the cowboys of the spec ops community, but carrying the name of Delta is an honor. Curt Granger smeared us with the mud he’s wallowed in. We don’t sell out to the enemy.”
“We don’t betray our country or our morals to make a buck. Highest bidder earns Granger’s services. You can’t appeal to his moral compass. He never had one.” Josh hated the pallor of Del’s face. Was her fear strictly about Curt or was she now afraid of him? He swallowed hard, prayed she didn’t paint him with the same brush as Granger. He and his unit were nothing like the other Delta operator.
“How long was he with the marshals?” Ethan asked.
“Three years,” Deke said. “Granger was fired after several incidents where his itchy trigger finger injured or killed protected witnesses or their cronies. A couple times he injured his own partner or an innocent bystander. The man was poison to the marshals. We were glad to see the last of him.”
“Did you work with him?” Stella asked.
“Guy has an ego the size of Texas.”
That might come in handy. He’d never believe he could be taken down. That arrogance could be used against him.
“What now?” Del asked.
“Set a trap,” Ethan said. “Use what he knows against him. Draw him in when we’re ready. He’s coming anyway. We’ll make the confrontation happen on our turf, our terms.”
“Won’t he know the tricks from both Delta and the marshals?”
“He never worked with my unit.” Josh cupped her beautiful face between his palms. “We worked a lot of ops with Navy SEALs and Marine Recon. Plus we have Ethan, Rod, Deke, and Stella to contribute their knowledge.”
“Will you have to kill him?” she whispered.
“Not if we can avoid it. We need to know who’s pointing him at you and Ivy. That’s where the next threat lies.”
“But if he’s dead, wouldn’t this stop? Granger’s after us because we saw him, right?” Ivy asked.
“That’s why we need to bag Curt,” Alex said. “We might be able to squeeze information out of him.”
“Might?”
He shrugged. “The military spent a fortune training us to resist interrogation, even under extreme conditions.”
Josh’s lips curled. A gentle euphemism for torture. Not wanting to explain that to Del, he slid one hand to cradle the back of Del’s head, eased her against his chest. Her trembling renewed his fury at Curt. Women shouldn’t be afraid of someone who had once sworn to protect American lives. “If we can’t uncover the person who hired Curt, that person will keep hiring others. Now that we know the shooter’s identity, we’ll make some discreet inquiries. Curt’s client had to talk to someone to come up with his name.”
“How do you know?”
“He can’t put up a killer-for-hire website.” Nate shrugged. “His name circulates by word-of-mouth. Some are desperate enough to contact him and pay his fee.”
A light tap on the door had Quinn shifting to the side. At a nod from Josh, he opened the door, peered down at Dr. Anderson. The doctor smiled, held up a white bag, a bandage to wrap around Ivy’s ankle and a pair of crutches. Quinn motioned the doctor into the room, took up position against the door.
Alex took the crutches. When Rio held out a hand for the bandage, Anderson’s eyebrows raised. “The medic, I presume?”
“Yes, sir. Name’s Rio.”
“Very good work with Del’s arm, young man.” The doctor turned to Del. “Here are your antibiotics, my dear. I also included pain pills should you need them. If not, any kind of anti-inflammatory tablet will suffice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Anything else I can do for you, Chief Blackhawk?”
“Not unless you have a cure for morning sickness that lasts all day. Right now, the scent of any cooking food sets off Serena’s nausea.” A smile. “Makes it tough to keep her cooking schedule. So far, her customers have been very understanding.”
“Hmm. If Serena isn’t better by next week, call my office. I’ll call in a prescription that should help. I’d like to see if the problem resolves itself first.”
“Appreciate it, Doc.”
“A nurse will be in soon with discharge papers.” With a wave, Dr. Anderson left.
“So what now, Ethan?” Rod folded his arms across his chest.
“Need a place we control access to. The marshal safe houses are out since Granger knows them. That also means places connected to Deke and Stella’s personal holdings as well as those of other marshals. Any suggestions?”
The detective’s brows furrowed. “How about a cabin that belonged to my first wife’s grandfather? Is that a distant enough holding to be safe?”
“Where is it?”
“Middle Tennessee, just outside of Murfreesboro.”
Alex’s head jerked up. “Isn’t that near Nashville?”
“Less than an hour. Why?”
“Fortress Security is based in Nashville,” Josh said. “They’re recruiting us, hard.”
Ethan scowled at that. “They’ll be available for backup?”
“If we need it.”
“They better be more than good.”
“They recruit former special ops,” Alex said. “Lot of SEALs, Recon, Rangers, a couple PJs. Their CEO, Brent Maddox, brought on a former Secret Service agent a few months back. We worked with a couple SEALs now employed by Fortress.”
“Eli Wolfe and Jon Smith,” Rio added. He tossed the bandage up in the air, caught it, and moved toward Ivy. The medic motioned for Ivy to extend her leg so he could wrap the ankle. Alex supported her leg for Rio.
Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. “You serious?”
“You know them?”
“Not personally. I still have connections in the spec ops community. Wolfe and Smith made an impression on many people.”
“They’re good?” Del asked, her gaze shifting between Josh and Ethan.
“Th
ey make Curt Granger look like an amateur,” Nate said, a grin spreading across his face. “These frogmen have honor in spades.”
“They’d like nothing better than to bag a dirty special forces operative working in their backyard,” Quinn put in from his spot against the door. “They’d fit in seamlessly since we already worked with them in the field.”
“We trust them,” Josh said. “Wolfe and Smith would give us an edge. An added benefit is Granger doesn’t know about them.”
“But there are five of you, plus two marshals, and Ethan and Rod, all against one man.”
“One very dangerous man.” Ethan leaned back against the wall, watching Rio work with the bandage. “All special forces soldiers can do a lot of damage. They might go down, but they’ll make you wish you hadn’t crossed them before they do.”
“But you’re special forces, too,” Ivy said. “Aren’t you as dangerous as he is?”
“Maybe. But I can’t go with you.”
“Why not?”
“Serena needs him,” Rod said. “Second, somebody has to ride herd on Jordan. And though I’m more than happy to antagonize the fed, our police force isn’t large enough to cover Ethan and Josh being gone.”
“We also don’t want to alert Granger that we’re on to him.” Alex patted Ivy’s knee. “Shouldn’t raise suspicion for Josh to ask for personal leave to protect his girlfriend. I’ve already flashed the new boyfriend card with you. Granger won’t question me signing up for protection detail.”
“What about the rest of your team?” Del asked. “Won’t it be strange if they just disappear?”
“No one knows Nate, Rio, and Quinn are in town except the doctor and the orderly.” Josh turned to Ethan. “I assume you’ll take care of them?”
“Let me tackle Harry.” Rod grinned. “Made his acquaintance the last time I was in the hospital. He’s a good guy. Kept an eye on Meg for me while I was knocked out.”
“I’ll touch base with Doc before I head out. Have a cabin key, Rod?”
The detective dug in his pants pocket, dragged out a key ring. He flipped through and pulled off a couple keys, handed them to Josh. After rattling off the address which Josh typed into his phone, Rod excused himself to track the orderly.
Rio stood, surveyed his handiwork. “You’re good to go, Ivy. Stay off your foot the next few days. We’ll ice it frequently, see if we can bring down the swelling faster.”
“We should split up,” Deke said. “Let me take Ivy with Stella. I swear I’ll protect her with my life.”
Ivy blanched and shrank against the back of the wheelchair.
“Over your dead body.” Alex’s expression darkened. “Got a short memory, Marshal?”
“Ivy’s hurt. What if Granger comes after her? The best defense for her is to run and she can’t.”
“No.” Josh watched the male marshal carefully for any sign of deception. His instincts told him the marshal was honest in his expressed concern. But what if he was wrong? “I already laid out the ground rules, Deke. You and your partner will not be alone with Del or Ivy until you’re cleared by my team.” Even then, he doubted his partner would leave Ivy in Deke and Stella’s care. “We can’t afford to split our resources. Egos aside, as good as you might be, you aren’t one of us.”
“Wait a minute.”
“No.” Stella placed a restraining hand on her partner’s arm. “He’s right. Burns and Stone didn’t stand a chance against Granger, and Burns had years more experience than we have. I want this guy as much as you do, but I don’t care who captures him. All I care about is keeping Del and Ivy safe.”
“Burns is my friend, Stella. I want a piece of this guy.”
“Not at the expense of an innocent life,” his partner insisted. “Besides, you heard President Martin. It’s Josh’s op. We’re backup.”
Deke held his hands up in front of him. “Okay. When do we leave?”
Another knock on the door.
“Let me take care of this,” Ethan said. “The fewer people who see your team’s ugly mugs the better. It’s probably the discharge papers.” He slipped into the hall.
Josh turned to the marshals. “I hope you have bags with you because we’re leaving as soon as Del and Ivy are released. I assume you have wheels?”
Deke snorted. “Fed issue.”
“Good. Should make a splash when you leave town. You’re going to do some acting to help with our cover story. Spread the story around town that you’ve been relieved of duty because of the screwup at the safe house. Make a production of being ticked off about the injustice of it.”
“That should work,” Deke said. “I’ll make a couple calls, spread the word we’ve been kicked to the curb. The director will go along with the charade if it nets us Granger.”
“Agreed.” Josh pulled out his phone and, after exchanging numbers with Deke, sent the marshal the cabin’s address. “Attract attention around town. When you finally leave here, take the long way around.”
“Check for tracking devices on your vehicle,” Alex added. “Wouldn’t put it past Granger to attach one to your fedmobile.”
“Give us a four-hour head start,” Josh said. “We need to make a couple stops for equipment.”
Ethan eased back into the room, papers in hand. “You’re free to leave.”
“Great. Let’s get out of here,” Ivy said. “Is there a safe place to shower and change clothes?” She indicated her dirt-streaked attire. “I’m tired of wearing forest and cave dirt.” She shuddered. “Who knows what kind of stuff is embedded in this dirt?”
“We’ll stop by Mom and Dad’s place as soon as we leave the hospital.” Josh eyed the rest of his team. “Here’s what I want you to do.” For the next couple minutes, he gave orders in rapid-fire fashion, much as he did with them while they were in the military. “Ethan, can you bring their SUV around to the back?”
He held out his hand. “Keys.” Ethan snagged the key fob in mid-air from Quinn, paused with his hand on the doorknob. “Watch your back, Josh. I don’t want to make a death notification with Liz and Aaron.” He glanced around at the others remaining in the room. “Same goes for the rest of you. We’ve already lost three people. Don’t give Granger more blood to brag over.”
Josh gave his brother-in-law a salute, waited until he left before addressing his team. “Nate, Rio, Quinn, I assume you’re fully loaded. Need extra supplies?”
Nate grinned. “More C-4 is always better than less. Blasting caps, too.”
Quinn rolled his eyes. “The two bricks you have isn’t enough?”
“You never know.”
Del closed Ivy’s bedroom door behind her and, with backpack in hand, crossed to the stairs. On the first floor of the Cahill home, she dropped her pack on the couch and followed the soft murmur of voices into the kitchen. Alex sat on a barstool while Josh hugged his mother.
“It’s safer if you don’t know the details, Mom.”
“This situation is that dangerous?”
“When will Dad return?”
“He’s been delayed. Probably Saturday afternoon.”
Josh sighed. “I’ll call him.” He cupped her face. “In the meantime, stay with Madison so I won’t worry about your safety.”
“Aren’t you worried about your sisters?”
“Why should I be? Their husbands eat nails for breakfast.”
Liz Cahill finally nodded. She turned, saw Del. “Looks like I’m going on vacation.” She squeezed Del’s hand on her way upstairs.
Josh held out his hand to Del, drew her into his embrace. “Feel better?”
“Clean clothes, clean hair. What’s not to like?” A chuckle rumbled under her ear. “Your mother’s traveling?”
“Dad will take her away for a few days.”
“What if Granger remains loose?”
“Liz will be away from Otter Creek long enough to bait Granger’s trap,” Alex said.
“Bait?” Del scowled.
“Beautiful bait.” He raised an eyebrow
. “You signed on for that.”
“I feel like a Happy Meal at a kid’s party. On display and on the verge of being devoured by the biggest kid in the room.”
“Who doesn’t love Happy Meals?” Alex tilted his head toward the stairs. “Ivy ready?”
“Should be.”
Alex stood, strode from the room.
“Sure you want to do this, sweetheart?” Josh threaded his fingers through her damp hair. “Say the word and I’ll hide you and Ivy while we run the Ghost to ground.”
“Ghost?”
“He moves through strike zones like a ghost.”
Del shivered. She hated paranormal movies. Hopefully, she and Ivy wouldn’t be too-stupid-to-live heroines.
He kissed her, then said, “Got a few minutes before we leave. Ready for my next name guess?”
“Go for it.”
“Della.”
A soft laugh. “As in Della Street? Very nice. Wrong, but classy.”
He sighed though his eyes twinkled. “Be gentle with me, baby.”
“Would you ever consider returning to black ops work?”
Josh seemed to turn to stone under her hands. Del tilted her head back. “Breathe,” she murmured. “Sore subject?”
He released her, paced to a barstool and sat, regret and sadness in his eyes. “The truth or a pretty lie?”
Guess that answered her question. “Always honesty, Josh. You’ve been telling me to trust you. The combat boot’s on the other foot. Time for you to trust me.”
His gaze locked with hers. “Fortress Security is recruiting me and my team as a unit.”
“What do you want?”
“I like my job, Del.”
She heard the unspoken in his voice. “But?”
He sighed. “It’s not enough though I don’t want to work for Fortress full-time.”
“Can you take some missions?” As soon as the words left her mouth, understanding dawned. For her to consider a relationship with a man who may be gone for weeks, her feelings ran deeper than she’d acknowledged on a conscious level. Was she in love with this wounded warrior?
