“I want you to come face me and apologise for putting me in jail before I put a bullet in your thick skull.”
Steven was in the middle of getting Michael to trace the call coming into her phone, but it wasn't necessary. Stan gave his location when she asked where the met was going to take place.
“Be at Northern Sunrise by nightfall.”
She was okay with that; they'd be in a place she knew that was a long way away from Claire and her family.
“I'm waiting, Agent Bitch!”
Rebekah grinned and thought, Bring it on!
Ten
“You have to let me go in alone.”
AFP Agent Michael Blake wasn't surprised by the request Rebekah Westmore made the minute they arrived at Northern Sunrise. He knew the history she shared with Stan Edwards and he knew she had a thirst to end this thing on her terms.
And he'd been willing to let her.
Right up until the moment Edwards had taken a civilian family hostage.
“I can't do that, Westmore, and you know that.” He told her. “This thing has escalated, and if we're not careful, civilians could die.”
“Those civilians are my family.” She shot back. “Edwards could kill them because of me.”
“Agent ...”
Rebekah cut him off. “Please, Michael. I need to do this.”
Looking at her, he could see this was no longer about Edwards.
She was concerned for her family.
Against his better judgement, he said, “Alright. You can have thirty minutes to try and end this without anyone dying. Then I call in the TRT.”
“Understood.” Rebekah said.
“And Leigh goes in with you.”
“I don't ...”
“Either you have Officer Leigh as your back-up, or you don't go in at all.” He told her, standing firm.
Rebekah relented and he ordered one of his men to give Steven a gun.
Looking at his watch, Michael said, “Thirty minutes, Westmore.”
With Steven right behind her, Rebekah crossed the threshold of his house, her gun drawn and ready to be used. She hated that Edwards had managed to slip past her and get the upper hand by taking her sister and her sisters family hostage, but she wouldn't let that dictate how today was going to end.
She had an entire unit of highly trained federal agents ready to act on her say so.
She had a Tactical Response Team ready to be deployed if she gave Michael the word.
She had a highly trained Naval officer at her back, ready to help her at a moments notice.
Edwards had nothing.
Movement near the entrance of the living area got her attention and Rebekah turned, her weapon up and aimed as her focus honed in on Edwards … and his human shield.
Claire stood in front of him, one of Edwards arms around her throat while his other hand held a SIG Sauer to her swollen belly.
Rebekah felt her heart drop to her knees.
She couldn't risk saving Claire at the expense of her unborn baby.
“Welcome back, Agent Bitch.” Edwards said.
Rebekah glared at him and growled, “Let her go, Edwards.”
“Why?” He asked. “She's such a good shield.”
“She's not the one you want. I am.”
“True. But, if it's all the same to you, I'll keep her here with me for a while longer.”
“Why are you doing this now, Edwards?” Rebekah asked. “I put you away years ago.”
“I had to plan, first. I couldn't just rush into anything like an AFP agent after the wrong fucking guy!”
“Wrong guy? You confessed, Edwards!”
“I was coerced into signing that confession!”
“Oh, for the love of God!” Rebekah shook her head. “How could we have coerced you when you swaggered into our HQ and demanded to speak to the agent in charge of the murder investigation? How could we have coerced you when you demanded to have an audience before you bragged about what you had done to each of your victims?”
Edwards thought about it for a few minutes before saying, “I could have been lying. I could have done all that just to get some attention.”
“You weren't lying, Edwards.”
“And how the fuck do you know I wasn't?”
“Because I can spot a liar in a crowd of thousands.” She told him. “And your confession was all true.”
“Alright, Agent Bitch. You've got me there.” He tightened his hold on the sisters throat, grinning when she whimpered in pain, and said, “But I'm here for some revenge against you, and I'm going to get it.”
Rebekah looked at her sister and saw the pure fear on her face.
She was into her third month with their third baby.
Rebekah didn't want to see her get hurt over something that didn't involve her. If she wasn't careful, she knew that they could all end up dead with Edwards walking right out the front door.
She couldn't let that happen.
Steven stood just to the right of Rebekah, his weapon trained on the criminals head as he listened to her exchange words with Edwards.
The bastard had Claire as his human shield, a gun to her very large stomach, and he knew that Rebekah would be trying to think of a way to get her sister out of danger and take Edwards down at the same time.
Steven understood that this was Rebekah's fight.
He just didn't like standing around as back-up.
But, at the same time, he respected and cared for her enough to let her do this alone. He'd step in if it looked like Edwards was going to get the upper hand.
Stan kept a tight hold on Claire, his gun pressed into her large stomach as he starred at Agent Bitch. She had the owner of the Northern Star as her back-up, but that wouldn't help her.
After eight years, he was finally face-to-face with the woman responsible for branding him a killer and sex offender. He could see she was angry that he was using her sister as his shield, and it was a wonderful feeling knowing that. He'd thought about a thousand different ways he could make her suffer, but nothing came close to being minutes away from the actual thing.
He'd waited eight fucking years for this day, and now that it was here, he was going to enjoy it as much as he could.
Time was running out.
Michael would be on the phone to TRT soon.
Rebekah needed to end this and she needed to end it now.
She had to get Edwards attention away from Claire long enough for Steven to shoot the son-of-a-bitch.
And she saw only one way she could that.
Praying that Steven knew what she was doing, Rebekah lowered her weapon and told Edwards, “Let Claire go and you can take me.”
“What?” Edwards said.
“Come on. You know you can't end this with Claire as your shield.” Rebekah pointed out. “The only way you can get what you want is for you to let her go and take me instead.”
“So you can walk me right out into a trap with those AFP fuckers?” Edwards scoffed. “I don't think so.”
“There's more then one way off this property. We can slip out the back and no one will even know we're gone.”
“What about these two?” Edwards asked, using his gun to gesture from Claire to Steven and back.
“Tie them up. Restrain them and gag them.” Rebekah said. “No one will breach the perimeter until TRT gets here, and that won't be for at least an hour.”
She could see Edwards thinking over what she said and she prayed he fell for it.
And he did.
“Walk towards me slowly.” He told her. “I won't release her until I know sailor-boy there isn't going to shoot.”
Rebekah did as he asked, her hands up in the typical surrender mode as she approached him. Edwards kept an eye on Steven as she got closer and he must have been satisfied Steven wasn't going to do anything because he pushed Claire away from him and made a grab for her.
That was his biggest mistake.
Rebekah grabbed Claire and shoved her to the floo
r as Steven shot Edwards.
A double-tap to the heart that had the son-of-a-bitch falling to the ground, dead.
Rebekah sagged with relief, one thought crossing her mind, It's over.
Epilogue
One year later …
She was a bundle of excited nerves as she sat in the restaurant, her eyes on the clock as the minutes slowly ticked past.
For the past year, Rebekah had been involved in a long-distance relationship with Steven as he did his patrols around Australia and she transferred from the AFP's HQ in Brisbane to their northern command in Cairns.
Their relationship had grown stronger with every letter, e-mail and phone call they shared and now, a year to the day after they'd taken down Stan Edwards, they were going to be meeting face-to-face again.
She was so excited.
Although she'd never really felt the emotion before, Rebekah was fairly certain she was in love with the Chief Petty Officer, and she was so ready to find out if he was willing to take things to another level.
But where was he?
Steven had told her to be at the restaurant by eight so he had a chance to change after HMAS Sydney returned to the Naval Base.
She'd arrived at ten to eight, not caring if she had to wait ten minutes.
But it was now almost eight-thirty and there was still no sign of him.
Her excitement began to be replaced by fear that something had happened or that he'd changed his mind and just hadn't bothered to tell her just as he walked through the door.
Rebekah smiled and stood to greet him, her entire body warming as he pulled her into a tight hug.
Yep, she was definitely in love with this man.
“Evening, beautiful.” Steven said as he pulled back, a sexy grin on his handsome face. His eyes raked her from head to toe as he said, “You look fabulous.”
“You don't look so bad yourself.” She replied.
“Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the beach.”
“We aren't eating here?”
“Change of plans.” He took her hand and led her out into the cool, dark night. A white 2013 Holden Commodore SS sat idling at the curb and he opened the passenger door for her before getting behind the wheel and heading down the main road that led to the beach.
When they got there and were on the stone steps leading to the sand, Rebekah felt her heart flutter in her chest when she saw the romantic setting placed in the sand.
“Steven ...”
“Come on, beautiful.” He said, urging her forward. “Everything will get cold.”
Rebekah followed him to the table and sat down, her heart in her throat as their first evening together in a year got underway.
Steven had never been so nervous in his entire life.
He'd fallen in love with the red-haired beauty in front of him over a year ago and he hadn't thought about much else since then. Every time he'd closed his eyes while on patrol, he'd seen her beautiful face and he'd been in a lot of cold showers as his over-active imagination conjured up images of her naked body.
He honestly couldn't imagine going the rest of his life without her in it.
Which is why, while on a good-will trip to Papua New Guinea, he'd located a jeweller and purchased the largest diamond he could afford.
And he couldn't wait any longer.
“Oh, my God!” Rebekah breathed when he dropped to one knee at her side.
“Rebekah ...”
“Wait.” She smiled at him and cupped his face in her small, delicate hands. “I don't need the words. Just ask.”
He grinned and asked, “Will you marry me?”
“Absolutely.” She said.
“Glad to hear it, babe.” Slipping the ring onto her finger, he stood and pulled her up into his arms. Lowering his head, he claimed her mouth in their first kiss in twelve months and his hunger for her just grew.
Rebekah smiled against his mouth and murmured, “Maybe we should just head back to my place.”
“Sounds good to me.”
At the car, he risked kissing her again before pulling back and telling her, “I love you, Rebekah.”
“I love you, too, Steven.”
Their life together had just begun.
He couldn't wait to see where it led.
Lieutenant Commander Ethan Conrad has helped three of his mates fight for the women they love. When the opportunity rises again to help someone else on his ship, he jumps at the chance ...
Lieutenant Karleigh Greene doesn't want to take her CO down when she abandons her duties with the RAN to find her sister. But the Captain isn't taking no for an answer and they begin a hunt that will take them to a place neither of them would have expected to go.
Prologue
“You're leaving? Just like that?” Ethan Conrad, the Executive Officer for the HMAS Sydney, stared at his CO in shock, unable to believe what he'd just heard. “What gives, boss?”
“I've given the Navy more then twenty years of service.” Jackson Tanner replied. “I've decided I want to try something else.”
“And that something else has to be in the States?”
“I know a guy there who used to serve. He moved there to start a new company and he needs more men.” Jackson explained. “I want to do this.”
Ethan knew he couldn't stop Jackson from leaving.
It was going to be weird not having him around.
“Who's going to be the CO of Sydney?”
Jackson smiled and patted Ethan on the shoulder. “That would be you, Conrad.”
“What?”
“I put in a word with the Commander and he agreed. You're ready to take on a leadership role that's bigger then XO, and this will be perfect.” Jackson told him. “You know everyone on board the Sydney, and the replacements for Daniel and Ric will learn under someone who knows the ship better then if NAVCOM transferred in a CO from somewhere else.”
Ethan couldn't believe it.
Not only was he losing his commanding officer and one of his closest friends, but he was also getting a promotion that would see his career fast-tracked if everything went well.
He wanted to go all the way to Chief of Navy, but he didn't want to make it there by losing a mate.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do, Jack?”
“I've been thinking about it for the past three years. With Daniel and Ric having transferred out and Steven about to leave, as well, I think now is a good time to make this happen.”
“Alright.” Ethan said. “Let's round up the guys so we can give you a proper send-off.”
One
One month later …
Lieutenant Commander Ethan Conrad sat in his chair on the bridge of HMAS Sydney as the Armidale-class patrol boat headed out into the Timor Sea for a routine patrol.
It felt odd to be in command of the ship when he was so used to being the XO. And with three of his four mates gone, the only person Ethan could share it with was Steven Leigh, the ships RO.
But, he did have something to distract him.
NAVCOM had sent a replacement XO shortly before they'd left Base, and she was causing quite a stir amongst the men.
Lieutenant Karleigh Greene, their new Executive Officer, had piqued Ethan's interest the moment they'd been introduced and, in his opinion, she belonged on the runway instead of the military-inspired uniform that currently covered her slim figure.
Ethan had liked being the XO, and he missed his mate, Jackson, but he was really glad to have met Lieutenant Greene. When she reported for duty at the forenoon watch, he gave Steven control of the ship to give Karleigh the grand tour of the Sydney.
As they walked the ship, he asked, “How long have you been RAN, Lieutenant?”
“Eight years, Sir.” She replied.
“When did you make Lieutenant?”
“Thirteen months ago.”
“Which ship did you serve on before us?”
A Hero In Uniform - The Complete Series Page 14
