She handed him a narrow folder. “And your plane ticket.”
Max shot her a narrow-eyed look, peering in at the ticket. “Colorado? Really?”
She nodded, hands clutched together in front of her.
“This is the phone call you had to make?”
She nodded again. “Duncan was a patient of mine years ago. Actually, I know all three partners of LNF. When they were in the hospital they got the idea to create the company.”
As cool as the guy sounded, there was one big issue. “I’m not an investigator.”
Lacey smiled that chiding, encouraging smile she had. “No, but you could be.”
He mulled the idea over, more interested than he would have expected. “And what would you do?”
Lacey grinned. “There’s a great VA out there. I asked around and they’re always looking for experienced nurses. I could be helping vets but not be drowning in the emergencies and critical care that I did at Walter Reed.”
Max narrowed his eyes on her excited face, surprised at the animation he saw there. Hell, if a job in Colorado could do this much for her spirit he’d haul trash or clean sewers. “Why don’t we both go out?”
Her blue eyes widened with surprise. “Well, I could maybe.”
“Why don’t you call out there and try to set something up? If we’re going to do this we may as well jump in with both feet.”
Max laughed as she disappeared into the living room, task in front of her. The two-hour time difference worked in her favor. She caught one of the nursing supervisors before she went off shift and set up an interview for four days from then, on a Friday. When she hung up the phone, she did an excited little dance and jumped into his arms.
Laughing, he held her against him. Lacey was a level-headed woman, but this had definitely motivated her.
On the plane two days later, she vibrated with excitement. “Oh, it’s so pretty,” she sighed as they caught sight of the snow-capped mountains below them. Max had to admit they were gorgeous. And as they drove through town in their rental car they found more and more things that they enjoyed. There were exercise trails everywhere, which appealed to him. No, he didn’t have his air lung capacity like he used to, but the more he worked out the better it got.
They drove by the well-kept VA in the center of the city and found the entrance she was supposed to use for her appointment. Then they headed toward the north side of the city and drove past LNF. Looking up at the glass building, Max got a good feeling about being there.
They ate at a popular chain restaurant, lingering over dessert afterwards.
“So, what can you tell me about Wilde?”
Lacey set her fork down. “He came in with terrible injuries but the man is strong. Not just physically. He has one of the strongest spirits I’ve ever seen. You’ll see what I mean tomorrow.”
They decided they would go together to the appointment. Lacey hadn’t seen Duncan for years and she desperately wanted to.
When they walked into the reception area of Lost and Found Investigative Services, they didn’t expect to find a man in a wheelchair holding a woman in his arms and spinning circles with her. The petite, curly haired woman was giggling and clutching his neck. “John, you have to stop,” she gasped. “There are people coming.”
The man laughed but looked up and slowed when Max and Lacey stepped into the room. The woman’s eyes got saucer-wide with embarrassment and she scrambled from his lap.
Lacey recognized John Palmer immediately, but he got a funny look on his face, like he’d seen something that befuddled him. She stepped forward and raised a brow at him. “I’m not wearing scrubs but I don’t look that different, do I? Come on, Gunny.”
The confusion cleared and John pushed forward with a whoop. “Lacey!”
She leaned down to loop her arms around his neck. “Still as sexy as ever, I see,” she whispered in his ear.
The big man laughed out loud, shaking a finger at her as she pulled away. “I remember what you told me that day.”
Lacey giggled. “I told you fuck you. And then I told you that there was some one out there that would love you, warts and all.” She glanced at Max. His brows lifted over his eyes because she didn’t normally speak like that.
John lifted his hand to the woman he had been spinning. “Lacey, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend Shannon Murphy. Incredibly, she doesn’t mind my warts. Shannon, this is the best damn nurse at Walter Reed. She took my abuse and gave it back to me the same way.”
Shannon reached for Lacey’s hand, pumping enthusiastically. “You must be quite a woman to put up with this guy back then.”
Lacey laughed. “You too. I doubt he’s changed that much over the years.”
They all laughed like old friends until Lacey held out a hand to Max. “Gunny, this is Maxwell Tate, Navy SEAL. He has an interview with Duncan in a bit.”
Duncan himself stepped out then, probably drawn by all the noise they were making. And he looked good. Lacey had always had a soft spot in her heart for salt and pepper haired men and she wondered if it had started with Duncan years ago. More gray on the sides now, but his face was lean and healthy, and his dark brown eyes as sharp as ever. “Lacey Adams. I didn’t know you were coming with Mr. Tate. You’re not trying to sway my opinion, are you?”
Lacey grinned and stepped forward to wrap her arms around the tall man, conscious of the slim black cane at his side. “No, I don’t think I need to, Duncan. How the heck are you?”
“I’m good,” he assured her. “Running ragged trying to put fires out right now, but managing. Come on in.”
He led them into his office, a comfortable space with a huge whiteboard on one side of the room. Lacey chose a leather couch against the wall, folding one leg beneath her when she sat. Max dropped down beside her with his elbows on his knees, hands held between them. She squeezed his arm in encouragement as Duncan took the chair to her left, and John stopped just beyond the coffee table.
“So, Lacey, how have you been? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Well, I left Walter Reed a couple years ago, before all the bad publicity, luckily. I’m working at a private practice right now. Is Roger still here?”
Duncan gave her a single nod. “He is. Graveyard shift. One of the best men I’ve ever hired.”
Lacey smiled happily. “I’m so glad. I knew he would be perfect here.”
Duncan looked to Max. “Lacey here was my one-man pitch team at Walter Reed for a while. She’d send me guys she thought would fit in well with what we do here. I only hire disabled vets and they need to have a certain skill set. She said you were a SEAL?”
“Yes, sir, Special Boat Operator 2nd Class onboard the USS Carl Vinson, lead coxswain on a RIB crew. For the most part. But I’ve been everywhere and done everything. Can I ask what you do here?”
“Personal surveillance, divorce cases, embezzling, cyber investigations,” John listed, running a hand over his short dark hair. “Hell, even doing deed searches through court records. Whatever we need to do to get a job done. And we have jobs for every vet’s skill level.”
Lacey thought it sounded fascinating, and by the look on Max’s face he did too. “I didn’t know there were companies out there that only hired vets.”
“There aren’t very many,” Duncan admitted, “and we were one of the first. And while we don’t normally hire Navy,” he looked Max up and down, “occasionally we make exceptions.”
Lacey laughed, shaking her head. “You all fight for the same country. I don’t understand the rivalry.”
Max sighed and the other two gave her dirty looks.
Duncan leaned back in his chair, stretching out his legs. “So, explain to me what’s going on here. You guys are together, right? Lacey, are you going to move out here if he gets a job?”
Lacey took a breath and nodded. “Yes. I’ve already spoken with the VA downtown. I have an interview there tomorrow. While I don’t want the Walter Reed craziness, I want something more than
I’ve had for the past couple years.”
“The VA is a good place to be then,” John told her. “A lot of our guys go out there for counseling and PT.”
Lacey was glad that they knew of the hospital and that it seemed to be a good facility.
Duncan held his hand out for the folder Max carried and he handed it over.
“When can you start?”
Without even checking the contents, Duncan had slid the folder beside his thigh. Max lifted a brow. “You’re not even going to look at it?”
Duncan shook his head and motioned to Lacey. “Nah. Your resume is sitting right there. She’s sent me some of the best men I’ve ever hired. You won’t be any different. When can you start?”
Emotion choked her throat. He was seriously going to give him the job just on her word? Max seemed just as surprised. He stood from the couch and shook Duncan’s hand, then John’s. “I’ll do everything I can to prove you right.”
Smiling, Duncan pushed to his feet, cane at his side. “I know you will,” he murmured. “Now, the question was serious. When can you start?”
Max looked down at Lacey and she shrugged. “I won’t know if I have the job or not till after tomorrow.”
Duncan and John shared a look. “Okay. As soon as you hear, let me know. I have a man out right now with injuries and our third partner, Chad Lowell, is in Texas with him. The ship’s running a little light right now.”
Max nodded. “As soon as we hear we’ll call. Tomorrow we’ll start checking out apartments too.”
Lacey reached out to hug Duncan again, then John. “It’s so good to see you guys again and you’re both doing so well. How long have you been dating Shannon, John?”
“Almost a year now,” he admitted.
Lacey frowned at him. “Almost a year? Are you engaged?”
He frowned, rocking the wheels of his chair in agitation. “No.”
She shook her head at him. “If she’s been with you this long she’ll stay with you, but you’d better make it official.”
Glowering, John pushed away, grumbling, “I know”.
They made their goodbyes to Shannon and took the elevator down. On the sidewalk below, they paused, then flung their arms around each other. Max lifted her off the ground, squeezing her tight and making her laugh in joy. When he pulled back enough to press his lips to hers she sighed with contentment.
“I can’t believe how easy it went,” he admitted, setting her to her feet. “All because you said the word.”
Lacey shrugged, a little self-conscious. “I don’t think it would have gone as easy if I hadn’t sent him those other men and they hadn’t proven as good as I claimed. Believe me, you’ll have to show him how good you are. He’ll work your ass off. Pretty soon it sounds like.”
Grinning, he nodded, looking a little dazed. Then looked down at her with a frown. “This is moving us pretty fast. Are you okay with this? Should we look for two apartments?”
Frowning, she started toward the parking lot and their rental. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I think if I’m willing to move across the country with you I should be able to live in the same apartment as well. Don’t you think? We’ve practically been living together anyway for the past few weeks.”
She paused to look up at him and was caught by his gleaming smile. “You know, if somebody had come up to me six months ago and told me what I was going to be doing and where I would be, I would have called them damn liars and beat the shit out of them.”
Lacey laughed because the same applied to her. “Me neither. But I think we’re doing what’s good for both of us. I mean, Duncan’s group probably doesn’t get into the same intrigue you’re used to, but it’s better than floundering around looking for something that you have to settle for.”
Max unlocked the car and handed her into the seat, then hurried around the front of the vehicle. It was hot outside today in Colorado, but a very different kind of heat from Virginia.
Once he dropped into the seat and turned the key in the ignition to start the AC he turned to her. “I don’t know where to begin. I’ve got so much I need to do. I guess we need to know about your job though, first. I don’t want to come out if you’re not going to be here.”
She waved a hand. “I’m actually not worried about the job. I think Colorado is a reciprocal state when it comes to my certifications and I’ll need to file some papers, but once I do that, it’s not normally very hard for a nurse to find a job. I suggest we look for an apartment right now, big enough to work for both of us.”
The thought of officially living with somebody sent tingles of alarm through her, but also gave her a warm, content feeling inside. Max had moved a lot of his stuff down to her apartment over the past couple of weeks anyway, so it wasn’t a great stretch to have him there all the time.
“You may have to ride your bike out, or maybe haul it in a U-Haul with your stuff. I know I’ll need one to get my stuff out here. But it sounds like we may be coming at different times. My paperwork will take at least a couple of weeks, but it sounds like Duncan needs you as soon as you can get here.”
Making an odd face, he shook his head. “Things are changing, Angel, but I have to tell you, I’m okay with every bit of it. You’ve given me a purpose several times over and I wake up every day with an eagerness I thought I had lost forever. I will do everything in my power to make sure you have the happiness you deserve.”
Lacey blinked, so thankful she’d followed her crazy instincts and this man into the alley that day.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that, Max. You’ve already made me happier than anyone else ever has. Seeing you this excited feeds my soul. I love you dearly.”
She leaned forward to rest her lips on his.
They found an apartment complex they liked just a few blocks away and put down a deposit. If they didn’t like it later they could find another, or perhaps a house.
All of Lacey’s worry about the VA job faded as soon as she walked in the door. Good karma returned to her when the nursing recruiter sat her down and opened with, “Duncan Wilde says I would be a fool not to hire you.”
Duncan was a long-time volunteer at the VA and had come to career counsel some of the men, then outright hired a few others she was told. He’d called Mrs. Hampton last night at home to let her know Lacey was coming.
The supervisor went over the hiring package and told Lacey the job was hers if she wanted it. With no hesitation she said yes. Lacey promised to file the transfer paperwork as soon as she got home and she would notify Mrs. Hampton as soon as she was confirmed to work in Colorado.
“I’ll be glad to get you. We have more jobs than qualified people.”
Lacey walked out of the VA almost dancing. Max had waited in the car in the parking lot and she climbed in, then almost lunged into his seat to wrap him in her arms. “It’s mine,” she gasped. “Duncan called in a favor and I have the job as soon as I can get out here.”
Max laughed, drawing her tight into his arms. His lips covered hers and Lacey knew that both their lives were going through epic changes, but she had faith that they would be stronger for the trials.
The End
If you would like to read more about the disabled veterans of the Lost and Found Investigative Service, check out these books:
The Embattled Road (FREE prequel)
Embattled Hearts – Book 1
Embattled Minds – Book 2
Embattled Home – Book 3
Books related to the Lost and Found Investigative Service, but not directly in the series line:
Her Forever Hero
SEAL’s Lost Dream
Other books by J.M. Madden
Second Time Around
A Needful Heart
Wet Dream
Love on the Line Book 1
Love on the Line Book 2
The Awakening Society – FREE
Tempt Me – Book 2 of the Awakening Society
If you’d like to connect with me o
n social media and keep updated on my releases, try these links:
Newsletter | Website | Facebook | Twitter
And of course you can always email me at [email protected]
About the Author
I am a wife and mother of two. I am a stay at home writer, which I dearly love, and I recently added the title USA Today Bestselling author to my moniker.
I was a Deputy Sheriff in Ohio for nine years, and I found myself tapping that experience as I wrote Second Time Around, my very first book. No, I didn’t tackle and cuff my husband, although there was that time in K-mart… Anyway, it was quite a change going from writing technical reports with diagrams, witness statements, inventories, etc., that would stand up in court to writing contemporary romance.
I’ve now published 16 books, with many more on the way. I thank you so much for taking an interest in my work!
Stay tuned! There’s a lot more coming!
Mister Black: A Billionaire SEAL Story
In the Shadows, Part 1
P.T. Michelle
We all have someone who crossed our path and fundamentally changed us. That one person who blew through our lives, their presence forever stamped on our psyche. They linger in our thoughts, in our hearts, and in the decisions we make. A soul crusher or a dream maker, depending on the perspective.
My person is Mister Black.
I didn’t know him by that name when I first met him.
I didn’t know him at all, but the impression he left behind was just as powerful as the name I call him today.
He is Black: a deadly enforcer and masterful seducer.
I am Red: a justice bleeder and willing participant.
Together we are passion. Colors colliding through each other’s lives.
When our secrets converge in a passionate encounter, stepping out of the shadows just might be worth the risk.
To stay informed when the next IN THE SHADOWS book will be released, join P.T. Michelle’s free newsletter http://bit.ly/11tqAQN. An email will come straight to your inbox on the day a new book releases.
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