Alpha Bravo SEAL

by Carol Ericson

  “Probably.”

  “But so does this.” She tapped the second key on the ring. “This one looks like it would fit a padlock, and this one a bike lock.”

  “That one is some kind of locker key.” He aimed his spoon at a short, stubby key with blue plastic on the top.

  Pinching the key between two fingers, Nicole brought it close to her face and squinted at the raised writing on the plastic. “Just numbers, no location.”

  “Is there any place in the city that still has lockers? I know the airports and the train stations haven’t had them for years.”

  “I took someone to the Statue of Liberty recently, and she had to put her backpack in a locker before going up, but I can’t remember if those had keys or were electronic.” Nicole ran the tip of her finger along the key’s ridges and grooves. “How are we going to find out where this key belongs?”

  “By using this key.” Slade plucked one of the apartment keys from bunch and jiggled the ring in front of her face.

  “We’re going to break into Trudy’s apartment?”

  “It’s not breaking in if we have a key.”

  “A key we stole.”

  “A key Trudy died protecting.”

  Nicole huffed out a breath and massaged her right temple with two fingers. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Have some.” In the space between them, Slade held out a spoon piled high with purple gelato.

  She opened her mouth like a baby bird, and he placed the plastic utensil against her tongue. She closed her lips around it and sucked the gelato into her mouth. As the tart, cold flavor invaded her taste buds, she squeezed her eyes shut.

  When she opened her lids, her gaze met Slade’s stare, his black pupils rimmed with the intense blue of his irises. “Are the police going to wonder about Trudy’s keys? Are they going to wonder about the couple talking to her at the time of her collapse?”

  “Probably. Did you know anyone there?”

  “No.”

  “The scene was chaotic. I’m sure an autopsy will be ordered, since women Trudy’s age don’t typically fall into seizures and die, but the cops may not suspect foul play. And if they don’t, they might not take that wineglass into evidence.”

  “I heard someone say something about epilepsy. Do you think this is just a coincidence?”

  “No.”

  Nicole pushed the cup of gelato away, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. “Who gave her the wine?”

  “I didn’t notice.” He scooped up the keys and bobbled them in his palm. “But we’re going to find out where Trudy lived and do a thorough search of her place.”

  “What if she has a roommate?”

  “We’ll deal with that when we get to it, and we’d better do it soon. If the autopsy shows poison, the police will want to search her place, too.”

  Nicole pressed her palms against her temples. “This is too much for me to think about right now. I just want to go home, back to my mom’s place.”

  “Is the building secure? Have there ever been any break-ins?”

  Her heart did a double-time beat in her chest. “Not that I know of. Mom’s never mentioned any. You don’t think I’m safe there?”

  “I broke in the back way, didn’t I? Got to your mail. Nobody stopped me.”

  “Thanks for pointing that out.” She folded her arms and dug her fingers into her biceps.

  “I was sent here specifically to protect you, Nicole, and I plan to do that. I’m staying with you tonight at your mom’s place.”

  A little thrill fluttered through her body that had as much to do with the thought of having this SEAL spending the night with her as it did being under his protection.

  She smoothed her hands down the thighs of her jeans while she tried to paste a nonchalant expression on her face. The warmth that surged in her cheeks just told her she’d failed. She grabbed a spoon and shoved a glob of half-melted gelato in her mouth.

  She talked around the sweet raspberry taste. “If you think it’s necessary.”

  With the last word, a drop of gelato dribbled from the corner of her mouth. As her tongue darted out to catch it, Slade’s finger shot out to dab it from her lip and she wound up licking the tip of his finger.

  They both said, “Sorry,” at the same time.

  She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser. “Just goes to show you how tired I am.”

  “Then let’s get out of here.” He lifted the cup by the rim between two fingers. “Do you want any more of this?”

  “No.” She’d probably end up wearing it down the front of her T-shirt.

  He dumped the cup in the trash, and they snagged a taxi a half block away.

  When they got to the apartment on the Upper East Side, Slade seemed to vibrate with electricity. His body tensed up and his head swiveled from side to side. The hand on her back became insistent as he guided her past the doorman and into the lobby of the building.

  He jerked his head toward one corner of the lobby. “Camera there. Does anyone get past the doorman?”

  “Not if they don’t live here or aren’t with someone who does. The doormen know all of the residents.”

  Slade nodded as if ticking off items on an internal checklist. As they entered the elevator, he tilted back his head. “Cameras in here, too.”

  “Feel better now?”

  “Makes it more secure, but not impenetrable—nothing is.”

  “You’re just full of good news tonight.”

  When they stepped inside the apartment, Chanel greeted them by spinning around and dancing on her hind legs.

  Slade picked her up. “Does she need to go out?”

  “Livvy, the dog walker, was already here, and believe it or not, my mother trained Chanel to use a litter box. It’s in the laundry room. She’ll be good until tomorrow morning.” She pointed at the ceiling. “There are a few rooms up there. You can take your pick.”

  He shrugged out of his leather jacket and dropped it over the back of the sofa. “I’m going to bunk down here. I’d rather be close to the front door than tucked away in some bedroom with the door shut.”

  Nicole eyed her mother’s white brocade couch, threaded with gold, and shrugged. Mom let Chanel sleep on it, why not a six-foot-two Navy SEAL protecting her daughter?

  “I’ll get you a blanket and a pillow. There’s a half bathroom down here, and I’ll find a toothbrush and some toothpaste for you. Anything else?”

  “Soap and a towel in there?”

  “Yeah. Be right back.” She took the stairs two at a time and threw open a cupboard in the hallway. She pulled a blanket from the bottom shelf and ducked into one of the bedrooms to drag a pillow from the bed.

  She made a stop at the bathroom connected to her bedroom and found a new toothbrush, still in its packaging. She balanced it on top of the folded blanket and pillow as she carefully descended the staircase.

  Slade glanced up from scratching Chanel behind the ear and patted the sofa cushion beside him. “Am I going to have to share my bed with her?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Lucky girl.

  She dumped the blanket and pillow next to him, retaining the toothbrush in her hand. She waved it in the air. “Brand-new.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure Chanel and I will manage.”

  “Oops, I forgot the toothpaste.” She bent forward to place the toothbrush on the coffee table, but it ended up on the floor as her hand jerked. “Where did that gun come from?”

  “My hotel room. I had it in my jacket pocket.” He traced a finger along the handle. “A little smaller than I’m used to, but it’ll do.”

  “I didn’t realize you had a gun with you.”

  “How else am I supposed to protect you? Does it bother you?”

  “I’ve seen plenty of guns—big ones
—up close and personal on my travels. Our translators, including Dahir, used to carry weapons. As long as it’s not pointing at me, I can handle it.”

  “Do you want me to get the toothpaste? Just tell me where it is. You don’t need to go running up and down the stairs for me.”

  “It’s the least I can do for you and your...gun.” She spun around and called over her shoulder as she jogged up the stairs, “Do you need anything else?”

  “We’re fine.”

  She took a used tube of toothpaste from her mother’s bathroom and paused to study her flushed face and glittering eyes in the mirror. She was accustomed to a certain level of danger when she went on assignments. Now that danger had followed her home. Did she have to look so...thrilled about it? Her mother was probably right about her. She’d never settle down.

  She dismissed the woman in the mirror and glided back down the stairs.

  Slade had gotten rid of Chanel, along with his boots and socks. With one bare foot resting on the opposite knee, he was checking his phone.

  “Here’s the toothpaste.”

  “Thanks, Nicole.” He held up his phone. “Looks like the news about an off-off-Broadway actress dying after a performance is out.”

  “Do you think they would’ve killed her if we hadn’t contacted her?”

  “Yes, and don’t think we led them to her, either. If that wine was poisoned, it was spiked before we got there. They were either determined to get the location of the film out of her, or wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t pass the info along to someone else.”

  The events of the day seemed to hit Nicole all at once, and her shoulders sagged beneath the weight of all the recent deaths. “I’m calling it a day. Hope you sleep well, but not too well. I wouldn’t want you to miss someone trying to break into the place.”

  He saluted. “Chanel and I are on the job.”

  She turned a dubious eye on the little dog, who’d returned to Slade’s side, curled into a fluffy ball next to his gun. Her mom would have a fit if she could see her precious pup now.

  “’Night, Slade.”

  “Good night,” he called out, his voice muffled as he shook out the blanket.

  Nicole plodded up the stairs and got ready for bed in slow motion, exhaustion seeping into every muscle of her body.

  As she crawled between the sheets, her phone, which was charging on her nightstand, buzzed. She reached over and swiped her finger across the display to wake it up and then entered her pass code. A text from an unknown sender popped up, and she read it aloud.

  “‘Heard about Trudy. I’m outta here.’”

  Must be Dave. She didn’t blame him.

  She plugged her phone back in and burrowed into her pillow.

  She might be out of here, too, if she didn’t have a hot Navy SEAL on guard in her living room.

  Chapter Six

  The following morning, Nicole woke up to find that the hot Navy SEAL could also make coffee. She trailed downstairs, yawning and inhaling the scent of freshly brewed java.

  He raised a cup of the stuff in her direction as she wedged a shoulder against the arched entrance to the kitchen. “Just in time.”

  “You know your way around a kitchen.”

  “I know my way around a coffeepot, although the gadgets on this one could rival the control panel of a Blackhawk helicopter.”

  “Is that coffee black? Because I like mine with lots of soy milk.”

  “Soy milk?” He shook his head as he opened the fridge door. “How do you manage to get by in some of those primitive locales you frequent without soy?”

  “When in Rome.” She shrugged. “I can make do when I have to. I’m really not high maintenance, despite my current surroundings.”

  “I already figured that out.” He placed the coffee cup and a carton of vanilla soy on the granite island in the middle of the kitchen. “You wouldn’t have lasted two minutes in some of the countries you visited if you were high maintenance.”

  She pulled up a stool and parked herself at the island. Pouring the soy into the coffee, she watched it fan out in gentle circles until the black liquid turned toffee. She inhaled the sweet vanilla as she took a careful sip.

  “I can manage a basic breakfast, too, if you have some eggs.”

  “I don’t usually eat breakfast unless I go out, but help yourself. I’m sure Jenny stocked eggs in the fridge.” She warmed her hands on the mug. “What’s the plan today? Are we going to search Trudy’s place?”

  “Once we find out where it is. Do you think Dave knows her address?”

  “Uh, yeah, about Dave.” She hooked her bare feet around the legs of the stool. “He sent me a text last night. I guess he heard the news about Trudy, and I don’t think we’re going to get another crack at him.”

  “Can I see the text? How do you know it’s from him?”

  She hunched her shoulders to her ears as an insidious trickle of fear dripped down her spine. “Just the context of the message. He said he’d heard about Trudy’s death and he was out of here.”

  “I’m going to start my eggs.” He pulled open the fridge door and continued talking with his head stuffed inside. “And you can run up and get your phone.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.” She unwound her legs from the stool and shuffled across the cool tile. Slade pretended to be all easygoing, but he was really quite bossy.

  She took the stairs two at a time as if she were on a mission. She swiped the phone from its charger on her nightstand and studied the text message on her way downstairs to make sure she hadn’t missed some sinister subtext.

  She stood at Slade’s shoulder as he cracked an egg with one hand into a bowl. She held the phone in front of his face. “This is it. Pretty straightforward...don’t you think?”

  He squinted, moving his lips as if trying to decipher some ancient code. “I suppose. Wouldn’t make much sense for anyone else to send a message like that.”

  “You mean like Trudy’s killers?” She yanked back the phone and tossed it onto the counter.

  “We can’t rule out the possibility that they might try to reach out to you one way or another.”

  “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? In case they try to reach out to me?”

  “That’s right.”

  She could live with that. Rubbing her chin, she asked, “How’d you sleep last night?”

  “Chanel and I slept great.” He dumped the egg mixture into a skillet of sizzling butter.

  “Did she sleep with you on the sofa?”

  “All night.”

  “Sorry about that. At least you’re not allergic.” Nicole twisted her head over her shoulder. “Where is the little rascal?”

  “Back on the sofa. Where else? Does she need to go out this morning?”

  “She does. I usually take her out before Livvy gets here for the morning walk.”

  “Do you feed her in the morning?” He scuffed the eggs off the bottom of pan with a plastic spatula into fluffy mounds.

  “Livvy does that after the walk.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “I thought you were staying here to take care of the dog while your mom was gone.”

  “Not really.” She picked up the fork on the counter and jabbed a clump of scrambled eggs. “If I weren’t here, my mom would be boarding Chanel, but that doesn’t mean she’d completely dismiss the dog sitter in favor of me. I told you before, Mom doesn’t trust me with that sort of thing.”

  He shoved the plate of eggs toward her and she shook her head and held out the fork to him.

  “Any reason in particular? Did your mother come home one time and find Chanel’s fur tangled? Paws dirty? Teeth unbrushed?”

  She laughed and took a swig of coffee. “Mom just knows I’m busy, and come to think of it, if we’re going to be c
hasing around the city looking for that film footage, I might just have Livvy take Chanel with her. I hate leaving the dog home alone all day.”

  “Is she much of a watchdog?” He loaded up his fork with eggs. “I mean, she didn’t even curl her lip at me.”

  “She doesn’t have a vicious bone in her body, and I really have to take her out now.” She whistled. “Chanel!”

  The little dog came careening around the corner of the kitchen and slid across the tiles, stopping only when she hit Slade’s ankles.

  “She’s ready, but I’ll tell you what.” Slade waved his fork in the air. “Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll take Chanel outside.”

  She sucked in the side of her cheek. “You’re worried about me going outside on my own?”

  “You said it yourself, Chanel’s no watchdog. It’ll give me a chance to sort out the neighborhood.”

  “In case you haven’t figured it out already, this is a very good neighborhood.”

  “No doubt, but I want to suss out the lay of the land, take a look at the building. When I was watching you the other night, it was dark outside. I didn’t get a sense if someone would be able to scale the walls or reach your windows from the outside.”

  “That would be nearly impossible. We’re on the tenth floor.”

  “Nothing’s impossible. Someone got to Trudy.”

  Nicole threw a quick glance over her shoulder as if expecting someone to come charging through the front door. “The leash is hanging on a hook inside the closet in the foyer.”

  “Does she have a preferred route?”

  “There’s a small square with a patch of grass about half a block down. You don’t have to go all the way to Central Park. Livvy will take her there later.”

  “Maybe you can start making some calls to Paul Lund or Dave, or maybe not Dave, and see if you can get Trudy’s address, or do a computer search.”

  “Okay, I’ll get on that. You don’t have to take Chanel far.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t be long.”

  Did he think she was scared to be on her own in her mom’s apartment in broad daylight? “I just meant, she’s a small dog, small legs. It doesn’t take much to exercise her.”