John had truly made a mess of things. Secretly, he agreed that the girl had deserved severe punishment—having her laugh at his son could not be tolerated. Still, John should have had more self-control. It shamed him to realize his son had repeated the mistake Alden had made years ago. But that mistake hadn’t been Alden’s fault. If he’d had someone to guide or assist him, as John had, he never would have made such an error in judgment.
His son had enjoyed all the advantages Alden had missed out on, and still, he’d made the asinine blunder. His boy was fortunate he had a father who could clean up his messes. John better have learned his lesson. Alden wouldn’t be as lenient if anything like this happened again.
Too bad they’d had to put the girl down; she could have been useful here. There were only eight stable girls. Many of these women had been taken from the streets or strip clubs and had required virtually no training to fulfill their job requirements. The Pennsylvania girl might have needed some breaking in, but very little training was required to work in the stable. The women performed the tasks that came natural to them … it was what they’d been born to do.
Yes, another female in the stable would be a welcome addition. The last time he’d visited there, the women had looked a bit worn. Bringing in a fresh one would’ve been nice. Perhaps he would find a couple of new ones next hunting season.
But for this year, he would concentrate on bringing in the last one and then he could enter into his favorite time. Training had to begin by the end of the month at the latest. By early spring, the men who’d submitted the winning bids would be ravenous, ready to take their mates.
“Father, may I approach you?”
Smiling his welcome, he opened his arms. Tabitha flew toward him and flung herself into his embrace, as she had almost from the moment she could walk. Alden held her tightly to him, his heart overflowing with love. A surge of arousal quickly followed, and he laughed softly as she rubbed up against his hardening body. “Later, my angel. For now, tell me how your new charges are doing.”
Settling onto his lap, she gave him an update. “Extremely well. Each girl has toured our community at least twice. They’re eating well and exercising to maintain their shape and good health. The healer has checked their teeth and overall health. And the ugly, fat one has even lost some weight.”
“Don’t let her lose any more. Royce caught a glimpse of her the other day and I believe he wants to bid for her. He’s sending me his offer soon.”
“The stable girls say Royce can be quite brutal. This girl is shy and submissive. They will make a good match.”
Tabitha was such a romantic, always looking for the perfect match for each person in the community. “And what about our little runaway? How is she faring? I saw her the other day. There’s defiance in her.”
“When training day arrives, I fully expect she’ll be as cooperative as the rest.”
“And Ben and Lucy? Are they a help or a hindrance to you?”
“Oh, they’re extremely helpful, especially with the runaway. She obeys their commands almost immediately.” Something wonderfully wicked flickered in her face as she added, “I often have to use a bit more coercion.”
Alden inwardly smiled. His angel had a hint of the devil in her. This unique characteristic had revealed itself early. Lois, Tabitha’s mother, had been the first to fall victim to her creative talents, carrying bite marks, scratches, and bruises on her skin for days.
When Alden had recognized his daughter’s unique appetites, he’d taken her under his wing and shielded her. Another downfall of his first wife—she hadn’t fully appreciated their daughter’s specialness. It had been one of the many reasons he and Lois had had to part ways.
He remembered that day well. Tabitha had been there at her mother’s bedside during her last moments and Alden could still picture the little smile of satisfaction curving his daughter’s mouth. Though only twelve at the time, even then, she hadn’t wanted competition from another woman.
“So you’ve chosen the runaway as our teaching aid this time?”
She grinned. “Yes, and I think she may well be our best yet. You know that kind of defiance always makes for good teaching points. Her punishment will give the others excellent examples.”
“And give you enjoyment.”
She shrugged. “Finding enjoyment in one’s job is important. You taught me that.”
Alden leaned forward and put his mouth to her ear. “And you were an excellent student.”
“Thank you, Father.” Placing her head on his chest, she snuggled against him.
“Are you ready for our trip next week?” Alden asked.
“Yes. Having you all to myself for a few days will be a special treat.”
“Have you chosen our location?”
She nodded. “Since we have to stay close to home, I’ve chosen a small college two hundred miles southeast of here. If we can identify her early enough, we might possibly be home by the end the week.”
“Excellent. I’ll leave all the details to you.”
Shifting slightly, she put her lips against his neck and spoke against his skin. “May I stay with you awhile?”
Rarely able to refuse his angel, Alden slid his hand under her dress and then up her soft thigh. “You know that whatever pleases you pleases me.”
With a soft, gratitude-filled sigh, Tabitha’s hand went to his zipper. Alden closed his eyes and allowed her to have her way.
Seth stood at the window of the LCR conference room. The city of Tampa sprawled out before him, but he saw nothing other than the words forming in his head. Words that would no doubt create an argument. Damned if he’d keep them to himself, though. Fortunately, everyone but Honor had left—all preparing to take their plans for the stakeout and deep cover to the next level.
“What’s wrong?”
She stood behind him, all soft woman, all once his. He had no right to ask her to step back. Honor was a trained professional. In the years they’d been apart, she’d been involved in dozens of dangerous cases. But he hadn’t known about them … hadn’t allowed himself to know. Now, with this job, he was the one responsible for bringing her into danger.
“Seth?” she asked again.
Without turning, he said, “How many female operatives does LCR have?”
“I’m not sure. Thirty, maybe. I’ve never asked. Why?”
Taking a breath, he turned and tried for evasiveness and logic, at first. “Having an additional female operative on the case would be helpful.”
Her smooth brow furrowed in confusion. “Noah’s already designated eleven more female operatives, plus two additional men, Gabe Maddox and Jordan Montgomery. Along with Aidan and Jared, that’s sixteen operatives, not counting you and Noah. That’s a hell of a lot of people for one mission.”
“One more can’t hurt.”
“Why do you think we need one more?”
“Because you’re in charge of the entire operation. You need to be coordinating everyone’s efforts, not have your time split between that and working undercover, too. Your focus will be off.”
“Are you trying to protect me?”
He didn’t know which surprised him most—her soft voice, the hand she put on his arm, or the tenderness he saw in her expression. He’d figured she would be furious.
Feeling hopeful, he asked, “Would that be so bad?”
“My mom said that’s why you lied to me before. To protect me.”
“I told you that.” He blew out a sigh. Going down this road again would probably not help, but if it made her look at things from a different perspective, he’d try anything. “If I had told you what was going down with Clemmons, what would you have done?”
“I don’t know. I only know that you took the choice away from me.”
Seth nodded grimly and turned back to the window. She was right; he had taken that choice from her. And if he had the same decision to make again? He’d do the same damn thing. She said she didn’t know what she would have done w
ith the truth; Seth had known. Honor would have stuck around, tried to help, gotten involved. And in the process, she could have become a target, trained professional or not. He had loved Honor, and the need to protect her overrode everything else.
“Seth, look at me.”
He turned to her again. With an expression of earnest resolve on her beautiful face, she took both of his hands in hers. “Let’s put what happened in the past behind us and look at it from today’s perspective. I won’t go into boring detail about the number of cases I’ve worked, the arrests I’ve made, or the commendations I’ve received. When we were together before, I was green, I admit. Maybe I would have screwed everything up back then, I don’t know. However, what you need to remember is that now I am a trained professional, with lots of field experience under my belt. I can do this job. What I need from you is to not only believe I can handle the job; I need you to promise that you’ll let me do my job.”
Seth held back the words of protest clamoring to get out. What was the point? She just didn’t see it, would never see it. He knew she was a trained professional, even deadly when necessary. But when he looked at her, he saw the sexy, beautiful, freckle-faced woman who’d stolen his heart years ago. The softly, vulnerable woman he’d held in his arms, the sweetly fragrant woman he’d licked, tasted, and savored. He’d felt the delicacy of her satin skin, knew the vulnerability and softness of her slender body.
To the rest of the world, Honor might be a tough, hard-nosed, no-nonsense woman with a gun. To Seth, she was simply his heart.
If he told her those things, he knew what would happen. She would suggest that he work with another team. No way in hell was that going to happen. Honor didn’t believe she needed his protection. Whether she needed it or not, she was going to get it. No matter how this case went down, whether they saved Kelli and the other girls or not, Honor would be safe. This he swore.
“Seth, can you do that?”
“Yes, I can do that. I have all the faith in the world in you.”
Giving him the smile he’d fallen for long ago, she leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Thank you. Now let’s go find Kelli.”
As Seth followed her out the door, an odd sense of inevitability washed over him. Fate had brought Honor back into his life for a reason. He was beginning to comprehend what that reason was, and in his gut, he knew that what was about to take place was meant to be.
Two days later, Honor stood in front of the room again, this time facing a much larger group of people. Along with Noah, Jared, Aidan, and Seth, two other male LCR operatives had been added to the mix—Jordan Montgomery and Gabe Maddox.
Prior to coming to work for LCR, she had worked with both men, but hadn’t had a chance to do so again since she’d become an operative. Both Jordan and Gabe had taken several months off to handle some personal matters. Jordan and his wife, Eden, had recently adopted a little boy from Thailand. And Gabe, who’d reunited with his wife last year, had spent most of his time in Tennessee, building their new home. When Noah had told her they’d be on the case, she’d been happy to have two such seasoned operatives added to their numbers.
Of the eleven female operatives Noah had called in, none were familiar to her. Though she would have preferred to know at least a few, she wasn’t worried. All LCR operatives were well trained, and she knew Noah McCall; he wouldn’t assign a job to anyone unless he had full confidence in that person.
“Okay, here’s what we know.” Honor turned to one of the boards and pointed at their list. “We figure he’s been at this for ten years. He never hits the same state twice. Each year, he uses a different venue to grab his victims, and he’s not consistent in the number he takes. The first year we’ve tracked him back to, he took three; the second year, five; the third year, three again.”
“How is it that he’s not been targeted by the authorities by now?” Gabe asked.
“For one thing, his preferences are all over the place. Though he does seem to like them in their late teens or early twenties, he doesn’t target one particular race, background, or even body type.” She shot a glance at Seth. “One of the things Seth noticed immediately before he contacted LCR was how there were so few similarities.”
“So, all totaled, how many women has he taken?”
“He’s hit forty-seven states.”
Several gasps and curses exploded in the room. They were experiencing the shock she had felt two days ago. She allowed several seconds for that information to sink in before she continued: “We believe he hasn’t hit Alaska and Hawaii just because of the sheer difficulty of transporting his victims.”
An operative who’d been introduced as Julie Rose said, “What’s the other state he hasn’t hit?”
“Wyoming.”
“Any reason for this?” Jordan asked.
“We have a couple of theories. He either simply hasn’t gotten to that state yet or that’s where he lives and he doesn’t want to hunt so close to home.”
“And that’s where you think he’s going to hit next?” Jordan asked.
“That’s what we’re counting on.” She prayed to God they were right. They were basing this premise on simple math, and because of their limited time frame, they had no choice. They had nothing else to go on.
“We also believe we have a short window before he stops for the year.” Looking back at her list, she said, “His hunting time is early spring through late autumn. If we don’t find him now, it’ll be months before he goes on the hunt again. Months these girls don’t have.”
She drew a breath and continued: “Here’s what we don’t know. We don’t know why he’s doing this or what he’s doing with the girls.”
“So what’s the plan?” Gabe asked.
“Each female operative will go to a campus. I’ll review your covers and locations before we adjourn. Noah will be our point person. We’ll have twelve operatives working the campuses. And six operatives will be backup and assist when needed.”
“What are we looking for?” asked Andrea Johnston, a tall, lanky blond. “Most campuses are ripe with guys trying to pick up girls.”
Honor glanced at Seth, who took up the reins and said, “The MO has been different each year. This time he’s not only targeting college campuses, he’s targeting young girls who are particularly vulnerable. The two girls last year and two of the three missing this year, including my niece, were transfers. We think he’s using a young woman as a lure.”
“How’s that?” Gabe asked.
As Honor reviewed the ruse they believed was being used, Seth observed the women who would be going undercover. Most of them looked young enough to be in college, which surprised the hell out of him. Where had all of these young women come from? What made them willing to risk their lives to rescue others?
He glanced back at Honor. She was probably the oldest here, but of all the concerns he had about her going undercover, looking like a college coed wasn’t one of them. Honor in the right clothes, with the right expression on her face, would look as young as any college freshman. He wished that she did look too old to take part in the operation. Sure as hell would make him feel a lot better.
As she began to make the assignments for each operative, Seth pulled out his map of Wyoming. They’d fallen exhausted into bed last night and hadn’t discussed which campus he and Honor were going to take.
“We have fourteen campuses to cover,” Honor was saying. “A couple of them have a low female attendance, so two of you will cover two campuses each. To stay below radar and have a good pool to choose from, I think he’ll want to target a larger female population.”
She passed out individual assignment sheets to each person, noting, “I’ve included everyone’s name, location, and cell number.” She took a breath and looked around the room. “Our goal is for one of us to get taken.”
Gabe Maddox, who’d been sprawled in his chair, sat up. “So you want an abduction to take place?”
“Yes. We need him to lead us back to where he’s taken
the other girls.”
Jordan Montgomery said, “You’re assuming he’s holding these girls in one spot. You got any proof of that?”
“No. However, that’s what we’re hoping he’s doing.” She held up a small wristwatch. “Each operative will be equipped with a watch like this one and an earbud. The watch has a microphone, so you’ll be able to communicate with your ‘go to’ person at all times. And it has a GPS tracking device that will transmit for up to a thousand miles. If you get taken and no one’s around, we can track you.”
A young brunette who’d been introduced as Sherry said, “So, if I’m taken, what’s my agenda?”
“First and foremost, stay alive,” Honor said. “The last thing we want is for anyone else to be hurt. Our biggest advantage will be in tracking you to his location and coming in after you and the other girls. Since you’ll be able to communicate via your watch, give as many clues as you can without being obvious. If you see any of the other girls and can find a way to let us know, that’s fine. But don’t put yourself at risk to do so. You will have accomplished the most important part. Let us do the rest.”
Seth glanced down at the assignment sheet, looking for his and Honor’s names. When he came to his name, he was shocked to see that she had assigned him to a location in Laramie with another operative. She was going to Camden College in the northeastern part of the state. Hundreds of miles from him.
“No.”
Though well aware that his voice had been loud and abrupt, Seth didn’t care. Everyone was looking at him, but he had eyes for only one person. When she slowly turned to face him, he saw the knowledge in her expression. She’d done it on purpose.
“Something wrong, Seth?”
Though Honor had asked the question, he turned to McCall. “I’m working with Honor.”
Sweet Justice Page 21
