Slow Ride: Sleeper SEALs Book 2

by Becky McGraw

  “Nice makeup, babe. I don’t think anyone would recognize you.”

  “Thanks. I’m getting pretty good at this disguise thing,” Jules replied with a laugh.

  If she got any heavier with the cat’s-eye shaped eye liner and smoky eye, she’d look like she’d been punched in the eyes. The fake lashes Louise gave her took it to another level, so did the red lipstick. But the most badass thing about her ensemble was the black hair pieces on combs that she weaved into Jules’ hair. Once she braided it, Jules looked like she had black hair with blonde highlights.

  “I have to say, you look damned hot in Louise’s leathers. Jeans are a little tight, but there’s nothing wrong with that either,” Bob said with a whistle. “Better not scuff the leathers, or I’ll have to answer to her.”

  “I’m going to ask her where she got them. I’ll probably have to get a second job to pay for them, but I think I need this outfit,” Jules replied.

  The black fringed chaps and studded, cut-waist jacket made her feel as badass as she needed to feel tonight. So did the 9 mm Colt Bob loaned her, which was tucked away in the waist holster under her tank top.

  If anything went down tonight, she and Bob would be prepared to handle it, she thought, as she watched him shove a short shotgun into the sheath then flap the end over it. That weapon was totally illegal, she knew that, but when dealing with terrorists, who cared? She almost hoped that Ari and that guy were at the bar tonight, so they could take them down.

  But they wouldn’t do anything if they didn’t have more evidence.

  They were only going there tonight to watch Keegan’s back in case those men decided to attack him. Bob said the only way he would go was under those terms. He was taking lead and she was support. Typical male attitude, especially one who was a former Army Ranger. It was a little irritating, but Jules agreed, because she wasn’t stupid enough to take a cab there alone.

  He stood, then walked to a bench and came back with a flat-black half-shell helmet with sparkly pink writing on the front that said Bob’s Bitch. She took it from him and ran her fingers over the writing.

  “I’m honored,” she said with a wide smile as she put it over her cap and snapped on the chin strap.

  “You should be,” he said, gruffly. “Louise hasn’t let a woman ride bitch with me for twenty-five years. She likes you.”

  A warm rush of feeling flowed through her. It had been so damned long since she’d had a family, she felt honored that Keegan’s aunt and uncle had accepted her so easily. She couldn’t get too comfortable with them, though, or too attached.

  Even though he said it wasn’t what he wanted from her, she and Keegan were just friends with benefits at the moment. There was the potential for more, but she wasn’t rushing anything with him. Now wasn’t the time for it, anyway.

  Bob got on the older, but tricked-out Harley Ultra Glide and cranked the throaty motor. The purr rumbled through her body, lighting up every nerve. She stepped on the back peg, swung her leg over the saddle behind him and smiled as she put her arms around his waist. He walked the bike around then clicked a button to open the bay door.

  Excitement surged through her as he juiced the throttle and they sped through the door into the dusk. Forty exhilarating minutes later, he idled up into the parking lot of the Lily Pad and it was packed. She saw Keegan’s bike parked in his normal spot by the back door, and pointed Bob around the side building.

  He parked in the alley behind the dumpster and she got off and removed her helmet. Bob removed his helmet and put it on the seat, then tugged on a black leather skull cap. After he stowed the shotgun in the saddle bag and locked it, he took her hand.

  “Let’s do this thing, Nat,” he said, grinning down at her. “Operation Save Dumbass has commenced. Where do we go?”

  “We have to go in the side door. Keegan will be at the front.” She led him around the building to the door and grabbed the handle. “It’s Thursday, so it should be packed tonight. That will give us cover.”

  Jules opened the door and tensed when she saw Trace sitting on a stool there. The loud crowd and bump and grind music insulted her ears as he gave her a quick once over, then a slower double take.

  Bob stepped in between them. “Stop eye-fucking my old lady, kid,” he growled, in a tone that raised the hair on the back of her neck. She imagined Trace was shitting his pants right then. If he used that tone on her, she definitely would have been.

  “Sorry, dude—she’s just—hot. I was appreciating. Welcome to the Lily Pad,” he replied, giving Bob a chin nod, trying to pretend he wasn’t affected. “Cover is ten each.”

  Bob pulled out his wallet, which was attached to a chain on his belt loop, and handed Trace a twenty. He put it back in his pocket and grabbed her hand, then without another look at Trace, he pulled her with him into the thick crowd. It swallowed them up, and Jules took over because she knew the way. Even so, it took almost ten minutes for her to weave her way to the back through the mass of bodies.

  She looked at the empty stool by the front door and frowned. The hair on her neck raised again, this time alerting her to the fact that something was off. Twisting, she leaned back and tiptoed to put her mouth by Bob’s ear.

  “Something’s wrong. He’s not at the door,” she said and Bob nodded. Easing back down on her heels, she looked toward the bar and saw Sara, Frank’s twenty-year-younger, ex-stripper girlfriend tending bar. Frank was nowhere to be seen. Definitely odd. Glancing at the stage, she saw that the twins were on.

  “Let’s see if he’s up front handling a situation.” Gripping Bob’s hand tighter, she led him across the bar. By the time they got to the other side, Ruby’s music cued and she froze.

  The stripper strode out of the shadows in her flowing red cape and a deafening roar filled the building as she danced toward the edge of the stage. She tilted her head, then worked the cape dramatically over the heads of the men lining the bar.

  Jules glanced at Bob, and his tongue hung out as much as the men in the crowd. She tugged his hand and his head snapped back to her. He leaned closer. “Sorry, just getting my ten dollars’ worth,” he said with a grin. “Who do I ask for change?”

  “Frank,” she replied, tugging him back into the crowd to work her way to the stage. “But he’s not at the bar either.” He was always at the bar, so that fact alone made her insides clench.

  At the far corner of the stage she stopped to scan the row of men by the stage, then moved across the front tables to see if Keegan might be there. He wasn’t, so she glanced up at Ruby then casually made her way to the backstage door.

  It was the only place he could be, other than Frank’s office. She paused before pushing through the door to gnaw her bottom lip. If she went inside the dressing room, she knew someone would recognize her. She hated to send Bob in there alone, but she had no choice. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him into the area where the private rooms were located and where it was ten decibels quieter.

  “See if he’s in the dressing room. If anyone stops you, tell them you’re Trina’s boyfriend. She’s off tonight, so that will be your ticket out.” She walked to the first private room and tiptoed to glance inside the window. Candi was in there giving a private dance to someone. She walked back to Bob and leaned close. “There’s a closet behind this room, so check it too. If you don’t find him, we’ll go to Frank’s office.”

  He nodded and they went back to the dressing room door. Before Bob could go inside, it swooshed open and fear slammed into her when Ari walked out, texting on his phone. Jules quickly turned her back and he strode by without looking at her. He stopped behind the men lining the stage and watched Ruby. When she noticed him, he gave her a finger wave, sliced his index finger across his throat then tossed a thumb over his shoulder. She nodded, then glanced at the dressing room door.

  Jules’ blood turned cold as Ari breezed past her to go back into the dressing room. He never went in there with Ruby. They always talked in the private room. She spun on her heel to grab Bob�
�s arm.

  “Something is wrong!” she said, her heart dropping to her stomach. If they went inside the dressing room, she knew they’d walk right into whatever was going on, so she pulled him back to the side door and rushed him outside.

  “What’s up?” Bob asked sounding agitated.

  “Ari never goes into the dressing room with Ruby. Frank doesn’t allow it and he was in there without her. He’s part of our investigation and the one who tried to shoot us last night. I have a bad feeling Keegan is in trouble.” Jules looked and saw Keegan’s bike was still there. “Back door,” she said then took off running toward the other end of the building.

  When she got to the turn, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Ari’s SUV idling by the door. Bob plowed into the back of her, almost shoving her into the open. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

  “What in the hell is going on, Jules?!?” he demanded as his fingers dug into the leather jacket.

  She didn’t have to answer when the back door suddenly opened and two men dragged another man out between them. Her hand shook violently as she reached under her shirt to pull out her pistol. What she was going to do with it, she didn’t know at the moment.

  “That’s Keegan,” she said, her voice breaking as fear like she’d never known made her knees buckle.

  “Nah, he’d never let them—” Bob started, but leaned over her shoulder again. “Fuck, that is him!” Before she could stop him, Bob rushed out into the open with a pistol trained on the men. Jules had no choice but to stay there and provide cover from the corner of the building. She crouched and chose Ari as her target.

  “Stop right there or I’ll put a bullet in both of you before you take your next breath,” Bob shouted and the words rang in her head.

  The men froze and dropped Keegan’s limp body to raise their hands. “Walk toward me now,” Bob instructed, stopping halfway to the truck. Jules was surprised when they complied. “Now get on your knees and lace your fingers behind your head.” After a second, the two men did that as well. “Nat, call the police,” he shouted.

  Jules, reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone to dial 9-1-1. When the operator answered, she told them she needed an ambulance and the police at The Lily Pad. When the woman tried to keep her on the phone, she hung up, because she needed to focus on watching Bob’s six, and on whether Keegan was breathing or not. Her stomach knotted, then rolled at the thought he could be dead.

  God, please let him be breathing. He’s a good man and the world needs him. She needed him.

  When he moaned and rolled onto his back, she finally breathed again. Distant sirens blared and her chest expanded enough for her to take a deeper breath. This whole situation was surreal to her. Combined with Ari’s actions the other night, this verified she had valid reason to be concerned about what she overheard them talking about.

  If they were willing to kill two people over that information, something was definitely going on. They had to get on that ship tomorrow. She hoped that Keegan wasn’t hurt too badly for that to happen, or she’d have to go alone.

  The door opened again and Jules swung her pistol there as Ruby walked out wearing a short, red robe. She knew Bob couldn’t take his eyes off the two men he had on their knees, so she walked around the corner.

  “Stop right there, Ruby,” she growled, mimicking Bob’s tone with the men. It didn’t work on the woman, and Jules cursed as she darted back inside the door. She ran to the door and flung it open. When she stepped inside, a flash of gray caught her eye and instinct made her duck. A metal chair slammed into the door right above her head.

  Adrenaline made her dizzy as she rolled away and came up to her feet, but Ruby swung the chair again. It connected with her right wrist and pain sliced up her arm. The pistol flew from her hand to skate across the floor and Ruby ran for it. Jules flew to her feet then launched herself toward her and tackled the taller woman.

  They landed hard, with her on top and slid across the floor. They stopped with the pistol right beside Ruby’s right shoulder. Heart pounding, Jules reached for it, but Ruby’s hand closed around it first. Jules jammed her elbow down into the base of the other woman’s neck, then hammered her fist into her wrist.

  With a yowl, Ruby released the pistol and Jules grabbed her thumb to twist her arm up behind her back.

  “Move and it will give me great pleasure to break your fucking neck, bitch,” she growled, pushing her elbow deeper into the curve of Ruby’s neck, hoping she’d choke off her breath. She would love to kill her at the moment.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Frank mumbled as he staggered around the corner holding the side of his bleeding head. “Where the hell is MacDonald?”

  “Outside,” Jules replied, hoping like hell Frank wasn’t one of the bad guys. If so, she was screwed.

  “Is he alive?” Frank asked, groaning as he put his free hand on the bench in front of the lockers before he sat down.

  “Yeah, he’s alive,” she replied, relief making her giddy. The loud sirens outside the back door compounded that feeling. The cavalry had arrived and they would be okay.

  The back door burst open and a shiver zipped down her spine as she felt guns pointed between her shoulder blades.

  “I’m a federal agent, and this woman is under arrest,” Jules said firmly.

  “Federal agent?!?” Frank shouted, then groaned.

  With a sense of accomplishment, Jules put her knee down and lifted her arm from Ruby’s throat as she pushed up to her feet. She pulled Ruby up then turned her over to the two policemen, before she picked up her pistol and went to find out if Keegan was indeed alive.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “I’m not going to the hospital, Jules—just drop it!” Keegan repeated for the fifth time, as he sat on the bumper of the ambulance while the medic applied a bandage to the cut near his temple. He ran his fingers around the edges of the small cut, which bled like he’d been scalped, sending sharp rays of pain through his skull.

  “You could have a concussion, buddy. This laceration could probably use a stitch or two as well,” the second medic warned.

  “I’ve had worse paper cuts and I have a headache. All they’ll tell me to do is stay in bed for a day or two. I don’t have a day or two.” He would be in the middle of the Atlantic on a ship with possible terrorists in a day or two.

  Keegan wished like hell they’d just drop it, because they were giving him the headache. If he had a concussion, it wouldn’t be his first. Yes, it hurt like hell and he felt dizzy, but tomorrow he would be fine as long as he was on that ship before it sailed.

  Things got real tonight.

  Something huge was going down on that ship and he would be on board to stop it. The fact that Ari followed him into Frank’s office with his muscle to pistol whip them solidified that.

  Thank God he hadn’t brought Jules with him tonight. He was pretty damned pissed she’d talked his uncle into bringing her here. But he was also grateful she went with her gut, because otherwise, he could be dead. And damned if she didn’t look smoking hot tonight in those leathers.

  Even with a concussion he didn’t miss that.

  At least he’d gotten Ari’s last name before they knocked him unconscious. He needed to call the Commander and put him on notice that Ari Alil Abdulla, number ten on the government’s most wanted terrorist list, was locked up at the police station in Norfolk.

  That was a very good thing, but he knew if the Commander didn’t step in and have the Department of Justice file the real charges, Ari would likely lawyer up and be out on bond in a few hours on the assault charge. Then they would never find him again.

  “Thank goodness Ruby took a swing at me with that chair. At least she’s going downtown tonight too,” Jules said, waking him up.

  “Yes, and thank goodness she didn’t connect with your hard head,” he growled pinning her with his eyes and she made him angrier by smiling. “Maybe if she had, though, she’d have knocked some sense into you.”


  “Did Ari knock some sense into your hard head? Do you now realize you don’t have to do everything alone?” she fired back, raising an eyebrow.

  Yes, he did, as a matter of fact, because Keegan wasn’t getting on that ship with only her tomorrow afternoon. He would have help, if the guys could get a leave chit approved on a quick turn from Lieutenant Bledsoe.

  “Where’s Uncle Bob?” he asked, hissing as the medic rubbed ointment on the cut.

  “He’s going home to make reservations for him and Louise to be on the cruise tomorrow too. He said there’s no way he’s letting two rookies go on this operation alone.”

  “Fuck me,” Keegan growled, closing his eyes as the medic taped on the bandage. After he applied the last tape strip, Keegan got to his feet and his stomach lurched when the ground moved. Jules grabbed his arm to steady him.

  “You’re riding bitch tonight, Boris, so give me your keys and hop on.” Jules laughed when his mouth dropped open. Keegan jerked his arm from her grasp.

  “No way am I letting you drive me anywhere. Are you nuts?!?” he shouted, then groaned when a lightning bolt sliced through his skull.

  “I must be, because we’re going to my house tonight so we’re ready to roll in the morning. Louise said she’s packing your bag, and they will bring it with them to the port. It’s only an hour fifteen or so from here.” She held out her hand, palm up, and gave him the evil eye with her exotic cat eyes. “You scared to turn over control, SEAL Boy?”

  Fuck yes, he was! That was a very expensive bike which he’d just finished retrofitting. And it wouldn’t just be turning over control—he’d be putting his life in her hands.

  “Do you even have your endorsement? Have you ever driven a bike before?” he asked, his vision going a bit hazy as his insides clenched.