Twenty minutes later, she was exiting the airport, en-route to Wagner’s residence to do a drive-by and reconnaissance. Carter’s buddy, some guy named Brody, had emailed her dummy account with the floor plans and alarm information. The only data she still needed was a definite time when the pervert wasn’t going to be home. If worse came to worse, she could do it in the middle of the night, and pray the guy was a heavy sleeper. She’d done that numerous times, and while it was riskier, it ramped up the thrill and her adrenaline—stuff she lived for.
If anyone from her long-gone youth had told her back then she’d one day be working for a covert United States government agency as a secret agent, she would’ve told them they were crazy. Growing up in South America, the daughter of a wealthy businessman and a former Miss Argentina, she’d rubbed elbows with the upper echelons of society. But no one knew what was going on behind closed doors until her world came crashing down around her. Orphaned at fourteen and having her inheritance stolen by greedy relatives had changed her life forever.
Jordyn shoved the unwanted memories, which popped up every so often, from her mind as she steered the vehicle down the street where the target lived. Time to get her head back into the game and figure out how to help another young teenage girl whose life had been turned upside down.
CHAPTER 19
Jake stood at the back of the crowd outside the courthouse where Oliver Wagner was giving a press conference concerning the death of his wife. The Trident operative had woken up to the news report of Carrie Wagner’s homicide and heard the bastard was going to issue a statement at 11:00 this morning, so he added it to his agenda for the day. The businessman’s lawyer and his friend, the mayor, were in attendance, as well as a few others. Noticeably absent was the Chief of Police, making Jake wonder if the man had wised up to the fact his supporter was a wife abuser and involved in a murder conspiracy.
What surprised Jake, though, was that he recognized a man standing off to the side of the reporters, staying out of range of the cameras. If he wasn’t mistaken, the man was Craig Allman from the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Bureau. Jake had met the undercover agent about two years ago during a joint operation between the feds and Trident. But that was in Puerto Rico, so what was the guy doing here? A light bulb went off in Jake’s mind. Craig Allman…Craig Allen? Could they be the same person? Could the feds have planted one of their own in Wagner’s lair? And why? What was the businessman involved in which had brought him to the attention of the ATF?
Quickly shooting off a group text to Ian, Devon, and Brody, Jake refocused his attention to the podium. A lot of the reporters were questioning why Carrie Wagner was living under an assumed name, was Alyssa with her before the murder, and where his daughter was now. Aside from a brief statement, probably written by a P.R. specialist, Wagner hadn’t said a word, leaving the talking to his attorney. And that windbag was putting the usual spin on things—Oliver was a grieving husband and father, who had no idea why his wife ran away. He also added enough speculation that Carrie had taken off with another man and turned Alyssa against her father for no sane reason. A mental breakdown was also alluded to—anything to shift the suspicion off where it belonged.
Wishing he could take the man down now, but knowing he had to wait for Jordyn to break into Wagner’s home safe, Jake put mental restraints on his desire for justice. The woman had texted him a few minutes ago, letting him know she was in Tampa and scouting out the residence. He didn’t expect to hear from her again until she had what he needed. Adjusting his stance, he stared at Wagner with venom. Your time will come, you son-of-a-bitch.
The lawyer wrapped things up and ignored the rest of the shouted questions. He hurried Wagner to a waiting vehicle and after the two jumped in, the driver accelerated, leaving the press behind. Glancing around, Jake noticed Allman had also slipped away. Hopefully, by the time Jake got back to the office, Boss-man or Egghead had some information for him about what the hell the undercover fed was doing in Tampa.
Striding back to where he’d parked his truck, he pulled out his cell again. He wasn’t really surprised Nick hadn’t contacted him, but he was kind of hoping he would. Why should he, you asshole? Even if you weren’t the top, it’s still your responsibility to fix what you screwed up. Opening the door of his vehicle, he climbed into the driver’s seat and made a decision. After he took care of a few things at the office, he’d track Nick down and apologize for being a jackass. Maybe if he groveled enough, he could salvage what might be the best thing that had ever happened to him.
When he entered the Trident offices, twenty minutes later, he was surprised yet happy to see Nick standing at the reception desk, talking to Colleen. At the sound of the front door opening, the younger man turned his gaze toward Jake and gave him a small smile. “Hey. You got a minute?”
Trying not to alert the secretary that there was a problem between the two men, Jake nodded. “Sure. But first, we’ve got to talk to Egghead. Something’s going on with Oliver Wagner and I hope Brody’s got some info for me.”
Following him into the computer geek’s war-room, Nick pulled over a straight-back chair, turned it around, and straddled it, while Jake remained standing. Brody held up a finger without looking up from his massive computer set-up—the team often teased him that he could probably launch a NASA rocket into space from this room. “Give me a sec to cover my tracks in the system I just hacked into.”
Jake snorted. “I don’t even want to know what system. When it comes to you and your hacking, I want plausible deniability.”
Shaking his head, Nick chuckled while the geek finished typing and hit the ‘Enter’ button on his keyboard. Spinning around in his swivel chair, Brody crossed his arms and stared at Jake. “As you’ve already figured out, Allman is undercover.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Who’s Allman?”
Leaning back against the wall, Jake hooked his thumbs on the belt loops of his jeans. “Craig Allman is ATF. We met him on a joint op last year in Puerto Rico. I spotted him at the press conference Wagner held this morning with his lawyer. They were announcing Carrie’s death and trying to cover up any suspicion that he may’ve had something to do with it.”
“Yeah, I saw the ‘Breaking News’ alert before I walked over here.”
Nodding, Jake continued. “When I spotted Allman at the edge of the crowd, the name clicked, and I was wondering if he was the Craig Allen that Todd was talking about, so I asked Egghead to check it out.”
“Didn’t take long to confirm it either,” Brody informed them. “As a matter of fact, I went through channels first and called one of our contacts. He just got back to me a few minutes ago. Allman wants to meet with you.”
An eyebrow went up. “Really? When?”
The geek shrugged. “Don’t know. I passed on your cell number. He’ll call you when he can set something up without drawing any suspicion from Wagner.”
“Okay. So which is it? Alcohol, tobacco, or guns?”
Performing a drum roll with his hands against his thighs in dramatic fashion, Egghead announced, “Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…and the winner is…illegal weapons. Fully automatic AK-47s to be exact. Apparently, Wagner has gotten himself involved with an old friend of ours from Colombia.”
Jake paled a little. “Aw, fuck. Don’t tell me. Wagner’s involved with Emmanuel Diaz?”
“Yup. Remember Carter telling us Emmanuel was busy trying to rebuild after Ernesto’s death?”
Glancing between the two other men, Nick interrupted, “Wait a minute. Isn’t Ernesto Diaz the big-time drug lord from a few years ago? And the reason you guys had targets on your back last year?”
Several years ago, in addition to drugs, the Diaz cartel had quite a few lucrative side businesses which included white-slavery and arms dealing. Several members of the Trident team and a few other retired SEALs had ended up being targets of an assassin after a U.S. senator realized they’d been on a mission years ago involving Ernesto. He was a distant cousin of the now-deceased drug cz
ar, whom SEAL Team Four had a hand in killing, and was worried the team would make the connection when he ran for President. Three former Team Four members and a civilian had been killed before Trident figured out who wanted them all dead. Two of the victims were Jenn Mullins’ parents, and while Nick wasn’t privy to any of the classified information, he did know the basics.
Both of other men nodded, but it was Jake who spoke. “Yeah. Looks like we’re going to cross paths with his little brother who took over the business. He’s been trying to bring the empire back to where it was when Ernesto was running it.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly,” Brody acknowledged. “From what I was told, something big is about to go down, but I couldn’t get any details.”
Jake straightened. “So, this is the feds chance to catch them both red-handed. Does Ian know?”
“Not yet. He’s on a conference call with the Pentagon again. I’d love to know what that’s all about. Any ideas?”
“Not a clue.” With everything else going on, Jake couldn’t care less about whatever Ian was up to. “So, now we have to wait for Jordyn to hit his safe and Allman to fill us in. Let me know if you hear anything else.”
“You got it.”
Moments later, Nick followed Jake into his office and shut the door behind them. “Shit’s getting deeper, isn’t it?”
Jake snorted as he leaned against his desk. “That’s putting it mildly, but, yeah, things are getting worse by the minute. Hopefully, the only casualty in all this will be Wagner. I have to wait until I hear from Allman before we do anything else, though. I don’t want to fuck up a federal investigation, especially when this might be our chance to send the bastard to prison without Alyssa’s situation being made public. The last thing I want is for her to have to testify.”
He paused. Regret was eating at his gut, and he needed to clear the air between him and Nick…again. Rubbing his hand down his face, he took the bull by the horns. “Look. I’m sorry about yesterday morning. I was an ass.”
Smirking, Nick took a step closer, crossed his arms and repeated the words Jake had said seconds earlier. “That’s putting it mildly. But tell me, are things going to get worse between us or better? I understand this is all new, but, Jake, I need you to talk to me. I’ll let it go for now, but when all this with Alyssa is over, you better be able to come clean. I feel like I’m fighting your ghosts, but I can’t fight what I can’t see.”
Well, fuck, when he put it that way, Jake felt even shittier. “You’re right. And I’m going to do my best to straighten things out in my head, because that’s the first step. But for now, will you forgive me…again?”
Nick took another step forward and Jake pushed himself off the edge of the desk. Lust flared in the Dom’s eyes and groin when his submissive grinned seductively at him. Nick lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips along Jake’s jaw, sending pinpricks of electricity through his skin. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t stay away. Yeah, I forgive you.” With his other hand, he reached into his back pocket and took out a folded piece of paper and held it out for Jake to take. “Here’s my completed limit list. I also got a copy of the submissives’ protocols.”
Holy shit! Jake was stunned. It was not what he was expecting, but, damn, did it turn him on. Taking the paper, he tossed it on his desk, his gaze never leaving Nick’s face. He stepped forward and slowly backed his sub up against the wall. “Fuck, Junior. If you only knew what you do to me.”
“Show me, Sir.”
CHAPTER 20
Jake pinned him to the wall and crushed their mouths together. Nick hardened in an instant. Their tongues dueled while their bodies rubbed against each other—chest to chest, hips to hips, hard-on to hard-on. Nick moaned, wishing they were in either of their apartments and not where someone could walk in on them. He wanted nothing more than to strip and let the Dom do whatever he wanted. Jake’s hands slid from where they’d been holding Nick’s head, down his torso, and clutched his hips. Breaking their lip-lock, he kissed and nibbled his way across Nick’s jaw to his ear, where he whispered, “I’ll tell you what you do to me. You make me beyond horny. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you—not only physically, but in every fucking way. You drive me fucking insane with need.”
“Not as insane as you make me, Sir. Please, let me touch you.” It had taken everything in him to leave his hands on Jake’s shoulders, waiting for a command or acquiescence to touch him elsewhere, now that they were in D/s mode. It was one of the things he’d read about last night—when playing, always ask or wait for permission, otherwise he may be punished. And that was not something he wanted now. Jake pulled his head back so they could see each other, and Nick almost fell to his knees from the heat in his Master’s eyes.
Opening his mouth to respond, Jake was interrupted when the door flew open and Ian marched in. The two men jumped apart, but not fast enough. His eyes flashing wide, Ian paused for a moment before striding over to the desk. “Fuck! Seriously?” he spat out.
His blood boiling, Nick glared at his brother as Ian turned to walk back out of the room, holding a file he’d retrieved from Jake’s desk. “Fuck you, Ian! You don’t have a problem with Jake being gay, but when it comes to your own fucking brother, all of a sudden it’s an issue! You’re a fucking hypocrite, you know that?”
“Nick…”
He ignored the warning in Jake’s voice as Ian pivoted slowly. But in an instant, the eldest Sawyer brother was across the room, twisting Nick’s shirt in his fist and propelling him up against the same wall he’d been pinned to moments earlier. Only this time, the hands holding him were the result of anger. Ian’s blue eyes glowered as Nick tried to shove him back, but his sibling was immovable. Short of taking a swing at him, there was no way to gain an advantage. Despite being out of the SEALs for over four years, Ian was still in fighting shape.
“You fucking little shit. Are you fucking kidding me? Close the door, Jake.”
Instead of following the growled order, Jake placed his hand on his boss’s flexed bicep. His voice was the only calm one at the moment. “Boss-man, let him go.”
“Close. The. Fucking. Door.” Ian’s jaw was clenched with barely contained fury. “As much as I want to beat some sense into his thick fucking skull, I won’t. But it’s time my little brother had a come-to-Jesus-moment.”
Jake hesitated a moment as the brothers stared daggers at each other, then walked across the room to shut the door. He leaned against it and crossed his arms, ready to play referee if needed. Refusing to release Nick, Ian got in his face and growled. “Listen, you little shit. The reason I reacted that way has nothing to do with you being gay. I left my fucking apartment this morning to find Dev and Kristen making out on the fucking stairs. Then I get here and Boomer is all lovey-fucking-dovey with Kat on the phone, to the point I wanted to fucking gag. Then I walk in here and you two are fucking going at it. My fiancée is up in fucking New York for her friend’s fucking baby shower, and apparently everyone around here is getting fucking laid but me. That’s what my fucking problem is, ass-hat.”
What the hell? Nick gaped at his brother in undisguised astonishment.
Ian gave him one last push before letting go of his shirt and backing up. The ire subsided from his voice. “Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled to walk in on this, but it’s no different to the reaction I had when I walked in on Mom and Dad last year.”
“What? You walked in on them… like what, making out?”
“More like having sex.” Across the room Jake let out a bark of laughter as a queasy look came over Ian’s face. “I’m pretty sure they’ve done the dirty deed before, since they had four kids, but I wasn’t expecting that. I was near Charlotte for business and decided to stop in to surprise them. Yeah, well, we all had a surprise. I’ve been trying to scrub the image of them going at it in Dad’s recliner from my brain ever since. Thanks for making me bring it up again.” Nick felt the blood drain from his face and his brother’s eyes narrowed. “W
hat’s wrong?”
“I sat in that recliner last Christmas for hours.” He was as nauseous as his brother looked while Jake roared with laughter.
“And I avoided it like the fucking plague.” Ian let out a deep breath and leaned against the desk. “Seriously, Nick. Jake’s one of my best friends, and Toby Walsh has been my best friend since third grade. You think that would be the case if I was a fucking homophobe?”
“Toby’s gay? How come I didn’t know that?” Nick took a few steps and flopped into one of the two client chairs in front of the desk. This was so not the way he expected this to go. Hell, he didn’t know what he had expected. Since Jake no longer had to referee, he left his post and took the other seat next to him, but remained quiet.
Ian shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably because he moved to New York City before you went into junior high school, and you only saw him a few times after that. He’s been in a relationship with a Broadway actor for about nine years now. Kelly’s a nice guy.”
“Jeez. I think I remember you mentioning Kelly before, but I thought he was a woman.” Nick felt like an ass. Talk about jumping to conclusions without all the facts. “How long have you known?”
“That Kelly’s not a woman or that Toby is gay?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, you jackass. Me. How long have you known I’m gay?”
“Since you were fifteen or sixteen.” Nick’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief. Ian had known for ten years? “I was home on leave for Thanksgiving weekend and Dev wasn’t. Mom told me to invite Toby, and one night, we took you out for dinner to that sports bar Dev likes. Toby was the one who noticed you checking out the same guys he was and mentioned it to me later on. He knew what it was like to not have the support of family when he came out and didn’t want you to go through it, so he let me know. I’ve been waiting for you to come out ever since, ass-hat. And I’m hurt you thought you had to hide who you truly are all these years. I’m a fucking Dom and own a BDSM club. I probably know more gay people than you do. Did you really think I would judge you negatively?”
Topping the Alpha: Trident Security Series Page 14
