by Elle Boon
“What’s wrong?” Brooke glanced back at him, worry in her tone.
He searched the rooms as they passed, heading toward the back of the house where the admiral’s office was. “Does anything look out of place to you?”
Brooke shook her head. “No, mother always kept everything tidy.” Outside the entrance to her dad’s office, she stopped and put her hand on the heavy oak door, her deep intake of breath proceeded her leaning her forehead on one of the panels that made up the custom-made door.
He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her she didn’t need to go in with him. That he’d take it from there but knew she’d balk at his words. His Brooke was a fighter. “Erik said we have a little over an hour before your mother returns,” he said instead.
“Let’s do this.” She turned the knob. Clear surprise showed on her lovely face when the door didn’t open. “Well, it looks like someone has locked it. I gots keys, though.” She held up a set with a smirk.
Good god he loved this woman. “Damn, you’re sexy when you’re sassy and speak all cute like that. I’d love to gots you,” he mimicked her words.
“Why thank you, kind sir.” Her key fit into the lock, opening the door with a quiet snick.
Inside, he could smell the menthol a little heavier. “Do you smell that?” he asked, not telling her what he meant, wanting her to acknowledge the scent on her own.
Her nose wrinkled. “It reeks of mint and nicotine. My dad smoked cigars on occasion, but he always made sure the window was open. Usually, he’d go outside on the patio if he had one, and they never had that nasty smell.” She waved her hand back and forth in front of her nose. “He used to say, and I quote ‘That’s god damn offensive to my nose’, and then he’d wink.” Her voice had gone deep when she’d imitated her dad, followed by sadness.
Jase wished he could say her dad was a good man, but from all the evidence, the admiral was a traitor. The man had sent Jase to prison on false charges and tried to have him killed on more than one occasion. He couldn’t find any remorse for the loss of the man other than the ache it caused Brooke and Jack. Standing near the door, he took a few seconds to scan the interior, getting a feel for the place. With a roll of his shoulders, he shrugged the pack off his back, unzipped it, and pulled the things he’d need out onto the floor. First order of business would be to make sure there were no listening devices installed. If his suspicions were correct, the admiral wasn’t working alone. As Brooke turned to ask him another question, he placed his finger over his lips, shaking his head. Her eyes were troubled, but she nodded.
The tiny box lit up as he walked around the perimeter of the room until he reached the bookcases behind the desk. There, right behind where the admiral would sit and do his talking, or presumably work, Jase found, not one but two high-tech recording devices, cleverly hidden among the books and awards. Once he identified them all, he pulled out another handy electronic. This one, Erik liked to call the scrambler. Whatever it was truly called, Jase had no clue and didn’t care. He only knew it blocked any recording device, even video. “We’re clear to speak freely. Can you open the drawers on his desk and this cabinet?” Jase tugged on the top drawer of one of the built-in drawers.
Her fingers fumbled the keys as she attempted to open the desk first. “I can’t believe there were bugs in here. Who would do that?”
Jase abandoned his task to comfort Brooke. He’d forgotten she wasn’t accustomed to the life he’d been leading for the past several years. “Who knows, love. Let’s just get this done and get out of here. If you want, you can unlock these for me and wait out in the living room.” It would be easier on the both of them, especially if he found incriminating evidence.
She gave him a tight hug then pulled away. “No way. I want to see whatever it is you think you’re going to find firsthand. I need to…see it to believe it.” Resolve was set in every line of her slim figure.
His finger went under her chin, tilting her face up to his. “No matter what we find, or don’t find, remember I love you. This,” he looked around the room. “It means nothing. Changes nothing between you, me, and Jack.”
Brooke closed the small gap between their mouths, giving him a sweet kiss. “I know, but thank you for saying that.”
This woman had no clue, but he’d give her the moon, if he had the ability. “Let’s get this done, so we can get back to our son.”
“I like the sound of that.” Brooke’s hands still had a tremor in them, but she made quick work of unlocking the drawers.
Jase went through each one, finding nothing that was of interest. He booted up the man’s computer, finding it password locked. “Shit!”
“Here,” Brooke said, moving the mouse over the box and entering a series of letters and words. “My dad was cautious, but I knew all his passwords. He just didn’t know it.”
He shook his head. The fact a civilian could open up an admiral’s computer that could very well have sensitive material on it was mind boggling, even if the person in question was their daughter. Jase didn’t stop to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. He went to the history file, searching to see what Admiral Frazee had been doing, or looking at, before his death. His finger froze when the timestamps were for earlier that day and on days prior when the man in question was deceased. He copied the links and opened a browser, pasting them into it. When he saw what the first link led to, he froze, shocked to the core.
“What is that?” Brooke asked from over his shoulder.
How did you explain to the woman you loved that she was looking at coordinates to military locations in the Middle East? Locations that were top secret. The next one floored him even more as it was the blue print to Brooke’s building. Inserting the thumb drive into the computer, he typed in the keys that would copy everything. Erik and the team, or rather Tay could scour the entire thing in a matter of hours, where it would take him days to search through the damn thing. What was clear to him? Someone who’d been on the computer in the last few days had been passing information on. Information that would be endangering US soldiers, along with details of Brooke’s home and business layout. The only reason he could come up with for both wasn’t good.
“Erik, I’ve got a shitton of info that needs to get in the right hands. Right now though, we need someone to get word to troops in the Middle East. Their locations are compromised.” He gave the coordinates that he’d seen.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Erik snarled, the sound of things dropping then keys tapping filled his ear.
“Wouldn’t joke about this. I’m going to check the rest of the room, but there were a couple bugs. Want me to take them? Maybe you can see where they came from?” His fingers flew across the screen, searching through a few folders.
Erik let out a puff of air. “I’d kill to get my hands on one of them, but if you take it, they’ll know someone is onto them. No, it’s too risky.”
“I’m going to go through a few more things, then we need to get out of here.” Jase could see his conversation had upset Brooke, but they were running out of time. He gave her what he hoped she took as the sorry he felt. She nodded, sitting down in one of the leather wingback chairs heavily.
“Be careful. Contact me as soon as your safe.”
He logged off the computer once the thumb drive indicated it was done downloading. The speed amazed him. Damn fine technology when it was working on your side.
Rifling through the drawers behind him, he didn’t find anything that stood out, until he came to a video camera. The cleverly hidden device looked like an old book, but what had made Jase pull it out was the fact it looked too new, especially as it sat next to the older ones. He looked at his watch, grimacing. They were pushing their luck, but he wanted to see what, if anything was on there.
The small digital device came on when he pushed play. He arrowed back to the beginning, narrowing his eyes at the date. The day the admiral had died is the first day recorded.
*****
Brooke got up wh
en Jase pulled down what appeared to be an old collector’s book of her father’s. “What’s that?”
Jase shook his head, opening the book and pulling out a small black device.
She sucked in a breath as she realized what he held. Someone had been recording what went on in her dad’s office. “Who put that there?”
“I don’t know. Let’s take a look.” Jase held it out from his body, hoping like hell he wasn’t making a mistake.
Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling the cry. On the screen, she noticed, not for the first time, that Mark Frazee Sr. was a handsome man, especially when he was dressed in his Navy uniform. He walked with the same sort of lithe grace she noticed Jase and his friends did. Like they’d been trained, or maybe it came naturally. Whatever it was, she hadn’t noticed her father’s walk until seeing it on the camera.
A gasp escaped through her covered mouth when the door flew open. She’d never seen her mother raise her voice, let alone screaming like a mad woman. Her hair was mussed, and her clothing looked as if she’d just thrown them on. A look of hurt and another emotion flashed over her father’s face before he turned to face his wife.
His words low, clear, and final. ‘I want you out of my house within twenty-four hours. I’ve put up with your coldness, your lack of respect, all without so much as a negative word. Even your…don’t touch me attitude for the past fifteen years. I would’ve put up with it for the rest of my life, or yours, because god help me, you were my wife. I took those vows to heart. Today, I learned you weren’t a cold fish. No, I learned the hard way exactly what you are, and that’s a whore who sleeps around with a man I considered my friend.’ He raised his hand when Nancy made a move toward him, backing away from her. ‘Don’t. Don’t ever touch me again. I can’t stomach the thought of looking at you, let alone having your hands on me. Look at you,’ his head moved up and down her half-dressed form. ‘Get out of my sight. I’ll be gone in ten minutes, but when I return tomorrow, you best have what you’ll need for an extended vacation. Whatever else you need from this house, you can contact my lawyer.’
Brooke listened as her mother pleaded while her dad gathered up his laptop and a few things from his desk. He glanced around the room, made sure his desk was locked, and walked out of his office, pausing outside in the hall. His mouth moved, but she couldn’t hear what he said. The next thing she saw was her mother, head hung down, walking out of the room and shut the door.
“Oh my god, my mother was sleeping with someone my dad considered a friend.” Her heart ached for the pain her dad must’ve felt. Although she hadn’t thought her parents had a loving relationship. Not like the ones you’d see on television, but they’d seemed happy. Content. God, she hated that word. She would never settle for what they’d had. It was going to be all or nothing for her.
Jase’s eyes were still glued to the small screen on the video. His patience much better than hers. She paced around the room, biting her thumb nail while she thought of who could’ve been the man her mother slept with. Mark Frazee had lots of friends. He was a likable man, but having a man that he would feel gutted by was the million-dollar question. “Jase, do you think he was so upset after his discovery that he wrecked his car?” She couldn’t continue her question. The memory of her brother Mark taking his life was like a knife waiting to slice open a scarred over wound. Every wound heals, just like she knew the heartache of losing her dad would, just as the loss of her older brother wasn’t the same gut wrenching pain as it was when she was eleven, but those scars on her soul would always be there.
“No, honey, I don’t. Your dad was many things, but suicidal wasn’t one of them. If I knew your father, he was probably thinking of ways to kill the bastard. Maybe not in real life, but in his head, he’d probably already offed him.” Jase, looked back to the camera, then sucked in a breath.
She hurried to his side. “What?”
“Watch.” He rewound and then hit play. The door to her dad’s office opened, allowing her mom to enter with a man Brooke knew. He too was an admiral for the Navy. He was a man she’d known all her life.
Brooke shook her head when he strolled to her dad’s desk, holding out his hand toward her mother. “What is she doing?”
“Looks like your mom has a key to this desk as well.” Jase didn’t look at her as he spoke.
She told him how close Admiral Davis and her mother had seemed at the wake after her dad’s funeral. Now, watching the video, it was clear who her father had caught in bed with his wife. “I think I’m going to be sick.” Brooke covered her mouth with her hand, her stomach rolling.
Jase pushed pause. “You don’t need to see anymore. I know his name, thanks to you. I’ll relay it to Erik and Tay and get them started on searching through the databases for any link to our missions. Why don’t you go get a glass of water? By the time you get back, I should be done here.”
Taking a deep breath, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. The churning in her gut wasn’t settling. In one day, she found out her father’s heart had been broken, and that her mother was a lying cheating whore. “Do you want one too?” she asked, glad her voice didn’t come out a croak.
“No, thank you.”
Without another word, she let herself out of the office which had once been her dad’s sanctuary. Now, it would forever be tainted by the memory she’d witnessed on the video. She made her way into the kitchen, noticing the slight changes that had been made. “I wonder if these are thanks to the new maid or my mother?” It took her three tries before she found where the drinking glasses had been moved to. After she filled the glass with water from the fridge, she went to the dining room and looked out at the back patio through the french doors. The treehouse where she and Mark had laughed and played beckoned her. She had thought that one day Jack would get to play there like they’d done. Now, Brooke didn’t think she’d ever come back to the house where so much betrayal happened.
“Hello, Brooke. What brings you out here?”
The deep voice behind her stunned Brooke, making her spill what little was left in her cup all over the floor as she spun to face Admiral Davis. “Oh my word, Admiral. You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here? Is my mother with you?” She looked behind him, searching for her mom.
Admiral Davis looked around the kitchen, his eyes seeming to miss nothing. “No, I believe she’s at the Country Club with her lady friends. Whose truck is that out there?”
She noticed he hadn’t answered her question about why he was there but didn’t ask again. Goosebumps were racing over her flesh. “That big jacked up thing? It’s a friend’s. My car wasn’t acting right, so he offered to let me drive his spare. I had no clue it was a monster truck when I accepted his offer.” She tried to sound flippant but was sure she missed the mark.
Moving away from the patio doors, she headed back into the kitchen, rinsing out her glass before putting it into the dishwasher. The admiral watched each thing she did. His shoulders seemed to relax when he saw only the one glass inside. “You here alone? Where’s Jack?”
“He’s with my friends. I just came to check on my mom. I forgot she went to the Country Club, well, not forgot, but thought maybe,” she trailed off, sadness filling her for why her mother would’ve missed her daily brunch with the ladies.
The admiral sighed. “Yes, well your mother is a strong woman and understands she can’t mope for the rest of her life, and you shouldn’t expect her to,” he chastised.
Her hands bunched into fists as she thought of punching the man in the face. “I’m well aware of that, Sir.” A thought struck her. “Since you knew my mother wasn’t here, why are you here, and how did you get in?”
A second ticked by then another. Brooke began to think he wasn’t going to answer, but he shocked her even more as he lunged over the granite counter top, tackling her to the ground. The attack had come out of nowhere and knocked the air from her lungs, keeping her from being able to scream for help.
“You always were a
nosy little brat. Why do you think I needed to get rid of you and that little brat of yours?” He gritted out, grabbing her hands in one of his. The other he gripped her throat. “Who knew you were coming here?”
She tried to think. Tried to buck him off of her, but he had a good eighty pounds on her, most of it not muscle, but she couldn’t unseat him. “Get off me. Get off me, you fucker,” she yelled as her jarring back and forth got his hand around her throat to ease.
Admiral Davis laughed, the sound one of a man who knew he had the upper hand. He pulled his arm back, fist doubled. Brooke struggled under him, her head moving back and forth to keep from making it easy for him to hit her in the face. Time slowed as his arm came toward her, his knuckles aimed, heading for any part of her that he could. She closed her eyes and froze, waiting for the blow.
All of a sudden, his weight was gone. Looking up, she saw Jase toss the other man back over the island. The sound of glass shattering echoed around the once pristine kitchen. She scrambled to her feet. Jase and the admiral were evenly matched in height, but her man was so much more. His fists lashed out, hitting the other man several times in the face. She heard him yell something about hitting women, making her smile for a moment.
The admiral fell to the floor, blood seeping from his nose and split lip. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, you’re the motherfucker who set me up. You’re the mole who had an entire team killed and probably a lot more good men and women, too,” Jase growled.
His words didn’t make sense at first, when they penetrated her fogged brain, a gasp left her. “It was him? Not my dad?”
Jase turned his head to look at her. “No, baby, not your dad. He was setting your dad up to take the fall.”
“It’s too bad you won’t live long enough to tell anyone,” the admiral said.
They both turned to see the other man moving to a standing position, a gun with a silencer on the end pointed at Brooke.
“What are you going to do? Kill us both?” Brooke asked him.
