SEAL to the Rescue

by Paige Tyler

  “Don’t let Holden downplay the role he played in the whole thing,” Dalton called out from across the table, a grin on his face “I would never have gotten Emma—or Kimber, for that matter—back without his help. I’ll owe him and Wes for the rest of my life.”

  Kendall nodded all wide-eyed at that, acting like she didn’t know anything about the kidnapping and subsequent rescue of the little girl, or the part Holden had played even though she’d read the extensive FBI report. The part that had interested her the most was the break-in Holden had orchestrated at Kimber’s former employer. She knew why he and the other guys had broken in and what they’d stolen there. More importantly, she knew exactly how Holden had pulled it off. Bottom line, the man was extremely talented when it came to breaking into high-security facilities.

  But as talented as Holden might be, it turned out he had a signature style of sorts—a unique way of creating feedback loops when bypassing video cameras. The technique was so different it stood out like a set of fingerprints, and the FBI had immediately connected him to a second theft that had occurred in San Francisco a day after the first. While both jobs had involved pilfering extremely cutting-edge computer technology, the item stolen from the second job was worth millions more than the stuff from the first. Due to security classification reasons, her bosses hadn’t told Kendall yet exactly what Holden had stolen, but it was something important, and the National Security Agency desperately wanted it back.

  There were some agents in the Bureau who’d wanted to arrest Holden immediately, but calmer heads had prevailed, pointing out that the Navy SEAL had almost certainly stolen the item for someone else, which meant he didn’t have it in his possession. If they arrested him now, he could lawyer up and they’d never get close to what they were after.

  So, they’d sent Kendall undercover to somehow weasel the information out of him. Though how the hell she was supposed to do that was a mystery to her. She was relatively new in the Bureau and had zero undercover experience. But according to the FBI profiler who’d studied Holden, she was exactly the kind of woman who could get close to the SEAL.

  She gave Holden a smile. “What? Being a hero during duty hours isn’t enough for you? You have to save the world in your off time, too?”

  He snorted, glancing over at Dalton, Kimber, and the adorable little girl sitting between the couple having way too much fun with her French fries and a veritable swimming pool of ketchup. “I wasn’t being a hero or trying to save the world. I was just doing whatever I could to protect my family.”

  From the expression on his handsome face, Kendall got the impression he wasn’t merely referring to the trio directly across from them. He was talking about everyone at the table.

  “Protecting people who are important to you?” she said softly. “I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of being a hero.”

  If she didn’t know better, Kendall would think Holden was blushing. After reading the files on the break-ins up in San Fran, Holden’s school records, his Navy personnel file, and the psychology profile the FBI had developed on him, she’d walked into the restaurant with certain expectations. But ultimately, the man she’d ended up meeting was nothing like the cold, calculating thief she’d been prepared to find.

  Instead, Holden seemed warm, genuine, and yeah, with that thick, dark hair, eyes the color of espresso, and a square, chiseled jaw, he was also sinfully attractive. But above all, he clearly cared about his Teammates and extended SEAL family. Truthfully, it was obvious he’d been worried about her, too. He’d never met her and yet still stepped in to help. The scene with Isaac Whitworth, her handler out of the San Diego field office, had been completely fabricated, of course. The FBI profiler had told them that if Holden overheard the argument, he’d come to her rescue. That a woman in trouble was something Holden simply couldn’t walk away from.

  Kendall wondered at the strange dichotomy of that. The FBI had written a profile for a cold, calculating thief who couldn’t walk past a stranger in trouble. She had to admit, when Holden had swooped in and rescued her, she’d been impressed.

  “What, you don’t like being called a hero?” she asked when he didn’t say anything. In fact, he actually looked a little flustered at the compliment.

  She leaned a little closer. Damn, he smelled good. For a criminal. She had a fleeting thought then, wondering what his skin would taste like under her tongue.

  Get a grip. You’re undercover, not on a date.

  “In the SEALs, the word hero isn’t thrown around quite so lightly as in other walks of life,” Holden said softly. “I did what I had to do…even those things I would have preferred not doing.”

  She gazed into his dark eyes, pretty sure that was a partial confession of sorts. Which only proved once again he wasn’t the man the FBI profiler had described to her. That man wouldn’t have let anything slip so easily.

  “Something tells me there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for the people you care about,” she said.

  He smiled. He had a really nice smile. “If there is, I haven’t found it yet.”

  Kendall was still considering all the subtle nuances of that answer when a group of servers brought in dinner. As they ate, she and Holden chatted about her master’s program and life in the SEALs, in between getting caught up in the other conversations around the table.

  On the other side of Kendall, wedding planner, Felicia Bradford—who’d recently gotten engaged to a SEAL named Logan Dunn—was talking about all the stuff she still had to do for the big event tomorrow. Kendall wondered when the poor woman planned to sleep. It sounded like she had more work to do than an army of wedding planners could tackle.

  “You’re coming to the wedding with Holden, right?” Felicia asked.

  To say the question caught Kendall off guard was an understatement. Her job was to get as close to Holden as quickly as possible, but she hadn’t planned on inviting herself to the wedding. Mostly because she figured there was no way she could pull it off without making Holden suspicious.

  She glanced at Holden to see him looking as frustrated with the wedding planner as he had with Wes earlier at the bar.

  “Thanks, Felicia,” he said dryly. “It’s not like I was planning to ask her myself or anything.”

  Kendall couldn’t help laughing.

  Felicia shrugged, not the least bit offended. “If you were going to ask her, what are you complaining about? I just saved you the trouble.”

  Yup, they were definitely like one big family.

  Holden shook his head, then looked at Kendall. “I just got this crazy idea. Would you like to go to Chasen and Hayley’s wedding with me tomorrow?”

  Kendall smiled. “I’d love to.” She glanced at Felicia. “You sure it wouldn’t be a problem? I won’t mess up the seating arrangements or anything, will I?”

  “What kind of wedding planner would I be if I couldn’t handle a simple last-minute arrival?” Felicia scoffed. “It won’t be a problem at all.”

  She turned back to Holden to find him grinning at her, dark eyes dancing. Her pulse skipped a beat. She told herself she was simply psyched at the chance to get closer to him so she could arrest him. This case could kick-start her entire career.

  Her career. Yeah, that was exactly why she was so excited.

  CHAPTER THREE

  I JUST WANT to tell you, as crappy as this evening started, it ended great,” Kendall said, turning to smile up at Holden as they stopped in front of the door to her apartment. “I had a really good time.”

  He’d followed her home to make sure she got there safely. And to know where to pick her up for the wedding the next day. Surprisingly, being stalked by one of the FBI’s most-wanted didn’t bother her as much as it probably should have.

  Holden flashed her a grin. “I’m glad. And thanks for letting me follow you home. I know you said your ex isn’t the kind to stalk you, but I feel better making sure.”

  Kendall almost sighed. If this guy didn’t stop acting so amazing, she was going t
o have an extremely difficult time remembering he was one of the bad guys. She was already thinking of doing a lot more with Holden beyond slapping cuffs on him as it was.

  Actually, now that she thought about it, cuffs might be okay, too.

  “Don’t worry about Isaac,” she said, more to distract herself that him. “He’s all bark and no bite. He was always kind of a wuss to tell the truth.”

  “Still, I appreciate you letting me make sure.”

  Kendall nodded. So, how exactly did a woman end her first evening out with a criminal she intended to arrest soon? Was a handshake called for…or Miranda Rights? A kiss would be out of the question, right?

  Holden made the decision for her. Stepping close, he slipped a hand behind her neck, tipped her head back a little, and bent his head to gently kiss her. It wasn’t much more than a soft peck on the lips. No pressure, no fingers tightening in her hair, and definitely no tongue.

  That lasted about two seconds…right up until they got a good taste of each other. Then that whole first date tender crap went out the window like an old fruitcake, and it was on like Donkey Kong.

  Holden groaned as their tongues clashed. No, skip that. That moan had come from her, not him. He was too busy threading his fingers in her hair and getting a good grip. But damn, he tasted so delicious! And when had she developed a thing for guys tugging on her hair? Was that even a thing? Because it really felt like a thing.

  She pushed her tongue into his mouth, giving as good as she got, sure she was going to FBI hell for making out with a suspect on the first date like this. Then she stopped caring as he backed her up against the apartment door, the wood creaking as Holden pressed his hard body full-on against hers, making her feel every ripple and bulge of all those yummy muscles.

  Then something right around his belt line poked her in the stomach. She let out a slow, ragged breath as she realized that bulge probably wasn’t muscle. Maybe the big Navy SEAL was simply carrying a weapon of some kind. Yup, that’s exactly what it was.

  She was wondering if she should invite him in for a late-night cup of coffee—not sure if she even had any—when Holden broke the kiss and stepped back, looking like he’d just made the decision to give up chocolate cake for the rest of his life. It was almost laughable that Holden was the one keeping things from boiling over instead of her. As a Fed, shouldn’t she be the one controlling the situation?

  “I really had a good time tonight, too,” he said softly, reluctantly taking another step back. The obvious battle he was fighting made Kendall feel like the hottest FBI babe on the planet. “Pick you up tomorrow at noon sharp?”

  Kendall nodded, glancing at him over her shoulder as she pulled out her key. “Don’t be late.”

  She had the key in the door and was pushing it open when she felt Holden behind her, one arm slipping around her waist, his warm mouth coming down on her neck. FBI training that should have immediately kicked in to repel the blindside attack disappeared, replaced by an all-over body shiver as his lips moved against her skin.

  “I wouldn’t dream of being late,” he said in a husky whisper.

  She leaned back against him, hating her rebellious body for enjoying the contact far more than it should. “I won’t complain if you’re a little early. Just saying.”

  He kissed her neck again, then stepped away with a chuckle. “Got it. Early is okay. Late…never. Good night, Kendall.”

  She looked over her shoulder, watching him until he disappeared around the corner and headed for the elevator, then slipped into her apartment, closing the door behind her. She fumbled for the light switch, trying to find it in the dark. She’d only been in the apartment for an hour or so yesterday when she put some of her stuff around to make it look like she actually lived there. She hadn’t memorized the floor plan yet, much less where the light switch was.

  Finally finding it, she flicked the switch, bathing the living room and kitchen in light. She practically jumped out of her skin when she saw Isaac sitting in the chair by the window. He regarded her in silence, an unreadable expression on his face. There was no way in hell he’d missed the sounds of her and Holden making out in the hallway. She stifled a groan. Something told her she was about to get a lecture to end all lectures about what it meant to be a professional FBI agent.

  “You know, when the profiler said you were Lockwood’s type, I wasn’t totally in on the idea,” he said, getting to his feet. “You have limited field experience and no undercover time. Hell, you’re about as raw they come. Truthfully, I was expecting an epic crash and burn.”

  This was the part where her supervisor—who wasn’t a whole hell of a lot older than she was—decided she wasn’t ready for a case this big. That she was in over her head and he was going to bring someone else in for the operation. She steeled herself, ready for a fight. Because Isaac could be an ass-hat sometimes.

  Which was why she was shocked when he nodded approvingly at her. “Clearly, I was wrong. You seem to have Lockwood eating out of the palm of your hand. How the hell did you wrangle an invite to his boss’s wedding? Not that I care how you did it. I’m only glad you figured out a way to pull it off, because we would have been screwed if you hadn’t.”

  Tell her something she didn’t know. Kendall was all prepared to say, “Yay, me!” but Isaac continued.

  “The thing Lockwood stole went up for auction on the Dark Web an hour ago. Along with proof that it works exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

  Kendall stared at her boss, not really sure what he was talking about. Yeah, she knew about the Dark Web. Everybody did. It was like the Bogeyman of the information age. The place where all the bad things lived. But she wasn’t sure what the Dark Web had to do with the mission or what Holden had stolen. Of course, it might have made more sense if she knew what he’d taken. But according to Isaac, that information was above her pay grade.

  “The NSA is calling it the Key,” Isaac said, as if reading her mind. “I’ve gone through the file on the thing twice and still can’t understand half of what I’m reading. Bottom line, it’s some kind of universal hacker tool that’s able to break the encryption on any security system in the world. From something as simple as a cell phone to something as complex as a spy satellite.”

  Kendall lifted a brow. A universal hacker tool? That sounded dangerous as hell. But while she was thrilled to finally get details about what Holden had taken, she wondered why they were coming out now. “I thought this stuff was above my clearance level.”

  Isaac’s mouth tightened. “It was. Until the Key went up for auction on the Dark Web and you weaseled your way into that rehearsal dinner. That’s when Danner made the decision to pull you the rest of the way in. I’d feel a lot better if we weren’t working under such a tight deadline, though.”

  Jonathan Danner was the special agent in charge of the San Francisco FBI field office and the man personally running this recovery operation. Which was yet another indication of how big this whole thing was. Agents at Danner’s level rarely got involved in field operations. Kendall wasn’t aware the man had even known who she was, but apparently, he did.

  She was still wondering if it was a good idea to be on the SAIC’s radar, when Isaac’s words filtered through to her head. “Wait a minute. What do you mean—tight deadline? What haven’t you told me?”

  “The auction on the Dark Web is a week from now,” Isaac said. “That means you have six days to work your way into Holden Lockwood’s confidence and get him to tell you who he stole the thing for.”

  She blinked. “Six days? How the hell do you expect me to get him to confide in me by then?”

  “I don’t know. You seemed to be doing a good job working him over out in the hallway. Do a little more of that.”

  She could feel her face turning red, but it wasn’t from embarrassment. It was anger. “Are you saying you expect me to sleep with a suspect so he’ll trust me?”

  Isaac shrugged. “I don’t care what you do, as long as you get the info we need. That t
hing Lockwood stole isn’t a toy. Whoever has it can get access to anything stored on any secure database anywhere in the world. There are several dozen countries that would do a lot of damage if they got their hands on it. And you’re the only one who can stop it from happening.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I NEVER CRY at weddings,” Kendall told Holden softly as she slipped into the chair beside him.

  Kendall had disappeared off to the restroom along with Kimber and Kyla the moment they’d gotten to the restaurant where Hayley and Chasen were having their reception. She’d insisted her make-up was a mess, but in his opinion, she’d looked beautiful. On the other side of the big, round table, Kimber sat next to Dalton while Kyla shyly took the chair by Wes. Noah and Sam made up the rest of their group, along with their respective dates.

  “But that arch you guys did with the swords Hayley and Chasen walked under as they left the church after the ceremony was so romantic, I couldn’t help it,” Kendall added. “It was kind of embarrassing how I teared up.”

  “Don’t feel too badly,” Kyla Wells said. Petite with long, dark hair, she was a college student and a whiz with computers. “You weren’t the only one crying so much your nose turned beet red.”

  Beside her, Wes grinned. “No one even noticed. Besides, I’ve always thought Rudolph was really cute.”

  Kyla’s cheeks flooded with color, but while she might seem flustered, Holden got the feeling she liked Wes and his teasing. Wes clearly liked her, too. In fact, his resourceful Teammate had switched out the place cards on the table to make sure he sat beside the girl.

  “I think Wes is smitten,” Kendall whispered in his ear, her breath warm on his skin.