Corps Security: The Series (84 page)

“Those two bastards didn’t enjoy looking at my junk, but I know they enjoyed the hell out of yours!”

For the love of God! It takes me a second to tone down my frustration, and if I’m honest with myself, it’s hot as hell to watch him get all jealous and possessive.

“Are you forgetting about the very feminine set of eyes that got to take in all that is little Beck?”

Coop chokes on his drink when I finish talking. Maddox booms out a laugh that shocks me enough to look his way. If I weren’t so frustrated with Beck right now, I might drool over how handsome he looks. How has no one noticed, besides Em, just how good-looking he is? Even Chelcie seems to be zoned in on all that is Maddox Locke smiling and laughing.

“Dee!” His growl has me snapping my eyes back to his.

“What?”

“Eyes. On. Me.”

“Oh, you infuriating man!” I stand up, shift until I’m in his lap, and press my mouth to his ear. “Your tits, your ass. No one else’s but yours. Yours to touch, lick, and kiss. No. One. Else. Do I need to keep listing all the parts of me that belong to you? Because, Baby, we don’t have enough time for me to list every single part of my body.” When I finish whispering in his ear, I pull back and look into his eyes. I want him to see how serious I am and how ridiculous his caveman act is.

His eyes are burning with emotion. I can see how hard he’s working to control this jealous urge of his. The lust and desire that lights his eyes doesn’t shock me, but when I see his face go all soft and my words penetrate his thick head, I know he gets it.

He understands. He out of everyone knows how big it is for me to admit that I belong to anyone, but more importantly, he gets that right here in the midst of his stupid jealousy, that I am completely his.

Mind, body, and soul.

He closes his eyes and pulls me deeper into his arms. Chills rake through my body when he presses his lips against my temple and leaves them there. Just breathes me in and takes the moment he needs.

“Well, as entertaining as it is to watch Beck go nuts, why don’t we focus on the shit that needs focusing?”

I glare at Coop, pissed that he interrupted Beck’s and my moment. It pisses me off that all this shit with Adam and the asshole sending the letter has come at the worst possible time.

“What have you found out?” Beck asks, never lessening up his hold on my body. His voice vibrates through my back, causing me to shiver.

“Not much from that letter. I’m going to drop it off with a buddy of mine at the police station and get them to run it for prints. No postmark, which we expected, so either he had someone drop it off at the office, or he paid someone to do it for him. Either way, we most likely aren’t going to get shit off that letter. Pictures are all local. Most of the ones of Chelcie are her coming and going from Roberts Insurance. Nothing that leads me to believe he knows much about her personal life, which was also to be expected. Chelcie just happens to be his way of shaking Dee up because he knows about their friendship.” Maddox pauses for a second, and I take the moment to glance at Chelcie. She doesn’t look as scared as she was last night, but she still looks worried.

“I did get lucky on Adam Harris. Seems that he isn’t as stealthy as this other douchebag. Picked up a trace on his cell phone. Local tower, so for some reason he seems to be in the Atlanta area. I’m still working on the rest, but he isn’t using any bank or credit cards, mainly because he doesn’t have any money in those accounts. There are a few shithole motels around where his phone was traced, but no luck finding him. For now, he’s our number one concern.”

When Maddox finishes talking, I let out the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. They have nothing. Well, nothing reassuring.

“So, you’re telling me that this Adam guy is local and very well could reach out and fucking touch me?” I whisper. I notice Chelcie shudder out of the corner of my eye and regret the way I worded that.

“No one is going to get their hands on either one of you.” The venom behind Coop’s promise shocks me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act like that before. He normally hides behind his ‘don’t give a fuck’ immaturity, but this right here is a side to him I’ve never seen. “I mean it. We won’t let anything happen to you two.” He looks away and we’re all silent for a minute, letting Maddox’s news sink in.

When Coop’s cell rings a few minutes later, I jump in Beck’s lap, causing him to grunt when I land awkwardly. “Thanks for that, Babe.” He groans, adjusting me better in his lap.

“Oh, I’ll kiss it and make it better later.”

Coop checks his caller ID, and a big shit-eating grin takes over his face. In hurried movements, he accepts the call, stands, and places the phone to his ear. “Ash! God, is it good to hear your voice.”

What? Who the hell is Ash? I look at Chelcie when I hear her gasp, and like a damn light bulb going on, it all makes sense. Damn, I knew I should have said something to her about getting mixed up with him. Regardless if it was once or a few times, she obviously is upset knowing he’s talking to another chick.

“Leave it alone, Dee. We need to focus on other things right now, and whatever is going on between those two is none of your business.”

I nod my head at Beck’s whispered words and sit back to wait for Coop to return to the conversation.

No one says anything while we wait. I can’t hear what Coop is saying, but by the tone of his voice, he’s happy to hear from the chick who’s on the line. He comes back into the room about ten minutes later with a big, stupid grin on his face.

“What?” he asks when it’s obvious that the mood in the room has shifted.

“Nothing. Let’s talk about plan of action.” Beck is quick to change the subject, and I notice Chelcie visibly relax.

“Right now, we keep doing this. The girls stay here and so do you. Axel knows what’s going on, and we all agree that their best protection is either here or at the office. When you need to leave, Coop or I will come stick around. I know you have a few security installs coming up this week. If you would have taught us how to install those bastards, then we could have taken those, but it’s those high end, fancy motherfuckers. My guess is this unsub will make himself known when the ten days are closer to an end. Until then, we wait and try to find Adam.”

“What the hell is an unsub?” I ask the room when Maddox stops talking.

Coop stops looking around the kitchen before giving me his attention. “Unknown subject, Babe. You have any Cheetos here?”

“Jesus, Coop! Could you at least pretend to pay attention?” Beck barks, causing me to jump.

I can tell Beck is frustrated, knowing there isn’t anything we can do at the moment.

“Got it,” I say meekly. “So we sit and wait.”

This doesn’t do anything to help reassure me. Regardless of how safe I feel with Beck, and his ability to protect Chelcie and me, not having answers is downright terrifying.

“Don’t worry. We’re going to catch this jackass no matter what.” Beck’s words don’t help.

‘No matter what’ is the part that causes me the most concern. The thought of the happiness we’ve just now gotten back vanishing to some unknown threat, and not knowing how to prevent it causes my heart to hurt.

“Stop, Dee. Just trust me to do whatever it takes to keep you and Chelcie safe.”

I nod my head at Beck’s words and try to keep my breathing even, but inside, my gut is telling me that there is no way possible for this to end well.

CHAPTER 23

Beck

“How are you taking all of this?” I ask Dee later that night while we lay in bed.

She lifts her head off my chest and rests her chin against her hand. She just looks at me for a few beats, not giving anything away, before she says anything.

“I’m scared. I know you don’t want to hear that, but no matter how safe I feel in your arms, I can’t help it. There is someone out there that wants to hurt me, wants to hurt Chelcie, and who knows who else. Beck, he could be anyone off the street. What if it’s someone I pass every day and I have no clue?”

“I get it, I do. But, you have to believe and trust that we will keep you both safe. I won’t let this asshole take you from me, Dee. I finally have you back in my arms, and I’ll be goddamned if anyone threatens what we have.”

Her eyes close briefly and she takes a deep breath. I just continue to rub my hands lightly against her back. I would give anything to take this fear from her, but I can’t. Isn’t that the kicker? I would do anything for this woman, and I am completely powerless in this situation.

“I do, I promise. I know you and the guys will do everything in your power to keep anything bad from happening, but that doesn’t change the fact that the threat is here, and we have no idea how to stop it.”

I can hear the desperation in her tone. I shift our bodies so that we’re laying on our sides facing each other.

“Listen to me; you’ve come so far, Dee. Not just with your personal demons, but Baby, you’ve finally let it all go. The pain, the fear, all of it is gone and you better believe that I will fight an army if it means I keep this look of peace in your eyes. You hear me? I refuse to ever let you feel powerless or afraid. As long as I’m here, you will never, ever, feel that darkness touch you again.” I wipe the few tears that have fallen from her eyes and kiss her lightly. “Forever, Baby. You and me forever.”

“Forever,” she echoes with a wobbly smile.

She burrows as close as she can get, wraps her arms around my body, and tangles her feet with mine. Not once throughout the night does her hold let up. My girl knows exactly where she’s meant to be, and exactly who will move heaven and fucking earth to make sure that not one hair on her head is harmed.

* * *

Frustrated doesn’t even come close to describe how I’m feeling right now. It’s been eight days since we all sat down at my house to put all the cards on the table. Eight long days with nothing. Not one fucking thing. The unsub hasn’t sent another letter, hasn’t called, no smoke signals . . . not a damn thing.

Dee’s doing her best, but I can tell she is worried. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her. My worst fear is that she will start pulling into herself again. I know from experience that PTSD doesn’t ever completely go away. Some people go their whole lives after treatment ends and don’t have a setback, while others have triggers. So far, I haven’t seen anything that leads me to believe that she is struggling. For now, I just have to wait and watch her. She’s promised me that if she feels like things are getting dark again that she will immediately call Dr. Maxwell.

Even through all of this, she’s staying strong, and fuck, that feels good. It’s probably the only damn good thing that’s come out of all this. I have my girl and she has herself back.

Sighing deeply, I toss my pen down on my desk and turn to the latest email from Maddox. Apparently, Adam’s last call on his cell has been traced to a few towns over. He doesn’t seem to think we should be concerned yet, but I know he feels the heat of the flames getting closer. We’re trained to trust our instincts. We didn’t spend years overseas fighting an invisible army not to have a fine tuned gut. Trouble is coming, and just like overseas, we have no idea from which direction things are going to blow.

The ringing of my phone wakes me up from my thoughts. Caller ID shows ‘Greg Calling’ and that earns another frustrated groan. He’s been calling for the last few days, wondering if he can swing by to talk to Dee. I’ve been trying to put him off, because with everything else swirling around us, I need him to focus. No matter what, when he and Dee have their talk, he’s going to feel that, and he’s going to feel it hard.

“Beck,” I bark.

“You doing okay, Brother?”

“About as good as I can be doing. Ready to pull my hair out if we don’t start getting answers soon. How is it possible for one motherfucker to be a complete ghost? And this Adam shit? He’s not even careful, and we still can’t fucking find him. We’re trained goddamn Marines and two idiots are besting us. I don’t even think frustrated comes close to how pissed I am.” Fuck, that felt good to get off my chest. I haven’t wanted to pile all of that on Dee. She knows I’m worried, but I don’t want her to take my shit on top of her own fears.

“I understand. These guys will screw up, and when they do, we’ll be there.” He sounds just as pissed as I am so at least I know I’m not alone here.

“Anything new on your end?”

“Not a thing. Maddox stayed at the office all night monitoring the computers. Unfortunately, that asswipe turns his phone off when he’s done making a call. Whatever kind of idiot he might be, he at least knows his shit when it comes to tracking.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Greg. He could be on my doorstep, and we wouldn’t fucking know.” I need to punch something. Pound the shit out of anything to get rid of all this stress and anger.

“You’ve got eyes on the place, and a security system that would make the White House look like child’s play. Try to take a breath for a minute.”

“Not that easy, Greg, not even close to being that easy. One day. That’s all that we have left until she’s supposed to meet some impossible deadline. And now I have her going stir crazy.” I know she isn’t used to being stuck inside without being able to leave.

“Why don’t you bring her down to the office? I know it isn’t the spa, but at least it gets her out of the house, and we can still keep an eye on things here.” The hopeful sound to his voice has me narrowing my eyes. I hate questioning his motives, but I know exactly why he wants me to bring her there.

“Don’t play me for a fool, Greg. I know you want to talk to her, and I’m not trying to stand in the way of that, but are you sure you really need to do this now? In the middle of all this bullshit, you want to open this can of worms?”

“I need to know, Brother. It’s killing me not knowing, and thinking the worst. If anything, knowing will be better than the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head. Melissa thinks the same thing as you. That I need to wait until this is over, but fuck me, I just can’t.”

“Yeah, I hear you, but this shit . . . Greg, make sure you really want to know because it can’t be unknown. I know you, and I know how you feel about the females in your life. I’m not even going to lie to you. When Dee told me everything, I felt that hard enough that the earth shook. That’s my woman, my life, so I felt that, and I still feel that. I know she’s like a sister to you, and it doesn’t matter if there isn’t a relationship between you two like the one I have with her. That shit will hurt.” I spit the last few words out, gripping the phone so tightly I’m sure it will snap. “Hell, I lived most of it right by her side, and
I
didn’t even know the half of it.”