Lucky SEAL (Lucky Devil #2) (15 page)

Rourke had to admit, it was hypocritical to want to get Jennifer into counseling as soon as possible when he had refused to seek help for himself over the years. Admitting to post-traumatic symptoms could get an operator pulled from duty for psychological evaluation. Rourke didn’t have any major issues, but nobody could see the things he had and not have the occasional nightmare. Hypocritical or not, Rourke would get Jennifer all the help she needed. He would insist on it after what she’d been through in the last months. The mental state she described after her frantic getaway.

Rourke was entering the elevator when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Seeing that it was Pastor Davis calling, he ignored the call. Rourke was sure the pastor wanted to talk about the odd jobs that needed to be done around the church. Those tasks would need to wait until after he made Jennifer safe. Rourke and Jennifer could make a pit stop to speak with the pastor and fill him in before going home to Rourke’s apartment.

That thought brought a smile to his usually rigid countenance. Rourke liked thinking of Jennifer in his home again. It would be her home as well. Rourke would need to move in the near future. Jennifer deserved far better than the one-bedroom box of an apartment where he stored his things when he was down range. It was time to be thinking about sinking his savings into purchasing a house.

Rourke’s cell vibrated again in his pocket, but he didn’t pull it out. It wasn’t the familiar series of vibrations and pauses that alerted Rourke to a call coming in from his senior chief. So whoever it was could wait. Being called back to duty right now would be a disaster. Rourke needed more time with Jennifer to solidify their relationship. For that to happen, he needed time to deal with Evan.

Luc’s new secretary wasn’t guarding his open office door when Rourke stepped off the private elevator. Luc had to replace the last secretary after she was caught authorizing key fobs to people who hadn’t passed Luc’s security checks or paying the substantial fee to gain membership. She’d been collecting her own fee for the service. Now she was unemployed.

Luc’s disembodied voice could be heard barking directions from within. Rourke cursed whoever had raised Luc’s ire. By the sound of things, the meeting Rourke was so eager for would be delayed.

“I need two teams now. One team here in my office to meet with me, and the other at the church. Where the fuck is Rourke?” Luc raged.

“I’ll continue trying his cell for you, Mr. Christianson,” the new secretary, a bright-eyed blonde who looked at Luc like the sun rose and set over his perfectly quaffed head, was jotting down notes. Luc was on his phone. Rourke’s phone was once again vibrating in his pocket when he stepped into Luc’s immaculate office.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m right on time,” Rourke looked at his watch. It was twenty-two hundred hours on the dot. He looked to Luc, who was impeccably dressed no matter the time. “I hope whatever has your panties in a twist won’t delay our meeting, Luc.”

Luc ended the call and dropped his hand. “If you learned to answer your phone you’d already know about my fucking panties, Rourke.”

“Now who has the mouth of a sailor?” Rourke smirked.

“Dammit, Rourke, I’m serious. Come sit down. We have a problem.” Luc fell into his throne of a leather chair.

“What kind of problem? We need to deal with Jennifer’s issue first. She’s my priority.” Rourke sat across the massive, gleaming desk from Luc. A painting he didn’t recall seeing on past visits to Luc’s office caught Rourke’s eye. It was a black and white depiction of a blindfolded woman in a corset standing before a grandfather clock with angels above and demons below. It was gothic but beautiful.

Luc recalled Rourke’s attention. “That’s the problem. I need you to remain calm here, Rourke. Don’t go all fucking Rambo on me, okay? We need to handle this situation with care if we’re all going to come away from it unscathed. Do you understand me? We must let calmer heads prevail here.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Rourke was out of his chair.

A group of Luc’s security staff entered the room. Luc spoke to them instead of answering Rourke.

“Good, we’re all here. I only want to explain this once.” Luc pointed toward Rourke. “Don’t let him leave the room until he cools down. Be careful, though, Rourke is a SEAL. He will hurt you.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Rourke bellowed. “Nobody better touch me,” he glared at the security team, “if they like all of their limbs attached and in working fucking order.”

“Rourke, please sit down so we talk.” Luc was trying and failing to bring order. “Pastor Davis called.”

“He called me, too.” Rourke pulled out his phone as he spoke. There were two missed calls from the pastor and two from Luc. “But I was on the way in to see you. I have information to share. I found Jennifer. I need to know what you learned about her. This situation is bigger than I imagined. She was abducted by Evan MacGraff. He’s the fucker I need to get my hands on. Jennifer says you know him.”

Luc’s jaw tightened. His hands were fisted on the desk, and his nostrils flared as he drew a deep breath. Rourke recognized the signs. Luc was trying to contain his own anger. Rourke new whatever Luc was going to say would piss him off.

“Evan MacGraff is a local crime boss. He isn’t the top of the food chain, but he’s close. I knew I made an enemy of him when I tossed him out of Hell. He started a fight with one my customers who had borrowed a substantial amount of money from Evan. After the altercation, I confronted my customer. He admitted that he’s been, essentially, living in Hell. It was the only place he thought Evan couldn’t get to him.” Luc gave his staff a good glare.

“Somehow, Evan breached security and get beyond the main floor, which is the only place his membership gives him access to because I know he’s a drug runner and a loan shark. I don’t want that shit in my back rooms. If anyone is going to fleece the wealthy out of their money around here, it will be me.” He shouted that last bit.

“Jennifer was with him that night. She told me all about her time with Evan and his business dealing as far as she knew them. Have you learned anything new?” Rourke didn’t have time to listen to Luc reprimand his staff.

Luc returned his attention to Rourke, “I put feelers out looking for information about a wealthy lady serving at our church with her first name and a full description. She’s a distinctively lovely woman. So I was sure it wouldn’t take long to turn up something about her. I was expecting to find that she was a bored housewife doing good deeds.”

Rourke growled at that. “Pastor Davis said . . .”

“I know he told me she was a single woman, but that just didn’t add up. I know that’s what the pastor believed, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. People lie, even to the clergy, Rourke. Especially to the clergy. Something about Jennifer niggled in the back of my mind. As I told you before, she was somehow familiar. This morning, I was reviewing footage of a particular member of the security staff. I like to have irrefutable evidence on hand when I fire an employee.”

“I ran across the footage from when Evan was admitted beyond his clearance level.” Luc looked pointed toward the security team again. “It was then that I remembered Jennifer. She was the beautiful blonde with Evan when I had him permanently ejected.”

“Yes, I know. She told me she was here with him.” Rourke nodded. Where was Luc going with this? He needed to get the fucking point.

“After seeing her with Evan on the footage, I sent out another round of inquiry about Evan’s girlfriend, Jennifer, who does charity at the church in North Vegas.” Luc’s face flushed with an uncharacteristic rush of red.

“Fuck.” Rourke was heading for the door. Had Luc unknowingly exposed Jennifer’s hiding place? Rourke had to get to her now. Jennifer didn’t have a phone. She wouldn’t answer the phone in the church office, even if she happened to be standing there when it rang. The group of security staff reluctantly followed orders and blocked the door. Luc stepped between his employees and Rourke.

“Rourke, this is bigger than we initially believed. If Jennifer is Evan’s woman, I couldn’t let you continue your search for her. We needed to know the whole story. Evan MacGraff is a murdering prick who has eluded the law for years. He would kill you, and I’d never find your body. I know you’re a SEAL, but you aren’t invincible. You’re one man against a small army of criminals.”

“Jennifer isn’t Evan’s woman. She never was. Jennifer went on a few dates with him. When he got tired of waiting for her to accept him completely, he made her his prisoner. Evan abused her physically and mentally. He starved her and made her watch while he spilled blood so she would be too afraid to run. That’s why she was hiding, Luc.”

Luc’s complexion turned gray. “I had no idea. I was only trying to protect you.” Luc's eyes lit with a rage born of the knowledge that his own mother had been abducted and made the temporary property of a man who used her body and discarded her. The experience had damaged Luc’s mother deeply. She died in childbirth after living on the streets for the whole of her pregnancy. It was a miracle that Luc survived.

“What happened?” The missed calls from the pastor came to mind. Rourke was a half a second from a nuclear fucking meltdown. Luc hadn’t yet told him the worst yet.

“I’m sorry.” Luc looked deeply into Rourke’s eyes. This wasn’t the hardened businessman of recent years speaking to Rourke. It was Rourke’s childhood friend. The man Rourke loved like a brother, and there was real regret in Luc’s midnight eyes.

“What happened?” Rourke bellowed the question. His stomach was in a knot because he already knew what happened. The only reason Rourke hadn’t already barreled through the flimsy wall of security before him to get to Jennifer was that down deep, he knew the damage was already done.

“The pastor was working late tonight doing paperwork in his office. He heard a commotion. They’ve been robbed before, so he called the police before investigating. In the kitchen, he found evidence of a struggle. The rear door was kicked in. He ran to the door and saw Jennifer being stuffed into the back of a black sedan.

“He then tried to call you before calling me. I told him not to report Jennifer’s abduction. I knew we would be able to get to her faster without the cops under our feet. If we can’t find Jennifer ourselves, we’ll report the crime some other way that won’t involve further endangering the pastor or the church. The police told the Pastor several churches were raided, but nothing was stolen. They must have gone from church to church until they found her. I fucked up and made it known where she might be hiding. I’m truly sorry, Rourke. This is my fuck up.”

Rourke’s heart froze in his chest. The man who loved Jennifer stepped to the back of his consciousness to allow Rourke the operator to take over. An emotional reaction would be a mistake. Death was now stalking Evan MacGraff. That bastard had his Jennifer. His tiny dancer. Rourke had let her down. He broke a promise to the woman he loved. Rourke told Jennifer that Luc would never hurt her. He’d also told her he would protect her and never let that fucker touch her again. When Rourke got Jennifer back, and he had every intention of getting her back, he had to pray that she would forgive him. Would she ever trust his word again? Rourke was a man of honor. His word was his bond, and he’d broken that bond with Jennifer. His only love. Jennifer was terrified of Evan, and she was back in his clutches.

Rourke let the cold that was now rooted in his chest spread to the rest of his body. Luc was right. It was too late to run off in a rage through the streets of Vegas. That would only get Jennifer hurt and Rourke arrested. Rourke had to believe Jennifer would keep herself alive until he was able to find her. She had survived by using her brain before. She would do it again.

“What do you know so far? Anything?” Rourke asked Luc who appeared to be waiting for an explosion.

“I contacted a friend in the force. He’s accessing the traffic camera feeds to tell me where the fucker took her. We know where they started and which direction they drove, thanks to the pastor. I’m just waiting for the call with more information.” Luc checked his phone to be sure he hadn’t missed anything.

“Good, that’s good. I’m going to get ready. Call me as soon as you hear from your friend.” Rourke tried to walk around Luc, but he held out his hands as if calming a wild animal. The security force behind Luc bravely tightened the ranks to keep Rourke contained. The idiots.

“Luc, move and get your people out of my way. I love you like a brother, but that woman is going to be my wife. I’m going after her.”

Luc’s astonished eyes widened with sudden understanding. Rourke would not be stopped.

“The only other women I would lay my life down for are my mom and Dolce. I don’t want to hurt you or your employees, and will try not to kill them, but I will take each and every one of you apart to get to Jennifer. I need to go get my guns and vest. I need to change into night gear. I need to be ready to go when that call comes in, because one way or another, I am going to get Jennifer back tonight. Do. You. Understand. Me?”

Rourke never thought he’d see the day he would be willing to hurt Luc in any way, but he would incapacitate the man for a short time if forced to act. 

“I do,” Luc agreed, but he didn’t move. “Let’s work out a plan before you run off half-cocked. Let me and the boys help you.” Luc tried to reason with Rourke.

“You want to help? Get in touch with those friends in the force. Evan has friends so deep he can shoot people in his building, and they brush it off. He can have a shootout in his warehouse, and nobody notices. Evan can abduct a woman off the street, and nobody is looking for her. That’s what he did, Luc. That’s the kind of man we’re dealing with. He is Jennifer’s own personal demon, and he’s trying to make her vanish again. Now get out of my way before I do something I will regret, eventually.”