Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Saints Protection & Investigations Book 7) (11 page)

With a few more thrusts, his balls tightened and he managed to open his eyes, meeting hers, as he roared through his orgasm as her legs snapped around his, pulling him tighter. As she milked the last drop from him, he fell on top, heedless of his weight for a few seconds until managing to roll slightly to the side, pulling her with him.

As the night air slowly cooled their bodies, he jerked the covers over them. No more words were spoken…none were needed. And sleep claimed the lovers.

*     *     *

Two days later, as they were saying goodbye to Angel and Monty, Evie felt as though she were saying farewell to good friends. In spite of the intrigue surrounding her, she could not remember the last time she had laughed so freely—utterly letting go and enjoying herself.

Alone in her apartment for a few minutes, while Patrick said a private goodbye to his sister, she looked around at her space.
When was the last time I had people over to my apartment? When was the last time I went out with friends, other than meeting a few co-workers for drinks…when I don’t drink?
Her thoughts swirled as she stood rooted to the floor, realizing that her mother was right. It wasn’t the building that made a home…
it’s who’s with you that makes a home.

Hands touched her shoulders and she yelped as she whirled around, seeing Patrick standing there, a surprised expression on his face.

“I’m sorr—” she began.

“I’m sorr—” he said at the same time.

They laughed as she walked straight into his arms, snuggling her face against his chest. His steady heart beat against her cheek. Warm. Secure. Home.
Yeah…he feels like home.

“You were lost in thought when I came in, Evie babe. Did you have a good time with my sister?”

Leaning her head back, she smiled up at him. “Absolutely. I haven’t had that good a time with friends…maybe since college…and maybe not even then!”

He watched as a cloud moved through her eyes, and dipped his head lower. “You wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Sucking her lips in, she wondered how he already knew her so well. “I…well, I…” Giving herself a mental shake, she plunged forward and said, “You’re leaving and now…I realize what I’ll miss when you’re gone.” Heart pounding, she wondered what he would say to her statement. Would he ask her to try to have a long distance relationship? Would he want to try to keep building whatever they were building? Would he—

“Babe…what we’ve got…what we are together…you gotta know, I want to keep it.” He watched carefully to see her reaction, pleased when the light returned to her eyes. “I know we’re still new and being with me is a risk that I never thought you’d take…but I was going to ask you to consider moving with me to Virginia in a couple of months.”

Her eyes widened and she felt her arms jerk, instinctively pulling him closer as his words rocked her world.

“You don’t need to say anything now…just think about it.”

They stood, quietly holding on to each other for a moment, allowing the peace of the night to slip in around them.

“I always wanted a home. I think I convinced myself that home would be a place that would be mine and there wouldn’t be any change. I…I realized tonight that I’ve never had people over to my home here. I only have a couple of co-workers who I would ever meet out, but never had fun with them the way I have the past couple of days.”

She leaned back to stare at his eyes, reaching up to cup his jaw. “Momma was right. Home’s gotta be with people you care about.” Sighing heavily, she continued, “I wanted the job with GMS, but now? It all seems so tainted.”

Kissing her forehead, he said, “You’ve had a lot going on, baby. Let’s go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. Things will seem clearer in the morning.”
He hoped his words were true and her thoughts would include him.

Grinning over her shoulder, she looked up into his concerned face. “I’d love to go to bed now…but not sure sleep is on my mind.”

Throwing his head back in laughter, he turned her in his arms as he led the way down the hall. “Well, let’s see if we can give you something to occupy your time tonight besides sleep!”

A
t work the next day, Evie stayed in her office with the door closed almost all morning. She felt no guilt when she spent over two hours researching engineering jobs in Virginia. Pleased with her results, she even threw out a few inquiries and then spent another hour updating her resume. A knock on her door interrupted her queries and she quickly moved to a different screen before calling out, “Enter.”

Saul opened the door hesitantly, peeking in before moving into her office. “Hey,” he greeted, his voice not as exuberant as usual.

Forcing her greeting to be less cool than she felt, she greeted him in return. He slid into one of her chairs, his gaze nervously jumping around the room before landing on hers. “I just wondered how you were.”

“I’m fine, Saul,” she replied sincerely. Her mind moved back to Patrick and a secret smile graced her face.

Seeing her relaxed expression, Saul let out a deep breath. “Good, good. I was worried.”

Her eyes jumped to his again as she cocked her head in question. “Worried?”

“Yeah, well, you left in such a hurry the other day and have spent the morning behind your closed door.”

“And you don’t think I have a reason to be upset?”

“Aw, Evelyn. It’s just business. Honestly, it’s just the way things happen in industry and sales. As an engineer, you’ve never had to deal with this side of things, but in the sales and delivery of items, things go wrong.”

She remained silent and he took that as an invitation to continue to explain. “We once had an entire overseas shipment go down with a sinking cargo ship. Another time, there was a wreck on the highway when one of our delivery trucks turned over and the whole delivery was damaged.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked softly.

Twisting his hands in his lap, he shook his head sadly. “I just want you to know that shit happens and we can’t always control it. Or keep it from happening. Or change it. I don’t want to lose you over this.”

“Lose me? Threatening to fire me isn’t the same as
losing me
if you want to get down to semantics.”

Signing heavily again, he nodded. “I told Gary that was a stupid play. None of us want you to leave, but dad…dad is…you gotta understand. This company is dad’s whole world. He built it from the ground up, starting about thirty-five years ago. The company’s won awards for excellence and he’s been written up for donating percentages to charities. He’s so proud of it…probably more proud of it than his sons.”

At that tidbit of news, she stared at the man in front of her closely, realizing his emotions were giving her more information than the normally confident man gave.

“Gary’s the oldest, so he got to be the Vice President. Ed is an old childhood buddy of dad’s and so he’s the head of production. Dad keeps a tight rein on the company and he’ll react poorly to any negativity.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re telling me all of this.”

Piercing her eyes with his intent gaze, he said, “I think you’re brilliant and this company is lucky to have you. That’s the reason dad wanted to keep you and not let you go to any competition even though you had to wait a few months before the engineering position would be available. I just don’t want us to lose you.”

She nodded hesitantly, considering her words carefully. “I appreciate that, Saul. I was thrilled to get the job offer from GMS, but confess to having been really upset with the threat of dismissal. I’m having to sincerely consider my options at this point.”

The sorrowful expression on Saul’s face caused her heart to squeeze. He nodded slowly and stood to leave. “Evelyn, sometimes people do things that don’t make sense…or seem wrong. But they have their reasons. I just hope you’ll stay long enough to see that we really are a good company.”

He walked out her door, closing it behind him, and she let go of a breath she had not realized she was holding. Her mind swirled with the information Saul gave her…both the unspoken as well as his actual words.

*     *     *

Back in Virginia, Luke worked on the computer drives that Marc and Cam brought back. He had been contacted by John “Tex” Keegan, a former SEAL who had worked with Dude. Jack cleared the path for Luke to work with Dude’s computer guy, hoping the two of them together would be able to assist in locating the missing shipment.

You got the drives?
Tex messaged.

Working on them now.

I’ll send a decoding program that works for me. Developed it when I couldn’t find anything else to work.

Luke grinned as he typed,
Appreciate it. Will reciprocate.

No problem
, Tex came back.
Us techs have to stick together.

A few minutes later, Luke’s computer had the download and he ran the drives through the new program, grinning as he realized it gave him more information than his program. Pouring through the data, he moved to his complicated coffee machine and poured another cup. While relaxing against the counter, he heard his computer alert an incoming new message.
Hmm, Tex must have more to say.

Walking over, he saw it was not Tex, but his mystery assistant. Several months prior, he had been contacted by someone who could see what he was working on and, determining they could be trusted, he allowed them to assist with a case. Keeping their identity hidden, they continued to assist him and he grew fond of whoever was on the other end.

You have a new friend. I hope they can help you.

Chuckling, Luke wondered how the mystery assistant already found out that Tex was in contact with him.

Yes, it’s all good.

He waited a moment to see what they would say next.

Run the data through his program, then through the one I sent you for the last case. You will extrapolate more data that way.

Looking at the screen, he realized they were right. Watching the effects for a few minutes, he grinned.
Now, we’re getting somewhere.

You were right. Thanks.

No problem. I hope I’m not being replaced…

Chuckling, Luke shook his head and typed,
No way. I like working with you.

Good. I’ll be seeing you.

Luke pondered that for a few seconds and then typed,
I hope you mean that literally.

Only silence greeted him for several long minutes. Then, once more, his message alerted again.
You never know. Maybe. At least I hope so.

With that, Luke knew he had heard the last from the mystery assistant for a while. Sending another thank you to Tex, he began to pour over the data.

*     *     *

That afternoon, Evie knew she needed to get back to work. She had used too much company time looking for other jobs in Virginia.
One way or another, I’m almost finished with this part of the job
, she consoled herself. Pouring over new orders from the military, she realized she needed to make a visit to Ed.
Maybe I can just email my questions to him. Ugh, he rarely answers emails.
Looking at the clock, she hoped she could catch him. It was after five o’clock and as she opened her door, she noticed most employees had left the building.

Feeling guilty at her lack of performance during the day, she decided to stay late and head to the plant offices, hoping Ed would be working late as well. Dreading the conversation with the surly plant manager, she consoled herself with the fact that she only had a few questions to ask. Sliding her phone into her pocket, she headed out the door. Fifteen minutes later, she entered the plant’s security door. Normally visiting the production area during the business hours, it was eerily quiet after closing. Walking along the side of the crates and huge machines, she moved toward the stairs leading to Ed’s office.

Hearing loud voices near the top of the stairs, she halted, uncertain whether to move forward or not. Hating to interrupt what was obviously an argument, she stood quiet, hoping the parties would leave.

“I know what you’ve been doing! I can’t believe you’d do this to your family!”

The voices retreated and she stayed perfectly still, wondering what to do.

*     *     *

Luke called Monty at home. “Hey, man. I wanted to give you the intel I’ve uncovered and let you pass it on to Patrick. Using the data from the drives, and assistance from not only Tex but my mystery assistant again, I’ve found some interesting information.”

“Give it to me and I’ll contact Patrick.”

“Okay, the warehouse is owned by a number of subsidiary companies but, eventually, I found the owner to be listed as Oysten, Inc.”

“Oysten? Isn’t that the last name of the people who own GMS?”

“Yes, but what’s interesting is who we’re looking at. And why they want to stay hidden.”

*     *     *

After receiving the phone call from Monty, Patrick dialed Evie.
Come on, pick up.
Looking at the time, he saw it was after six o’clock. He knew that she should have been home. “Baby, call me when you get this message.”

Seeing her car was not in her condo’s parking lot, he turned around and began driving to GMS. On his way, he called Dude. They agreed to meet at GMS and Patrick stepped on the accelerator, churning the few miles up quickly.

Pulling into the parking lot, he immediately spotted her car still parked in its space. He parked next to her and as he got out, Dude came driving up as well.

“What have you got?” he asked, coming up to Patrick.

“Monty called. Seems Luke and Tex came up with a way to dig deeper into the hidden financial assets of the warehouse the missing shipment was directed to. It’s owned by an Oysten. Those are Evie’s bosses, but we don’t know which one. I tried to call her, but she won’t pick up. It’s not like her to work late…especially now that she’s disgusted with them.”

Just then Patrick’s phone vibrated. He answered after checking to see who was calling. “Evie, where are you?”

“I saw you had called,” she whispered.

His eyes jerked to Dude’s. “Why are you whispering? Where are you?” he asked again.

“I’m in the plant. I needed to speak to Ed, but when I got here, it was past closing,” she continued to whisper. “There are two men arguing and I’m afraid to make myself known, so I moved back closer to the door to call you.”

“Who’s arguing? Where’s the plant?”

“It’s the huge building to the left of the offices I work in.”

Patrick glanced up locating the group of buildings she was referring to. “Which one?”

“Why are you asking? Where are you?” she returned, still whispering.

“I’m next to your car. Now, which plant building are you in? I don’t want you there alone with two people arguing. You need to leave.”

“I’m in Building 5A,” she replied softly. “Listen, I think the voices have quieted. I’ll go see if I can find Ed and then come out.”

“I’m coming to you,” Patrick said, but realized she had disconnected. Looking at Dude, he said, “I’m going to her.”

Dude grinned and said, “Lead the way, man. I’m in.”

The two men took off running around the corporate building toward the production area.

*     *     *

Now that it appeared the loud argument had ended, Evie moved up the stairs leading to Ed’s office. Lifting her hand to knock on his door, she stumbled backward as it opened briskly. Stunned, she stared into the face of Norman Oysten, with Ed standing several feet behind him.

“What are you doing here?” he growled, his hand reaching out to grab her arm.

In a split second decision, she jumped back out of his reach and turned quickly, running back to the stairs. Hearing a scuffle behind her, she tripped on the stairs as a shot rang out in the vault-like plant, the echo ringing in her ears.
Oh, my God!

Recovering her footing, she stumbled the rest of the way down, but heard someone shout her name from the top.

“Get back here! Evie, get back here!”

Another shot rang out. This time, a
ping
bounced off a metal container near her head and she threw her body around the corner of a large crate, her heart pounding a staccato in her chest.
Oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus. What have I gotten myself into?

Hearing the sound of someone clomping down the stairs, she darted between another group of containers, trying to move inaudibly. Glancing down at her heels, she knew she would be better off barefoot. Slipping off one and then the other, she held them in her hands as she continued to wind around the machinery in the large section of the plant.

“I know you’re in here,” Norman’s voice cried out. “You can’t escape me.”

Norman?
Her frightened mind was unable to process the kind man who hired her with the angry visage that greeted her at the top of the stairs and continued to chase her. Knowing her phone was in her pocket, she remembered Patrick’s phone call.
Please find me!

*     *     *

Patrick and Dude made their way to Building 5A and had just entered the main door, after Dude circumvented the security door, when the shot rang out. Hearing shouts, they immediately shared a glance and headed full speed toward the back stairs.