Topping the Alpha: Trident Security Series (10 page)

Smiling, he held up his hands in surrender. “Just telling her to take it easy on you, big guy.”

Laughing and joking, the poker players cleared the table and started to spread out the containers of food while Jake and Tiny retrieved paper plates, utensils, napkins, and drinks for everyone. Before sitting at the table, Tiny pulled a phone out of his pocket and handed it to Alyssa. “This is so you can call Jake if you need to talk to him. I already texted the number to him, so he has it, and his number is programmed in for you, as well as Trident Security’s main number. Keep it with you at all times, because it also has a tracking device in it, in case we get separated for some reason.”

That’d been another thing Jake had thought would help her feel more comfortable while he was gone. He wanted her to know she could call him anytime she didn’t feel safe. He’d discovered last night during their video game rally that she’d been seeing a rape counselor with positive results for the past year. As long as a man didn’t remind her of her bastard father, she was able to relax, unless he was a ‘creep-a-zoid’, as she put it. And out of all the guards he could’ve picked to watch over her, he knew Tiny’s personality would win her over very quickly, with Henderson being a close second. Both men were marshmallows when it came to women, yet relentless Rottweilers if any of those women were threatened.

Jake was halfway through his second helping of beef lo mien when his cell rang and Pete Archer’s name appeared across the screen. Rising from the table, he headed out to the porch, answering the call as he went. “Hey, Pete. Any updates?”

“Yeah. Just heard a local news report. Apparently a woman’s body, wrapped in a rug, was thrown off a backroad overpass into the Arkansas River near Pueblo yesterday. Whoever dumped her hadn’t counted on the two guys fishing under the bridge. They hooked the rug and called the sheriff when they noticed the body inside. No ID yet and they haven’t released a description, but unconfirmed reports say she’d been shot in the face.”

Jake sat down on the top step of the porch and sighed. “So, it’s most likely Carrie. Well, we knew she was dead, so this doesn’t come as a surprise to us, but I’d love to see Wagner’s face when the cops knock on his door to tell him his allegedly deceased wife was alive. And now dead again.”

“So would I. Anyway, I’ll keep my ears open and let you know if I hear anything new.”

The door behind Jake opened and soft footfalls followed. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw it was Nick. “Thanks, Pete.”

“No problem, Reverend. Give Alyssa my love and stay safe.”

“Will do. Talk to you later.” Standing, Jake disconnected the call and faced Nick who was sporting a neutral expression…one that bothered Jake, but he wouldn’t admit it. “Sounds like they found the mother’s body, but no positive ID yet. I don’t want to tell Alyssa until we have it though.”

Nick shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Okay. That makes sense. So, what’s next?”

“We figure out how to take down Wagner once and for all, without needing her to testify, if possible.”

Nodding, the kid agreed. “Let’s do it.”

Frustrated, Jake hung up his cell phone for the third time since they’d hit the road an hour ago. The first call was to Trudy, his contact at Friends of Patty, who told him that, unfortunately, there was little chance of figuring out which contacts Alyssa and her mother had encountered on their journey to a new life. It was set up that way to safeguard against weak links. They were not supposed to tell anyone who they handed the package off to, even if it was another member of the organization who was asking. But the whole point became unnecessary, anyway, during his second call, which had been from Brody.

The geek had checked out a possible lead, which occurred to Jake while on the second half of his run earlier, after he’d pushed Nick from his mind. While Brody hadn’t been able to trace any calls Carrie Wagner had made on her throwaway cell phone, he’d been able to check the incoming calls to her friend’s landline phone in Georgia. And sure enough there’d been a call to the friend originating from a Canon City, Colorado cell tower. When Jake suggested they pay the woman a visit, Brody had given him the bad news. She’d been found stabbed to death in her home after she didn’t show up for work three days ago. Someone must have been monitoring her calls, and when Carrie, for some unknown stupid reason, had contacted her, it’d sealed the fate of both women. Thankfully, Alyssa’s fate hadn’t been the same, and Jake was determined to keep it that way. The Trident team would protect her with their own lives.

The final call, which he’d just disconnected from, had been from Carter. The spy had heard from his associate, Jordyn, and Jake’s interest was piqued when his friend’s earlier sunny attitude toward the woman had soured. The only reason Jake could think of was, even though the female operative had agreed to help them after hearing Alyssa’s story, the rest of the conversation hadn’t gone the way his friend had hoped it would. Carter had given Jake’s cell number to Jordyn because she apparently didn’t want to talk to her one-time lover again. Jake would give his left nut to know what was going on between those two since Carter was a man who had women falling at his feet 24/7—submissive or not.

“So, is she going to do it?” Driving the SUV back to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where their plane was waiting, Nick glanced at Jake.
Talk about a soured attitude.
Jake would have to wait until they were alone again to try and smooth things over with the kid. In the back seat, Cain leaned forward to listen in on the conversation.

“Yeah, but it’ll take her a day or two to get to Tampa. No clue where she’s coming from. Carter called Brody to have him send her the floor plans and alarm info on Wagner’s house. She’ll call me when the job is done.”

Cain grinned. “When she does, give her my number. A combination firecracker, cat-burglar, and assassin is a woman I never would’ve considered while in the Secret Service, but, damn, does she sound hot.

Snorting, Jake shook his head in amusement. “Dude, I’m not questioning your sexual expertise, but if Master Carter can’t handle her, I doubt anyone can. There isn’t one female submissive at the club who doesn’t sigh when they say his name.”

“Maybe, but I’d be more than willing to give it a fucking shot if she fits the image I have in mind. I’m picturing about five-foot-five, a size four or six, long dark hair she keeps in a ponytail most of the time, and exotic-looking eyes. Add in the fact she’s probably trained in martial arts and almost every weapon out there and, yeah, I’m fucking interested.”

Jake chuckled, knowing the new guy was going to fit in quite well with both Trident and The Covenant. As far as he knew, two more of the six Omega Team operatives were Doms and the new female chopper pilot was a switch, meaning she was a top or bottom depending on her mood or current relationship. The others had no issues with working in the vicinity of the club, nor had any problem with going inside if needed. And whether they were members or not, they still had to sign the non-disclosure oath everyone else did. It’d been part of the interview process and psychological exams the team candidates had gone through. Ian and Devon rightfully refused to hire anyone who could possibly endanger the club’s membership with exposure. If at any time during the interview, background check, and testing process, a candidate showed any form of bigotry or closed-mindedness toward the lifestyle, gays, or the opposite sex in general, their file was tossed into the garbage can. Jake knew at least two candidates had been disqualified for those reasons.

He eyed Cain. “If the opportunity comes up, I’ll point her in your direction. After that you’re on your own.”

“Sounds good to me. So what happens when we get back to Tampa? How are we going after Alyssa’s sperm donor?”

Sighing, Jake grabbed his water from the center console and took a sip. “For now, you’re heading back to the compound for more training.” He chuckled at the other man’s muttered curse. “Sorry, dude, but Ian is a stickler for training. Don’t worry though, if we need backup for anything, you’re in. Anyway, I’m going to check in with some of my informants. It’s been a while since I went looking for any info on Wagner. Then we wait until this Jordyn retrieves the photos and videos. Hopefully, by that point we have a plan to bring the bastard down. I’m hoping Jordyn can find something else in the safe that we can get him on, instead of having Alyssa testify. She doesn’t want to do it and I understand her reluctance.”

“So do I. But I would love to tell everyone on his future cell block what a fucking pervert he is. You know how much most inmates hate child molesters.”

Nick and Jake both agreed. Molesters were the scum of the earth even to other criminals. None of them would be surprised if Wagner was shafted after being beaten and raped himself, letting the bastard know what if felt like to be helpless at another person’s hands. Jake was determined to make that a possibility by putting the bastard away for what he’d done to the sweet teenager. The sooner the better.

* * *

“We’ve got a tail.”

Nick glanced into the passenger side-view mirror and spotted the dark SUV Jake was referring to. “Two people in front, can’t see anyone in the rear. When did they latch on to us?”

Snorting, Jake changed lanes without giving the men following them any indication they’d been spotted. “As soon as we left the compound. Idiots couldn’t have been more obvious if they fucking tried.”

After dropping Cain off, and giving Ian and Dev updates, Nick was surprised when Jake invited him along to find one of his informants. After the incident in the woods earlier, he was afraid Jake would shut him down for good. There was so much he needed to learn about the man and his lifestyle, but if Jake wasn’t forthcoming with information, who the hell could Nick ask?

“You still carrying?”

He glanced at Jake. “Yeah, why?”

A smirk came over the man’s face as he flipped on the left turn signal. “Because once I find a more secluded place, I think we’ll have a chat with these boys. Sound like fun?”

“As long as I don’t have to tell my lieutenant, then count me in.” Yeah, the Navy frowned on their SEALs getting in trouble on U.S. soil. But this was important to Jake, therefore, it was important to Nick. “Let’s do it.”

Hitting the Bluetooth feature on his steering wheel, Jake instructed the female voice prompt to dial a number. When the call connected, he laid out his plan.

Seven minutes and many turns later, Jake found a rundown area, void of witnesses. Accelerating quickly to get their tail’s attention, he made his way across an empty parking lot, heading to the rear of an abandoned strip mall. As expected, the SUV sped up as well. After circling around to the back of the building, Jake turned the wheel hard while slamming on the brakes, sending his truck into a hundred and eighty-degree spin, before stopping it and throwing the gear shift into park. Nick and Jake leapt from the vehicle, weapons drawn, using their doors for cover, as the SUV rounded the corner and came to a screeching halt. Before the driver could put it in reverse, Brody’s Ford F-150 boxed the vehicle in. The geek and Marco exited, also with guns drawn, and approached the driver and passenger doors, keeping a fair distance to the sides in case Jake and Nick needed to open fire.

When Brody was almost parallel with the driver, he raised his voice to be heard through the closed windows. “Show your hands!”

After a moment’s hesitation and a dirty look, the driver held up his hands with the passenger following suit. With his gun still pointed at the driver’s head, Brody gave his next commands. “Moving nice and slow, roll down all the windows.” Once they were down, the team was assured there was no one else in the vehicle. “Open the doors slowly. Get out and lay down on the ground. Any sudden movements and I’ll pump you full of lead.” Okay, a little dramatic, but Nick knew it was not a false statement.

With Jake’s eye on the passenger, Nick kept the driver in his weapon’s sights, praying the guy didn’t do something stupid. The last thing they needed was a repeat of a nineteenth century gunfight. This wasn’t the Wild West in Tombstone, Arizon
a—
it was modern day Tampa, Florida. And the law was less forgiving around here.

Both doors opened and the men exited, hands in full view, as they dropped to the ground. “You’re making a big mistake,” the driver growled at Brody, who smirked as he rounded to the man’s feet.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong, ass-hat. Your mistake was getting out of fucking bed this morning. Hands behind your head and lock your fingers together.”

Nick approached the driver, keeping his weapon’s muzzle level with the guy’s head. On the other side, Jake was doing the same with the passenger. When they were close enough to their targets that they couldn’t miss if things went to shit, their other two teammates re-holstered their weapons. Kneeling next to the driver’s hips, Brody reached up and slapped a handcuff around one wrist, bringing the guy’s right arm around to the small of his back. The left arm followed and the other cuff was closed with a
snick
. Nick couldn’t see what Marco had taken off the other guy, but a gloved Egghead pocketed the S&W 9mm semi-automatic, Kahr .380 pistol, and switchblade he removed from the driver’s body as he patted him down. These goons had some serious hardware on them. Once both men were secure and relieved of their weapons, as well as their cell phones, Jake and Nick holstered their own handguns.

On the passenger side of the SUV, Jake growled at his suspect, “All right, asshole, what did Wagner hire you to do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man’s bravado and false ignorance earned him a boot to the ribs from Marco, and Nick smirked when he heard the satisfying
crack
and grunt from several feet away.

Jake eyed Brody over the hood of the vehicle. “Is your guy any smarter than this idiot?”

“
Hmm
. Let me see.” The grin spreading across the geek’s face told Nick he lived for moments like this. It was a guy thing, as well as a SEAL thing—a chance to kick the ass of someone who deserved it was always welcome. Leaning down, Brody grabbed a handful of hair, ignoring the driver’s yelp of pain. “Are you smarter than your buddy, fucktard? You want to tell us why you were tailing my friends here?”

“Fuck you!”

“I was hoping you would say that.” Nick winced, then chuckled when Brody shoved the guy’s face back into the pavement, breaking his nose. The driver screamed in agony. “Damn, that had to hurt. Sorry, Jake. This asshole isn’t any smarter. It’s your guy’s turn to try and grow some balls and brains.”

Whatever Marco did to his thug on the other side of the SUV elicited a screech worthy of a girl meeting her teen idol, followed by begging…lots and lots of begging. “Please! Oh, fuck, stop! All right! I’ll tell you what you want to know, just…just get him off me! Please!”

Jake nodded toward his teammate and the screaming dropped several octaves to groans. “Start talking.”

The passenger’s words were raspy and pain-filled. “W-Wagner and Allen want the girl. We were s-supposed to follow you, hoping you would lead us to her. T-that’s all we were told to do and I don’t know why they want her.”

Snarling, Jake bent at the waist. “I know why, asshole. Wagner’s a fucking pervert who’s been raping his daughter since she was twelve years old. He’s also on my fuckers-I-want-to-destroy list, before I cut off his dick, shove half of it up his ass and the other half down his fucking throat. Now, unless you want to be added to that list, I suggest you turn down any other fucking jobs he offers you and forget we ever had this talk. Understand?”

There was a long pause, then a screech again. “All right! All right! I understand!”

Brody kicked the driver none to softly in the ribs. “What about you, fucktard? You understand?”

“Fuck! Yeah, I get it.”

Ten minutes later, after un-cuffing the men, forcing them to strip to their birthday suits, and duct taping them together face-to-face, Marco and Brody stuffed them into the rear of the SUV. Meanwhile, Jake made a call to one of Trident’s contacts in the Tampa P.D. to come and release the two assholes in about fifteen minutes or so, long after the teammates were gone. The weapons that’d been confiscated, along with the drugs Nick had found in the glove-compartment, were left for the police to take care of, but Brody kept both of their cell phones to be reviewed later for other contacts. After a quick check to make sure they were leaving no evidence of their own presence, the four operatives took off in their vehicles, heading in opposite directions.