SEAL Guardian (Brothers In Arms Book 3) Read online

  Kim straightened in her seat as best she could, her eyes still glassy from the alcohol in her system, but her expression curious.

  “We know that you’ve been funding the activities of Kevin Quinn. Now, I’m not sure why or how much you know about what he’s been doing, the murders he’s committed, but if you agree to share what you do know with me today, and agree to testify against him in court once we catch him, then I’m prepared to offer to take you into protective custody through the FBI.”

  The fight seemed to go out of Kim and she sagged in the chair.

  Felicity glanced at Jace and tilted her head toward their prisoner. He nodded and walked over to remove the gag in Kim’s mouth.

  “Do you accept my deal?” Felicity asked as Jace wiped his boot on Kim’s priceless Persian rug. “The only other way you get out of this is going to prison. I’m not sure you’d survive long in there, Elena.”

  “Kim. My name’s Kim,” she said after an eternity of seconds. “I left Elena behind a long time ago.”

  Jace wanted to point out her little Romanian hissy fit just minutes earlier but refrained.

  “Take the deal, Kim. You get a new life and Quinn gets the punishment he deserves.”

  “You promise you’ll take care of me?” Kim said.

  “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Protective Custody gets you out.” Felicity pulled out her notebook and a pen. “But you have to tell me everything you know about Kevin Quinn.”

  Kim stared a Felicity. “I want a new name, a new life, a new everything. I hate this fucking house now. Hate everything it stood for and everything I’ve lost.”

  Felicity caught Jace’s eye, held for a moment, before nodding. “Like I said, I’ll do my best. I can’t guarantee anything though until you tell me what you know.”

  “Fine.” Kim exhaled. “It started right after Tim and I got married. He would have these meetings here at the house for his “friends”. Basically, a bunch of Neo-Nazi skinheads with dreams of taking over the world. One night a man showed up I hadn’t seen before, with a buzz cut and military fatigues. He said his name was Kevin Quinn….”

  13

  “Quinn didn’t leave his trailer once after six,” Mark said, stretching his legs out on the sofa in front of him in the office. Geneva sat at his desk, checking her work emails. It was now well after midnight and they were tired. At least Jace was. The only thing keeping him going at the moment was his lingering desire to nail Kevin Quinn’s balls to the wall for what he’d done to Trevor and all those other SEALs. Well, that and Felicity, who’d pulled up a chair beside him at his desk and was currently going through what few files she still had access to from her FBI investigation on Quinn.

  She looked ready to drop too, her pretty eyes rimmed with shadows of exhaustion and her already slim face more gaunt from lack of rest. Still, she kept pushing forward like a trooper.

  Nah. That had to be the fatigue talking. After all, they’d only known each other a few days. And yeah, they’d spent a lot of time together working on this case, but crisis had a way of bringing people together, a way of making things seem far more intimate than they were. The effects were short-term, totally temporary. Once they’d nabbed Quinn and life returned to normal, these strong emotions would vanish. Sure. Yep. That was it. Had to be.

  Except, as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face, the warm tingle spreading outward from the area around his heart didn’t feel temporary. It felt rich and deep and abiding.

  Jace swallowed hard against the growing constriction in his throat.

  Holy shit. Against the odds and his own reservations, he’d gone and done it. Fallen hard for a woman who’d be catching the next plane back to Virginia as soon as this case was over. Bye-bye, Jace. Bye-bye love.

  Way to pick ‘em, dumbass.

  He exhaled and glanced over at Felicity only to see her staring at him, her expression expectant. Fuck. She’d asked him something, but he had no idea what. Heat prickled up from beneath the collar of his T-shirt. “I’m sorry?”

  Tired as he was, he’d nearly tacked on “darlin’” onto the end of that question without even realizing it. God, he was in a bad way here with no idea where to go or what to do to make things better.

  Felicity gave him a flat pay-attention look. “I asked what you thought about this new information that Geneva uncovered.”

  Right. Yeah, he’d totally missed that. Wincing, Jace apologized. “I’m sorry, G. Zoned out there for a minute. Would you mind repeating that?”

  “I said that I think I found out why he’s doing what he’s doing, murdering these innocent men.”

  “Go on.” Jace sat forward, fresh adrenaline quickening his pulse and chasing away his fatigue.

  “I’ve got a source inside the Pentagon. She sent me some interesting tidbits from Kevin Quinn’s personnel file. Did you know he had an older brother who served in the Army?”

  Jace shook his head. “If I remember correctly, on his application to the SEAL training program, he denied having any family in the military.”

  “Well, given what happened, that wasn’t a lie,” Mark said, tucking his hands behind his head.

  “What happened?” Jace asked, scowling.

  Geneva smiled, small and wily like a true predator on the scent of huge prey—or a huge breaking news story, in her case. “Turns out this brother was with Special Forces. He got discharged for mental health reasons when Kevin was twelve. Looks like he lived with the family for a while after that.”

  “Mental health reasons?” Felicity asked. “What exactly? PTSD?”

  “Among other things. The most interesting of which was extreme paranoia brought on by a mission gone wrong in Kandahar. According to what my source told me, it was like one day the guy was fine and the next he just completely lost his shit. They began to wonder if he didn’t have some kind of psychotic break or undiagnosed schizophrenia. Anyway, when they discharged him from Walter Reed Hospital, he was being treated with anti-psychotic meds for delusions and extreme anxiety.”

  “Wow.” Jace inhaled sharply. “I had no idea about any of that. Like I said, when I got his application, it looked pretty standard to me.”

  “About a month after the brother returned home,” Geneva continued, “he had another breakdown. Went off his meds and barricaded himself in one of the back bedrooms of the house with a sniper rifle and his little brother by his side. From the police reports and news articles documenting what happened, he filled young Kevin’s head with his poisonous lies about the government being out to get him and the military being corrupt and nothing but a ruthless killing machine. They ended up taking the brother away and locking him up in a mental institution.”

  “Which left young Kevin alone to stew in the garbage his brother spewed at him,” Felicity said. “God, that makes perfect sense now, given what happened when he went to college.”

  “What happened there?” Mark asked, sitting up on the sofa, his gaze narrowed.

  “That’s where he first met Tim Rigsdale, according to my files. During his junior year. Tim was a senior and Kevin Quinn idolized him, from what Kevin’s classmates I interviewed told me. To them it seemed Kevin thought Tim’s racist rhetoric came straight from the Lord’s mouth or something.” Felicity sighed and shook her head. “Anyway, once Tim Rigsdale founded his American Way group, Kevin became radicalized for their cause and worked as a sort of enforcer for them, keeping the membership in line. Until he decided to join the Navy, that is.”

  “Why the hell would a guy like Quinn want to join the very thing he hates most?” Jace frowned. “Why go into the Navy? It sounds like he had it made with Rigsdale.”

  “Apparently they had a falling out after Tim graduated. Rigsdale put his rise to racist power on hold to make his millions in the tech industry. I’m guessing he only came back into the fold near the end to take advantage of Tim’s resources. And his wife. Quinn had a real problem with the fact that Tim had left the American Way to pursue w
hat Kevin considered his own greedy, corrupt ambitions. He saw it as some kind of betrayal to the cause of white supremacy.”

  “Just like his brother was betrayed,” Geneva said, realization dawning on her face.

  “Yep.” Felicity nodded. “It ties in together. I’d say he joined the Navy to hide in plain sight, to learn their inner workings and become part of their brotherhood so he could later exploit them to his advantage. He’s smart too, which makes him even more dangerous.”

  “Murder though,” Jace raked a hand through his messy hair. “That’s a big leap from just being a paranoid weirdo.”

  “But what if Kevin Quinn’s killing spree didn’t start with the SEALs.” Geneva waved everyone over to see her laptop screen. “Take a look at this article. Happened about a week after they took Kevin’s brother away.”

  Jace squinted at the screen. It detailed a fire in the apartment complex where Kevin Quinn and his family lived. “This article says it was ruled an accident.”

  “Wait.” Felicity walked back over to Jace’s desk and typed away on his keyboard. “I remember seeing something on Quinn’s recruitment records about a short stint of therapy when he was in his teens.” Jace moved in beside her to see that she was logged into the FBI database. “Yep. Looking at the dates here, it coincides with when that fire happened.”

  Mark continued to stare down at Geneva’s screen, scowling. “Says his family made it out okay, but it killed an older couple who lived in the unit below them who couldn’t escape in time.” Mark straightened, scrubbing his hand over his shaved scalp. “Fuck, man. You think this guy might’ve actually torched his own family’s apartment building?”

  “Could be,” Felicity said, shutting down Jace’s computer. “I wouldn’t put anything past Kevin Quinn at this point. The only certain thing is we need to handle this guy with extreme caution.”

  Trailing behind her, Jace’s mind swirled with new information. Quinn was paranoid and well-trained by the military. But he wasn’t a fan of the spotlight from the way he did his best to make his victims look like suicides. He killed to make a point, killed to show his disdain for the government and for the military establishment he believed had shunned and betrayed his brother.

  “We need to flush him out,” Jace said, finally. “Lay some enticing bait and wait for him to nibble.”

  “What’s our bait?” Mark asked, slipping his arms around Geneva’s waist from behind and pulling her back against him. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt by this lunatic.”

  “Well, I’d say we could’ve used Kim Rigsdale, but that won’t work now. I pulled some strings and had her taken into protective custody by the local police. At least we know he won’t be getting any more funding from her or be able to use the mansion as his hideout.” Felicity’s dark blond brows drew together. “We’ll have to find someone else to do it. It’ll have to be someone who knows what they’re doing and what to say and what not to, so we avoid the whole entrapment issue.”

  A small smile quirked one side of her full lips and the dread in Jace’s gut multiplied.

  “Aw, hell no.” he moved in beside her, arms crossed and scowl dark. “No way are you putting yourself at risk like that, Felicity. I’m not having it.”

  “Really?” Her small smile fell, replaced by a clenched jaw and a flicker of belligerence in her eyes. “Last time I checked, you agreed to my rules on this case. That means I’m in charge. Besides, I’m the most qualified person here to go undercover. It’s what I do, remember?”

  “How can I forget?” Jace stepped closer to her, nose to nose now, his roiling emotions and strong feelings for her frothing over into unaccountable anger. How dare she risk herself like that without even checking with him. If anything happened to her, he’d… he’d…. Well, shit. He wasn’t sure what the hell he’d do, but it would be bad. Really, horribly, terrifyingly bad. So, he struck her where it would hurt the most, hoping to knock her confidence down enough to allow some sense into that beautiful head of hers. “I know your career’s important to you, but I also think you use that badge of yours like a goddamned shield to keep everyone at a safe distance.”

  “How dare you!” Her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled with indignant rage and if there hadn’t been other people around Jace would’ve pulled her in tight, kissed her hard and taken her right there on his desk until they both forgot about her acting as bait. “You don’t even know me, not really. You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do, asshole.”

  “Let’s just calm down, yeah?” Mark said, stepping between them and trying to be the voice of reason. “Maybe we should track Quinn some more first then decided what to do.”

  Jace stared down at Felicity, simultaneously turned on as fuck and wanting to shake her so hard her teeth rattled. She was seriously the most infuriating woman he’d ever met. Headstrong, reckless, courageous to a fault. Resigned, he turned on his heel and stalked away, his pulse still pounding loud in his ears and every muscle in his body tense. He’d sooner put a bullet in Kevin Quinn’s brain himself than let Felicity put herself in danger like that. In fact, maybe he would, if things went south.

  Geneva closed her laptop then joined Mark, who stood beside a fuming Felicity. “Cool. So, Mark and I can track Quinn again tomorrow and see where he goes. And you guys can stay here and go through the additional files I sent you.” She flashed Felicity a bright smile. “Sound good, boss?”

  Felicity gave a curt nod in response.

  “Great.” Geneva rose on tiptoes and kissed Mark’s cheek. “I’ll wait out in the Jeep, honey. We should get to bed so we can start early in the morning.”

  “Be right there,” Mark said, striding over to grab Jace’s arm and yank him toward the front door of the office. “I got something to discuss with my partner.”

  “What the hell, dude?” Jace tried to pull free, but Mark had about fifty pounds of solid muscle and a good two inches of height on him. He wasn’t going anywhere until his old SEAL team leader decided he would. Mark rarely went ballistic on him and Vann anymore, but when he did, they knew it meant business. “What is wrong with you?”

  Mark hauled him around the side of the office building and into the shadows behind. In the moonlight, his Polynesian features looked even more stark than usual. “I was about to ask you the same fucking thing. You in love with her?”

  “What?” He wanted to say no, but wouldn’t lie to his friend. “Why is that any of your business?”

  “Because love makes you do crazy shit and act irrationally.” Mark rubbed his eyes, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Believe me, I know.”

  Jace exhaled, the fight going out of him. Mark and Geneva’s rocky road to love had nearly cost his friend his life. He didn’t want the same thing to happen to him and Felicity, but shit. Giving his heart to her wasn’t anything he ever expected, especially after this short period of time. And damn if the risk of loving her didn’t rock his world and scare the living shit out of him, all at the same time. He sagged back against the wall and stared at the toes of his combat boots. “I’m not sure how to handle this, man. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

  “I hear you.” Mark clapped a hand on his shoulder and sighed. “But you need to talk this out. Deal with this situation before it deals with you. Kevin Quinn is a serious whack job and we need to be on high-alert until the threat he poses is neutralized. Tell Felicity how you feel. I’m guessing from the way she looks at you, maybe she’s feeling the same way too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. She gets that sappy ass look on her face, like she’s staring at puppies or something.” Mark wrinkled his nose. “It’s pretty disgusting to watch actually, Heinz.”

  Chuckling, Jace shoved away from the wall, tingles of warmth spreading inside him from the thought that maybe, just maybe, Felicity might love him too. He shoved Mark hard on the shoulder and strode back toward the exit. “Watch it.”

  “Shit.” Mark laughed, the sound reverberating th
rough the night. “Were you always such a pain in my ass, Stevens?”

  “Yes, sir.” He turned and saluted, then walked backward toward the door. “And you love every minute of it. That’s the thing about Heinz 57. Makes everything better. Now go take care of your own woman troubles, partner. Geneva looks like she’s getting antsy waiting for you.”

  14

  Felicity sat alone in the office for a while after the sound of Mark’s Jeep drifted away. Jace still hadn’t come back inside yet, and that worried her. What worried her more, however, was why she’d gotten so riled up from his taunts. Yes, they’d pissed her off, but they weren’t any different from the crap she dealt with on a daily basis from the guys at the Bureau. No. If she was honest, it was the fact that she actually cared about what Jace thought of her.

  Cared about Jace Stevens. Period.

  Whenever she thought of him now, a flutter of excitement and tenderness swarmed through her like wild butterflies. For a gal who prided herself on maintaining her control at all times, that was heady stuff indeed, especially since Jace had a way of making her lose control whenever he touched her. She sat back in the chair at his desk and covered her face with her hands. What she needed to concentrate on now was coordinating her plan to act as bait for Quinn with Mark and Geneva’s mission to track him the next day. The clock was counting down to his next kill and they needed to act soon to prevent anyone else from getting hurt or worse. Except she couldn’t seem to think about anything else tonight but Jace.

  How his touch made her ignite like fireworks. How his warm, woodsy fragrance reminded her of home and comfort. How his kindness and respect surrounded her even when they fought. She’d never met a man like him—so proud, so dedicated to his work and his friends, so willing to put everything on the line to defend what was his. The other men she’d dated and the few serious relationships she’d had in the past had left her cold and unfulfilled. But with Jace, she felt combustible and free and more alive than ever before.