Rescuing Melissa (ALPHA TEAM: Guardian Hostage Rescue Specialists)

12. Stains

TWELVE

Stains

CJ

The tornados made national news, but CJ didn’t care about the fucking tornados. He flipped channels trying to find a story about the prison break, but all the newscasts seemed silent on that account. Nothing about an explosion, missing inmates, or a manhunt made its way to television, print, or internet news.

How was that possible?

For three hours, he scanned channels and surfed the net, getting nothing but a rehashing of the destruction. Frustrated, he called into work to see if Sam could help.

“CJ? What are you doing calling me? You’re supposed to be on leave.” The surprise in his boss’s voice was unmistakable.

“Listen, I need help with something.”

The Guardians were hostage rescue specialists and often contracted with the FBI, assisting with off-the-books hostage extractions. Sam had strings in high places. CJ hoped Sam could dig up something about Patterson.

“How’d your personal business go?”

“That’s what I want to talk about. It didn’t.”

“How’s that possible?”

“The execution didn’t happen.”

A long stretch of silence passed on the other end of the line. CJ let it hang. Sam had never let him down.

Sam cleared his throat, a prolonged rumble, then spoke in a firm voice. “What do you need?”

CJ needed confirmation. “You heard about the storm down here?”

“Who hasn’t? They’re blasting it on national news like it’s a national disaster zone. Were you near any of it?”

“You could say.”

“Did you see any of the twisters? News is saying there was a bunch.”

Five to be exact, but he didn’t elaborate. “Yeah, up close and personal.”

Melissa came to mind, falling in front of his car, shivering under the emergency blanket, the lace of her bra sitting over the ivory perfection of her breasts. Damn, his trousers grew tight with inappropriate thoughts about a married woman.

“You there?” Sam’s deep voice boomed.

“Sorry.”

“Not like you to drift off like that. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he said.

“Then why’d you call?”

He tried to dislodge Melissa from his mind and focus on more pressing matters, but he couldn’t get the brunette out of his thoughts.

“I need you to check something for me. I can’t get anything out of the news. A tornado hit the prison. News isn’t reporting any problems, but the guards are telling a different story. One of them said there was an explosion, and the National Guard arrived to search for Patterson, but it’s not being publicized.”

“Is it him?”

“If I can trust the words of a drunk guard, then yes. Any other prisoner and they’d be blasting it on the news to get people to keep an eye out. But him?”

Scott Patterson’s crimes had been beyond horrific. CJ was surprised something hadn’t leaked to the press.

“Probably trying to cover their asses,” Sam said.

“I think so, which is where you come in. I need to know if the bastard got out.”

There were many reasons to keep quiet about the escape. None of them good. Panicking an already stressed population might be one of them.

“If Patterson is free, the more eyes looking for him, the better. Whoever is in charge is an idiot.”

“Sounds like,” Sam agreed.

“I don’t know why they haven’t made a statement. I could be wrong here. I’m only going on what a bunch of tired and very drunk guards were saying, but if it was him, you know how bad that could be.”

Scott Patterson spent the better part of a decade on a killing spree. Each year he’d increased his kills by three, and he’d spent the last three years locked up. The man would have pent up energy to spend.

“I’ll look into it,” Sam promised. “In the meantime, what are you going to do? Because something has come up, and I could use you.”

CJ glanced at the water stains on the ceiling. He should go back to work. Except for visiting his sister’s grave, there wasn’t anything keeping him here.

“You got a case?”

“Yeah. It’s a special one.”

“Who were you going to send?”

“Your team, of course. Mac and Jenny are already on their way. By the way, Jenny did well leading Delta team on this last case while you’ve been out. If you decide you want to step up, she’ll be a great replacement.”

“And what will you do?” Sam was the battle commander for the four Guardian teams: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and CJ’s team, Delta. “Forest tagged me to manage the entire operation. He’s ready for me to hand over my job to my replacement. You say the word, and it’s yours.”

Forest Summers, a billionaire on a mission to rid the world of human traffickers, recently acquired Guardian HRS. Everyone was excited by what that meant for the Guardians. Sam moving up to manage the entire operation, left his position of battle commander open.

“I’m still chewing on it.” He liked his position as Delta One, lead of Delta team, and wasn’t sure if he was ready to step up to take leadership of all four Guardian teams. It was a lot of responsibility and took him a step away from the action. Was he ready to hand over Delta? It was a huge step up, more responsibility, less fieldwork. “Let me finish things out here. I’ll give you my answer when I officially come back.”

“No rush. You’re the only man for the job. Not that I’m pressuring you to take it, but I don’t trust anyone else to take this job.”

“No pressure.”

“Hah, right. No pressure.”

“How’s our new boss? Is he shaking everything up? Is he a hands-on, in your face, can’t get rid of him kind of boss, or is he willing to step back and let us do our job?”

“His vision is impressive. You should see his plans for Guardian HQ. Forest is a bit quirky, but I have to tell you, he doesn’t believe in the wordcan’t. There’s nothing that man can’t do, and you’ll like him once you meet him. He’s impressive. As far as the hands-off aspect, it’s too early to tell. The man is passionate about rescuing innocents. I can say that which brings us back to Jenny. If you have any doubts, I need to know.”

“Her skills are top-notch. I’m just not sure I want to step away from fieldwork.”

“I get that, but think about it. No pressure, but I’ll need an answer.”

“If that’s the case, why doesn’t she take the lead on this case? You don’t need me.”

“I want your eyes on this case, and I need your experience. It’s right up your alley as we have shit for leads.”

Wonderful.

“Well, I say keep Jenny on point. She’ll either step up or not. I’ll back her up as needed and tell you if I think she’s ready to lead Delta team.” If Sam wanted her to step into CJ’s role as Delta One, he needed more time to evaluate her abilities. “How about assigning me to look for Patterson? If he got out, I’m tracking his ass down. If they can’t figure out how to kill him, I know a good place to park a bullet.”

Sam’s long sigh had CJ frowning.

“It’s a kidnapping case, with no leads. The mother of two girls went missing yesterday afternoon. The school called the cops when the mother didn’t pick up her girls from school. You know how time-sensitive cases like this are?”

Shit, Sam knew CJ’s soft spot for kidnapping cases, but this one was fresher than what they usually worked on.

“How did the Guardians get involved?”

Guardian HRS didn’t usually take cases unless they were complicated, had already failed the negotiation stage, or required unorthodox extraction techniques. Often, their clients were wealthy enough to pay for the privilege. It didn’t make sense why they were involved in this case.

“Personal favor. Widow of a war hero, two young girls, and a lot of guardian angels who were buddies of her husband. They’re afraid that with all the storm damage, no one will pay attention to her case. You know how these things go. Mac and Jenny are on their way. The rest of Delta team will follow once they finish up the last assignment.”

CJ focused on the water stains. The brown spots made sockets for eyes, and a lopsided grin stared back at him where the water had dripped a little more on one side.

Nothing good ever happened when kidnappers got their hands on women.

“You know I’m better working on Patterson’s manhunt, right?”

“Getting you on that case will take time. I’ll see what I can manage, but until then, work with Jenny. I want your assessment of how Delta takes to her calling the shots. I need you on this case.”

Of course, he’d work the kidnapping. No way he’d turn it down, but he wasn’t going to let Patterson’s escape go without a fight.

“I’m on it, but see what you can dig up with the Justice Department about Patterson.”

“You know I will.”

Sam had been the one to notify CJ when they’d discovered his sister’s body. He’d been there through the grief and managed CJ’s unhealthy obsession during the year-long trial, redirecting his pent-up energy into more useful pursuits, such as rescuing innocent victims.

Oh hell, that voice.The voice on the other end of Melissa’s phone.

There was a reason it sounded familiar. How could he forget the voice of the man who killed his baby sister?

He suppressed a growl, but that did nothing to prevent his fist from connecting hard with the wall. Fuck, that hurt. He’d better not have broken the knuckles. Now, he needed ice.

“Send me what information you have.”

“Thanks, CJ. These girls have already lost one parent. Check in with me once a day, no exceptions.”

“Got it.”

“Sending you the files.”

His phone blipped with an encrypted file notification.

He’d come to this town for closure. Instead, he’d found upheaval. Patterson still breathed, and CJ could do nothing about it. A gorgeous woman had fallen into and then right out of his life. Had he imagined their connection? Not like him to read a situation wrong. Shit, the air had practically sizzled between them.

Nowanotherwoman needed to be saved?

He palmed Melissa’s phone. After his team arrived, he would return it while they briefed him.

It pained him to think someone as awful as that had been a part of Melissa’s life. Men like that deserved to have their balls cut off and shoved down their throats. The fact Melissa had to deal with such a man put CJ’s protective instincts into overdrive.

Shit. With Patterson out, she needed protection. Screw the phone. He had to get to her now. For the moment, the hospital would provide her some degree of protection. If Patterson wanted to get to her, he wouldn’t approach her at the hospital. The man wasn’t an idiot.

With a calming breath, CJ relaxed. As long as she was there, she would be relatively safe.

A quick text filled Sam in on the problem.

He ached to rush to the hospital, but he had a job to do, and in kidnapping cases, hours could mean the difference between life and death.

A quick type of his security code unlocked the encrypted file. This was what he did. Rescue others. No one had been around to pull him and his sister from their personal hell. He did that himself, and some stains could never be washed away.

He caressed Melissa’s phone, aching to rescue her.