Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
NIALL
It feels good to be part of a team again.
In the three years since I left the Army, that’s been the thing I missed most. I still keep in touch with my old teammates; we text and call and get together when we can, but it’s not the same.
For years, I saw the same six people on my Green Beret split team all the time. Not just when we were training at the base or on a mission overseas, but hanging out at one of our apartments or our favorite local bar during the rare times we were home.
As part of the ODA5131, or A-Team, we were sent on some of the most treacherous missions throughout the Middle East. And working together in those conditions for weeks at a time brought us together like nothing else could. I trusted my teammates with my life, and I would have gladly given mine for theirs.
They were more than just teammates. They were my sister and brothers.
So it was a blow to leave them; not to re-up when my contract expired. But they all understood I was needed more at home.
I don’t regret my decision, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my team. So when a friend of mine from the Army—he was another Green Beret stationed at Fort Campbell, but discharged several years before me—asked me about helping him start up a second branch of his security company, I was interested right away.
It was back in March when Cole first called, saying he had a proposal for me. He wanted to expand his company, Blade and Arrow Security, to a second location. “We can’t take half the clients who contact us,” he explained, “and the demand for our pro-bono services just keeps growing. I hate turning down people who need us, but we simply can’t take them all.”
After three unrewarding years of working security for special events in Manhattan, I was aching to do something more meaningful. And I knew the types of pro-bono cases Cole was talking about—stalking cases, attempted abductions, people being blackmailed, and even a virtual attack that turned physically dangerous.
“It’s a ways from New York,” Cole continued, “and I know you have family here. But I’d like to start this branch in San Antonio. I’ve got a lot of contacts out there, which I think will be a benefit to us. To you , if you agree to join.”
We talked about his plan several more times over the next month, but I knew I wanted to go from that first conversation. My only worry was Shea.
But she pushed me to go as soon as I brought it up. She hugged me and said, “Niall. You’re an amazing brother, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you came home when I needed you. But I know how much you gave up. I’m okay now. Truly. Go to Texas. Do something you love again.”
After extracting sworn promises from Shea to call and text every week and to come visit as soon as I got settled, I gave Cole my answer.
And six months later, I’m here. At a newly renovated ranch thirty miles northwest of San Antonio. Working to complete the finishing touches on our new headquarters. Only weeks from officially opening the Blade and Arrow Bravo Team branch. Ready to start a new and exciting adventure with my new team.
Although they aren’t all new. I have Xavier and Rhiannon—two of my former Green Beret teammates—here with me.
And in fact, Xavier is literally here, running on the treadmill beside me. We’re getting in our daily workout in the newly constructed gym before starting another day of painting and putting together furniture using instructions that look like they’ve been written by an alien.
“Hey. Niall.” Xavier glances over at me, not looking the least bit tired after forty minutes of running. “I’m thinking I’ll work on putting together the conference room furniture after this. You want to help, or do you have something else planned?”
The program on my treadmill shifts to cooldown mode, and I slow my pace to match. “Sure, I can help. After painting the reception area yesterday, I wouldn’t mind doing something different.”
Xavier lifts his chin at me. “Nice. I should be done here in another half-hour, then shower and coffee, so maybe eight-ish?”
“Works for me.” I give him a quick nod in return. “Hopefully these instructions won’t be as bad as the bookshelves the other day.”
He snorts. “I thought Matt was going to lose it, and he’s the most patient guy I know.”
“I don’t know who writes those instructions. They don’t make any sense. And the diagrams…”
“AI, probably,” Xavier replies. “Companies are using it for everything these days. In fact?—”
“Niall.” It’s spoken urgently as Rhiannon comes jogging into the gym, her features tense with worry. As she nears me, I spot the phone clutched in her hand, her knuckles white around it.
My heart drops.
Something is wrong.
Is it Shea?
I jump off the treadmill without shutting it down. “What’s wrong?”
Rhiannon holds the phone out to me as she says, “I don’t know. Her name is Jade Bell, she asked for you specifically, and she sounds upset. Very upset, really.”
In a sickening swoop, my heart leaps from my stomach to my throat.
Jade. Shea’s best friend.
The last time she called me, something was terribly wrong with Shea.
Shea promised me she’d be okay. I just talked to her two nights ago and she sounded fine. But what if she was lying?
Willing my hand not to shake, I grab the phone and nearly bark into it, “Jade. What’s wrong with Shea?”
Her shaky sob in response sends ice through my veins. No. Not Shea. Not my little sister.
But then Jade says in a tiny, trembling voice, “It’s not Shea. I… I need help. I’m in trouble. And I—” There’s a sudden rustling, like branches or leaves moving. Her breath quickens, loud enough to hear over the phone.
What is happening? This isn’t the Jade I know, calm and confident. This Jade sounds afraid. Her breathing is so fast I fear she might hyperventilate.
My tone drops, gently commanding. “Jade. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
Rhiannon and Xavier close in, matching expressions of concern on their faces.
“Can you come?” It’s whispered now. “Please? Come get me?”
“Of course.” I’m already on my way out of the gym, headed toward the wing that houses my apartment. “Where are you? I’ll head out right now.”
“I’m not sure.” Her voice cracks. “A campground. Near a parking area. In the woods.”
“Okay.” Keeping my voice calm and soothing, I ask, “Can you send me a pin? I can find you that way.”
Another quick sob, and then a small, “Yes. I can. I’m doing it now.”
As her location pops onto my screen, about forty-five miles away, Jade whispers, “I have to put the phone back. It’s not mine. I don’t want… if they go looking for it…”
Shit. I burst into my apartment and snatch my car keys off the table by the door. “Jade, it would be better if you stayed on the phone with me.”
“I can’t. I have to be quiet.” Another silence, this time long enough for me to be on the verge of panic. “I have to go. But I’ll stay right here.”
“Ah, Jade, can you please?—”
“I have to go. But Niall. Don’t call out to me. Okay? Please? I’ll watch for you.”
“Jade. Wait?—”
But the call ends. Fuck .
What happened to Jade?
I’ve gone through a thousand scenarios over the last hour, all of them ranging from bad to worse.
Jade hurt while she was camping. Trapped somewhere with a broken leg. Assaulted. Hiding in the woods, bruised and bleeding. But in all of those scenarios, why wouldn't she call 911? Why call me first?
She wouldn’t call unless she was desperate. Although she had to know I’d come for her anytime she asked. How could I not? Shea’s best friend since freshman year of college; I’ve known Jade for over a decade. We’ve celebrated holidays together.
She’s important to me.
Could she have committed a crime? But I just can’t see overachieving, always-in-control Jade doing something illegal. Unless it was self-defense? Fighting back against a violent assailant?
Whatever happened, I’ll help her. There’s absolutely no question.
I finally get to the parking lot Jade mentioned, but her pin is at least twenty feet beyond it. There are half-a-dozen cars in the lot, all unoccupied, most of them with college stickers plastered across the rear windows. Slowing, I pull into a spot closest to Jade’s pin and reach for my Sig.
Not that I’m planning on shooting anyone, but still. Better ready than not.
After one last check of Jade’s pin—still there, it hasn’t moved since I got it—I get out of the car and scan my surroundings. It’s quiet, just the occasional bird calling and the distant sound of a truck going by. There are no unusual movements within the trees, no footsteps crunching in the dried grass, nothing to indicate this is anything other than what it seems.
As I move into the trees, a terrible thought hits me. What if her dot hasn’t moved because she’s hurt so badly… or what if she’s?—
Then a small figure comes rushing toward me, stumbling, nearly falling. Dressed in blue scrubs covered with dirt and mud. Long, red-gold hair in tangles. Blood smeared across her face.
I move toward her, and a second later she slams into my chest.
“Niall.” It’s a hoarse whisper. “You came .”
My arms come around her instinctively, even though my rational brain is saying not to touch her, she could be hurt, traumatized, she’s bleeding…
But she’s also shaking. Clutching at my shirt. Her breath comes in stuttered gasps; hot against my chest.
“I’m here,” I say unnecessarily, then draw back slightly to look at her face.
Inwardly wincing, I catalog the bloody scratches all across her forehead and cheeks and chin. Her sky-blue eyes meet mine; wide and terrified, with purplish shadows beneath them. Her skin is pale, with the smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks standing out in stark contrast.
“Please,” Jade whispers. “We need to go. Now .”
“Okay.” I pitch my voice low. “I’m just parked over there. Can you make it, do you think?”
“Yes.” She gives me an affronted look, and there’s the stubborn Jade I remember. “I ran for hours to get here. I can manage another ten feet.”
And she does, though I keep a close eye on her. It’s clear Jade is running on pure adrenaline, and I have no idea how long she’s been going. Hours she said she ran for? From where? Why?
But I don’t ask those questions. Not yet. Jade looks too scared and vulnerable for that. Instead, once we’re back on the road I settle on things like can I bring you to the hospital and do you want to call the police ?
Both answers are negative, but I’m not convinced and suggest gently, “I think it would be a good idea to get checked out by a doctor. Just to be safe. I’ll be right there with you.”
“No.” It’s adamant. Forceful. She turns to me with fear in her eyes. “I can’t. Please, Niall. It’s not safe.” A second later, more softly, “If something was really wrong, I’d know. You know that.”
In normal circumstances, yes. Jade’s a physician assistant and obviously knows plenty about injuries. But this time she’s the one hurt, afraid… Still. I can ask Dante or Rhiannon to look at her once we get back to Blade and Arrow. Figure the rest out from there.
As we continue back toward headquarters, I keep sneaking quick glances at Jade. She’s visibly trying to pull herself together—setting her shoulders, taking deep, shuddering breaths, her hands knotting into tight fists—but her gaze keeps flickering to the side-view mirror like she’s watching for something.
“Is it safe?” Her question comes suddenly. “At your… Blade and Arrow? Is it safe?”
“Yes.” I look away from the road for a second to meet her worried gaze. “Very safe. Matthew—he’s our tech guy—set up all the security. We have a perimeter fence with cameras and drone sensors. And another fence around the actual building, but that one is reinforced steel with alarms and cameras and special barricades to keep anyone from driving through it. Plus the house has a top-of-the-line security system.”
“Oh.” She blinks. “Um. That sounds… safe. I guess.”
“I’ll show you around,” I tell her. “So you can see for yourself.”
“And the people there, you trust them?”
“Absolutely. There are six of us, and I’ve known everyone for years. We were all Green Berets based out of Fort Campbell. Rhiannon and Xavier were on my team, and I trust them with my life.”
Jade draws her legs up and wraps her arms around them, hugging herself. Quietly, she asks, “And the others? Do you trust them with your life, too?”
“I do. Dante, Erik, and Matthew were all on a team together, and I’ve trained with them for years. They’re some of the best men I know. I’d want any of them to have my six.”
There’s a long pause, and then with a little wobble, “Okay. But you’ll stay with me. Right?”
Protectiveness surges through me. “Of course. I won’t leave you for a second.”
Jade goes quiet again after that.
As we get closer to Blade and Arrow, I start telling her about the renovations to the run-down ranch house, not because I think she necessarily cares, but because when she’s actively listening, she doesn’t shake as badly.
Fuck. Worry and anger are battling for dominance. Worry about what happened to Jade, and anger at whoever did it to her.
It’s with a sigh of relief that I finally pull through the tall, black gates that surround our headquarters. Now I can get Jade inside, have her looked at, and start figuring out what the fuck happened out there.
Once I park the car in the garage, I turn in the driver’s seat to look at Jade. “I’ll come around, okay? Just in case you need help getting out.”
Her brow furrows stubbornly. “I can do it.”
But she can’t. As soon as she gets out and tries to stand, her legs buckle.
Fortunately, I’m right beside her, so I catch her before she falls.
Jade peers up at me, her face creased with pain. Her chin wobbles. “My legs. They’re all cramped.”
“It’s okay,” I soothe. “I can carry you inside. If that’s okay.” When she hesitates, I add, “I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. If you’d rather have me get Rhiannon out here to help you…”
“No. It’s… okay.” Her blue eyes are glassy with unshed tears. “I just, I want…”
My heart wrenches. “I won’t hurt you, Jade. I promise.”
She stares at me for a second before nodding. “I know. Could you help…”
“Of course.” As I scoop Jade carefully into my arms, she lets out a tired sigh and rests her head on my shoulder. “I’ll do anything to help you.”