Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A lingering tiredness nipped at Jag’s heals as he made his way down the beach to where the rest of his teammates were stretching, ready for their morning PT session.
He’d left Steff all curled up in his apartment.
He hadn’t wanted to leave her, but she’d insisted that she was fine, and that whoever was after her probably had no idea she was living with him.
Considering how smart these people were, Jag wasn’t convinced, and he’d almost insisted she come with him, but she’d already fallen asleep, and he hadn’t had the heart to wake her.
The day before had been both wonderful and traumatic.
Wonderful, because they’d made love for the first time, and he felt closer to her now than he’d ever felt toward a woman.
Traumatic, because they’d started cleaning her apartment, and seeing her tears when precious mementos had been destroyed had been more than he could bare.
He’d had to coax her out after a few hours, knowing that the longer they stayed, the harder it would be. They’d cleaned up a fair bit, but there was still a lot to do.
After their conversation with Mrs. Baker, he’d called Fox to let him know that whoever had been in Steff’s apartment had used music to mask the sounds of them trashing the joint.
He’d spoken to the other residents around Steff, and they all said the same thing.
They heard the music, were surprised at it because she never played loud music, but didn’t do anything about it.
Jag hadn’t understood why at least one person wouldn’t have knocked on the door to demand the music be turned down. Or off. Especially considering the building Steff lived in was one where the residents were of a higher socio-economic standing than some of the other buildings around Los Angeles.
What was it about the situation that didn’t warrant any investigation?
“Morning,” he said, as he dropped down on the sand and started to do some stretches.
His friends greeted him in return, but there generally wasn’t much conversation between them when they first arrived, all of them getting themselves mentally ready for what was about to happen.
Usually, about halfway through their run, they started to talk.
“Did you get any more information from the neighbors?” Fox asked as they pounded the sand.
“Nope.” Jag relayed his thoughts about the situation to his friend.
“I agree it seems strange, but maybe, with how things are these days, most people feel it’s safer to put up with it than complain. No one wants to get hurt.”
“If it was anywhere else, I’d think that, but we’re not talking low-life third tier drug dealers living in the building. To be able to afford the rent in Steff’s building, you’d need a decent income.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Fox said. “People prefer to keep to themselves these days, and out of trouble.”
“I guess. What’s on the schedule for you today?” They dropped in the shallows and started to do some pushups. Jag welcomed the coolness of the water rushing in and out.
“I’ve got a meeting with Zadie Nyx and her security team about a job in Texas. She wanted me to join her team exclusively, but I knocked her back. I would lose my mind if I followed her around from film set to film set.”
“Have to agree. At least we have variety here.”
“Not to mention the work we do with Julian and the FBI. I don’t want to give that up. Taking down sick fuckers needs to be done.”
“True. Will you do the Texas trip?”
They stood and started doing jumping jacks, making it a little hard to talk. “Not sure. I’d have to go in two days, and with all the shit going on, I’m not sure I want to leave Cynthia.”
Jag would feel exactly the same way about leaving Steff—not an option. “Makes sense.”
“Yeah, although if I know Cyn, and I’m starting to get to know her well, she’d tell me to go.”
“You know if you wanted to go, we’d keep an eye on your girl.” Jag was aware Hound and Deal had headed into the surf for the swim portion of their PT sessions.
“I know. I’ll make a decision after the meeting. Come on,” he canted his head toward their friends, “we’d better haul ass.”
“Can’t have them beating us.” He and Fox high fived before racing into the water. He blanked his mind and focused on battling the waves.
Jag had needed this session. A sense of normalcy about the routine settled him. The troubles with Steff didn’t disappear, but they were a little quieter when he got out.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Jag checked with Steff.
She rolled her eyes before giving him a quick kiss. “I’m going to be fine. I’ve got my therapist appointment, then Cynthia and I are going to have lunch. I need to do this, Dalton. It’s part of not being constantly afraid.”
Jag heard what Steff was saying, but it didn’t make him any happier. It had been three days since the break-in, and they still didn’t have any concrete leads.
They’d hit a dead-end with the security footage, as he thought they would. With every passing day, it was clear they were dealing with professionals who knew what the fuck they were doing.
Which brought Viktor Konzovi? back to the top of their list of suspects.
Cass was scouring the dark web to find out if he’d put out a request for Steff to be eliminated, but had yet to find any evidence that he had. If anything, Viktor had gone to ground after his attempt to get rid of Isaac.
“Whatever you’re thinking, you need to stop.” Steff’s fingers brushed over his forehead, and he captured her hand, kissing her palm. He noted her nails were still short.
She’d come a long way since the first night he’d met her, and today’s session with her therapist was only going to help that process along.
“I’m sorry, I just wish we had answers.”
“I know and I do too, but we’ll get them. And when it’s all over, we’ll all go out and celebrate.”
“Yeah, we will.” He hugged her tight. “You’ve got your earrings in?”
She pulled out of his embrace and flicked her hair back, the stones winking up at him. He reached out and lightly traced them. “Yep, I never take them out.”
“That’s good.” Knowing that he could find her if anything happened gave him a small measure of comfort. Logically, following her twenty-four-seven was out of the question, yet that was what he wanted to do.
He was so smitten with her, and he didn’t care if he acted like a fool around her. It didn’t seem to bother her either.
“Steff.” He paused, and licked his lips. Was now the time to tell her he loved her? Because he did. He couldn’t imagine life without her, which was why it was hard to let her do the things she needed to do when they had no idea who was after her.
“What? Do I have something on my face?”
He gave himself a mental slap. “No, you look beautiful. That’s what I wanted to say.” It wasn’t, but it would have to do. He’d find the right time to tell her how he felt about her. A time when he could worship her body so she wouldn’t have any doubts about the depth of his feelings for her.
She canted her head as if trying to determine if that was what he meant to say, but with a shrug, she rose on tiptoe and kissed him. He would never get tired of kissing her. Their relationship had deepened since they’d made love.
When they broke apart, her cheeks were flushed and her hair mussed. “You need to go, otherwise you’ll be late.” She gave him a gentle push.
“I know. Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
Ensuring his place was locked tight, Jag surveyed his hallway, his senses were quiet, no tingles to suggest danger lurked.
The trek to where they were parked didn’t take long.
He liked seeing Steff’s car parked next to his.
Heck, if he was being honest, he loved seeing all her stuff next to his in his bedroom, bathroom, and living room.
“Text me when you get to your appointment?” He played with the fabric of the blouse she was wearing, tempted to touch the soft flesh he knew lay beneath.
“I will if you’ll text me when you get to work,” she sassed back.
“Always.” He captured her lips in a searing kiss. His cock hardened against his zipper. Everything about this woman turned him on.
They broke apart and gazed at each other. This quiet moment after sharing a kiss was time he treasured. They were both breathless and, no doubt, had goofy smiles on their faces.
Jag reached around and opened the car door. Like she always did before she left him, Steff touched his cheek. The gesture sweet, and it said so much without saying anything at the same time.
He stepped back and shut the door. This was the first time since she’d started staying at his place that they were going in separate directions.
She’d been coming to work with him after he returned from PT.
Steff seemed to enjoy helping out, and he wasn’t sad about that at all.
He liked having her close, and could understand why Ox and Angel liked having their wives working for Alliez as well.
With a final wave, Steff pulled out and headed up the ramp toward the exit. The moment her taillights disappeared, he headed toward his car.
Thirty minutes later he pulled into the parking garage next door to his building and made his way to the office. He had only just sat and fired up his computer when he heard raised voices coming from the conference room—an unusual occurrence.
“What’s going on?” he asked Deal. “Who’s in there?”
“Fox, Zadie Nyx, and her team. Along with her sister, Rowan Harper.”
Jag recalled Fox talking about Zadie at PT. “Are they still trying to get him to go on that trip with them to Texas?”
“I’m guessing so. He’s been fielding calls from Zadie. I think she wants more from him than just protection.” Deal waggled his eyebrows.
“That’s not going to happen. Fox isn’t one who crosses the line between professional and personal. Plus, he’s hooked on Cynthia.”
“I know. Fox will get his point across in a way that will make everyone happy.”
“I’m guessing so. Who’s Rowan Harper?” Jag hadn’t heard Fox mention that name when they’d talked earlier about Zadie.
“Zadie’s sister. She’s an FBI Agent.”
“She’s a Fed?” Jag whistled low. “I bet Fox wasn’t expecting that when she turned up.”
Deal chuckled. “No, I don’t think so. And it sounds like they’re getting along swimmingly.”
Fox was one of the most even-tempered people he knew, even in the midst of disaster when they’d been on some of their missions as SEALs. Hearing his raised voice was out of character.
“Wonder what’s going on?” Jag craned his neck as if he could see anything. “Do you think Julian knows her? Maybe we can get some insight about her.”
“He might, but I’m staying as far away from this as possible. Fox will get it sorted.”
The door to the conference room slammed open, and a woman in a navy-blue pantsuit, hair pulled back into a tight bun that looked painful, stormed out.
Fox stood in the doorway, arms crossed and dark expression on his face. A look Jag didn’t think he’d ever see on his team leader’s face.
“Shit, this can’t be good,” Deal muttered.
“Nope.”
Seconds later, Fox stepped aside, and Zadie and her team all walked out, none of them looked super happy.
Silence descended around the office, even Irish and Angel tracked the movements of the group as they left.
“Well, fuck,” Fox muttered, and shoved his hands through is hair. Jag had never seen his team leader look so discombobulated.
“Sounds like that went well.” Hound popped his head up over the top of his cubicle. Jag had been wondering where his friend was, and considering he was close by, he was shocked he hadn’t butted in when he and Deal were talking.
“Anything you want to talk about, Fox?” Ox asked, walking toward them. It didn’t surprise Jag one bit that their boss wanted to know what happened. He liked to keep his finger on the pulse of what was going on in the office.
“Give me a few minutes to get my head around what just happened in there. But you need to know, I’ll be leaving for Texas tomorrow.”
“Gotcha. I’ll get Yolanda to make flight arrangements for you.”
“No need, Zadie’s FBI agent sister is going to do that.” The sarcasm in Fox’s voice wasn’t hard to miss.
Ox’s eyebrows rose. “That’s unexpected.”
“Tell me about it. Zadie never mentioned what her sister did in the previous meetings, just that she wanted to review the security plan I was going to suggest they follow on this trip. The one I didn’t want to go on, for obvious reasons, but now I have no choice.”
There was way more to the story than Fox was saying, and as much as Jag wanted to question him further, now wasn’t the time.
“Okay, keep me updated, and Fox, whatever went on in there,” Ox pointed to the conference room, “that’s where it stays. As annoying as Zadie and her sister are, keep a lid on it, okay?”
“Understood. It’ll be fine. Rowan Harper caught me on an off day. Trust me, it won’t happen again.”
“I know it won’t.” Ox gazed around the room. “I’m sure everyone’s got things they need to do, right?”
If that wasn’t a gentle dismissal, then Jag didn’t know what was. “I’ve got to-uh … check on something with, Cass.”
He didn’t have to, but it was as good as an excuse as what anyone else could come up with.
Jag pushed away from his desk and escaped to their computer whizz’s office. He’d pop his head in and say hi. He wouldn’t ask her to check if Steff’s earrings were working. She would be in the middle of her therapist session; he didn’t have to worry about anything happening to her there.
He met Cass in the hallway, her brow furrowed, and a look of worry on her face. A look he’d seen a few times when something bad had happened—like when Isaac went missing. Or when Irish had gone missing.
His stomach churned, and the hairs on the back of his neck started to tingle and rise.
Jag blew out a breath, attempting to quell his thoughts from heading down the danger highway.
“Cass, everything okay?”
“Jag, I was coming to look for you.” If it wasn’t for the expression on her face, he would think everything was fine with how relaxed she sounded.
He didn’t trust it though. Something was wrong, because he swore he could now see traces of sympathy in her eyes.
“Steff’s earrings have stopped transmitting.”