Page 21 of Inevitable

CHAPTER TEN

Thursday, July 27th

Brady sat in the conference room of TRG with Hunter as they both worked on their computers, finishing the reports for the case that they’d just finished.

Claire and Erin were going to join them as soon Claire was done analyzing all of Erin’s electronic devices. She’d discovered that Erin’s stalker had been tracking her through her phone, so she was setting up some bread crumbs to see if she could get the guy to follow them. Then they could trap him and hopefully add the final nail to his coffin.

Unfortunately, people who engaged in this behavior often eluded arrest by staying just this side of the law and were difficult to stop until they committed violence. That’s what Claire’s plan was trying to circumvent.

Brady’s experience with HRT had taught him that rescuing people after someone snapped was damn difficult. He’d been on too many ops to think differently, and he had no desire to be on the losing side when and if Erin’s stalker got ahold of her.

His time with the FBI had given him a front-row seat to all the lunacy that was out there, and he had a healthy respect for what people were capable of. Those who victimized others had all kinds of reasons for doing it and it wasn’t always for political or financial gain. Sometimes, it was plain old crazy that made people do weird and scary shit.

Which he knew was a politically offensive term for people suffering from any number of maladies. The structure and chemical makeup of people’s brains weren’t in their control, nor were the life experiences that caused psychotic breaks. A hundred reasons could contribute to people’s behavior, and it was often difficult to pinpoint the exact one that sent them over the edge into insanity.

Those were often the most difficult assignments because rescuing someone from the clutches of a person who had broken with reality was never easy. And as the lead sniper in his unit, it had often been his job to neutralize the person to save the victim. Looking through his scope into the eyes of someone who was mentally ill and deciding to take the shot was never one he’d taken lightly. Those experiences and memories stuck, so if he was going to have to remember pulling the trigger, he wanted it to be worth it.

Every shot he’d taken was filed away in a box in the back of his mind. A box he hardly ever opened. Processing that shit was next to impossible and the only thing that allowed him to live with those memories was knowing he’d been well on the side of good for every operation he’d been on.

And that wasn’t always the case for people in his line of work. He knew his brother Brock had struggled with the experiences he had when he’d been deployed as a Marine. As had many of the men from TRG. Spec ops men never came home unscathed from their time downrange, and truth was, he hadn’t either. But if he had to do it all over again, he would. His time with the FBI and HRT was some of the best of his life, and he’d still be there if his knee hadn’t shattered.

But such were the breaks when leaping from tall buildings in a single bound. Seemed he’d landed okay with the company he was keeping, and he was grateful to be a part of the work they were doing. Today, it looked like their work might be taken to the next level, and the guard dog duty they’d been performing for Erin was going to get serious.

Right now, the op was in Claire’s hands. Once she was done laying the groundwork, it would be up to him and the team to come up with a plan. When she had asked him to help her earlier with a program she’d been writing, he couldn’t believe it. Seemed his years of experience in dealing with stalkers were of interest to her. She had asked him all kinds of questions and had told him it helped as she wrote the parameters for her latest algorithm.

All those years working with top profilers had taught him a thing or two about the psychological makeup of someone who became obsessed, and Claire had found the intel useful.

The fact that he got to sneak in a kiss or two while he shared his insight was the cherry on top of the sundae he called Claire. Yep, he’d just compared her to a bowl of ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream and he wasn’t even embarrassed for himself. She was someone he wanted to devour and he wasn’t going to apologize for it. The slow burn of desire he’d been harboring for Claire had changed over the last week and a half, and he was now dealing with a five-alarm fire of desire.

Right now, it felt like he was in the grip of something bigger than him, and stronger. The more time they spent together, the more time he wanted. Last night had been a perfect example because when she’d told him she was going to go home after their swim, he was frustrated beyond words. He didn’t want the evening to end, and if he could’ve figured out a way to keep her at his house, he would have. And it wasn’t just because he wanted to become physically intimate with her. He would’ve been happy sitting on the couch smooching or watching something on Netflix.

All that mattered was that she was next to him. Which he understood was a little intense.

His phone buzzed with a text and he shook his head to clear his thoughts. When he saw Claire’s name, he read the text quickly and elbowed Hunter. “Claire and Erin are almost done and they’re going to be here in ten minutes. Claire’s got a plan she wants to run past us and Damian will sit in on it.”

“Roger that,” Hunter replied. “I invited Erin to go out to my folks’ horse farm this weekend. I thought she might want to get away and it would give Damian the weekend off. There is one road in and that’s it. I’ve got the place secured, so it would give her a chance to relax and not worry.”

“You got a thing for the actress?” He already knew the answer because Claire had told him what she’d observed. But it would be nice to hear the words from the man himself. Before Hunter could reply, the sound of the women’s voices floated down the hall. “You need backup, let me know.”

Hunter nodded and closed his computer. “Thanks, man.”

Glancing over, he noticed the cool competence that usually surrounded Hunter like a blanket was noticeably absent. It looked like the man had caught some feeling for Erin, which meant that protecting her was going to put every one of the things he’d learned as a Delta operator to the test. It was one thing to protect a stranger. It was a whole other if you had feelings involved. Which clearly Hunter had when he saw Erin enter the room. The speed at which he shoved himself out of his chair and made it across the room was impressive, and the way their eyes locked told anyone within a hundred feet that something was happening.

Brady watched Claire walk in behind Erin and motioned her to sit next to him. When she slowly walked over, he felt a smile break across his face. His girl was wearing jeans and a flowered top and he’d never seen anyone so pretty in his life. Running his hand along his cheek, he realized he wasn’t much different than Hunter. Though he’d never accept the smitten kitten label. That was bullshit.

He was just a wolf who recognized his mate. In his mind, that sounded a lot better and it was something he could live with.

Standing, he pulled out the chair next to him and waited until she sat down. “Hi, darlin’.”

“Hi, yourself.”

“What have you been up to?”

“This and that.”

When she gave him a small smile, he felt like smooching her good and hard. “I was thinking we could grab some dinner after work. Maybe try the Saint Street Inn. I heard they have some great food.”

“Really?”

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