Page 11 of Fatal Thrill
Jon took the papers. “I could be working with Maggie too, if youwant.”
“WhereisMaggie?” Hunter asked, lookingaround.
“Cal has a meeting at the DOD this morning. Maggie’s attending with him. And there’s no way Cal will put her in the line of fire by letting her become a search and rescueK9.”
Understood. Cal suffered from PTSD like many of them. He had it mostly under control these days, but with the birth of his daughter and the circumstances surrounding that nearly fatal day for his family, a few of his issues had flared up. Maggie, his black Lab, had always been his rock, helping him cope with it, and she was now certified as a therapy dog. Cal took her pretty much everywhere he went and wasn’t about to send her off on missions, unless she was by hisside.
Beatrice had benched Cal for the time being, insisting she needed a liaison between SFI and the current administration in the Oval. Jon suspected it was because of Cal’s rise in symptoms, but they did, in fact, need someone to keep the lines of communication open with the big wigs at the Capitol. While SFI tried to lay low and stay off the radar, the Pentagon and other higher-ups were calling on them more and more frequently for their help with certain sensitive cases where the government wanted deniability if the shit hit the fan. Or those involved were of special interest to the government, but the Pentagon and Justice Department had no jurisdiction, funding, or official go-ahead to intervene. Which was becoming more and moreprevalent.
“Nyx is at the compound, getting a checkup by the vet.” Another new addition to the ever-growing team, the compound was slightly undersized for training exercises and now, K9 training to boot, but Beatrice was looking for largerdigs.
Nyx had been a search and rescue dog for the military for two years after Jon’s mom had taken her off the streets, until she’d been injured in an accident and needed months of therapy. That was one reason her jaw was misaligned. She still needed another surgery or two if they were to fix it, but Jon was convinced it would be better not to. She ate fine, wasn’t in pain according to the vet, and he was worried a surgery on that area could mess with her sniffer. A K9 who couldn’t smell was worthless for search and rescue. “She’s fine, but Dr. Hurst wanted to check her outanyway.”
“It’s part of protocol, now,” Beatrice said. “Just like you guys getting debriefed and having a full physical eval before you head out on the next mission. Everyone, including Nyx, has to be at the top of his, or her,game.”
“So what’s next?” Bells asked. “Any new assignments come in while we weregone?”
“Yes.” Beatrice thumbed through a couple folders. “But none for the three ofyou.”
Bellsmoaned.
Beatrice ignored him. “Trace is off until he returns from his honeymoon. You, Mr. Bells, will be helping Connor run the office since I’ll be in the wedding party and will need some time off over the next couple ofdays.”
“In other words, I’m the newnanny?”
The answer was a small smile fromB.
Another groan from Bells, but he stood and gently took Sloane from Hunter. “Quit hogging her, man. If I’m the new nanny, she’s hanging withme.”
The men of Shadow Force were all enamored with the kid. Jon kept his distance. He loved babies, he did, but they sort of freaked him out with the crying and spitting up and… Well, everything. Sloane was small and fragile and with his big hands, he was scared he’d hurt her without meaning to. Worse, he might lose his heart to her like the rest of the big, stupid oafs in this room alreadyhad.
And right now, Jon had a different female on his mind. “What about me?” he asked Beatrice. “What do you have forme?”
“You’re going to speak with Ms. O’Sullivan, get some rest, and be ready for bodyguard duty on Saturday. I want you, Miles, and Jaxon to do a full security check on the plantation and run through the ceremony with the team I’ve handpicked. We’re providing protection for Trace and Savanna, of course, and their wedding party, but the guest list includes a generous amount of celebrities and politicians. Some will have their own security, and others will be relying on Rock Star. Jax will coordinate the outside teams with ours, and I want you and Miles to assign an RSS bodyguard to everyone else on the list Rory has cataloged. I’ll have him send that to yourphone.”
“Mine is a piece of shit,” Jon said. “Whatever Rory did to it with his latest software enhancement jacked it up. I can’t even turn the ringeroff.”
“See him about that before youleave.”
And with that, they were dismissed. Hunter and Jon bailed, both eager to get downstairs, while Bells hung back, Sloane riding one of his jean-cladhips.
As Hunter and Jon descended in the elevator, Jon kept seeing Jaya’s tired face in his mind. Something was wrong, butwhat?
“Guess your girlfriend will be here for the wedding,” Hunter said, his hands folded in front of him. In the reflective paneling, Jon saw the crooked grin on the man’s face that showed up every time he talked about it. “That’s cool she’s helping Savanna. My phone’s been exploding with her worried texts since last night. The hair stylist had anaccident.”
Cool. Yeah. Jon wanted to think that too, only his gut told him it wasn’t all roses and wedding vows that had brought Jaya back to DC. “Jaya’s a good person. She wants to help everybody all thetime.”
“A rare quality.” The elevator dinged; they’d hit the first floor. Hunter was still grinning, anticipating seeing his fiancée. “You should hang ontoher.”
Hang onto her.As Jon cleared the open doors and turned left, his eyes immediately scanned forJaya.
She sat on a bench, her gaze coming up and locking on him, her big, beautiful blue-green eyes haunted instead of their normal playful and lighthearted. Savanna stood on one side of her and Parker the other. None of them looked like they were discussing the upcoming nuptials. Theylooked…
Worried. Freaked out,even.
“Van?” Hunter had picked up on the anxious vibe too. He crossed the floor in a couple of long strides. “What’swrong?”
Jon swallowed hard and started forward, following in Hunter’s footsteps. As Savanna stayed next to Jaya, firmly gripping one of her hands, she looked straight atJon.
A chill of apprehension ran down his spine. He had the nasty suspicion that his malfunctioning phone and the secrets he’d been hiding from Jaya were the least of hisworries.
