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“I suppose I have to tell Kostya you’re taking more personal time?” Gideon said to Brax as the two men watched Jada showing Jenny a website on her tablet.

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“No. I think Kostya has forgotten to put down that you’ve been off the last couple of days, so you’ve got more than you think.” Gideon grinned.

Damn, I’m a lucky bastard.

“What’s your gut telling you?” Brax asked his second-in-command.

“I don’t think it’s the PR guy. He’s got thirty-five years with the company. He’s just a guy out of a job, not a real good reason to kill someone.”

“Yeah. That’s my take too,” Brax agreed. “But how did this guy from London track her down? And wouldn’t it be more likely that they would want her alive so they could find out where Fiona is?”

Gideon shrugged. “And for all we know, it could be some freak who’s taken a shine to her because she’s been in the papers.”

Brax groaned. “Why’d you even say that?”

“Because it’s true. But right now, she should be safe, because nobody knows your address. There’s no government paper trail, like there was when she was at the hotel.”

“When you say that, it points to London again. Someone with a couple of million dollars to play with would be able to find things out, not some poor PR shmo, or some crazy fan.”

“That’s why I’m digging around there first. I’ll get you the address of Roy Jeckel, and you and one of the guys can go check him out. Take Mateo.”

Brax looked over his shoulder at Jenny.

“If you’re worried about her, let’s get her over to my house,” Gideon said. “After the last incident, I’ve got it wired every which way from Sunday to make sure I’ll know if there are any intruders. It’s a fortress. She can stay with Jada.”

“Yeah, that’d be good.”

“Of course, Jenny is going to end up spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.”

“Hopefully it will spur her on to sue Cyber Tech. Those bastards shouldn’t be able to get away with what they did.”

“Amen,” Gideon agreed.

“So, what are they doing again?” Jenny asked Jada.

“Brax and Mateo are checking out Jeckel, and Gideon is over at Kane McNamara’s house to see if they can find out more about Edgar.”

“Who’s Kane?”

“He’s Gideon’s counterpart in Night Storm. Night Storm is another SEAL Team.”

“And Brax’s team is called Omega Sky, right?”

Jada nodded. “I think we need to call Amy over. She could cook up some food while we shop.”

“I can cook,” Jenny protested.

“You’re going to be too busy. I already called Leila and told her what to bring. I wanted to see how you’d look in a couple of outfits she had, so I could see what would look good on you before we order.”

“Huh?” Jenny was definitely confused.

“Where’s all your stuff?” Jada asked.

“My stuff?”

“Yeah, your stuff. Your things that you put into storage before you left for Bangladesh.”

“I’d rented a furnished flat, because I knew my assignment was only going to last a year. I took what clothes I might need with me to Bangladesh. The work suits and stuff I just gave away when I left London. I have some things that I left in storage here in Virginia, but it was stuff I bought right out of college. There’s nothing like what you’re showing me.”

“So we’ll start from scratch.” Jada grinned with anticipation.

“Jada, I have to warn you, I don’t spend much on clothes. I’m a saver.”

“We won’t spend much. You just need some classic pieces that you can add onto. You’re going to be job hunting right?”

Jenny nodded.

“Then we need to look. And aren’t you going to be going out with Brax?”

“He’s a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy.”

“I’ve seen him dress up. You’re going to need a couple of dresses. I think with your coloring that autumn colors would look good on you. What do you think?”

“I think what I really need to do is call Tina and Fiona. I haven’t called them since I got back to the States. If they saw what happened in the news, they were probably a bit worried.” Jada got up and started backing away from the table.

“Okay, you do that. I’ll call Amy and get some of my accessories that I think you might like. Too bad we’re not the same shoe size.”

Jenny fled to Gideon’s study, then checked the time and realized it was the middle of the night in Spain, so she gave up on the idea of calling Fiona. Instead, she decided to dial Tina’s number.

“Oh my God. You actually called!” Tina shrieked in her ear.

“Calm down.”

“I will not calm down. I’ve been worried sick about you.”

She’d really screwed up. She should have known that Tina would be worried about her. What had she been thinking?

“I’m sorry, Tina. But didn’t you read that I was back in the States, safe and sound?”

“Don’t give me that line of garbage. They said you were recovering from injuries. You’d been a hostage for three weeks. What did they do to you, Jenny?” Jenny’s heart lurched when she heard Tina’s whimper. Then Tina started to cry.

“Please don’t cry. It’s all okay. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Jenny didn’t know how long she crooned different words while Tina calmed down. She finally heard her friend blow her nose.

“You’re lying to me. You’re not fine.”

“Really, Tina I am.”

“Three weeks. You were a hostage for three weeks, and then you had to go to the hospital. What happened? Please tell me.”

Jenny couldn’t say anything. There was no way she was going to tell her friend about the mud hut. “I wasn’t abused, if that’s what you’re worried about. Nobody raped me.”

“But they did other things, didn’t they?” Tina persisted.

“Tina, it’s over with. It’s in the past.”

“I need to come to you. I need to make sure you’re all right. I’m taking the first plane to Virginia.”

And then it clicked. Tina was much more than just a friend. Tina was the sister of her heart. How had she not realized that? Jenny felt a tear trickle down her cheek. How lucky was she?

“Where are you staying? What’s the address? I’ll rent a car when my plane lands.”

“Tina, things are complicated right now. I promise I’ll come and visit as soon as I can,” Jenny soothed.

“Not good enough. I want to see you tomorrow.” Tina was using her stubborn voice.

“About the address. I’m staying at someone’s house for the time being.”

“Fine, give me her address.”

“Uhm, it’s a man. He was one of the men on the team that rescued me…”

Tina didn’t say anything, so Jenny pressed on. “There was something weird that happened a couple of days ago, and he wants to make sure I’m safe. Right now, I’m staying at his house.”

Again, Tina was silent. Jenny couldn’t stand it, and she looked down at her phone. The connection was live, so she plowed on.

“He’s really nice. Protective too. You’d like him.”

When Tina remained silent, Jenny couldn’t stand it anymore. “Say something. Anything,” she begged.

“Let me get this straight. Since you’ve been back in the States, something weird happened, i.e. something bad happened, and now one of the super soldiers who rescued you is protecting you by having you stay at his house. Do I have this right?”

“Uhm. Yeah.”

“What the fuck happened?”

“I might have gotten pushed into oncoming traffic.”

“What?” Tina screeched. “Somebody tried to kill you?”

“Kind of.”

“And now this super soldier went all protective on your ass and has you tucked away at his house? Right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jenny winced.

“Another question. What does he look like?”

Jenny peeked around the corner and saw that Jada was still concentrating on her tablet. She was probably finding ways for Jenny to deplete her savings account. “He’s hot.”

“Have you fucked him?”

“God, Tina, I can’t believe you just asked that.”

“Well, have you?”

“We made love,” Jenny finally admitted.

“Oh, that’s so much worse,” Tina wailed. “Are you in love with this guy? What’s his name?”

“Brax. I don’t think I’m in love with him.” Jenny bit her thumbnail.

“That does it, I’m coming to visit. I can be there this weekend.”

“No! It’s not safe.”

“What do you mean it’s not safe?”

“We’re still trying to figure out who tried to kill me. The men on his team are worried that they might try again. You need to stay in Colorado.”

Tina was quiet and this time Jenny knew that she was processing everything. “You know you could just come here. You’d be safe. Nobody would know where you were. Lou’s a big guy.” Tina said, referring to her husband.

“Yes he is, but he’s an accountant. I think I’ll stick with Brax. Anyway, you’re my best friend. They’d know. I’m safer with the SEALs.”

“Your super soldier is a SEAL?”

“Yeah.”

Tina sighed. “Well, okay. But don’t you dare not call me again. I want to hear from you every day, otherwise I’m going to stalk your ass. You got it?”

Jenny giggled. “I’ve got it.”

“I love you, Jenny,” Tina said softly. “You make sure that Brax takes care of you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Tina hung up and Jenny smiled.

How stupid have I been not talking to Tina more often? As soon as this bullshit is done, I’m flying out to Colorado and visiting her.

Brax and Mateo didn’t have any luck at Jeckel’s house in Chesapeake, so they drove out to Lake Anna where the man had a cabin.

“Pretty,” Mateo said as they drove along the lakeshore.

“I was wondering, do you think Jase is going to retire?” Brax asked Mateo.

“Where’d that question come from?” Mateo sighed.

“I’m just thinking about this guy Jeckel, and how he lost his job after thirty-five years. Must have come as a blow. Then I thought about Jase.”

“Jase is convinced that he’ll get back to one hundred percent,” Mateo answered. “We both know what a stubborn son of a bitch he is, so maybe he will.”

Brax nodded. “But what if?”

“Well, what would you do?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. Nolan has that opportunity in Jasper Creek, working for the Lieutenant Commander. I’d check out something like that.”

“That’s not the same thing at all,” Mateo argued. “Where’s the rush?”

“You plan to marry Lainey, right?”

“Damn straight.”

“You got kids in mind?” Brax asked.

“Damn straight.”

“I just can’t help thinking that if I went through an injury like Jase did, and I had two kids with one on the way, I might be thinking of a change. That’s all,” Brax said as he continued to drive.

“One on the way?”

“Yep. Hadn’t you heard?”

“Nope.”

“Anyway, I think I could give up the rush for something a little more cerebral. Something a little safer, like working for a security firm.”

“Shit. When you put it that way, I get it,” Mateo said. He pointed to a mailbox up ahead. “There’s the turn.”

Brax turned in and they started down a long dirt road. They finally pulled up to a rickety old shack that looked like it had been built before the Civil War.

They parked in front of the house, then Brax knocked on the door. No one answered. Mateo went and peeked through one of the grimy windows, then shook his head.

“Let’s look around back,” Mateo suggested.

Brax nodded.

When they got to the back, they found Roy Jeckel, who looked nothing like the buttoned-up executive that they had seen in his picture. Instead, they found a relaxed man in old jeans and a flannel shirt, sitting on an upside-down milk crate. He was cutting up fish bait, and looked happy as could be.

“Mr. Jeckel?”

“I might be,” he said when he looked up. “Depends on who you are.”

“I’m Chief Petty Officer Braxton Walker, and this is Chief Petty Officer Mateo Aranda. We’re here to ask you a few questions about Jenny Rivers.”

Roy squinted up at them. “Were you two part of the team who rescued her?”

Brax nodded.

“You did good. I never met Jenny, but sometimes she’d be on a conference call with me and some others. Liked her. She had a sparkle. I will tell you that you’ve come to the wrong man if you want to know anything that came down regarding her. I don’t know shit.” The old man shook his head. “It was above my pay grade, but I was expected to spin things to make the company look good. You tell me, how in the hell was I supposed to spin a steaming pile of dogshit into gold?”

“Seems like it was an impossible task to me,” Mateo said.

“Damned right it was. In my opinion, Ronald fucked up.”

“Who’s Ronald?” Brax asked.

“He’s the Chairman of the Board. Was the CEO last year. He got up off the milk box and picked up his fishing rod.

“How did Ronald fuck up?” Brax tried to keep Roy on topic.

“He should have paid the ransom. I know for a fact we had Kidnap and Ransom insurance. That’s how we paid for a team to go in and rescue her. Why Ronald didn’t just pay the ransom is beyond me. The company line was that we weren’t sure who to pay the ransom to, and that’s why it was withheld. You saw how well that went down with the media. Nobody bought that shit. If you want to know the truth, I think he withheld the money on purpose. Can’t prove it. But two of us got multi-million-dollar retirement packages within two weeks of one another. VP of Security and me.”

Brax looked over at Mateo, who nodded at him.

“I have just one more question. Do you know a guy by the name of Edgar Travis?”

“Never heard of him. Who is he?”

“Somebody Jenny worked with in London.”

Roy threw back his head and laughed. “Now isn’t that interesting.”

“What?” Brax asked.

“Not many people know, but Ronald likes to fish even more than I do, only thing is, he does it in the company pond. I heard a rumor that he’d caught something in London.”

“A woman named Fiona?” Mateo asked.

“Nope, he’s not interested in women. But an Edgar might just be up his alley.”

“We hear Edgar was embezzling money in London.”

Roy grinned. “Even better. Ronald would have that over him, and he’d be able to keep him on a short leash forever. Ronald is ruthless. He would kill his own mother to come out on top, and he’d enjoy it. He’d love the idea of having something hanging over Edgar’s head so he’d be at his mercy.”

Roy baited his hook. “Still don’t understand how this might have anything to do with Jenny, unless she was in on the embezzling or she was going to blow the whistle.”

“It’s complicated,” Brax said. “Thank you so much for all of your help. You’ve been great.”

“If you need me to testify against Ronald, I’d be more than happy to.” He ticked off on his fingers. “I’m an only child. Never been married. No kids. I don’t need the millions I got. Sticking it to Ronald is a lot more satisfying than the money.”

Brax held out his hand. “It was really great to meet you.”

Roy shook his hand.

When they got back to the car, Mateo laughed as Brax looked around in the cab of his truck to find a rag to wipe fish guts off his hand before he touched the steering wheel.

“You sure don’t act like a SEAL,” Mateo laughed.

“Shut it. I just detailed my car.”

Mateo was still laughing as they were driving down the dirt road.