Page 2

CHAPTER TWO

“I have a situation.”

Shawn “Preacher” Franklin sat up straighter, snapping out of his funk. He’d collapsed onto his sofa after arriving home from the naval base earlier, too on edge to make something for dinner, and he’d been there ever since. He loved being a SEAL. Loved his country. Loved his teammates. But lately, he’d been feeling…unsettled.

Seeing Kevlar, Safe, and Blink with their girlfriends, women who softened their prickly edges, had him wanting what they had. Not their specific women, of course, but someone he could share his thoughts and feelings with at the end of each day. But the thing was, when it came to relationships, Preacher was unlike most SEALs.

He believed in soul mates.

He’d been raised to believe there was one person out there just for him, that he’d know her when he saw her…an d that being with anyone sexually before he’d met his soul mate was disrespectful.

Being a virgin at thirty-something was practically unheard of. Especially for a Navy SEAL.

He’d been given the nickname Preacher by some guys in boot camp. When they’d heard that he was waiting for his soul mate, that he wasn’t interested in picking up some random frog hog at the local bar during his time off, they’d laughed and given him the moniker.

It wasn’t as if he’d never been tempted. But every time he decided that his old-fashioned values were ridiculous, and he should just get it over with and fuck someone already…

He couldn’t do it.

He wasn’t ashamed of his beliefs either. But he was becoming discouraged by them. He was afraid he’d already missed her. That maybe he hadn’t recognized his soul mate when he’d met her in the past.

Or worse—that he’d never find her at all.

That was the dreaded thought going through his head when Kevlar called. But hearing the serious tone of his team leader on the phone had all thoughts of loneliness flying from his brain.

“What’s wrong?” he barked.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so dramatic,” Kevlar answered in a sheepish tone. “But I learned something disturbing tonight and wanted to run it by someone.”

“I’m listening,” Preacher said, feeling his heart rate slowly decrease. There had been enough “situations” lately with Wren, Josie, and Remi that he couldn’t help his immediate battle-mode response.

“Remi went to and from the store today via one of those ride-share apps and?—”

“Wait, why didn’t she call someone? Is she okay? Did something happen?” Preacher asked, interrupting his friend.

Kevlar chuckled. “All questions I asked her . She’s fine. Nothing happened. And she said she didn’t want to bother anyone. That she wanted to surprise me with a chocolate cake. Believe me, I made sure she understood that it wasn’t a bother to call one of our friends to help her out. Anyone would’ve been happy to give her a ride somewhere.”

Preacher frowned. “Right, so…if nothing happened, what’s the situation?”

“Remi got along great with the driver—of course she did…she’s Remi. But she did what I’ve taught her to do, taking a picture of the driver’s info, just in case. The driver also encouraged Remi to call her if she needed a ride in the future. Here’s the thing,” Kevlar said, getting to the point. “The driver’s name was Adina Cornett. And that’s the info that was on the placard Remi took a picture of.”

“Isn’t Adina the woman who works in supply?”

“Yes—and she’s deployed, which is why we haven’t seen her around.”

“Shit,” Preacher said.

“Exactly. There’s someone driving around in what I’m guessing is Adina’s car, using her name, and probably robbing her blind while she’s deployed. ”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Preacher asked. “Are we calling NCIS?”

“I thought we’d see what we could find out on our own first,” Kevlar said.

Preacher smiled, feeling a surge of excitement flow through his veins.

“The fake Adina told Remi to call her anytime she needed a ride. I’m thinking we might need a ride home from work tomorrow.”

“Will Remi go along with this?” Preacher asked, sounding skeptical.

“She’s not happy with the deception. Told me that the fake Adina was really nice. That she liked her a lot. Warned me to go easy. Said she probably has a perfectly good reason to be using Adina’s name and car.”

Preacher snorted.

“That was my response,” Kevlar agreed. “She also gave this woman a hundred and fifty-dollar tip.”

“Seriously?” Preacher asked.

“Yes. She reassured me that she wasn’t pressured to do so. Just that she felt a connection to the woman and she seemed down. Oh, and the icing on the cake? Her stomach was growling almost continuously.”

Preacher wanted to roll his eyes, but it wasn’t as if someone could fake something like that. Yes, perhaps she’d held off eating in the hopes that her body would make its needs known audibly. But that wasn’t likely. And Remi wasn’t the kind of woman to be taken advantage of. She was one of the sweetest women Preacher knew, but she’d grown up with money and was pretty good about recognizing someone who was only being nice to try to get some cash out of her.

“I’m in,” he told his friend.

“I’ll see if Smiley wants to come with us too,” Kevlar said.

Preacher winced. Smiley was a little rough around the edges, he’d probably scare the crap out of Fake Adina…which was probably Kevlar’s intention. By the time the ride was over tomorrow, the woman would definitely think twice about whatever illegal scheme she was perpetrating. “Maybe Safe or MacGyver would be better?”

“No. I want this woman intimidated. I want her to regret what she’s done. She can’t go around using someone else’s name and car to steal. And who knows how deep this goes.”

“Should we try to get a hold of Adina?” Preacher asked.

“I will. After tomorrow,” Kevlar said.

“All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks for listening and not telling me I’m crazy or too overprotective of Remi,” Kevlar said.

“You are both of those things,” Preacher said with a laugh. “But if Remi doesn’t mind, why should I?”

Kevlar chuckled. “True. Later.”

Preacher clicked off his phone and pressed his lips together. His mind was whirling with the info Kevlar had just shared. None of them really knew Adina, they just worked with her in a professional capacity. But knowing she was deployed and someone was taking advantage of her didn’t sit well with him, just as it hadn’t with Kevlar. Tomorrow, they’d figure out what the hell was going on and take whatever steps were necessary to stop the fraud.

Maggie had been surprised to hear from Remi so soon, especially after she’d admitted that she didn’t use ride shares all that often. But she was happy to get the return business. Today had been slow, and everyone she’d given a ride to had been a stingy tipper. It was depressing to only get a dollar tip on a fifteen-dollar ride, but it wasn’t as if she could do anything about it.

She’d already spent most of the tip money Remi had gifted her yesterday, but she’d managed to get quite a few groceries. Tuna, generic cereal, some bread that was on sale, some dented cans of vegetables, and she’d splurged on some hamburger and made a huge cheesy casserole the night before, along with one of the best salads she’d had in ages, which should last her for several meals.

Adina’s car desperately needed a tune-up, and that was next up on Maggie’s list of things to do. Without the car, she’d be dead in the water, literally. It was the only thing keeping her from starving.

Remi had asked to be picked up near the gates of the huge naval base, and when Maggie pulled up to the curb outside the pawn shop where Remi had said she’d be waiting out front, she didn’t immediately see her.

Instead, as soon as she stopped, Maggie saw three men walking down the sidewalk with purpose in their steps. All three were wearing the blue camouflage uniforms the Navy issued their personnel.

It wasn’t until it was too late to take the car out of gear and step on the gas that she realized they were coming toward her .

One of the men got into the front seat, and the other two got into the back. Maggie’s heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt. She’d been in some close calls over the last three months, but she’d never felt as threatened as she did right this minute. These men could easily overpower her. If they wanted to hurt her, there wouldn’t be anything she could do about it.

“I don’t have any cash on me,” she said quickly, “but you can have the car.”

“We aren’t going to hurt you or rob you. We just want to talk,” said the man who was sitting next to her in the passenger seat. He had green eyes, wavy dark hair, and a closely trimmed beard and mustache. The men in the back had frowns on their faces and were staring at her with looks so intense and scary, it was all Maggie could do to keep breathing.

Her hand was on the door handle, and she was two seconds away from bailing and running as fast as she could. But leaving Adina’s car would be a disaster…so she hesitated.

“Talk?” Maggie managed to squeak out.

“Yeah. What’s your name?” the man sitting directly behind her asked .

Looking in the rearview mirror, Maggie saw him staring at her. He was leaning forward as he spoke, while the other man in the backseat was taking a picture of the Uber license affixed to the headrest. It had Adina’s information on it, except for the phone number, which Maggie had taped over with her own. She didn’t like the way he was scrutinizing the license—and suddenly she had a feeling these men had figured out she wasn’t who she said she was.

“Adina,” she stammered out. “Adina Cornett.”

“Bullshit,” the man behind her barked. “We know Adina. We work with her on the base. She’s almost ten years younger than you, blonde, has blue eyes, and is several inches taller than you, as well. And she just happens to be floating around the Middle East on a ship right about now. So you need to start talking—fast. Why are you pretending to be her, driving her car, and doing who knows what the hell else with her name?”

Maggie swallowed hard. She knew this day would come. Riverton was a fairly large city, but it wasn’t LA. She was bound to come across someone who knew Adina at some point. Her friend had a fairly unique name, and the man was right, Maggie looked nothing like her.

She tried to come up with a rebuttal. To figure out what she could say that would get these men out of her car and to leave her alone, but nothing plausible came to mind.

“Well?” the other, kind of mean-looking guy in the backseat, asked. He’d taken his attention from Adina’s license and was now staring at her as well.

Maggie opened her mouth to say something, she had no idea what, but the normally reliable Accord took that moment to sputter and die. The engine cut off—and the silence that filled the car was almost oppressive.

It was the last straw. Maggie had no idea what was wrong with the car, just that without it, she was totally screwed.

She gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, trying really hard not to burst into tears. She didn’t figure it would help her cause with these men. “Maggie. My name is Maggie Lionetti.”

“I’m Preacher. Kevlar and Smiley are in the back,” the man next to her said in what almost sounded like a gentle tone. But Maggie wasn’t fooled. He was probably trying to get her to let down her guard before he called the cops. If he did that, she was going back to prison. She’d been told time and time again by her probation officer what would happen if she screwed up.

“How did you get the keys to Adina’s car?” Kevlar asked.

Maggie felt cold. Some of the horrible things she’d gone through behind bars flashed through her brain. The near assaults, the fights, the verbal abuse. She couldn’t go back. She couldn’t .

“Maggie?” Preacher asked.

They weren’t going to give up. Weren’t going to simply get out of her car and leave her alone. Overwhelmed with grief, the pressures of the last three months pressing in on her, Maggie broke.

“Adina’s my friend. She’s my only friend. I met her…re cently. I needed a place to go a few months ago, and she offered to let me stay with her. I took her up on it. When she was deployed, she said I could use her car, and she knows I’m using her Uber account. We talked about it. She agreed.” Her words were fast and succinct, and Maggie refused to look at any of the men in the small vehicle as she talked. She heard the rustle of their clothes as they shifted in their seats but didn’t take her gaze off the street in front of her.

“Why’d you need a place to stay? Do you not have another job?” Smiley asked.

Maggie had never heard a name so incongruent to a person’s countenance. The man hadn’t smiled once. He looked downright frightening.

And it definitely seemed like they weren’t going to leave her alone until she told them everything.

Fine. They wanted to know? She didn’t have anything to hide. Not really.

She huffed out a long breath and turned her head to look at the man next to her. Preacher. He looked nothing like a man of the cloth. Not that she really knew what they were supposed to look like. But out of the three men in the car at the moment, he seemed the least…hostile.

“I was in jail. I served nearly two of my three years. Got out for good behavior and because there weren’t any more beds available for the more violent offenders. I met Adina before I went in. She wrote me every single week. Picked me up when I was released.

“I couldn’t get my old job back when I got out, and I had no money, no place to stay. It’s almost cruel how the system works…yes, you’re released, but the odds of going right back behind bars is huge because of how impossible it is to rebuild an honest life back in the real world. Lucky for me, I had Adina. The deployment was a surprise, but she generously said I could stay at her apartment while she was gone. Drive her car. And it was actually her idea for me to take over her Uber account. It’s given me a way to make a few bucks. To eat.

“I’m not stealing from Adina, I swear. Yes, I’m using her ride-share account, but I can’t get my own because of the felony on my record. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent job when you’ve been convicted of a crime?” She barked a harsh laugh. “No. Of course you don’t. Well, I can tell you, it’s nearly impossible. And for the record, I’m innocent. You won’t believe me, no one does, but it’s still true.”

She was practically panting by the time she ran out of words. She desperately wanted these men to believe her, but the odds of that were extremely low.

“You know we can get in touch with Adina and verify your story, right?” Kevlar asked.

Turning, Maggie looked at him. “Do it. Ask her. She’ll verify everything I just told you.”

“What’d you get put behind bars for?”

“Smiley,” Preacher said in a warning tone.

Maggie wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t as if Smiley hadn’t asked what all three men were thinking.

“I’m no threat to society,” she said tiredly. “I know you won’t believe this either, but I was set up. I needed to go up to the LA area for my job, and my boyfriend asked if I would bring something to a friend for him. I had no problem with that, and the friend was going to meet me at the pharmacy where I was going to be for work. I got pulled over on the way up there, and for some reason the cop decided to search my car. The bag my boyfriend gave me had drugs in it. A lot of drugs. I got three years for transporting with the intent to sell. No one would believe that it wasn’t my bag, and that I wasn’t bringing drugs to LA to sell them.”

You could hear a pin drop in the car, it was that silent.

“Assuming the boyfriend is now your ex -boyfriend,” Kevlar said dryly.

Maggie couldn’t help it. She snorted. Loudly. “Obviously. Look, I don’t like using Adina’s credentials, but I have no other way of making money to feed myself. And I don’t have to pay rent, but I’m still trying to pay my share anyway. I would get out of Riverton altogether if I could, but I’m not allowed to leave the state until my probation is over. I’m literally stuck here. I’m trying to do my best but it’s just not enough. It’s never enough.” The last three words were whispered.

Maggie wanted to ask if they were going to turn her in. To Uber. To the cops. To her probation officer. But the words were stuck in her throat. Not for the first time, she wished she had never met her ex. But she had. She’d been swayed by his larger-than-life personality and impressed by the fact that he was a high-ranking naval officer. She’d learned the hard way that not all military members were upstanding citizens.

She could only pray the ones sitting in her car at the moment were more compassionate than her snake of an ex.

“What’s wrong with the car?” Preacher asked.

She glanced at him, then shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted softly. “I’ve been saving up to take it to the shop. It’s been acting weird. Sputtering and turning off by itself when I stop.”

Preacher shared a look with the men in the backseat before he turned back to her. “Give me the keys.”

Maggie blinked. “No.”

“I’m not going to steal this piece of shit,” Preacher told her. “I want to talk to my friends, and I have to make sure you won’t take off when we get out…if this thing even starts again.”

She wanted to continue to protest. To beg them all to just leave her alone. To tell them that she’d stop driving for the ride-share app. But she couldn’t. Unless she wanted to work for a strip club, which she definitely did not , she needed to keep taxiing people around.

“Give him the keys, Maggie,” Kevlar ordered.

To her surprise, she found herself doing just that. What did it matter? These men literally held her life in their hands. If they turned her in, she was going right back behind bars. The last thing she wanted to do was piss them off any more than she already had.

Her fingertips brushed against Preacher’s palm when she dropped the keys in his hand—and to her shock, she felt a tingle shoot up her arm.

She snatched her hand back as if she’d been burned. She wanted to cradle her hand against her chest but refrained, barely. She’d learned through her time behind bars that to let anyone know what you were thinking or feeling was dangerous.

She did her best to wipe all emotion from her face…but she had a feeling she’d failed miserably when Preacher spoke.

“Breathe, Maggie. We just need to talk for a moment.”

Breathe. Right. As if.

She sat frozen as the three men got out and slammed the doors behind them.

Despair hit Maggie all over again. They weren’t going to believe her. No one did. They probably thought she was a master drug dealer or something. That she was using the Uber job as a cover for delivering drugs to people all across the city. She was screwed. She might as well prepare herself to put on the horrible jailhouse pants and shirt she’d been forced to wear for the last two years.

The tears she’d managed to hold back finally sprang to her eyes and fell down her cheeks.