Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Serena

As Duke buckled his seatbelt, I noticed his forearms again, and my mind went right back to the kiss. The memory of my body pressed against his sent heat to my core. The fire intensified when I remembered that gentle brush of his hand against my breast. It teased what getting to second base with him might be like.

Of course the deputy had eyed Duke like he was a prime cut of steak. The man was as hot as all get out, but tough luck, deputy. I’m the one who got to kiss him.

Duke put the car in drive and glanced back at the station. A slight smile curved his lips. Deputy Noreen stood at the door. Her scowl hadn’t changed. That woman did not like me.

Duke turned onto the street. “Don’t you have a call to make before I can have the phone to do my job?” he barked.

His tone was a clear signal that the kiss might have affected me, but for him it had been subterfuge to get him out of dinner with the deputy. And I’d initiated it, not him. He’d merely played along. If it had affected him the way it did me, wouldn’t he at least be nice?

I selected Dad’s contact and called.

“Hey, Munchkin, I’ve been worrying about you. I called and you didn’t pick up.”

I sighed. “Dad, I can’t always answer, you know that. What’s up?”

“How about we meet for ice cream? I have something I’d like to talk to my little girl about.”

Right . In his mind, I was still his little girl. “I’m busy with work right now,” I said patiently. Being Daddy’s little girl was no longer my only occupation.

“Then we can talk at the barbecue your mother has put together.”

“I’ll try to be there, but I may not be able to make it. I’ve got lots of work stuff,” I lied.

“It’s important to your mother.”

It sounded more and more like another setup I didn’t need or want. “I said I’ll try.” It wasn’t worth complaining about the little girl comment.

“Munchkin, I need you to come. We need to talk. It’s important.”

When he put it like that, there was no way I could refuse. Not after all we’d been through. “Sure, Dad. I’ll find a way.” I might fight it now, but I could never forget how lucky I’d been to have an obsessively protective father when it mattered. The outcome could have been…

“Good.” Dad’s voice cut off that depressing train of thought. “How’s the new job going?”

“Fine so far.”

“You can tell me all about it at the barbecue.”

“Sure, Dad.” I got off the phone after fending off another ice cream meeting suggestion. That had been our thing when I was little, and he couldn’t let it go.

Duke looked over at the next stoplight. “Nice job not telling him about your adventure today.”

“He’s not ever going to know,” I replied as I dialed my boss, Edward Powell.

“Who are you calling now?” Duke asked.

I held the phone to my ear. “My boss.”

“Powell.” Edward Powell didn’t bother with niceties like answering the phone with hello.

“This is Serena?—”

“I can see that from the caller ID. Where are you? You missed the daily review meeting.”

“I’m sorry. I was in an accident.”

“You should have called if you were going to be late.” Ever the compassionate boss, he didn’t even ask if I was okay.

“I couldn’t. The car rolled over, and I lost my phone for a while.”

Powell continued, “The protocol is—I have an important call coming in. We’re going to have to talk later.”

The line went dead before I could explain. I looked at my phone for a moment and then put it in the cupholder.

“It didn’t sound like your boss asked how you are.”

I let out a long breath. “He had another call coming in.”

“That’s more important that talking to an employee who just said she was in a rollover accident?”

I shrugged carefully. “I guess.” Duke had nailed it. I could have said I’d just gotten out of the ICU, and it wouldn’t have garnered a reaction from Powell.

“Your boss is a dick.”

Dad had drilled into me years ago that you never badmouthed your boss, so I stayed quiet. “I’m going back to work this afternoon, and that’s that.” How’s that for standing up for myself, Mr. Cobra?

“It’s up to you, but I’m not a fan of that until we get some vetting done.”

I gasped. “Why? You can’t suspect my coworkers.”

“Until people have been vetted, I suspect everyone.” He turned us toward the freeway entrance. “Were your company meetings this morning random visits, or coordinated ahead of time?”

“Both visits were scheduled a month ago.”

“Is either of the companies in trouble with your office?”

“No. Excalibur Plating was a fine visit. No red flags. They had everything ready for me. Knife Creek Chemical is full of jerks, but in the past they’ve always been in compliance.” I wished I could put the Knife Creek people on the suspect list just for being assholes, but they didn’t have a motive.

“Money can be a big motivator. Can’t you fine them or something?”

“If they had issues, we would start with abatement orders before progressing to fines, and we have some companies that are in that category, but not these two.” After a moment of silence, I added, “I’m going to work. I have to.”

“I don’t like it.”

Sometimes, the best defense was an offense. “Why do they call you Cobra?”

He sighed. “It was my call sign on ops—the cobra is deadly and strikes without warning.”

“Yeah, I just wondered why you use yours at work, and the others don’t.”

He shrugged. “The bossman’s isn’t very appropriate in our line of work, and the others aren’t military. Winston came out of the FBI, Constance was Secret Service, Jordy is from the CIA, and Terry Goodwin came to us from the LAPD SWAT. It also scares the groupies when a client calls me Cobra—makes the job easier. You never want to use force if words will do.”

“And?” I prodded.

“A while back, I was protecting a client who decided she didn’t want to let go at the end. She found out where I lived and?—”

“You had a stalker,” I finished for him.

“I like to keep my work identity separate from my personal one.”

“What did she do?”

“Not relevant. What’s the address of your office building?”

“Eleven-thousand Wilshire.” It didn’t seem fair that his stalker was need-to-know only.

Duke hit buttons on the screen and initiated a call.

“Hey, Duke,” a man’s weary voice answered through the speakers. “What do you need?”

“I need to locate a place to hang out while our new client is at work at the eleven-thousand Wilshire Federal Building.”

“Hold one sec… I’ve got an office for lease on Wellworth, the other side of the parking lot. Four hundred and fifty square feet. No idea what floor it’s on or if it faces her building or not. If you don’t like that one, next closest is… Let’s see… Two blocks farther away.”

“The first one works,” Duke said. “Get me a showing in let’s say an hour or so. I’m looking for space for my satellite law office, and you’re my assistant.”

“Copy that. Anything else?”

“Nope.”

The call ended without either of them saying goodbye.

Since he hadn’t offered, I had to ask. “Who was that?”

“My other brother, Jordan, but he prefers Jordy. He’s our tech and comms specialist.”

I hit redial on the screen as soon as Duke looked out his side mirror. “Now I know why they really call you Cobra. Because you have the manners of a snake.”

“What now, Duke?” he answered.

“Hi, Jordy. This is Serena. Duke forgot to say thank you because he’s a tough guy who wants to keep his grumpy-badass reputation intact.”

Jordy laughed.

“He’s very appreciative of your help and thinks you should introduce yourself as his overworked and underappreciated assistant.”

Duke glanced over at me, looking like he’d bitten down on a lemon.

“Thank you, Serena. That’s very sweet of you. Now hang up and let me get to work on our tough guy’s office.”

Duke stabbed the screen to end the call. “I’m only asking him to do his job. Besides, he knows I appreciate him.”

“Does he?”

His jaw worked, but he said nothing.

A block later, my phone rang. The screen said unknown number, so I showed it to Duke.

“Answer it.”

I accepted the call and put it on speaker. “Hello?”

“I want the stick. If you don’t hand it over, this is going to get nasty,” the creepy voice said.

I looked over at Duke, eyes wide. He nodded. “I still don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” I told the caller. “You must have the wrong person.”

Duke motioned for me to string out the conversation, then pressed his ear and talked toward the window in hushed tones.

“Really, I think you’ve made a mistake.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Serena.”

There went my hope that this was all a case of mistaken identity. My leg started up big time.

“Hand it over before this gets ugly.”

We were beyond ugly . My anger boiled over. “Listen, asshole. Whatever it is you want, I don’t have it.”

“That won’t work. I know otherwise. You have one week. I’ll be back in touch.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, and the line went dead.

Duke laughed. “You’ve got spunk, girl. Did it feel good to tell him to fuck off?”

I held my thigh and prepared to be called stupid. “Not very smart, huh? Telling off a maniac?”

“Actually, that’s good. We want him angry.”

I was confused, because an angry maniac sounded like a guy considering a chainsaw.

“Angry people often make mistakes,” Duke continued. “Bad decisions that give us a chance to find him and stop him.”

Duke touched the screen to dial Jordy again. “What did we get?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but nothing,” he said. “He used voice over IP and bounced all over. I’m good, but even I can’t track a call like that in a few minutes. Nobody can.”

“Okay,” Duke said and ended the call.

“Are you completely untrainable?” I hit the button to redial.

“What now, Duke?” Jordy said. “You know you’re not my only case.”

I motioned at the screen.

Duke sighed. “I forgot to say thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Duke, and tell Serena I appreciate the gesture. She can call me anytime.”

Duke grunted. “Bye.” He hung up.

“What do you make of the call?” I asked.

He sighed. “Better and worse.”

I cringed. It was already pretty damned bad in my book.

“It wasn’t mistaken identity, and he’s both committed and patient,” Duke explained. “Those are not the qualities we want for him. He may not anger as easily as I’d hoped.”

“And the good news?” I asked, trying to calm my runaway leg.

“We have some time to prepare for the next contact.”

“You’re not cheering me up.” As a matter of fact, his matter-of-fact explanation had almost made me wet my pants.

“Just giving it to you straight.”

As I looked over, I admired the strong jaw. He licked his lips as he signaled a lane change, and I replayed the kiss we’d shared. Why couldn’t we have met on vacation, a beach in Hawaii, perhaps, and had the kiss be real?

I closed my eyes, leaned back against the headrest, and imagined that kiss relocated to the warm sand of a Hawaiian beach. I wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss.

Would he have invited me to a romantic dinner or maybe a cocktail by the pool and then back to his place? Or would the no-nonsense former SEAL just lead me by the hand to his hotel room?

I got wet thinking of the possibilities.

What would it be like to be with a man like Duke, the object of a million of my fantasies? Would he be a quick lover, a rough one? What position would he prefer? I’d read enough romance novels to give me plenty of options.

A man like Duke could have his pick of women. What if I didn’t kiss well enough to get to the next stage with him? Doubt was a fickle bitch.

The engine stopped. “Serena? We’re here.”

I opened my eyes. We were back home on my street.

I followed Duke to the door, which gave me a chance to ogle him from behind. Yes, the man had a hell of a set of shoulders, and his jeans hugged a nice ass. The beach would have been great.

“Give me a minute to clear the house.”

I rolled my eyes. The house had been fine before leaving for the sheriff’s office. But instead of pointing that out, I let him go in first and waited. When I heard the commotion, though, I rushed in after him.

“Hands up,” Duke barked.

I froze in place in the hallway, and my gut clenched. Black Jacket Guy found me. For a second, my legs went weak, and my vision dimmed. I put my hand against the wall to steady myself. Fainting was not allowed.

“Drop the knife, or I’ll shoot,” Duke growled.

Reminding myself why I’d gotten my tattoo, I marched in and rounded the corner to the confrontation. I wanted to see my protector take down the asshole and finish this.

Duke

The guy had been right there, his back to me when I’d rounded the corner to the kitchen. He’d rummaged through one drawer, then another, mumbling, “ Where the fuck is it ?” while I took up position. This was going to be a very short case. I’d leveled my trusty SIG Sauer P226, the same weapon I’d carried as a SEAL.

“ Who the hell are you ?” he’d demanded. Like an idiot, he refused to drop the knife he was holding even after two warnings.

“ The man who’s going to put a bullet in you if you don’t drop that knife ,” I’d explained.

Then Serena came barreling around the corner, but instead of stopping behind me like she should have, she kept going past me toward the intruder.

“What the—” she screamed.

I lunged and wrapped an arm around her waist, yanking her back.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Serena yelled.

“Let her go,” the idiot demanded as he advanced on me.

Serena struggled to get free. “Let me go. He’s my brother.”

I released her and lowered my SIG. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Put the stupid knife down,” Serena told him. “Before you hurt yourself.”

Against my better judgment, I holstered my weapon and extended my hand, though the idiot still had his knife out. “Vincent, I presume.”

He nodded and laid the knife on the counter. We shook. “And you must be the bodyguard.” Vincent’s grip went from firm to very strong.

Two could play that game, so I gave it back to him doubled. “Protection specialist.”

The veins on Vincent’s neck bulged as his face reddened.

Serena shook her head. “More like guard dog.”

I gripped tighter. “But you told the deputy I was your boyfriend.”

That drew a startled expression from Vincent.

I used the opportunity for a better grip. Vincent’s lips quivered, and his jaw went rigid. He had impressive strength, but I never lost at this, and it would only take a few more seconds.

“For God’s sake,” Serena whined. “Why don’t you guys get a ruler and lay them on the table to measure?”

Vincent laughed and pulled his hand away, giving in. He shook it out.

I smiled and kept my hand still to rub in my victory.

Serena slapped my shoulder. “I told you I lived with my brother. Why did you have to pull a gun on him?”

“He was searching drawers. I thought he could be the guy, and then he pulled a knife on me,” I explained. “In my line of work, my actions were by the book.”

“For Christ’s sake,” Vincent said. “I was looking for the spatula so I could make myself a grilled cheese. The knife was to slice the cheese, but I’m not putting it down when a stranger barges into my house.”

“My house,” Serena corrected. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to change for work.”

“After I clear the upstairs,” I insisted.

Naturally, she rolled her eyes.