“Sonny, she is the one.” Tank laughed. “Watched it happen twice already.”
“First, we figure out what we are gonna do, then we worry about the other stuff. You know I want the same thing as you, but I am not going to fuck this mission up, we have been waiting for too long to deal with this bastard.” Sonny sighed and Tank nodded.
They heard the door to the bathroom open and then close. Then they heard the shuffling of feet walking toward the living room, both of them froze and waited. When Katherine stepped into the living room, it was as if all of the air had suddenly left. Both men stared open mouthed at the gorgeous woman standing there shifting from one foot to another looking hesitant. If they thought she was gorgeous when she was all made up, it wasn’t anything compared to the sheer pure beauty of this woman. Her hair fell down in waves around her shoulders, still damp from the bath, but it was untamed and sexy as hell. Her clean face showed the flawless porcelain skin that made both of the men want to wrap her in a blanket and protect her. She wasn’t thin, she had curves in all the right places, so much so that Tank could envision holding on to her lush hips and plowing into her from behind.
However, it was her eyes that drew both men in, they were bright green, and powerful, she held all of her emotions right there for the world to see. The guys saw the vulnerability, the fear, and confusion, but they also saw the passion, the sweetness, and the promise of lust in them. Damn, she was made for them, Tank thought.
“Uh, I was wondering if you got any food, I mean, a kidnapping is all good until you have to feed them,” Katherine said and Tank smiled.
“Come on, sweetness, we can talk while we get us fed.”
Katherine frowned but nodded and waited where she was until both men walked into the kitchen in front of her. The quietly began to prepare the dinner they already had set out. Steaks, potatoes, asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms and onions. It was their favorite meal. Neither of them looked at Katherine as she edged around the corner. They were trying to make her feel at home and not threatened, Tank and Sonny both knew how to deal with a scared woman, unfortunately they had experience in their line of work.
They had to let her come to them on her own, and learn that she could trust them. It wasn’t going to happen right away, but maybe after a little talking she would realize they didn’t want to harm her.
“Have a seat,” Sonny said, chopping the onions and mushrooms with skill. She stared at the long knife for a little too long and Sonny set it to the side. “Do you want a beer?”
Katherine snorted and shook her head. “A bottle of Moscato would be better.”
Sonny nodded then opened the fridge and brought out a bottle of her favorite wine. Her eyebrows raised but she didn’t say anything, and Sonny grinned to himself. She didn’t realize when she was ranting and raving they listened to every word, and she had said she drank a glass of it every night.
When he sat the glass in front of her she stared at it like it was going to bite her but then she smiled and took a sip. With a sigh, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and then reopened them.
“Okay, I need some answers, guys,” she said brusquely to them and they both laughed.
“Sure, babe, let me get this on the grill and we can talk,” Tank said then took the plate with the large steaks out onto the deck.
Kit stared at her glass, trying to think of how she wanted to approach the conversation. When the guys settled into the chairs across from her at the table, beers in their hands and looking at her expectantly, she nodded.
“So, I am Tank Briggs, and this is my brother, Sonny, in case you don’t remember our introduction,” Tank said with a grin.
“I am Katherine Steppe, but for some reason I think you know this,” Kit said. Both of the men nodded and she said politely, “Please call me Kit.”
“Okay, Kit, I am employed by a company out of Wyoming called TRI-X and Associates. A firm that deals with clients in need of our certain skills. My bother works for the Boulder County Sherriff’s Department in their Joint Taskforce Unit. I was sent here to work with the taskforce on a case, but before I was to report, I was sent to find a Katherine Steppe as a favor for my boss. Unfortunately, after not finding you, we discovered that somehow these two things are connected. Sonny got a tip from one of his informants about a girl who was dancing at the club. We came to the club to find you and ask a few questions, and bring you into protective custody,” Tank explained.
Kit was nodding her head although she didn’t really understand what was going on. They could see it in her eyes because they were so expressive.
Sonny leaned forward and said, “The word on the street is people are looking for you, but no one knows who, just that they put a bounty on your head and it has something to do with gun smuggling. Which is what we are investigating, so, babe, how are you involved?”
Kit looked at the men and even though she wanted to trust them, she didn’t so she shook her head and said, “First explain what is going on and how you are involved. I mean you work for the Taskforce, I get that, but that also doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So let’s talk about this in blocks before I share anything, because basically you are being decent so I am going to trust you so far as letting you explain some things.”
Sonny and Tank looked at one another then nodded slowly, they needed to give some information to get some information.
“TRI-X,” Tank said firmly. “Is a privately owned firm, Harper Bret and her husbands are the owners of the company. Although it is Harper Bret who is the CEO, she is a trained FBI profiler, one of her husbands is a trained SEAL, the other is also FBI retired. They put together this agency to help with larger investigations that some local agencies like Boulder County would usually not get assistance from the Feds. Harper believes there is a lack of communication with all the agencies, which would have helped solve many cases faster. It is brand new, however, everyone on the teams are experienced. I am the lead Team manager for the company. I was sent down here to work with my brother’s Taskforce primarily because of a case we became involved in a few months ago in California. I am sure you have heard about it on the news, it involved the smuggling of firearms to terrorists.”
Kit’s eyes widened and she nodded but didn’t say a word.
“There were loose ends to tie up, mostly about how the FBI was involved in this, Joel’s partner was dirty, and we have learned from some of the best Intel that he was only a small fry in the corruption, we want the leader. I was going undercover to work the angle of the smugglers, while Sonny was going to go undercover in the FBI Denver Field Office,” Tank said and sat back slowly.
Kit digested this information then waited for a minute before asking, “How did you find out about me?”
Sonny leaned forward. “We have been trying to make the connection to the Denver office for months. But there has been a lockdown on information flowing on the streets. So we waited. A month ago, we found out some heavy hitters, which we could not identify, had put out a hit on a woman. We have been working to get more information. Finally, two days ago a name popped up, yours. We have been looking for you ever since. Then someone identified you at the club and we came to find you. All I know is the word on the street is you heard something you shouldn’t have about arms dealing, and the men who made that mistake of being overheard want you dead. Now, I am not a rocket scientist but if they want you dead, you must have something pretty important.”
Kit bit her lip and nodded again slowly. “Okay, why were you looking for me?” she asked Tank who thought he had glossed over his initial reason for searching for her, obviously not.
He looked at his brother who shrugged and leaned back. They were going to have to come clean about shit before they could earn her trust. Damn, he really didn’t want to get into all this emotional shit. She was gonna cry, he knew it.
“The mission in California had casualties,” Tank said slowly.
Kit frowned and nodded. “I know, it was so sad. I heard all about i
t.”
“So does the name Norman Greese mean anything to you?” Tank asked and she frowned and shook her head, yep gonna cry. “I am just gonna say it straight because there is no other way to do it. SEAL Commander Norman “Apollo” Greese was the man killed in California during the takedown of terrorist Diego Dragomir. He was my friend’s commander, and they loved him and respected him more than most Teams that were based out of San Diego, they were a family, all of them and shit went bad.”
He could tell Kit was confused as to why he was telling her about a man she didn’t know. So he took a deep breath and plowed forward.
“SEALs always write a letter to their next of kin in case something happens on a mission. It has been done for years, and this time it was no different. All of the guys had them. Apollo had one for his wife, which was delivered and then the Team received another one, it was for them, they had no idea why the commander wrote them a letter but when they read it they understood.” Tank pulled out the letter he had been carrying and slid it across the table. He knew she wasn’t going to get it at first but she needed to read it.
∞ ∞ ∞
Team TEN,
∞ ∞ ∞
You are reading this because I am gone. I thought long and hard about who the hell I was supposed to write this letter to. I didn’t need to worry about my wife, her family would take care of her. I never fit in with them, in their eyes, I was never good enough for their daughter, and having no other family, it was hard to figure out. But in the end, I wrote two letters, it came down to who was my family and who I would have chosen as a family.
I have watched you six men grow from being a rough and scraggly group of men into a team that most of the military hope to be. Out of all of my men, this team has had a special connection from the very start. No other team has been as close as all of you, it has been a humbling experience to watch.
When I first joined the Special Ops Group, I envisioned this type of friendship that you have all developed. And I realized I had not allowed myself to get close to anyone like that. Looking at how much you have been through with each other, and how much you are willing to go through for each other, it’s an amazing thing. Because of this, I chose to write this letter to you.
If I would have ever had a son, I would have hoped he would be exactly like you, Thane. You are the head of this motley crew and because of that, I am sending this to you. I know all of your men are there with you. Let them know I have never been prouder of a group of men as I have been of them. The obstacles you have overcome are a testament to the men you have all become.
I have all of my stuff in order; to be honest, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I have only one request, and I know it is asking a lot of you all since you have already been through so much. However, I needed someone I could trust with this.
First off, I was never unfaithful to my wife, she was a good woman, and a strong partner for a military man like myself. What I am about to tell you, she doesn’t know about, and I don’t want you to share this with her either. With her family, this would have been the proof for them that I really wasn’t good enough for her and I won’t put her through it without me around to be a buffer.
Many years ago, there was a woman who I thought I was going to marry. Like all young and stupid young men do, I took the relationship for granted, figured she would always be there for me waiting. When I got back from a mission, she was gone. No one knew where she had gone. I called her parents and it was a false number. I met her on the base, she was working at a restaurant there. The name she used was Laura McKenzie. It took me many years and a lot of favors to find out where she went. I received this the day before I wrote this letter, all hell is breaking loose here and if I don’t get a chance, please contact my daughter. I just found out Laura was pregnant when she ran away from me. I don’t know why, and I suppose it doesn’t really matter anymore. But could you at least contact her and let her know about me? I would have given anything right now to know her, but since you are reading this, it must have not been in my life plan.
I don’t have much to leave her, enclosed is the money I want to be given to her. Thank you for everything you guys have done and the example you have set for the men who will follow in your footsteps.
This letter was given to the JAG, and he had instructions on what to do. Before all this shit started, I wanted you all to know how much I cared about you. I believe you deserved more than what you were given. So to help with your new start, I had a friend find these horses for you. They are a symbol of what you have lost, and what you have gained.
∞ ∞ ∞
Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit.
Norman “Apollo” Greese
He knew when she hit her mother’s name because she sobbed loudly. Damn it, Tank thought, then he looked at his brother and shook his head. This was seriously going to suck.
∞ ∞ ∞
Chapter Seven
Kit lay back on the bed that she had been on when she first arrived to the cabin. Upon reading the letter, she had run crying to the room and locked the door. Not that they couldn’t get in, they could she knew that, but they gave her the privacy she needed to sort through the stuff in her head.
The guys had come and knocked on her door, telling her dinner was ready, but she had not responded, she couldn’t, the thought of food made her ill. Kit started thinking about her childhood. Her mother never told her a thing about her father other than he didn’t want them. Reading the letter, she wasn’t so sure, and what else had she been hiding from, everything was a mess and she didn’t know what to do with all this information.
In the end, she decided there wasn’t anything to do but move on, her father and mother were both dead. She had no one left in the world and the fantasy of her father that she had played in her head over and over while she was a child, about him coming and finding them and telling them how sorry he was for leaving them, was never going to happen. She would only have the last letter of the man she would never know. It sucked, but it was all she had.
She spent the night thinking over what this would all mean for her, feeling sad and depressed. When the sun began to rise, Kit pulled herself out of her bed and stretched. She had made a decision in the wee hours of the morning. She was going to figure out what she could do to help these men, then she was going to ask Tank to take her to Wyoming and meet the men her father had written the letter to. Maybe through them, she could at least get to know the man who she had never had a chance to meet. She was also considering pulling out her mother’s records to see if she could find out what her mother was running from. But that was for another day, she had to fix her own mess first.
Kit had always been like this since she was a small child; it was one of the things that driven her mother nuts. When she had a problem, Kit would lay in bed and just stare at the ceiling thinking and working through her problem until it was solved in her head. Sometimes it took an hour, sometime it took more, but she would not get out of her bed and talk until she had it sorted in her mind. Thankfully, Tank and Sonny had let her do that. However, she didn’t think they were going to let her go on for much longer.
With a sigh, she looked around the room. After the bath yesterday, she had found the stack of clothes they had gotten her on the small dresser. She went and pulled out fresh clothes and went to the bathroom. Kit tried to be quiet, but apparently the guys had been waiting for her to reappear because they both popped into the hallway from the living room looking like they had slept on the couches in their clothes. Damn, they were sexy when they first woke up, she thought. Wow, nothing like having inappropriate thoughts first thing in the morning.
“Kit,” Sonny said. “You okay?”
“Uh yeah, just needed to process the information, you know,” she whispered and both men looked at her as if she was going to break into a million pieces. The men walked down the hall toward her and she sucked in her breath, she couldn’t handle it if they were nice to her. But Tank grabbed h
er and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head then stepping back so Sonny could do the same thing. She felt the tears gather in her eyes again and willed them away.
“You hungry?” Tank asked and she nodded shyly and then pointed to the bathroom.
“I am going to clean up, then come in and find something to eat.”
“No, we got it,” Tank said.
“Come into the kitchen when you are ready,” Sonny said and she nodded and went into the bathroom.
Why couldn’t she have met one of them in a normal situation? Both of them were gorgeous, it was the one thing she had actually thought quite a bit about last night when she was laying there. Since she had met the two men, her girly bits had been working overtime. It made the situation even more confusing for her, because she really wished she could curl up on one of their laps and let them take the world away. It sucked they were brothers; she would never be able to pick one of them and go for it. With a large sigh, Kit set about getting ready.
∞ ∞ ∞
“What do you think that meant?” Sonny said quietly as they listened to the shower turn on in the bathroom.
Both men had wanted to comfort her, but they didn’t want to push her too hard either, she’d seemed so fragile when she had been sobbing at the table last night; it broke their hearts. The small hug and kiss had been their way of having her begin to get used to them together, it was the only thing they could come up with last night while they were talking.
When she had not come out to eat they had become worried, Sonny had even gone as far as to go to the shed where they had emergency backup gear and had gotten a micro camera out and proceeded to push it under the door to make sure she was okay. When they had seen her lying on the bed, both men had retired into the living room and waited.
They talked about the case and when they were going to call the bosses and let them know what was going on. So far, Harper and Sonny’s LT had not called, but that was only going to last for so long, there was too much riding on the case for this shit to go south. And they had also talked about what they wanted with Kit. It had been a natural conversation although they hadn’t talked about it in a long time.