Hot SEALs: A Mission of Love (A Hot SEALs / CSA Case Files Crossover) (Kindle Worlds) (5 page)

“We’re both at my apartment,” Schultz answered, activating the safe with his fingerprint. The small square door signaled that the correct reading had taken place and opened, revealing his weapon. There was already a round in the chamber. “What have you got for me?”

“Get out,” Jon ordered before contradicting himself. “No, on second thought stay there. I’m on my way. Don Mercury—one of the agents assigned to Julia—is your blackmailer. Don’t open your front door until your other agents and I can clean house. He is going to have to disappear down a very deep hole.”

Schultz realized it was too late to garner more information when he heard the buzzer ring signifying that someone had come calling. It was highly doubtful he had a visitor in the middle of the day, leaving him to believe that one of the agents outside of his door needed to speak with him…or that Don had gained the upper hand and had somehow taken out the other two agents at their post. Schultz quickly gathered what he needed and then made his way into the bathroom where Julia was waiting for him. He pushed aside thoughts that a trusted agent had somehow managed to thwart the system and threaten the very lives he’d sworn to protect.

“I need you to get dressed as quickly as possible,” Schultz ordered, kneeling so that she could see the urgency of the matter. “Our situation just got worse.”

JULIA HEARD THE tension in Schultz’s voice before she lifted her lashes to see an underlying rage in his dark brown eyes. Her heart skidded when she caught sight of the large caliber pistol in his hand and she couldn’t help but sit up, spinning in the tub to see if anyone was at the door. There was no one else with them. It was then that she heard the vague chime of the door.

“Schultz, what is it?” Julia took the towel he held out for her, drying off as fast as she could and stepping onto the lavish rug that matched the browns in the granite counter tops. Those butterflies that weren’t so pretty decided to come back in full force. “Why do you have your weapon out when we have at least three detail agents stationed at the door?”

“Because one of those agents is your blackmailer,” Schultz stated, a primary rage taking over the collected man she was used to seeing. So this was the person that their friend, Crest, always referred to when stories of their past would come up in conversation. “Get dressed and then lock yourself in this bathroom.”

“What?” Julia whispered, having no intention of doing what he’d just asked of her. She could handle a weapon just as well as he could…well, almost. They’d gone to the range quite a few times for fun and he always managed to get inside the nine ring, where hers tended to be inside of the eight ring on a standard small silhouette. It was a moot point though. She could be an asset since they were basically cornered, which didn’t make any sense. “Schultz, what about Braeden and Emmett? They—”

“I have no idea what I’m going to find when I open that door,” Schultz explained, attaching something beneath his shirt. It was still unbuttoned, so whatever weapon he’d slipped behind him wouldn’t be easy to detect. “I need you to do what I ask…now.”

“Hiding?” Julia wasn’t that type of woman and Schultz knew it. She made her way into the bedroom, all the while keeping an eye on the door that led to the living room. She went to the dresser and pulled out the first thing she could get her hands on, which happened to be a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She was dressed in under thirty seconds. “Where’s the small Beretta?”

“Right here,” Schultz answered, holding the PX4 Storm Subcompact out for her. She hadn’t even seen where he’d retrieved it from but it didn’t matter. She went to take it when he held it up, his six foot one frame making it impossible for her to reach it. “Schultz, we don’t have time for this.”

“No, we don’t,” Schultz countered, finally lowering the weapon so that she could get a grip on the handle. “I can’t deal with a trained agent knowing that you’re in his crosshairs. Do you understand that? I want you in the bathroom and you are to shoot at anyone who tries to force his way in. The only time you are to come out is if I tell you that it’s safe to do so.”

Julia wasn’t about to argue with him and waste more time. The longer they stood here disagreeing the more likely it was that whoever was at the door would catch on that they knew what he’d done. She’d wait until Schultz answered the door and then keep an eye out from the bedroom. Determination settled into her bones. She wasn’t about to let her future husband do this by his own damn self.

“Which one of your agents is responsible?” Julia asked, feigning that she was walking back into the bathroom.

“Not mine. Yours,” Schultz replied, already crossing the room to the door. He looked back over his shoulder, leveling her a stare that made those violent butterflies knock around her stomach. “Don Mercury.”

Schultz finally left the room, leaving her in shock and trusting her that she’d go into the bathroom to lock herself inside. She felt somewhat guilty of going against his wishes, but she’d have a good shot from here if something were to go wrong. Her guilt washed away with the name Schultz just declared, because she couldn’t fathom Don doing anything of the sort. She’d told Jon that Carson Patrick was the likely suspect, regardless that the man had checked out.

“Don, I thought Julia told you that she wasn’t to be disturbed.”

Julia crept across the floor in her bare feet, grateful that there wasn’t a place underneath the carpet that creaked. She silently got into place, moving the door an inch so that she could get a better visual. Schultz stood at the front door, holding his weapon in his right hand behind the handle. Julia struggled to hear what was being said on the other side, but she couldn’t make out the words.

“Where are Braeden and Emmett?”

Julia was just about to open the door a little wider so that she could hear Don’s reply when Schultz held up his left hand, somehow using his right to place his weapon inside his coat jacket. Why would he have done that? He could have just leveled a shot at Don and this could have been over with.

“Don, whatever this is…I can help you.” Schultz’s tone never showed any sign of weakness or fear and it was only when he backed up two spaces that Julia could see Don enter with a weapon trained right on Schultz’s chest. She gripped the handle of her weapon, never having had to use it on a human being before. If that meant saving the man she loved, then so be it. “You’re a Secret Service agent and you know that we take care of our own.”

“You won’t when you find out what I did.” Don shut the door behind him, leaving Julia wondering where Braeden and Emmett were. She was still having trouble believing that Don was behind the blackmail and would resort to holding a gun on such a prominent man, let alone two other agents agreeing to let him do this. A copper taste filled her mouth and that was when Julia realized that she was biting her tongue to keep from crying out. Had Schultz been able to call for back-up? She glanced toward the bed only to realize that she’d left her phone in his office with the rest of her things. By the time she looked back to the scene in front of her, Don had walked far enough into the apartment that he’d placed himself on the other side of Schultz. She wouldn’t be able to get a clear shot without hurting Schultz in the process. “Call Julia out here.”

“I’m not doing that, Don.” Schultz was speaking as if he was in a normal conversation while Julia’s palms started to perspire. She stayed where she was, knowing that she would lose the upper hand if she were to walk out into the living room. “The first order of business is to tell me what you’ve done to Braeden and Emmett and then you’re going to explain to me what you’ve done that you felt the need to go after Julia.”

“Braeden and Emmett are fine,” Don announced loudly enough that Julia could hear the panic in his tone. He was getting antsy that Schultz wasn’t doing what he was supposed to. “I want you to wire one hundred thousand dollars into an account. I have the number. I’ll leave once you’ve done that, but I won’t hesitate to shoot you and then take whatever I can from this apartment if I have to.”

“Don, why do you need the money so bad? You didn’t have to blackmail Julia. You could have come to me and—”

“I messed up,” Don said harshly, causing Julia to startle at the desperation in his voice. He was barely hanging on to his composure and Julia wished she were able to see Schultz’s face to gauge his next move. He would never transfer that money, which meant that he was thinking of a way to physically stop Don from carrying out his threat. “I was part of the group of agents that were assigned to the Vice Presidential detail down in Mexico a month ago. I got into some trouble and it’s only a matter of time before the Old Man at the Services finds out.”

“So you’re telling me that your solution was to blackmail Julia for the money?” Schultz finally moved, walking deeper into the living room. Unfortunately Don trailed after him and Julia’s angle for a shot was gone. “That wasn’t very bright, Don.”

“Stop walking or I swear I’ll kneecap you.”

Julia winced when she opened the bedroom door a little wider, praying the hinges didn’t make noise and give her away. Not a sound was made and she breathed a sigh of relief, only to have it catch in her throat when she saw that Don had pointed his arm toward knee level, his finger on the trigger of his weapon.

“You’re not going to shoot me, Don,” Schultz said casually, not a hint of worry in his voice. How he stayed so calm and collected was beyond her. A tremor had taken up in her hands, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t hit her target if it came to that. “You know firsthand what will happen to you should you pull that trigger. Agents aren’t infallible. We’ve all made mistakes and we’ve all owned up to them. You should have come forward the moment you returned to United States soil.”

“They would have fired me and I didn’t put all this time into my career to end up with nothing.” Don shifted enough that he was now in her view without Schultz being in the way. Julia raised her weapon and leveled it on the agent’s chest, ignoring the slight tremor as her eyes adjusted to the small white dot on the barrel. “The agency has been taking too many hits and would have made an example out of me when word got out of what I did.”

“And just what
did
you do when you were down in Mexico?” Schultz asked, moving so that he was now standing between her and Don. Had he done that on purpose? Julia mentally cursed, lifting her head and pulling back from the door. Schultz had made it so that Don was looking this way. Had he done
that
on purpose so that she couldn’t pull the trigger? “Is it something that I can clean up?”

“Why would you do that?” Don asked cautiously, knowing that Schultz had to have an angle. Julia was wondering the same thing, just wanting this over and done with. Adrenaline was running through her system at the heightened threat that was hanging in the air. She leaned back against the wall and hoped like hell her breathing wasn’t as loud as it sounded to her. “You wouldn’t. You’re saying that so I waste time. Here. This is the account number where I need the money transferred. Do it now.”

Julia heard a thud and assumed that Don had set a passbook down on the coffee table. He wouldn’t want to get too close to Schultz. It got so quiet that she wasn’t sure anyone moved, so she strained to hear any sound of what might be taking place. She was too afraid to look for fear that Don would see her.

“You know me better than that, Don.” Schultz was no longer playing along with Don’s view on how this was going to end and that made her very nervous. “You involved Julia and that was a big mistake.”

“It wouldn’t have been a mistake if Julia had just paid up, but I knew that she caved under the pressure when she brought that box to you today.” Don’s voice sounded farther away than before and Julia debated peering around the door once more. “I didn’t think she’d come to you after what I’d threatened. That’s the way my luck has gone and it’s about time that changes. So you need to transfer that money now so that I have time to make it out of here.”

“And where do you think you’re going to go? You think you can roll me and walk out of here?” Schultz asked, playing devil’s advocate when Julia wished he wouldn’t antagonize the situation further. She carefully moved forward so that she could look around the door. Schultz was walking slowly to the front door with Don raising his weapon in response. This wasn’t going to end well unless she did something, so she once again lifted her Beretta and aimed her sights on Don’s chest—point to aim, point to impact. “You’ll be hunted down until there’s no place for you to hide, taken away in handcuffs, and thrown to rot in jail if you continue to carry out this idiotic plan of yours.”

Julia had never seen someone snap and Don Mercury had just been pushed to his limit. She wasn’t sure how she’d missed the signs that there was something wrong, but it was written all over his face right at this moment. He’d done something wrong and he was blaming everyone else instead of taking responsibility for his own actions…to the point that he was willing to threaten, blackmail, and kill. It had to stop and Julia did what she had to when his finger tightened on the trigger. She took the shot.

SCHULTZ HAD DONE everything in his power to ensure that Don didn’t see Julia hiding behind the bedroom door. He’d known the minute he’d let the agent inside that she hadn’t done what he’d asked, but it was too late for him to rectify her mistake. He’d made a call to place the weapon he’d had in his hands into a jacket that was on the coat rack near the door. He’d made sure he had other weapons on his body, but with Don pointing his SIG Sauer P229 at his chest…he’d made a choice.

Don found himself between a rock and a hard place, having done something to ruin his career. He’d become desperate and now all the pieces of the puzzle had come together to form a despondent picture of this man’s life—and he was frantic to try and piece it back together. Schultz just needed to delay his request for money until Jon arrived with the calvary. This didn’t need to end in bloodshed, although Schultz would do what had to be done if the situation went too far. Unfortunately he’d pushed a little too hard.

The gunshot echoed through the apartment and for a brief moment Schultz thought Don had been the one to fire his weapon…until the man turned toward where the first gunshot originated from and returned fire. Schultz didn’t have a choice but to rush him, pulling the knife he’d sheathed on his belt behind his back. Don instinctively brought his SIG around, but Schultz was able to stop the advance with his left forearm at the same time he brought the blade up under the left side of Don’s ribcage, plunging the knife to the hilt and twisting it violently. Both of them fell to the ground, the gun skidding across the hardwood floor.

“Breathe slow,” Schultz instructed, drawing the sharp knife out of Don’s body. His lung had been perforated, but it was a hell of a lot better than his heart. Schultz had purposefully disabled the man to prevent him from doing more harm than necessary. It had never been Schultz’s intentions to kill Don. All that he’d wanted to do was stall for time and it was his own fault for letting this situation escalate. “You’re going to be fine. Julia, are you hit? Are you okay?”

Schultz put pressure on Don’s wound, trying to minimize the blood flow while glancing over his shoulder to see the damage done. Don’s return fire had gone through the bedroom door, although Julia was now standing in the doorway with her arm at her side holding her Beretta. The sight of her standing there in one piece was more than a relief. Their eyes met and she nodded her answer. They’d have a talk about her not following instructions at a later time. Right now they needed to make sure that Don made it until the medics arrived.

“Grab a clean towel and the phone,” Schultz instructed, wanting emergency personnel here as soon as possible. Time was of the essence. “Call 911 and—”

The door swung open to reveal Jon with additional backup. All of the men and women had their weapons drawn, taking in the situation in front of them. One by one, they lowered their weapons after seeing that the threat had been subdued. Jon must have notified Schultz’s office because the majority of the agents behind him were senior Secret Service agents.

“Schultzy, you always have to be the one to clean house, don’t you? You never could complete the task at hand without getting your hands wet,” Jon said with a shake of his head, holstering his weapon. The apartment was suddenly overtaken with agents and Julia managed to dodge most of them as she came through the room with a couple of towels. An agent asked for her weapon and she handed it over before she sank to her knees, gently placing the towel underneath Schultz’s hands where he was putting pressure on Don’s wound. She then did the same with the bloodstain on the agent’s shoulder. Her first shot must have connected, but the man’s adrenaline prevented the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson bullet from stopping him. “We need medics!”

“Don, you’re going to be fine,” Julia said softly, never taking her gaze away from the man’s face. Schultz admired her strength and compassion, knowing that most people would have allowed others to tend to a man who’d committed such heinous acts. “I know it hurts to breathe, but the paramedics will be here shortly. They’ll get you to the hospital and get you some oxygen.”

“Braeden and Emmett?” Schultz asked, looking up at Jon who’d stepped away from the coordination a lead agent had taken of the Secret Service. “Are they all right?”

“Yes, although they’re quite out of it from the sedatives that Don had put into their coffees. Don apparently put enough drugs in the cups to keep them incapacitated while he tried to pull off this little heist of his. All this over money? Here I thought that maybe you were the target of a foreign intelligence agency. Don’t your agents get psych evals every quarter to keep this kind of shit from happening?”

Schultz wasn’t going to get into the ins and outs of the Secret Service vetting programs with Jon; however, he thought he might just take a look at it himself. Maybe it was time for the Inspector General to verify that the Agency’s procedures were being comprehensively followed. He nodded at what Jon was implying, because he had the right idea. The system wasn’t foolproof and Don Mercury stood as that example. He’d gotten himself in trouble and instead of taking responsibility for his shortcomings…he acted with malice and greed to demonstrate his complete sense of self-interest over the principal’s primary safety.

Schultz heard more commotion behind him and it wasn’t long until the medics had taken over for him and Julia. She slowly backed away, blood on both of their hands. She was the most important thing right now and any statements could wait until he tended to her needs. He wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her stand, taking her into his embrace when she turned into him. He held her close while trying to ignore the mess on their hands, the adrenaline finally exiting their bloodstreams and leaving both of them a little shaken.

“Jon, we’re going to get cleaned up. Let the agent in charge know that we’ll be a few minutes and then we will head to the hospital with Braeden and Emmett. We’ll give our individual statements there.” Schultz rubbed his forearm up and down Julia’s back, taking a moment to nod his thanks to the lead agent indicating that they were both relieved. He leaned in close, placing his lips against her ear. “You have no idea how scared I was until I saw you leaning against that doorjamb.”

“You asked me to marry you, Schultz,” Julia replied, pulling away to look up into his face. There were many emotions within her blue eyes—regret that the situation had come to this, pain that someone she trusted had been behind such a malicious threat, and relief that they were both safe after it was all said and done. “That means a partnership. I do have to admit I feel like I could throw up at this very moment considering the fact that I pulled the trigger.”

“That feeling never totally goes away, sweetheart.” Schultz rested his forehead against hers, remembering all the times he had to take a life to save his own or that of his fellow Marine or colleagues. He didn’t like that she had to experience it and he would do his best to be by her side as she learned to accept what had taken place and be at peace with it. “Focus on the fact that we are safe and sound. No more bad guys at the door.”

Julia nodded as tears filled her eyes at the sound of Don wheezing as he tried to breathe. The medics already had him on a stretcher, getting ready to transport him to the hospital. An agent had already read the man his rights and was now giving instructions to the medics on how the transport would go down, along with additional directives for when they arrived at the hospital.

“Go get cleaned up, you two,” Jon ordered, grimacing at the mess that was left behind. “I’ve got some phone calls to make and then I’ll follow you to the hospital. The lead agent on this wants a statement from me as well, so I might as well get it over with while they are getting yours. I also need to let Ali know that I’ll be getting home a little late tonight.”

Schultz had to stop and speak with several agents before he was able to take Julia into the bedroom, where the door was riddled with holes. He didn’t want to think what those bullets could have easily done to Julia. She had a mind of her own and she would definitely keep him on his toes, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He breathed in air albeit shakily as he led Julia into the bathroom. They both needed to take a shower to wash the blood off.

“Schultz, I can do this on my own,” Julia said, leaning against the counter of the sink. She was holding her bloody hands away from her body and he caught sight of the tremors in her fingers. It was there in his as well.

“Don’t you know we don’t ever have to do anything on our own that we don’t want to?” Schultz asked, turning the handle on the shower and allowing the water to warm as he undressed himself, throwing his clothes into a pile. They would be collected for evidence. After all they weren’t salvageable, and honestly, he didn’t want them around as a reminder. What he needed at the moment was to wash Julia with that shower gel she loved and submerge them in the fragrance of the lavender scent to wash away the stench of spent gunpowder and copper leftover from Don’s blood. “Here.”

Schultz drew Julia’s shirt over her head and then went to work on her shorts. She didn’t stop him but her blue eyes followed every movement. She appeared to be more concerned about him than herself. He finally pulled her into the walk-in shower and allowed the water to wash away the red stains that would show up in their nightmares for many nights to come.

“I still don’t understand,” Julia said, watching as he drizzled the shower gel onto her hands. He went to work, wanting to do what he could to rid her of the reminder that she’d almost taken a life with her firearm. “Don has been one of my agents, for the most part, for the last year. Why would he blackmail me? Why would he do this to us?”

“He panicked,” Schultz said, wishing he could make it sound better than what it was. The man was weak and had made poor choices to compound the wrongs he’d committed. “Don had gotten to know you rather well and he was probably aware that you would have paid the extortionist rather than take the chance of your past hurting me. What he hadn’t counted on was Jon and the fact that I would discover what happened.”

“How did you know before he came to the door?” Julia asked, rinsing the purple tinted suds from her hands and then holding them out to him once more. Both of their hands were now clean, but it wouldn’t be clean enough…not for a long while. “Did your contact figure it out that quick?”

“Actually no, Jon did,” Schultz admitted, not really wanting to talk about this right now when they would have to rehash every moment when they gave their statements later today. He washed them both once more before putting the bottle of shower gel back on the small ledge. Once the hot water had rinsed them clean, he pulled Julia back into his embrace and just held her. It could have been five minutes…it could have been thirty. He just took the time to cherish her and give thanks that she was alive and well. They’d both made it through a harrowing ordeal and he didn’t want it repeated any time soon…never, in fact. “You know, even in the military…men and women know when to take orders. You should have done as I asked.”

“Don’t start with me,” Julia replied, her lips moving against his chest. He smiled when she lightly pinched his hip in retaliation. “He would have gotten off that shot and you know it. I will take a
thank you
though. I make a pretty good partner, if I do say so myself.”

“Oh, will you now?” Schultz asked, smiling tenderly when she remained strong. She wasn’t the wilting type and she wasn’t prone to theatrics. He’d seen many men and women become somewhat dramatic during these times—not that it wasn’t their right to do so. Julia wasn’t like that though and she marched on like the true heroine she was. She would have been an asset to many of the missions he’d undertaken in the past. “How about this…thank you, Julia Melina, for being my partner, my lover, and my future wife.”

“You’re about to make me get out of this shower, aren’t you?” Julia murmured, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist. The steaming water was streaming down both of them, creating a cocoon of warmth. He kissed the top of her head, not wanting to leave this sanctuary either. “How long will this take?”

“A while,” Schultz said truthfully, their night of planned lovemaking being delayed. They had the rest of their lives to make up for it though. “I’ll be by your side the entire time, but I’ll give you something pretty to look at.”

“I only need you, Mr. Jessalyn.” Julia pulled back and looked up at him with blue eyes brighter than the sky. “I’ll be by
your
side, holding your hand the entire time. An engagement ring is only a symbol…our love is much, much more.”

Schultz released her, letting her grab a towel and get ready for the long evening ahead. He stayed underneath the water a few moments longer, contemplating the events of the day. He’d asked for her hand in marriage on the same day a rogue agent was willing to resort to their murder. Their future was bright while another person’s had gone pitch black. Good versus evil. Balance.

Julia would have that ring on her finger before they left this apartment. She was his balance and he wanted the world to know. She was his light in the darkness. She was his everything.