Stefan knew he’d told Savannah he wouldn’t call in the SEALs, but he changed his mind. The more he thought about things, he’d realized pretty damned quick he wasn’t equipped to keep an eye on her twenty-four seven, not unless he was living in her house, and sharing her room. And there was no chance in hell of that happening—her parents would most certainly balk at the thought.
“Carlisle, how are you?” Brandon “Bogey” McKinney sounded relaxed and friendly over the phone. They’d met in New Orleans while working Savannah’s case, when that asshat Danny Cooper had kept her prison in his father’s penthouse.
He closed his eyes, visualizing again the sight of Savannah when she’d been in the hospital. He’d never told anybody, but after working her case, he’d felt a special connection with her, though they’d never met before. Even when she’d moved back to San Diego, he’d felt something for her even distance couldn’t change.
The first night she’d been brought into the hospital, her parents and sister hadn’t left her side for a second. But, the second night, when they’d left to get something to eat, he’d snuck into her room. Watching her lying in that hospital bed, helpless and bruised, battered almost beyond recognition, he’d felt a killing rage, the likes of which he’d never felt before.
He hadn’t needed Ranger to tell him she’d been raped—he’d read the police reports, seen every photograph the nurses and investigators took. There wasn’t anything on a computer anywhere he couldn’t find, given enough time and determination. And he’d been determined to know every single thing Cooper had done to her. Everything Stavros Aristides let his sick, perverted son get away with, before he’d skipped the country. It had taken Carpenter and Jean-Luc talking him down off the ledge, because he’d already booked a plane ticket to Rio, ready to track Aristides down and make sure Savannah never had to worry about the sick son of a bitch ever again.
Now he wished he’d gone through with it. Remembering the look on her face when she’d come to his room with that damned plastic glass from Bimini Jack’s? He never wanted to see her look that way again.
“Stefan, you there?” Bogey sounded worried, like he’d asked the question more than once.
“Yeah, sorry. Got distracted for a second.”
“What can I do for you, man?
Stefan ran a hand through his hair, fingers getting snagged on one of the tangles. He was long overdue for a cut, but that had taken a back burner to working cases, and he’d had other priorities. Guess it was time to fix that.
“I need a favor.”
Bogey didn’t hesitate a second. “Name it.”
“I’m here in San Diego—Savannah called.”
“Tell me where you’re staying. I’ll be there ASAP.”
Stefan relayed his hotel and room number before hanging up. Bogey was probably right, it was better to talk about this one-on-one, rather than over the phone. Cell phones weren’t the most secure form of communication, and there was only so much protection you could put on a computer. Though Sully’s encryption program was pretty damned good. He’d snagged a copy of it from Ranger’s laptop the first time he’d brought it into the office. Of course, he’d made a few modifications of his own, and shared them with his computer buddy.
In less than thirty minutes, Bogey stood at the door, and he’d brought along a couple friends. Javier and Book, fellow Navy SEALs.
“You said Savannah called. What’s wrong?” Bogey settled on the corner of the bed, while the other two SEALs took the chairs around the small table in front of the motel’s curtained window. Their attention and alertness were solely focused on him.
“Savannah got a package in the mail yesterday, delivered by a national courier service.”
“That doesn’t sound good. What was it?”
“A piece of wallpaper.” He tossed the bagged scrap toward him, and Bogey snatched it out of the air, scowling when he recognized it.
“What kind of sick joke is this?”
“It gets worse.” He looked at Book and Javier. “Do they know about what happened to her in New Orleans?”
Bogey nodded. “Yeah. All the guys on the team know Sarah, and by extension Anna. They’ve been briefed on what that son of a bitch put her through.” He huffed out a deep breath. “Cooper’s dead, so I’m guessing you suspect the father. Aristides, right?”
Stefan walked over to the other queen-sized bed in the room, picked up his laptop, and spun the screen around so Bogey and the others could see it. “Stavros Aristides’ passport hasn’t been used, but my facial recognition program got a hit on Georgio Smythe entering the U.S. via Miami International Airport a week ago.”
Book and Javier walked over, crowding around Bogey to stare at the photos, arranged side-by-side on the laptop’s screen.
“Hair’s darker and he’s added the mustache, but it’s definitely the same guy—unless he has a twin.” Bogey shoved the laptop back. “That the facial rec program you wrote?” At his nod, Bogey grinned. “Sully can’t stop talking about it. Swears it’s the best one he’s ever seen.”
Carlisle grinned. “He helped me tweak it some while we worked on finding Savannah. I gave him a copy, with his promise not to let the feds get their grubby little fingers on it.”
Javier and Book high fived each other. “Damn, that’s gotta make him so happy.” Book walked back over to his seat, though Javier moved instead to lean against the wall by the door.
“When Savannah called me, I’d just started my vacation. When she told me about that,” he pointed to the baggie lying on the dresser, “I got a plane ticket on the red-eye and got here as fast as I could. She seemed fine, maybe a little rattled, but she’d had time to calm down. Then this afternoon, she got into her car and found this.”
He pulled the cup out of the dresser drawer where he’d stashed it. There wasn’t a chance there’d be fingerprints on it, plus too many people had already handled it. He noted Bogey’s eyes widen when he saw the name of the club.
“It was in her car?”
“Said she didn’t notice it at first, and it rolled onto the floor when she tossed her purse on the seat.”
“Are you saying she drove over here after finding this?” Bogey tossed the cup into the air, catching it again one-handed.
“Trust me, I gave her an earful about not thinking. She should have called the cops. Or me. What if there’d been a bomb hooked to the ignition?” Stefan knew Bogey and the other two SEALs were thinking the same thing. One misstep and they might not be discussing this problem—because there wouldn’t be anything to discuss—except funeral arrangements.
“You think Aristides is here in San Diego?” Mozart asked.
“I haven’t been able to track him since Miami. He’s not using credit cards in either name. He’s smart enough to stay off the radar, unless he wants to spend the rest of his life in Angola for murder.”
“What murder?” Book chimed in, turning to glare at Bogey. “You didn’t mention anything about a murder.”
“I gave you the basics. One of the reasons Aristides kept Anna prisoner, besides his son being a flipping nut job, was because she witnessed him murder one of his rivals. Shoved an icepick through his eye.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Her first date with this dude, and bam, she’s thrust into the middle of a never-ending nightmare.”
“So, this Aristides guy is bad news,” Javier said. “Didn’t you mention he was some big time crime boss or something?”
“Mostly prostitution and bookmaking, extortion, with a little leg breaking on the side. He wasn’t the biggest bad guy in the city, but definitely working his way up the ladder. The guy he killed was his stiffest competition, if you could call it that.” Bogey tucked the Bimini Jack’s glass back into the dresser, along with the baggie containing the wallpaper.
“I don’t have a clue if Aristides is here, or if he’s hired muscle to scare Savannah. Either way, it’s working. She won’t admit it, but she’s terrified. That’s why I called. Any chance you guys can surveil her—at least until I can get a couple of the C.S.S. team out here?”
“C.S.S. team?” Book’s brow lifted with his question.
“Carpenter Security Services. Samuel Carpenter’s my boss.”
“Sweet. Worked with him once,” Book shot back. “He was cool.”
“Don’t worry about calling anybody in.” Bogey flung himself down on the empty chair. “Put them on Ranger and Sarah. I wouldn’t put it past this Aristides guy to take potshots at her sister. What better way to scare her than to threaten her family?”
“Already done. Somebody’s watching them.” Stefan ran a hand across his face. “Savannah didn’t want me to call you guys in. I told her I wouldn’t, but after I thought about it…”
“Damn right you should’ve called us. She’s family, just like Sarah. We take care of our own.” Bogey’s words were accompanied by nods from the other two SEALs. It felt good to know that she was cared for, had somebody willing to watch her back, if he couldn’t be around all the time.
“Don’t you guys have to work?”
“We’ll figure something out, to keep her under observation twenty-four seven.”
“I hate telling her parents about these new incidents. They’ve already been through a tough time. Sarah said it put a real strain on her dad’s heart. He’s tried to downplay it, but the doctors said he can’t take a lot of stress. I’ll give them a head’s up to be cautious around town. No need to mention I’ve called in reinforcements.”
“No problem. We know what we’re doing.” Bogey’s words were accompanied by dual nods from the other SEALs.
“Thanks, guys. I’ve got a couple of searches running.” He swept his hand toward the other laptop on the table, in addition to the one lying on the mattress. “Can’t monitor all the CCTV cameras, but I’ve got all the ones covered around Savannah’s house, as well as around Ranger and Sarah’s apartment, though if he even gets an inkling of what’s going on, he’ll drag her out into the bayou so fast, you’d never see him move. Between him and Gator, Aristides couldn’t get within a thousand yards of her.”
He watched Javier mouth the word Gator at Book, who shrugged. Maybe he’d explain all about the Boudreau family dynamics later, if there was time.
“E-mail the latest picture of Aristides to me.” Bogey rattled off his e-mail address, and Stefan shot the photo off. “I’ll get copies to the rest of the team, as well as the wives. We’ll make sure your gal is covered.”
“Thanks.”
The SEALs headed out, briefed on what they needed to know to keep eyes and ears on Savannah. Yet, he still had that antsy feeling in the pit of his stomach, like something was going to happen, something out of his control.
Maybe he needed to take a little trip over to Savannah’s place and check it out. A quick reconnoissance around the outside, look for security breaches, or places where he needed to beef things up—because he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.
Not on my watch.