Sunday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois.GRANT COULD REMEMBER HIS first time being led through the main building housing the original Aegis Group offices. He'd angled for an invitation since the day he'd been forced out of the SEALs. Since he wasn't ready to be done with the type of work that involved high-risk situations he'd been pleased to get the referral to the company. There were plenty of companies that had set up shop in the last few decades, but they weren't all equal. Aegis Group was one of the best.It had been the right call for him, even now all these years later. Only, it was better because he had Melody.She sank into the wooden chair next to him as they settled in to wait for Admiral Crawford to see them."I thought I heard that he was retiring for good," Melody said under her breath.Grant didn't reply immediately. Two people walked out of the office, their heads together, expressions serious."I think the news of his retirement is premature,
Sunday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois.MELODY FELT BETTER FOR having clothes that actually fit her. Merida had totally looked out for her and sent a delivery with the works including everything from jeans to a bra. There hadn't been any face wash or her favorite pajamas. Those were things Merida didn't know about her. But that's what Melody had Grant for.The grass swished around her feet as she strolled across the lawn behind the main buildings. Trainees and teams used the area to work out first thing in the morning and in the afternoons it was blocked off to use for training purposes. But for this window, it was just her, her thoughts, the crisp air and a couple birds overhead.Well, almost."I always think it's strange how we call this the Chicago office, but the Chicago suburbs are half an hour away."Melody turned her head and watched Grant walk toward her. She'd been wondering when he'd find her again. It hadn't taken that long."It is a bit misleadin
Sunday. Private Medical Research Facility, Chicago, Illinois.THE WHITE AND BEIGE hall stretched out ahead of Grant as he followed behind Admiral Crawford to where Ethan Turner had taken up residence, albeit against his will. Grant hadn't seen much of the facility, but seriously doubted their ability to protect Ethan. A trained team would bust in and mow through the staff with next to no problems. There were too many points of entry. Not enough reinforced doors. Too much glass. It was all round a bad location.Moving Ethan was the right call."Here he is." Admiral Crawford gestured at the last door on their left.He led the way into the small room preceding Ethan's holding cell. Two techs were monitoring devices while through the window a familiar man sat slumped forward over his meal. An IV bag was positioned next to him, feeding liquids and hopefully sedatives into him."How did you knock him out?" Melody asked.Grant grimaced. "Drug his food?""No. A method of sedat
Sunday. Private Medical Research Facility, Chicago, Illinois.GRANT DRUMMED HIS FINGERS on his thigh.The late afternoon traffic was heavy, keeping their pace painfully slow, but they eventually made it to the back roads they'd opted to take instead of the highway. While the highways would be ten minutes faster it was also impossible to gauge whether they were being followed or not. Out here with nothing but a few houses and trees, cars stood out.Kage turned the SUV onto the long, country road they'd take for the next ten miles. Grant heaved a breath and finally allowed himself to relax a tiny bit. They were almost at the halfway point to their destination and Ethan's new home. With each mile it was increasingly less likely that they would be attacked out here. Besides, no one outside their core group knew the route or what they were doing. The other vehicle and the drone hadn't tagged any suspicious vehicles. It appeared that for once things were finally going their way.T
Sunday. Unknown, Chicago, Illinois.MELODY GROANED. SHE HURT worse than the second day of spring booty boot camp. That was always the worst day of her year, no matter how physically fit she'd kept herself.What the hell had happened?Her head was groggy with that wrapped in cotton feeling and her mouth was impossibly dry. She rolled her tongue around and squeezed her eyes shut.Who'd left the lights on?Grant?Just thinking his name brought back memories.Ibiza.The chair at the Hard Rock Hotel.Vaughn nearly bleeding to death.Brenden more furious than she'd ever seen him before.And Grant again, last night. Face wash and pajamas.They'd gone to manage the move of Ethan from one facility to another, and then...She stopped breathing and started listening.The air conditioner chugged, drowning out softer sounds, but she could still hear voices. None of their words made sense.Something heavy and cold weighted her wrist down. She resisted the urge to cur
Sunday. Unknown, Chicago, Illinois.MELODY PULLED HER KNEES up to her chest and stared back at the man across the room from her. At first his unwavering gaze had made her uneasy. That was until she realized how.She wasn't sure how long she'd been here, but in that short time she'd committed the room to memory. It was roughly sixteen feet long and ten or so across. The floor was exposed, unpolished concrete. She had to wonder what a room like this was intended for when it was built. She highly doubted it was supposed to be a cell. The popcorn ceiling was dated, older, as was the wooden door.The drywall had been covered in the two corners with sheets of metal. She was secured to the wall with a four foot length of chain that fastened to rings set into the metal siding. Unlike Ethan, she had about four feet of chain that allowed her freer movement. Understandably, their captors hadn't given Ethan quite so much freedom.She'd never seen Ethan coherent, except when he'd been tr
Sunday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois.GRANT STARED AT HIS new phone. Zain had a bundle of them delivered via a courier about an hour ago. Since Aegis Group hadn't contacted Lepta Team's family beyond a few of the guy's girlfriends, it was imperative they have a means of communicating.The gut-punch had been opening up his photo gallery to see pictures of Melody. They'd gone to a nice dinner last week before leaving on the job. She'd looked beautiful in a goldish-pink dress that had shimmered. She'd rolled her eyes when he took a picture of her with the city lights behind her.Zain was nothing if not thorough. Of course their new phones would be updated with all their information and preferences, right down to the custom sound Grant had picked for Melody's texts.He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling.Following the outburst earlier Grant had opted to wait in the hall where he wouldn't be tempted to stick his nose in things and slow people down.
Monday. Unknown, Chicago, Illinois.MELODY KNEW SHE WAS dozing. She hadn't actually fallen asleep, even if the odd, twilight state between sleep and wakefulness made her question that knowledge. Exhaustion had won out, more or less. But she couldn't relax enough to become totally unaware.A soft jangle of metal lured her consciousness back into the land of the living. It wasn't a suspicious noise. More like she'd moved and maybe disrupted the coil of chain. Or Ethan had finally decided to stop playing at being a statue.Thinking the man's name caused Melody to shiver. She opened her eyes, blinking into the relative darkness. The light filtering in around the door from the next room over provided enough light for her to make out shapes.Ethan was no longer sitting.He stood. Judging by the way his shoulders hunched, his back was to her, his attention on the handcuff securing him to the wall.The chain jangled again. He grunted.The hair on the back of her neck stood up.