Desperate Deception: Brotherhood Protectors World, page 1
Desperate Deception
Brotherhood Protectors World
Desiree Holt
Contents
Acknowledgments
Heroes Rising
Desperate Deception
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
Unmasking Evil
Prologue
Chapter 1
About Desiree Holt
Original Brotherhood Protectors Series
About Elle James
Copyright © 2019, Desiree Holt
Editor: Kate Richards
Cover Design: Croco Designs
Beta Reader: Margie Hager
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
© 2019 Twisted Page Press, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Brotherhood Protectors
Original Series by Elle James
Brotherhood Protectors Series
Montana SEAL (#1)
Bride Protector SEAL (#2)
Montana D-Force (#3)
Cowboy D-Force (#4)
Montana Ranger (#5)
Montana Dog Soldier (#6)
Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)
Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)
Cape Cod SEAL Rescue (#10)
Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#11)
Montana SEAL’s Mail-Order Bride (#12)
Montana Rescue (Sleeper SEAL)
Hot SEAL Salty Dog (SEALs in Paradise)
Brotherhood Protectors Vol 1
Dedication
Ideas for books come from so many different places, as do my heroes. The genesis for this book began circling my mind when I was privileged to meet and become friends with Jack Carr, former SAL and now an extraordinary best-selling author of The Terminal List, True Believer and the upcoming Savage Son.
Jack led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander and Task Unit Commander. Over his 20 years in Naval Special Warfare he transitioned from an enlisted SEAL sniper, to a junior officer leading assault and sniper teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a platoon commander practicing counterinsurgency in the southern Philippines, to commanding a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of U.S. Forces.
In the preface of his second best seller, TRUE BELIEVER, he wrote about veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who seek to find purpose in their lives after they leave the service. From that line, and from talking to Jack, the idea for Heroes Rising was born. Men who deal with the debilitating memories of war, injuries they may have suffered, and a sudden change in their lives. I wanted to tell these stories to show that while the landscape may change, these men are still and always heroes who can be counted on. Thank you, Jack, for your friendship. For putting up with all my questions. And for being a hero who is the embodiment of strength and honor. My heroes are always based on someone. The heroes in this series are based on you.
For all you have done, this series is dedicated to you.
Acknowledgments
Thank You
To Kate Richards, Margie Hager, and Nan Sipe, who dropped everything to beta read and edit this book so I could meet the deadline. To Frauke Spanath at Croco Designs for her outstanding, incredible cover. Without all of you, this book would never see the light of day. To my excellent resource and advisor, Joseph Trainor, former military officer and current law enforcement specialist.
To all my wonderful readers who travel my journey with me, buy my books, email me and generally make tis such a rewarding experience. I do this all for you.
And to Elle James, for inviting me into her Brotherhood Protectors World.
Heroes Rising
They served their country well, but they had focused for so along on being SEALs that now they are without a purpose or commitment. Their dreams are filled with images of teammates torn and shredded in combat situations. They have learned to live with a mental toughness developed through strict discipline. Those without family to ground them are suddenly facing a new life without direction and purpose. But former SEAL Alex Rossi sees in them the core of the what he wants in the sheriff’s staff he is building one block at a time. In the foothills of Montana’s Crazy Mountains they will find new purpose, build new lives and open themselves to love.
Desperate Deception
She’d only be safe if she got away…
Lainie Taggert needed to break away from her abusive relationship before it killed her, but Sonny Fitzgerald had all the keys to controlling her. Until she landed in the hospital with bruises and broken bones. And her friend, Drea Halstead, convinced her they had to spirit her away.
His life was in limbo…
Zane Halstead was rootless after three tours with the SEALs, medically discharged and not sure what to do with himself. When Sheriff Alex Rossi in Montana reached out to him with an offer to join his staff, he thought, what the hell? A house came with it along with two horses two horses he could work with. But then his sister pleaded with him to take a battered woman with him and keep her safe. How could he say no?
But the best laid plans and all that…
They never expected to fall for each other, Zane with his determination to stay single and Lainie with her nightmares and a vicious bully after her. And a rich one at that. But chemistry and emotions have their own plans, and when Zane gets word Lainie’s ex is on her trail, he realizes he’ll do anything to keep her safe…and for himself. With the help of Sheriff Alex Rossi, he is ready to take on the enemy for his woman.
Chapter 1
She was in a soft, warm, comfortable place, cocooned. Happy. She wanted to stay there forever, but a distracting voice kept talking to her.
“Come on, Lainie. Can you open your eyes for me? I want to check your blood pressure again.”
The voice was familiar but the last thing Lainie Taggert wanted to do was open her eyes. The pain would come back, along with the feel of his fists and his voice raging at her. Here, in this darkness, she was safe.
“Please, Lainie?” the soothing voice begged again. “Come on. Open those baby blues. Just for a few minutes. I promise.”
The voice was both familiar and nonthreatening, so Lainie gritted her teeth and forced her lids open. Well, at least one. And found herself looking at the face of Drea Halstead. The woman who had once been her friend, eons ago, before he had taken over her life and cut her off from everyone.
“There you go.” Drea smiled at her. “We have to stop meeting like this.”
“Drea?” Lainie tried to blink and realized she could only see out of one eye. “Is that really you?”
“Sure is. I only started here last month. Got a job offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“Oh god.” A tear rolled out of her good eye. “I’m not dreaming, right?”
“Nope. When I got your chart and walked into this room, imagine my surprise to find my friend lying in this bed.” Her lips curved in a hint of a smile. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a good while, but, really, you didn’t have to go to such drastic lengths to make it happen.”
Lainie tried to move, but pain surged everywhere in her body, including her left hand. And her left arm seemed to be restrained in some fashion. She wanted to close her eyes again and fall back into the soft place where none of this existed.
”Nope. Uh-uh.” Drea’s voice was both coaxing and demanding. “You have to wake up so I can talk to you.” She paused. “What’s going on, Lainie? I pulled up your hospital records. This has become a really bad pattern.”
“I know.” Lainie tried to hide her embarrassment, but she hurt too much to do anything but lie there. She knew she needed help, but where could she go? Who could she turn to? This time was the worst. Next time he might kill her. “Drea, I—I don’t—I‘m sorry.”
“Stop. Please. You have nothing to apologize to me for. But that asshole you live with, the one whose goon told me to get lost or else, is going to have to answer some questions.”
“Oh lord.” Lainie closed her good eye. “Please tell me he’s not here.”
“He’s not here. But, Lainie, you can’t go back to that house. I’m afraid he’ll kill you.”
“You’re right, but I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I have no one to go to, no one to help me, and I have to get away from him. God, Drea.” She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them. “I don’t know how a smart woman like me got herself into a situation that looks as if there’s no way out.”
“I wish I’d insisted you leave him when you had the chance. I’ve gotten so I can spot the abusers.”
“But I didn’t see it then,” Lainie reminded her. “I still had blinders on.” She swallowed back tears that were a combination of pain and humiliation. “I can’t believe how stupid I was.”
“Not stupid. Men like Sonny Fitzgerald are great con artists.” Drea studied her.
“More than that,” she whispered. “They’re evil.”
Something she hadn’t discovered until too late.
Drea studied her for a long time, and Lainie wondered if she had bad news to tell her. She wasn’t sure she could take any more.
“What?” she asked at last.
“Listen,” Drea went on. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot while you were being treated and lying in here. Lainie, I have a way out for you, if you’re willing to take it.”
Lainie stared at her. A way out? Was it even possible? “Like what?”
“What if I could make you disappear? Not only from the hospital. I mean from the city. And without Sonny Fitzgerald knowing how or where you’d gone to?”
“I don’t know how you could do that.” Lainie swallowed, although her throat was so dry it hurt. “He’s going to find out where I am. He finds out everything. I had to use my cell phone to call for the ride here. I meant to get rid of it after that, but—” She caught her lower lip between her teeth.
“A cell phone I have in my possession, without a battery or sim card.” She grinned. “I watch a lot of television. I’m talking about making you disappear from here.”
“You can do that, even with my injuries?” Lainie was almost afraid to hear the answer.
“It’s not as bad as it could have been. Your right eye is swollen shut, your face looks like a painter’s palette fell on it, your left shoulder is sprained, which is why it’s in a sling, and two fingers of your left hand are broken. The doctor taped them together to stabilize them.” She paused. “And the rest of your body is sprouting brises like flowers in a garden, but all that will heal. We’ve got to get you out of here so this doesn’t happen again.”
“When Sonny comes to pick me up, which you know he will, if I’m not here he’ll pitch a fit.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Drea, I learned something I wasn’t supposed to know. That’s part of the reason he went berserk last night. Teaching me what would happen if I opened my mouth. He’ll be insane to find me. What will you tell him?”
“We’ll get to that in a minute. Look. We’ve been friends for a long time. We’re still friends, despite the fact that asshole has cut you off from everyone but him and his people.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry.” She felt like crying, but this was no time for tears. She had to be strong.
“Forget that. This is your fourth visit here this year,” Drea went on. “Honey, why didn’t you ever reach out to the medical staff? They would have called the police and taken you to safety.”
She wiped away a stupid tear with her good hand. This was no time for that. “He’d have found me, Drea. It wouldn’t have been pretty for me or the people shielding me.”
“But the police—”
“Can’t always do what you want them to.”
“He won’t find out anything. I promise you. But, according to Rick, the other times Sonny brought you, he insisted that you fell, or some other half-assed answer. It was obvious he got you to go along with it or the police would have been called.”
“You have no idea how angry that made him, that they wanted to report my injuries. If not for Geoff Miller, his driver/bodyguard, pointing out to him that if he made things worse, he’d be all over the news and possibly be arrested, he might have killed me when we got home.”
Lainie could still remember the rage.
“But this time,” Drea pointed out, “however you managed it, you got here by yourself. It’s the perfect time for you to do a disappearing act.”
“I know.” The nausea came roiling back, and she swallowed again. “Could I have some water, please?”
“Of course.” Drea held the paper cup with a straw up for her to sip. “Slowly, please.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s a damn good thing you aren’t married yet.” She stopped and looked at Lainie. “You aren’t, right?”
“No. I just—”
“Never mind. I’ve been thinking about this while you were getting patched up and drugged to make the pain a little easier to bear. I have a way out for you, and you need to take it if you want to stay alive.”
Lainie tried to shift in bed, only everything hurt even worse whenever she moved.
“But what? How? I’m desperate enough at this moment to do anything, but what? Where can I go? No one will take me in, knowing what Sonny would do if he found out. I don’t want to endanger them, anyway.”
“Got it taken care of. I have someone who won’t be afraid of Sonny and can get you out of here before that man even knows you’re gone.”
Lainie was almost afraid to hope. “Who would that be?”
“Remember I mentioned my brother, Zane, when we were still able to spend time together?”
“I do. The SEAL, right?”
Drea nodded. “Former SEAL. He’s been medically discharged because of injuries from his last mission, but he’s still in pretty good shape. Well, he’s going to Montana to some rural area to get his act together. I’m going to get him to take you with him.”
“What?” Lainie gasped. “But he doesn’t even know me. Why would he do that? And what happens when we get there. Is he just going to leave me on my own? I can’t—”
“Don’t panic.” Drea took her uninjured hand. “He’ll make sure you’re set up there, and he’ll protect you, at least until you can make some decisions for yourself.”
“He’s not going to want to take a basket case like me with him.” But god, on its own, a little hope wriggled through her.
“He will,” Drea assured her. “I promise you he will. SEALs are big into protecting people. US Navy SEALs are the most elite combat unit in the world, and they carry it into their personal lives.”
“And what about when Sonny comes looking for me here, like he always does?”
“Rick will handle it while I make myself scarce. As far as that asshole Sonny Fitzgerald is concerned, you merely walked out of the hospital and no one saw you leave. Rick and I have it all worked out.”
“You don’t know Sonny,” she protested. “He can turn on the charm one minute and cut your throat the next.” She grimaced. “Too bad I saw only the charm until it was too late.”
“We all do stupid things,” Drea assured her. “Sadly, yours turned out to have danger attached to it. But you don’t worry about Sonny Fitzgerald. Dr. Carvallo can more than handle him and give him plenty of misdirection. And he made sure my name doesn’t appear anywhere on your treatment chart, in case he remembers we’re friends.”
“Drea?”
“Yes, Lainie?”
“Listen.” How could she phrase this? “You should be aware of this. Sonny did something really terrible. Worse than just hitting me because he feels like it. If he finds me, I know he’ll kill me.” She stopped to take a breath. “And he could easily kill anyone who helps me.”
“What did he do?”
Lainie squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t tell Drea. It would put her in jeopardy, too.
“I can’t tell you. But if it gets out—Anyway, I had a tiny window of opportunity, and I took it. But I have to get away. This is way more than his usual stuff.”
