Her Dominant SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 9) Read online

  She had been crippled with arthritis and damn near blind when he had been accused of aggravated assault. He had sworn his sisters to secrecy, so they hadn’t told her when he had been remanded into custody. If they had told her, she would have put her little house and all that worthless land, up for bond and probably called the Governor on his behalf. Actually, what had really worried Drake, was if she had heard how badly he had been beaten, it might have killed her.

  He thought back to that fateful day when his life had changed. It had started with that wonderful Senior Skip Day at this very spot, after having gotten to third base with Catherine Walker. She’d been a nice girl, who’d been eager to find out what a home run was like. Drake’s conscience just hadn’t been up to taking her that final step.

  He’d gone home at one o’clock in the afternoon feeling like a dumbass for passing up a sure thing but also feeling like somebody he could admire for not taking advantage of a nice girl. It was with those two thoughts twisting through his head that he had walked in on a horror show.

  He had parked on the street in front of the house, because Mom and Dad got the carport and the driveway, even when they were empty. It was weird, he should have had the house to himself because all the girls were in school and Mom and Dad were at work, but Dad’s car was in the carport. He must have gotten off work early.

  The front door was unlocked and he went inside. He heard men yelling, and he started to run towards the stairs.

  “Daddy!” a thin voice wailed. It was Piper!

  Drake jumped to the bottom of the stairs in one leap.

  He watched as his father grabbed his sister’s arm and flung her against a wall. The snap of her arm breaking was audible. She screamed, then slumped to the floor like a broken rag doll.

  There was a man lying on the basement floor, and Drake tripped on him as he lunged at his father.

  “You, little snot,” his father raged. Drake was smaller, but he leaned in with his right shoulder as he did in football and took his father to the cement wall of the basement. He curled over Drake and grabbed Drake’s waist, trying to pull him up. Drake was having none of it. He reared back and shoved his dad back into the wall.

  Drake heard his sister’s low moan. He broke free of his father’s hold, then he dove in again and shoved the old man against the wall. That’s when he felt an arm come around his neck from behind.

  Piper let out a shrill scream. This wasn’t just a fight in a locker room, this was a fight for his sister’s life.

  “You little shit. You don’t cross me,” the old man screamed the words, spittle flying.

  Drake had no idea what the hell was going on, he jerked his head forward then flipped it backwards, enjoying the howl that came from the man behind him as the back of his head met the man’s nose. His hold loosened. Drake jammed his knee into his father’s crotch, let go of him, and pulled the arm from around his neck. His dad was wheezing, when he turned, he saw blood pouring out of the nose of his other opponent. That man needed to be on the ground, Drake thought.

  “Just leave. Pretend you saw nothing,” the bleeding man said.

  That’s when Drake realized the third man on the floor that he had tripped over was dead. Fuck. Had his dad killed somebody?

  “Drake?” Piper said in a weak voice. “Daddy shot him,” she said pointing to the dead man. “I’m scared.”

  “Leave,” his dad growled hoarsely.

  Drake stepped sideways and bent towards Piper.

  “No! She stays,” Norville Avery said in the most chilling voice Drake had ever heard.

  In a split second, his decision was made. He lunged at his father both hands grasping his skull, and he shoved it against the basement wall. Finally satisfied when he was knocked unconscious.

  “What the fuck?” the other man breathed.

  That’s when Drake recognized him. Frank Comey. A no-good piece of shit who was constantly being bailed out of ugly situations by his father, the judge, who was best friends with the sheriff. Drake elbowed him in the jaw. He landed like a ton of bricks.

  He bent and picked up his whimpering sister. Her black curls were damp with sweat, her face was ashen.

  “Hurts.”

  “I know, Baby.” Drake gingerly walked up the stairs, all the while looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody moved. When he got to the top of the stairs, he sat Piper down on the kitchen counter top.

  “No! Hold me.”

  “In a second, Honey.” He kissed the top of her head.

  He locked the door of the basement and picked up the phone mounted on the wall by the refrigerator. He dialed nine-one-one, then cursed himself. The damned sheriff would let Comey’s son go free.

  He picked up Piper.

  “I hurt, Drake.”

  “We’ll get you fixed up soon.”

  ***

  Drake sat there, thinking back on that twenty minutes of his life. He had lucked out that day, the sheriff had been out fishing, so by the time he had gotten back he couldn’t manipulate the evidence to try to prove Comey or Norville innocent. But that was Drake’s only piece of luck. The sheriff had come and threatened him before the trial, telling him that testifying would be bad for his health, but Drake hadn’t believed him. He thought if he kept his head down and did the right thing, he would be fine.

  The day finally came where he had stood up in court and told his story about what he had witnessed. His dad and Judge Comey’s beloved son were each sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

  A month after the trial, Drake had been pulled over by the sheriff for supposedly speeding. After he’d been pulled out of his car, he’d been beaten. Then Sheriff Delmar Arnold had thrown him into the back of his patrol car and taken him to Cubby’s Roadhouse, with his deputy following behind in Drake’s car. When they got out, there’d been this guy in the back parking lot who looked even worse than Drake.

  Delmar pulled Drake out of the patrol car and asked the guy, “Son, is this the bastard who hit you in the head with the pool cue?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Drake didn’t say a word. What was the point? The sheriff and the deputy threw on some cuffs and proceeded to beat him to within an inch of his life. When they got Drake to the county jail, they gave him one call, and he prayed it would be one of his sisters who would answer the home phone. It was. It was Evie.

  Trenda and Evie showed up at the county jail, but seeing as how Evie was fifteen, they wouldn’t let her back to visit. Trenda, at seventeen, had to raise hell for them to let her see him. Everybody in town knew that Wanda Avery had disowned Drake when he’d testified against her husband. Therefore, Trenda said she was the closest kin he had.

  He really didn’t remember the visit, except for her yelling. Eventually, he ended up in the hospital. It was ten days later before he was in Judge Kirkland’s chambers.

  The judge was younger than Comey. Drake remembered the brass trout he had on his desk. Drake had been too pissed off to be nervous. He knew he was going to end up in the same prison as his father and Frank Comey.

  “Young man, have a seat.”

  That was the first indication Drake had that things might not go the way he’d expected.

  “I arranged to have you brought before my court. Judge Comey is not happy. He pulled every string in the book to try to get your case, even though everyone knows he has a grudge against you. Sometimes I hate small towns.” The man sat back in his chair and gave Drake a hard stare.

  “Do you want to go to trial?” the judge asked.

  “What’s the point?” Drake asked. He knew it would be his word against the sheriff and deputy.

  “That’s my thinking as well,” Judge Kirkland said with a sigh. “I hear you have a football scholarship.”

  “Had.” Every dream he’d ever had gone up in smoke the day he’d come home to find his dad in the basement. But he didn’t regret a damn thing. He knew without a doubt, if he hadn’t, Piper would be dead.

  “Are you listening to me?” The jud
ge had his elbows on his desk.

  “I’m sorry, Sir, what did you say?”

  “I’m giving you three choices, stand trial, enter a plea of guilty for aggravated assault, or join the military. I strongly suggest you choose door number three.”

  It took Drake a long moment to realize there was a way out. That he might not end up at Pikeville.

  “I was in the Navy. I have a friend who is a recruitment officer. I told him about you. He’s in Knoxville. If you make the right decision, he can be here today.”

  The Navy.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I’m just sorry this happened on my watch, Drake. So, I take it you’re choosing the Navy?”

  “Yes Sir, thank you, Sir.”

  “At least you know your lines.” The judge got up and came out from around his desk. He held out his hand, and Drake shook it.

  “You’ll do good, kid. I have a feeling about you.”

  ***

  Enough with trips down memory lane. He took out his cell phone and pressed the first number on his speed dial.

  “Hey, Drake, everything okay? Do you need help?” Mason asked when he answered the phone. It was the middle of the fucking night, and his lieutenant’s first words were to ask if everything was okay and if he needed help. That’s why he loved the man.

  “I need some leave,” Drake responded.

  There was a long pause. He knew Mason was trying to figure out what was going on. At last, he said, “You’ve got it. Is everything all right?”

  Mason Gault was closer than any brother could possibly be, and he had been lying to him for years. He hated himself.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Does it have to do with Jasper Creek?”

  Of course, Mason knew where he was really from, he had his personnel file. So even though he’d always said he was from Ferris Holler, he knew he actually came from Jasper Creek.

  “Yeah,” Drake admitted. “How much do you know?”

  “Only as much as you want me to know,” Mason said with a smile in his voice. “If you want me to still believe you have three brothers and three sisters, then that’s what I’ll believe.”

  “Six,” Drake said.

  Mason chuckled. “A half dozen baby sisters, huh?”

  “The bane of my existence.” He paused. “So, you know about my dad. Did you also know he got out of prison?”

  “Fuck no! I was supposed to be notified!” Mason sounded as pissed as Drake was.

  “Weren’t we all.” Drake sighed. “Who else knows?”

  “Nobody. I haven’t even told Sophia. But I can’t vouch for Clint. What that boy finds out with a computer never surprises me.”

  Drake sighed again. “If not him, then Lydia. She probably has a file on all of us. But I know he knows I’m here in Tennessee because he’s tracked my phone.”

  “He does it out of love, Drake. With some of the shit that our team has gone through, he and his intrepid fiancée can’t help but worry.”

  Drake laughed. “You make Clint and Lydia sound like a romcon couple. Come on, he’s a SEAL, dammit.”

  “If the shoe fits. Hey, I made you laugh, and you’re in Jasper Creek with your dad out of prison. My work is almost done. Now for the real shit. Drake, without question you can have the time off. But I’m getting on a plane.”

  “Hell, you just got married. What’s more, we just got off a three-week mission. There is no way I’m asking anyone to hop a plane to Tennessee.”

  “That’s bullshit, and you know it. I’ll be there in eight hours.”

  Drake thought about the man with the swastika tattoo. Having backup was tempting.

  “Mason, you’re always going to be my first choice. But I refuse to piss off Sophia. No way man. I like her too much to have her mad at me. But I agree that backup would be nice. I’m going to give the senior chief a call. His team hasn’t been deployed in over a month.”

  “Aiden?”

  “Yep.”

  “You two don’t get along.”

  “Oh, we get along on the important stuff.” Drake thought about the other man’s penchant for busting heads when the situation warranted it, and smiled even broader.

  “How about Clint and Lydia? Do you need any computer skills? Not to say yours are lacking, but they’re lacking.”

  “Fuck you,” Drake said without heat.

  Mason laughed.

  “Yeah, let the dynamic duo know what’s up, if they don’t know already, but they can handle it from the safety of their own home. I’m serious Mase, this shit can be handled with just Aiden and me. If it weren’t for the fact I needed someone to watch over my sisters, I wouldn’t even be calling in reinforcements, these people are small time.”

  “But you’ll give us a call if you need to, right?”

  “Right. I give you my word.”

  “I’m going to be checking in with you,” Mason warned.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Drake smiled and hung up the phone.

  This time he had to actually search for the name on his phone. He calculated that it was ten thirty in San Diego, still early enough to be calling Aiden O’Malley.

  He got the man’s voicemail. He left his name and number and said he needed his help on a personal matter. He looked around the area and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Drake rolled up the windows on the SUV and carefully pulled out of his spot behind the blackberry bushes and headed toward the Carmendy Chalet.

  He was on Hwy 321 when Aiden returned his call.

  “Hey, Avery. What can I help you with?” Aiden asked over the car speaker.

  “It’s a long story. But the bottom line is I have some men who recently got out of prison who have targeted some of my sisters in Tennessee.”

  “I need to juggle a couple of things, but I can be there tomorrow night.”

  “Can you e-mail me your information so I can buy you a plane ticket?” Drake asked.

  “We’ll square it when I get there. What airport am I flying into?”

  “McGhee Tyson.”

  “I’ll call you when I have everything arranged.”

  The line went dead.

  Drake shook his head. Mason had been right, he and Aiden hadn’t always gotten along. But Aiden O’Malley was a Senior Chief. A decorated Navy SEAL and the second in command of Black Dawn. He’d worked on a couple of missions with his team, and Drake respected the hell out of the man. Out of all the teams that they’d had to work with, Black Dawn was second only to his. Midnight Delta was obviously the best. And it was on that thought that he pulled up to the gate to the Carmendy Estate.

  It was a beautiful gate, made from wrought iron, but he immediately assessed that it was also braced with steel, which meant it was secure as well as pretty. There were three cameras, one that was trained on the road behind him, as well as the two that were now surveilling his vehicle. Larry hadn’t been kidding, this place was pretty damn secure. If there had been a guard tower where a sniper could sit, like there had been at Laird Campbell’s place, then Drake would feel like this place was bulletproof. Ever since he’d seen the guy with the swastika, Drake had a bad feeling. He knew how often these guys ran in gangs in prison.

  As he rolled down the window to press the button, he heard his sister Evie’s voice.

  “Bout damn time you got here.”

  “I wanted to see the old homestead and relive my glory days. Let me inside. It’s cold out here.”

  “Poor little SoCal boy can’t hang with a little snow,” Evie said in a sing-song voice. He watched as the gate swung open.

  Drake swore as he went through the gates and saw the house off in the distance. It was maybe a quarter mile, and it was on a small hill. He could have taken that to mean it was easily defended, but nope, this fucker was a target. The front was all glass, and it was lit up like a Christmas tree. Didn’t they know about conserving electricity?

  Larry was waiting for him on at the top of the stairs.

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sp; “Well, I see Evie’s directions got you here. I told you it was remote.” He grinned.

  “You’re right about that.”

  “How did reconnaissance go?”

  “We have at least five others that dad has recruited,” Drake said thinking about the man on the phone.

  “What do you think he’s up to? Do you think it was drugs again?”

  Drake thought back to the drug dealer that Frank and his dad had killed in their basement. The prosecutor had offered both men reduced sentences if they would provide evidence about the drug trade going on in the county. They’d both refused. Instead, they had said that the man had pulled a gun on them and they had shot him in self-defense. They ended up convicting them for voluntary manslaughter. It was supposed to be fifteen years, somehow Norville got out in twelve.

  “Yeah,” Drake said. “I would bet anything this is drug related. Back then I had no idea that he had anything to do with drugs. God, my head was so far up my ass it was amazing I could see daylight.”

  Larry clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself, Son. You were concentrating on the things that were important. I know you had a scholarship lined up, and if memory serves, you weren’t a bad student either.”

  “But I should have known the shit my own father was into.”

  Larry’s grip tightened. “Can it, Avery. I only knew of you because of Parker, but after you got run outta town, you can be damn sure me and a few others made it our business to know about you and your family.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, we were worried. It was actually Kirkland that started it. He fished with Carl over at the feed store. Carl’s aunt was Miss Tilda over at the Food Bank.”

  Drake felt his face flush. God, he’d forgotten the ways of small towns, everyone knew everyone else’s business. Then he laughed.

  “What’chya laughing at?”

  “I was just thinking how small towns knew everything about everybody, but I was wrong. It’s a matter of caring. My SEAL team has their nose all up in my business too.”

  “Only time someone doesn’t pry, is when they don’t give a shit.” Larry chuckled.

  “Okay, so you and half the town of Jasper Creek checked out the Averys after I left for the Navy and my dad was sent to Pikeville. Then what?”