“Abram! To the right! Wrap around the building and let’s corner this bastard. Wilde, you’re with me. Yoake!”

“What?” he asked.

“Straight up the damn alley and don’t let up,” I said

“You heard the boss man. Let’s go,” Abram said.

The four of us took after the asshole we were chasing, the wind whipping by our bodies. My crew and I had been chasing this bastard for days, and we were about to take him off the damn street. Wilde was on my heels, his gun pulled and his eyes alert. We ran down the alleyway and took a sharp left, sprinting towards where Yoake would flush that bastard out.

“Smith!”

“What is it!?” I asked.

“Got a problem,” Yoake said.

I came around and took a look at where the building should’ve dumped out, but instead I was looking at a brick wall. The alleyway I sent Yoake down was a damn dead end.

And he was alone.

“Yoake, you defend yourself by any means necessary. Abram!”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Backtrack. Yoake’s at a dead end. Come on. This asshole isn’t getting away again.”

We took back off down the alleyway, my lungs heaving air the faster I moved. My legs carried me as my gun rattled on my hip. My bulletproof vest was beginning to make me sweat and my headset was blowing in the wind. Knocking against my neck and tugging at my ear as Wilde and I ran back down the block.

“Yoake! Update,” I said.

“I got him cornered, but he looks frantic,” he said.

“Keep him pinned. We’re almost there,” I said.

Wilde and I whipped around the corner, then drew our weapons. Yoake was standing there, his knees bent and his body ready to attack. But I could see why he had been so nervous. The man we were chasing down had two semi-automatic weapons in his grasp and a queasy grin up on cheeks.

There was a good chance he had no idea how to use those guns in his hands.

“What now, boss?” Abram asked.

“Lester, you’re surrounded,” I said. “Put your guns down and surrender.”

“Not a fucking chance,” the man said.

“We’ve got you,” I said. “There’s nowhere else for you to go. Leslie’s in the hospital, her statement’s being taken, and traffic cameras will have you from her home to here. I’ve got surveillance footage of you guying those guns in your hands off one of the biggest arms dealers in New York City, and I’ve got a hidden bank account with two massive withdrawals I’ll probably be able to backtrack to hitmen.”

I watched the man’s face pale as his hands began to shake.

“It’s over,” I said. “Drop your weapons.”

“Fuck you. And that bitch.”

“Take cover!” I said.

I ran at the man as he opened fire on my guys. I ran straight at him, catching bullets in the chest as I barreled towards him. The force of the bullets knocked me off my feet, but not before I hand a grasp on him. I pulled the man to the ground with me and twisted him underneath my body, kneeing him in his groin. I pinned him to the cement and twisted his arm, forcing him to drop one gun.

Abram was working the other gun out of his hand as I pushed my knee deeper into his crotch.

“That was a hell of a takedown, boss,” Abram said.

“How many bullets did you take?” Yoake asked.

“We need to get you in the field more often,” Wilde said with a grin.

“I think I’ll stick to the paperwork. Thanks,” I said.

I released the guy and flipped him onto his back. I cuffed his hands and wrenched him from the ground, sweat dripping down my forehead. I tossed his ass over to Abram, who caught him and started reading him his rights.

One less woman beater off the fucking streets.

I felt Yoake and Wilde pat me on the shoulder as the two of them followed the suspect. My personal security firm had been chasing that asshole for two solid weeks. His ex-wife, Leslie, had come to us in a fit of tears. Talking about how she was receiving threatening letters and how her daughter kept seeing a man standing outside of her school. Watching her on the playground. Lester was stereotypical. An abusive, controlling ex-husband that wanted revenge because his wife picked up their daughter and left.

But I was pissed we couldn’t get to him before he did damage to her.

“Do we have a status update on Leslie?” I asked into my intercom.

“Yep. Just heard from the doctor,” Abram said. “She’s out of surgery and stable. Daughter’s fine.”

“Good,” I said. “Tell Yoake to take up station at her hospital room in case something happens. None of this shit’s wrapped up-”

“Until he’s behind bars. Got it,” Abram said.

My bluetooth ringing in my ears forced me to take my earpiece of out my ear. I stuck my gun into its holster and began walking back to my private vehicle. I opened the door and slid in as I connected the call to my car, then I cranked up the engine and sped off from the scene.

My work there was done and it was time to get back to the office.

“Ryder Smith, how can I help?” I asked.

“I swear to hell, you get more action than I do.”

“Brendan? What the hell number are you calling from?” I asked.

“Had to get a different phone. Mine got thrown out of a window.”

“Broke up with the latest girlfriend?” I asked with a grin.

“Not my fault she enjoys sucking other guy’s cocks.”

“That’s rough shit. Sorry, man. I know you liked this one.”

“As far as I like women and their bodies, sure. Anyway, I’m not calling to shoot the shit. I’ve got a problem and I was hoping you could help.”

“Do I need to come see you?” I asked.

“Nope. It’s one of my clients,” he said. “She needs help.”

“Did you check out the local psychiatrists in town? I hear there’s a lot of them for all these crazy Hollywood types.”

“I’m serious, Ryder.”

“Must be if you’re calling me up,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“First, I need to make sure you know I’m cashing in a favor.”

“So it’s a pro-bono situation. Got it.”

“I’ve got a woman who’s been my client for a few months now. Typical scenario. Tried to get away from an abusive husband.”

“She need protection?” I asked.

“A little more than that. The divorce finalized, but he’s defaulting on his alimony payments. I can’t track the asshole down to arrest him. He hasn’t paid in months. Dropped clear off the grid. And I’ve got some evidence that points to him tracking down his ex. She’s pretty rattled.”

“Understandable. What’s her file like?” I asked.

“Married to the man for thirteen or so years. Met while they were in college and he was the charming, handsome, assertive type. They got married and he got controlling, but she thought that was her role as a wife. Submit to the husband type of shtick.”

“Is he physically aggressive?” I asked.

“Not from what she’s told me, but she claims she’s seen him outside her apartment a couple of times.”

“Trying to get in?”

“No. Just looking up at her. But you know that's not my expertise.”

“It was back in our SEAL days.”

“It’s not anymore,” he said, sighing.

“Brendan, if it’s that important to you then you know I’ll take the case. After all that shit we went through on our last mission and what we had to do to get out-”

“I get it. I get it. Can we not rehash it?”

“Trust me, I wasn’t going to,” I said. “Only saying that I’m taking the job.”

“She can’t pay much, if at all.”

“That’s fine. I just came off a high-paying job anyway. I have yet to get in my pro-bono hours this year.”

“I’ll shoot her file to your email so you can go through it. She needs to be protected, and I need to find this asshole so we can arrest him and get her the money she’s owed for being married to the bastard.”

“I understand. We’ll track him down. It’s what we do,” I said. “What’s her name?”

“Alicia Whitley. She reverted back to her maiden name when we finalized her divorce.”

I slammed on my breaks as I skidded to a stop at a red light. Did he say ‘Alicia Whitley’?

“How old is this woman?” I asked.

“Uh… thirty four, I think? Why?”

“Where did she go to college?”

“Ryder, is something wrong?”

“Just answer the fucking question, Brendan.”

“Damn. Fine. I don’t know where she went to college, but I know she got a Psychology degree. That was one of the first things her ex-husband tried to control her on. She wanted to get her Master’s and he wouldn’t let her.”

We had to be talking about two different Alicias. That couldn’t be my Alicia. She would’ve never let a man control her like that. Take charge of her like that. My Alicia was strong. Independent. Tough to her core and spoke her mind. Always.

But I felt protectiveness bubbling in my veins. Anger that bled my vision red. If there was a chance this was the same Alicia, then she needed help. She needed my help to gain her footing again and get out of this scenario. The woman I’d fallen in love with. The woman I had cherished in high school.

The woman whose heart I ended up breaking.

“Hello? Earth to Ryder. You good?” Brendan asked.

“Yeah. Sorry. Long day. Send over her file and make sure it’s got her most recent address in it. I’ll make a visit. See where we go from there,” I said.

“Thanks. I really owe you one.”

“No you don’t. Not after what you did for me. Get me the information. And let Miss Whitley know I won’t be charging her.”

I pulled into the headquarters of my company and pulled into the below-level parking garage. I hung up the phone call in my car and sat there, idling. My skin was burning from the angry fire coursing through my veins. What the fuck had happened to Alicia? Who the hell had she attached herself to? I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, trying to settle the slamming of my heart against my chest cavity.

I remembered the day I first saw her. But I couldn't even recall what she was wearing. All I remembered was that wild, curly red hair that framed her face and those deep blue ocean eyes wrapped up behind thick-framed glasses. She had been a diamond in the rough. A vision that needed to be dusted off. And I took on that job. I saw a beauty within her and underneath those clothes her freshman year that would’ve sank any senior on the high school football team.

She had potential, and I had nothing. She was intelligent and witty and I was quiet and somber. She aced her classes and I was passed by teachers so they wouldn't have to deal with me any longer. And I broke her heart to make sure she went on to lead the life she was destined to lead.

But she hadn’t.

She had succumbed to something.

And I was going to pull her out of those claws and back into the light she was destined to bathe in.

I slammed out of my car and headed for the elevator. I jammed my fist into the button and waited for the doors to open. Men in suits and women in pencil skirts greeted me with wide eyes. I looked down and saw the bullet holes in my vest and figured I didn’t look they way they thought a CEO should look.

The way the owner of a company should look.

I rode the elevator all the way up to the top floor. No one resided on it but me, and I had it that way for a reason. It was the most protected level of the entire headquarters of Civilian Protections, LLC. A safe haven for myself as well as a last resort for protecting people that were running from something. I’d helped more than my fair share of people in my own damn company who came to me, pleading for my help. Hoping the big, bad owner of the largest private security firm on the East Coast would help them with their measly problems.

But that was the thing about a SEAL.

No problem where people were endangered was ever ‘measly’.

I sat down at my computer and pulled up the file Brendan had sent me. And the very first thing that popped up was a picture. Alicia Whitley. With dark red hair piled high on her head and stormy blue eyes housed behind thin-rimmed glasses. She looked tired. Fed up. Done with the world.

But it was her.

The beautiful girl whose heart I had broken all those years ago.

I read through her file, my anger growing with every word. The shit Brendan had in the file to justify a smooth and swift divorce was enough to make my skin crawl. Harassing voicemails recorded on file. Text messages with slews of derogatory comments no woman should ever be called. I pulled up the last voice message that was left for Alicia. The last one she had apparently send Brendan.

Then I leaned back into my sleek leather chair and closed my eyes.

“I know you’re getting these, Alicia. I know you’re listening to them. Come home. Come back to me so my voice can be in your ear again. I know you want it. You know you want it. So why are you doing this? Why are you running? I love you, Alicia. You can’t run from me like you are. I won’t let it happen.”

I reached out and touched the spacebar, cutting the audio off before it could go any further. Right there, within the first ten fucking seconds, had all the markers of a stalker. All the markers of a possessive man unable to let go. I had chased enough of these men and put bullets between enough of their eyes to know that Alicia was in grave danger. Even with the smoothness of this man’s voice-- Langley, the file said-- and even with how calm his tone was… he was dangerous.

A snake lying in the grass, waiting for Alicia to step close enough to strike.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Not on my watch.