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his most trusted colleagues had already died at their hands, and another had spent nearly a month as a captive of the deadly soldiers of fortune, along with his wife and daughter.
“I’m pretty sure Jesse’s right about that, too.”
Her father touched her face, his fingers gentle. “You’re not keeping anything from me, are you? They didn’t hurt you more than you’ve said—”
“No, they didn’t. But given time, they would have.”
Her father met her gaze for a long, electric moment, then looked away.
“You need to talk to Jesse about General Ross’s journal.”
Her father’s mouth tightened but he didn’t answer.
Evie gave a little growl of frustration. “I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn about this, Dad. Look what happened today—you think they won’t go after us again? Maybe Rita this time, or Mom. And Jesse Cooper won’t be there to save them.”
His gaze snapped up to meet hers, pain vibrating in his blue eyes. “I’m doing what I can to protect us all.”
“By staying silent? That’s not enough for these people. You have to know it’s not. I don’t understand why you don’t just tell people what you do know, even if you don’t have proof.”
“I’ll increase our security team,” her father said, ignoring her last comment.
“Are you going to make them aware of the level of the threat against us?” She shook her head. “If you put the average security guard up against the SSU, he’ll lose every time.”
She knew her father couldn’t argue. He’d been around for the downfall of MacLear Security, a once well-respected private security firm that had done business with the Pentagon for years. MacLear Security’s training corps had been made up of top-notch former military and law-enforcement personnel. Even the company’s legitimate agents had possessed the knowledge and skills of elite soldiers. And the Special Services Unit, MacLear’s secret unit of guns for hire, had layered those skills in with an utter lack of a moral compass.
Ruthless and violent, the SSU had been a wickedly efficient private army for a corrupt State Department official named Barton Reid. Their work for Reid had eventually led to the company’s downfall, thanks to Jesse’s cousins, who’d thwarted the secret soldiers’ plans to abduct a child as leverage. The Coopers had exposed MacLear’s seamy underbelly and brought the company down, but not before several of the SSU operatives had made their escape and formed a new alliance.
Funded by a mysterious company called AfterAssets, LLC, the dirty operatives had recently been involved in at least one assassination and another assassination attempt. They’d kidnapped an Air Force general and his family and now had tried to kidnap Evie, as well.
“They want General Ross’s journal,” she said.
“Do you know where it is?” her father asked.
She shook her head. “But they think you do.”
“I don’t know where it went after Cooper took it from Lydia Ross,” the general murmured, glancing toward the door. “I bet he knows.”
“Probably so. But it’s important nobody else knows where it is, because you seem determined not to tell us what you know.”
He bent toward her, as if he was going to tell her something, but a soft knock on the door interrupted. Evie crossed to the door. “Yes?”
“It’s me,” Jesse said from the other side of the door.
She let him in. He slipped inside, handing her a cup of water.
“Thanks.” She downed the two ibuprofen tablets her father had given her. “That took longer than I thought—did you get a call? Any news?”
He glanced at her father briefly, then looked back at her. “Rick and Megan found the truck abandoned on the side of the road two miles up from the gas station where I found you. We’re processing it for prints, but it’s not likely we’ll find anything.”
“You should bring the real police into this,” Evie’s father said with a grimace. “You’re screwing up any chance of a court case against these guys.”
“A court isn’t going to stop these guys. Half of them were already indicted along with Barton Reid, and you see how well that stopped them,” Evie told her father. “The bigger picture is what matters. We need to stop whoever’s funneling money to them to pull these jobs.”
“I know you think the Espera Group may have something to do with it.” Jesse looked at her father. “I know you want to expose their real agenda. But to do that, you have to let me help you.”
Evie winced as her father’s expression grew stony. “I don’t have to do anything,” he snapped. “Except make sure my daughter gets married today to a fine man who treats her like a queen.”
Jesse didn’t flinch outwardly, but Evie didn’t miss the slight flicker of anger that darkened his eyes. “Very well.” He turned to Evie. “I’ll wait outside until you’re dressed, then I’ll escort you to the chapel.”
“That won’t be necessary,” her father said. “I’ve already assigned one of my security guards to stick with Evie wherever she goes today.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “Because they did such a good job before?”
Evie put her hand on her father’s arm. His muscles were hard with tension, but he remained silent as she looked at Jesse.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she was right. But having Jesse around today of all days was too stressful for everyone. Despite her earlier reassurances, Rita couldn’t be happy about Jesse crashing her wedding, however good his reasons.
“I’ll just go back to what I was doing earlier today, then,” he said.
She hid a smile. Back to the convenience-store parking lot, then. Watching over the wedding from afar.
A part of her wished she could believe his concern was specifically for her and not her family in general. Like Rita, she’d never been immune to Jesse Cooper’s sexy strength and leatherneck sense of honor. But unlike Rita, Evie didn’t find his hard-driving, adrenaline-soaked lifestyle a deal breaker. In fact, she craved the sort of meaning and purpose he seemed to find in risking his neck to help people. It was one reason why she’d taken him up on the offer of a job at Cooper Security.
But not the only reason.
Unfortunately, Jesse clearly saw her as Rita’s little sister and nothing more. So that was that. Time to get over her schoolgirl crush on Jesse and move on.
Still, her gaze remained on the bride’s room door long after he’d closed it behind him.
Chapter Three
The bride and groom emerged from the back of the church to a cheering crowd of well-wishers tossing birdseed. Jesse couldn’t resist the urge to raise his binoculars for a closer look, focusing on the pink cheeks and bright eyes of the bride.
Rita was stunning. At thirty-two, she looked nearly a decade younger, her fair skin unlined. Her cornflower-blue eyes glowed with a joy he could see even through the impersonal lenses of the binoculars.
She was happy. It radiated from her like sunshine, warming him from a distance. There had been a time when he’d have resented her finding someone else who could make her happy, but those days were long gone. Maturity and experience had softened the edges of his jealous nature and time had taught him that real love was unselfish.
He would always love Rita and want the best for her, but that didn’t mean he had to be the one to give it to her. If he’d been able to do that—and if she’d been able to make him happy as well—they would still be together.
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