Free Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) by Kori David Page A

she watched the young girl. She smiled and laughed and her mop of hair resisted the water’s efforts to tamp it down.
    “Alright, we are alone in here. Tell me what’s going on.”
    “You did great by hiring some off-duty guys. I saw two at the gate and another one roaming the property outside. I’m guessing that was a suggestion from the Chief?”
    Madge nodded. “It’s was a good one, too. Our security team was tired and needed the rest. They’ll take over again at night.” She cocked her head at Mike and crossed her arms. “Tell me what’s bad enough to come over personally.”
    Mike turned from the window and faced the woman standing by the couch. She was in tight jeans and a Tennessee Titan’s jersey, which just made her seem broader through the shoulders than she really was. “There’s been a kidnapping.”
    “And you think it’s related?”
    Mike pulled a picture out of his back pocket—a copy made by the missing person’s detective assigned to the case. The smiling picture of a woman with corkscrew-curly strawberry blond hair and blue eyes a shade lighter than Shelby’s own. Only a year or two younger as well. He handed it over. “This is why I’m concerned.”
    Madge hesitated and then took it from his hand. “Jesus Christ,” she said. Then she sat on the couch arm. “When was this woman taken?”
    “About the same time we were discovering the second crime scene.”
    Madge looked up from the picture and frowned. “So you actually found another scene? Was it just like the video?”
    “Exactly the same. This guy is really getting a taste for it.”
    “Jesus,” she muttered again.
    “He’s working his way up to Shelby herself. You understand that, right?”
    “That poor girl.” Madge stroked a thumb over the picture. Then she raised a sad gaze to meet his. “What else can we do to protect Shelby and Rebecca?”
    “I have a plan, but I need you on board before I approach Shelby because she’ll look for your opinion, and I need it to match mine.” Mike knew he looked hard and inflexible, but the woman in front of him gave him the same look. Nothing would happen unless she okayed it. And Mike respected her for it.
    “Let’s hear this plan.”
    He told her. And explained the where, the what, and the who, before providing a couple of phone numbers.
    She gave him a narrowed-eye look. “Can you keep her safe?”
    “I can. If, for even one moment, I felt she’d be safer somewhere else, that’s where I’d take her. And if our boy is skilled enough to follow me, then he’ll be in my playground, and that’s a place he’ll regret for the rest of his short life.”
    “I don’t want a world of hurt—” she said quietly, “—I want dead. For Shelby and for those poor girls he mutilated.”
    “Yes, Ma’am. Understood.”

    ***

    Shelby was waterlogged. Even though Rebecca didn’t smile, she splashed around and did handstands—everything that a normal happy child did while swimming. They’d taken a break and eaten some gourmet sandwiches with apple slices and caramel.
    Rebecca was finally slowing down thirty minutes later when Madge called her name from the house. She climbed out and headed inside.
    Shelby took the opportunity to do a couple of laps to work out the kinks. Taking off, she swam laps until her arms burned and her lungs begged for more air. Popping up, she whipped her hair out of her eyes and that’s when she saw him.
    Standing in the sun like some pagan warrior in jeans. He stood at the edge of the pool with his arms crossed, waiting patiently for her attention. She offered up a tentative smile. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”
    “It’s not a social visit.” He held out his hand.
    She hesitated for a brief moment. Touching Mike was hard. Shelby felt things at a mere touch that she thought she’d never feel again. That reaction was dangerous to her peace of mind, not to mention her sudden clamoring libido.
    But he stood patiently, hand out,