Free Topping the Alpha: Trident Security Series by Samantha A. Cole

room. Behind him, Cain and Nick entered the first floor unit before Pete shut the door. While the three men introduced themselves, Jake sat down with Alyssa on his lap and rubbed her back and arms, trying to soothe her. “ Shhh . I’m so sorry about your mom, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Shhh . Calm down.”
    As Jake continued to murmur words of sympathy to the teenager, something inside Nick stirred. He’d never seen this tender, comforting side of Jake, and a part of him melted at that moment. There were still many things he didn’t know about the man, but he couldn’t wait to find out more. Pushing the wayward thoughts from his head, he turned to Pete. “Anything new since Jake spoke to you?”
    Forty-year-old Pete Archer was about an inch taller than Nick, but not as broad. Due to a receding hairline, he kept his head shaved and reminded the younger man of the guy from the Mr. Clean commercials. He shook his bald head and indicated for the other men to take a seat, grabbing a recliner for himself. “No, not really. My buddy stuck around as long as he could without raising suspicions. Like I told Reverend, there was no body and with the place trashed, it’ll take some time before they find any evidence, if there is any. Alyssa thinks the two men had gloves on, and my buddy overheard bleach was used to hide the DNA.”
    Cain spoke as he sat on the room’s other recliner, leaving Nick to take the couch with Jake. “So this wasn’t random and it seems the husband found them. But how?”
    Cocking his head toward the teenager, Archer replied, “Alyssa has no idea. She said they were careful and followed all the rules that group of women gave them. I dumped her cell phone after I picked her up just in case they manage to get the number and track it. The Canon City cops are looking for her and saying she’s a missing person of interest at the moment. I thought of calling my cousin—he’s a cop here in Colorado Springs—but he’s going to want to know why I’m asking questions about a crime scene in Canon City, so that’s out. At least until she’s out of the area. Then I can honestly say I have no idea where she is.”
    While calming Alyssa, Jake had been listening to the men’s conversation. Now that her crying and sobbing had quieted some, he eyeballed Pete. “Will you be able to nose around and keep us informed? I want to get her to a safe-house ASAP.”
    “Sure, no problem. But can you fill me in a little more, so I know what I’m looking for?”
    Jake helped Alyssa off his lap and turned her toward a hallway. “Go to the bathroom and wash your face, sweetheart. We’ll be leaving for the airport in a few minutes.”
    Nodding, she silently left the room, and then Jake continued. “I’ll have Ian email you the file, but put it this way—Alyssa’s father has money and connections. He’s not afraid to use both to find and kill her. If she tells anyone he’s been sexually abusing her since she was twelve, he’s ruined, whether the cops believe her or not. And she’s too scared to go to them. In the beginning, I tried to gather evidence, but without her testimony, there was little to go on.”
    Pete glanced over his shoulder and made sure the bathroom door still closed, before lowering his voice. “Are you positive she’s telling the truth about the abuse?” When Nick growled, the other man held up his hands. “I’m just asking, man. She wouldn’t be the first girl to claim it for some other reason.”
    Jake waved a hand at Nick, signaling him to calm down. “It’s all right. I know where he’s coming from. When I first joined Team Four, one of the guys was falsely accused of rape by a seventeen-year-old SEAL bunny. It was hell for him until NCIS located a home surveillance video—two weeks later—that proved he was across town, jogging alone on the beach, when it allegedly happened.” Nick knew all about SEAL bunnies—they were status seekers, just like rock-star