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  Trusting Jake (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

  A Fierce Protectors Novella

  Casey Hagen

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © 2018 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!

  If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.

  This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.

  I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!

  READ ON!

  Xoxo

  Susan Stoker

  About the book

  Jake Kincaid is haunted by the memories of his mother’s violent death and his inability, as a young boy, to save her.

  Destiny Pierce is facing a final showdown with her violent husband that could cost the ultimate price—her life.

  With her estranged husband hell-bent on torture, Destiny battles fear and distrust to enlist Jake’s help in preparing her to go fist to fist with the monster she married, to save her own life. Tortured by the one woman Jake was powerless to save, he agrees to the impossible. He’ll teach Destiny to fight, and he’ll honor her wishes to not interfere despite everything screaming inside him to do just that.

  With every passing hour witnessing Destiny’s strength and determination, the fractured puzzle pieces of their lives intertwine, creating a bond to stand the test of time. Their very future hangs in the balance, leaving him to hope and pray that although he can’t save her, he’s trained her well enough to save herself.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Untitled

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books by Casey Hagen

  More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books

  Books by Susan Stoker

  Chapter 1

  Jake Kincaid climbed the stairs to Fierce, jumping every other one, with the latest plans for the space they had rented a few weeks earlier. New to the team and still learning the dynamic between the guys, he had no clue what to expect when they saw the dollar signs involved with the state of the art renovations, but they had pursued him for this gig, so he’d lay it on the line.

  If they wanted to help the public as they said they did, especially women, the endeavor would take money. Lots of money.

  That simple.

  Their reaction would tell him if they were all talk, or men of action.

  Their reaction would tell him if he’d made the right decision by joining their team.

  They were career SEALs before they became private investigators/protectors. That spoke volumes, especially to Jake who’d done his stint in the Navy, then tried for the SEALs, until an injury sidelined him and stole his chances. Once the dream died, his motivation to go career military died with it.

  Jake’s dream had been the SEALs. He respected and longed to be one of the covert superheroes of the Navy. He wouldn’t accept anything less.

  The Navy had been one more avenue he needed to explore. He had explored. Since he never made it into the brotherhood as far as he’d wanted, he still had no answers.

  Just one more dead end to toss on the pile of endless dead ends.

  But he had another dream, and he’d put every last bit of ambition he’d had for the SEAL program into seeing that dream realized. And who knew, maybe he’d form a tight enough bond with the team that they’d help him dig up that information he’d been seeking for a decade.

  Jake suspected Dylan, Slyder, Cole, and Evan to be men of action, but only a signature on the estimate with permission to move forward would convince him completely.

  One way or another, Jake would make this training available to the general public.

  One less woman would wind up in an early grave, leaving her son behind.

  He shook off thoughts best left buried with the Cherrywood coffin holding his mother’s forever-young body and turned the handle before bounding through the door in an effort to dodge rain drops.

  Long Beach, California usually eased into their rainy season, but this year, they’d seen more than two inches already, something they ordinarily didn’t see until late winter. At this rate, if something didn’t change, they’d have their rainfall quota for the next three months all before Thanksgiving.

  “You know, they have this effective invention called the umbrella…” Slyder said with a grin before sipping his coffee.

  Jake ran his hands through his hair, slicking it back. “They do. I bet yours is pink with ruffles and pictures of Barbie on it,” Jake said with a grin of his own.

  “Shit. They make them like that? All this time I’ve been running around with this old thing,” Slyder said, popping open a black umbrella with a parrot handle.

  Jake nodded and bit his cheek. Judging by Slyder’s smug look, he didn’t recognize the significance of the handle he held in his hands. “Does Mary Poppins know you hijacked her umbrella?” Jake asked, stifling a laugh.

  Slyder narrowed his eyes down at the handle. “Shit, that’s where I’ve seen this before.”

  “You’ve been running around with a Mary Poppins umbrella this whole time and didn’t know? That seems like a purposeful stylistic choice.”

  Slyder’s thick eyebrows snapped low over his eyes, completing his scowl. “For my wife. Purposeful. For. My. Wife.”

  Jake headed for the war room in the back but stopped next to Slyder. “It’s okay. Your secret’s safe with me.”

  It was times like these that he thought he had this job in the bag. He’d made the connections, he’d become part of them.

  The closest he’d come to being a SEAL.

  He glanced down at the blueprints and proposals tucked under his arm, damp in places from the few droplets he hadn’t dodged. He hoped he was right.

  Moving in toward the backside of the conference room table, the head where Dylan usually sat, he laid out the blueprints for turning the industrial space into a state of the art gym. The plan was to not only be focused on self-defense lessons, but also strengthening trainees to be at their most powerful so they were always prepared for the unexpected.

  So no one would overpower them ever again.

  Spaces had been designated for strength and endurance training. An obstacles room for overcoming the worst of their fears, whether it be the terror of being overpowe
red, or even restrained, but also teaching them how to maximize situations most would view as a disadvantage.

  Like navigating the environment in the dark. It was about homing in on the senses available and compensating for the ones that were stunted.

  He laid out four proposal packets, ready to hit them with everything he had.

  Including in-treatment facilities for survivors who didn’t feel safe living on their own after abuse.

  That was where the real cost came.

  Millions of dollars.

  He took a deep breath and blew it out, releasing the tension binding his shoulders into rigid knots. No going in half-assed. They needed to hit hard and fast. They needed to do this right.

  The guys strolled in, coffee in their hands, varying looks of skepticism on their faces. Dylan’s eyes widened a fraction when his gaze found Jake standing in Dylan’s usual spot.

  Jake kept his shoulders back and chin up, a stance bred into him despite his minimum stint in the Navy. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”

  “You made it sound important. Life or death,” Dylan said. “Did we really have much choice?”

  “There’s always a choice,” Jake said with a nod as he watched Dylan pick up his packet.

  Keep it relaxed. Total chill.

  Evan sat down and started flipping through the proposal immediately.

  Logical. And totally expected.

  Slyder read through the first page and cleared his throat on a laugh as he shot Jake a look before flipping to page two.

  If he was trying to psych Jake out, well, fuck that.

  Cole let out a low whistle as he scanned the financial projection overview.

  And Dylan crammed a hand through his hair and started to pace the corner, agitation in the set of his shoulders as he flicked dark looks at Jake.

  Okay, it would be a hard sell, but as long as the guys kept reading and didn’t shoot him down before they made it through the proposal, he had a shot.

  At least, he hoped...his glimmer of a chance drifting farther away when Dylan slowed to a stop his tall frame stock-still.

  Dylan slapped the projections down and dropped his hands to his hips. “What I’m wondering is when we went from being your employers to your own personal piggy bank. We hired you to help us out on cases and to help us give back to the community. This…” Dylan waved a hand at the desk, “Shit, this is a whole lot more than giving back by sponsoring self-defense lessons. This is a total shift in what we do here. I’ll give it to you, it took some balls to actually put this together, but I think I’m safe speaking for the team when I say, hell no.”

  Evan slid off his glasses and leaned back in his chair, his cool gaze locking on Jake. “Actually, I’m not ready to dismiss the idea just yet. Let’s hear Jake out.”

  “Did you happen to miss a zero or two on the end of that estimate? You have a bank vault loaded with cash somewhere I don’t know about?” Dylan bellowed.

  A muscle ticked in Evan’s cheek. “Jake’s funding proposal could actually work.”

  “Only if the four of us lay every asset we have on the line, including our retirement,” Dylan said. “I have two kids at home. You’re building a house with Blair. Slyder and Nebraska—okay, Slyder and Nebraska don’t have much to worry about in that department, but they’re the only ones. Josie and Cole are paying for a wedding. Need I go on?”

  “Or we pull in an investor or two,” Cole offered as he leaned against the doorjamb, his knee bent, the flat bottom of his boot pressed against the wall.

  “Or ten,” Dylan said tossed out.

  “Not if we find the right investors. Motivated investors,” Evan pointed out.

  Cole, Slyder, Evan, and Dylan shared a private look. Not the kind intended to make Jake feel left out, but a look that spoke of years of experience and a tight bond. The men were family, and he was the interloper in the tight unit, offering up a plan that had them at odds.

  “Abe and Mozart,” Cole said.

  Slyder flipped the page. “They’d be in before they even reached page three. And they have connections to moneymen. They have people in high places who owe them favors. If we want to do this, they’ll help us make it happen.”

  Dylan’s gaze swept over them as he paced. “You guys are talking like you want to do this?”

  “Well, if we’re going to invest in anything, why not this?” Slyder asked.

  “This is a five-year project if we’re aggressive. Hundreds of permits, inspections, and licenses. A hundred-count medical professional team for the facility. Is this really who we wanted to be? Because this is a massive shift. This means getting away from helping everyone, and instead turning our focus to a specialized group. How can we possibly do this and keep up with the investigation business?”

  “By turning the project over to me and trusting me to head this branch of Fierce,” Jake said. He hadn’t meant to ask just yet. He’d planned to ease his way in and convince them over the next few years to hand over supervising control, but hell, why not just lay it all on the table?

  Other than the impending heart attack as his heart pounded against his ribs.

  “When was your last head injury? It had to be in the past month if you think that I’d ever hand over control to someone still in his ninety-day probationary period,” Dylan said.

  Cole cocked his head. “Why is this so important to you?”

  “I have women coming in all the time. They want to take self-defense classes, but right when they inquire, their gazes slide away. They can’t bear to look the staff in the eye. Me in the eye. I know that look. I know that shame. If there are that many bold enough to come to me on Tuesday nights despite their fear, how many are out there not coming forward?” Jake said. He hated that there were women out there suffering. Men too. And always the children.

  Slyder squeezed the back of his neck. “And what makes you think this can convince them to trust you? Trust us?”

  “Because it won’t just be for an hour, or a half-day. We can give them a place to go to break free from their abuser. We have the skill and connections to help them escape. To make new lives before it’s too late,” Jake said.

  “Who was she?” Evan asked, the words a quiet rumble.

  The air in the room shifted, charged with an emotional current. He wanted to run from it, but it tethered him there. It wound its way around every person in the room, pulling them together as one.

  “My mother.” The words clawed their way over a mountain of broken glass to crawl from his reluctant lips. He’d sworn he wouldn’t bring her up again. That he’d never confess his childhood to another soul.

  He’d do anything to avoid the shame of not being able to save her.

  His mind knew that he couldn’t have stopped what happened. Maybe one day, his heart would get the message.

  Today wasn’t the day.

  Just mentioning her conjured up image after image of her: smiling at the church picnic, the slight tinge of green leftover from the bruise along her cheekbone peeking out from behind multiple layers of makeup, the mauve lipstick she favored clumping along the split in her lip, and the last time, lying on the kitchen floor, lifeless. Blood, so much blood. Rivers of it flowed down her legs from under her dress. Something he didn’t understand then, but he understood all too well now.

  And the cast iron pan with dried blood and pieces of her scalp—

  His brain screeched to a full stop.

  He swallowed the sharp singe of bile that crept up the back of his throat and knew the vile taste prompted by horrible memories would hover on his tongue for a good part of the morning.

  “And she died?” Dylan asked quietly.

  Pain slid through Jake’s heart for the ten thousand, four hundred, and sixty-third time. “Yes.”

  Dylan never took his eyes from Jake. He had this penetrating stare that had a way of peeling back all the layers a person had built around themselves and finding the heart of the issue, no matter good or bad. “Cole, I hired Jake on your
recommendation so I’ll assume you won’t mind reaching out to Abe and Mozart,” Dylan said.

  Cole nodded with a smile. “Consider it done.”

  Dylan flicked a glance at his cell phone before tucking it back in his pocket. “I want to know what they can do and if they’re interested. Evan, can you run the numbers and verify them for us?”

  Evan scraped back his chair and stood. “No problem.”

  “Slyder, can you cover me on the Linden stakeout tonight?” Dylan asked.

  Slyder nodded and slid his hands in his pockets. “Sure.”

  “Good, thanks. Looks like you’ve got your glimmer of hope, Jake. I’ll be there tonight to see how turnout is. Here’s your chance to impress me. It better be good if you want millions of dollars for this plan of yours,” Dylan said with one last glance before he headed for his office.

  Chapter 2

  Destiny Pierce eyed Lou’s Gym from a spot under the brightest parking light in the cracked asphalt lot. A faint mist danced and swirled under the glow as it drifted to the damp ground littered with puddles.

  She pulled her Dodgers cap low over her eyes and cast a glance around her.

  Searching.

  Always searching.

  Her palms sweat against the rough leather wheel as she listened for the sound of cars pulling in. The fine hair on the back of her neck stood up and tingled as if he were there in the shadows, watching. Waiting for her to make a mistake. Waiting for his opportunity to drag her back to the pit of hell.

  The din of traffic rolling by mingled with the pounding of her heart.

  But the echoing thud inside her won out. Picking up her cell, she shot off a text to her lawyer, Sean, to let him know she had arrived and her current address. She did it all by rote, how sad was it that she’d gotten so used to this lifestyle of always hiding in the shadows, hovering around the fringes of life. Existing.