spoke with her, but that doesn’t mean she is.”
Josh concurred wholeheartedly with that assessment. “She’s safe. Tomorrow is Sunday, what time do you open?”
“Same time, seven a.m. I don’t start until three tomorrow. Dix said she’d open the shop.”
“I doubt that. Can you task one of the other staff?”
“Um, yeah. I’ll try. This is all getting a little scary.”
Josh understood Sabrina’s concerns, and she didn’t even know the half of it. “Things always get messy before the air clears.”
“You’re sure Dixie is okay?”
“She is. If anyone asks of her whereabouts, tell them she’s down with the flu. Don’t share any other information. If that guy you saw the other morning comes into the Erotic Bean or you see him lurking near the shop, call me immediately.”
“I understand. Bye.”
Placing his hand on a hip and rolling the cell in his left palm, he started plotting what they knew so far.
“Commander!” He glanced up at Ghost. “Best thing to do with your men is voice your thoughts.”
The admiral’s suggestion made sense, but this wasn’t company business. “I need to get in touch with Gesem. I don’t know what Kallis has planned, but he said he spoke with her.”
The kitchen sat next to the living room. The only distinction between the two being the flooring and furnishings. The admiral took a seat on the chintz sofa.
Elijah joined the admiral and said, “Not a bad idea. She can confirm whether or not he approached her. My guess is that he’s lying. Why would she open up about you to a stranger?”
Good question. The bigger concern was Gesem’s tendency for routine. She thrived on it, which made it easy for a predator to track her movements. Worse, had she actually come to San Diego?
He dialed her number and the call went to voice mail. “Hey, Gesem. It’s Josh. Listen, I need you to call me back as soon as you get this message.”
While weighing the pros and cons of allowing the team guys in the room to get too deeply involved with Dixie’s problem, a tall, well-built man in his fifties stepped into the kitchen from the patio.
Elijah immediately jumped to his feet. “Thomas. I’ll speak with you outside.”
The man’s hazel eyes quickly surveyed the scene, the creases of concern evident, but he turned and headed outside.
Eli sighed. “That’s Rayne’s father. Decent guy but he doesn’t like me.”
“Wonder why?” Josh grinned at his friend and Elijah followed Rayne’s dad outside.
Greg LaPierre spoke quietly with Tinman, then took a seat beside Ghost. When Josh had accepted the post at Coronado, Elijah explained that LaPierre had worked with the Canadian JTF2 Special Forces, but immigrated to the US with his wife, Mattie. Greg was related to the Austens and worked on the base as a liaison. But with Ghost’s earlier explanation, it blew Josh’s mind that the admiral could overcome what he’d learned about Kayla and Greg’s relationship and still be his friend.
As the admiral had said, it must have been a hard pill to swallow. He’d bet a million bucks the road to happiness had been paved with a thousand feet of skid marks.
Turning his thoughts back to Chandler Kallis, Josh was almost dead certain he’d identified Dixie’s stalker, but hesitant to tell her until he was absolutely sure. He hoped Gesem would call him back soon. She might be able to provide more intel.
“Thoughts, sir?” Tinman asked.
“I need to know if that bastard approached Gesem. By now, he’s perfected his technique. Charismatic, especially with women. He’s a predator with a pedigree.”
Fox took a seat in the armchair to the right of Ghost. “This woman you were involved with, where does she work?”
“Office of Naval Intelligence. She’s based in Little Creek.”
Mace, Tinman, Stitch, Cracker and Tadpole, aka Nathan Young, grabbed kitchen chairs and joined the circle while Tex and Ditz remained at the table.
Mace said, “Orders, Commander.”
“Appreciate the offer, Mace, but I can’t ask you to get involved. This is my problem.”
Tinman wrinkled his brow. “We’re involved. Mace and I are pushing paperwork until the next BUD/S Orientation class. Fox and the guys from Alpha Squad are staying local for the remainder of their workups, and most of ‘em are on leave shortly, prior to deployment.”
Before Josh could debate their involvement, his cell rang again. Caller id unknown. “Hello, CDR Hunter, here.”
“Yes, Commander, this is Det. Dean. Listen, I did a background check on Chandler Kallis.”
“Let me guess. He’s been charged with assault or rape and got off every time. I’m here with my men, I’m