Finding Justice (Stealth Ops Book 2) Read online

  Finding Justice

  Stealth Ops

  Brittney Sahin

  EmKo Media

  Finding Justice

  By: Brittney Sahin

  Published by: EmKo Media, LLC

  Copyright © 2018 EmKo Media, LLC

  This book is an original publication of Brittney Sahin.

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Editor: Carol, WordsRU.com

  Editor: Anja, HourGlass Editing

  Proofreader: Judy Zweifel, Judy’s Proofreading

  Cover Design: LJ, Mayhem Cover Creations

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

  Ebook ISBN: 9781947717145

  Created with Vellum

  To our veterans.

  Contents

  Prologue: Recruitment

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Preview from Finding the Fight

  Also by Brittney Sahin

  Playlist

  Connect

  Prologue: Recruitment

  “If you’re here I must be in heaven.” Owen squinted, the harsh light too bright in his eyes as he observed his old SEAL friend Luke Scott standing alongside him. “But you’re not dead, and so . . .”

  A smile stretched Luke’s mouth, and he left his side and killed the lights.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled, preferring the sunlight coming through the window to one of man’s worst inventions—fluorescent bulbs. “What happened to me?”

  Luke returned to his bedside. “Your helmet came off during the blast, and you got yourself a concussion. Doc says you’ll be fine.”

  That explained the slightly shrill noise, like a ringtone buzzing in his ears. “A woman was on the porch when we went for the extraction . . . she was strapped with a vest, right?” After that, everything went black.

  “Yeah. Sorry, man.”

  After losing his brother five years ago in the same damn city in Iraq, he couldn’t believe he nearly died there, too. “My men? Are they okay?”

  “CO said they’re good.”

  Owen tried to sit, but Luke shook his head, and so, he relaxed onto the bed. “The HVT?”

  “I can’t confirm, but it doesn’t look like he was ever inside the house.”

  “Knew it was a damn trap.” Owen closed his eyes, his stomach shaky. “What are you doing here?”

  “What? I can’t visit a friend who got hurt?”

  Owen opened his eyes and shot him a pointed look. “I heard whispers of your retirement, but since you’re at a military hospital, I’m guessing those were rumors.”

  Luke had been on Team Three with him up until two years ago when he was pretty sure DEVGRU, or Team Six, had recruited him.

  “He did retire. Well, sort of.” It was a woman’s voice.

  He studied the gorgeous blonde sitting to his left. How had he not noticed her? He blinked and shook his head as if that would dispel the head-detached-from-body feeling he had going on right now.

  He narrowed his eyes, catching her long legs cross, then dragged his gaze up to her face. “Aw, you brought me a gift.”

  “Watch it,” Luke said. “She’s my sister.”

  “Now I see why you never showed any of the guys on base her picture.”

  “Didn’t want to have to kill anyone for—”

  “Luke . . .” Even in Owen’s foggy state, he could hear the clipped warning in Luke’s sister’s tone. “I’m Jessica.”

  “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but until I know why you’re here . . .” He clasped his hands atop his chest and burrowed the back of his head deeper into the not-so-fluffy pillow.

  His stomach tucked as a sudden wave of nausea hit him. Damn concussion.

  Jessica looked at Luke. “Do you want to enlighten him as to why we’re here, or do you want me to?”

  “Did someone die?” Owen nervously asked.

  “No, no one died.”

  Luke’s words afforded Owen the chance to take a breath, and a pinch of lucidity flowed through his mind. “How’d you get her in here, by the way?”

  Luke folded his arms, his biceps still the size of tanks. “She’s government.” There was a definite bite to his voice.

  “Guessing this is news to you?” Owen pressed his palms alongside his body to sit. Sister or not, if Luke brought a government official with him, he was about to be leveled by something serious.

  “Easy.” She was on her feet and pressing a palm to his shoulder, urging him back down. He swerved his gaze up to her blue eyes and settled his head back onto the pillow.

  “She dropped the bomb on me a few weeks ago about her place of employment.”

  “And what are you about to drop on me now?” Owen coughed into a closed fist, his stomach muscles tightening.

  Luke scratched at the blond stubble on his jaw, his cheeks inflating a touch as if the tension in the room had been magnified.

  What was he afraid to say, or ask?

  “The suspense is killing me, man, and I can’t afford to take any more hits. The suicide bomber nearly put me six feet under, so—”

  “I’m here to recruit you,” Luke cut him off, and it had Owen’s clenched fists atop his abdomen relaxing.

  “Say what?” Owen arched a brow and touched his forehead to find a bandage above his left eye.

  Luke’s Adam’s apple became visible as he swallowed. “The president asked me to co-lead a covert team of SEALs with Jessica. I know this is shit timing, and I hadn’t expected to find you laid up in bed when I got here, but the clock is sort of ticking. POTUS wants a team assembled as of yesterday.”

  Luke’s words had Owen dropping his eyes to the white blanket covering most of his body. “Did I hear you correctly, or are the drugs screwing with my head?” Owen closed and opened his eyes to ensure he was actually awake.

  “This is legit. You’ll still technically be a SEAL, but for all intents and purposes it’ll appear to the outside world as if you’ve retired,” Luke explained.

  “I’m leaving the CIA for this gig,” Jessica noted.

  CIA? Figures. “And what’s different about this team opposed to what I’m already doing?” His gaze drifted lazily skyward.

  “To put it plainly,” Jessica started, “there are certain missions the president needs off-the-books.”

  “Aren’t we already fairly off-the-books?”

  “Redacted documents still leave a trail,” Jessica answered. “We wouldn’t even exist in the government system.”

&
nbsp; “So, if shit gets hairy we’ll be up the creek without a paddle.” A quick smile met Owen’s lips.

  “Pretty much,” Luke commented. “But you’re always the guy up for an adventure.” He rounded the bed and stood next to his sister. Maybe he finally realized the back and forth head movements weren’t great for a guy waking up after an explosion. “The thing is, I need you to be comfortable with lying to everyone about what we do.”

  “We do that now.” Owen shrugged, but lifting his shoulders was a bad idea. Pain flowed down his spine and into his damn tailbone.

  “Yeah, but we’ll be operating everywhere around the globe, even in the U.S.,” Jessica said. “We’ll be working under an alias—Scott & Scott Securities, so if we stumble across the press or Feds—we’ll have some type of rationale for our work, so we don’t expose the truth.”

  “Man, and here I thought you’d call it Scott & York.” He slipped a quick grin to his face. “So, anything else I should know?”

  “You can keep the tavern your family turned over to you in Charleston, that’s no issue. It actually might help with the cover story.” She glanced at her brother out of her peripheral view. “We’ll have to take some legit jobs for our alias to keep up appearances, as well. This means you’ll work with some retired SEALs. They can’t know the truth, though, and that can be a hard pill to swallow.”

  He didn’t like lying, but he said, “I understand. I might need some time to think about this.” He didn’t want to leave his platoon, but he also liked a challenge.

  “We could really use a man like you on the team.” Luke tucked his hands into his jeans pockets.

  This shit is real, isn’t it? “Sounds like you assume I’d say yes, or you wouldn’t be so candid.”

  Luke half-shrugged. “I hate stealing our best people from the Teams, but, thankfully, I only need to steal nine. You’re one of those nine. Plus, you saved my ass big-time three years ago, and it’d be nice to work with you again.”

  “I almost forgot about that.” Jessica folded her arms across her silky blue blouse. “You guys lost both your pilots on an op, and you flew the team out, right?”

  Owen nodded.

  She dropped her head a little as if pained by the memory. “It was CIA intel that sent you guys on that op. ISR didn’t detect the mujs hiding there. Sorry.”

  “Lead-lined bunkers, so it wasn’t anyone’s fault.” He was quiet for a moment. “But, damn, woman, you really were deep in our shit, and you”—he pointed to Luke—“didn’t know this?”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Well, your experience as a Naval pilot before being a Teamguy could come in handy. You trained with both jets and helos, huh?” She released a soft breath. “Why’d you switch from being a pilot to a SEAL?”

  The memory of his loss fastened tight around his heart. “My brother.” But he had a feeling she knew that, and maybe she wanted to bring up the topic to see if it was an issue for him. Maybe this was also an interview . . .

  Silence punctuated the room for a few minutes before she cleared her throat. “If you accept this role, you won’t be able to go after his killer.”

  “It’s not like I’m allowed to here, either.” A taste of anger at that fact rolled around the back of his throat, and he tried to swallow it and move on. Well, move on for the moment, at least.

  “Command has concerns about your past interfering with this new role.” She was direct and to the point, he’d give her that.

  “Jessica,” Luke hissed.

  “He should know the truth.”

  “And I disagree with Command on that. And I’ll fight like hell to include Owen on every op, regardless of the target.”

  Owen sat upright, to hell with the drugs and pain. “You saying there’s a chance we might be able to find my brother’s killer?” His eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.

  “I promise I’ll do whatever I can to bring him to justice.” Luke’s jaw became hard-set, and his blue eyes thinned. “You have my word.”

  “Then I’m in.”

  Chapter One

  New York City

  Five and a Half Years Later

  Owen snapped his gloves together, eying Asher in the boxing ring.

  Asher lowered his fists and winked. “Come on, princess. Is that all you got?”

  Owen raised his leg in the air and brought it down, straight like an axe, onto Asher’s leg and then shifted on the ball of his foot upon landing and caught him across the jaw with a right hook.

  Asher shook it off and grinned. “Better.” He motioned for him to come at him again.

  Owen attacked with jabs and uppercuts, but Asher deftly blocked each one of his moves and then wrapped his arms around him in a cinch position.

  “Aww, are you boys hugging?” Jess rested her wrists on the rope that circled their makeshift fighting area and flashed a smile.

  “You want to swap with him? I’d be happy to teach you a few moves.” Asher released his hold on Owen, but Owen caught him with an elbow to the chin in the process. “Fucker.” Asher half-laughed.

  Owen ducked Asher’s next swing and swiped his leg to bring him down.

  Asher’s body smacked the ground with a heavy thud, and another smirk found his lips. “Finally got the drop on me, man. Won’t happen again.”

  Owen may have been a decent fighter, but Asher was practically a pro.

  “So, Peaches, you want me to teach you, or what?” Asher shoved upright, his attention focused on Jess.

  “I don’t need lessons from a caveman like you. I’m capable of defending myself, but thanks.”

  “Sure, honey. You keep telling yourself that.” He directed his gaze back to Owen and raised his guard.

  Owen was ready to let loose again, to alleviate some of his stress, but before he could swing, he caught Jess tilting her head to the side, her quiet way of saying we need to talk. “Give me a minute.”

  He lifted the rope, ducked under, and started after her while removing his gloves.

  “Can we chat in my office?” She stopped in front of the private elevator and faced him.

  He tossed his gloves on a nearby chair. “You want me up in your swanky office like this?” He thought about their admin who always sat coyly behind her desk whenever the guys were in the office.

  A grin teased her lips as she observed his sweaty and bare chest. “Tyra would have a heart attack.”

  He propped a hand on the wall over her shoulder and angled his head. “You okay?” His eyes thinned as he studied the woman who had become like a sister to him over the years.

  Her blues traveled over his shoulder, and he followed her gaze to where Asher banged out burpees in the middle of the fighting ring.

  Owen cleared his throat and fought a smile. “You two should get it out of your systems, and soon, it’d be better for all of us.”

  The muted red of her shirt now matched her cheeks. “Are you nuts? He drives me crazy.”

  “And your brother would kill him if he touched you, but why let that stop you?” He dropped his hand from the wall when the elevator doors opened.

  “I don’t want . . .” She shook her head. “Can we just talk upstairs?”

  “With or without the shirt?”

  She rolled her eyes and tsked. “Get cleaned up first.”

  He waited for her to disappear behind the closed elevator doors before heading back to Asher. “I’m being summoned. We’ll have to pick this up later.”

  “I wonder if she’ll ever get that stick removed from her ass.”

  I’m sure you’d like to be the one to do it. Owen bit back his thought, though. He wondered if Luke purposefully ignored the tension that pounded the room whenever his sis and Asher were together. They really were going to either kill each other one day—or tear each other’s clothes off.

  “So, what does Boss Lady want with you?” He shoved a hand through his dark hair before reaching for his gloves on the floor.

  “I don’t
know, but it can’t be about an op.”

  “She requested both of us to fly in yesterday, so what else could it be about?” Asher crossed his tatted arms and eyed him. “Luke’s still on vacation with Eva, right?”

  Owen nodded. He still couldn’t believe his boss had fallen in love. He broke the rule of no commitments allowed Luke himself had made mandatory after their only married teammate died on an op.

  Guess the rule was null and void now.

  “Maybe she needs us on one of her school-boy missions,” Asher said as they went into the men’s locker room. The entire gym was for their team and only their team. No one in the Manhattan sky rise was aware of its existence.

  “‘School-boy missions.’ Is that what you’re calling them these days?” Owen turned on the shower.

  The cases they took on under the Scott & Scott Securities alias could still get dangerous, but maybe Asher was right—compared to what they did on the DL for the president those ops were like a walk in the park. A dark park with shadowy motherfuckers hiding, but still.

  “Well, she didn’t request your ass up in her office. So, maybe she just brought you in to release some tension?”

  Asher’s dark brown eyes caught Owen’s in the reflection of the mirror as he braced against the vanity counter. “Fuck you.”

  “Pretty sure it’s not me you want to screw. Well, it’d sure as hell better not be.”

  “You want to get back in the ring so I can show you how easy I’ve been taking it on you?”

  “Right. You’re as old as me. Those days are almost over.”

  Asher shook his head. “Speak for yourself. Thirty-seven is looking to be my best year yet. I’m getting better with age.”