Dangerous Trio
Part 2
By Jana Leigh
Editor: Kerri Good
Published by JLK
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents either are the product of the author"s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
© Copyright 2010 Jana Leigh. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Thank you for all the support of my family and friends and I hope you enjoy the story.
Part One: Bailey, Dallas, and Noah"s Story
Part 2: Calli, Steve, and Jolly"s Story
Part 3: Andres and Ginny"s Story
Chapter 1
Steve drove the maze to his friend's loft in the early morning, just as the sun was coming over the horizon. It was an awesome sight to see the sunrise or sunset in the Rocky Mountains, no matter where you are in Colorado; it is an awe-inspiring view.
Unfortunately, Steve had too much on his mind to really appreciate the view. His friends needed his help. Noah Prain and Dallas Strout had found the girl of their dreams; the only problem was Bailey Stent was wanted by the mob.
Bailey discovered her boss was head of the Digrossi family instead of the harmless little man she thought he was. She unwittingly had been the accountant for the mob family.
She found her mistake and was almost killed when they found out she discovered the truth. It had only been a few days ago and things had progressed very quickly.
Steve had a security company he ran with his best friend, Jolly. No one, but a few choice people knew they owned the company. When they started their security company, neither one of them thought it would take off so quickly, but they had a few high profile cases involving some big named stars. It shot them to the front of the personal security field. They liked to keep it a secret that they owned the company because they like to work directly with the customers, blending into the background was important in their line of work. Boring reports were never their thing, since they retired from the SEAL"s a few years ago; they preferred to be in the field working to keep people safe.
Noah and Dallas were one of their first clients. Noah had been a victim of a stalker a few years ago and when Dallas called, they worked day and night keeping them safe. They played by the book for the last time when they brought Noah"s stalker to court to press charges. It was because they played by the rules of the law, Noah had been shot in the courtroom and almost died. Jolly felt so guilty about the botched protection detail he had almost quit. It took Steve a month to help his friend through his depression and since then they did what was best for the client no matter who they pissed off. Because the laws regarding stalking cases were still not where they should be, most of the law enforcement people they worked with appreciated the lengths they went to for their clients.
The only good thing about the situation was meeting Calli. Steve smiled when he thought about the blue haired beauty Jolly and he were both in love with. Steve and Jolly both grew up in the foster care system. When they met during basic training, they had so much in common they constantly hung out together. The friends found out long ago they made a better team in a relationship, than by themselves. They shared everything; it probably came from training together day and night for eight years. When they had down time, they stayed together and found they could bring pleasure to any woman better together than separately. They were not bisexual and had no desire to experiment in that area, they loved each other like brothers not like lovers, and no woman could come between them.
Jolly was a very large man and often intimidated women and Steve was his security when he was with a woman. Jolly was afraid he would not be gentle enough for any woman, and relied on Steve to make sure he never hurt anyone. Steve never thought he would actually hurt a woman, Jolly was just insecure about his size. More often than not, he was gentler than Steve was, but most women were scared of him, and one bad experience soured Jolly from trying to chase a woman on his own. When they met Calli, she never shied away from Jolly because of his size. Steve always thought she refused their advances because she had a hard time thinking of herself in a relationship two men.
They had talked and were giving her another few weeks to come to terms with her feelings before they pressed a relationship. It had only taken a few meetings for the men to know she was the one for them. But, she refused to talk to them about it, saying she just wanted to remain friends because she did not want to lose them if things went south. What she didn"t understand was Jolly and Steve did not intend to allow that to happen, once they were together, they would stay together. They wanted to seal the deal with the little spitfire, and the sooner she accepted that, the sooner they could be together.
Steve pulled up outside the warehouse that held his friend"s loft. Steve and Jolly may not have grown up with money, but they had made a fortune with their company and a few well-placed investments, and had never been intimidated by Noah and Dallas"s wealth. He got out of the 4 Runner and smiled when he saw Jolly was waiting for him.
The giant man who stood six feet ten inches was standing in the doorway with a cup of coffee. They had just built a big cabin in the foothills of Denver, for Calli and them to move into when she finally accepted their love. They had not moved into it yet, instead waiting for the right time to show their woman their new home. Until then, they were staying at an apartment they bought in town for when they were on an assignment.
Regardless of how many beds they had, it was still not unusual for Jolly to sleep in his car. Since it had involved Noah and Dallas, Steve had been unable to convince the man their employees were good enough to watch the loft at night.
“Hey, man. What"s going on?” Steve said to his friend.
“Bailey called the States Attorney and they got their panties in a wad. They want her to come in and sign her statement and waiver, allowing us to protect her instead of taking her into protective custody. Dallas is pissed because they refused to allow the guy"s to come with her. Basically it"s a cluster fuck.” Jolly replied grimacing when Steve drank the cup of steaming coffee quickly. Jolly refuse to put anything but natural things in his body and constantly tried to get Steve to respect his own body. Morning coffee was one of their biggest fights.
“Shut up,” Steve said and walked toward the entrance. “I have only had one cup, besides I needed it to get up this early. So what are we gonna do?” Steve asked and stopped before he got on the elevator.
“Well, I am going to follow Bailey in the 4 Runner come hell or high water and the U.S.
Marshalls can kiss my ass. I think you should stay here with the guys and I will use the Nextel"s to communicate everything so they don"t freak out. When we get back, the schedule for protection can be started and we can give Bailey a better tracker. The Marshall will sweep her before she goes into the building, so for now I can use a short-range battery for her to turn on once she is past security. It looks like a pen, so the feds won"t take it away.” Jolly said and pushed for the elevator.
They got in together, and made their plans to tell the guys what was going on and before they rang the doorbell, they were happy with the details. Now they just had to convince the guys to stay calm. Noah and Dallas had been looking for their third for so long.
When they found her three days ago, they did not really give her much of a choi
ce whether she was going to agree or not. It had taken all of those three days to convince her she was meant for them. What he would not give to have Calli to agree with them that quick. Shit, they were on year two, and she refused to even go on a date with them.
Steve focused on the mission at hand and went into the loft when Noah answered the door. The men all hugged briefly and got down to business. Steve took over the explanation of the plan because when Jolly tried to do that portion of the job, he tended to dictate rather than explain. Dallas and Noah were used to it, but they were talking about their woman, not each other. There was a big difference. Finally, after a few hours of tweaking and explaining, they all agreed to the plan of action. Bailey was going to go with the Marshalls and when she got into the building, she would activate the tracker and mini microphone that Jolly would monitor. If there was a problem, Bailey had a safe word to use and Jolly would go in and get her, regardless where she was. She was not under arrest, so she was able to leave when she wanted or if she decided she did not want to testify.
Steve would remain with the guys and wait for Jolly to report to them and let them know when Bailey was being returned. They had just finished the discussion and showed Bailey how to work the pen when the doorbell from downstairs rang. Unless you knew the code, you could not get onto the elevator. Refusing to give the feds permission into their building, they made them wait until Jolly prepared Bailey to leave. They gave her a bulletproof vest to use, but because the woman was so tiny, it took a while to get it on and stay on. Finally, after a few extra buzzes, they were ready and Jolly took Bailey down the elevator.
The giant man stood in front of her, protecting her upon her exit from the building. He hustled her to the black SUV waiting for her and jumped into the 4 Runner, following them when they pulled away. Steve knew the Marshall's were trained well, but he had seen the length to what the scum of society would go to in order to protect themselves.
The Digrossi family had more money and connections than most and he refused to underestimate what they were willing to do to get Bailey to stay quiet.
It took only twenty minutes for the convoy to reach the downtown area of Denver.
There was a maze of streets they had to wind through to get to their destination.
Therefore, what should have been an extra five minute drive turned into thirty getting through the traffic. Jolly constantly watched around him to see if any threats were visible. He had a bad feeling in his gut that this was going to go bad.
He watched, as Bailey was led to the government building and timed her getting through security. If she took more than fifteen minutes, she knew he was coming in after her.
Right on time he heard the microphone go hot and used the Nextel to let the guys at the loft know they were on schedule. He listened as Bailey recounted her version of what happened a few days ago that led her to be shot by Caesar Digrossi. She showed incredible strength as she told her story. Her voice only shook once with emotion when she talked about Noah helping her when she jumped into his cab.
Jolly perked up when he heard a voice he did not know enter the room. He had checked before Bailey came here, making sure, they ran checks on everyone she would be in contact with to make sure they had not been compromised. When he heard the name Dave Trent, he knew they had a problem. He had no idea who that was, even though he was introducing himself to Bailey as her new case manager. Her old one had been vetted, and came out squeaky clean. Jolly called Steve, explained the situation, and asked them to run a quick check on the man. Jolly listened as the man explained to Bailey about their program and what it entailed. It was nothing new until he heard Trent say Bailey had to be taken to be printed and photo taken.
That was not right. They did not do that until she made her statement and agreed to their terms. She had yet to say she would help them with her personal testimony.
Bailey had already given them the records they needed to prove the Digrossi were laundering millions of dollars through shell travel agency, her testimony was just icing on the cake. Noah and Dallas wanted her to ask the States Attorney exactly what was expected of her before she agreed.
Jolly could hear the hesitation in her voice. He had specifically told her not to go with anyone alone, not even her case manager, and he had one of his feelings about why they insisted she come to the Fed building. In most cases, they would come to the person testifying, especially if that person had already had one attempt on their life. He started for the entrance when his Nextel went off and Steve was telling him there was a problem with Trent"s profile. He could hear Dallas yelling in the background, and started running, with his size he ate up the sidewalk quickly and pushed through the doors, flipping his security badge to the guards. He refused to wait, jumped the line, and ran through the metal detector. He did not have a gun, since leaving the service he refused to use one unless he was with a client alone and Bailey had been with the Marshall"s.
He heard the guards yelling at him, but he did not stop, instead he ran towards the stairs he knew led him up to Bailey. Jolly yelled over his shoulder for the guards to call for back up. He recognized one of the men chasing him finally and knew he would make it to Bailey before he was tackled and taken into custody. He listened to her conversation in one ear and Steve talking to him in the other. When he hit the door to the States Attorney, he had a host of guards following him. He paused long enough for him to explain part of the situation and then pulled the one guard he knew he could trust aside and briefed him on the situation. Jolly finally checked to make sure Bailey was still in the office before entering the lobby. He saw one of the U.S. Marshalls that took Bailey earlier and nodded. He stood his ground as he waited for the guards to do what they had planned in case of a situation like this. It would take a few minutes to get everyone into place and he could get Bailey out of here.
Knowing she was still safe, he stood in the hallway waiting for permission to get into the conference room Bailey was in. Finally, after clearance from the Marshalls, he poked his head into the room and asked to see Bailey. The look of relief that passed over her face was evidence enough he had not overreacted. He pulled her out of the office and asked for a conference room to talk to her alone.
Once the door down an opposite hallway was shut firmly behind them, Jolly took a deep breath and told Steve he had secured Bailey.
“What?” She said nervously looking at the big man. She knew she could trust him but he was so large, he scared her a little. If it had not been for Dallas explaining the situation with Jolly, she would have run screaming from the room.
“Honey, Mr. Trent failed the vetting process, we are waiting for instructions on what to do. Steve is calling the Marshalls right now and talking to them, I just wanted to come and make sure you were okay.” He said gently to the little woman. He knew he scared her and was trying to be soft and gentle with her. She was so tiny, thank God he had fallen for Calli who was at least taller that most women. Shit, if she had been any smaller, Jolly would have been terrified to touch her.
“What do we do?” She said glancing around nervously.
“Bailey, look at me, do you really think anyone will hurt you while I am standing right next to you?” He asked astonished, trying to put her a little at ease.
Bailey giggled and looked at him, still a little tense, but he could see she had relaxed somewhat. He needed her to trust him right now. Jolly looked around the room to see if he could find a place to hide her if things got a little out of control. He was thinking of a great plan while they were standing there. Jolly pulled the Nextel out of his coat, turned the earpiece back on, and talked to Steve quickly. He did not worry about pleasantries, instead, giving him orders, while he was pulling Bailey behind him in the closet that was in the corner. He finished talking to Steve, turned to Bailey, put his hands on her shoulder, and bent so they were face to face.
“Do you trust me?” He whispered and smiled at her.
She bit her lip nervously, but nodded. He explained what h
e wanted her to do and pushed her into the closet with encouragement. Jolly heard a slight knock on the door and went to answer it. Outside, was a small agent about the same size as Bailey, he opened the door wider so she could come in. Steve had made the call quickly to ask for a stand in foe Bailey.
“Ma"am my name is Jolly. I have a little problem that your boss said you would be willing to help me with so we can get your witness out of here alive. I believe you have been briefed on the problem with Trent?” He said briskly and shut the door quickly before anyone else could see there were actually two women in the room with him.
Thankfully enough, he had not seen anyone in the hallway when he answered the door, hopefully they were all still in the conference room across the building, waiting for them to come back. Mr. Trent was being watched, but until they could prove to the feds he was dirty, they were only allowing a little leeway.
The agent nodded, then went to the closet and did as Jolly requested. Before long, Bailey came out wearing the agent"s clothes and the agent with hers. He grabbed Bailey's hand and said to her quickly. “Now, we do not have enough time for me to go into detail here, but you know I am going to protect you with my life, right?” He said looking at her in the eyes so she would trust him more. She nodded and smiled.
“Jolly, I trust you; just tell me what to do.” Bailey said.
“Okay then, I am gonna take the little look alike here, and leave the building. You are going to get into the closet and lock it. Do not open it for anyone but Steve. He is on his way and knows where you are. No one will come in here and look for you when they see me with another woman. If I am wrong, I owe you a new outfit, but if I am right, Mr.
Trent will have someone following us. We will lead them away from you, until we can get you back to the loft. Under no circumstances will you leave the loft again, they can come to you and do the interviews or whatever. Now, what are you going to do?” He said gently to her.