SWAT Team One and the Social Worker (9 page)

Dustin had. She would never make it to the doctor’s office.

* * * *

SWAT Team One and the Social Worker

63

Sam checked her messages as the guys cleaned up from lunch.

She heard the voice mails from Sienna.

“I hope you are okay, Sam. We’re so scared. Members of the gang

keep driving by. Mom can’t stop crying, so Jimelle is scared. We’re
staying home from school. Mom knows that they can get to us there.

Please call me.”

The tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t cry. Instead she rose from

her chair. Before she could say a word, Donny put his arms around

her from behind.

“What’s wrong?”

She was silent a moment because she knew the moment she said

the words that they were going to yell. But at least only Donny and

Trey were in the room. They were the quietest of the five.

“I need to stop by the precinct in the city after the doctor’s office.”

Her heart pounded in her chest, and Sienna’s words echoed in her

mind.

“It’s Saturday. There’s no need to,” Trey added, now standing in

front of her. They were both very large men. A massive contrast to

her five-foot-five-inch frame. She dare not look up at them to see their facial expressions. Donny moved his hands up her back to her

shoulders. Touching her cheek before he moved in front of her, she

was grateful he released his hold. She swallowed hard as he leaned his backside against the kitchen table. Trey crossed his arms in front of

his chest and waited patiently for her to continue.

“I have to go. They need me.”

As soon as the words left her lips, Trey and Donny looked at one

another as if they knew something but weren’t going to tell her. They

were silent, but she sensed something between them. She couldn’t

figure it out. All she knew was that she needed to get to Brandy and

the kids then help them into a safe house.

“I need to help them. The gang members are harassing them. The

kids are scared, and they’re not going to school.”

“You’re not going back there.”

64

Dixie Lynn Dwyer

Her anger was beginning to increase. They had no right to tell her

what she could and couldn’t do. The family needed her. They were

the victims, and if she didn’t get them out of there, no one would.

She turned away from them and walked out of the kitchen.

“Sam, stop and listen, will you?” Donny yelled.

Kyle was walking through her front door as she headed toward the

staircase.

She looked at him then back at Trey and Donny.

Placing her hands on the railing, she looked at them and calmly

spoke.

“I am going upstairs to brush my teeth and prepare to leave for the

doctor’s appointment. I’m going to go to the appointment, and then I

am going to the office so I can help work on a plan to get Brandy to a safe house, with or without any of you.”

She heard the sounds of numerous curses and statements, but she

didn’t listen. Instead she calmly walked upstairs and prepared to

leave. Ten minutes later she headed out the door with her entourage.

SWAT Team One and the Social Worker

65

Chapter 4

“So how did the conversation go with Samantha?” Commander

Stevenson asked Ted as Ted sat in his office in the forty-sixth

precinct.

“Just as I expected it to go, but at least the guys got her to go to

the doctor. Her eye and cheek look really bad.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t looking good last night. ‘Team One’ has been

with her ever since the raid.”

Ted sighed then looked out the window overlooking the city

streets. His brother wanted Sam to be protected no matter what. Alex

loved her, and Alex never loved anyone or anything but his pack and

the Marine Corps. His promise had weighed a toll on Ted over the

years, but it also shined some light on unanswered questions the pack

had about Alex’s loyalty to the pack and to the family.

“What is it, Ted? I’ve known your family for years. Worked with

your father and served with him in war. I understand the upset you all had when Alex went rogue, but you know why he did it. He was

protecting you and Sam. He was protecting the family.”

“I could have helped him.”

“No, you couldn’t have. He knew he had to destroy the

organization in Wolf City one at a time. He confided in you when he

knew you and Sam were safe and that they were coming after him.

You did your job as he wanted, and you protected Sam.”

“At what cost, Al? Sam continues to think that Alex committed

suicide. She blames herself. It’s why she left Texas and headed out

here. I can’t keep her safe here, Al. I want her back home in Texas

where she belongs.”

66

Dixie Lynn Dwyer

“She’s remained safe so far. There’s no sign from the inside that

Reddington is aware of what Sam possesses.”

“Fuck, Al! Sam doesn’t even know what she possesses. She could

have been killed in that situation in the South Bronx when that dumb

fucking gangbanger held the family and her hostage.”

“She held her own, and you know she’s tough enough to handle

most everything.”

“She’s not a wolf.”

“You could change that if you wanted to.”

“Fuck!” Ted ran his hand through his light brown, shoulder-length

hair.

“She belongs to Alex.”

“She
belonged
to Alex. He’s gone, Ted, and she’s a gorgeous woman. She has all the traits of an Alpha female.”

Ted was silent as he looked around the office. Anywhere but

directly at Al. He thought about Sam, and any fool could see how

special she was. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t

attracted to her. But the fact that his brother risked his life to save her and that they were once lovers had him refraining from mating her.

Plus, knowing Alex, there had to be some special reason why he

chose Sam to hide the chip on her. There also had to be a special way

to unlock the information. It was all too scientific and high tech for Ted’s liking. He didn’t want to know all the details. He just wanted

his brother back and Sam safely at home in Texas.

“Well, I can tell you this much, Ted. If you don’t claim her now,

she’s going to be claimed by Team One.”

“What?”

Al smiled at Ted. “They’re wolves like you and I. They are

descendants from Valdamar.”

“Holy Fuck! Valdamar? Their family leads the fight against

Reddington. They have men and women in the millions in every

armed force, government, and civil agency on this planet. Wait. Are

SWAT Team One and the Social Worker

67

they the team that snuck into the Netherlands to take out Reddington’s number one financial supporter last May?”

“You got it. They’ve been around Sam for over a year and a half.

They always seem to show up when she needs something. The last

three times Sam was in a pickle, I sent out for backup, and before they arrived, someone from Team One was there, if not all five of them.”

Ted released a huge breath of air. “Do you think they’re her

mates?”

“Sam holds all her emotions inside. She has a huge heart, Ted. It’s

why she risked her life for this family. She won’t rest until she knows that they’re safe.”

“How is that going anyway?”

“The father is going to be released on bail. The gang he’s part of

is a major fucking problem throughout the city. If we could just take

them all out, we would.”

“Why can’t you?”

“It’s the government’s decision. They feel that they can use them

for the cause. If there’s a fuckup and something goes down in the city, they can label it ‘gang related’.”

“Smart.”

“So how long are you going to be in New York?”

“Until I can convince Sam to leave with me. Our families are

antsy.”

Al chuckled as he moved around some papers on his desk.

“Good luck with that.”

“She should be in the doctor’s office by now.” He glanced at his

cell phone and wondered when would be the best time to let Sam

know he was in New York.

68

Dixie Lynn Dwyer

Chapter 5

Adam walked into the doctor’s office waiting room with Sam. He

gave her some space as she signed in by the front desk, and he looked

around at the other patients in the room. He recognized a few of the

guys waiting and three particular ones. One had a bandage around his

head. The other obviously escorted him here.

All the men looked at Sam. She was gorgeous in her slim-fitting

beige skirt, black silk tank top, and black low pumps. Her hair was

pulled back in a low ponytail, revealing her muscular shoulders and

toned arms. The way her skirt hugged her ass had him shifting his

sitting position in the chair. A glance around the room told him that

he wasn’t the only one sexually attracted to Sam. His wolf was

immediately on the defensive.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? I’m the one who’s going to be

poked and bothered?” Sam asked, sounding sarcastic. She sat in the

chair next to him and crossed her legs.

Without thought he placed his hand over her bare knee and leaned

over toward her.

“You’ll be fine, Sam.”

She blushed, and he smirked at his ability to do that to her. Her

stunning green eyes sparkled with desire. He wanted to be alone with

her. He wanted to kiss her and make love to her as he had dreamt

about for months now.

Sam looked over his shoulder and saw the scowls on some of the

guy’s faces except for one. Jerry Parker. He had a case she was

involved in three months ago. He was a really nice guy and a dad of

SWAT Team One and the Social Worker

69

four boys. His poor wife Sarah was pregnant with a fifth in this

godforsaken heat wave.

She smiled at him and waved. Adam sat back and watched as

Jerry got up and walked over.

“Whoa, Sam, how are you? I heard about what happened. Did you

get my message?”

“Yes, I did. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to call back. It’s been

crazy. Do you know Adam?”

Jerry looked at Adam, eyed him suspiciously then smiled. He

reached out to shake Adam’s hand.

“I think I’ve seen you around or maybe one of your brothers.

There’s like five of you, right?”

Adam nodded, but he wasn’t conversational.

Sam looked annoyed.

“How is Sarah feeling?”

“Oh, man, this fucking heat is killing her. She’s been staying at

my mom’s house. There’s more room for her and the boys, and air-

conditioning. My fucking unit broke down Friday.”

“Oh, no! Of all days for that to happen.”

“You’re telling me.”

Just then the nurse came out and called Jerry’s partner inside.

“What happened to him?” Sam asked.

“Oh, he had a little run-in with a gang. There were four of them

and just him. He witnessed a robbery in progress, called it in, and

before backup arrived, he went in gung ho, and the shit hit the fan.

The owner of the store had a gun, took out two perps, then Tyrone

over there fired his gun, wounding one, but didn’t know there were

three others behind him. They hit him over the head with a gun. I felt really bad for not being there, but Sarah had those Braxton-Hicks

contractions. We were at the hospital, but they sent us home. False

alarm.”

Sam chuckled. “Hey, that happens all the time. I’m sure she’ll

have the baby soon.”

70

Dixie Lynn Dwyer

“It’s two weeks late today,” he added then they heard the nurse

call Sam’s name.

“It was good seeing you, Sam.”

“You, too, Jerry. Give Sarah my best, and let me know when the

baby is born. I want to come by and see her.”

“You bet.”

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Adam asked.

Sam rolled her eyes and walked toward the nurse.

* * * *

“Her eye looks really bad. I hate to see her with such injuries,”

Jerry stated to Adam.

“Yeah.”

This Adam guy didn’t seem too friendly at all. He had a chip on

his shoulder, and Jerry wasn’t sure he liked Sam hanging out with

such a guy. He hoped that she wasn’t seeing him. A lot of times good-

looking women hung out with abusive assholes. If he didn’t know the

truth about what really happened to Sam, he would question this big

guy.

“So how long you know Sam for?” Jerry asked. His inquisitive

mind wanted answers. Plus he knew Sarah would want the scoop. She

had been trying to set Sam up for months. Sam never took the bait on

any of the guys.

“A long time. You?” Adam asked, eyeing Jerry from head to toe

as if summing him up. Jerry was on edge. His gut told him that this

guy was not one to mess with. The SWAT teams had crazy

reputations. Team One was one of the craziest groups of bastards out

there, but he had to know where this guy stood with Sam. Sure, the

guy was very big. He towered over Sam, and he had a few inches on

Jerry, who was six feet tall. One look at the guy’s muscular physique

and rock-solid chest that the black T-shirt stretched across told Jerry
SWAT Team One and the Social Worker

71

the man was a weapon himself. Jerry cleared his throat as the soldier