Vinny: Alvarez Security Series (2 page)

“When Jobe and I went down to the village to check on things, I could see the woman who’d been singing. After the men came through, they made quick work of killing her.”

“I’m sorry, bro,” Gabe said gently, with heartfelt sympathy.

Vinny sat with his forearms on his tree-trunk legs, head hanging down. “And that fuckin’ harp. Not only was she killed but that harp thing she was playing was busted. Like they had to completely silence the music.”

Gabe stood, placing his hand on his twin’s shoulder. “You gonna be okay?”

Heaving a huge sigh, Vinny nodded. “Yeah. I just don’t think I’ll ever feel about music the same way. Something about that sound was haunting and made me think of mom when she would sing to us. It hit a little too close to home, you know?” Looking up at Gabe he said, “I think I’ll try to get a call off to mom later. You in?”

“Absolutely. Just let me know when.”

Nodding, he watched as Gabe walked out of the room. Sitting alone, he finally stood and opened his locker to grab clean clothes to take to the showers. The bottom of the locker contained some of his personal effects that included a few CDs. He bent to look at the titles—mostly heavy metal which he put back into his locker. The few that were lighter music were tossed into the trash.
From now on music’s gotta be for getting pumped—for forgetting. Never for feeling.

He tried to remind himself of that at night when the memory of the village woman’s simple song haunted his dreams and the sight of the broken, bloody lyre filled his nightmares.

Five Years Later

T
he plane took
off from the Richland International Airport an hour late, causing Vincent Malloy to continually check his watch. Having turned off his cell phone, he anxiously wondered if he was going to make his connecting flight to Los Angeles. Rubbing a hand over his face, he settled back into his first-class seat, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now.

Sitting in the window seat, he glanced at his row partner, a businessman having to be reminded for the third time to turn off his phone and shut down his computer.
Jesus, man, I know you fuckin’ fly all the time. Turn your shit off.

The man barely glanced at him before looking around the cabin and calling over the flight attendant to ask if he could move to another empty seat. Her eyes darted over to Vinny, but what flashed through her expression was lust. Vinny smirked, knowing he looked a little rough. Six feet four inches tall and over two hundred twenty pounds of muscle, with tats showing on his arms, he knew he was intimidating to other men. And interesting to women.

The attendant helped the other man settle into a different seat, giving Vinny the opportunity to stretch his legs out the way he wanted. He watched her as she winked while moving back toward the front. A moment later she came by with his coffee, bending low to place it on his armrest holder. While her uniform was not overly revealing, he noticed that she had unbuttoned the next two buttons on her tight blouse, allowing a tantalizing view of her breasts.

“Sir, if you need anything at all on this flight, please don’t hesitate to call for me. Or if you happen to be near the attendant’s station,” she said, nodding toward the front where the bathrooms were, “just ask for me. I’ll be happy to see to your every need.”

Vinny just nodded, wondering for a second if he would take her up on her blatant invitation.
Maybe if I hadn’t just partied like hell last night.
Even though he was only going to be gone for two nights, his buddies had given him a send-off.
Or maybe I gave myself a send-off. Whatever, it was fun and I wouldn’t mind finding that blonde again for a repeat performance.
As he leaned his head against the headrest, his mind went back to the previous evening’s fun.

He and some friends had gone to a bar and the sound of loud, hard rock music with a deafening beat pulsated through him, firing his blood. It did not take long for several women to begin circling the group of tall, muscled, tatted men. Rubbing his hand over his face, he realized his interest was waning for the same old, same old. He had spared a glance at Gabe, who had no problem fending off the ladies, letting them know he was definitely off the market. His brother’s wife was a dynamite little lady…beautiful and a real sweetheart as well. Glad for his twin, he sure as hell had not found anyone like that. Where had that come from? I’ve got no interest in being tied to one woman now. Startled at where his musings had taken him, he reached for the tall, stacked blonde who had been trying to get his attention for the past thirty minutes.

Taking her down to the dance floor, he pulled her into his body feeling her ass grind into his crotch. As tall as she was, her ass hit just the right spot. Oh yeah, it’s time to quit this joint. She turned to face him, pressing her enormous breasts into his chest.

“You want to go back to your place, sweetie?” she cooed.

“Nope. Not my place. You in the mood, we go to yours. I’m a one-night, one-stop kind of guy.”

Her heavily made-up eyes lit with desire. “I’m totally good with that,” she agreed, pulling him off the dance floor.

Several hours later, he moved from her bed knowing he needed to go back to his place to get ready for the trip. Looking down, he stared at her body sprawled out naked on the bed. She was pretty, he had to admit. Long legs that had wrapped around his hips. A full ass that gave him something to grab when taking her from behind. And those breasts. He knew they were real because of the feel of them, but the size? Fuck. Enormous handfuls, with large dark nipples, that swayed back and forth with each pounding. She leaned up in the bed, her face slack with a hangover and makeup smeared around her eyes.

“You goin’, sugar?” she asked, rubbing her hand over her chest. “You don’t want more?”

“Gotta go, but thanks. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime,” he said, noncommittally. Standard line. Always meant the same thing. Once I’ve tasted, I don’t come back.

A flash of irritation flew through her eyes, but he walked out nonetheless. He had to get ready for work.

*

“Will you be
in Los Angeles for long?” she purred once again.

Startled, Vinny jerked his eyes open seeing the flight attendant leaning over him again. Shaking his head, he replied, “No. Just for the night. I’ll be flying back tomorrow.”

“Then you’ll definitely have to try to get in as much as you can as quickly as you can,” she smiled.

Chuckling at her invitation, he shook his head saying, “The coffee’ll do me for now.”

Watching her walk back to the attendant station, it was hard to keep his eyes off of her ass. The rear view of her was almost as good as the front.

Once in the air, he leaned his head back again. He felt like he should be reading up on his security escort case, but Tony had purposefully kept him in the dark. Tony Alvarez, his former Captain, had opened up his own Security Agency once out of the Army. Several of their squad were being discharged at the same time and gladly joined him in his growing business, filling it with his brothers-in-arms who had left the Special Forces as well. Men from their squad. Men they trusted. Men whose skills were unparalleled. Tony’s agency now handled not only installing state-of-the-art security systems, providing security to any number of dignitaries or functions in the area, but also helped the Richland Police Department on a number of cases where their budget constraints did not allow for the equipment that he had.

Closing his eyes once again, he thought back to the conversation between them a few weeks ago.

Gabe and I were in the main Alvarez area working on a new security system when BJ walked by, calling out to me.

“Boss wants to see you. He’s in his office.”

I immediately headed to Tony’s office, finding him at his desk with files spread in front of him. “You called for me, sir?”

Tony looked up at me, staring for a moment before saying, “Business has been steady and we’ve got a good reputation in Richland and now in Virginia. But I’ve got a new request for someone who travels in and out of the state. That kind of recognition has come from hard work and dedication and I’d like you to take it. This could take our company to a whole new level.”

My interest piqued, I waited to hear more about it.

“Got a request for a security detail to escort someone from Los Angeles to Richland.” My face must have shown interest…and concern. Gabe had gotten tangled up with a diva actress on an assignment before meeting his fiancé, Jennifer, and it had turned out to be a cocked-up situation.

“Nope, not an actress. A musician,” Tony clarified.

“Just an escort detail?” I asked, willing to take any mission assigned, but curiosity getting the better of me.

“Yes, they’ll have a concert in LA where you will meet them. You’ll escort them on their flight to Richland.”

“Concert?” I was definitely interested at the idea of spending a couple of days with a female musician, preferably a beautiful rock star. “Who is it?”

Tony sat quietly for a moment, staring at the file in front of him. Rubbing his chin in thought, he finally looked up at me and said succinctly, “Not saying.”

“Not…saying? Sir?”

Tony looked deeply at me before continuing. “Vincent, you’re one of my best. Ever since the first time I laid eyes on you and your twin, I couldn’t have asked for better. One thing about you was that when you were on a mission, you gave me one-hundred percent. Off mission, if you thought with your dick it didn’t matter. You still work just as hard for me as when we were in the Special Forces, but I need your head on this mission and not thinking with your dick.”

I started to protest, but Tony put up his hand. “I want you on this mission, regardless of who it is.”

Understanding what was at stake, I agreed. Male, female, old, young…it did not matter to the mission. Standing, I nodded to the leader I trusted with my life. “When do I leave?”

“I’ll have the details by the end of the week and you need to be ready to fly to California next week.”

*

Looking at his
watch as they landed in Chicago, he knew he missed the connecting flight. Hurrying to the ticket counter, he waited impatiently as they managed to get him on the next flight to LA. Nodding his thanks, he made his way to the gate.

There was no need to pull out the assignment instructions again. He had them memorized. He was originally going to check into the hotel and have time to change before taking a taxi to the concert hall. Given backstage access, he would be there for the concert. He would meet the manager, the agent, and then after the concert…the artist. Escort them back to the hotel, where they would be staying, and then to the airport the next day for their flight back.

Tony had been specifically obtuse about the identification of the musician. The realization that his boss and friend was unsure of his professionalism with a hot rocker had Vinny grimacing. Vinny decided against checking concerts in the LA area, wanting to maintain complete control over the mission regardless of who he was escorting. It did not matter to him if she was a big name or not—he was taking this mission as seriously as all his other missions. He knew there was no danger involved or Tony would have briefed him completely. This was purely an official escort mission.
What’s the worst that can happen? I have to scare a few paparazzi?

Hearing his flight being called, he made his way on board for the last leg of the trip. Settling down, he checked his watch one more time.
I’ll have just enough time to get to the hotel and change before heading to the concert hall.

An hour later, he was seething as the plane was just taking off. Mechanical difficulties, the pilot had said. Re-running his schedule through his mind, he knew he would have to take his luggage with him and catch a taxi directly to where he was meeting the musician. Glancing down at his attire, he was traveling for comfort. His jeans, while clean, were slightly worn. His black t-shirt stretched tightly across his chest, only partially hiding the Malloy tattoo on his arm. His hair was trimmed neatly, but still long enough that it was standing on end from all of the times he had run his hand through it in frustration.