Their Sin City Showgirl (The American Soldier Collection 7)

“Starting with Sandman and then with our closest friends and family. We’ll help bring justice to those families and to you. We’ll do it together,” Conway said as he gently caressed her cheek.

J.J. didn’t know if she could believe them or not. She wanted to. She didn’t want to face all of this and her fears alone anymore. She wanted to give into the comfort of their touch, their embrace, and the power behind their words.

“I’m sorry that Frank got you involved with this. You were all living normal lives and then I come along and—”

Calder placed his hands against her face.

“And you walked into our home and our hearts. You’re ours and we take care of what’s ours.” He kissed her, and she felt the tear roll down her cheek, and a little feeling of hope fill her heart. Perhaps these four American soldiers could save her from a fate she had already accepted.

Chapter 7

“Frank, explain it to us. This is a safe line. Conway’s team helped to do their thing and make it secure. Isn’t that right, Conway?” Sandman stated as he started the three-way conference call.

“That’s right, Sandman. No one can listen in on this call. It’s just you, me, and Frank. My men have been looking into the congressman,” Conway stated.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea? Every time the feds or some of the detectives start snooping deeper, we get a call or a threat. I just had one the other night,” Frank told them.

“What happened?” Conway asked.

Frank explained.

“So you think they were just trying to scare you and that they would push for a location on J.J.?” Conway asked, and he tightened his jaw. He had become so protective of her. Every day, his attraction grew deeper.

“The incident shook me up. For one, they had a picture of my girlfriend, a woman I was seeing under the radar because she’s on the job. So much for keeping that a secret anymore. The one who broke in was looking through old pictures of J.J.”

“Why would you have old pictures of J.J.?” he asked.

Frank was silent, and Conway knew immediately that the man was holding back information. Was J.J. once his lover, too? Could she have had a fling with her commander? It was possible. Things like that happened all the time, and he was seeing a woman in the department, now. Conway pushed for answers.

“Well?” he asked.

“I’ve known J.J. for a long time. We’re good friends. They must know this.”

“There’s something else that myself and Big Jay found out.”

“A private investigator? You had Big Jay snoop around, too? Shit,” Frank exclaimed, sounding really concerned.

“Hey, Frank, you can trust myself, my connections, and Conway’s to be discreet. We’re very good at what we do, and especially working as a team. Isn’t that right, Conway,” Sandman replied.

“That’s right. We’re pulling together our information and so far, we found that Dooley has been suspected of a lot of things. Things that if the public knew about, they sure as shit wouldn’t reelect him,” Conway stated.

“That’s right. He’s not such a supporter of the military either. He was involved declining military personal stipends and supplemental support upon their return from service to those who needed it. Then he tried to cover it up, by exclaiming that he and his constituents hadn’t read all the fine print of the new law. A real shit, he is,” Sandman said.

“We also found out that there were a series of incidents involving illegal prostitution. He would meet hookers at hotels, but not just any kind. He was into kinky shit. There was an investigation going on undercover as part of a sting operation. Drugs, manufacturing, and this illegal prostitution ring, where these thugs were bringing in women from other countries against their will. Anyway, an incident went down. There was gunfire exchange, a few undercover officers were killed, and Dooley was reported being at the scene. The specific information on that case was suddenly destroyed. It hadn’t shown anything about Dooley being there,” Conway told them.

“Where was this at, and when?” Frank asked, sounding upset.

“It was a couple of years ago. Out in Nevada. We have our men working on more and trying to uncover some of the buried information and possible evidence.”

“Were the three men killed part of the special investigative unit here?”

“Yeah. One was the head of training,” Conway said.

Again, Frank’s silence was unnerving to Conway. He wished that he could see his face, read his body language, because then he might be able to tell if he was withholding information or hiding something.

“We’ll keep digging. Conway and his men are very resourceful. They’ll help nail this asshole.”

“How is J.J.? Is she holding up okay?” Frank asked. Conway felt the jealousy immediately.