Landing Eagle

by Harley Stone

  Now that is a surprise, Marine.

  Closing up the book drawers, I turned my attention to the nightstand beside his bed. A Beretta M9 (apparently not all of his guns were kept locked up), a box of condoms, and some bank statements were stashed in the drawer. I wasn’t after Eagle’s money, and couldn’t have cared less about the state of his finances. After all, I’d been banking most of my checks throughout my ten years of service and had built myself up a nice little nest egg. I wasn’t rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but I had enough that I wouldn’t struggle if I waited until after the baby was born to find a job.

  I didn’t need Eagle’s money.

  What I really wanted, was his participation.

  For just a moment, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to dream about what that would look like. Our child would most likely have Eagle’s dark hair and eyes. I could almost imagine him with a baby in one hand and one of those books in the other, reading aloud. The image made my chest squeeze and my eyes burn.

  “Damn pregnancy hormones,” I mumbled, blinking back tears.

  Refusing to let myself get caught up in what might be, I focused back on the task at hand—operation find shit out about Eagle. I was holding his bank statement in my hand. I considered not looking, knew I’d be able to tell a lot about him by where he spent his money. Besides, like I said, I was nosy. So, yeah, I looked it over.

  Eagle’s job must have been quite lucrative, because he had well over two hundred grand in his savings and about five grand in checking. Monthly payments went to the club, no doubt for room rent and club dues. There were no house or car payments, he made bi-monthly transfers into his savings, and he mostly spent his money on meals, drinks at the Copper Penny, groceries, and gas.

  Eagle was a simple man.

  Well, besides his completely unexpected book collection.

  By the time I finished browsing his bank statements, I felt marginally shitty for violating his privacy, so I settled on his bed and pulled my tablet out of my purse to begin the great hunt for a job, a place to live, and an OBGYN. My phone immediately rang. I looked at the display and groaned. Link. I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, but he’d worry if I didn’t answer, especially since he knew I was still stateside.

  “Hey, Link,” I answered.

  “Hey, Squirt, how you doin’?”

  Man, I hated that nickname. “Fine. I’d be fantastic if you’d quit calling me that, though. What’s up? Everything okay?” Link and I hadn’t talked since last week. My brother had always been able to sniff out when something was wrong with me, and he’d know the second I lied to him—he always did—so I’d kept our last conversation short.

  “Everything’s good. I’m just checking on you since you haven’t called yet this week. Do you know when your next deployment is?” he asked.

  Never. I didn’t want to lie, but I saw no way out of it. “Not yet.” Panicking that he could tell I was full of shit, I said, “Hey, I’m right in the middle of something. Can I call you back later?”

  “Well, okay.”

  He had to know something was up. Time to go. “Great. Talk to you later. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I hung up and all the air rushed from my lungs. I needed Eagle to hurry up and get here so I wouldn’t have to keep this secret any longer. Desperate to keep myself busy, I went back to my online search.

  Not five minutes later, the doorknob turned, and Eagle walked right in. He froze, as his gaze settled on me.

  “Hey, welcome home,” I said, giving him my most bolstering smile.

  “Naomi,” he said. Something that looked a lot like relief flickered over his expression. He glanced at the phone in front of me and his brow furrowed. “You’re… you’re here. Is everything okay?”

  Was it? “I don’t know if ‘okay’ is the word I’d use.”

  His eyebrows shot up in confusion. “Link just talked to you, and you were…” He looked back at the door. “What’s going on?”

  His jeans, short-sleeved T-shirt, and exposed arms and face were covered in a thin layer of dust, and seeing him in all of his blue-collar glory sent a wave of heat straight to my girly parts and short-circuited my brain. I needed him to look less hardworking and drool-worthy so my libido would calm down and I could focus on the conversation at hand. The last time I saw him he’d expressed concern about my well-being and I kind of flipped out and left.

  “Uh… we need to talk, but do you want to come in and get settled, first?” I didn’t want to bombard him right after work. “Maybe get cleaned up? Relax? Have a drink?”

  Confusion morphed into concern. “I think you should stop pussyfootin’ around and tell me what the fuck’s going on. Why didn’t you tell Link you were here?”

  All right, if he wanted to have this conversation now, I’d let him have it, straight up with no chaser, just how a Marine would take it. “I’m pregnant, Eagle.”

  It took him a moment to process, but then his eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. “You’re… pregnant?” he repeated.

  “Yes. And if you insult me by asking if I’m sure, or if it’s yours, I’ll kidney-check you so hard you’ll be pissing blood for weeks. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know for sure. It’s yours.”

  “I wasn’t going to…” He released a deep breath and wobbled to the bed where he collapsed, sitting hunched over. His dark hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, and he ran a hand under it, squeezing the muscles. “Fuck.”

  “We did that. It’s kind of how this happened.”

  He stared at me, unamused. Probably wasn’t the best time to try my hand at humor. “I take it Jake and Link don’t know.”

  It didn’t sound like a question, but I answered anyways. “Nope. I’ve been hiding out in your room because I wanted to tell you first.” Truthfully, I wasn’t worried about Dad. Dad currently wanted two things in life: grandkids, and me to get out of the service before I ended up like my uncle. He’d be getting both of his heart’s desires. He might be a little pissed or disappointed that marriage (or even a relationship) hadn’t come before the kid, but he’d get over it. Link, on the other hand… “I don’t know if your passport’s in order or not, but if you’ve ever wanted to travel around the world, now might be the time.”

  The situation was far from humorous, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from cracking jokes. Lame jokes, even. I blamed nerves, and pregnancy hormones, of course.

  “You think I’ll run?” he asked, his brow furrowing again.

  “I don’t know what you’ll do,” I answered honestly. “I don’t really know anything about you. I mean we’ve talked about rifles and the service, but spending two nights together over the span of two years doesn’t exactly make us friends. I know this is a shock and all, but I’m having this baby.” I covered my belly with my hand and his gaze followed. “I don’t expect… anything from you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re having my baby, you mean, and you don’t expect anything from me. Do you hear how fucked up that sounds?”

  Well, yeah, when he worded it like that. “Not what I meant. Look, I don’t know if you even want a kid. Hell, I didn’t even know I wanted a kid until I realized I was pregnant and let myself think about it. I don’t know how much you’ll want to be involved in our child’s life, and I don’t want you to feel trapped, like you have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  “You must think I’m a real piece of shit, Naomi.”

  “Not wanting a kid you didn’t ask for doesn’t make you a piece of shit. Promising to be there, to love and care for the child, and then abandoning them… that makes you a piece of shit. I want to have this baby, and that’s my choice. So, now I’m giving you a choice.”

  “Don’t you want me to be involved?” he asked.

  He wasn’t picking up what I was putting down, and I was far too tired and emotional for this sort of verbal sparring. Eagle obviously needed time to process, and I’d had to pee for the past twenty minutes.
My bladder was on the verge of bursting, and now that I thought about it, I was hungry, too. No, hangry. I was about to start gnawing off my arm if I didn’t get something to eat. It was time to wrap this up and see to my body’s needs.

  “Look, Houston, you’re misunderstanding me, so I’m gonna lay it out for you. I’m having a kid. Your kid. I’d love nothing more than for you to be involved in the child’s life, and in mine for that matter. And I know that’s fucking crazy. I don’t know you—you don’t let anyone get close enough to really know you—but I’d like to. I know there’s more between us than whiskey, sex, and guns, and I’d really like to explore that with you. But I know you’re still dealing with her death, and I can’t compete with a ghost. Especially not one that makes you feel guilty for being with me.”

  I wasn’t sure about that last bit, but had my suspicions. I paused for a moment to see if he’d deny it, but he didn’t. He continued to stare at me, waiting for me to continue.

  “You push people away. You got that whole asshole persona on lockdown, but I know it’s just a mask you hide behind so people won’t see the real you. You don’t want anyone too close because you don’t want to lose anyone else. I get it. I get you.” I really did, too. After watching two of my PJs get mowed down, I understood Eagle on a level I never thought was possible. “But I’m having a kid, so I can’t close myself off like you have.”

  His gaze roamed down to my flat abdomen before drifting back up to my face.

  “I want you to do this with me, but this kid’s a lifelong commitment. Regardless of what happens between me and you, this baby is forever. If you can’t hang—if you can’t get emotionally attached and are going to need to bail—you need to tell me now, because if you walk out on our kid and fuck up their life like my mom did to me and Link, I swear I will hunt you down and end you. I’m in this for the long haul, and I need to know where you stand, so don’t answer now. Take some time and think about it. Then let me know what sort of relationship you want with this baby, and with me.”

  My voice cracked a little at the end, but I pushed through. Before he could respond, I fled from his room. Hands shaking, words replaying in my head, I hurried down the hall and straight into the women’s restroom. After I took care of business, I splashed some cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

  I’d told Eagle everything. How I felt, that I wanted him in my life.

  Had it been a mistake?

  God, I must have sounded so desperate.

  I’m pregnant, love me. Or at least love our kid.

  If you walk out, I’ll find you and kill you.

  Awesome.

  Maybe I should have stuck with Monica’s “Houston, we have a problem” opening. It honestly couldn’t have made my little speech any worse. Ah, well. The ball was in Eagle’s court now, and I needed to wait to see how he’d play it.

  I thought about going back to my room, but I was starving and needed some fresh air to clear my head. Since I’d already broke the news to Eagle, there was no reason to keep my homecoming a secret. I marched down the stairs and through the common area. The room was strangely empty, except for a beautiful brunette I vaguely recognized and an adorable little boy I’d never seen before. Surprised, I stopped to introduce myself.

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Carly, and this is my son, Trent.”

  “You were at the wedding, right?” I asked.

  “Yep. I work at the Copper Penny. We’re here with Wasp, now. He’s meeting with Link.”

  The surprises continued to roll in. “You’re here with Wasp? As in with Wasp?”

  She laughed, nodding.

  The kid had to be around five or so, and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the idea of Wasp having a child. “Is he…” I glanced at Trent and realized how rude my question would sound. Wincing, I said, “Sorry. I, uh… am socially awkward. And that’s none of my business.”

  “No, it’s totally fine. Wasp and I started dating about a month and a half ago. He works fast, though.” She held up her hand, showing off the old-fashioned looking engagement ring on her finger.

  My jaw just about fell off my face, and my eyes felt like they were going to roll out of my head. “Wasp is engaged?” Then my cheeks heated. “My God, I’m so sorry… I… haven’t seen him since Link’s wedding and he wasn’t… I… I have no idea how to end this sentence, so I’m just going to keep rambling until you take pity and stop me.”

  She only laughed harder. “Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are. Things have changed a lot since Link’s wedding.”

  Yes, they had. “Clearly.”

  Trent looked up from the Army men he was playing with long enough to beam me a smile and say, “Two girls want to marry me.”

  It was so random, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Only two girls? Are you sure? I bet there are far more than that.” I booped him right on his cute little button nose with my fingertip. “I would marry you.”

  “Tomorrow?” Trent asked.

  “You don’t want to go there,” Carly warned. “He’ll hold you to it.”

  Since I didn’t want to break the kid’s heart, I shifted gears. “Talk to me about these other girls. Did you tell them no?”

  He shook his head and grinned. “Nope. I’m keeping my options open.”

  Carly rolled her eyes and shook her head. “God help me.”

  “You sure he’s not Wasp’s?” I asked. “He certainly sounds like him.”

  “You have no idea,” she replied.

  My stomach growled, reminding me what I came down to do. “It’s been so great to meet you. I’d love to get to know you and hear more about how this whole thing between you and Wasp went down, but I’m starving. Do you guys want to go grab something to eat?”

  “Thanks, but Wasp should only be a few more minutes, then he’s taking us out.”

  Wasp. Engaged. To a woman with a kid. I felt like I’d slipped into some sort of bizarro world. Still, it gave me hope. If Wasp could grow up and set his manwhore ways aside, maybe Eagle could open up to me and we could make this thing work.

  As I moseyed out of the fire station and headed down the street, my mind was full of possibilities, and I felt cautiously optimistic about the future. I was so focused, that I didn’t notice the black van pulling up beside me until two men grabbed me and shoved me inside. Realizing what was happening, I swung, kicked, and tried to get free, but my arms were yanked behind my back and secured. I opened my mouth to shout for help, but the driver turned around and stuck his gun in my face.

  Scruffy and unkempt, his eyes were hard and his scowl was tight as he said, “Knock her out.”

  He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. I was still trying to place him when I felt a pinch in my arm. Then everything went black.

  Eagle

  Two Hours Ago

  LAST NIGHT, I barely slept a wink. A new nightmare—one where Naomi was trapped and alone—plagued me until I finally got up and read. The dream was so vivid, it was all I could think about all day. By the time I got off work, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to find out whether or not she was okay. Knowing I was most likely making a huge mistake, I headed directly into Link’s office as soon as I got home. His door was open, and he was sitting behind his computer, working.

  “Hey, you got a minute?” I asked, poking my head inside.

  He glanced up and waved me forward. “Yeah. Come in.” His gaze went back to his screen.

  Before I could even tell him why I was there, his cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and said, “Give me a sec. I gotta take this.” Then he answered. “Hey, Havoc. Did you find the motherfucker?”

  I could hear Havoc’s deep voice say no before launching into details.

  Link listened for a while, and then said, “Thanks for checking it out, brother. You might as well come on back. Emily gets off in two hours, then they’ll be here. Yeah, man, see you soon.”

  “Everything okay?” I asked, leaning against the wall.
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br />   “Bull is positive he’s spotted the same homeless man in front of the fire station, in Emily’s office parking lot, and around her house. He says the guy looks familiar, but he can’t place him. It could be nothing, but you know I don’t fuck around with that shit. I’ll feel better once Havoc finds him and they have a little chat.”

  “Havoc didn’t find him?” I asked.

  “Nope. But we’ll get the son-of-a-bitch and see which of her cases has shown up to bite her in the ass. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to talk her into stepping away from the courtroom for a while after this.”

  Not likely, but I understood Link’s desire to protect his woman.

  “What can I do for you, Eagle?” Link asked.

  “How’s Naomi?” I asked. I didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that, but small talk had never been my forte. I’d always preferred getting straight to the point.

  Link stopped typing and focused on me. “Good. Why?”

  “Just curious. When’s the last time you talked to her?” It was a dangerous line of questioning, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.

  “Last week. Why?”

  Link was staring at me, waiting for an answer. He was a good man who didn’t deserve to be lied to, and I was desperate enough to tell the truth. Just not all of it. “You ever have a fucked-up dream that someone’s hurt, and it feels so real you just gotta check on them?”

  In the service, we learned to trust our gut. Link had excellent instinct, and so did I. His eyes went wide. He snatched his cell phone from the top of his desk, punched something in, and held it to his ear. “Hey, Squirt, how you doin’?”