“We are overwhelmingly great.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jamie felt lighter than he’d ever felt before. It was like his life was falling back into place. He’d felt like things, his life, was on hold for so long, waiting for Annabelle to finish the preparations for their wedding. Time had passed, nothing ever happened, and he just waited.
Then he’d gotten that Christmas card.
That email.
The package.
Things and issues he hadn’t wanted to identify were brought to light, forcing him to recognize what he somehow always wondered deep down inside. How could Annabelle have been okay with such a long separation if she truly loved him?
Somewhere deep down in his soul he’d known things weren’t right, but the coward in him was afraid to address it. Now he felt reborn - that the things that were truly important to him seemed in focus. It was as if his path was clear and each time he was ready to take another step, the way was clear.
He felt stronger.
He felt confident in who he was.
He was secure in knowing that even when something happened that could be life altering, whatever the outcome, he would walk out on the other end as a survivor. There was peace in knowing that strength was hidden within him.
Life had then given him a chance to rekindle a friendship with a person he’d pushed to the wayside long ago. He’d felt resentment at facing the truth of just who he had become in his relationship with Annabelle. She’d driven him away from friends and family, separating him from any support he’d ever known… yet Lucy encouraged him to go after what he wanted.
Someone confident and secure in who they were as a person didn’t feel threatened by other relationships. He knew that now. Lucy had known that knowledge all along—waiting patiently for a chance to simply be a friend to him.
It had taken a twist of fate to put her directly in his path, for the stars to align, to see that there could be more between them. When he needed time, Lucy gave it. When he pushed, she pushed back, drawing the line in the sand, and stood steadfast on the other side smiling. Truth and loyalty meant so much to him, more than anyone would ever realize.
He was afraid to label what he felt as love—but knew he cared deeply for Lucy—and how he felt when he was with her. Whatever was blossoming inside of him, that singular emotion, would only be nurtured over time.
When they talked, they really shared—and that meant the world to him. If he wanted to sing to her under the stars, she joined in. If he wanted to explore the world, she was by his side, marveling at their surroundings. He considered her not only a friend, but a partner.
Lucy was priceless.
How was he ever going to tell her about the new position he’d accepted in Juneau, Alaska? Seeing disappointment in her eyes terrified him but he knew that he’d been waiting for a chance to go back to the States and one had finally opened up at the right time. He’d been up for orders and the billet came through. The last time he’d been up for orders—all three that had been available had been here in Afghanistan.
Now there was a chance for him to branch out and grow in his career. Jamie was being assigned to a K-9 duty and partnered up with Ben Watson to see how the two would interact together before he received his own dog. They were paired up on patrols from here on out and he had orders to check in to his new post in eight weeks.
Jamie had always done what someone else had dictated that he needed to do. He’d joined the military instead of college. He’d taken the post here, instead of Texas. It was time for him to live his life for himself, making his own choices. It scared him he might lose Lucy in the process, but there were certain things that he just needed deep down inside. He wanted more for himself. He needed a home, a chance to build a future, and someday a family. He wanted it to include Lucy – but he would never sacrifice who he was mentally again at someone else’s expense.
Annabelle would have expected him to do so—Lucy would never ask it. Leaving had always been in the back of their minds somewhere. He knew she would be going back to Norfolk at some point. This was a temporary assignment. He just never expected to have to leave here first, and it bothered him knowing that she was going to be here alone.
These chances never came around often and he felt like fate was stepping in once again to help him make the right decision for him. The post they assigned him was a dream job.
He would be given a Malamute dog for his training. He’d always loved German Shepherds, Huskies, and Malamutes. Big, loving animals that were incredibly smart. They would train him to be not only a bomb tech—but now he would have the credentials and experience to apply it. Not every soldier was assigned a dog—it was the best of the best that were given such a prized position because it took dedication, patience, and steadfastness that was scarce under intense conditions.
Jamie had always had a way of distancing himself to prevent a mental breakdown – even during the toughest of times. When Ethan Minter had stepped on a mine, injuring himself, Jamie had seen that same cool, even-thinking in his CPO John Griffin, as he stepped into action. Other men had shut down, thrown up, or began panicking—not that there was anything wrong with that – they were all traumatized by the event at that moment! Griffin’s cool temperament saved Minter’s life and inspired his own.
Jamie had a job to do and knew lives could depend on it someday. He was cool under any sort of pressure—but possibly upsetting Lucy certainly had him rattled. Running a shaking hand through his hair, he sighed.
He needed to talk to Lucy.
Pushing aside her nervousness, Lucy took a deep breath and sat down at the table in the small room that had been set up for the interview. Mike, her cameraman, stood in the corner fidgeting. He’d been nervous, repeatedly telling her it was a bad idea. She was wondering if Mike was right.
Looking around, she realized that the room was something she would have chosen herself if she felt threatened or scared. It was an empty room with one window. There were bars on the window preventing access from the outside but allowing sunlight in. It was on the top floor of the building, with two stairwells, each one on each side facing the street. She’d masqueraded through the streets, hiding under her burqa deliberately to fit in, not wanting to give away the man’s identity. She was told to expect a man by the name of Malik - and that he would ask for her specifically.
A half hour ago.
“We should go. He’s not coming,” Mike said, echoing her thoughts.
“Mike, quit pacing.”
“Lucy—this is insanity. Whatever happened to covering a nice car accident story on the evening news? Why here of all places?”
“Mike,” Lucy sighed. They’d had this conversation several times over the last few days as she’d made her plans. He was not a fan and angry at something that she suspected had to do with his mystery woman from the bazaar.
“I know you are ready to go. I just want to get this final bit for my piece, say a few goodbyes to friends, and then we’ll head back.”
“Your boyfriend? Is that why we are here still?”
“We are here for the story.”
“That isn’t coming—FYI,” Mike smarted off, pacing the room again and stopped. “Listen. Do you hear that?”
Lucy sat there quietly, straining to hear what had her camera guy looking so alarmed. She heard nothing. It sounded like a normal day with the ruckus of the stree… wait… she didn’t hear any cars or horns.
“You noticed too?”
“It’s quiet,” she whispered, feeling her stomach flop nervously.
“This stupid story will get us killed.”
“Mike—I would never want…”
“No. You won’t want it but it could happen,” Mike snapped, walking over to the window and staring down at the street. He cursed, picking up the camera, and glaring at her. “We are leaving.”
A noise in the hallway stopped them both immediately. Their eyes met as they froze and Lucy wondered if she would throw up right there on t
he floor from fear. You could hear the faint sounds of boots in the hallway. Not one set—but several. Malik was supposed to come alone… and this was definitely not one man alone!
Don’t move, she mouthed.
Mike gnashed his teeth, pointing at her angrily and then the door. There was no way she was leaving if it was her contact—nor was she going out there to a crowd of insurgents. They would stay here hidden and pray that whoever was coming down the hallway would pass their room. Horrified, Lucy saw the knob turn slowly as Mike backed away from the door.
Both jumped as a dog barked.
What was going on?
The door opened, and a barely restrained dog on a leash pulled a man in camouflage through the opening. He immediately pulled a gun, aiming it levelly at Mike who threw his hands up in the air faster than she’d ever seen him move.
“Don’t shoot!”
“Get out of here,” the soldier snarled, focusing on the dog that was sniffing the room. Lucy got to her feet and almost laughed at how quickly Mike hauled it out of the room. She was just about to step out of there herself when she saw Jamie’s beloved face.
“Lucy?”
“Jamie?”
“Good grief, sweetheart—you’ve got to go now,” Jamie uttered in such a panicked voice that she felt her lungs seize in fear. He grabbed her arm, hauling her towards the door that was now closed behind Mike in his hurry to leave.
“Post! Don’t touch the door! I found it,” Watson said grimly, kneeling down slowly and looking under the table carefully beside his dog, Paladin. The large animal that had been barking was now sitting still, at complete attention, as if he knew they were in danger.
“What do you have?” Jamie asked, releasing Lucy and immediately kneeling beside Watson. The change in Jamie’s temperament was almost as scary as there being something wrong within the room she’d been inside of. The two soldiers were talking among themselves, whispering as if they didn’t want to scare her.
Too late.
It terrified her.
Lucy made out a few words here and there that rocked her to the core. She’d known Jamie was an explosives expert but never imagined she would see him in action firsthand.
“The IED firing circuit… trigger already set and counting down… what are your thoughts, Post?”
“Looks like Semtex but maybe something else…”
“Could be. Lots of wires and some aren’t even connected to anything.”
“I see that.”
“Look for a secondary detonator. Scan the rest of the room—and you might want to calm her down so I can think,” Watson hissed, looking knowingly and nodding to Jamie. His beloved dark head turned towards hers and she saw the painful awareness in his eyes as he got to his feet.
They were going to die.
Lucy heard someone whimper and realized it was her as she backed away, staring at the table she’d been sitting at, horrified. Jamie pulled her into his arms, cradling her head against his chest. She almost complained about how bulky his uniform was and then realized it was there to carry supplies or protect him. She could feel the thick hardness under his shirt and the devastation in his gaze.
“It’s that bad?”
“It’s really bad, honey. I’m not going to lie to you. Half our gear is in the hallway and we can’t open the door or the trigger will blow before we can stop the bomb.”
“Jamie, I can’t…” she protested, pulling away fearfully only to have him close his arms around her tighter. She knew she was panicking. Her teeth were clicking in her mouth uncontrollably in fear. His arms felt like steel bands around her as her brain raced to process everything going on.
“I’m not ready to die.”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Jamie whispered in her ear, holding her tightly. “Feel me, Lucy, and listen to my words. I will always protect you with everything I am—and I always will. I need you to breathe, darling.”
Lucy nodded painfully, pulling away from his chest and staring up into his dark brown eyes. A single tear ran down his cheek as he smiled at her. Her heart was breaking, seeing the finality and devastation in his eyes.
“That’s my brave girl,” he breathed, “Shhh don’t cry. You’re breaking my heart and I need to concentrate on what I’m doing. Can you do that? I need to focus and do my job so we can both walk out of here—okay?”
Wiping her eyes, Jamie took hold of her hand for a moment, silently taking deep breaths with her as they stood there. Lucy was trying to ignore the sounds of the bomb-sniffing dog whimpering or the silent cursing coming from Watson nearby, as he muttered to himself and hummed.
“I love you,” Lucy whispered, looking up at Jamie. “For almost forever, I think—even when you were Annabelle’s. I couldn’t help myself. I’ve always loved you.”
“I love you too,” he smiled and then frowned heavily. “We aren’t going to say goodbye.”
“I don’t want to either.”
“Then don’t do it. I will fix this and I’ve decided that I’m exhausted of the sand. I want to see the snow and some green trees - maybe the ocean? Do you like dogs? When this is done – I think we should have ourselves a good stiff drink or a piece of cake and talk about our future. Together.”
“Cake is good. I like cake. Snow is nice.”
“With cream cheese frosting—and maybe sledding?”
“Chocolate with sprinkles. Sledding is fun.”
“Sprinkles just make it crunchy and don’t add anything.”
“No, but they are pretty,” Jamie grinned, smiling at her. “Just like you when you are brave. Now, hold tight while I get to work. I want you to hunker down in the corner with your face towards the wall in case the bomb blows. Put my jacket over…”
“NO!” Lucy yelped angrily, realizing that he was trying to protect her as he started to remove his gear. “You keep it on, Jamie - and take care of it so we can talk about getting a dog someday.”
“And a home,” Jamie amended, stepping backwards from her towards where Watson lay on the floor staring up at the bomb, analyzing it.
“With a big backyard?”
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded, “It sounds perfect.”
“I love you, Jameson.”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he vowed. “Nothing’s going to hurt you.”
Lucy saw him look away as he lay under the table. She heard him curse, and a badly timed sniffle escaped her as she knelt down in the corner as instructed. She knew he wanted her to make herself as small as possible in case of debris. She wasn’t sure what kind of bomb was mounted under the table, but she was completely certain that if it blew—it would be bad.
“Have you ever been to Alaska, sweetheart?” she heard Jamie’s voice and glanced over her shoulder. They were pointing at wires and Jamie was holding a pair of strange looking scissors in his hand. His lips had practically disappeared under the strain in him and were pursed as he stared stoically ahead.
“No. I heard it's lovely though.”
“Whales, dogsleds, and stuff like that.”
“That sounds like quite a sight-seeing trip,” Lucy said carefully, watching him work and admiring how his mind worked. He was nervous and trying to calm himself down. She could see it in his expression.
“I accepted a position there and I want you to go with me.”
“You meant it when you said we needed to talk, didn’t you? Jamie, I’m very happy for you and I know you must be excited about it.”
“He’s definitely a talker,” Watson bit out under his breath, “Not that one. It’s not attached to the timer. That’s a dummy wire, dummy! Get your head in the game, Post—you and your girlfriend can talk later.”
“Fiancée,” Jamie gritted out between clenched teeth as there was an audible click as he clipped the trigger wire. There were three simultaneous gasps at the same time, followed by the two men chuckling as they sat up beside each other on the floor. Jamie wiped his brow and smiled proudly at Lucy. He was sitting there with his knees bent an
d forearms resting over them, watching her.
“I think fiancée sounds so much better than girlfriend.”
“I think we need to talk privately,” Lucy whispered, shell-shocked by what had just happened and Jamie’s words.
“Sounds like you are getting turned down, Post.” Watson elbowed him, before hopping to his feet and extending a hand to Jamie. He gave a quick command and smiled when the K9 wagged his tail happily.
“We’re clear.”
Jamie didn’t say a thing as he got to his feet, walking over to where she was still crouched in the corner. She wasn’t certain her knees would hold her up at this time. Her mind was reeling.
Jamie felt almost weak with relief knowing the bomb would not go off and kill them all. He hadn’t the heart to tell Lucy that there was less than five minutes left on the timer and was focusing on trying to calm her down. It was distracting him to no end to see her panicking. That simply wasn’t her and she was beside herself. Her brown eyes were flickering all around the room and he was pretty sure she was heedless of how badly she was crying. He’d wrapped his arms around her, certain that was the only thing that would keep her from shattering into a million pieces.
Lucy had always been so strong, so brave—and he wanted to be just like her. There was no one out there that was more understanding, more caring, and more beautiful a human being. Integrity, honor, and truth seemed to be an unspoken code with her—one that he lived and breathed.
When she admitted that she loved him, Jamie felt all of his fears wash away at the unfettered adoration in her eyes. He might lose this beautiful woman if he didn’t hurry and disarm the bomb. He was bound to make mistakes, screw up royally, but that was a part of living life. He was tired of waiting for his life to begin—and it was so easy to say the words when she looked up at him.
“I love you.”
It slipped from his lips so steadily and all the fear that he’d held, wondering if he was making a mistake getting into another relationship so soon… it all went by the wayside. He would protect this woman with his life or die trying. He wanted her by his side forever. She was his friend, a beautiful soul, and more than he could have ever hoped for in what he imagined having a wife would be like.
Remember Fate Page 11
