“It’s not safe. Give us some time to set the trap and I promise you’ll get your life back and all the clothes you want.”
“It’s not about the clothes,” she cried, knowing how petulant she sounded but not knowing how else to get his attention. “I want to sit in the sun and drink coffee; I want to catch up with friends who don’t even know I’m in the country.”
“Do you want to live long enough to finish the coffee? How would you feel if those friends of yours got caught in the crossfire? Do you really think the bastards give a damn who else they hurt as long as they get to you?”
“That’s not fair,” she cried.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he warned before locking himself away in the war room, again.
The last two days, he’d spent more time away from the apartment than inside. Always on the phone, planning something, cajoling people to call in favors. She didn’t have a clue what was going on—because any time she came out of her room to listen properly, he’d lock himself away again.
“Can’t you give Bella a burner phone, too?”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Why not?”
“It’s much better that she is still the concerned friend, pale faced and trying to get in to see you at the hospital.”
“She knows what’s going on—I need to talk to someone.”
“You should have thought of that before you got her involved—what if they try to get to you through her? How long do you think they’d keep her alive once they got you?”
“Stop it, you don’t have to be so cruel. You’ve made your point.”
“Then stop acting like a spoilt brat and let us do our job.”
Anastacia didn’t know whether her tears were from fearing she’d put Bella’s life at risk, or how far her own life had spiralled out of control. It didn’t matter, not when Ed looked at her as if she was any other job and not as a woman he loved. Furiously, she brushed them aside, wanting to channel anger instead of self-pity. Between Ed and her father taking control of her life, and now with no more kisses to look forward to, anger was surprisingly easy and Anastacia lost her patience.
“At least give me the laptop back.”
“Because you were so responsible with using it last time? Not likely. The guys are using it and monitoring your accounts.”
“You know, I might as well still be married!”
Immediately she regretted her words, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”
“I can’t say that didn’t hurt, but perhaps if you get out of this alive, you can go back to your ex-husband and live happily ever after.”
This time Ed didn’t need to close the door behind him. Even the look on Jax’ face said they’d both gone too far.
There was only one other number in her phone, one person who might understand.
“Daddy, I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“Baby girl, are you okay?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that—and not caring when I say, ‘no’? I want my life back.”
“You will, I promise. Trust Ed.”
“Daddy, oh, daddy,” she couldn’t tell her father that Ed’s rejection hurt more than her bruises combined. “I feel like this is never going to end. I want to see you, my friends. I want to get out of here.”
“Trust us, Staci, I know this is hard, but they are the best in the business and they want it over, too.”
“About Ed and I,” she started.
“We don’t have to talk about that now.”
“Daddy, I never wanted to fall in love with a soldier.”
“I guess it’s too late to ask you to stop?”
ED
Ed couldn’t win a trick. Not with Anastacia and not with her father. Now that Vaughan knew about the ball and the kiss, he’d flooded Ed’s phone with questions and suggestions—no longer willing for Ed to plan and execute the operation without Vaughan’s explicit approval.
Vaughan: Who stayed at the house with you?
Ed knew it was more about chaperoning rather than safety.
Ed: Sent Jax home to get a head start on pulling the guys together. Last night, Jax and Spider camped in the lounge room going over options.
Not content with texts and phone calls, Vaughan demanded his presence, again.
“Fuck this,” Ed stormed in, forgetting or ignoring rank. “It takes me over an hour to get here and every time I go back home, I’m putting her at risk. Someone will figure out who I am, where I live and then what the fuck do we do?”
“I need answers.”
“At some point you’re going to have to back off and let me do my job.” Clearly, Vaughan wasn’t listening. “The more times I come out to see you because you’ve got a bug up your ass, the more likely it is I’m going to be followed back and they’ll know where she is.
“You’re not a father, you don’t know what I’m going through,” Vaughan cried. “She’s just walked out of a bad marriage and into your arms.”
“Colonel, if you compare me to that scum-bag ex-husband of hers again, I will take you down whether you are my commanding officer, or not.” Ed fumed. The guy had no idea how hard it was to keep Anastacia at arm’s length—and now he knew how she felt lying beneath him—bloody impossible. Everyone needed to get out of his fucking way, let him do his job so they could try and rebuild whatever they had left. The woman he loved was back in his apartment crying and hurting because the only way he could save her life was to lock his feelings away. Easier said than done—not that her bloody father would ever see it like that.
“Then, let’s go through the plan again.”
“We’ve gone through it often enough over the phone—right now she’s alone at my place with Jax because Spider had to meet a guy and get some clean guns, and I didn’t have anyone spare to watch her while I waste hours pandering to your paranoia.”
“Go through it again. No one is going to be looking for the risks and holes more than I will.”
“I’m sick of you second-guessing every fucking decision.” If it wasn’t for Anastacia’s life being on the line, Ed would have walked days ago. “You need to pull your head in and back off.”
“You need to defend my daughter.”
“What the hell do you think I’m doing? I’d give my life for hers in an instant and you still wouldn’t think it was enough.”
Ed walked into the apartment, to Jax laughing at him. “She’s in a mood mate, she’s in a mood.”
“I want to go out,” Anastacia stood defiantly in the doorway of her bedroom.
“So, you’ve chosen death over living, great call.” Ed wasn’t in the mood to fight with the daughter less than an hour after being chewed out by her father. “Good call, but couldn’t you have decided that weeks ago before we all put our lives on hold to save yours?”
“Then give me something to do.”
Not for the first time, she flashed him that look. The same look she woke up with the morning after their night before.
“Babe,” he whispered so Jax couldn’t hear, even though his mate wasn’t blind enough to not know what was going on. Jax’ discretion and “selective eyesight” was one of the reasons Ed rotated other guys around Jax. Yes, he trusted Jax not to make a move on Anastacia, but he’d done enough tours with Jax that he knew they’d have each other’s backs. “Babe, you know how I feel about you—I haven’t changed my mind. But we need to keep a distance between us if only so I can keep some perspective.”
“I need a little ‘perspective,’ too,” she flirted.
“Babe, please don’t.” He couldn’t keep being the cold bastard if she looked at him as if they were both naked. Hell, the way she kept wearing his jumper, it was almost impossible to think straight while remembering how easily he had pulled it over her head.
“Then let me go out and have some fun—with my friends. One afternoon, that’s all I need.”
“Well I’m asking you to give me another week.”
“What?”
&n
bsp; “Give me a week—it should all be over, and you can go off and have as much fun with whomever you want.”
“You know the only person I want is you.”
“I can’t deal with this right now, the guys are coming over and the quicker we get things organized, the quicker you can do whatever the fuck you want.”
“Fuck you,” she cried and he knew she meant it both ways. He deserved one and wanted the others. Yes, fuck him.
Over the next hour, the apartment became crowded with all his Sydney based team.
“We need some extra muscle. Someone who is still active,” Kram said. “I don’t need all the fun to myself.”
“I can’t ask anyone else to put their careers on the line for me.”
“Then don’t ask them to help your ugly mug,” Spider joked. “Ask for Vaughan—everyone owes the Colonel something.”
“It’s not something I’m going to do over the phone.”
“The Reapers are back in Townsville. What if they decided to come to Sydney for their version of ‘Spring Break.’” The guys chuckled at Jax’ suggestion. In America, spring break was party time between college semesters. For the Reapers, Spring Break was notorious for the combat engineers cutting up a town while on leave and no consenting woman was safe from their charms.
“Doug Whitehead used to be one of them. He’s based in Sydney but still spends a lot of time up there. He’d have some good connections,” Spider reminded Ed.
“Dougie—he’s good value. What about his brother-in-law—Rip?”
“Darby Greenwood—yeah, I toured with him once, but it’s Doug who owes me a fairly big favour, I guess its time I went and bought him a beer.” Ed looked around to the team’s nods.
As the team made plans, sorted out what skills they needed and came up with options for trusted friends who owed favors or who would think the operation would be too much “fun” to pass up, Ed quickly booked his trip to Townsville.
“Done,” he said, relieved that he’d be able to put some space between him, his feelings and Anastacia.
Jax used the pretence of offering him a coffee to pull him aside, “What are you going to tell Ms Vaughan?”
“What can I say, mate?” There was no use in lying to the one person who’d had a front row seat to their latest fighting. “Let me go off and do my job—but promise that you’ll keep an eye on her. Don’t let her get lost inside her head—maybe ask Tilly to spend more time here. I’ll pay whatever it costs, just keep her calm and happy.”
“You deserve to be happy.”
“Well that’s not gonna happen while that bastard’s out there.”
“Are you sure?” Jax asked. “You and I have both seen how short life can be—what if this is the only chance the two of you have?”
“Isn’t that what we’re all doing here—making sure it isn’t the only chance she has?”
ANASTACIA
“I’m going away for a couple of days,” Ed admitted when she questioned the backpack at the front door.
“Where?” Her heart sank even though all they did was fight. Ed was never going to drop the barrier cemented in place, and she couldn’t turn off her emotions just because he could.
“I can’t tell you, but it’s a step towards you getting your life back.”
“How long will you be gone?” All the memories of her father’s sudden disappearances came flooding back, with all the reasons she’d refused to ever date guys from Defence.
“I don’t know. A couple of days—but I need to go and get the job done. When I get back, we’ll talk.”
“About what?”
“About anything you want but my answer can’t change until we neutralize all threats to you.”
“Who’s gonna stay here with me?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I need to talk to your father—how about we get him on speaker phone, so you don’t feel like I’m keeping you in the dark.”
Never had a call taken so long to answer, Ed shut her bedroom door—at the end of the apartment, no one else needed to hear.
“Edison, what have you got for me?”
“You wanted me to clear anything big with you—well I’m heading out of town for a couple of days. A couple of the Reapers owe me a beer.”
“Understood,” her father’s reply came back too quickly. Anastacia had to trust that they were having a private conversation and she was just a bystander in the room.
“Who’s staying with my daughter?”
“We have two options, sir. I can have two of the guys posted here—but there is a limit to how much they can do to prepare for the operation out of my apartment.”
“Do you want me to come and get her?”
“No,” Ed said, avoiding her eyes. “Ms Constance is being watched and it is only a matter of time before they track down this apartment. Anastacia is safe while we are with her, but for the next couple of days, I want to stash her with friends.”
“What sort of friends? Military?”
“No, sir. She deserves some female companionship, and I need her to be with people I trust.”
“You don’t mean …”
“Yes, sir I do. I told you that I’ve always walked away on good terms with my exes. One night per house. It’s all I can ask of them, and it’s the best way to keep your daughter safe.”
“A moving target is harder to hit?”
Anastacia tried to understand, “You want me to live with your ex-girlfriends? As in plural?”
“Sir, what do you think?” Ed ignored her question, focused entirely on the speaker phone.
“I don’t like it.”
“We know they are watching you and Ms Constance. We can only assume they are watching any of your other family, friends and I’m not confident that your office is as secure as we’d like.”
“Something we need to talk about?”
“How about trust no one. I’ll be gone a couple of days. Any messages will come to you through Doug Whitehead—you know how much he likes beers.”
“That’s the code? Conversations about beer?”
“It couldn’t be more Australian than a couple of old soldiers planning to meet up for a drink.”
“What about these girlfriends of yours?”
“Warm transfer—a friend’s sister is escaping a domestic situation. Her name is Staci Peters and she needs a safe bed for a couple of nights. No questions and no trace.”
“I don’t like it, but I don’t have a choice,” Anastacia heard her father agree.
“What about me, do I have a choice?” She asked, wanting Ed to look at her as if she was more than a client.
“Not if you want to stay safe and stop putting people in danger. Seriously, both of you. I get that this isn’t ideal. I understand your frustration—but part of why we need to do this is because both of your actions have put you at risk. Insisting on me coming and giving you updates in person—it was only going to be a matter of time before someone figures out our connection. And Bella Constance? Fuck it Anastacia, you should have just trusted me with the laptop and not gotten anyone else involved.”
“I didn’t want you to think it was me.”
“It doesn’t matter to me if it was, we are protecting your life no matter how you got your kicks in the past. It’s irrelevant and you are bloody lucky that my tech guys could do their job before the site got taken down.”
“It’s gone?”
“For now, but I’d thank you both not to even try looking to see if it’s popped up again. Let me do my job. Clear?”
“Yes, thank you Lieutenant Colonel,” her father at least sounded confident and respectful. As for Anastacia, she couldn’t accept that Ed could be so cold and distant. He might as well be in Townsville.
“When do I leave?”
“Whatever you can’t pack in half an hour, stays.”
She would never forget the next days. Firstly, to a Brynne Thurlow who took one look at Anastacia, bought the story of running from a violent ex-husband and welcomed her i
nto the large, gated home. Brynne didn’t want to talk about Ed but seemed very interested in what Anastacia’s intentions were.
“He’s never bought a woman to my home before.”
“Like he said, I just need a safe bed for a couple of nights.”
“How well do you know him?”
“I could ask you the same.” Anastacia wasn’t going to lie, but the truth needed more alcohol than Brynne held in the house. “These dogs are beautiful,” she couldn’t get out of the armchair for the cuddles from the large boxers. “What are their names.”
“Snap, Crackle and Pop. So, if talking about Ed is off limits, and I gather you don’t want to talk about why you’re really here, how about we push these over-grown puppies outside and make some chocolate brownies.”
After two nights with Brynne, she got packaged off in a cab to another gated home on the northern shore. Amidst million-dollar water-front homes, another graceful brunette opened the door. “I’m Mackenzie, come on in.”
Another smart and beautiful woman, whose eyes softened when talking about Ed, but again was much more interested in her relationship.
“There’s nothing to tell. Sister of a friend.”
“Ed didn’t say a lot—only not to tell anyone I have a house guest and not to ask you too many questions so you don’t have to lie.”
“How is he? When is he coming back?” Anastacia was drowning in the silence.
“Since we can’t go for a walk, how about we curl up and binge watch some television. I’ve sent my kids away to their grandparents for a few days and there are some shows I’ve seriously been missing out on.”
For Brynne, it was cooking, Mackenzie it was television. Two days later and she was being handed over again, this time to a yoga instructor, Breeze.
“That can’t be your real name,” Anastacia laughed at the introductions.
“It was my nickname at the studio and stuck. How about I don’t ask how much of Staci Peters is real, and you don’t ask me about my real name.”
Defend Her: A military suspense romance (Aussie Military Romance Book 4) Page 11
