“Thank you, David. I need you to get me assigned to Norfolk, Virginia.”
Chapter Sixteen
Harper
The dreaded day had finally arrived, the last twenty-four hours I would have to enjoy my brother's company before he had to return to Afghanistan. I had assumed he would want to spend the day wrapped in the love of his wife and children. However, I had been wrong, as he insisted I join them for a family dinner and casual drinks after the kids went to bed. I didn’t hesitate to accept, having grown used to having my brother around, watching him play with the neighborhood kids, and dancing with Amanda as she tried to sweep hair off the floor.
I enjoyed how his smile covered his face as the baby pointed to him and screamed dada. Witnessing my brother’s interaction with his three boys these past few weeks had me questioning if Logan wanted children. It was far too early in the relationship to discuss such things. However, not wanting kids was a deal breaker for me.
“Stupid bastard doesn’t know when to quit.”
Sarah’s harsh tone snatches me from my thoughts. She had offered to help me make a side dish and dessert, as she didn’t feel like going home before heading to her doctor’s appointment this afternoon. She and Mitch have been actively trying for a baby, and with her period a no show this month, she made an appointment.
“Clearly having Ross threaten him within an inch of his life did nothing.”
I didn’t need to look out my kitchen window to know who she was talking about. Lance had shown back up in the neighborhood over a week ago. At first, he stood by his car, parked across the street, sunglasses on as he watched my shop. When his gawking got him no results, he started sending me flowers, scheduling the deliveries to coincide with his perusal. Lance had chosen the wrong week to mess with me, Sarah’s period may have been MIA, but mine was present and accounted for. Using every evil hormone I had, I ripped the blossoms off the stems and tossed them into the window boxes to join the rest of the dying flowers. He had shaken his head but sent another bunch the next day, the backup flowers meeting the same demise. Too bad for Lance, as Ross saw my destruction of the petals and connected the dots, tearing off across the street and leaving a centimeter between their faces, barely.
My brother is a mountain of a man at nearly six foot five and well over two hundred pounds, his broad shoulders are able to hold all three kids at once. And while Lance is tall, he can't match the sheer size of Ross.
“How do you know what Ross said to him?”
Letting the knife in my hand fall to the cutting board, the metal thud echoing off the walls. Sarah glances over her shoulder briefly, a condescending spike in her brow. Her eyes flash to the knife and then back to the street below, the water from the faucet splashing over her hands as they continue to clean the vegetables.
“You didn’t have to hear what he said to know it wasn’t hello and how are you doing.”
Shutting off the water and shaking the globes of vegetation to free them of any remaining water, she turns around.
“He threatened him, plain and simple. Your brother is a SEAL and doesn’t live by the same rules the rest of us do. In his world, when an enemy presents itself, he takes it out. No man with a gun and badge needed.”
Sarah was right. There was no doubt in my mind Ross pulled out every swear word in his arsenal as he told Lance to get lost. He never cared for Lance, and the disdain he had for him had come from the opinion our father formulated. Nothing changed once Ross and Lance met face to face, neither man impressed the other.
“Anyway, your salad shit is rinsed and ready,” tossing the hand towel she used to dry her hands on the counter beside me.
“I have to get out of here and see if that man of mine managed to knock me up.” Grabbing her purse strap she had laid over the back of one of my chairs, dropping it on her shoulder as she pulled her keys from her jeans pocket.
“Do you think the test the doctor gives you will dispute the ten you took this week?”
“No,” Sarah turns to face me, her fingers wrapped around the door handle, twisting it open and stepping onto the threshold. “It won’t change. But the insurance company has a nasty habit of needing to hear news from the doctor, not my excited husband.”
Returning an understanding smile, “Sorry, I forgot about the necessary evil that is insurance.” Picking my knife back up, raising the handle to resume my chopping.
“No worries, Harper. You’ll see how big a pain in the ass this is when you and Logan start having babies.”
Sarah’s words hung with me as I finished making my part of dinner and long into the drive over to Ross and Amanda’s. Where I knew it was normal to daydream of what any future children would look like in a new relationship, I felt strange hearing Sarah mention it, as I never shared much of our private conversations.
“Aunt Harper, Daddy helped me catch a frog today.” Adam says proudly, a fork of mashed potatoes raised to his face. “But Momma said he had to stay with his family.” His face and his voice fall as he recalls the story, while Amanda covertly rolls her eyes and hides the smile she has for her son.
Ross puts down his fork, reaching over to grasp Jason’s face. “Hey, you remember the promise I made you, right?”
Adam nods his head, his brothers joining in the celebration and my heartbeat quickens as I wait for them to share the news.
“Aunt Harper.” Adam jumps from his chair, nearly tripping over his shoes to get to me.
“Guess what?”
Quicker than I can blink, I have Adam and Jason vibrating with excitement, the baby squealing from his seat in the highchair, frustrated he can't join his brothers surrounding me. The excitement filling the air is contagious as Ross leans back in his chair, sporting an amused smile across his lips.
“Daddy said when he gets to come home forever, he’s getting us a puppy.”
My eyes instantly water at the thought of Ross coming home for good. He and I had lunch last week, and he made it clear he was finished with the military, there were too many events in his life he was missing out on. When we finished eating, he took me to a new store front in the beginning stages of construction. He had contacted the owners and was in negotiations to open a gym and physical therapy center.
“A puppy!” Joining in their excitement. “No way.” The baby slaps his open hand on the table of his high chair, demanding a slice of the excitement be given to him and adding in his shrieks of babble he assumed we all understood. Two dark haired, cherub-faced boys look back at me in sheer bliss, pearly white teeth adding the crowning finish on those smiles.
“He said we could have any dog we want.”
Amanda opens her mouth, in what I assume is instruction for the boys to finish their dinner, when a sharp alarm comes out of the television speakers. With this being the last meal as a family, some rules had been bent, including the no television on during dinner.
“We interrupt this program for this special report.”
Ross tears his eyes from his children’s joy as the middle-aged man on the screen starts to apologize for the interruption, pointing the remote at the television and increasing the volume.
“Last week's breaking story of an unexplained earthquake which rocked an area just outside the US occupied Korengal Valley, is now confirmed to have been a massive explosion by Military Special Forces in the continuing war on terror. Officials released a report moments ago, confirming this was indeed a mountain fortress where Aarash Konar had been evading military capture. Positive DNA identification of at least one well-known individual has been recovered. Pavel Kumarin, leader of the Russian organized crime Family, who has been under investigation for the murder of his first wife and the family of his close associate, Viktor Petrov”
Behind the anchor, in a square box appears the picture of a man surrounded by lots of suit wearing men, his hair is dark with a dusting of white at his temples. When he turned his face toward the camera, I could feel a chill run down my spine. I had seen this man before, a story a f
ew months back where he had been taken in for questioning on the death of his latest wife.
“Sources close to the Kumarin family confirm Pavel’s son, Andrey, has traveled to Afghanistan to retrieve any remains. Andrey ignored reporters who questioned him why his father was in a mountain fortress with a known terrorist.”
The photo switched again to an incredibly handsome man. Dark hair, with features that would make a nun moan, and a swagger in his walk which would rival any super model. My breath hitched as I took him in, gaining the attention of both Ross and Amanda.
“Don’t waste your admiration on him, Sis. He may be something to look at, but he would slit your throat in the blink of an eye.”
Ross rose from his seat, pulling out his cell phone and pressing several buttons. Turning my attention back to the screen, having learned long ago there were conversations I could never be part of.
“The remains of Aarash Konar proved to be a little harder to identify, however with his brother Aaron attending school in the US, a close match was identified using a blood sample. According to US officials, Aarash Konar was killed by a team of SEALs acting on intelligence collected recently. We will continue to follow these stories and update you with any updates.”
Amanda had cleared the table during the time my nose was buried in the news report, a bowl of ice cream now in front of the boys whose attention was focused on the creamy goodness. With Ross out of the room, Amanda turns the television off allowing the welcomed silence to fill the room. As gently as possible, she began to clean the baby's face, his bright eyes drooping from the sleep wanting to set in.
A familiar line of worry appeared on her face, reaching past her beautiful features and into my chest. This time tomorrow, Ross would be back in the thick of things, back where this Aarash and Andrey made all the rules, killing whomever got in their way, not caring who was left behind.
The sound of Ross’s boisterous laugh echoes down the hall, ironing out the worry lines and replacing them with a painted on smile.
“Just for that, I won't hand the phone to my sister like I was going to.”
Ross rounds the corner, his phone pressed to his ear and an evil smile on his face. Amanda plants her hands on her hips giving Ross a not so subtle warning.
“Hang on fu—” Amanda tosses the rag she was using to clean the baby into his face. Her warning turning into pissed off. “Er—hang on a minute, I mean.” Lowering the phone and sending Amanda an air kiss.
“Okay, Doc. You’re on speaker phone, but be careful, my boys are in the room.”
Booming laughter comes from the phone, a magical tune which sings to me and brings my smile to life.
“You mean your beautiful wife is in the room about to kill you because of your mouth.”
The beating of my heart increases and my mouth begins to water. Having conversations with Logan using Skype has been the highlight of my day, giving me a new goal to focus on.
“Careful, Doc. I can take you off as quick as I put you on.”
“And I can tell your wife about the file on your computer she told you not to get.”
You can tell Ross wants to say something incredibly witty and completely X-rated by the way his face is turning red and his features are contorting into an angry look. Shaking his head and lowering his gaze to the hardwood of the floor, “And I will share something equally as damaging with my sister.”
Amanda mutters something under her breath, and I step in to help her collect empty ice-cream bowls and wrangle rapidly tiring children.
“There isn’t much you could tell her about me she doesn’t already know.” Logan tosses back, a bite of humor woven in his tone. He always appears so confident, so sewn together it is intimidating.
“Oh, I'm sure I could come up with something. Although it happened before you started dating her.”
“And she would give me a pass because of it. Exes are in the past for a reason.”
“Speaking of exes,” Ross snaps, turning a dining chair around and straddling it. “I had to have words with a certain ex of Harper’s who insists on sticking around.”
“Lance?”
“Yep. Caught him watching her office from across the street the other day, he had the balls to send her some cheap ass flowers.”
“Tell me these words started with F and ended with a kick to his family jewels.”
Amanda had taken the boys out of the room, instinctively knowing where this conversation was headed. “You guys can use adult words, the boys are upstairs in the bathtub.” Ross stood up suddenly, running around the corner to the banister, yelling up to Amanda he would be there in a second.
“No, we can't, babe, my favorite lady is still in the room.”
“I have a few customers who would beg to differ with you.” Mona and her endless list of followers coming to mind. I'd seen the scowl on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it when I let it slip Reece International had granted me so much money.
“Isn’t it late there?” Doing my best to keep the conversation flowing, praying he didn’t detour back to the subject of Lance. I planned to give my brother a piece of my mind the second this call was over.
“It is, but Ross managed to catch me as I was ending an urgent call to the States. I'll tell you more when I have things firmed up.”
Ross takes his chair again, folding his arms over the back of the seat. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing. I was just about to ask Harper why she didn’t tell me Lance was bugging her.” I never cared for being talked about when I was in the room, something Alex and Ross frequently did when we were younger.
“Need I remind you, I’m still in the room. And the reason I didn’t call you and say something, is because there wasn’t anything you could do about it. Furthermore, I didn’t say anything to Ross, he managed to catch him doing it and got in his face.”
Ross raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, shaking his head in silent disagreement. The sly smile on his lips hiding a secret I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Harper Kincaid don’t you underestimate how far my arm can reach. If Lance steps a toe over the line you’ve drawn, I better get a phone call, and I don’t care what time of day it is.”
Frustration bubbled inside, I was a big girl and could take care of myself. I hadn’t asked Ross to step in this time, but my mind betrayed me, as I allowed my emotions to take over my thoughts.
“Well he was sitting across the street this afternoon.” Ross’s head snapped up, the vein in his neck swelling.
“He say anything to you?”
A new edge sharpening Logan’s tone, causing goosebumps to form on my arm as a trickle of fear crawls up my spine. I had backed myself into a corner, unable to look at Ross while telling the both of them a lie. Ross knew of one flower delivery, and the times he found Lance in the street. I hadn’t told him, or anyone for that matter, of the numerous occasions I found him sitting in his car in the middle of the night.
“No, he never says anything, just stands beside his car and watches me.”
It was the truth, Lance hadn’t approached me in a while, remaining near his car as he watched my shop. I had mentioned his actions to one of my regulars who is a police officer, but she let me know standing in the street isn’t a crime, and there was nothing the law could do unless he did something to hurt me or destroy property.
“Okay, Harper. I don’t want you to worry about him. I’ve got a few friends who can drive home my warning.”
I didn’t want to know what he meant by that. Logan was a man of considerable means, and I wasn’t certain how many influential pockets he had his hands in.
“Doc, I called to razz you about the mission you did without me. Lucky bastard taking that prick out.”
“Who Aarash?”
“Yeah, the news broke the story a few minutes ago. Andrey Kumarin is on his way to picking up his daddy’s ashes.”
Ross scoffed, his hands clenching into fists and then relaxing. There was a history ther
e, not one I wanted to know anything about. How they could speak so nonchalantly about a known criminal, I would never understand.
“If I hadn’t heard Pavel saying his son wasn’t there because he was weak, I would have assumed Andrey planned his father’s death.”
“Either way, there’s about to be a shortage in heroin production for a while.”
“Not long enough if you ask me.”
“Small battles, Doc, small battles.”
I didn’t understand what they meant, fearing the worst when they mentioned heroine and a known Mafia member in the same conversation. Preferring to live in my little bubble, I stood from my chair and chose my exit.
“Gentlemen, it’s been a long day, and I have a meeting with the contractor in the morning. Ross, you have a flight to catch and Logan, I’m sure you would like to get some sleep while you can.”
Wrapping my arms around Ross’s neck, giving him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Harper.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll never be too tired to talk with you.”
“I know, but this is the last night I have with Ross for however long, and I need some time with him before he goes.”
Motioning the ceiling, letting Ross know I would be upstairs while he finishes his call with Logan.
“I understand, babe. Let me talk to Ross for just a second, and you can have him until he has to get on the plane.”
“Thank you, Logan.”
“For what?”
“Understanding how important my family is to me.”
“No thanks are ever needed. I’ll talk to you later tomorrow.”
“Good night, Logan.”
“Night, beautiful.”
As I climbed the steps, I focused on the splashing sounds of the bath going on a few feet above me, and giggling voices of my nephews as they played a game involving a pair of super heroes, instead of the conversation between two of the most influential men in my life. As I crested the top of the stairs, I couldn’t fight the smile which captured my face, hoping someday the men downstairs would be in the same room, and the children in the tub would be mine.
Operation SEAL: Book Two Trident Brotherhood Series Page 17
