But he wasn’t done yet.
He set his rifle down and held up his hands.
He needed a little patience.
A little time.
And a damn fucking miracle.
But he’d make it home if it was the last thing he did.
Christmas Night . . .
Ruby Rose rested her hands on her massive belly and stared out the kitchen window. It has been a week since she’d spoken to Corey and he’d promised either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
It was almost ten in the evening and Christmas had come and gone.
“You know things happen,” her father said as he set some dishes in the sink.
“Not on the tail end of a mission. Not unless something went wrong.”
Her father handed her a cup of tea.
“Sit down. You’re exhausted.”
She nodded. Up until this morning, she’d gone through these last few weeks feeling fine. She had no doubt that Corey had been fine. But the second she’d been jerked awake with this horrible feeling that she just couldn’t shake; she knew something wasn’t right. She’d had these feelings before, and they’d always been on task.
The last one had been a year ago when Corey broke his arm during a training exercise. Before that, it had been when his transport plane had an emergency landing.
But this time she found her chest hurt and her heart pounded.
The doorbell sounded and goosebumps dotted her arms, and not in a good way.
A slow burn slowly filled her lungs. She tried to take in a deep breath, but she couldn’t. She stared into her tea, as if the bag would give her a glimpse into the next few minutes of her life.
“Honey,” her mother said. “Brian and Decker are here to see you.”
Well, at least it wasn’t the chaplain.
Only, she wasn’t even on base. Actually, she was hours from where her future husband was technically stationed. “I’m coming.” She pressed her hands against the table and stood. With her father’s help, she made her way to the family room where Brian and Decker hadn’t bothered to make themselves comfortable.
And they sported grim faces.
She held onto her father’s arm. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Decker nodded and he closed the gap. “One of our contacts with the Marines let us know that Corey’s team missed their extraction last night.”
She inhaled sharply and let it out slowly. “Nothing official?”
“No,” Brian said. “But we’ve got a lot of friends still enlisted and many of them in high places. When we know something, you will.”
“So, what else aren’t you telling me?” She didn’t know these two men well, but she knew military and she knew when they were trying to soften the blow.
“Not much,” Decker said. “Except he and five of his men were separated from the rest of the team when they came across unfriendly fire.”
She gasped, clutching at her engagement ring.
Decker stretched out his hand and squeezed her forearm. “After the encounter, Corey was in contact with the exfiltration team. However, we’ve been informed that there was severe weather, which is making it difficult to reach him.”
Bile smacked the back of her throat. Her stomach tightened. She rubbed her painful belly, trying to catch her breath. A wave of nausea forced her to grab ahold of both her father and Decker.
“The Marines are doing all they can to find him.” Decker leaned over, catching her gaze. “But Brian and I are sending over our own team, tonight. We have some intel and we can move in ways the government can’t.”
She heard his words and nodded.
A warm sensation glided down the inside of her legs.
“Ruby,” her mother said, “your water just broke.”
Decker took a step back, letting her mother take his place at her side. “Should I call an ambulance?”
“I think that might be a good idea,” her father said, calmly. “She’s a month early.”
“No. No. No. This isn’t happening. I can’t have this baby until Corey gets here. I can’t. I won’t.”
“I don’t think you have a choice.” Her father brought over a chair. “I’ll go pack you a bag.”
“Are you in any pain?” her mother asked.
Once again, a tightness in her belly took over, but this time, the agony registered. She groaned.
“I guess that answered my question.”
An overwhelming urge to push engulfed her and she couldn’t stop if she tried.
“Honey, don’t push, yet.” Her mother helped her to the floor. “You’re going to have to let me look and see what’s going on. Someone get me a blanket and some towels.”
“On it,” someone said. It might have been Brian, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Mom. I can’t have this baby.” She squeezed her mother’s hand and stared into her loving eyes.
“Don’t fight it. This kid wants into this world and trying to stop it won’t do you, or him any good.”
Ruby nodded.
“Edward, take over here,” her mother said.
Her father cradled her in his arms as another contraction attacked her system, curling her toes.
She bit down on her lower lip.
“Breathe, baby girl. Breathe,” her father said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Ambulance is on the way,” Decker said. “They want to know—”
“Baby’s head is crowning.” Her mother dropped a sheet over her middle. “This kid is coming faster than you did. Now, give me a big push, honey.”
Tears burned her cheeks as they made a path down her skin. She squeezed her father’s hands as tight as she could and bared down.
“That’s it. Keep pushing.”
As she let her body do what it seemed to know instinctively, she tried to fill her mind with thoughts and images of Corey. Her one true love.
“It’s a boy,” her mother said. “And he looks good. Big.”
She slumped, stretching out her arms, wiggling her fingers as the sound of some healthy lungs filled the air. She took her son, pressing her lips against his precious forehead. “Shane Edward Foster,” she whispered. “Just like your father. Full of surprises.”
Chapter Four
Three months later
Corey carved another line on the side of the concrete wall. If the military had found his men, and not him, then he had a good chance that there was still someone looking for him.
At the very least, the Aegis Network wouldn’t give up.
Not without proof.
Not without a body.
He closed his eyes and immediately he saw Ruby’s smiling face, and rounded belly.
Only, she would have had their baby by now.
He had no idea if he’d had a boy or a girl. Or how mother and child were doing.
His heart ached as he knew his sweet Ruby’s was surely breaking. Though she was strong and she’d be their child’s rock. And she had the support of his mother, her family, and Brian and Decker would make sure she had everything she needed.
His only regret—not marrying her before he left. He should have pushed harder.
The metal door rattled.
He ran a hand through his knotted hair as one of his captors set a tray of oats and some water on the ground.
They fed him relatively well, but spoke to him infrequently and thankfully, the beatings had stopped.
Well, at least he hadn’t been tortured in sixteen days. He had no idea what that meant, but for now, he’d take the time to heal and try to gain back some strength.
He glanced up at the young man standing in the doorway. “You’re new.”
“Just eat,” the man said with a thick middle eastern accent.
“Why are you holding me?” Corey had asked this question a million times and each time, it all came down to wanting information on Operation Mildsong, which had been what Corey’s team had been sent to help set the stage for, only, very few people knew that. According to their orders, they had b
een sent there for a training exercise.
Not be the transport for a double agent to infiltrate enemy lines.
Seems the enemy knew. The only question was, did they know who the double agent was or had that been the information they were really looking for?
“I just do what I’m told.” With that, the man slammed the door shut.
Corey took the tray and hobbled to the table. His chains barely allowed him to make it that far. He sat down and tried to keep from crying.
Tears wouldn’t bring him any closer to his family and he’d be damned if he was going to let this cell be his grave.
Chapter Five
Baby Shane’s 1st Christmas . . . and 1st Birthday
Ruby sat cross legged on the floor. She couldn’t look at the hallway by the family room and not think about what happened exactly one year ago.
It was bittersweet.
Kate, Corey’s mother squeezed her shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m good. Did he go down okay?”
“He’s still fussing a little.” Kate handed her the baby monitor and settled in the wingback chair. She pulled Ruby back between her legs and ran her fingers through Ruby’s long hair. “Thank you for letting me stay. I know it’s crowded with your parents here.”
“No. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She sunk into what should have been her mother-in-law’s warm embrace and fiddled with her engagement ring. A lot of people told her she should take it off. That it was time to start living her life as if Corey were dead.
But he wasn’t.
She knew that to be true in her heart of hearts. Their connection, while weakened, was still there.
“My son called eight times with a million pictures of different rings. He was so worried about which one to buy you.”
“He could have asked me without one and I would have said yes.”
Kate laughed. “He did know that, but he wanted to sweep you off your feet and show you he wasn’t some doofus military guy who didn’t have a romantic bone in his body.”
“I’d been with him for nearly four years when we got engaged. I can’t believe he was worried about that.” Ruby closed her eyes and enjoyed the way his mother fingered her hair.
“He loves you so much.”
A thick lump formed in Ruby’s throat. She was so grateful both her parents and Corey’s mother, along with everyone at the Aegis Network continued to talk about Corey in the present tense. They weren’t telling her it was time to take off the ring and move on. To start dating or some such bullshit.
However, she could tell her folks were getting to the point they were walking on eggshells around her, as was Kate.
“I love him too. I keep showing Shane pictures of his daddy, trying to get him to say Da Da.”
“That’s so sweet.” Kate dropped her hands to Ruby’s shoulders.
She blinked her eyes open. “Please. Don’t say it.” She twisted her body and gasped. She hadn’t expected to see Kate quietly sobbing. “What’s wrong?” Ruby pulled Kate into her arms and hugged her tight. She rubbed her hands up and down Kate’s back. “Shhhhh.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said through the tears. “I shouldn’t do this to you.”
“It’s okay. We all have our moments. My father’s out in the garage, cleaning, so that when Corey comes home, it’s clean in order to keep his shit together. My mom said he lost it last night three times putting together Shane’s toys.”
Kate pulled back and cupped Ruby’s cheeks. “You’re so strong. I see why my Corey loves you so.”
“He makes me that way.”
Kate nodded. “I want to believe he’s coming home, but it’s getting harder and harder.”
Ruby didn’t want to admit that she agreed with Kate’s assessment. It had been a year since his team went missing. The military was being tightlipped about any information on anything they were doing to find Corey.
However, Brian and Decker were being completely transparent and so far, they had come up with shit.
But they weren’t giving up and neither was she.
She took Kate by the hands. “He’s coming home. I know he is. From the moment I met him in that stupid bar, he and I have been connected.” She pressed their hands to her chest. “I feel his heart beating with mine. I know that sounds crazy, but I have to believe that.”
Kate choked on a sob. “What’s hard, when I allow myself to truly accept that as the truth, is where my mind goes and what my son must be facing. The torture. The pain. The loneliness. The—”
“Don’t do that.” Ruby squeezed. “You can’t let your mind go there. Corey once told me that when he’s on a mission the one thing that has always gotten him through the rough times has been that we’re all hanging tough for him.”
“You’re right. I know you’re right.” Kate wiped her tears. “I shouldn’t have dropped all that on you.”
“It’s okay. If you can’t talk to family about all this stuff, then who can you?”
“You will always be a daughter to me.” Kate leaned in and kissed Ruby’s cheek. “I’m going to go find your mother and see if I can help her with whatever project she’s got going. Thanks for this talk.”
Ruby waited for Kate to disappear into the kitchen before letting the tears escape her eyes. The fear of what Corey was facing pecked at her heart every day. She’d seen the scars on Corey’s body.
Heard the stories.
And she’d held him in the middle of the night when the nightmares tortured his soul.
“I love you, Corey.” She fiddled with her diamond. “I’m here and so is your son. We’re pulling for you.”
Chapter Six
Thanksgiving Day, two years later
Corey carved another line in the cement.
Thanksgiving.
Another holiday season his son would celebrate without him. He lay back on his bed, if one could call it that and stared at the water-stained ceiling. It had been five days since he’d seen any human other than a hand pushing his food under the door.
However, his interaction with his captors had been becoming lesser and lesser and he had to wonder if that was because they no longer needed him or any information he might have.
Or if they had moved on to someone else.
Either way, he needed to find a way out and soon.
His child would be turning three and they’d lived long enough without each other.
They both needed a Christmas miracle.
The door rattled.
Corey shifted to a sitting position. His muscles, what little he had left, ached. His joints felt like he needed WD-40 to get them moving every day.
But at least that let him know he wasn’t dead.
A tall man, buff, maybe in his mid-forties stepped into the cell. “Corey?” he asked in a thick British accent.
“Who’s asking?” He twisted his long hair and tossed it over his shoulder.
“Someone who is going to get you the hell out of here,” the man said.
“And then do what with me?”
“Get you home to your family.” The man worked at the chain. “Brian and Decker sent me.”
Corey’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He grabbed the man’s massive biceps. “Don’t fuck with me because you will live to regret it.”
“I’m not.”
“Prove it.”
“Your son’s name is Shane Edward.”
Corey gasped. “I have a son?”
The man nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, we have about a fifteen-minute window.”
“Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?”
One week before Christmas . . .
“Daddy.” Shane pointed to Corey as he kicked his chubby little legs in his highchair.
“That’s right. That’s your daddy and he loves you very much.” Ruby bit back the tears.
“When is he coming home?”
She blinked. What a fucking horrible mother she’d become. How dare she perpetuate
the lie. It had been almost three years. Who was she kidding?
All her friends were right.
Corey was dead.
“I don’t know, sweetie.” She mentally scolded herself for thinking that horrible thought. Brian and Decker had sent another search and rescue team based on a tip and what they considered excellent intel.
Whatever that meant.
She set a small piece of apple pie on the tray. “Eat your dessert, baby.”
“I want to see Santa. Can we go see Santa?” Shane pounded his pudgy little fists on the tray.
“Only if you stop banging.”
Her father stepped into the kitchen. “What’s all this noise?” He bent over and kissed Shane’s forehead. “Keep that up and Santa’s not going to keep you on his good boy list.”
“Do you think he’s going to give me what I want this year?”
“I don’t know,” her father said. “What are you asking him for?”
Her heart sank. She knew the answer and she also knew it was probably not going to happen.
Maybe never.
Something she needed to come to terms with.
“For my daddy to come home,” Shane said with a proud smile. “Santa can make Christmas miracles come true.”
“That might be a tall order,” her father said. “Even for Santa.”
Ruby wiped up Shane’s fingers and his cute little face. “I know it’s hard for you to understand, but your daddy’s job—”
“I want my daddy.” Shane burst out in tears. He wrapped his arms around her neck and held on for dear life. “I want him here to open my Christmas presents.”
“I know, buddy.” She gave Shane a good squeeze. “Why don’t you go with Grandpa and he’ll give you a bath.”
“I want my dada.”
Ruby closed her eyes for a long moment. “I do too.”
Her father put his arms around both of them. Two years ago, he’d retired, and he and her mother moved from the only home they’d ever known in Pennsylvania to Orlando to help her raise her son. She’d begged them not to, even though she’d really wanted them close. She thought about moving, but if Corey were to make his way home from whatever hell he was living, he’d come straight to Orlando and she needed to be here when that happened.
Santa's Naughty Helpers Page 43
