by Lee Wardlow
“Don’t cry,” he said to her in a normal tone of voice. “The key to my software is in the flower pot at Mom’s grave. Give it to Jamie. He’ll figure out what to do with it,” he whispered to her. “Now go. Both of you. Forget that I exist.”
“Is Nova free to go?” Beau asked.
“For now,” Dallas replied. “Don’t go anywhere Nova in case we want to talk to you.”
She didn’t respond.
“Remember what I said about those pictures Dallas.”
In the parking lot, Jamie stood by his jeep. Beau went directly to him. “He says he’s going to plead guilty. These guys are dangerous. He won’t listen. He won’t even shut down the firewall. He said they would slowly start to kill everyone he loves.”
Jamie shook his head. “I’ll do what I can to help Beau.”
“Thanks Jamie.”
“You ready to go home?” He asked Nova.
“Could I talk to Jamie for a second?”
“Sure sweetheart,” Beau replied.
She watched Beau get in his car. Then she turned to Jamie. She couldn’t look him in the eye. Her slender arms were wrapped around her body, holding herself together.
“Zach told me to tell you that the key to his software is in the flower pot at his mother’s grave. He said you would know what to do with it.”
She turned to walk away. “I love you Nova.” She hesitated. “I meant it when I said it before and I mean it now.”
Nova turned to Jamie. “If you loved me Jamie, you wouldn’t have put me in the position where those cameras would have caught such intimate moments between us.” Then she walked away.
Chapter 13
If what Zach said was true, Jamie thought the women needed to be protected. He wasn’t sure yet what to do. He had been followed for a month. He assumed they were government. He was able to lose them several times.
What did they expect? He was ex-Navy Seal. He knew what the hell has was doing. It was almost comical when he lost them. The look on their faces was hysterical to him as he watched them trying to figure out where he had disappeared to.
He was sitting in the courtroom with Beau Daughtry and his sons when Zach pled guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the radical terrorist group Omega. He was sentenced to eight to ten years in Georgia’s State Pen. In the hallway, Beau called Nova to let her know the results.
“Nova it’s Beau.”
Just the sound of her name made his gut feel like it was twisting into knots, Jamie thought as he listened to Beau talk to her. She had ignored his phone calls and text messages for a month. She wasn’t ready to forgive him just yet.
Jamie went home to the reservation after the trial to check on his family and to form a plan. He used his untraceable phone and called Kale. He didn’t want to involve him but he had to let him know that once he had the software key all the women needed to disappear for a while.
One night, well into the dark of night, he left the reservation in a jeep that belonged to the council. He drove the distance to Savannah about an hour and fifteen minutes away.
Dressed in all black with a mask pulled over his head he slipped into the cemetery where Rena Daughtry was buried. There he found a thumb drive wrapped in plastic protected from the elements. Nothing was written on it. He pocketed the thumb drive and put the flowers back in the pot. Back in the jeep he drove back to the reservation and no one was the wiser.
Jamie was staying with his mother. He got the opportunity to see his sister and younger brothers; to see how they were doing. He had been sending money to his mother every month for years; even during his service years as a Seal. From the looks of things, she wasn’t spending it on her children.
He went for a long walk with his brother Seth. “What’s been going on?” Jamie asked.
“She drinks a lot.”
“Wonderful.”
“What happens to the money I send?” He asked.
“She drinks a lot,” Seth repeated.
Jamie put his arm around his younger brother. A lankier version of himself. Hell maybe at eighteen he looked this scrawny too. “Why didn’t you guys tell me?”
“When Jamie?” His brother was staring at the ground. “You’re always busy running your company, making money.”
That hurt. “Dammit Seth, I’m not too busy to take care of my family.”
They stopped walking. “How bad is it?” Jamie asked.
“I’m feeding them as best I can.”
“This stops. I’ll open an account for you and put the money in your account instead of sending it to her. I’ll buy you a house if that is what you want where you and the kids can move. I just need some time to finish this case then I’ll take the kids off your hands.”
“Talk to Uncle Mark. See what he thinks is best. I don’t want to send her off the deep end. I think she’s fragile Jamie.”
“I’ll do that but Seth she gets no more money from me.”
“All right,” his brother agreed.
They walked back to the house. His mother had been on her best behavior since he had been visiting her. Jamie called Kale from his special phone. He told him now was the time to bring the women to the reservation. Tomorrow night, he was going to bring down the firewall.
Nova hadn’t been feeling well. She was hiding it from everyone. It had been two months since she slept with Jamie in D.C. At first she thought she had the flu. Then she realized that absence of her period meant she might be pregnant. She was scratching her head trying to figure out how it had happened.
She was on birth control. Then she realized that she hadn’t taken her pill once during that weekend. She made up or it that Sunday night when she got home from D.C.
Tyler was still on the make. She was growing weary of his text messages. His constant calls at all hours of the night. She ignored him as best she could. He had stopped sending flowers. One blessing she had right now.
She couldn’t sleep at night. Torn between thinking Jamie had betrayed her and his declaration of love for her. She was having trouble eating because she felt so nauseated. This wasn’t just morning sickness. This was morning, day and night sickness. Sometimes a smell would set her off and she would almost puke.
Nova finally made an appointment with the doctor and he confirmed it. That was last week on a Friday. She was ten weeks pregnant at the appointment. Nothing like burying your head in the sand. She cried all the way home.
This week, on a Thursday afternoon she lost her job. Too many journalists were trying to get an exclusive with Nova Daughtry. She was being harassed at the school and parents were complaining because their children were frightened by the press harassing their teacher. Although they hated to lose her, the principal let her go.
She had been summoned to Kale’s place by her brother-in-law. Told to bring a suitcase with her. She arrived not knowing what the hell was going on. She had been living with Beau since Zach’s arrest because the press was all over at the apartment too. The apartment just didn’t seem the same without Zach anyway. She didn’t really miss it.
Beau bought her out of her apartment lease and had her stuff moved to storage. He didn’t ask questions. Offer advice like Lola did about Jamie. He just wanted to protect her.
Nova got out of the car and walked up the drive. She was wearing baggy jeans and a sweatshirt to hide her baby bump. Hers and Jamie’s baby. God what an idiot she was. She could still hear his declarations of love in her head and it still made her want to cry. But she still didn’t know what the hell to do.
She was surprised to see Harper, Colton and their boys. Beau, Jorga and their girls. Walker with Eli. Kale and Lola and their boys all waiting on her.
“What the hell is going on?” She asked.
“Jamie called me yesterday and told me it was time.” He had already prepared his cousins for this. The women didn’t know what he meant. His name. Just his name made her want to drop to her knees and sob in her hands.
So many times she had picked up the phone since she
found out she was pregnant. An equal number of times, she put it back down remembering the pictures of her and Jamie making love in his penthouse. Caught on camera because he had allowed the FBI to put the cameras there in the first place.
“What does that mean?” Nova asked getting irritated.
“We’re taking you to the cottage in the woods on the reservation. He’s bringing down Zach’s firewall tomorrow. An anonymous call will be made to the FBI and the Senator letting them know the firewall is down so they can trace Omega. He wants to be sure you are all protected.”
“Zach said everyone he loved would be in danger not just the women.”
“You’re more vulnerable than we are. We can take care of ourselves if we aren’t worried about you.”
“I have a job,” Jorga complained.
“You’re taking a leave of absence,” Beau told her.
“You arranged it?” She asked aggravation. “Without even talking to me?”
“I told Joe something came up. You had to leave town for a while. He’ll have a substitute at the high school until you return.”
“I don’t think that is fair,” Harper said. “What about what we want?”
“You don’t get a choice Harper. Not this time,” Kale told her.
“Nova, you head out first. Dad said he would go with you to the reservation if you want. He can ride back with me or Colt.”
“I’m fine Beau. I’ll go by myself. How long are we going to be gone?”
“Until Jamie tells me you can return.”
She turned around and headed towards her car. Kale followed her. “Are you going to the reservation?” He called after her.
“Yes, dammit.”
“I’ll track you down if you don’t.”
“Where the hell else would I go?” She snapped and why could he sense that she was thinking something else? Somewhere else. He might not have mystical powers like some members of his family but he had damn good intuition.
She had been writing letters to Zach. He didn’t respond. She had made one trip to see him. He wouldn’t come to the visitor’s room. She had lost her job. Her best friend. Now Jamie too. This thing had come between Dallas and Beau. Dallas and his daughters. She was sick of it. She needed Zachariah.
Nova climbed behind the wheel of her car. If she was living in close proximity to her cousin’s wives and her sister, they would figure out her secret soon. She needed to see him.
“Where do I meet you?” She shouted at Kale.
“Aunt Mary’s house,” he replied.
She backed out of the driveway and headed towards the highway. Nova ran her fingers across her forehead. She didn’t know what to do. She turned her car around and headed towards Reidsville. She wouldn’t be able to see him tonight. Visiting hours were over but tomorrow she wanted to see Zach before Jamie brought the wall down.
She dialed Jamie’s number. She wanted to know what he was planning. Maybe a part of her wanted to know what he was feeling. He hadn’t seen her in two months. He had stopped trying to reach her a month ago when she refused to respond to him.
He answered on the second ring. She could hear lots of noise in the background. Then he stepped outside, she assumed. It suddenly became quiet.
“Did I disturb you?” She asked.
“No,” Jamie replied. His voice was filled with concern. He was anxious. “I’m visiting my Mom. Checking in on my siblings. That was the noise you heard.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“Let me call you right back.”
The line disconnected. She looked at her phone. Then she laid it down on the seat. It rang. She thought about not answering since he had hung up on her. She closed her eyes quickly then opened them again. She took a deep breath and answered the phone.
“I just needed to use my secure phone to call you.”
“Can’t my phone be traced even if yours cannot be?”
“No, because it’s like the call doesn’t exist. It’s not recorded anywhere,” he told her. “I assume Kale rounded everyone up.”
“He did. I want to know what is going on.”
He explained what he was going to do tomorrow. He had Zach’s key to unlocking the firewall. He was going to bring it down. He didn’t think Omega would know the difference. The government could set their trap and catch them. Zach couldn’t be blamed he was in maximum security.
“He won’t see me.”
“I’ve seen him several times.”
“Is that safe?”
“I go in as his attorney, Jessup Daniels under disguise. He was shocked at first.”
She could feel the tears well in her eyes. “How is he?”
“He’s holding up. He’s worried about you.”
“Did you discuss with him what you were going to do?”
“I did. He thinks it will work. I can cover my tracks so no one knows I brought down the wall. Omega will think the government cracked it finally. I offered him a job when he gets out.”
“That was nice of you.”
“I miss you Nova. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say to make it better.”
She was quiet. Too quiet.
“Nova?”
“I don’t know Jamie.”
She didn’t say no. Maybe he could regain her trust. He felt a sense of hope he hadn’t felt in a while.
“I know you have feelings for me too. I know that you do.”
She sniffed back her tears. “I do but I’m hurt Jamie. How could you let that happen? You’re supposed to protect me not set me up for something like this.”
Jamie felt like she had kicked him in the gut. “I know.”
“We’ll talk when this is over.”
She had to see him at some point. She had news to share with him.
It was hours before her phone started to ring. She should have been at reservation already. She finally picked up when her brother-in-law called. She couldn’t let them worry about her.
“Where the hell are you?” Kale snapped at her.
She wasn’t going to tell him exactly. She didn’t want anyone showing up to try to take care of her. She had to do this on her own. Zach had to speak with her.
“I had something to take care of.”
“Seriously Nova. When will you be here.”
“Tomorrow sometime.”
“Nova, what the hell did you have to take care of that was so God damned important?”
She heard her sister talking to Kale. Then Lola took the phone. “Nova, what are you doing?” Lola’s voice was sweet and calm. Soothing to her.
“I had to do something.”
“What?”
“Lola, I lost my best friend.” She started to cry. “He wouldn’t see me. I lost my job. Jamie. That hurt me after what Tyler did to me. I know you say it’s my fault because he made no promises but it still hurts.”
“Nova, I’m sorry I didn’t understand the amount of pain you were in. What good will it do you to see Zach now?”
“I just felt the need to see him.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m scared and I needed him.”
“Why are you scared sweetheart?”
Nova had just paid cash for her room. She was staying near the penitentiary so she could go there first thing in the morning. Then she would head to the reservation as they wanted. Jamie could just wait until she got there.
She swiped the key card in the door and the light changed green. She went inside the room and let the door shut behind her.
Nova sat on the bed in the darkened room. “I’m pregnant Lola.” It was easier telling her sister when the room was dark. She couldn’t see anything. She didn’t know why but it just made it easier. “I need Zach.”
Jamie watched Lola talking to Nova on the phone. He had waited hoping that she would arrive so he could see her. Damn, he missed her. Just a glimpse of her would hopefully ease the craving he had for her.
He wanted to be able to touch her again. The sadness that he felt�
�he felt deep in his soul. Not just because she wouldn’t see him but because he had hurt her so terribly. Just like Tyler Danner had.
He saw Lola put her fingers up to Kale’s lips. He had started to say something. Then he turned away. His friend walked to the front porch of their Aunt’s home and sat down. Jamie went to him and sat beside him.
“Is she all right?”
“She’s not coming until tomorrow.”
“What?” Jamie ran his hand across his neck in frustration. “She was told to come here.”
“You’ll have to wait until she’s here to bring down the firewall.”
“Where did she go?”
“To see Zach.”
“Why?” He was looking at Kale who appeared uncomfortable. Kale dropped his eyes to the ground.
“Because she needed him.”
Jamie went home since there was no hope of seeing Nova tonight. The women and children were going to the cottage in the woods. It was secure and hidden so deeply on the reservation no one would find it who might be looking to hurt any of them.
He laid on his back on his bed. He was worried about Nova and why she had a sudden need to see Zachariah. He took out his phone and called her. Jamie didn’t realize how late it was. He could tell by the huskiness of her voice that he had woken her.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie told her. “I didn’t think that you would be asleep at ten.”
“I tend to fall asleep early these days,” she replied.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, why?” She asked. Nova rolled over onto her back. She was in the hotel bed wearing only a tank top and her underwear. Her belly was starting to get round and hard. Nova laid her hand on her tiny bump.
“Kale said you needed Zach. What’s wrong?”
“He didn’t tell you.”
“He didn’t. Nova, talk to me.”
She closed her eyes and was thinking. This didn’t seem right to tell him over the phone. “I think we should wait until this is over. Then we’ll talk.”
“Why do I feel like you’re keeping something from me?”
Nova laughed uncomfortably.
“Will you please just talk to me? Tell me whatever it is.”
