“Thanks, Mom. What else did you do? Smoke a pack a day?”
“Erin! I’ve never smoked a day in my life. Though I did try one of my daddy’s cigars once. My girlfriends and I snuck into Daddy’s study and got into his bourbon.” My mom chuckled, and her slow Texan twang came out. “We were drunker than Cooter Brown. Molly Hayworth thought we should smoke a cigar. We were sophisticated ladies, you know.”
“How old were you?” I couldn’t help but laugh at my mom.
“We were sixteen and tying one on for sure. Anyway, we finally got it lit, and I was getting lightheaded from trying to inhale. We were a mess.”
“What happened?”
“Daddy came home early and caught us. He was madder than a wet hen.” My mom was grinning ear to ear. “Not because we were in his study smokin’ his cigar, but we’d drank his expensive, sixteen-year-old bourbon.” My mom stopped to laugh some more. “Daddy was yelling the house down about how a bunch of girls had wasted a bottle of twenty-four-hundred-dollar whiskey. He wasn’t wrong, the whole bottle was gone, and we spent the rest of the night taking turns in the bathroom upchucking.”
We were both laughing at my mom’s retelling of her wild years when the girls walked in.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Liv said.
“Nonsense. Come in.” My mom waved them into the living room.
“What’s so funny?” Jasmin asked, pushing a stroller.
“My mom was just telling about her drinking her—”
“Erin Lynn Anderson. Hush up now.” Boy, it was easy to ruffle my mom. “Bring those babies over here and let me see them.”
Jasmin pushed the huge contraption in my mom’s direction. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get this up here? I was worried, Asher and Robby were going to need a full cavity inspection. Sheesh.”
“She’s not joking. Everyone is a little uptight today. Everything okay?” Violet asked.
“Yes. Yes. You know how it is. Now, what did you bring?”
My mom pointed to the box in Olivia’s arms.
“Wedding magazines.” She smiled.
“And I picked up a planning book, just in case Colin gives you time to plan. Though Zane said Colin said he wanted to marry you, like, yesterday.” Ivy pulled a spiral organizer out of her bag.
“And Leo told me last night that Colin said he would marry you today if you’d agree,” Liv threw in. “Oh, and he does want kids. Like, a lot.”
“Today?” The four women standing in front of me all nodded. “That’s crazy.”
“Let’s all sit down,” my mom offered. “What kind of wedding do you want, Erin?” She cut straight to the chase.
“I don’t know.”
With everything that had been going on, I hadn’t begun to think about planning a wedding.
“Big? Small?” Violet asked.
“Small. Just us. I don’t want any publicity. No reporters or gossip rags. I don’t want anyone outside of this room even knowing. Except Colin’s family, of course. The media has made my life hell, I won’t let them ruin this.”
“Small then. Would you like a long engagement?” my mom inquired.
“No. I want to marry Colin as soon as possible.”
“Your dad and I would like that very much. We discussed it last night. Of course, you can have any size wedding, and at any venue you’d both like, but we knew you’d want a small gathering. We were thinking the Blue Room would be nice—”
“No. Not the Blue Room. I want to get married here, in this room.”
“Here? In the living room? But there are so many places—”
“Here is perfect. Here in this room where you are simply my mom, and dad is just dad. Here, where we’re a normal, everyday family. This is where I want to do it. I’ll talk to Colin tonight.”
“You don’t have to, he says yes,” Jasmin said as she rocked one of the babies.
“No, he doesn’t. I have to ask.”
“No. You don’t. Zane said Colin said he’d marry you any time, any place. So, he says yes to getting married here.”
“There sure is a lot of he said, he said going around the office for a bunch of badass commandos.” I laughed.
“Please. They gossip more than any women I know. There are no secrets with them.” Ivy shook her head. “So, now that we know the where. Let’s plan. You need a dress, flowers, a cake . . .”
Ivy prattled on, but I no longer heard what she was saying. Not because I didn’t care, but because it was like I was living in a dream world. A world I never thought I’d have. I had friends. Real friends who liked me for me. A handsome, strong, smart man who loved me despite our rocky start. And my mom. She looked so happy I couldn’t stop staring at her. If I end up living my life half as well as her it will have been a life worth living.
Chapter 24
“What’s with all the extra security?” Zane asked when he entered the situation room where the president and I were waiting. “How’d Erin’s appointment go?”
“Good. She’s all clear.”
“That’s good news, Olivia’s been worried,” Leo said.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Once everyone was in the room and the door was closed, Tom tapped a brown folder in front of him. “This is why.”
He slid the folder in my direction. I opened it and cringed. It was an eight by ten image of a man lying dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
“Who is this?” I pushed the picture toward Zane.
“My informant, Brent Benzo. A man I’ve told no one about. Not even the five of you knew who’d given me the information on the Angel program. Not a single soul knew.”
“When did this happen?” Zane asked, shuffling through the pictures.
“This morning. He was entering an NSA black site. The building is in Richmond, Virginia.”
“What’s the note say?” I asked, scrutinizing the image closer. There looked to be a piece of paper in Brent’s hand.
Tom shuffled through the file until he pulled out the pictures he wanted.
“Any place. Any time,” Zane read the message. “Tex any closer?”
“Yes, he’s putting together the pieces. He’s happier than a pig in shit down in the basement. Gerard delivers his meals personally and keeps him watered. No one else in the White House but the two of us know he’s down there, and I don’t think he’s slept,” Tom told the group.
“He’s hunting.” I chuckled. “Men don’t sleep when they hunt.”
“I’ve moved my meeting up. I leave for Camp David tomorrow. Gerard will stay here, as far as the rest of my detail will know, he has a stomach bug and can’t fly. I’ll be back by dinner.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Zane asked before I could.
“When have I ever given into a threat? Do you think some fuckwit is going to stop me from running this country?”
Tom Anderson was a lot of things, one who backs down wasn’t one of them. Even if it meant putting himself in danger. I guess I knew where Erin got it from.
“All I’m saying is, someone with extreme capabilities took out your man. They’ve taken Erin. Maybe postponing your trip is the smart thing to do,” Zane tried to appeal to his sensible side.
“All the more reason for me to go. Right now, someone thinks they have me by the balls. But they’re about to find out mine are made of brass, and I will never give in.”
Zane let out a sigh. “I figured you say that. Let’s go over what we know.”
“This is Tex’s latest SITREP.”
Tom handed the situation report to Zane. While he was going over the latest intel, I studied the picture of the crime scene.
“I see two surveillance cameras on the building.” I pointed to the picture. “Where’s the footage?”
“Tex is working on that now. He’s also checking traffic and security feeds from the surrounding buildings,” the president answered.
“Listen up,” Zane started. “Tex found the connection between Warren and the NSA. Get y
our note cards ready because this shit is layers deep. Warren has been employed by Camio-Telecomm for the last year. They were running in the red until Warren came aboard and Camio was awarded an 889-million-dollar DOD contract. The North America Industry Standard code shows the scope of work awarded as telemarketing and product services in the amount of 660 million.”
“We know the NAICS codes for the contract are bullshit. What’s the real contract for?” Linc inquired.
“Information gathering,” Zane continued. “After the contract was awarded, Camio acquired a small media outlet for an overinflated price. It was a bad move on Camio’s part, but with the government money coming in they could afford it. Once Tom nixed Angel, the contract was terminated.”
“So, Camio is behind Erin’s abduction and the threats against Tom,” Jaxon stated.
“What was the information being collected used for?” I asked. “I’m not tracking how spying on the American people would help telemarking.”
“But it would help the news outlet Camio purchased,” Leo deduced.
“Bingo.” Zane tossed the SITREP on the table. “Once Camio knows how the general population feels on any given topic they can control the narrative. Either in support of the topic or against. How easy will it be for them to put out false information and influence public perception one way or another. Interference, meddling, and manipulation.”
“Warren wasn’t after influencing anyone,” I told the room. “His sole purpose was revenge. He wanted me dead to rub Zane’s face in it. He didn’t care about anything else.”
“I agree.” Zane’s voice hardened. “Two birds, Colin. He got to line his pockets and piss on me. That is until he underestimated you.”
Just thinking about Warren had my blood boiling. He’d set all of this in motion because Zane had exposed his lying ass for the coward he was. He’d stalked Erin, scared her, kidnapped her, and tried to kill me.
“Smart bastard,” I said.
“What?” Declan turned to look at me.
“He knew. He didn’t give the first fuck about Angel. He fucking knew Tom would never actually cave and reinstate the program, even if he took Erin. As soon as Tom had her back, he’d shut that shit down. Hell, he’d dismantle the whole cyber division if he had to. But Warren knew, once there was a threat against Erin, he’d hire us to protect her. He never cared who was with her, only that Camio took her and her guard alive.”
Not a word was spoken, but every man in the room knew I was right. It could’ve been any one of us hanging in that room, and Warren would’ve been satisfied. His only objective was to torture Zane Lewis.
But there were still too many loose ends. We were missing something.
“Where does Greenwold fit into this? He’s the asshole that’s behind the cameras in Erin’s apartment and hiring those guys to run us off the road. I’m assuming Tex has figured out the cyber, counter-intelligence department is behind his system breech?”
“He’s still working on it, but that is the assumption, yes,” Tom answered.
“And the other 229 million from the contract? Where did that go?” Zane asked.
I’d completely missed the extra money. It was a damn good thing Zane had the ability to keep his emotions in check, because right then, I was too angry remembering the look on Erin’s face when Warren told her he was going to kill me. How she’d endangered herself to come to my rescue while the pussy needed me chained up in order to beat me. But more than all that, I was concerned Erin had watched me kill him. I hadn’t brought it up or asked her how she felt about it. I was too afraid. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to what she’d witnessed but I needed to.
“Hasn’t been found,” Tom told him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait and stay—”
“No. Business as usual.” Tom remained firm in his response.
Damn stubborn man.
“Change of topic,” the president announced. “I hear the women are upstairs planning your upcoming wedding.”
My five teammates chuckled. I had to admit I was happy I wasn’t involved with the planning. I didn’t care where or when. As far as I was concerned, the sooner the better.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“Any requests?”
“Twenty-four hours’ notice so I can get my parents here.”
“And your sister?”
“Deployed with her ship. I doubt her command will fly her home for a wedding. We know the drill.”
“More than most,” the president agreed.
My parents did understand more than most. With two children who served they had no choice but to learn to go with the flow. Sometimes leave was scheduled and then was taken back. Deployments came to end, until they were extended. The assholes in the world didn’t care about things like holidays, birthdays, weddings, or babies being born. Bad people didn’t take a vacation just because the calendar said so. Keira would be sad she missed my wedding, but she’d do what she always did while she was deployed—her job. She was a great sailor, and even if she wasn’t there physically, she’d send her love. She always did.
Chapter 25
“Let me guess, this is why you bought this house,” I said to Colin as we walked through the wooded area of his property.
“It is. We have fifteen acres back here.”
There it was again—we. He now did it with everything. We have a house in Texas. Our car, our hot tub, our life. Each and every time he said it, I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t back in my D.C. apartment dreaming all of this up.
“As much as I love it here, and spending time with you, I know you brought me back here for a reason. What’s wrong?”
He stopped walking but didn’t let go of my hand. Not only had I had an MRI today, but the doctor had taken off the stupid bandage on my right hand. The cut I had on my palm was healing nicely and didn’t hurt. I wouldn’t be swinging across monkey bars on it anytime soon, but everyday activity didn’t bother it.
“You didn’t ask about my meeting today.” Before I could remind him, he’d told me not to talk about anything important he went on. “But I know you’re interested and I told you I’d tell you what I could.”
His blue eyes bore into mine, and he looked extremely uneasy.
“What happened? Is everything all right?”
“We’re getting closer to puzzling everything out. Remember the man Warren, the one I . . .” His words trailed off.
“Yeah, of course I do.” Colin winced, and I wondered why he’d flinch thinking about a dead man who’d tried to kill him.
“We were the reason you were taken. My team and I. Warren was obsessed with Zane and was hell-bent on some sort of sick revenge. He knew if someone threatened you, your dad would hire Z Corps to protect you. He used the people he was working for, convinced them to take you and, in the process, me, too.”
“That seems like a lot of work to get revenge. Wouldn’t it have been easier to hire someone to just kill you?” Shit. That came out wrong. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know how you meant it, sunshine. Do you know what the going rate for a hit is?”
“Hmm, that would be a no. I’ve never tried to hire a hit man.”
“You’re talking about half a million for a good one. Now triple that for a man like me.”
I was afraid to ask what that meant. I could guess, but I didn’t want confirmation.
“That’s a lot of money.”
“Money Warren didn’t have. So he went through the trouble.”
“But he’s dead. So you’re safe now, right?”
“Yes, we are safe now.” Colin tightened his grip on my hand. “I want to talk to you about what happened. What you saw.”
“I know never to tell anyone,” I rushed out.
“Sunshine, I’m not worried about anyone knowing what I did. I’m worried about what you saw.”
“What about it?”
I was confused and thought back to that day and tried to remember
the details. Which was odd, because I’d been striving to forget them. But if there was something I’d missed or forgotten that could help them put the last puzzle pieces together, I’d try.
“You saw me kill a man. I think we need to talk about that.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Baby, I did.” His voice had lowered, and his tone turned cajoling.
“No. You. Didn’t.”
“A man is dead because of me, Erin.”
“You didn’t kill him. You were protecting yourself and me. You didn’t just walk up to someone and take their life.”
“You’re right. But it doesn’t change the fact he died by my hand.”
“Does that bother you? I didn’t think about how it might have affected you, I was just grateful we were alive.”
“Fuck no, it doesn’t bother me.”
“Then why are we talking about this?”
“I need to know if it bothers you. I didn’t think about it that day. And after, I was more concerned about your concussion. Then making sure you weren’t having nightmares about being taken from Abe’s cabin.”
I contemplated everything he’d said and came to the same conclusion I did every time I thought about all that Colin had done for me. I always came first. Nowhere in his statement had he mentioned himself, or the injuries he’d sustained. Or the lives he’d taken. It was all about me, all the time. I wasn’t sure if it made me selfish or not but that was one of the many things I loved about him.
“You killed two men in front of me,” I corrected. “Two men that had beaten you. Two men that had kidnapped me. Two men that had threatened to kill you in front of me. You did what you had to do to protect us. You walked through fire, for me, for us. How could I feel anything but gratitude for that?”
“Through fire?” His face softened.
“You said—”
“I know what I said. I’m just surprised you remembered.”
“It’s what kept me sane. Those words helped me stay strong. I knew you’d find a way out. You told me that when you found the woman you loved there wasn’t anything you wouldn’t do for her. You’d walk through fire. And you did. I won’t ever forget what you did for us.”
Rescuing Erin (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Red Team Book 5) Page 17
