by SE Jakes
Chapter Six
Dash wasn’t in bed with him when he woke up. Lucky’s head throbbed, and he just lay there for a long few moments, wishing someone would bring him coffee or aspirin or the like.
Something wasn’t right. Hadn’t been since Nate had shown up and, while Dash had been able to fuck away Lucky’s continuing anxiety yesterday, then last night and well into this morning, the tenseness was back.
Lucky hadn’t seen Nate again since the night before last, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
He forced himself up and into the living room, where there was still no sign of Dash. He went to the kitchen and drank the juice from the carton as he looked out the side window. Saw Dash standing there, talking to someone. He couldn’t see a face, and it could’ve been anyone. But it made Lucky pause and wait and watch…and finally, the other man moved and it was Nate.
Dash was talking to him and Nate was talking with his hands and Lucky had the strangest urge to go out and defend Dash, who didn’t look like he needed defending at all.
The first night they’d spent together, he’d told Dash the real story of his missing memories. Dash had listened, then fucked him again, and Lucky had slept better than he had in a long time. And then Dash had hung out with him and Emme—and Emme kept looking between the two of them and smiling—and then she’d given Lucky the afternoon and night off from the bar.
He hadn’t argued. It had gone by too damned fast, but he didn’t remember feeling that comfortable with anyone since…well, not since he could actually remember anything. He didn’t think he’d ever be capable of feeling something, and then Dash had walked in and blown him out of the water.
And now, Dash was talking with the man who could ruin Lucky’s pieced-together life.
Dash was your shield from Nate.
But he wouldn’t have been forever, though, and Lucky knew that.
Instead of calling down to Dash, he went into the shower, heard the knocking after he turned the water off. He didn’t think Dash would continue to knock now that he was staying here, and because they’d fucked, but Lucky didn’t know the guy at all.
With the towel wrapped around his waist, he opened the door saying, “After all, you’d think you’d have keys,” but for the second time in as many days, a man stood staring at him like he was looking at a ghost.
Because he probably was.
“Sorry. Not who I was expecting.” Lucky kept his voice neutral but in his mind that was running a hundred miles an hour, he was packing and leaving. Had to. There wasn’t a choice.
“Jesus Christ. Josh.” The man’s voice broke a little and Lucky stared at him, wishing a memory would come. Because otherwise, he was just a dick standing here coldly, staring at a guy who was clearly emotional.
“I’m Lucky,” he said automatically.
“Damned right you are. Shit.” A hand went over the guy’s shaved head. “I know you spoke to Nate.”
“I’m not the guy you want me to be.”
“Yeah, you are. Always were. Look, I’ve got pictures. Please…can I just come in and show them to you? I just need to you know that Nate and I are telling the truth. We lost you for four years. You have no idea…”
He trailed off and Lucky opened the door wider.
“I’m just going to get dressed.”
The man nodded. Stuck out his hand. “I’m Rex.”
Lucky took it in his and stared for a long second, then let go. He turned and left Rex to walk in, and he went into his room and pulled on jeans and a shirt. Thought about making a break for it. But at the very least, he owed Emme and her parents more than that.
Probably owed himself too.
Finally, he went back out to the living room. It was barely noon but he slid into the kitchen and came back with a couple of beers.
Rex took a long pull on his. The guy was handsome. Nervous as Lucky, or maybe more so.
There was a folder on the coffee table.
“What’s in there?”
“Our past,” Rex said and something in his voice made Lucky start.
“We… Nate said we were in the military together.”
Rex looked relieved that Lucky was acquiescing. “That too.”
Unable to stop his hands from trembling—there wasn’t enough beer in the world for that—Lucky slid the pictures out of the manila envelope.
The first were four men, dressed like soldiers. When he noted that, Rex corrected, “Sailors, not soldiers. Navy SEALs, specifically.”
“Guess I was a good swimmer.”
“The best.”
There he was, in between Nate and Rex. Wearing the uniforms. Dog tags. Smiling.
“That’s Uncle. Terry Bast. We call him Uncle.”
“He’s…?”
“Alive, yes.”
The next picture was far more surprising. Him with Rex. Dressed in casual clothes. Smiling. Rex’s arm slung around him easily. Possessively.
The next photo was almost the same pose, except Lucky was facing Rex.
The next, they were kissing.
“We were…”
“Together. For four years.”
“Not me. You were with Josh. I’m not Josh anymore. Maybe I was, but he’s long gone. And judging by what I went through, why the hell would I want him to come back?”
The way Rex looked at him was sadness mixed with anger. Maybe pity too. “You don’t remember. You really don’t.”
Lucky shook his head. “You should just go, okay? I’m sorry. And I hope you’re happy. That you found someone else, but…”
“You’ve got to come back with us,” Rex said gently. There was a calm command in his voice that made Lucky still.
“Back?”
“The Navy…you’re still a part of the Navy. Technically, you’d be up on Desertion charges, but if you really don’t have your memories, you’d be considered UA—Unauthorized Absence. I spoke to a JAG who’s a friend and he said—”
“Back to the Navy? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I’m not.” Rex stared at him. “I’m not giving you a chance to run. I owe that to you. Maybe you don’t see it now, but…”
“Fuck you.” He shuddered the words out because he was afraid he’d sob if he didn’t curse. He swallowed the tears and asked, “Did it ever occur to you that I might not be Josh?”
“Yes. But Dash ran your prints.”
“Dash did that?”
The betrayal must’ve shown clearly on Lucky’s face, and he could barely stand the look of pity on Rex’s. “I don’t understand. Did he know I was there or something?”
“He was following Nate.”
“Why’s that?”
“That’s what you’ll find out eventually. But we’re not allowed to talk about that. It was the only way the Navy would agree to let me come in here in the first place, or let us escort you home. To the States. Virginia, to be exact.”
“The Navy’s here?”
“There are two MPs outside, waiting to make sure we get you on the plane.”
“Is Dash with the Navy?”
“I don’t know. He’s definitely not a civilian.”
And he hadn’t been defending him against Nate at all. He’d been planning with him, waiting, to make sure Lucky didn’t leave. He’d known Rex was coming.
He’d known Lucky would be leaving South Africa today, and that he might not ever be able to come back.
“I’m sorry, Lucky. It must be hard not knowing who to trust. But you can trust me. You always did. And the three of us, your team, we’ll take you back.”
Three men he’d lived and died with would escort him.
Three men determined to yank Josh out of the grave and resurrect him.
Lucky packed while Rex, Nate and Uncle—and the MPs—waited outside, like they were guarding him.
Because they are.
The urge to fight was strong—he recognized it, the same way he’d thought about breaking out of the hospital the ni
ght he’d been found on the beach. The same urge had been there that night he’d first seen Nate.
He was capable of fighting. And winning. And because he knew that somewhere deep inside him, he kept his anger tamped down when he found out that Dash had betrayed him.
He kept it in check purposely, because he didn’t know exactly what else he was capable of. But he’d done some research on SEALs after texting Emme and asking her to come see him. He wanted to explain things to her himself, and the MPs agreed to let that happen.
He’d done the research in the desperate hope of triggering a memory—any memory. But there was still nothing. He’d also researched the FBI and CIA. He was pretty sure Dash was the latter. Why else would he be involved in this, especially if he wasn’t Navy?
Why the hell would he care who Lucky was if he wasn’t Navy?
As always, there were more questions than answers.
The bar was open for the afternoon beach crowd, and the music began to drum up under his feet. He sat on the floor, the way he’d done countless times before, and let the music soak over him. Stared up at Dash’s framed photographs that lined the walls of the bedroom, like he’d been doing for years and realized that, as a SEAL, he must’ve worked in some of these areas.
He stood like a shot at that thought. No memories but hell…was that why he’d been so drawn to the photographs? Why he’d taken such comfort from them?
He ran his hands over one of them. Tried to picture Dash taking all of them, trying to rectify the man who’d saved him from Nate, the one who’d given him amazing sex with the man who’d turned him in to Nate and Rex. And the Navy.
“Lucky?” Emme called. He heard male voices mingled in, looked out the bedroom and saw Dash coming into the apartment with her.
Last person he wanted to see.
“You’re packing?” she asked.
He couldn’t take his eyes from Dash’s, wondered when the hell the guy would have the guts to admit what he’d done. “I know you turned me in. What I can’t figure out is why you didn’t tell me?”
Dash didn’t answer, and Lucky was prepared to wait him out.
Emme, of course, wasn’t. She looked between him and her brother. “What do you mean, turned you in? Are you running from the law?”
“From the Navy,” Dash said, never taking his eyes off Lucky.
“You’re a deserter?” Emme asked him.
“He didn’t know,” Dash said. “Technically, that would make him UA—Unauthorized Absence.”
“How gallant, making excuses for me,” Lucky told him. “And if you believe that, why the hell didn’t you just leave it alone?”
Dash’s expression softened for a fleeting second. “No one should be forced to live a lie. Figure out who you are, and then if you want to come back, you come back.”
“Why are you making him go, Dash?” Emme asked, stopping Lucky from spitting more angry words at him. “If he has no memory…”
“You knew?” Lucky asked, dragging his eyes from Dash’s. Her blue eyes were darker than Dash’s, her hair just as blond. She was so pretty. So good to him. And she’d known he’d been lying to her all this time.
“I did,” she admitted. “Your story was good. But the way you arrived…the doctor said the scars were fresh.”
“You knew and you didn’t care that I lied to you?”
“I figured you had your reasons. And you’re a good guy, Luck—that much I knew, and that’s all that mattered. I’m sorry. Maybe I should’ve said something.”
“Not your fault, Em. You helped me. Saved me. I won’t forget that.”
“Do what Dash says—figure it out then come back here.”
He hugged her and tried to pretend he didn’t feel like it was the last time he’d see her.
“Mom and Dad are going to be upset,” she said, and he saw her glare at Dash.
“Sorry I couldn’t say thanks or goodbye to them.”
Emme turned her attention back to Lucky. “Well, call as soon as you can. Tell us where we can find you.”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t I believe you? Don’t make me hunt you down. You know I will.”
He knew. “I’ll call when I can. Not sure what’s going to happen.”
She was looking over his shoulder. He turned and saw Nate, Rex and the other man from the photo.
The word Uncle couldn’t get any more ironic.
“They’re arresting you?” Emme asked.
Rex came forward. “Escorting him home safely, ma’am, like we weren’t able to do before.”
Lucky turned back to her. “They’re my team. They were with me…thought I died.”
And I did.
“Oh, Lucky.” She put a hand on his cheek. “I’m so sorry, for all of you.”
“I’ll be fine,” Lucky told her, which was the biggest lie ever. He didn’t know about the rest of them. He glanced at Dash and then back at Rex. “Ready.”
Rex grabbed his bag before he could.
“I can do that.”
“I know. Fuck, I left you behind once. Let me at least carry this for you.”
Lucky swallowed a lump in his throat, and he didn’t fully understand why he’d gotten choked up to begin with.
Dash got Lucky and his team to the private military plane that awaited them, complete with MPs and JAGs to make sure all of this was by the book.
Lucky turned to him before he boarded the plane, stared at him with a look Dash couldn’t place.
It was probably hatred, and Dash could understand that…but a part of him, the wishful-thinking part, thought it was more than that. And then Lucky turned and got on the plane and his team followed.
Dash left the airport before they went wheels-up, spoke to his supervisor as he drove back to talk to Emme, who was no doubt furious with him.
“We’ll have to interview your family—you realize that,” his supervisor told him. “The CIA and the Navy both want a piece of this.”
He’d figured as much, which was why he wasn’t on the flight with Lucky.
His supervisor continued, “I think you might have to let them know everything now. You know I don’t say that lightly.”
Dash had been thinking that as well, all of it. His job depended on secrecy, as did the lives of his family. Shielded for their own good.
Now, all that was going to change. But he couldn’t leave them open to danger. “I’ll talk to them. They’ll cooperate fully.”
“And we’ll put a team on them until this is straightened out. Your pick.”
That would help, but it wasn’t perfect. Dash would also call in some private contractors who knew the area well to supplement the CIA. The more the merrier or some shit like that.
“Once that’s set up, we need you in Virginia to oversee what’s happening with Josh Kent.”
He’d been planning on it, but not officially. He didn’t want official and Lucky in the same sentence. “I got him there—job over.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It was never an official mission.”
“No. But I told you to go with your gut. You were right. You can’t just end it here. You can’t tell me you want to.”
Dash couldn’t tell him that. He should want to end things, but what he’d actually thought about was taking Lucky and running with him, bringing him someplace where he could test his memories.
Maybe he was going soft. Maybe he should retire.
Or maybe he’d fallen for someone for the first goddamned time in his life. “He’s got amnesia.”
“Or he’s an excellent liar. Trained, just like you.”
Dash winced internally at his supervisor’s words. “The shrink can parse that out.”
“With your help.”
“How?”
“Any way you can, Dashiell. I know how far you’ll go for the job. So go there.”
Dash couldn’t argue, so he didn’t.
Emme was waiting for him in the kitchen. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she was tapping
the table like she always did, right before she exploded.
She stared up at him. Didn’t say anything. And that wasn’t like her at all.
“I’m really sorry,” he started.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What’s your job, Dashiell?”
It could only be worse if she middle-named him. “I’m with the CIA.”
She stared. Blinked. Shook her head and muttered to herself and then pointed at him. Said nothing. Pointed again, then put her hands together on the table.
“I tried to shield you from this shit forever, Em. Didn’t want you to worry.”
She turned to him. She looked stunned, rightfully so, and no doubt angry and scared, and it was everything he hadn’t wanted to do to her.
“I’m sorry, Em,” he said quietly.
“You’re a CIA agent.”
“Yes.”
“Like on TV.”
“They don’t always get it right,” he offered lamely, and when she glared he nodded. “Yes, like that.”
“And you came here to find Lucky.”
“No. That was…coincidence. I was following Nate, the SEAL from his team.”
“You think he was coming here to hurt us?”
“He said he was coming here to surf. He seemed as surprised to find Lucky here as I was.”
“And you think Lucky was sent here to hurt us but lost his memory instead?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“I need some time,” she said quietly, her arms wrapped around herself. “I need to just take some time and absorb all of this.”
“Look, I get that, but we have to talk first,” he said.
“About Lucky?”
“Yes.”
She dropped her arms to her sides and slumped into the kitchen chair. Their parents wouldn’t be back until that evening—he wouldn’t leave her alone until then.
Nate had seemed surprised that Lucky was living with Dash’s family, but they were all skillfully trained liars, and Dash was trained to not believe anyone.
And yet, he believed Lucky. So fuck his training to hell.
“What do you want to know?” she asked.
“Hate to say it, but can you start from the beginning?”
