by Susan Stoker
“Where are you?” Chase asked.
“Idaho.”
“Idaho? What the hell are you doing all the way out there?”
“Long story, but basically, I needed to get away from everything. Can’t be around large groups of people anymore. Loud sounds bother me. It suits me out here. Best decision I ever made. I met my wife after I moved.”
Chase’s eyes closed and his head bowed. He struggled with emotion before opening his eyes and staring over at Ghost and Fletch. “Fucking pleased, Munroe. You have no idea.”
Belatedly, Fletch put his hands over Annie’s ears as if he could block out the word she just heard.
“Yeah, Sir, I do,” was Fish’s response.
“I’d like to come visit sometime…if that’s all right,” Chase said hesitantly.
“Yes. Absolutely, yes. You can meet Bryn, my wife. She’s hysterical and super smart. I mean, really smart. But don’t get any ideas… I know you work in counterterrorism. I won’t let her get into that shit. You’ll understand why when you meet her. She gets too into it and doesn’t know when to let stuff go.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. I’m gonna give you back to Ghost now.”
“Okay. Sir?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Fish told him.
“Right back at’cha,” Chase replied. Then he held the phone out to Ghost. The other man took it, and he and Fish had a short conversation before he hung up.
“You were there that day?” Ghost asked in a low tone.
Chase nodded. “I’d been assigned to the team on a special mission. It was all hush-hush. A part of counterterrorism intel gathering. We were supposed to go in and rescue that female truck driver who’d been taken hostage.”
Fletch spoke next. “Jeez, man… We checked everyone. How did we miss you?”
Chase shrugged. “When I came to the first time, I realized that the truck seat had landed on top of me. I had to literally dig my way out later. I think with my brown hair and the way I was covered in dirt…I just blended into the landscape. I’m not surprised you missed me.”
Ghost shook his head. “I can’t believe I left my future brother-in-law there to die. No. Not acceptable, Sir. We fucked up. You could’ve been captured by the same people who took the truck driver.”
“But I wasn’t. Quit beating yourself up.” Chase’s gaze met first Fletch’s then Ghost’s. “That’s an order,” he said. Then his voice lowered. “Munroe is alive. It’s a miracle. I thought I was the only one.”
Rayne asked, “How in the world did you not know about Fish? I mean, he was around when that shit happened with Kassie. He was even at Emily’s wedding. I know you didn’t go, but still. He was here. And haven’t I talked about him around you? It’s not like you’re living in a bubble.”
Chase looked over at his sister. “I don’t know. We talk, but I haven’t told anyone about that mission…well, except for Sadie, and that was really recently. I don’t hang out with Ghost and the others too often because of fraternization rules. The Army doesn’t think much of enlisted soldiers hanging with officers.”
“Well, that’s just stupid,” Rayne said under her breath.
Chase smiled but went on. “Thank you,” he said, looking at both of the Delta Force operatives. “Thank you for finding Munroe and getting him out of there. Thank you for what you do, and especially thank you for helping me keep Sadie safe.”
“Fuck that,” Ghost said. “You don’t have to thank us. This is what we do.”
“Exactly,” Fletch agreed.
“And Fish would’ve done the same exact thing if the roles had been reversed,” Ghost said.
“Damn straight,” Fletch agreed.
“And I know he’s not here, but please thank Truck for me,” Chase said, looking at Ghost, “for not giving up on Munroe. I don’t know all the details, only what he told me on the phone just now, but you guys could’ve easily given up. Figured he’d bleed to death, but you didn’t. Knowing one of those men is alive today…and happily married…I just… I don’t have the words.”
“Sir,” Ghost began, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His intense gaze met Chase’s. “Truck would totally say this if he was here too. You don’t have to thank us. So don’t do it again. If any of those other men had even a one-in-one-hundred shot at making it out of there alive, we would’ve taken it. The fact that Fish was bleeding out and would obviously lose his arm only made us all the more determined to save his life. And if we’d have found you there, we would’ve done the same thing for you.”
The atmosphere in the room was charged. Everyone’s emotions were running high.
As if she knew the mood needed to be lightened, Annie climbed off of Fletch’s lap and walked over to Chase. She didn’t ask, simply climbed onto his lap and put her hands on both his cheeks.
Sadie smiled and moved over, giving the little girl some room.
Annie leaned in and rubbed her nose against Chase’s, then sat back, leaving her hands on his face, and said, “Next time, don’t sleep through my daddy coming to rescue you.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Somehow Chase managed to keep it together, and he brought his hands up to Annie’s head and pulled her toward him so he could kiss her on the forehead. “I won’t. Thanks, Annie.”
And with that, Annie nodded and scooted off his knees. She padded back over to Fletch and he lifted her back up to his lap.
Sadie pushed an arm behind Chase and rested her hand on his hip, then curled her legs up onto the couch. She leaned into him and put her free hand on his chest. He covered it with one of his own and carefully wrapped his injured arm around her back.
He inhaled, then let out a huge sigh, and Sadie felt him melt against her, as if all the worries he’d been holding in had been released with his breath. The knowledge that one of the men he’d thought dead was not only alive, but happily married, was obviously enough to help him let go of some of the tension he’d been holding on to.
Talk turned to general, everyday matters, until it finally came back around to Jonathan, and the reason she and Chase were in the house in the first place.
“We need to talk about Jonathan,” Chase said, but looked pointedly at Fletch and Annie with his eyebrows raised.
Getting the hint, Emily stood up and said, “And with that, I think it’s time for Annie to get to bed.”
“But, Mom,” the little girl complained, “I wanna hear the stramagy for keeping the bad guy away from Sadie!”
“When you’re a soldier in your own right, you can be in on strategy meetings,” Fletch told her. “But for now, it’s past your bedtime and you need to get some sleep.”
She whined a bit more, obviously tired, but eventually allowed her mom to help her off Fletch’s lap and lead her to her room.
“Should I go too?” Rayne asked quietly from beside Ghost.
Chase shook his head. “No, I think you need to hear this. The last thing we want is to leave you, Emily, and Annie vulnerable to this asshole.”
Sadie shivered and felt Chase’s arm tighten around her.
“Here’s the deal. Sadie’s uncle is coming down tomorrow with Ian Taggart. Simply having those two around will go a long way toward giving us the upper hand. They were Special Forces as well, and they’re badass. And Sadie is certain that was Jonathan today. He flattened all four of my tires and disabled my car in the parking lot to give him a chance to get to her.”
“How’d he find out she was here?” Ghost asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m guessing that maybe there are still some officers down in San Antonio who used to visit the school that weren’t caught in the aftermath of the bust. It’s possible he could be blackmailing them to get information on Sadie’s whereabouts.”
“Why does he want you so badly?” Rayne asked.
Sadie bit her lip and looked down at her lap. She didn’t want to tell Chase; there was no way she was telling her new friend and the
Deltas.
Luckily, Chase came to her rescue. “It doesn’t matter. It only matters that he does. So let’s talk scenarios.”
Sadie squeezed Chase’s waist in silent thanks and he gripped her hand at his chest in reply. She relaxed further into his side, feeling connected to him in a way she hadn’t felt with anyone in a really long time.
Emily returned after getting Annie settled and immediately went to her husband. She took Annie’s spot on his lap and the conversation continued.
The discussion was fast and furious, ideas and thoughts mostly coming from the men. They discussed ways to keep Sadie, and the other women, safe from Jonathan, what they thought he might do if, God forbid, he got his hands on any of them. They talked about what the women should do if they found themselves taken hostage by the man. Finally, they made a plan on what they should do if Jonathan wasn’t captured in the next couple of days. The last thing anyone wanted was for the threat from the man to drag on for weeks or months.
Sadie knew offering herself up as bait would be the perfect solution to the situation, but she also knew Chase, not to mention her uncles, wouldn’t let her.
As if he could read her mind, Fletch said, “This is just a suggestion—I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t at least throw it out there—what if we had Sadie go somewhere by herself? We could watch her from a distance and if Jonathan showed up, we could grab him.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t Chase who replied first, but Ghost. “No fucking way.”
“We’d be there watching her; so would the Taggarts. Nothing would happen to her.”
“We don’t put one of our own in harm’s way. Period. Besides, Jonathan might be a pedophile and batshit crazy, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. He would know it’s a trap. She was with Chase today, and not too long after he tried to take him out, Fletch and I showed up. He knows she has a protection detail. Besides, would you want Emily in that situation? Maybe we should send Annie to the park by herself?”
“No, that’s not—” Fletch began, but was interrupted by Ghost.
“Right. Just because Sadie is new to our group doesn’t mean she’s expendable. She fucking is not.”
Sadie’s eyes filled with tears upon hearing Ghost defending her. It was true, he didn’t know her, nor did any of the other men and women in the room, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to let her put herself in danger just to end the threat to the others.
She started, realizing for the first time that if she were to be Chase’s—really be Chase’s—then Ghost could end up being her brother-in-law and Rayne would be her sister-in-law.
She suddenly wanted that. With every fiber of her being. But she was definitely jumping the gun. She hadn’t even kissed Chase. It was silly to be thinking about marriage…wasn’t it?
Maybe not, considering how many times Chase had said she was his and that he wanted her. He’d even flat-out said he wanted to marry her.
Looking up at Chase, Sadie blinked at the emotion she saw on his face. He was staring at Fletch with his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. He was apparently upset with him for even suggesting that they use her as bait. She’d thought he was intense when he was talking to that Fish guy on the phone. But that was nothing compared to what she was seeing right this moment.
“You’re right,” Fletch said, then turned to Sadie. “And I apologize to you too. I wasn’t really saying we should use you like that, I was just brainstorming. Trying to think of ways we could get you safe as fast as possible.”
She nodded at the man. She didn’t think badly of him; she was actually surprised no one had brought it up earlier.
After another hour, the men seemed to agree on a plan of sorts. It all hinged on Jonathan and how crazy he was. Sadie had a feeling that Jonathan would make a move sooner rather than later. He was pissed. And obsessed. Those things alone would make him desperate to get his hands on her, and hopefully he’d walk right into the trap the Deltas were laying.
“Emily’s out,” Fletch said softly. “She has a tendency to conk out because of the pregnancy. I’m going to take her to bed.” His wife had moved to lie on the couch next to him and was dead to the world. Even though she was tall, she looked almost petite sleeping next to her muscular husband.
“I’m half asleep too,” Rayne told Ghost, yawing as if to emphasize her point.
As the group began to break up, Fletch came over to where Sadie was sitting with Chase. He squatted down in front of her and said, “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, Sadie. I didn’t think it was the best idea, but I was just trying to think of something that would help end this for you.”
She hadn’t been expecting him to apologize again, so she didn’t say anything. Chase answered before she could think of a reply.
“Don’t do that shit again, Fletch. I get that in the past, offering people up as bait was something your team discussed, and even did, but those times are gone. Too many of us have our own women to even consider that a viable option anymore.”
“You’re right. It was a dick thing to even suggest, given the circumstances.”
When neither man said anything else, Sadie knew she had to end the pseudo standoff. She put her hand on Fletch’s arm. “It’s okay. I understand, I do.” She gave him a small nod.
“We’ll keep you safe, Sadie. We’re trained in this shit. You worked at McKay-Taggart for a while before you went to San Antonio, right? I’m guessing the operatives up there were just as protective of their spouses as we are with ours,” Fletch said.
Sadie nodded. She did know. Ian and the others always looked after their significant others. And if she was being honest with herself, it was pretty awesome knowing she had someone to lean on, to help her make decisions about important things in her life, and who would stand up for her and protect her if push came to shove. “I understand,” she told Fletch.
He nodded and stood, then held out a hand to help her stand, and Sadie took it. Chase was by her side immediately, taking her hand from Fletch’s. She would’ve laughed but didn’t have it in her.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Chase said. “You’re taking first watch?”
“Yeah. I’ll get Emily settled, and I’ll wake Ghost up in an hour.”
“Sounds good.”
“Later, Sir.”
As they were walking to their room, Sadie asked Chase, “Why do they call you ‘Sir’?”
“To make a long story short, they’re enlisted and I’m an officer. It’s engrained in all of us to talk to each other that way. Even though I’m friends with them, it’s technically illegal for me to hang out and be buddy-buddy with them.”
“That is stupid,” Sadie said. “I don’t get it.”
“Think about it this way,” Chase tried to explain. “If we have to go into combat together, I’ll be giving the orders. They’re expected to carry out those orders without question. If we’re friends, I might either not give the appropriate order to go into battle because I don’t want to see my friends hurt, or they might question my authority because of our personal relationship. It’s a sticky situation, and the reason the no-fraternization rule is in effect.”
Chase closed the bedroom door behind him as he finished speaking.
“Yeah, okay. That makes sense. But it sucks. Because I want you guys to all be friends. They’re all awesome people.”
“Yup. But when Ghost marries my sister, we’ll be legally related, so that means the Army probably won’t put me in charge of any unit he’s in. And since he has no intention of leaving his team, that means I won’t have to worry about commanding Fletch, Truck, and the others. So I have no heartburn about staying here tonight, or any other night, or with working with them to keep you safe.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, Sparky, that’s good. Now, why don’t you get ready for bed? We’ll talk, then we’ll see if we can’t pick up where we left off when Annie interrupted earlier.”
“You still want to?” she asked.
C
hase leaned in, and Sadie inhaled his unique peppermint scent. He brought his hand up to the side of her neck and she shivered as his light touch made goose bumps break out on her arms. “I still want to. Even though we were discussing ways to keep you safe downstairs, the only thing I could think about was bringing you back up here, laying you on this bed, and showing you exactly how much you mean to me.”
Sadie could only stare at him. She’d dreamed about hearing something like that from him almost since she’d met him. Now, she could hardly believe he’d actually said it.
“Go get changed. I left you something to wear to bed in the bathroom. I’ll go use the guest bathroom down the hall.”
Then, without warning, he moved in close and covered her lips with his own.
Surprised, Sadie gasped, and he took advantage of her shock, pressing his tongue into her mouth. His kiss wasn’t tentative. Wasn’t a first-kiss, let-me-see-what-she-might-like exploration. He devoured her. Holding the back of her head with his hand and not letting her pull away, not that she wanted to.
After the initial shock, Sadie moaned and gave him what he wanted. She opened wider and tilted her head, allowing him to consume her.
He pulled back after several moments of intense kissing and stared at her. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “Go get ready for bed, Sparky.”
“Okay,” she whispered, but neither of them moved.
He finally huffed out a short laugh and stepped away from her. “Go on. If you don’t go now, I won’t be able to get control of myself and we won’t talk first.”
“Maybe we can skip the talk,” Sadie said hopefully. Making love with Chase sounded much better than talking about Jonathan.
“Talk first, then I’m going to make love with you for the rest of the night. I want to know where you’re the most sensitive, how and where you like to be touched, and what you taste like.”
