Donnie’s angry voice breaks my musing and as I lift my head I see him come up behind Hatter and take the guy in a chokehold, pulling him from his chair and to the floor. No one else in the room moves, including me, as the two men tussle on the floor, but when one of them kicks the table, almost knocking it over, one of the other guys, Tony, kicks at them. “Watch what you’re doin’, fuckers,” he yells, tossing his bet into the pile in the middle of the table.
There are eleven other guys stationed here with me, all from different walks of life and different military backgrounds. Take Donnie, for instance. He’s thirty-five, divorced, and a former Army Ranger. His specialties are explosives, which he loves to play with since we’re out in the middle of nowhere and we rarely have anything to do beside walk the grounds back and forth. Hatter, on the other hand, is maybe twenty-eight and a former Marine who was deep inside MARSOC almost the instant he enlisted right out of high school, specializes in hand to hand combat; and as I sneak a peek at Hatter’s cards, I see them wrestling from the corner of my eye as he gains the upper hand.
“Say it, old man!” he yells triumphantly as he holds Donnie’s arm above his pinned down body in a painful looking position and Donnie grunts, his face turning ten shades of red. Hatter laughs, smiling up at me, and for a second his eyes remind me of someone, kind of, but then the thought disappears as Donnie’s angry voice fills the air.
“Get off me, mother fucker!” He tries to shake Hatter from his back, but it’s no use. I’ve been in one of his submission holds, and let me tell you, they are painful as hell. Hatter pushes his arm up a little more and Donnie grunts again. “Okay, okay! You’re gonna dislocate my arm. Fine! You’re the man! Hatter is the man!”
Hatter jumps off of him, pumping his fists in the air triumphantly and everyone can’t help but laugh. Reminds me of myself when I was still a SEAL, cocky as fuck and itching to show off. Only thing is, Hatter is older than me, but it looks like he’s one of those that will never, ever, grow up, and that’s okay by me. He’s a good source of entertainment.
He sits beside me, animatedly recalling his actions as if we all hadn’t just witnessed them in person, but I’m lost again, staring at my left forearm and the pirate ship tattooed there, remembering how Ellie used to love to trace it with her fingers. Like the day at the pond, when I couldn’t take it anymore and I told her that I love her; afterward as she was lying on top of me her fingers traced the lines ever so lightly. Her perfect body was tucked into my side, her cheek on my chest as I ran my fingers through her short hair. It is one memory that I will never forget and it will never be tainted by the shit storm that had followed, because in that moment when it was just her and I, we were perfect.
I swear I can feel her fingertips tracing my arm and goose-bumps rise on my skin even though it’s almost eighty degrees in here. Looking down at my arm again, a flash of her blue-green eyes flows through my head and I can’t help but let my eyes slide shut as a sly smile lifts up the corner of my lips.
“What the hell are you smiling at, Timmons?” Hatter’s voice brings me from my little world in a snap and I look up to see all of the guys around the table staring at me. It only takes a second and a few of them chuckle lightly, probably knowing I was thinking about a girl and Donnie finally slides into his seat on the other side of me, elbowing me.
“Leave the kid alone.” He nods to Hatter as he passes a plate of nachos to me. “Besides, not everyone is as heartless when it comes to women as you are, Griggs!”
The guys all laugh, but I’m having a mild heart attack. What the fuck did Donnie just call Hatter? No, I must be hearing things. They are arguing around me as I look to Hatter, and I mean really look. Dark hair, grey eyes. Nope, can’t be.
“Oh shut the hell up, Griggs,” one of the other guys, Rory, spits out between a mouthful of chips and I choke on the swig of beer that I thought would help me. There it is again.
The guys are all looking at me as I cough. Donnie claps me on the back, telling me to cough it up and I just shake my head. I unintentionally slam my beer bottle down on the table, and their stares continue to bear down on me.
“What the hell’s up with you, Timmons?” Hatter says, raising an eyebrow at me as I eye him up again, trying to tell my brain all of these connections I’m pulling on between the man sitting before me and the woman who holds my heart are just fabrications of my tired mind. “Hello? Earth to Timmons? Did your little dirty dream you had a minute ago erase your memory? Who were you dreamin’ about?” He laughs and I can’t help but smile.
“Your sister,” I say and he stops, his jaw setting and I know I’ve got him.
“What the hell did you just say?” His fists almost crunch up the cards in his hand as I don’t move my eyes from him.
“What the hell did they just call you?” I want to hear him say it so I know I’m not going stir crazy in this desert.
“They called me by my last name. What’s it to you?”
“And what’s that?”
“Griggs,” he grinds out and I can tell I’m pissing him off. Fuck me. Ellie’s brother is sitting beside me and I’ve shared numerous shifts, stories, and drunken fists fights with the man. “And how do you know I have a sister?”
“Because I love her,” I don’t hesitate to say, and I see his eyes ignite.
CHAPTER TWO:
Chad
December 7, 2013
It’s Saturday and I can’t fucking believe I’m still in the office at quarter after three. But I have to see this lead through until the end; it’ll bother me if I don’t. I can’t go home grumpy, again, or my wife will kill me.
This same situation has been dogging me long enough that I know Rhea has noticed something is going on, but she just keeps it to herself. I’ve seen the looks that she gives me from the corner of her eye when I tell her I’m going up to my office; or the way she lingers a little longer upstairs, thinking that she is being silent when I am on the phone. It is human nature to be curious, but I can’t tell her any of this, it’s too sensitive.
My team here at NCIS has been deep inside an investigation into a private security company and their supposed connection, and misuse, of military contacts and their employees. The suspicion among my superiors is that this company, Savage Security, is putting their employees and our military personnel in imminent danger, just to make a buck. It seems as if their bosses, which I might add are all dishonorably discharged former military, are putting their employees in harm’s way just so they can make the high dollar value the contracts pay and still have tight contacts with high military officials, whom have sent some of our elite forces to help them out more than once.
Yeah, doesn’t seem like it should mesh; the dishonorably discharged getting help from those still enlisted, but somehow it’s happening and I’m looking into finding a way to put a stop to it. Plus, Bobby’s name has come up on the list of those employed by Savage Security, along with Ellie’s older brother, Jack Griggs. So, you see, I kind of have a personal stake in this.
The shrill ring of my desk phone shocks me out of the blank stare I’ve had going on directed at my computer and I fumble to pick it up. “Agent Payne,” I say and clear my throat, hearing my wife’s little giggle on the other end. I can’t help but smile as I lean back in my chair, running my hand back through my short hair. “Hey, Baby, what’s up?”
“Oh nothin’,” she says and I immediately know she’s calling because she’s bored and wants me to come home. “When are you gonna be home?” Yup, bingo.
“I don’t know, Baby. I still have to finish typing this report and then I gotta go see the Director.” She huffs on the other end of the phone and I can hear my little guy in the background, laughing away at something and it makes a wide smile breakout on my face. I love that little dude, and his sexy ass mother, more than life itself and I’m the luckiest man alive to have them in my life.
After waiting for too damn long to make Rhea mine, I almost lost her because of that mother fucker, Duke O
rr. Thinking of him even now makes my blood pressure rise, and I squeeze the little Nerf football that sits on my desk to the point of almost popping it, wishing I could beat the redneck piece of shit to death for shooting my wife and almost killing her when she was pregnant with Charlie. How I would love to get my hands on that fucker, and an evil little grin breaks out as the thought plays through my head as I listen to Rhea talking to our son.
“Alright,” she says all drawn out and kind of sad, and I don’t hold in the chuckle that runs through me knowing how she’s probably pouting into the phone. If I was home I’d pull her to me and kiss her until she’s dizzy, that way when I sweep her up into my arms and run up the stairs with her she giggles the entire way. God, the thought of her soft skin under my touch makes the blood rush to my groin and I shift in my leather chair, the creak of it making me cringe and I’m happy I’m one of only a few left on this floor. “Will you text me when you’re on the way home so I can have some dinner ready for you?”
“Don’t I always, Baby?” I laugh, looking to our family picture that sits on my desk next to my computer. Damn, the smile on Rhea’s face is enough to make me drop everything and speed home right now.
“Yes.” She laughs and I hear Charlie join in with her, probably perched on her hip as she meanders around the kitchen. “I’m kind of bored, and Ellie isn’t here yet.” She huffs again and my thoughts go to her cousin. Ellie has been through a lot, but it seems as if she is doing better. She’s more willing to ask for help and I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve answered the door to my home in my boxers as she stands there pounding on the window, crying her eyes out. She and Rhea are pretty much inseparable now, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. They’re family and having each other near has benefitted both.
“Alright, Baby.” I laugh lightly, tossing the football up to hit the ceiling and catching it when it comes back down. “I’ll let ya know when I’m headed home. Why don’t you and Ellie order some pizzas for when everyone comes over for the movie? You made dinner last week.”
“Alrighty,” she answers and I know she’s probably rummaging through our drawer of menus, searching for the local pizza place. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Baby. I’ll see you in a lil’ while.” I can’t help the smile as she says she’ll see me later and hangs up. Rip my heart out, I love that woman. But, I also have to provide for that woman, so putting my phone back into its cradle, I focus back on my computer screen.
There have been ten, yes ten, deaths on Savage Security’s books in the last three years since it was started up. All of them were ruled as either accidental or from hostile fire during attempted robberies of the compounds they were guarding or attempted murder of the person they are paid to protect. They are all suspicious to me and I have been over their files more than a hundred times each, calling contacts that I still have in the Middle East and getting their information.
“Chad?” Reno’s voice comes over my speaker phone, echoing through the quiet office and probably down the hall and I ask him what’s up. “Director wants us in his office, now. Bring whatever you have.”
“Alright, Man. Be there in five,” I say and hear the beep of his disconnection. Grabbing the flash drive from my computer, my cell, and the paperwork I’ve compiled, I shut the light off in my home away from home and head for the elevator. Grabbing my coat off the rack, I stick my head into the last office, spotting one of my fellow agents behind her desk.
“I’ll be headin’ out after this meeting, Gen,” I tell her as she looks up at me over her screen. Genevieve Rakowski is one of our newer agents, her girlfriend works in our laboratory, and we’ve worked together on the last couple of field cases we’ve come across, both being murders. She is a good agent and funny as hell. “Have a good weekend.”
“Thanks, Chad,” she says, giving me a wink. I head off to the elevator, pushing the button for two floors above. There is Christmas music playing softly from the speakers as the elevator dings and the doors open to a bustling room. It throws me off, because normally at this time, the offices are empty unless we catch a case. Is there something going on that I don’t know about?
“Chief!” I hear shouted over the noise of phones ringing and people talking, and I look up to see Reno, standing on the stairs right before the landing for the Director’s office. He’s got a serious look on his face and as I head toward him, the file tucked under my arm, I know I’m not going to like what is to come in the next few moments.
“What the hell is goin’ on?” I whisper to him, shaking his hand as we usually do when we haven’t seen each other all day. The feeling in the room is heightened stress and it makes my skin crawl. I haven’t felt like this since our last mission when Reno and I were still SEALs. Well, we’ll always be SEALs deep down, just on paper it was our last mission; but this, it makes my stomach turn.
“Shit, Brother,” he sighs, leading the way up the last couple of steps and down the short hallway, “all I know for sure, is that we’re prolly goin’ overseas on this one.”
“What?!” is all I can get out before he opens the Director’s door and it’s time to put my game face on. The room is full of people but I follow Reno into the attached meeting space, seeing that there are two chairs at the table left open for us. I hand my flash drive over to Jerry, our tech guy, and settle in next to Reno, trying to catch bits and pieces of the conversations happening around us.
Director Williams enters and the room gets silent. “Hello everyone,” he addresses the room, unbuttoning his suit coat and taking a seat at the head of the table, motioning for Jerry to queue up whatever he has planned for us. “I’m sorry to keep everyone here on a Saturday, but there have been some major developments involving Savage Security, and everyone feels it’s better to have our plan in motion now.”
Fuck, this does not feel good. I shift in my seat as the horrible feeling I have rolls through me, making my muscles tense as they would each and every time before a mission.
On the wall behind the Director, Jerry plays out all the images connected with the case. The heads of Savage and pictures of their different places of employment all over the world. Then pictures of the different dead connected with the case come up with info about their files. The Director is talking, but I’ve zoned out.
“Agent Payne has compiled a lot of the research about the current employees of Savage,” I hear him say and it brings me back. I nod to the fifty-something, short, stocky but still can kick anybody’s ass former Marine as he continues to fill everyone in on all of the information. He’s a hard ass, but he’s smart and fair, which always makes for a good leader.
“Now, I know this is unusual for us, but there are some here who have a…um…personal stake in this mission,” the Director shoots his gaze to Reno and I for only a second, and I know it’s about to get worse. “But we’re goin’ in. A special team has been picked and we’ll be leaving in less than 48 hours. We have a huge tip saying that one of the bosses has set up their crew guarding an oil refinery in Iraq. We’re not totally sure on all of the details, but we’re hooking up with a SEAL team for some more man power.”
This perks my interest and I shift so that I’m leaning my elbows on the table as Reno gives me a look. This may be good or it may be bad, guess we’ll have to wait and find out.
“Alright, pretty much everyone here knows their responsibilities. I just need Martinez, Payne, Smith, and Carter to stay behind and speak with me.” Everyone stands, the talking picking up instantly as they all file out, leaving the Director in the room with the four of us. Seeing the man scrape his hand back through his thinning hair makes me feel uneasy and I know Reno feels it, too, as he shifts to lean back in his chair.
“You guys are my team,” the Director says, placing his palms on the table top and looking down to us. I knew this was coming, I just fucking knew it. Besides Reno and I being former SEALs, Cam Smith and Jim Carter were Army Rangers. “Plus, Martinez and Payne… You guys know a couple of those empl
oyed by Savage at the refinery. And your old Team is the one that will be assisting us.”
“Well…,” is all I can think to say as the silence stretches out in the room. The Director just nods, coming to stand beside Reno as Carter and Smith pull their chairs closer to the table from their position opposite of us. “What are we to tell our wives?” This is not going to go over well.
“Don’t tell them anything. Just leave them a note saying you got called into work. I’m sure there will be questions and arguments to follow when you get home, but that’s part of the job.” He gives us a sad smile and Reno nods. Yeah, this is not going to go over well at all. “And I mean it, guys. The less your wives and loved ones know, the better. These Savage guys are devious bastards. When we take them down, we need to keep a tight ship. They are fucking with our Navy, Marines, and our Veterans. They can’t be allowed to do this.”
“Yes, sir, we know this, it’s just that…” Smith starts to say something but the Director throws up his hand, cutting him off.
“You’ll leave at 0200 hours Monday. The SEAL team, led by Lieutenant French, will be briefed before leaving. They’ll be the lead, you’re just there to show authority and to gather the evidence. We have a lead that the head honchos are staging an extremist attack, and it can be bad for those guys working the detail. We just need to make sure no one gets hurt and that we shut these bastards down.”
We all nod. He’s right. We’ve all seen the files about the Marines that have been injured or killed while helping Savage on a transport or something. There is no room for that, especially if it’s all staged for publicity.
“Alright guys, head home.” Director Williams smiles, standing and motioning for us to leave.
The four of us are silent as we head for the elevator, all putting on our jackets to guard from the light snow that we can see falling through the windows as we pass them. As soon as the doors slide shut and we’ve gone down two floors, Smith is the first to speak.
Take Me Home: Book 4 The Wakefield Romance Series Page 3
