by Rachel Hanna
Veronica wheeled around in shock just as Madison turned and headed back inside. She looked from the door to the parking lot to the street in front of her, wondering what to do. Finally, with a resolve she didn’t know she felt, she gritted her teeth and walked to her car. Jake wasn’t the only one who could follow someone home.
Chapter 12
“What are you doing?” Jake asked as he turned off the ignition and stared at Veronica through the driver’s side window. She smiled at him like a cat about to devour a mouse.
“I’m showing you that I don’t make mistakes. I make choices, and if those choices have consequences, then I face them like a soldier.” She rolled up the window and got out of the car, closing it firmly behind her as she came to stand next to Jake’s bike. “And this is no mistake.”
She reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, feeling the rock solid muscles underneath his thin t-shirt. She couldn’t help but look at his chest, admiring the way he was built.
Before he knew it, her lips were pressed to his, her mouth moving beneath his until her tongue darted between his lips and met his. The corners of her mouth twitched triumphantly when she heard him sigh, then felt his hands at her waist. He tugged her closer until she was as close to him as she could be, then she stepped one leg over the bike to sit facing him, never breaking their kiss.
The same feeling he’d had the day before came over Jake, the feeling of peace and release that he hadn’t experienced in months, at least not until he met Veronica. As their mouths hungered for each other, Jake felt free.
He lifted Veronica under the arms as he stood, guiding her off the bike until she could wrap her legs around him. With a single stride he was at his apartment door, opening the lock without ever taking his mouth from hers. He carried her inside, closing the door behind him, and crossed the small living room and into his bedroom to place her tenderly on the bed.
He broke their kiss long enough to look at her, brushing a strand of her black hair out of her face. “So it’s not a mistake… but that doesn’t mean it will work.”
“You let me worry about that. I’ve seen you in action; you’ve got far too much on your mind as it is,” she answered, reaching up and cradling his face, bringing his lips back to hers.
“There’s no way she said that,” Tanner argued, looking around at his team members for confirmation. “She wouldn’t have just blurted that out right there on the sidewalk.”
“I know what heard,” Madison said feebly. This might be awesome news to SEAL Team 11, but to her, it was devastating. Angel had just come back into her life after all those lonely years, and now she stood to lose him to the one thing he—and the others—wanted more than anything else.
“You’re sure? You actually heard her say that they were reconsidering Eleven for active duty?” Mike asked, afraid to let himself hope over a half-muffled rumor.
Madison nodded somberly, and Angel took her hand, giving it a hard squeeze. He leaned closer and whispered quietly so no one else would hear, “It doesn’t mean anything, you and me… we’re all that matter.”
She looked at him hopefully and smiled weakly. Sure, he could say that now in the face of a random comment, but she knew him better than that. When the time came and the call came down, he would go. And she would be left in the same position that had broken them up in the first place.
“Okay, look. We don’t know anything solid. And you know how the brass operates. It may be months before we’re ever even told we’re being considered. Didn’t you say Veronica thought it would take months just to track us all down?” Knox asked, and Madison nodded again. “See, this doesn’t mean anything’s changing anytime soon. That means we still have a company to run and lives to save. Until we get some kind of official orders, this company is still in operation and we still have a job to do.”
He clapped his hands once and pushed himself up off the edge of the desk. He walked around behind it to the task board and began calling out the duties, one by one. Everyone mumbled their acknowledgement of their assigned jobs, then slowly drifted away to get to work. The air in the room was a strange mixture of apprehension and excitement, and Knox knew that wasn’t a good mixture for saving lives.
Just as he thought of telling everyone to clear out, take the day off, and spend some time not thinking about the Navy or their futures, an alert came across the scanner. Knox fell into his chair and typed a few commands on the computer closest to him, watching the screen illuminate with new information.
“Suit up, guys, we gotta call!” he shouted, then listened for the sounds of hurried activity to make sure everyone had heard him. “And we’re back to square one… has ANYONE heard from Jake?”
“Got it, texting him now,” Tanner called back, stopping midway while pulling up his flight suit.
“Whoa, dude. Nice abs, but keep ‘em covered,” Angel joked, physically turning Madison around and covering her eyes.
“Sorry, but I can’t be held responsible if she dumps you for these,” Tanner joked back, gesturing to his ripped stomach with his phone while still typing out a message to Jake. “Okay, Knox, I sent it. I’ll let you know when I hear from him.”
“Great, in the meantime, get out the door and be safe, guys!”
Jake slept soundly for the first time in ages, the scent of Veronica’s perfume wrapping around him like a blanket. He woke when the direct afternoon sun lit up the room, happy to find her still in his arms, her eyes open and peaceful.
“I’ve thought about it,” she said quietly, not having to tell him what it was she’d been thinking over. “I know what to do.”
“Yeah? Do tell,” Jake answered, turning Veronica onto her side and pulling her against his chest, closing his eyes again and enjoying the way she felt.
“I was offered a different placement when I picked up my orders. That’s all I have to do. I submit my report, the job is done, and I get my new orders. There’s no reason SEAL Team 11 should have to report to me. I have no field experience with that kind of activity.”
“So, you’re just gonna leave?” he asked, his eyes flying open.
“It’s the only way we get to keep our careers, soldier,” she answered kindly.
“Yeah, but there’s no way you could stick around? Do something outside my chain of command?”
“Would you want me to? That’s a lot of hard work to go throwing away for someone you met four days ago. And two of those days, you thought I was a giant pain in the ass. What was the word, ‘entitled,’ I think it was?” Veronica couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.
“Yeah, but you’ve grown on me since then,” Jake argued, kissing her neck hungrily. Veronica arched her back so he could reach, shivering as he trailed kisses down to her bare shoulder.
“We have a few days to figure it out. We don’t have to decide anything right now. But Jake, I want you to know that I will leave if it means costing you or your friends their assignment. You were right - I knew what I was doing, even if I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. If our fling or relationship or whatever this becomes hurts any of you, I will take the fall for it.”
Chapter 13
“Bird is in the air,” Michael said through his headset. Knox nodded grimly, watching the helicopter’s progress via GPS on one of his screens.
“Roger that, be careful out there,” he responded. “Head to the same coords as the last call. The wreckage site has some shifting debris, though, so don’t think you’ve overshot it or anything. You’ll find the boat taking on water over the site.”
“Copy that. How many victims?”
“Four crew members, two divers. The divers are surfacing but have to take their time to acclimate on the way up. Should be up by the time you get there. Just deploy them a raft and hold your position ‘til another vessel makes it to your twenty.”
“Roger.” Mike switched his mic to the channel in his team’s headsets, relaying the information.
“So a cake walk?” Tanner asked with a smirk. �
�Great. Now that we’re in the life raft delivery business, we could just branch out into dropping off more sunscreen for fishermen who forgot theirs. Oh, maybe we could start bringing fresh ice and cold drinks to tourists who forgot to pack a cooler!”
“Cute, Tanner. Don’t get silly, we don’t know what we’ll see out there. If those divers recovered the flight recorder from the downed plane, they may want us to bring that to land.”
“So nobody’s injured? Then why am I here?” Madison mouthed, turning to Angel and covering her microphone.
“You gotta log so many flight hours to stay under the insurance,” he answered with a grin. “Besides, you get to hold my hand the whole time. That makes it all worth it, right?”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help laughing as she went back to watching out the window for any sign of their target.
Jake flew around his apartment, throwing on yesterday’s clothes in his hurry to get to S&R. Veronica sat up in bed and pulled the sheet up around herself, watching him scramble to get out the door.
“Should I just… let me get out of the way,” she stammered, not wanting to slow him down but not presuming to be in his apartment when he wasn’t home.
“No, take your time,” he said, coming over to her side of the bed and kissing her quickly. “Just do whatever you do, and I’ll call you later. Lock the door whenever you leave, okay?”
“Got it,” she answered, nodding as he left. She looked around his apartment and felt awkward all of a sudden, wondering how she’d gotten herself in so deeply in such a short amount of time.
All the way to headquarters, Jake’s mind raced with thoughts of Veronica. He noticed the change in himself immediately; racing to a call he’d always felt this grim sort of adrenalin rush, but today he felt a sense of focus like he hadn’t experienced in ages.
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” Knox said, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on the desk when Jake finally raced into the office.
“Where’d they go? I can take the boat and be on the water in three minutes,” he said, panting and reaching for his gear locker.
“No need, it wasn’t a high priority call. Just one of the salvage boats taking on water. Our guys are already within visual range.” He tried to sound bored, but Knox knew that every call had the potential to turn fatal in the blink of an eye. He tried to sound disinterested when he asked, “So what was the holdup? Couldn’t find your keys? Or was the traffic bad out there?”
“Cut the shit, Knox, you know I was at home… and you know why,” Jake replied, shooting him a look. “I never miss a call, you know that, I just needed some slack today—”
“I know, I’m only giving you a hard time. And hey, we practically threw you in that girl’s arms the other night, so we don’t have any right to complain that it turned out better than we thought!”
“Yeah… if only that was true.” Jake paused and looked around, then sat on the bench across from the command station. He unloaded the truth before he even realized what he was saying.
“So that’s it? She’s gonna relocate, and this is all behind us?” Knox asked, gauging Jake’s reaction. Jake only nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice and tidy, and maybe we’ll get back in the field as a result. Too bad I don’t give a shit about that if it means you’re unhappy.”
“What? I’m not, I’m not unhappy. I want to go back to duty.”
“Right… but the only way that happens is if you drop Veronica and let her take the heat for this.”
“Yeah, but it’s for the best, right? Everybody gets back to work, she goes on to a new commission somewhere, and that’s it.” But even as he spoke, his voice trembled slightly until he had to cover his emotions with a cough that didn’t fool Knox.
“Dude, you can’t lie to me. I’ve known you for too long. And you’ve got it bad for this girl! If the only way the team goes back to work is if you have to rip your own heart out and leave it behind, I would say forget it. We had a good run, we’ve got a good thing going now with S&R, and that’s the end of it. And I know the other guys would say the same thing.”
“Are you kidding? For the chance to get back in the field, I would physically remove your heart and leave it behind!” Jake teased, but Knox saw right through him.
“You wouldn’t have to. Because I wouldn’t ask it of you, and none of the guys would, either. We’ve all got a good thing going, and if any one of us had to sacrifice our families or our girls for a job, we wouldn’t do it. So if this thing between you and Veronica turns out to be serious… then that’s it.”
Jake was silent, processing not only the thoughts swirling around in his head, but the sentiment from his own team. Knox was right; the others were happy, and Jake was staring that same kind of happiness in the face. All along he’d fought against what he thought he wanted but couldn’t have, but now that the chance was within reach, he realized it might not be the only happiness out there.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and Jake reached to pull it out. He read the text from Veronica with mixed emotions: It’s done. Report submitted. New assignment requested. Dinner one last time?
He typed back: Yeah, but it won’t be the last time. I promise.
Epilogue
The weeks of waiting had been brutal for the team members at S&R. All of their lives were in limbo—waiting for word from the Navy, waiting to see where Veronica would be transferred, waiting to see what this meant for Madison and all the other important women in their lives—and tensions were high as a result.
With Tanner serving as crew chief that week, he issued a stark but welcomed command: “There’s no training this week. Sleep in, walk somebody’s dog, go feed the ducks at the pond, have lots of sex, whatever. Just don’t be here at 5AM. You’ve earned a break and we’re all ready to snap.”
The first threat to come unraveled was the status of the SEAL Team. There was no official word, only an offhanded reply sent at the bottom of one of Veronica’s emailed reports: Good intel, glad to see they’re together and keeping up their training. No status change at this time.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” Veronica said when she told them over dinner. “I did everything I could.”
“We know,” Angel finally answered, patting Madison’s leg reassuringly. “And we appreciate it. But hey, if it’s not in the cards right now, we just keep doing our thing and giving it our all.”
The others nodded dejectedly, trying to look on the bright side. Madison, Hannah, and Taylor tried to look supportive, all while secretly feeling the rush of relief from knowing that their lives weren’t going to be thrown into upheaval, at least not soon.
“But, I’ve got just the thing to lighten the mood,” Angel said, clearing his throat and looking around at his teammates’ somber expressions. He signaled the waiter to bring over a tray with glasses that he’d already prepared, no matter how Veronica’s announcement turned out.
“As you guys know, Madison and I go way back. We dated for years, and we knew that someday we’d get married, and with our genes we’d have a lot of gorgeous kids. And then the Navy kind of changed our plans. But I am absolutely the luckiest guy on Earth for finding her again.”
Madison smiled, her vision blurring slightly as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.
“And I gotta say, S&R is damn lucky to have found her, too. You’re kind of incredible, Maddy, and I don’t know where any of us would be without you on our team. But as for my team, my own personal team, there is no team without you on it.”
Angel reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box, and set it on the table in front of him. No one moved or made a sound, not even to breathe.
“It’s taken a really long time to come full circle, but Madison… I love you, and I would be the happiest man alive if you would agree to be my wife.”
All eyes turned to Madison as she stared back at the table full of her friends’ shocked expressions. The tears she held spilled over as she nodded.
&nb
sp; “Yes! I will!” she whispered, unable to catch her breath. The others broke out in applause as the waiter set a glass of champagne in front of each of them.
“Oh, thank god, ‘cause that would have been really humiliating if you’d said no!” Angel laughed before pulling Madison in for a kiss.
After their celebration, Jake and Veronica left the restaurant hand in hand, walking along the beachfront back to her apartment. The waves crashed softly in the background and the lights from the pier shone ahead of them, making the perfect backdrop for a nighttime stroll. Veronica rested her head on Jake’s shoulder, enjoying the perfect bliss for as long as she could before she had to ruin it.
“The announcement from higher up wasn’t the only message I got,” she began, waiting for Jake to figure out her meaning.
“Your transfer,” he simply said.
“Yeah. I got my new orders, I report for duty next week.”
“Okay, give it to me straight. Just how far do I have to go when I go AWOL and show up unannounced?”
“You would do that?” she replied, standing up taller and looking at him. “You would want to come see me?”
“Of course!” Jake answered, stopping and turning to face her. “This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time, I can’t even remember feeling like this. The last few years of my life have been a blur of gun shots and killing and trying to save people and not always succeeding… you’re the best thing that’s come into my life in a long time. I just hope that wherever they send you, we’re still possible.”
Veronica kissed him for a long time, the reassurance she needed to hear wrapping around her as tangibly as Jake’s arms. She finally stepped back and smiled up at him proudly.
“I’ve been assigned to Point Loma.” Veronica waited anxiously for Jake to react.
“Point Loma? As in, half a mile that way?” he asked, pointing to the ocean. Veronica laughed and grabbed his arm, redirecting it towards the bay.
