Dying Commitment (Lucky Thirteen)

by S. M. Butler

  The layout of the office meant I had to pass by the common room where most of the guys spent the majority of their day avoiding work. It was but a stone’s throw from the armory or the yard where the vehicles were stored, so it was the perfect place to hang out during the day. Even I spent some time in there when I needed to stretch. But usually, I stayed in my little cubicle, playing with my computers.

  The bad thing about the common room’s placement was that I had to pass it to get to my office or Stephen’s. So, I zeroed in on my target, Stephen’s office, and studiously tried to ignore everything else. And I was concentrating so hard on avoiding everyone else that I almost ran into the team’s field leader, Eamon Murphy.

  “Whoops, sorry,” I muttered, sidestepping to avoid bumping into him.

  “Hey, Cadence. I’ve got that file on the fourth Giroux vault you wanted. The one with the antiques.”

  “Oh, thanks, Murphy.” I took the folder from him. I’d forgotten about that. In light of the contact with Jack Allen the night before, tracing the origins of antiques to where they’d been stolen didn’t seem quite as important.

  There were a series of vaults, loaded with Giroux money and information. Addison Hardy had briefly been involved with Alex Giroux in a romantic fashion—another reason why romantic entanglements were… entangling—and she had the location of twelve of them. We’d raided every single one over the last year, and were cataloging the contents still, hoping to find something that we could use against Alex Giroux. I opened the folder and thumbed through it briefly. I could do this anytime. But I had a lead on Jack himself.

  “Addison’s wondering if you’re coming to dinner.” I looked at Murphy, blinking. I’d almost forgotten he was there for a moment. He smiled uncomfortably. “I know you prefer to keep your distance from us…”

  There was that word again. Distance.

  Why would he ask me to come? I never went to team functions. That wasn’t my schtick. They were the team. I was the add-on that helped them with the technology.

  “…but you are part of the team now. And it’s Chris’s send off party.”

  Oh, man. Please don’t give me the puppy dog eyes that say I lost my best friend. I can’t handle that right now.

  “Uh…” I paused. How did I answer this? “Party?”

  “Yeah, it’s just a couple hours.” Uh-oh. The eyes were starting to go Puss-in-Boots on me… Blinders. I needed blinders.

  Remember the mission.

  I was going after Jack. I couldn’t stay for a party.

  “When?” Was I seriously asking? I wasn’t going to go. I never went.

  “Um… Tonight.”

  “Oh. Well…” I bit my lip. “I might be leaving town tonight.” Crap. Why did I say that?

  “Oh, well, if you happen to be around… You should come. Chris would like to see everyone, I’m sure.” Shit, there were the eyes. I was screwed.

  Awkward. “I’ll… think about it.”

  “Fair enough. Addison said she’d love to see you again, too.” Murphy’s soon to be wife—their wedding was in what, like three weeks—had taken an interest in being friends with me. If I had been one to actually make friends, I’d have tried harder.

  “Yeah, that would be good,” I said, deadpan. I said goodbye to Murphy and continued to Collins’ office. I paused outside his office. I couldn’t hear anything from him within, but I was sure he was in there. I blew out a breath and knocked.

  ~*~*~

  As I entered the office, I couldn’t help but see why Stephen Collins was the boss. Or one of the bosses. There was an officer that stopped by every few months, but he didn’t really play an active role like Stephen did. And he had this air of authority about him, and all the guys on the team adored him, respected him.

  “Hey, Cadence. What can I do for you?” Stephen asked, setting the stack of papers aside.

  I sat down in the seat across from him and leaned my elbows on the cool desk. “Something has come up.”

  “Oh?” he asked, turning his full attention on me. He had a curious expression on his face, combined with a little hint of amusement. I wondered if he every took anything seriously.

  “Yeah. I need to take a leave of absence.”

  “I see,” he leaned back in his chair. “How long?”

  Now that was a good question. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It could be days, weeks. I don’t know.”

  “I really could use you here right now. Giroux Enterprises is getting more aggressive.They’re moving fast.”

  “I know.” I nodded. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

  “This doesn’t have to do with Urban, does it?”

  “What?” My face burned.

  “Well, I know you two have been close for a while.”

  The idea that Bambi could alter any decision I made for myself didn’t sit right with me. The very idea was ludicrous. “This doesn’t concern Dylan Urban. This is about me.”

  I fell silent. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell him. When I’d told the NSA what I wanted to do, they’d put me on restriction and made me see a psychiatrist. I couldn’t afford for Lucky Thirteen to do that too. I had to be out there. But Stephen had always been honest with me. I felt I owed him that much. “It’s about Jack Allen.”

  “Your old partner?”

  I nodded. “He contacted me. I have to find him.”

  “It could be a trap. Something to lure you in.”

  “I realize that. But he’s unfinished business. I have to do this.”

  “And if I say no?”

  Please don’t say no, I silently pleaded with him. “I’d rather you didn’t, Stephen.” I spoke slowly, professionally, so I wouldn’t give myself away.

  “You’d go anyway, wouldn’t you?” Goddamn it. I hated that he knew me so well.

  “I’ve spent the last five years of my life thinking about finding him. About finally confronting him.” I swallowed. “I have that chance. I could find him. I could end it.” Even as I said the words, I wasn’t sure I meant that I could kill Jack. I was so pissed at him, so ready to get my revenge on him, but I wasn’t sure if his death would give me that peace that I craved.

  “You don’t strike me as a killer, Cadence.” Stephen said quietly, his low voice full of sadness and pity. He couldn’t know how it felt to be betrayed like I had. To let someone in so close, to trust them, and then watch as they walked out of my life and left me dying.

  “I didn’t used to be,” I replied. I lifted my eyes to his. “People change.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, they do.”

  ““Jack is embroiled in the very center of Giroux Enterprises. Take him out and Giroux loses a big part of his business.”

  “How so?”

  “Jack is well-known now, especially now that Giroux is in charge of the whole business. He’s Alex Giroux’s enforcer. His personal assassin. He sits in Alex’s back pocket. Getting him would go a long way toward bringing Giroux down.”

  “I won’t play stupid and think that you’re doing this just help our mission.” Stephen leaned back in his seat. For a dude in his thirties, Collins was a decent-looking guy, maybe even hot, according to many women. But I couldn’t see him as anything but the guy who saved my ass after the NSA dumped me. His hair had already started to gray a little on the sides, but you really couldn’t tell since he cut it so short on the sides.

  “You’re right. I’m not. I want to be the one that takes Jack Allen down. I haven’t been able to find him for years and now I’m so close. Please, Stephen. Let me do this.”

  He sighed, and leaned back, frowning. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and blew out a long breath full of frustration. “All right. I’ll give you two weeks. You be back here and ready to work on the vaults after that.”

  It wasn’t ideal, but it couldn’t be helped. I knew he said it out of friendship. He’d given me a chance when the NSA said they were done with me. I nodded. “Thank you, Stephen.”

  “Don
’t thank me. I’m not done yet. You’re going to have someone with you. And don’t argue with me.” He stuck his finger up at me. “If you’re not back by the end of two weeks and I haven’t heard from you, I’m sending my guys to find you. And they will bring you back, whether you want to come or not.”

  I did not want company on this, especially since I was going to burn Jack as soon as I found him. I was good at what I did for the NSA and I didn’t want some self-righteous former SEAL telling me I was doing my job wrong. I opened my mouth to protest but he waved me off. “Cadence, you’re treading dangerous waters. Jack Allen burned you. What makes you so sure he isn’t trying to do it again?”

  I stood up, a sad smile coming to my face. “I never said he wasn’t. But this time, he won’t catch me off guard. Tell your guy to meet me tomorrow morning at the airport. See you in two weeks, Stephen.”

  His eyes followed me all the way out of his office. I was hyper aware of his gaze, scrutinizing, analyzing. I wasn’t sure what he thought of me at that point. He couldn’t possibly know how I felt about Jack, and about what he did to me. My scars dug into my chest like knives as I walked out of Lucky Thirteen’s facilities. The ghost of the bullets’ impact with my body haunted me every night, followed me every day. If I couldn’t stop Jack Allen… well, I didn’t see those ghosts going away.

  ~*~*~

  Dylan

  I left the common room just as Cady was walking down the hall. She stopped cold, her eyes wary and wide. “Dylan.” She swallowed, and looked like she was having trouble doing so. Her skin was shiny, glistening with a light sheen of sweat.

  “Cady,” I whispered. “We need to talk.”

  “I have to go,” she said, and she sidestepped me entirely and kept on walking. Stunned, I stared after her, wondering what the hell just happened, because that wasn’t the girl who had spent hours in bed with me the night before.

  “Urban!” I whirled around in surprise. Master Chief stuck his head out of his office. “In here.” He went back into his office.

  This had to be about Cady. The way she acted. The way Master Chief was barking my name. It was the only logical conclusion. I started down the hall, and slipped inside the office. I shut the door behind me and glanced across the room at Master Chief. He motioned to the empty chair in front of him. “Sit.”

  I obeyed, my legs folding, and I all but fell into the chair that Cady had probably just vacated.

  “Son, I don’t know if you realize it, but we have a problem.”

  Was this where he told me off for my situation with Cady? We were both adults, even if she had a couple years on me. Our decisions were our own, but I supposed there was maybe a fraternization policy, maybe. We’d never had to deal with that, but then SEAL teams didn’t typically have fraternization issues.

  “Master Chief, I don’t understand.”

  “I just granted Cadence Long a two week leave of absence.”

  “I see.”

  “The problem is, I don’t want her traveling on her own.”

  I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what he meant. Where was she going?

  “So here’s what’s going to happen. I’m already down a guy with Hardy leaving. This outfit doesn’t get a lot of new recruits, you know, since we don’t exist anymore.” Collins paused. “You’re going with her.”

  “What?” I frowned. “Where is she going?” As of last night, she hadn’t said a word about leaving, but secrecy wasn’t exactly a weakness of hers. I’d have had more luck trying to walk into the Federal Reserve with a gun in my hand.

  “I didn’t ask, because she said it was a personal matter.”

  “Master Chief, with all respect, I’m not a spy. I’m not good with subtle. She’ll be pretty upset if I just show up.”

  “She knows I’m sending someone.”

  I paused. Something about that didn’t sit right with me. I knew Cady pretty well at this point. She didn’t like having a partner. Wasn’t that just what we’d been talking about the other night? She didn’t work with anyone. She didn’t have relationships. Friendships. None of that. So why would she agree to Master Chief’s request?

  “She said for you to meet her at the airport in the morning.”

  I nodded, wary suspicion sneaking its way through my system. “Right. Okay.”

  “I’m putting her under your supervision, Urban. She’s a loose cannon right now, at least until she finds her target. I’m not sure that her common sense and practicality is working the way it normally is.

  “And just what is she looking for?”

  Master Chief leaned forward, the subtle play of a smile on his lips. “She’s looking for her killer. Her old partner.”

  Then everything clicked. She was leaving to hunt down her old partner? Not only was that incredibly dangerous on her own, but she would be alone. We all knew her story, how she almost died at the hands of someone she considered a friend.

  Jack Allen was a traitor, a man who shot his partner for a stack of cash and a CD loaded with government secrets. Rumor had it he was with Giroux Enterprises now, working directly with Alex Giroux, who had taken over the business where his father had left off. And Giroux had Cady’s number. We’d rescued her once from a Giroux safe house nearly three years ago. She had more secrets in her head than the CIA database.

  “And you want me to stay with her while she hunts him down.”

  Master Chief nodded. “That’s it. Look, son, she has to do this. She can’t help herself, and she won’t be able to move on until she does this.”

  “He could kill her.”

  “Yes.”

  I sighed loudly. “Given my relationship with Cadence, do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “You know what’s bad about being in charge? I have to not only think about who I need to send on a mission, but also, I have to think about if I should. Battles is expecting his third kid any day now. Murphy’s getting married in a few weeks. Hardy’s checked out of the Navy and going back home on medical. It’s down to you or Richter, but honestly, Cadence might kill that kid.”

  I tried to maintain a serious expression, but that was kind of a little funny. Richter certainly was a kind of an awkward good boy around women. He frequently got on Cady’s nerves.

  “I’ll do it, Master Chief.”

  “Good, because I really wasn’t giving you a choice.”

  I stood up and said good-bye to Master Chief, got a few more details on where Cadence said to meet her and left. I thought about it as I headed out. Cadence was a loner, through and through. She wouldn’t want me there. And that made me sure she had plans that didn’t include me.

  “Urban!” I turned as my team leader came up. “What’s going on?”

  “Assignment. I have to meet up with Long.” Meet up? That made it sound like some weird date. What was wrong with me?

  “Oh, I saw her earlier,” Murphy replied. “Told her to come by the party for Chris tonight. Meet her there.”

  I froze. Shit. I’d forgotten about that party.

  “You’re coming, right?” Murphy eyed me and must have seen something in my expression. “Oh, come on, Urban. It’s Chris’s send off party. All the guys are going.”

  I stopped. Hardy was being discharged on medical, because of his injuries last year. Now that he was pretty much healed, he had some permanent damage and medical had decided he couldn’t stay in anymore. It sucked, and he wasn’t exactly happy about it. But he was also Murphy’s best friend, our teammate, and damn it. I had to go.

  “I’ll be there.”

  Murphy grinned and slapped me on the back. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

  “You tell your girl to keep her hands to herself though. She totally groped me last time.”

  “She did not. You were drunk and stumbled.”

  “Whatevs, yo. She totally touched my dick.”

  “You’re such an ass,” Murphy said, and shook his head. “Addison only lets you come around for the jokes.” He left shortly after that, and I headed back to
my car. I had an idea of what was going to happen. Cadence didn’t want me with her. She didn’t want anyone. So, if Master Chief told her that she had to have someone there, I was pretty sure that she was going to skip town. It was what I would do, and that meant I needed to find her before that happened.

  How did you catch a former spy who didn’t want to be caught?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Cadence

  I hadn’t planned on attending Chris’s send off party. In my mind, I’d already written him off. He’d been off duty for months while he healed, and now that he was almost finished with the multiple surgeries and the close observation by the Lucky Thirteen docs, the bureaucracy had decided he had to go home.

  This part was toughest on military men, in my opinion. I’d watched NSA and CIA and FBI agents and they never were as upset by being sent home as military types were. This job wasn’t just a job. It was a lifestyle, and one that they’d gotten used to. Being sent home was devastating for them, and I really didn’t want to see that in Chris Hardy’s eyes.

  But there I was, standing in front of Murphy and Addison’s new house. It wasn’t in base housing like Brody and Devyn, but they didn’t have kids to worry about yet. They could afford to blow a little cash on a nice house.

  My gun rested against my side, inside my leather jacket. Winter in San Diego wasn’t that cold, but that Arctic wind that blew in from the ocean was a little chilly. Plus, I never went anywhere without my gun, and I was planning on escaping this torturous social situation as soon as I was diplomatically able to. I had a new mission and only two weeks to get it done.

  I knocked on the door and waited. I could hear the laughter inside. I wasn’t the first one here. This was a good thing, right? Weren’t people supposed to make strategic entrances to gain attention?

  The door whipped open, and Addison stood there. Her face went from confusion to immediate elation and a girlish scream emitted from her mouth. “You came!” She bounced and threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad you came!”