Minefield [Black Ops Brotherhood 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Bella Juarez

  “What’s so funny?” Izzy whispered.

  “Nothing important, angel, something someone told me,” Alex whispered back.

  They walked out of the baby’s room and into their own bedroom. As they snuggled into bed, Alex pulled Izzy close and listened to her slow, steady breathing. It was a sure sign she was sleeping. He stared into the darkness and counted his blessings and a poisonous thought slithered into the happiness he was thankful for. Alex frowned at the sudden chill that crept through him as he recalled the rest of the gypsy’s prophecy. Guard what you treasure. It is not safe.

  Chapter 26

  Navy Special Warfare Group 5

  Special Warfare Field Medical Department

  Randolph Air Force Base Texas

  May 10, 2010/1249 Zulu

  Alex sat back and reviewed the training schedule he was setting up for the bio-strike team. He had six medics, one admin, eight other SEALs dedicated to his department. Rock wanted him to grow the department larger, to at least eight separate teams to include eight specially trained doctors, meaning they needed to recruit doctors who were also willing to subject themselves to BUD/s. Alex shook his head at the request initially. That would be one hell of a recruitment effort. His cell phone on his desk rang.

  “Happy birthday, baby!” Izzy exclaimed.

  “Thank you, angel,” Alex said with a chuckle.

  Izzy had to go to the hospital very early for surgery and Alex had been sleeping when she left. The happiness in her voice was infectious and he couldn’t help but smile.

  “Are you on break? How many more today?” Alex asked.

  “I’ve got two more, but they’re not that bad. Can I you take you out tonight?”

  “You can have me any night, angel,” Alex said in a low, seductive tone.

  Izzy giggled. “I’ve made plans. No hospital tonight, right?”

  “You made plans? I’m impressed, angel. Do you have a sitter for Leila?” Alex asked, knowing for sure she hadn’t thought of that little detail.

  “As a matter of fact I do. Anna and Jack are watching Leila.”

  “Really? Where are we going?” Alex asked.

  “I’ll see you when you get home!” Izzy said as she ended the call.

  Alex went through his day with anticipation increasing with every hour that brought him closer to going home. As he was walking out the door, he stopped by the command suite to see if Rock was still around and was surprised. The office was pitch black and locked. Rock was gone and it wasn’t even five thirty. The man was like a machine. He never left the office before six. Since they lived in base housing, the drive home didn’t take Alex long. If it weren’t for Leila, he would probably bike to work every day.

  Alex stepped inside and knew instantly something was different. The house was quiet and still. Izzy was home because her car was parked in the driveway. He instantly felt the void. It was Leila. His sweet princess wasn’t in the house. He was a little upset knowing he wouldn’t be seeing his baby right away. He grumbled in the back of his mind that Isabel better make this little outing of hers worth it. He hustled up the steps to the bedroom.

  Alex rounded the corner and saw Izzy dressed up, putting some jewelry on. His jaw dropped slightly at the sight. Instead of a little black dress, she was wearing a little white dress. The white column halter sleeveless dress hit her slightly above the knees. Her long legs were set off by the jeweled, sandaled heels she was wearing. He loved to see her in white because it set off a glow to her dusky skin.

  “Hey baby, I’m almost ready. You need to get dressed. We need to be there by seven,” she said.

  “Where are we going?” Alex asked as he walked to the closet.

  “You’ll see,” Izzy said.

  It didn’t take Alex long to dress in a coat, shirt, and slacks. They got into Izzy’s car and he insisted on driving.

  “Where are we going, angel?” Alex asked as he backed out into the street.

  Izzy smiled and turned on her GPS. “Just follow the directions, nüvi will tell you where to turn and when to stop.”

  “You can’t tell me?” he asked, slightly irritated.

  Alex hated surprises and Isabel knew it. He was already off kilter about not seeing Leila. Izzy fucking with him wasn’t his idea of a good time. He said nothing as he was directed off the base and west, toward the city of San Antonio. They drove for fifteen minutes. The final destination turned out to be a parking garage in the heart of downtown. He mentally ticked off the possible places they could be heading. Alex shoved open the door and walked around to open Isabel’s door. He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Where are we going!” he demanded.

  “Tuck away your control freak and trust me,” she said, kissing him.

  Isabel took his hand and they walked outside to the street. They rounded the corner of the parking garage and Izzy led him to a restaurant, the Iron Cactus. She asked to be seated outside facing the River Walk as they ordered drinks. The tension and anxiousness within Alex started to relax as the sun began to set on the scenic place. It was a beautiful sight, but he was still a little unsettled.

  “How was Leila today when you picked her up?” Alex asked.

  “She was fine. She’s really starting to smile. But this afternoon, it looked like she was coming down with a little cold,” Izzy said, taking his hand.

  “What do you mean?” Alex asked, concerned.

  “She’s fine. Let’s have something to eat. I didn’t get a lunch break today,” Izzy said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

  “What are we doing tonight, angel?” he asked again. She knew this was stressing him out.

  “Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”

  They ate a really good meal and Alex could’ve called it a night afterward. Apparently Izzy wasn’t done yet and they walked a couple more blocks after dinner and turned another corner. Alex’s breath caught with excitement. He calmed himself not wanting to get too excited because he wasn’t sure if he was right.

  Izzy opened her purse as they got closer to what Alex was hoping would be their destination. He saw the tickets and knew he was right. He tried to hide a smile. She pulled out the tickets and handed them to him.

  “How did you get these?” Alex asked as he laughed.

  “I have friends,” Izzy said.

  Izzy had managed to get tickets to a play that had been sold out for months. Alex wanted to get tickets because he loved the play so much but had been too late. They stepped into the lobby of the Majestic Theater. The lobby itself was spectacular with its copper lanterns, ceiling murals, and baroque-theme style. He especially loved the inside of the theater. There was always something new he spotted whenever he went inside.

  The spectacular theater contained stuffed birds perched on balconies with some frozen in mid-flight. Alex recognized replicas of well-known sculptures and not to mention the natural reproductions of trees and shrubbery in the upper-level alcoves. Baroque-styled masked faces were carved near the stage and under the mezzanine gave away the dramatic flair of the theater. What Alex loved most about the theater was the amazing blue ceiling cloudscape that hid the dome ceiling. He always found himself gazing at it. It was painted like an evening sky with clouds that were projected from somewhere within the theater. Small bulbs mimicking stars were arranged in the shape of the seasonal constellations.

  They had been to a concert here before Leila was born. Izzy had been just as captivated with the scenic theater as he was. They had spent half the time looking at all the décor. They settled in their seats and Alex put his arm around his wife, letting her have the armrest. Izzy opened her purse again and reached inside with a smile.

  “I got you a birthday present,” she said.

  “This is a pretty damn good present, floor tickets to The Phantom of the Opera,” Alex said.

  “No, this was our date night. We haven’t had one since Leila was born. Here’s your present,” Izzy said, taking his hand.

  Alex looked down as she took his
left hand and was speechless. Izzy slipped a titanium wedding band on him. It had a black cable running inside a channel. There were clasps that were embedded into the ring that seemed to hold the cable in place. It was a very unique design. It spoke to the Dom in him, reminding him of ropes and shackles that held a submissive. He was always amazed at how she instinctively understood him without knowing what he truly was.

  “Angel, it’s so different,” Alex whispered.

  “Do you like it?” Izzy asked.

  “I love it!” Alex said, pulling her close.

  “Will you wear it?”

  “I won’t take it off.”

  * * * *

  Izzy settled into the passenger’s seat as they drove home. She couldn’t wait to see Leila. She glanced over at Alex. He was happy and he’d appreciated all the effort she’d put into this evening for him. Izzy had been planning this outing for two weeks. She wondered how he managed to get things done for them so quickly when it seemed to take her forever to do something as simple as a night out. She was so proud of him. It had been hard for him to just go along until everything had been revealed. He didn’t like surprises, but did it because it was something she asked him to do.

  Izzy breathed a little easier when she saw the security checkpoint at the gate of Randolph. Alex flashed his ID card and they made their way to the O’Malleys’ house. She knew he was just as eager to see Leila as she was. Alex pulled up to the house and parked and went around to open the door for her. It was something he made her wait for whenever they went somewhere. At first she thought it was silly until he explained to her how important the simple gesture was for him. Alex rang the doorbell and they both seemed to hold their breath waiting. The door swung open and Anna O’Malley opened the door.

  “How was the play?” Anna asked.

  “Fantastic!” Alex exclaimed. “Where’s my daughter?”

  “She’s fine. It’s her buddy I’m worried about,” Anna said.

  Alex and Izzy glanced at each other, slightly confused at the statement. When they walked into the living room, Izzy’s jaw dropped at the sight. She heard Alex start laughing and Anna smiled.

  “See what I mean, this will hurt him more than it’ll hurt her,” Anna quipped.

  Jack was in his recliner with a pink ball in the middle of his chest. Leila’s pink diaper-clad butt was up in the air because her legs were tucked underneath her. Izzy could make out the little light pink booties on her feet. She was asleep and oblivious to anything around her and Jack was watching TV. Leila and Jack looked very comfortable.

  “She hasn’t moved in over an hour. I’m trapped,” Jack said.

  “I can tell, all eleven pounds of her has you pinned down, boss,” Alex said.

  “You’re not trapped! You won’t let anyone else near her. All I got to do was change her!” Anna complained.

  “She was crying, and you were going to let her. Someone had to help her,” Jack protested.

  “She calmed right down when he did that,” Anna said, pointing to Jack. “Something tells me her daddy has her spoiled,” she said, arching an eyebrow and looking at Alex.

  “Damn right I do. That’s my princess and I don’t let her cry,” Alex said, walking to Jack.

  “You’ve got your hands full,” Anna said to Izzy.

  “Tell me about it,” Izzy said.

  They got home and put Leila to bed. While they lay together, Izzy shifted and held onto Alex. He pulled her close and kissed her. She let herself drift off to a contented sleep. She was truly happy and felt the fulfillment of completeness. For the first time she dared to let herself think her life was finally perfect.

  * * * *

  Alex sat back and stifled a yawn. Even though his birthday date night had been a blast, he’d stayed up way past his bedtime. He looked over his list and tried to see where there might be some downtime he could take. Nope not this week. This week included a trip to Houston for a few days to finalize their containment strategy with Sergei. At the end of the week he had another problem to tackle, an emergency medical plan for military and civilians in the event of an EMP attack. They’d needed to get a team together composed of all the joint military medical services in the area.

  Alex shook his head. Shit just gets scarier and scarier every day. He feared for Leila and Isabel if anything like that ever happened. He turned back to his computer and got to work. This day wasn’t going to go any faster no matter what he did. Make it productive.

  The next time he looked up, it was already after two in the afternoon. Alex hadn’t realized he’d worked straight through lunch. He shrugged it off because he needed to make a trip to Brooks anyway to check on the progress of the intraosseous infusion system that was being tested.

  This new system was the process of injecting directly into bone marrow to provide an entry point into the body that was far superior to an IV access. This method of administering medication was an alternative to sticking someone until they could locate a vein that was viable. In battle conditions and with this pathogen’s behavior, intraosseous was timelier and would treat more people faster in the case of mass outbreak. This method gave them precious time to remove people to containment hospitals because it could be maintained for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, after which an IV or a pic-line could be used.

  The intraosseous technique had been around for some time, but for some reason it was still not used widely by the military. The work at Brooks was twofold, increase the rate of successful insertion by coming up with a standardized method, and, discover which IO devices worked the best under the conditions which combat medics operated. Alex had become interested in the testing because as a former combat medic he could see many uses for the device they ultimately settled on. He was overseeing the research because of his field experience.

  Alex checked out at the command suite and stopped by the house for a small snack. He got to Brooks, checked in with everyone relevant, looked over the testing they were doing and immediately saw they had disregarded most of the field conditions for testing the devices. He tried not to get annoyed until he saw who had changed his directives then he wasn’t only annoyed he was pissed. He was trying to delegate as Rock had instructed. It was easier to delegate to another SEAL medic. They understood him. They also knew he would kick their ass if they didn’t do things the way he told them to.

  Alex found the office of the Naval Medical Research Unit he’d been working with and took a deep breath before he went inside. Rock had managed to keep them out of his way by relegating the members of the unit to only research verification. When he walked in he saw the usual suspects at their respective computers finishing up to go home for the day. He smiled inwardly. You fuckers are in for a long night.

  “Good afternoon, Doctors,” Alex said.

  “Alex! What a surprise. What brings you to our part of the world?” Dr. Lewis asked.

  “Well, I was checking on the testing of the intraosseous infusion system and it looks like—” he started.

  “Yeah, all that outdoor testing crap, no need for that. Elena and I had them cut it out. It should be ready for deployment. I’m working on the documentation now,” Dr. Lewis cut in.

  “Have either of you ever been in a combat medical situation?” Alex demanded.

  Both looked at him tentatively. Alex knew the answer. The closest these lab rats ever got to combat was putting on their uniform.

  “The field conditions in the battlefield are a lot different than the conditions in hospital or a lab. When you’re in combat, seconds count, because you’re a target, too. The enemy doesn’t take time to figure out who the fuck you are. I had those test conditions set up because I know what the hell I’m doing!” Alex said harshly.

  “Alex—” Elena started.

  “Stop, just stop. I don’t give a shit what you do with lab conditions, but don’t fuck with my field testing,” Alex snapped.

  “There’s no reason to get unprofessional about this—” Dr. Lewis started.

  “D
o you know how long it takes to train a special operator? Three years. We can’t afford to lose them. The pipeline can’t produce them fast enough. Special operations combat medics take even longer and those are the people most at risk. I know what I’m doing and I know what needs to happen out in the field. Don’t mess with my directives,” Alex commanded.

  “Dr. Richards, we were just attempting to help you get it out there faster,” Dr. Babette said.

  “Don’t help me. Just do your part and nothing else. Please,” Alex said.

  Neither of the other doctors said a word. Alex turned around and walked to the testing labs. As he made his way back he dialed his phone.

  “Rock, I need to cancel my TAD for later this week. I’ve got a huge problem at Brooks.”

  “What happened?” Rock demanded.

  “We’ve been set back a couple of weeks. My directives for field testing were cancelled. I’ll be here every day until this shit gets done,” Alex said.

  “We don’t have a couple of weeks, Doc. Fucking fix this now,” Rock ordered.

  “I’ll do my best, Skipper. But this will take some time. We need to schedule field testing out at Bullis or Medina and I don’t know what that schedule will look like.”

  “I’ll take care of that. You call me if you run into another problem.”

  “All right, Rock.”

  Alex ended his call with his boss and quickly dialed Isabel. He wouldn’t be able to pick up Leila today, which pissed him off even more. There would be some serious hell to pay now. He was missing out on time with his baby to fix a fuck-up that should’ve never happened.

  “Iz, I’ve got a problem at work. Can you pick up Leila?”

  “I’m heading home now. I was about to make a stop, but it can wait,” Izzy said.

  “It’s still early, angel. Do what you have to,” Alex said.

  “No, it’s okay. It’ll give me the excuse to stay longer and spend more money if I put it off,” Izzy said.