Flawlessly Executed (Dark Horse Guardians Book 3)

by Armstrong, Ava

  Lara realized he was not accustomed to flattery and felt a tinge of embarrassment for him. “I’m sorry, Hawk, I didn’t mean to make you uneasy…”

  She stood and surprising her, he stood, too. He came around the coffee table to her side, his eyes searched hers as he touched her hand, “No, Lara. You didn’t make me uncomfortable. In fact, I feel happy when I’m with you.” He moved closer and whispered, “I’m glad you think I look good. I want to be the perfect employee for you. It’s not every day I get an offer like this. I don’t want to let you down.”

  Lara was touched by his words. But time was running short and she quickly got back to business. She tilted her head and smiled up at him, “Here’s the list of projects we have pending. Do you want to start contacting clients and meeting with them to develop designs and quotes?”

  Hawk studied the list while standing inches from her. She inhaled the pleasing aroma of his Ralph Lauren cologne and realized it took a lot for him to transform himself. Lara knew he was thinking every address on the list was in a ritzy part of town. She sensed he was nervous that the clientele would be demanding if not downright impossible. And, they were.

  He seemed to be struggling to ask her something and he finally summoned the question, “Would you go along with me on the first few appointments to get me off to a good start?”

  Lara understood he was asking her to help him overcome his shyness. She was more than willing to assist, “Sure, Hawk. I’d be happy to meet you at the first few appointments until you feel totally at ease with it. No worries.”

  Lara noticed a look of relief flooded over him. Hawk was standing so close she could smell his blueberry breath and noticed crumbs on his tie. In a motherly way, she leaned in and brushed his tie lightly with her finger. As she did, Hawk took her hand and brought it to his lips as he whispered, “I don’t know how to thank you.” His eyes met hers again, but this time with an intense pleading. It reminded her of the first time she met Ben and he kissed her hand.

  Lara responded quickly, “You’ve already done so much for me, Hawk. You saved my life. I want to do this for you. Please let me.”

  The door opened and Betty was standing there, “Mrs. Keegan, Attorney Maxfield is here and Finn Murphy just arrived.” Lara nearly jumped out of her skin as her hand snapped back to her side. “Yes, Betty. Send them up. Mr. Hawkins was just leaving.”

  The door closed and Hawk touched Lara’s hand again, this time shaking it in a business-like way. But as he did so, he held her hand for a long moment. His grasp was warm and his hand swallowed hers.

  She led him to the door and reminded him, “Don’t forget about dinner tonight; Ben’s cooking that lobster for you. I’ll text you the first appointment and we’ll start right away.”

  Once Hawk left the office, she leaned against the closed door and let out an audible sigh. She knew he was nervous but she believed in him. She had a plan to break him in slowly and purposefully chose relatively benign clients to begin with. She smiled to herself with the image of Hawk dressed in the suit and his bashful smile; he reminded her of a little boy getting ready for his first day of school. If she could have fashioned a brother out of thin air, it would have been Hawk.

  ~ Ben ~

  Ben was surprised that Lara wasn’t home from the office yet. But then the first few days running Stone and Associates would be exhausting for her, he was sure. He heard her Fiat pull into the driveway and Einstein was happily dancing by the door awaiting her arrival. As soon as she came into the room Ben sensed she was tired. He rushed to take her into his arms and kiss her, always his favorite part of the day. Tonight he was making a special lobster dinner for Hawk. It was an evening to show his appreciation to the man who saved his wife from a horrible fate.

  He knew he had to tell Lara about Abby contacting him. It was important to keep everything out in the open, no matter how uncomfortable it would be at first. Even so, he had hoped he would never have to rehash the old girlfriend story from his high school years.

  He listened intently as Lara started the conversation while he finished prepping the lobster pie. She announced, “Well, the highlight of my day was hiring Hawk to work for Stone and Associates. He will run his crew out of the bungalow and I’m taking Eliot’s old office.

  Ben almost fell over when she told him she had relegated the bungalow to Hawk. She had only just moved her business in there and already she was moving out? He gave her a sidelong glance of utter disbelief.

  “I’m a bit surprised to be honest with you…” Ben uttered trying to stifle his emotion. “I thought you loved the place.” He swallowed hard. His shock yielded quickly to fury, but he stuffed it away.

  She glanced at him and he read the exhaustion on her face. She uttered, “I do love it, Ben, but Hawk needs space. It’s a business decision. The firm will give him clients and it will be a fifty percent proposition.”

  Ben worked on preparing dinner pretending not to notice what she just said…business…that’s all it was to her. The bungalow was a gift from him to her. It was in her name and she could do anything she wanted with it, he reasoned. Still, it hurt to think it meant so little to her she had given it away to Hawk.

  Hawk arrived right on time. He wore a faded denim shirt and chinos and smelled like Dial soap.

  Lara brought him to the table. “Hey, if you don’t mind, I’m going to toss on something comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

  “How’s the project coming along?” he asked referring to the garden at Clearwater Farm. Ben was now sitting across the table from Hawk

  “Great.” Hawk replied.

  Ben studied Hawk’s face. He seemed to be a man of few words. “Lara told me you’ll be joining Stone and Associates. Congratulations.” Ben said with enthusiasm.

  Hawk smiled, “Thanks.”

  ~ Lara ~

  Slipping into a pair of yoga pants and a faded green T-shirt, Lara arrived back at the table waiting for Ben’s delicious dinner to emerge from the oven. She sighed, “Oh, I just love lobster. I’m glad you chose that meal, Hawk!” Lara watched as Ben checked the oven.

  Hawk spoke softly, “Lobster’s my favorite. I don’t know how Ben guessed that.”

  “It was an easy guess. I think everyone in Maine loves it.” Ben glanced over his shoulder.

  “So, how do you feel about going on an appointment tomorrow with me?” Lara engaged Hawk in a business discussion.

  Hawk was quiet for a moment and said, “Sure. Let me know where and when and I’ll be there. How should I dress?”

  Lara mused, ‘You know that suit you had on this morning ~ wear that.” She noticed the hint of a smile on his lips.

  “Okay. Anything else I should know?” he murmured.

  Lara winked at him, “Just let things flow. Let the client do the talking after you introduce yourself. Take lots of notes. You are good at that already. Just do the same things you did with me. I think you’ll do fine.”

  Ben pulled the lobster pie out of the oven and placed a big bowl of freshly chopped salad on the table. “Dinner is served” he announced. The dinner lasted no longer than an hour and Hawk thanked Ben for the best lobster he ever had. They tried to convince him to stay for dessert and coffee, but Hawk said he wanted to hit the sack early.

  Lara walked him to the porch and whispered, “See you tomorrow.” And, Hawk was gone.

  Her eyes lingered on Ben as he piled the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. When he was done, Lara touched his arm, “Thank you for doing that for Hawk.”

  Ben’s gaze was serious, “I owe that guy much more than a lobster dinner. He’s the shy and quiet type, isn’t he?”

  “He’s very talkative with me.” Lara confessed, “But then we’ve been working on projects together and I think he feels comfortable now. It takes a while for him to open up.”

  ~ Ben ~

  As they sat in the living room, Ben ran through his boring day at the university. He casually mentioned the mysterious phone message delivered by the nefarious Lucy Ada
ms.

  “What mysterious phone message?” Lara perked up.

  “Well, you remember that photograph I grabbed out of your hand in my bedroom.” Ben danced around the subject.

  “Yes, the one with Abby in it?” Lara’s face took on a look of distraction as she flipped through an architectural magazine. Ben steeled himself. He was waiting for her green eyes to flash with a tinge of jealousy. But she was cool and distant.

  She finally asked him a question, “So, what happened? What was the phone message?”

  Ben felt he had to tell her everything. “She’s going to be working at the university. She teaches in Boston right now, but has a job offer here.”

  Lara yawned and tossed the magazine aside. She was lounging on the sofa, looking relaxed and a bit tired. She turned the television on, and replied, “That’s nice. You’ll be working at the university with an old friend.”

  Ben thought she was certainly taking this in stride. He had never seen Lara so calm and collected. He expected a stronger reaction. For some reason, he felt he needed to explain that Abby was someone from thirteen years ago. And, more importantly, confirm that he had no intention of spending lots of time with her.

  “Lara, you do understand there’s nothing between us now.”

  But she didn’t seem to hear him; she was now distracted by something on television.

  Not looking at him, Lara murmured, “I suppose you’ll be seeing her from time to time at the university. That makes sense. I never thought there was anything between you. No need to explain.”

  As he sat on the couch and put his arm around her, Lara stood up and started to walk out of the room. Yawning, she announced, “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I’m really exhausted tonight.”

  Ben sat motionless and watched as she strolled down the hallway to the master bedroom area. He heard the shower running and longed to go in there and ask her what she did with his wife. Usually riddled with anxiety and peppering him with questions bordering on paranoia, tonight Lara was laid back to the point of not seeming to care.

  An hour passed and she did not come back to the living room. In fact, she had gone to bed and was sound asleep when he entered the bedroom. What just happened? She walked out of the room, took a shower, and forgot to kiss him goodnight. He was hurt, not only by the lack of a goodnight kiss, but by the fact that she gave the bungalow to Hawk.

  He knew if the roles were reversed and it was an old flame working with Lara, he’d lose it. He already had. In the past, he assumed things about Eliot Stone and Eric Henderson and yes, even Hawk. He hated the hyper-sensitivity he experienced when guys got too close to Lara. He didn’t want to hurt her that way but it was as if he couldn’t stop himself. Another guy getting too close to her was one of the only things that really set him off. He wasn’t finished talking with Lara about her relationship with Hawk, but if he even brought it up it lately it would cause her to bristle.

  Now he was beginning to wonder if there was even a jealous bone in her body. His old girlfriend was going to start working at the university and all it elicited from Lara was a yawn? Maybe she was so wrapped up in her grief about Eliot, she wasn’t focused on him and his past girlfriend. But there was a distance between them that hadn’t been there before. He wanted to assume it was the extra burden of work she had taken on at the firm, but he remembered her saying how Hawk confided in her. Maybe she was confiding in him, too. The two seemed inseparable lately.

  He curled up on the bed close to Lara’s back and listened to her breathe for a long time. Although he knew she couldn’t hear him, he whispered, “Oh darlin it’s you I love and it always will be you….”

  It was Moshe’s phone call from Israel that woke him. The satellite phone chimed and he slid into the office at 2:00 AM.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Ben whispered.

  Moshe spoke with slow deliberation, “You’ll be contacted soon about the upcoming mission. We don’t need to go over the fine details right now, but as you know, this thing is personal for me…and I know it is for you, too.”

  Ben yawned and ran his hand over his face, “How the hell do you know all of this already? Shit, you’re good.”

  Ben noted Moshe wasn’t laughing, “Yeah, right. Listen, we need to work together on this. I have a ton of intel compiled. We’re doing the tactical stuff on the website. I’ll send you the times to sign on. As for me knowing everything…I’m friggin’ clairvoyant. See you on the battlefield on-line…talk later.”

  The phone clicked off and Ben got a drink of water and used the bathroom quietly.

  Everything was set into motion. He’d received the mission details on a thumb drive at the dead drop from the CIA. The planning and execution of the mission was being worked out on the Dark Horse Guardian war game site. The players would log in at the assigned time and work through the mission plan many times over. The unique Israeli-designed battle game utilized a unique proprietary software known as Macro-Vision. The mission was laid out in 3D with sound and high definition Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSAP) overlays.

  He didn’t want to wake Lara for more than one reason. He certainly didn’t want her to know about the next mission yet and he knew she was mentally and physically drained. Maybe in the morning she would apologize for not kissing him goodnight.

  He fell back into slumber but slept fitfully, waking once reaching for his weapon, sweaty and confused. Once he got his bearings, he fell back to sleep, but made a mental note to get more exercise to get his sleep cycle regulated again.

  ~ Lara ~

  Lara slept soundly and felt rested upon rising. She could hear Ben cooing to Einstein in the kitchen. She knew he had already taken the dog down to the beach for his morning run and Einstein was whining for the tennis ball stashed in the kitchen drawer. Usually, the moment she stirred, Ben would pop into the bedroom and embrace her. But he did not do so this morning. She slipped into the shower and enjoyed the hot water for a long time. After thirty minutes, dressed in a red suit with her hair swirled into a French twist, Lara strolled into the kitchen.

  She noticed his blue eyes lit up as he took her in. As expected, Ben flew to her side for a good morning kiss. He didn’t hold back; his lips were full of passion and he managed to remove most of her lipstick.

  She tasted peppermint mouthwash. “Mmm!” she laughed while his arms were still grasping her tightly.

  His steel blue eyes gazed intently into hers, “Well, I didn’t get my goodnight kiss last night ~ thought I’d make up for it now.”

  She broke away and sat at the breakfast nook. Ben placed French toast and sausage in front of her and she smiled.

  “Are you feeling better?” He asked.

  “What do you mean?” Lara replied.

  Ben selected his words cautiously, “Well, last night you seemed a little out of sorts, shall we say.”

  She sensed he was tiptoeing around hoping for something more from her.

  “I’m sorry I went to bed without kissing you goodnight, Ben.” There, she said it.

  She hoped that would satisfy him. “I have a lot on my mind this morning. Another meeting with Attorney, John Maxfield, for starters. Financial stuff.”

  ~ Ben ~

  He felt his heart break when Lara flatly said she was sorry about not kissing him goodnight. It wasn’t the message so much as her tone of voice. It lacked sincerity. Worse than that, she didn’t even look at him when she spoke.

  She walked through the doorway after giving him a peck on the cheek. He listened as her Fiat pulled away and sat on the porch with Einstein for five minutes before heading in to teach his first class of the day. Besides Lara’s cold shoulder treatment he was also thinking about Moshe’s phone call in the middle of the night. Of course, Moshe was champing at the bit and Ben knew he wanted the mission to be flawless in its execution, for more than one reason.

  Driving to the university on his motorcycle, Ben ran through the details of the pending mission in his mind. It was being
planned for Thanksgiving break and would be a quick hit once the details got worked out. And, he knew Moshe was already deeply into that part. The information he gained through the Dark Horse gaming site was that Moshe had been tracking the sixty-five terrorists released by the corrupt president of Afghanistan more than a year ago. Those fanatics who were so casually released had taken months to capture. Ben’s platoon lost lives and limbs incarcerating them.

  Ben, himself, had put forth great effort obtaining as much intel as possible from the rats they captured. Yes, the tough jihadis gave up plenty of information once they were in a dark room alone with him. He made them cry like babies. Eventually, the platoon went on to kill other terrorists in the network as a result of the interrogations. However, Moshe’s brother-in-law was one of the casualties, as well as Sam Clark, Ben’s close friend. Thus, both men had deep personal reasons to carry out this mission. But there was a much larger reason: it was the right thing to do.

  It would be the biggest terrorist execution done by the Dark Horse Guardians thus far. But even though it sounded logical on paper and in theory, to actually pull it off without getting caught would be nothing short of miraculous. The entire team volunteered to do anything possible to make the mission successful.

  A two-week work-up was being planned. Moshe’s unit, plus the SEAL team, and the Dark Horse Guardians would have to live as one, practicing in a mock-up. Moshe’s guys had the buildings replicated. Momentum was building, but Thanksgiving was still a few weeks away. And, he had yet to say a word to Lara. He knew he had to tell her soon, and dreaded her reaction.

  He parked his motorcycle and headed toward his office. His cell phone rang and it was Jake Wilson, Ben’s team member in New Hampshire. Jake’s voice cracked, “Hey Chief. Can you talk?

  Ben replied, “Yeah, what’s up?”

  Jake sputtered, “She just left me. After eight years, she’s gone.” Ben could tell he had been crying.

  “Let’s sit down and talk about this,” Ben replied, “We need to get together, right away.”