Protecting Melody

by Susan Stoker

  Melody’s impression of Tex increased. It was obvious he didn’t like having to put her in danger, but he wasn’t hiding the truth from her.

  Finally he continued, “Yeah, I fucking hate it, but hear this now, Mel, I’ll be right there. He’s not going to hurt you. And this will end. You won’t have to live like this for the rest of your life. I’m going to pull every marker, and do whatever it takes to make you safe. Swear to God.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. I know I can’t keep running. I hate it. I was already contemplating going home even before I contacted you. I hate being away from my family and Amy. I hate being scared. I’d rather face this asshole face-to-face than deal with his notes scaring me to death.”

  Tex couldn’t resist. He leaned toward her, bringing her head into him with the hand at the back of her neck. He put his forehead against hers. “You’re one tough cookie, Melody Grace.” Then Tex kissed her. It was light and brief. Lighter and briefer than he wanted it to be, but he didn’t want to confuse Mel any more than she probably was. She had to be feeling gratitude toward him, but Tex didn’t want that. He wanted more.

  Putting her back from him and trying to ignore how good she felt in his lap, Tex moved his hands to her hips. “Okay, let’s get going. I’ll get the letter, you get your stuff, and we’ll head back to my hotel and pick up Baby’s and my things. Then we’ll get to Wolf’s house and figure out our next steps.”

  Melody slowly stood up and realized as Tex steadied her before sliding his hands away from her hips, how much she enjoyed his hands on her. She felt his touch to the marrow of her bones. It’d been so long since she’d been touched, and Tex’s hands just felt right. Melody got herself together and headed over to pick up her bags that she’d packed earlier in preparation for fleeing the hotel and California.

  She watched as Tex picked up the letter on the floor with a washcloth. Melody knew he was trying to preserve any fingerprints that might, by some miracle, still be on the paper. His jaw clenched as he read the words on the page, but he didn’t say anything.

  Melody looked over at Baby. She sat calmly by the door, her eyes moving from Melody to Tex. Melody knew she should probably be offended or hurt that her dog was looking to Tex as much as she looked to her, but Melody couldn’t find it in her. Tex had brought Baby to her. He’d cared enough to drive across the country to find her. He was going to help her figure out who the hell hated her so much that he’d threaten to hurt her and the people she loved.

  Melody couldn’t wait to get out of this hotel room and out of Anaheim. As much as she was scared to be going home, she was also looking forward to it. It was time to get back to her life, her real life.

  Chapter Five

  Tex looked over at Melody. She was sitting in the passenger seat in his truck and Baby was sitting between them, her head resting on Mel’s lap. Mel had her head against the headrest of the truck and her fingers were idly running over Baby’s head. Baby had her eyes closed and every now and then Tex could hear a soft snore coming from the dog.

  He hadn’t lied to Melody. He’d never been around dogs much in his life, but Baby was awesome. She was sensitive, low-maintenance, and surprisingly protective. He liked that.

  Keeping his voice low, he told Melody, “I need to tell you about my friends before we get there. It’s likely they’ll be overly exuberant.”

  Without opening her eyes, Tex heard Mel’s response. “Overly exuberant? What’s that code for?”

  “It’s code for the women were happy to see me yesterday, but they’ll be absolutely thrilled to see me with you. They think I’m too much of a hermit and probably see me as Quasimodo. They’ll probably push us together and assume we’re sleeping together. Caroline will probably put us both in the basement together for the night.”

  “Wow. Uh. Okay.”

  “And the men know about you. Well, they know what I knew yesterday. They’ll be concerned about you and will probably act overbearing and alpha. But I’ve got your back. Just go with it and know that I’ll do what’s best for you, no matter what they want to do.”

  Tex looked over Mel and saw she’d turned her head and was looking at him. He couldn’t read what she was thinking, but he continued, “They’re very ‘hands on,’ Mel. The men’ll touch you, not sexually, but they’ll put their hands on you. Your back, your head, your neck. The women’ll hug you. A lot. They’ll also probably pry a bit too much for just meeting you, but it’s what they do. If you don’t want that, tell me now and I’ll tell them to back off. If it becomes too much, let me know and again, I’ll tell them to lay off. They’re touchy. They can’t help it.”

  “Will you tell me more about them? How they met each other? What they’re like? What you had to do with helping them?”

  “Their stories aren’t pretty, Mel.”

  “But they ended up together, right?”

  “Yeah, they’re together.”

  “Then their stories are beautiful.”

  Tex took his hand off the steering wheel and brought it to Mel’s face. He ran his knuckles down her cheek once, then turned his attention back to the road.

  “Wolf met Caroline when the plane they were on was hijacked. He left on a mission and the bad guys found her and stole her again. I helped Wolf find where they’d taken her. Abe and Alabama’s story is a bit more tame, but essentially she saved his life in a fire, they got together, Abe did something dumb and Alabama took off. I tried to help find her, but it’s a lot easier to hide when you don’t use any kind of electronics. Then there was Fiona.”

  Tex’s voice cracked. Fiona’s story was the most personal to him. He felt Baby turn in between them and she reached up and licked his face once. Tex laughed and gently shoved Baby’s face away from him. “Ew, girl . . .”

  Melody laughed, leaned over and hugged Baby and tugged her back into her lap.

  “I told you some of this online, but anyway, the team went into Mexico to rescue a Senator’s daughter who’d been kidnapped, and they unexpectedly found Fiona there too. She was doing okay, but after they got home and the guys were on a mission, she had a flashback and ran. I found her because she used Cookie’s credit card, and I talked to her every day, every four hours, until Cookie could get home and get to her.”

  His voice trailed off and this time it was Mel who reached over to offer comfort. She put her hand on his thigh, but didn’t say anything.

  “Then Mozart and Summer. Mozart met her when he went up to Big Bear. She was working at the motel where he was staying. The person Mozart had been tracking abducted her and tortured her with the intent to kill her. Luckily, I was able to trace the cell phone of another young lady he’d kidnapped that night as well. They got there in time to save both women. I heard Elizabeth, the other woman who was rescued with Summer, wasn’t dealing well with what had happened to her and moved to Texas. I need to make a point to see what I can find out about her…how she’s doing.

  “Anyway, Dude and Cheyenne have a similar story. Dude is an expert with explosives. He met Cheyenne when he was called to a grocery store to diffuse a bomb some bad guys strapped to her. Of course he defused it, but then relatives of the bad guys took Cheyenne and tried to kill her and an apartment building full of people.”

  Tex took a deep breath and finished quickly. “Last there’s Benny and Jessyka. She had a horrible ex who the guys took care of, but in order to get revenge he attacked Benny and lured Jessyka into his clutches. Even with her limp, she managed to save Benny’s life. It would’ve been tough to find Benny without Jess leading me right to him.”

  “Leading you to him?”

  Tex sighed. He knew this was coming. “This is going to sound bad, especially with what you’re going through. But hear me out. Okay?”

  “Ooo-kay.”

  Tex could hear the trepidation in her voice, but he continued on. It was going to come out sooner or later, so he might as well get it out in the open.

  “My friends asked me to
track their women. I made some GPS devices and sent them to the guys. They put them in earrings, their women’s watches. Shoes. Clothes. I don’t blame them one bit. Each one of them had been taken from them. None of us wanted it to happen again.”

  There was silence in the cab of the truck for a while. Tex let Mel think through what he said.

  Finally she spoke. “It’s not the same.”

  “What?”

  “It’s not the same. Your friends are doing it out of love. It’s not the same.”

  Tex silently sighed in relief. He didn’t think Melody would’ve freaked out, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure. “You’re right, Mel. It’s not. I’m the only one who receives the signals. The guys have the ability, but they trust me to keep the data. We’ve only needed to use it once, with Jessyka. She only let herself get taken because she knew Benny wasn’t tracked and she was. She knew I’d know something was wrong.”

  “Can I have one?”

  “What?” Tex couldn’t believe he’d heard her right.

  In a lower voice than she’d used before, Melody asked again, a little hesitantly, “Can you put one on me? I don’t know what this guy wants. What if he takes me? You can find me if I have one of your tracking things right? You’ll come and get me?”

  Tex couldn’t stand it. The tremble in her voice, the uncertainty, the vulnerability. He pulled the truck over to the side of the road and put it in park. Tex turned sideways in the seat and reached his hand out to Melody. He put it on the side of her head and held her eyes.

  “I’d love to tell you that it’ll never happen, Mel. But, unfortunately, I know more than anyone, that it can. I’ll do everything possible to keep you safe, but sometimes it’s not enough. So yes, if you want, I’ll give you a tracker so if your stalker kidnaps you, I can find you. Whatever happens, don’t you give up. If he finds you and takes you from me, do not egg this asshole on. Don’t give him a reason to hurt or kill you. No matter what happens, we can get through it. Just remember that I’ll be coming after you and I’ll track you down. And I will, Mel. I will find you, you just have to give me the time to do it. Okay?”

  Melody nodded. She knew asking to be tracked was weak, but she felt weak at the moment. Just him saying the words made her feel better. Made her feel more secure knowing someone, other than her stalker, would know where she was at all times. Someone she trusted. And she trusted Tex. She’d gotten to know him over the last six months they’d talked online. Hell, she knew him better than some of the people she’d grown up and went to school with. She knew him and, more importantly, she trusted him.

  “Thank you for being honest with me. I know he’s going to find me and it’s just a matter of time before he catches up with me. Thank you for not pretending he won’t. I swear, I won’t give up. If he gets me, I’ll hang on and wait for you to get to me.”

  Not addressing her pessimistic attitude, knowing there was a distinct possibility that she could get taken by her stalker, Tex said instead, “You’re welcome. You okay? You need to stop? You hungry?”

  Melody shook her head. “I’m okay. Even though they’ll intimidate the hell out of me, I’m looking forward to meeting your friends.”

  “Don’t feel intimidated, Mel. They’re just like you. The women are strong and kick-ass and don’t take any crap from their men. And my friends, they’ll take one look at you and you’ll be firmly in their ‘you must be protected’ camp.”

  “I’m not strong, Tex.”

  “The hell you aren’t.”

  “I think I’m glad you see me that way.”

  “You’ll see yourself that way too. Promise.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay.” Tex pulled Melody closer to him, ignoring the grunt of disapproval coming from Baby who was being mushed between them, and kissed her cheek. He pulled back and nodded at Mel. “Strong and kick-ass, Mel.”

  Tex then put the truck back in drive and pulled back onto the highway.

  * * *

  “Breathe.”

  Melody tried, she did, but she was really nervous about meeting Tex’s friends. The women all sounded awesome, and the men just plain freaked her out. She wasn’t really ready for this, but she knew these people were as close to family as Tex had and she wanted to make a good impression.

  “I’m okay.”

  “They’re going to love you.”

  Melody could only nod as Tex got out of the truck and walked around to her side. He helped her out and Baby jumped down after her. Melody held the leash tightly as Tex reached for her hand. Melody jumped at the chance to grab hold.

  They walked up to the house and the door opened as they reached it. A large man stood there and Melody could hear the voices of many others behind him. He stepped forward and mostly closed the door behind him.

  “Tex. Melody. Glad you made it back so soon.”

  “Wolf.” Tex gave him a chin lift. “Are they all in there?”

  “Every last one.”

  Tex smiled at that. Of course everyone was here. “It okay if we stay here tonight?”

  “Hell, Tex, as if Caroline would let you stay anywhere else.” Wolf turned to Melody and held out his hand. “Melody, I’m Wolf. It’s great to meet you. I’m glad Tex found you, but I had no doubt that he would. He’s that good. Please know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

  Melody took Wolf’s hand in hers and shook it. “Thanks, but I go where Tex goes.”

  Wolf nodded as if he expected the answer. “I’m gonna say this quickly because if I know my wife, she’ll be out here before not too much longer. You have my protection, Melody. You have my team’s protection. Whatever you need, you’ve got it. Tex is a good man, he’ll keep you safe, but if you need us, if Tex needs us, we’re there. Understand?”

  Melody could only nod. No words would come out. Yesterday she’d been alone. Today she had a whole team of bad-ass SEALs at her back. It was hard to wrap her mind around.

  At her side, Baby growled low. Melody realized Wolf still held her hand in his. She quickly dropped it and Baby moved in front of her, pushing Wolf back.

  “Nice guard dog you got there.”

  “She’s not a guard dog.”

  “Maybe not for anyone else, but she did the same thing when Tex was here before and Ice rushed him to give him a hug.”

  Melody turned to Tex. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  Melody crouched down in front of Baby and whispered, “Good girl.”

  The men above her just laughed.

  “Come on, Mel, let’s get this over with.”

  Wolf laughed at the mock resignation in Tex’s voice.

  Tex held out a hand to Mel and helped her up. He put his arm around her waist and they followed Wolf into the house.

  Melody could tell Tex was tired, because he was limping more than she’d noticed since meeting him. She remembered him telling her in one of their online conversations that when he overdid it, his limp would become more pronounced.

  Before she could say anything, they entered a living room full of people.

  “Tex is here!” One woman shouted and stood up quickly, and everyone in the room followed suit.

  “Easy, Baby,” Melody heard Tex say beside her. She looked down to see the scruff on the back of her dog’s neck standing on end.

  “You have to be Melody,” another woman said a tad more calmly. “I’m Summer. I’m sure Tex has probably told you about all of us, but instead of using all their real names, he’s probably only used their nicknames.” She rolled her eyes and Melody smirked.

  “Okay, so you met Wolf at the door.” She pointed to each of the other men in the room and introduced them in succession. “Abe, Mozart, Dude, Benny, and Cookie.”

  “Wow, Summer, I’m impressed you know our nicknames,” Cookie joked with her.

  “Shut up, Hunter. Of course I know your nicknames. It’s not like you guys will stop using them.”

  Melody just watched the by-play between everyone w
ith amusement. She knew if she spent more time with this group of people she’d probably love them. They reminded her of her and Amy. A little goofy, a lot sarcastic, and funny to boot.

  “Hi,” Melody said shyly.

  “Come sit over here by us. We can’t wait to get to know you better!”

  Melody looked away from Summer, and turned to Tex. Before she could say anything, Tex leaned down to her to whisper into her ear. “It’s okay, Mel. I’ll be in the other room with the guys if you need me.”

  Melody nodded. “Okay.”

  Before she knew it, she was sitting in the middle of the six other women, Baby at her feet, laughing at the stories they shared about their men. Through the stories the women told, Melody could hear the love that came through. These women adored their men, and it was one hundred percent reciprocal.

  “So Melody, tell us about Tex.” It was Fiona that asked.

  “What about him?”

  “How’d you guys meet?”

  “Well, I just met him face-to-face today.”

  “Wow! That’s kinda cool! We just met him in person this morning. Well, Caroline had met him before, but not the rest of us,” Jessyka shared. “Isn’t he the best?”

  Melody smiled at the affection in Jessyka’s voice. “Yeah, he is.”

  “So? Deets woman!” Caroline demanded teasingly.

  “We met online. I was bored and went into a chat room one night. He messaged me, and we started talking.” Melody stopped, and got serious, remembering all that the women had been through. “He was so worried about you guys. Fiona, I interrupted him when he was trying to help you and he was so concerned about you.” Melody turned to Jessyka. “He was pissed at you, Jess, but so proud that you’d risked yourself for Benny. You’re all so lucky to have him.” She stopped before she burst into tears. She normally wasn’t quick to cry, but the stress over the last few months was catching up with her with a vengeance.