Ghost
Black Hawk MC
Book Four
by Carson Mackenzie
© Copyright April 2018 Carson Mackenzie
Cover, art, and logo © Copyright April 2018 Carson Mackenzie
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13 #978-1-370-28140-4 Digital
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Dedication
To everyone who has lost someone special in their life and felt as if life would never be the same. Second chances exist—you only need to be open to them.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Books by Carson Mackenzie
About the Author
Prologue
Ghost
The C-130 hit turbulence, and I immediately jerked awake. As I looked around the transport, I wasn’t the only one the motion disturbed from sleep. The transport had been full when we left overseas, but the one we were on now was at half capacity for the second leg of our trip. My SEAL team had been lucky when we reached Germany and was able to hitch a ride to the States on the plane headed for Bragg. Once there, we disembarked and had enough time to stretch our legs before boarding again and taking off to the west coast. I couldn’t have done better if I’d booked connecting flights with civilian carriers.
Our mission completed, with the added bonus of no injuries or casualties, made the hours spent in the air tolerable. Not like it mattered how long it took to get back to our home base considering we’d already been awake for seventy-two hours. The bay door hadn’t been secured before the other team members and myself were out cold. The brief stopover at Bragg to change planes had been only a small disruption in our sleep. Now we were almost home.
“Damn, my neck is stiff as shit,” my friend and team member, and the one in charge of our mission, Lieutenant Commander Max Browning, also nicknamed Flirt within the team, complained beside me as he rubbed his neck and yawned.
“Hell, be glad you have a neck.”
“No joke. Surprised we pulled the shit off. That had the potential to be one huge fubar.” Max had leaned in close and lowered his voice when he spoke, so there was no chance anyone not from our team would overhear. Especially since we sat along one side and faced the seats that ran down the middle of the plane’s cargo area.
“As glad as I’ll be to get back and see the family, I’m not looking forward to the Captain’s debriefing.” Flirt groaned at my mention of the Captain. Captain Baker was a perfectionist and expected nothing less of his men. He’d praise the job being done, but the man never failed to find the one thing that could have been done, foreseen, or executed better.
“Yeah, he isn’t going to care about the flaw in the intel nor the end result of us completing this mission even with the bad information,” Flirt mumbled disgustedly, and I chuckled.
“Nope, but you better believe he’ll question the camels.” I grinned, and Flirt flipped me off.
“Hey, we only borrowed them. It wasn’t as if they turned into casualties. The original plan went south, we needed transportation, and they were there. I’d make the same call again if I had to.”
“I’m not disagreeing, Max, but if the other teams hear about that shit, we will never live it down.”
“Not me, ‘cause this is last time I’ll have to sit through this crap. As for shit from the other teams, they can kiss our asses. We have the best extraction record to date. It’s not how the job is done, it’s that the job gets done,” Flirt said.
“True. Still can’t believe you are calling it quits and processing out. Gonna miss you, man,” I said and bumped Flirt with my shoulder.
Max and I had hit it off from the get-go. We had a bond that superseded the one men on SEAL teams naturally shared with each other.
“Hey, not too late, bro. Don’t re-up. Grab the ol’ lady and kid and come with me, Brax.”
“Maybe I’ll head your way once I reach retirement if it’s an open-end offer.”
“Damn straight it’s open. You’ve met a couple of my club brothers when they’ve visited. You’d fit right in at Black Hawk, Brax. But I’m hoping to see you before you retire. Nothing stopping you and the family from visiting.”
“No there’s not. I’ll visit just to make sure you’re riding the straight and narrow.”
“I’ll be riding. That’s for damn sure. Straight and narrow might be a stretch.” Max and I chuckled just as the plane started its descent.
“Not long now,” I said as I glanced down at my watch. “I want a hot shower and a meal that doesn’t come out of a package or a machine.”
“I’m hoping the Captain holds off until at least tomorrow before we have to talk with him. And where does the ol’ lady and kid fall into your plans, Brax?” Max
asked and lifted his brows.
“We aren’t that lucky with the Captain. And other than a hug and kiss for both Stormy and BJ, there’ll be no laying with the wife until I knock off a few layers of the grime and funk we got going on.”
“Speak for yourself, fucker. I smell manly,” Max said, and I rolled my eyes.
“Only to yourself,” I yelled out over the sound of the C-130 as it touched down and hit the brakes to get the big bird to slow. It hadn’t taken long before we were taxiing the runway.
The plane stopped and as the engines started shutting down the bay door was opening. I unfastened my harness and collected my backpack. When every team member was ready, we began filing out the back.
“I hope someone’s already here to pick us up and we don’t have to wait for them,” Max said just as we reached the ramp.
“I checked in with the unit when we were killing time at Bragg. They said someone would be sent out. I’m hoping Stormy got the text I left her and shows up at the unit.”
“Where’s your truck?”
“She has it. Her car died, and I didn’t have a chance to look at it before we left on the mission. As many times as the thing has broken down, I should junk it instead of putting more money into it. Warranty ran out, and the damn thing spends more time in the shop than it does in my driveway. Not to mention that operating with only one vehicle sucks ass,” I said as we stepped off the ramp.
“Said you’d regret selling your bike.”
“Yeah, said the single guy with no wife harping about between my job and the bike, she was destined to be a widow raising a young boy on her own.”
Max laughed as we looked around at several different military vehicles to see if one was there for us.
“Wonder why the Captain’s here?” I glanced at Max when he spoke, then followed his line of sight. Sure enough, the Captain’s driver sat in the otherwise empty jeep that was parked alongside one of the unit’s trucks that I assumed was there to pick us up.
“Just the driver. Don’t see the Captain, though,” I said and hoisted the strap of my bag higher on my shoulder.
“Hope to hell Seaman Marks isn’t here to inform us we have to go up to battalion now. Jinxed my ass with hoping Captain Baker would let us have a day or two,” Max griped.
“You and the damn camels.” I chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Fuck off,” Max grumbled.
“I’d planned to after I had a nice, hot shower. Now that’s going to be delayed.” The others groaned in agreement with me as we moved toward the vehicles.
“LC, LT, I’m supposed to pick both of you up and take you to HQ. Captain Baker and Senior Chief Ross are waiting to speak with you,” Seaman Marks said as he stepped out of the jeep when we approached. Max glanced at me, and I shrugged.
“They don’t want everyone present?” Max asked.
“No, sir. I was told only you and Lieutenant Carver,” Marks answered as he took our packs and tossed them in the back of the jeep, then slid back into the driver’s seat.
“If you see my wife in the parking lot, tell her I’ll be along shortly,” I yelled to the others.
“No prob,” was the reply from several of the team as they continued to the truck.
“What’s the odds they just want to tell us job well done in private,” Max said as I jumped in the back of the jeep while he slid in the passenger side.
“Yeah, that’s a possibility.” Max flipped me off without even turning around.
The ride to the building, where the Captain’s office was located, hadn’t taken long. Once Marks pulled into the spot in front and parked, Max and I were out of the vehicle and on our way inside. When we reached the office, the door was closed, and Max knocked.
“Enter!” was yelled and Max opened the door.
When we stepped through the open door, the Captain and Senior Chief stood from their chairs. After formalities were over, the Captain waved to the chairs in front of his desk and Max and I sat as did he and Senior Chief.
“Carver, the Senior Chief and I needed to speak with you, and we thought it best if Browning was present. We know the two of you are close outside of the team.”
I frowned and nodded in agreement with the Captain.
The Captain and Senior Chief looked at each other, then the Captain turned back and spoke directly to me, “Approximately two hours ago, we were notified by the local authorities about an accident involving your vehicle—”
“Where are they?” I asked, cutting the Captain off as I jumped to my feet. “Were they hurt? Are they at the hospital?” I raised a hand and ran it over my chest as a jab of pain hit.
Max stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. The Captain and Senior Chief were out of their chairs and on their feet, too. I needed to hear them say it, even though their facial expressions spoke volumes.
“Tell me,” I whispered in a voice that sounded nothing like mine.
“I’m sorry, Carver,” Senior Chief said and clasped my shoulder with his hand. “Your wife and son didn’t make it. They died on impact.”
I dropped down into the chair and closed my eyes. Stormy’s and BJ’s faces were automatically there as I listened to Captain Baker and Senior Chief tell everything they knew.
Max’s hand was strong as he squeezed my shoulder and lent me his strength and support. At that moment, though, I wasn’t sure it was enough to get me through the loss.
I wasn’t sure anything could.
Chapter One
Ghost
“No, don’t go!” The scream had my eyes snapping open. I laid there and caught my breath before I sat up on the side of the bed and wiped my hands down my face. Damn dream. The squeal of tires. The grinding sound of metal. It was as if I’d been there when the crash had happened. When in all actuality it was how I’d pictured the accident that had taken Stormy and BJ after I saw the condition of the truck and read the accident report from the police. Two innocent lives lost when the guy with the blood alcohol level double the legal limit decided to get on the freeway headed in the wrong direction. He walked away with a few bruises from his seatbelt and the airbag as it disengaged.
The dream this time had been different, though. Where before it ended with me viewing their bodies and saying goodbye, it changed to the three of us standing on the beach, facing the sun. Stormy and BJ started to walk away hand-in-hand as if headed toward the sun. A good bit away, they stopped and turned their heads, looked at me and smiled. BJ gave a small wave, and Stormy blew a kiss. When they turned back, they continued to walk away until the rays from the sun absorbed them.
“Shit, why now?” I stood and walked into the bathroom. After I relieved myself and splashed cold water on my face, I went back into the bedroom, then into the closet and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Never once did I allow my eyes to drift to the shelf above my head that held the two intricately carved boxes. My daily reminder of everything I lost. Instead, I donned my running shoes and walked out of the room. Off the small table by the door, I grabbed my cell and keys, then stepped out into the dark.
Once the door was locked, I shoved both in the pocket of my sweatshirt, pulled the hood up and over my head, and took off at a run. Nothing like breathing crisp air into your lungs to clear your head.
Dawn was still a couple hours away, but I made my way down the sidewalk and through the neighborhoods by the glow of the streetlights. Only a couple houses I passed had lights on inside. Other than that, it was just me, my thoughts, and plenty of pavement to pound my feet on.
Wasn’t sure how long I ran, but I continued to push my body. It was familiar, the burn in my chest, the ache of my muscles. I’d ran like this every day for the first six months after I arrived. It centered me. Between my activities with the club and the easy acceptance from the men, I slowly began to heal. To find my way back.
So, why now? Deep in the surface of my mind, I knew what had brought the change in the dream. The trip I made with Devil and Jag to return Jas back
to the Ops.
That day had been just another long ass day on the road until we finally pulled into San Jose. Found the motel where we would be staying overnight and snagged our rooms. It was my first long haul as a patched member with Black Hawk, and I couldn’t even complain about making the trip inside a cage instead of on my bike. Because I owed the club a lot for taking in the broken man I was when I arrived with Flirt those months back.
We hadn’t been at the motel long when we heard the rumble of pipes in the distance. Two came into view while an SUV had followed behind them. When Jas had started jumping up and down, I figured it had to be her people. They pulled in and the two men on the bikes dismounted, and when the one got both his feet on the ground, he had just enough time to catch Jas as she jumped into his arms. Jas finished with one and moved to the next man and did the same as two women stepped out of the SUV.
That was the moment everything around me centered on the short-haired blonde. I heard everyone’s voices and the things they had said, but I hadn’t given a shit about any of it. My only interest had been on the woman.
“Luna?” I asked, and the woman turned her head away from Jas and looked at me.
“Oh. My. God. Braxton Samuel Carver!” she yelled and more talking from the others followed. There’d been questions from the other woman about me. I knew my own brothers were curious, but I hadn’t taken my eyes off Luna for fear she’d disappear.
The other woman called her Moon instead of Luna and was going on about shit. She’d even stepped in front of Luna as if to protect her from me. As if that was ever a worry.
I’d narrowed my eyes at the woman as she ranted about getting her knives and when her focus moved to one of the men after he said something to her, I grabbed Luna’s arm and headed toward my motel room.
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