Battle Scars

by Cara Carnes

  “But we’ve gotta figure out how this involves Phil and why he’s suddenly nervous about it. Turning it over to authorities doesn’t help get Ellie safe,” Jesse said.

  He was focused on getting her safe. Though the focus had rightfully redirected to getting justice for Dani and the other girl on the videos, Jesse was still focused on how all of this affected Ellie. The realization spread warmth through her. She wasn’t alone in this fight, whatever it was.

  “We knew we missed some rotten apples with Kamren’s crap. It’s time we finish the cleanup,” Jud said. “Even if it means gutting the entire town.”

  Ellie swallowed. The word gutting had an entirely different meaning when Jud said it. Marville had its problems—to be frank, it was dirtier than most small towns likely were. But it was her home, and there were good people mired in the muck of this drama.

  “They aren’t all bad,” Ellie whispered.

  “We know, Peanut,” Jesse said, his hand on her knee. “You understand we have to investigate these rapes, right? We need to figure out how Phil’s tied to all this. The more we uncover for ourselves, the sooner you’ll be safe.”

  Ellie wasn’t used to someone fighting her battles. They had kids to rescue from traffickers and terrorists to take down. They’d closed themselves off from doing all of that and all the other commando stuff so they could get her safe and find justice for Dani and the other girl on the video.

  Were there more?

  Her stomach soured at the thought. “He had other CDs inside a cabinet behind the desk. This one must’ve fallen into the box somehow.”

  “Then we get the others,” Marshall said. “Who’s our best B and E?”

  “Everyone?” Zoey asked. “You’re all kickass commandoes. Breaking into that asshole’s place won’t be a challenge.”

  “Fallon,” Mary and Vi said at the same time. The latter added, “We don’t ever assume a mission will be easy.”

  Everyone looked at Fallon, who was glaring at the two women. Ellie knew the man was good with explosives. He was the “boom” in missions.

  “We don’t want to blow the place up,” Cord commented.

  Mary and Vi stared at Cord but offered no explanation for their decision.

  “Fallon and Jesse,” Mary said. “We’ll need schematics of the house as a starting point.”

  Ellie nodded. “I’ll sketch something out.”

  “Jud, start applying pressure in Marville,” Marshall said. “Make sure everyone knows we’re leaving no stone unturned this time around. People come forward with what they know, and we’ll take it easy on them. The Texas Rangers don’t need to know.”

  “Riley will want to be in on this.” Jud crossed his hands in front of him. “She’s ready.”

  The Mason brothers regarded one another a moment, then Nolan grunted. “Watch her six.”

  “I’ll get my team back into position in Marville in case there’s chatter when you all apply pressure,” Marcus said.

  “You need help, let me know. My crew doesn’t hang with the local populace at all,” Gage offered.

  Marcus nodded. “We’ll need help locking Dani down. She’s not a fan of protection.”

  “I’ll put my team on standby,” Nolan said.

  “Maybe you’d best hang back from this one,” Mary said.

  “That’s not happening,” the man said.

  Ellie tightened. “She’s right.”

  All attention shifted to her.

  “Whatever happened started because she was out there for you. That’s why she has issues with Masons. Going to her with this and asking questions is going to make that wound raw all over again. You’re not who she needs at her back,” Ellie whispered.

  “That so?” Nolan asked. “You’d best follow your own advice.”

  “Meaning?” Ellie pulled back from Jesse, who’d risen with his brother’s statement.

  “Stop leaning on Jesse so much. You’re a raw wound that won’t ever heal for him,” Nolan said.

  “Outside,” Jesse growled. “Now.”

  8

  “What the fuck?” Jesse shoved his brother against the side of the building and waited for a response.

  Nolan offered no comment, nor did he push Jesse away. The pain and guilt and rage in his brother’s gaze was palpable. Dani had been a shadow who followed Nolan around whenever he came home on leave.

  “You want your ass beat?” Jesse asked as he eased off. “You had no business feeding Ellie that shit sandwich. She’s going through enough.”

  “You had another episode last night,” Nolan said. He pushed Jesse. “You wanna look me in the face and say it’s not because your mind’s twisted up in her? In her shit?”

  He knew about the episodes. Cord had found out. Levi, Sol, and the rest of his team knew. No one else.

  “Not much goes on around here that doesn’t hit Mary’s or Vi’s or Zoey’s radar,” Nolan commented. “They brought it to my attention because they were concerned. No one else knows.”

  “You never said anything,” Jesse said.

  “You’d tell us if you wanted us to know. I’ve gotta admit it burns—knowing you trust Levi to have your back over one of us.”

  Jesse had always been tight with his brothers. Growing up they’d shared everything. He, Marshall, Nolan, and Dylan had shared the same friends through most of their formative years, despite the age differences. Since Jesse was in the middle of the pack of six boys, he’d also shared friends with Dallas and Cord.

  “It’s not like that, brother.”

  “This isn’t about that,” Nolan said. “Your business.”

  “You went after Ellie because of it, so now you gotta hear the why. Brace yourself because you won’t like what you hear.”

  “Oh yeah?” Nolan faced off with Jesse. Hands clenched at his sides. “Bring it on, little brother.”

  “Levi was there,” Jesse spat. He waited for the fact to work its way into Nolan’s mind. He’d never told them where or when he’d met Levi.

  “He pulled me out of that hole. Disinfected my entire body and saved what was left of my dick. He and his team carted my mostly dead ass through heavy enemy fire. I begged them to let me die. To kill me so they wouldn’t have to deal with me.”

  “Fuck, man.”

  “Don’t. You wanted it. You get it,” Jesse said. “I tried, you know. More than once I tried to give you a piece of what happened. I wanted to unload on you. Marshall. Dallas. Dylan. Cord. Any of you.”

  “Anytime. Anywhere,” Nolan answered.

  “Right. That’s why none of you came back after what I said to Dallas. Open com. All of you heard, but no one came and got in my face about it.” Jesse shook his head and took a step back as the pain of the statement burned his insides.

  Back when Dallas had been looking for his sons, Jesse had taken an opportunity to share a small bit of what he’d gone through to try and get his little brother to open up about his time in The Collective. Fortunately it had worked, and Dallas had worked through the intense shit he’d done for the black ops group.

  The gestures Jesse had made to ask for their help had been small—too small. He’d known, but he’d put what he could of himself on the line. He’d hoped it was enough because there wasn’t much left.

  “Jesus, Jess. I thought you needed space. We all did,” Nolan whispered. “You’ve really thought we wouldn’t have your back with this? I would’ve taken your place. If I could take your pain, I would.”

  “Jesse, brother.” Dallas’s pained voice behind Jesse startled him.

  “The reason Levi’s there every fucking night watching my six is because he gives me no choice. That’s not a hell you ask someone to follow you into.”

  Fuck. He turned and saw the crowd who’d assembled around him. Anger, pain, shame, and remorse filled him when he spotted Ellie, who hovered near the back of the gathered group. Tears pooled in her eyes.

  “Forget it,” Jesse growled. “It doesn’t matter. We take down Perskins and figure o
ut what he’s been hiding and handle that. Then we move on.”

  “Jess, I’m sorry. Fuck, we discussed approaching you so many times I lost count,” Marshall said. “It’s on me. I locked them down, said you’d come to us when you were ready.”

  They’d all told him they were there, but Jesse had grown jaded during recovery. Add that to what’d happened in the hole and there was no way in hell he could meet them halfway. Reaching out at all terrified the fuck out of him.

  Too many people offered shallow support, then vanished when real shit went down. And it wasn’t like Jesse needed or wanted to share the gory details of what’d happened. He got more than enough chances to do that during group therapy and with Doctor Sinclair.

  He’d wanted…

  Family.

  Growing up he’d always had big brothers who kicked the asses of anyone who gave him shit. He’d never spent a moment alone because in a family with seven kids, there was no such thing as privacy. Entering the military had given him that sense of family and belonging tenfold. He’d had a unit. A team.

  A second family.

  Then everything had gone to shit. He’d lost the sense of family, and even though he’d survived and returned home, a part of him was still back in that hole.

  Or dead.

  Jesse glanced at Ellie. Up until the chicken parmesan, he hadn’t truly relaxed and enjoyed the family around him because he’d been too fucking terrified to lose them if he went crazy. But looking into Ellie’s gorgeous eyes and seeing her smile and tasting food she’d made for him had struck his defenses like a battering ram.

  Rather than fight the moment, he’d kicked back and enjoyed it. For once he’d forgotten what he’d gone through.

  Then it had waylaid him when he fell asleep.

  Now this.

  “Look, it’s cool. Doc says my mind over-processes my emotions at times or some shit. You’ve all had my six since I got back. Without question,” Jesse said. “Forget it. Let’s move on.”

  Nolan’s gaze narrowed. Jesse recognized the look. Big brother wasn’t moving on. Jesse glanced at everyone else gathered around him. None of them were.

  Great.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t handle more right now.”

  “Then later.” Nolan put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Promise me.”

  He’d opened a can of worms. Now he’d have to deal with the slimy fucks. He forced a nod.

  Nolan moved past him and stopped in front of Ellie. “I’m sorry. I struck out because of what I saw on the video. It had nothing to do with you, Ellie. You’ve been the best thing to happen to us in many ways.”

  “Don’t ever apologize for looking out for Jesse,” Ellie said. “This is a war. We’re all in.”

  Jesse froze. The determination in her voice unlocked one of the many coiled chains around his heart. His soul. She wanted to fight for him. He was a dick for letting her because he had nothing to give her in return, even if she succeeded.

  “Is there a reason you’re all standing around looking like you’re about to brawl?” Levi asked.

  Jesse tensed. His second-in-command was loyal to a fault. He’d left the service and kept watching his six. He’d faced a court martial because he’d ignored direct orders to not engage his captors. Sol appeared on the other side of the huddle, as if they’d coordinated a defense.

  Marshall smirked and crossed his arms. “I’m pleased as fuck to know they’ve got your back, brother. We’ll all sit down after this is over so you can fill in the holes.”

  Jesse nodded. Fair enough. He looked at Mary, Vi, and Zoey. “You three keep digging to identify the others. We’ll get to work with what we know.”

  “Feel like taking a ride to Marville?” Dallas asked.

  “Let’s go.” Jesse motioned toward the vehicles.

  “Hold up,” Addy said. “Where are you two going?”

  “To talk with Dani,” Dallas said. “Kamren will come with us.”

  “Right. And having two men with the last name Mason nearby will really help her open up,” Kamren said. “You aren’t going near my best friend. Not about this.”

  “We need some answers, sweetheart,” Dallas whispered.

  “I’ll get them. Addy can come with me.” Kamren looked at the operative. “Will that work? You’re leaving for an op soon, right?”

  “Not until the morning. I’m in.” The woman looked at Jesse. “Me and my team are all in.”

  Addy Rugers was one hell of an operative. They’d butted heads the first couple weeks she’d been at The Arsenal, but they’d meshed after she fucked up and threatened to geld him during a meeting one day. Jesse had shared more of his hell with her than the others because she’d relayed more than a few of her own monsters to him.

  It’d take one hell of a man to deserve Addy.

  “And me,” Ellie added.

  “No,” Jesse said. No way in hell was Ellie getting anywhere near Marville without him.

  “I’m not hiding out here and letting all of you fix whatever this is. I won’t cower to Phil. He needs to hear I’m out and about. That I’m not scared.”

  “Are you?” Jesse asked. When she didn’t answer right away, he clarified. “Scared?”

  “I’m terrified, but I trust you. I trust you all.”

  A warmth returned inside him—an awareness.

  “Are we sure doing this at her work is the right play?” Addy asked.

  “She’ll bolt otherwise,” Kamren said.

  “Fine,” the woman replied as she looked at Jesse. “You cover exterior, and I handle interior.”

  Jesse admired the fierce female operative. She’d helped take down her brother’s operation when he’d orchestrated Mary’s kidnapping and subsequent torture to try and steal HERA. The redhead staring at him expectantly had been Mary’s, Vi’s, Rhea’s and Bree’s primary protector before they all came to The Arsenal. Jesse chuckled. “You aren’t gonna give on this.”

  “Nope. And you won’t expect me to because it’s the right play.” The woman moved closer and lowered her voice. “Nothing will happen to her.”

  He believed her. Jesse nodded. “But Brooklyn goes in, too, before you all arrive. Bystander.”

  “Done,” Kamren said.

  Ellie was crunched in the middle of Bree and Riley in the back seat. She wasn’t sure why her newfound friend Bree was riding along, but she’d learned to not ask many questions where the brilliant blonde was concerned because she was a bit different.

  “You okay?” Kamren asked from the front seat.

  Addy glanced at Ellie from the rearview mirror. The redhead was a great field operative. Ellie had watched her training with the rest of the commandoes a lot.

  “I should be asking you that,” Ellie said. “I had no idea. I swear.”

  “I know. Neither did I, though I should’ve suspected.” Kamren grew quite a moment. “The ink.”

  “What ink?” Riley asked.

  “The gang her brother ran had a tattoo of a dog chewing a femur bone. Some of the more hardcore members of the gang had blood drops dripping from the bone. She…she got the tattoo with a drop around that time. I never figured out why, and she wouldn’t talk about whatever went down. I remember the timing because everyone had a fit. She was so young to get a tattoo.” Kamren’s voice softened. “Dom did it himself.”

  “We’ll get some answers,” Ellie said.

  She glanced over her shoulder.

  “They’re still behind us,” Addy commented.

  Heat ran up Ellie’s cheeks. Busted. Time to change topics.

  “I heard Jud bragging about you to Dylan the other day,” Ellie whispered.

  “Really?” Riley looked out the side window. “That man never says anything to me.”

  “He was an assassin. Do you really want him to say something?” Bree asked. “I can’t believe he’s training you. I’d be terrified.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. You’ve been begging him to train you with knives,” Ellie said.
>
  “He’s training Kamren,” Bree said.

  “Yeah, ’cause she’s Kamren. There’s not much training needed,” Addy put in. “Let’s focus on what’s about to go down. We’ll let Kamren make the approach. Ellie can go up there, too, but the rest of us will fan out.”

  “I have a layout,” Bree said. She dragged a folded piece of paper from her purse.

  Addy glared at them from the rearview mirror.

  “Right.” Bree shoved the layout back into her purse. “Fan out.”

  “What else is in that purse?” Riley asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Ellie smirked. She recognized the singsong tone. Bree totally had something else in her purse. No one made a comment, though. She grinned at her friend and winked.

  The Sip and Spin parking lot was busier than Ellie expected since it was mid-afternoon on a Thursday. Addy parked the truck near a small gray Toyota Corolla that’d been unearthed from somewhere within The Arsenal compound.

  Jesse’s vehicle parked alongside theirs. Ellie waited to get out, since she was in the middle back. Jesse was there and lifting her out the moment she slid toward the door. Awareness beaded along her skin as it always did when he was near.

  She looked up into his intense gaze. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be a lot better once we figure out what’s going on. You?”

  “Me, too,” she admitted.

  “Do whatever Addy says when you get inside,” Jesse advised. “If anything goes wrong, Brooklyn has orders to get you out. She’s at the small table near the jukebox. Try not to be obvious about finding her.”

  Ellie nodded. “This is all cloak-and-dagger, commando territory.”

  Jesse smirked. “You think so?”

  “Maybe.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Never.” He thumped the tip of her nose with his finger. “We’ll grab an early dinner at the place down the road when we’re through here.”

  “The place” was a Mexican food restaurant run out of someone’s house. It didn’t have any signage or a name. Word of mouth gave them more than enough business—too much, if the long wait was any indication. She’d stopped and ordered food a couple times for her and her mom as a treat.