Blaze: A Small Town, Nerdy Girl, Opposites Attract, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 1)

Chapter 50

The Ghost Opsteam had a plan. It’d taken them a few hours to put it together, but they had clearance from Washington, and they were going in tonight.

But first he was going home to eat and sleep for a couple of hours.

At least he was supposed to sleep, but he’d probably end up balls deep inside Emma first.

It had been hours since he’d spoken to her. He’d left her asleep in his bed when he’d been called in this morning. He hadn’t given her an explanation other than he had to go to the range.

He’d think about tonight’s excuse later. But at the moment, all he wanted was to get home and make sure everything was good with his girls.

“Damn, dude,” Chance said as they went into the range to retrieve their phones from where they’d stashed them while they worked in the secure area. “So you fell for the doc. Never saw that one coming.”

Blaze laughed. “Me neither, I promise you.”

“Gotta be honest, I thought you had a type. Big tits and ass, lots of curves. That’s not Emma.”

Blaze’s belly tightened. “Emma’s gorgeous.”

“She is, but she’s more the wholesome, nerdy-girl-next-door than the knockout. What I’m saying is I like her, and I think she’s good for you.”

Blaze stopped to look at his friend. “Good for me? How?”

“You seem less in your head if you know what I’m saying. Like you’re looking forward to living instead of thinking about the past.”

Blaze felt as if someone had thumped him over the head with a hammer. “You thought I was hung up on the past?”

“Weren’t you? We all know what happened in Afghanistan. Your team, your injuries. The road to recovery. Then you didn’t want to stay in the farmhouse with us. We all know why.”

Blaze’s heart was throbbing. “You do?”

Chance put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I’ve had nightmares about some of the stuff we’ve seen, but they don’t last. Some things circle back sometimes, but it’s not consistent. I think yours were pretty consistent.”

His mouth was dry. “Ghost knows?”

“Of course he does. We all do.”

And Ghost had still wanted him for the team. His friends weren’t afraid to operate with him. They didn’t think he was a liability or that he’d slip up and get them killed. Even if the stakes were higher in some ways for this mission than for any other.

They trusted him. Believed in him.

So did Emma.

“I didn’t know. Thought I was hiding it pretty well.”

“You were hiding it. But I think Emma must be helping because, like I said, you seem to look forward to living a lot more than you used to.”

Blaze scratched the back of his neck. “I wish I could tell her I’m still working for my country. It doesn’t feel right to lie. Especially after the night she fixed you up.”

“I know. I get the reason, but it makes it hard. At least when we were HOT operators, we could say we were subject to sudden deployments. Can’t say it now, even if it’s true.”

Blaze pulled open the drawer where the phones were stashed. He found his and picked it up. The screen lit up with three missed calls from Emma and a voice mail. He hit the screen to play the message.

“Hey, Blaze. Theo hasn’t heard from Rory and we’re afraid she’s had an incident. She’s diabetic, which you may not know, and this could be an emergency. Theo is headed to her house. I’m right behind him in case she needs help. An ambulance would take too long, and I’m not staying in the apartment and wringing my hands when she could be in trouble. I’m sorry, I hope you understand. I’ll call you when I know more, and I won’t go anywhere alone, I promise. Theo will be with me at her house, and if we have to go to the hospital, I won’t leave until it’s safe. I?—

There was a hesitation.

“Anyway, I’ll see you later. Call me when you can. Bye.”

“Did she call back yet? How’s Rory?”

Blaze swung his gaze to Chance. He’d forgotten his friend was there when Emma said she was leaving the apartment to meet Theo at Rory’s place.

“No, nothing.” His voice was hoarse as he checked the calls again. “Just that message at 10:20.”

He slid the button to call Emma back. It went to voice mail.

Chance was pale. “That was almost seven hours ago. She’d have told you how Rory was by now. Unless it’s bad news…”

“Or she can’t call.” Blaze’s gut churned. “She’s not answering her phone. We need to get out to Rory’s place.”

Seth, Kane, Ethan, and Ghost filed into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Ghost asked.

“Emma called about seven hours ago to say she was headed to Rory’s place. Thought she might be having a diabetic emergency. She hasn’t called again to say what happened or how Rory is, and she’s not answering her phone.”

“I didn’t know she was diabetic,” Kane said.

“I don’t think any of us did,” Chance said. Growled, really. “But something’s not right. Emma would have called.”

Blaze’s blood was ice. “It’s Simon. It has to be. Emma said that Theo was worried because he hadn’t heard from Rory, which means he expected to hear from her and didn’t. If something had happened to her and Emma had to stabilize her, she would have called to let me know. But she hasn’t called and she’s not picking up. Simon used Rory to lure Emma to him.”

He was shaking inside. From fear, from anger. From icy determination to find his woman and put an end to whoever the fuck Simon Marsh really was. Because he knew Simon was involved. Felt it in his gut.

“We have to find them,” Chance said. “That was seven fucking hours ago.”

“I’m going to Rory’s place.” Blaze started for the door.

“Hang on a minute,” Ghost called.

Blaze stopped in his tracks, resolute in refusing an order if Ghost told him not to go. Didn’t matter they weren’t technically in the military anymore. They were still operators for the US Government, and an order was an order. He wouldn’t get court-martialed, but there would be consequences. He didn’t doubt that.

And he was still going after Emma.

“We’re all going,” Ghost said. “And we need a fucking plan.”