Chapter 7
Lefty ran a hand over his face. He was dirty, tired, and feeling off kilter by the intense mission he and the team had just completed.
They’d been sent to Iran to try to rescue an American citizen, a Federal judge’s son, who thought it would be fun to climb Mount Damavand.
It was over eighteen thousand feet high and apparently on the man’s bucket list. But he’d ignored the fact that Iran didn’t take kindly to people, especially Americans, crossing their borders illegally.
The man hadn’t been able to get permission for the climb, and had decided to do it anyway.
Much of their time had been spent planning for the rescue mission. They’d had to go deep undercover, and when diplomatic avenues had failed to get the man released, the Deltas had been given permission to break him out of the Iranian jail by force if necessary.
In the end, unfortunately, that hadn’t been necessary. The man had decided he was done waiting to be freed and had tried to break out on his own. That choice had ended in his death.
All the Deltas’ planning and subterfuge had been in vain. It had taken four days for the team to sneak back out of Iran after their failed rescue attempt, and Lefty was exhausted.
He was upset at the man for thinking climbing a mountain was more important than staying at home with his wife and young daughter. He was pissed at the Iranian government for not deciding the man was just young and dumb and releasing him with a fine and a stern warning.
Not helping Lefty’s mood was the fact that as soon as they’d landed in Europe to catch their plane home, he’d checked his messages…and hadn’t had even one from Kinley.
She’d promised to keep in touch with him, and Lefty had believed her.
One week he could make excuses for why she hadn’t texted or called him.
But two weeks with no contact was less likely to be an accident or oversight.
He felt like an idiot. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
He should’ve learned his lesson the first time.
Kinley seemed like a good person. Someone he wanted to get to know better.
But long-distance relationships were hard enough.
If she wasn’t willing to even meet him halfway, Lefty knew there couldn’t be anything between them. It sucked. Bad.
The trip back to the States was long, but Lefty couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Kinley and why she might’ve decided to ghost him a second time. It made no sense, and he had to wonder if maybe something was wrong.
After they landed, the team waited to be dismissed before heading to their respective homes.
Lefty planned to go back to his apartment and sleep for twenty-four hours straight.
When he was rested, he’d be in a better place to put things with Kinley in perspective.
He needed to put her out of his mind once and for all, which he knew would be easier said than done.
Lefty had come to the base with Trigger, because they lived in the same apartment complex now. It was late, after ten at night, and Trigger had just hung up after talking with Gillian.
“She good?” Lefty asked.
Trigger nodded. “Yeah.”
The answer was short, but Lefty had overheard some of his friend’s conversation. It was clear that Gillian was thrilled he was home, and the feeling was mutual.
“Seriously?” Grover asked from nearby, the surprise and confusion easy to hear in his tone.
Lefty was immediately on alert. “What?” he asked.
The other men on the team were also tense as they waited to hear what had surprised their friend so much.
“Devyn’s planning on moving here.”
“Devyn?” Lucky asked. “Who’s that?”
“My sister,” Grover told him, staring at his phone. “She left a message on my voice mail, saying that she’s quit her job and she’s moving to Texas.”
“That’s your youngest sister, right?” Oz asked.
“Yeah. She’s the baby in the family.”
“She okay?” Brain asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, I thought she loved her job. She’s a veterinary assistant, and every time I’ve talked to her, she’s had nothing but good things to say about it,” Grover replied, the worry easy to hear in his tone.
“You gonna call her back?” Lucky asked.
“I tried. She’s not answering. It’s late though, it could be she’s just sleeping.”
“Let us know if you need anything,” Lefty said, clapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You know we’re here.”
“I will. I have no idea what plans she’s made, but she might need help unloading a moving truck or something,” Grover said.
“Anything you need, we’re there,” Lucky reiterated.
They were interrupted by their commanding officer dismissing them, and soon after, Lefty was sitting in Trigger’s Chevy Blazer. Resting his head on the seat back, Lefty closed his eyes.
“You okay?” Trigger asked.
“Yeah.”
“Still nothing from her?”
“No. But it’s fine. I mean, it’s not like we were ever really gonna have any kind of relationship. Not with her being in DC and me here. Lord knows having a regular relationship is already difficult; a long-distance one would never work out,” Lefty said, trying to convince himself.
“But you’re still worried about her,” Trigger said with uncanny insight.
Lefty sighed. “I spent six hours with her, Trigger,” Lefty said. “We clicked. I called my mom when she was with me, for God’s sake. She promised to talk to me. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Maybe tomorrow you can call Winkler, see if he can make some inquiries. I know we were just his bodyguard detail, but he seemed pretty down to earth…for a politician. He and Brown work in the same building, so at least you might know if she’s okay if you talked to him.”
It was a good suggestion, but at the moment, Lefty wasn’t ready to do much of anything when it came to Kinley. “Yeah, I might.”
Several minutes went by as Trigger drove toward their apartment complex.
“So, Gillian’s good?” Lefty asked.
“Yeah. Said she’s been busy planning and reading.”
“Does she sit still long enough to read?” Lefty asked. “I swear I can picture her flitting all over the place, talking on the phone, typing out an email, and reading at the same time.”
Trigger laughed. “It’s funny because I thought the same thing when I first met her. But you’d be surprised. She loves to sit around and veg. And if she’s reading a book? Forget talking to her.”
“I’m happy for you,” Lefty told his friend. “I mean it. Gillian’s awesome. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She’d give the shirt off her back if she thought someone needed it. That’s pretty rare nowadays. People only think about themselves.”
“It’s pretty awesome, but it’s also scary as fuck,” Trigger admitted. “She’s always wanting to buy meals and shit for people she sees on the street. One of these days, I’m going to come home and she’ll have invited someone down on their luck to stay with us.”
Lefty shuddered. “Yeah, that’s not good,” he admitted. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the moment when Kinley had bought a meal for the homeless man in Paris, and how, in Africa, she’d bought out the woman’s entire stall of food.
“But I wouldn’t change Gillian for the world,” Trigger said. “I don’t ever want her to harden up. I want her to keep that empathy she has for others forever. I just wish she’d be a bit more aware of her own safety at the same time.”
“You’ve gotten her to stop using Ubers, though, right?” Lefty asked.
“Yeah. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
They pulled into the parking lot at the apartment complex and, after they’d exited the vehicle, Lefty gave Trigger a chin lift. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Of course. There’s no point in both of us taking our cars to the base. Thanks again for helping Gillian and me get the apartment here.”
“No problem. Any luck on finding a house?”
Trigger shrugged. “We’ve been looking, but Gillian says she’s content where she is for now.”
“A woman who doesn’t care about material shit is pretty fucking amazing,” Lefty observed.
“Oh, I know, and believe me, I’m thankful for it. She couldn’t care less about the size of our apartment or designer clothes and stuff like that. But somehow that makes me want to give them to her all the more,” Trigger said dryly.
“Go on,” Lefty said, playfully shoving his friend. “Go home to your woman.”
“She’s an idiot,” Trigger said after taking three steps toward his apartment. “Kinley, I mean. You’re one of the best men I’ve ever known. She doesn’t know what she’s losing by ghosting you.”
“Thanks,” Lefty said. The words didn’t really make him feel better, but he liked them all the same. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later,” Trigger said, then turned and bounded up the stairs.
Lefty walked to his own apartment a little slower. He knew what was waiting for him. A dark, empty apartment that smelled slightly musty from being closed up for two weeks. He’d thrown away what he thought might go bad in his fridge before he’d left, but he always forgot something.
Sighing, he straightened his shoulders. This was his life, no matter what he might’ve thought would happen with Kinley.
He opened his apartment door and dropped his bag on the floor just inside. He’d deal with laundry later. Right now, all he wanted was a shower and bed.
Lefty groaned when his phone rang the next morning. Opening one eye, he saw it was eleven o’clock. He’d slept hard, but he felt as if he could still sleep for another twelve hours.
He fumbled with his phone as it continued ringing and finally found the button to click to answer it.
“’Lo?”
“It’s Trigger. You need to come over to my apartment. Pronto.”
Lefty was immediately awake. “What’s wrong? Is Gillian all right?”
“She’s fine. But she needs to tell you something you’re going to want to hear.”
It took Lefty a moment to let his heart rate settle. “God, don’t scare me like that, Trigger. Shit, I thought something was really wrong.”
“It might be. Get your ass over here, Lefty. I’m not kidding.” Then Trigger hung up.