Chapter 19 #3
When Lefty still wasn’t sure what Trigger wanted him to see, he turned to him with a confused look.
“Fuck. Right—watch it again, and pay attention to the person who’s walking next to her,” Trigger said.
This time, when the clip played, instead of staring at Kinley, Lefty focused his attention on the man at her side. He inhaled sharply and turned to Trigger. “Is that…?”
Trigger nodded.
Just then, Lefty’s phone rang. The number said unavailable, and he clicked it on. “Hello?”
“It’s Merlin,” the man on the other end of the line said.
“I’m staring at you on TV right this second,” Lefty said.
“Damn. I was hoping to get ahold of you before you saw that,” the other Delta operative said.
“Turns out we were sent on a special mission to Paris to guard a very valuable witness in an ugly trial. All five of us are here, and we’re keeping an extremely close eye on the witness.
From what we understand, strings were pulled for us to get the job. ”
Lefty closed his eyes and swayed on his feet. He felt Trigger take hold of his elbow and steer him to the couch. He sagged onto it. “Is she…damn.” He didn’t know what to ask.
“She’s amazing,” Merlin said. “Right now, she’s sitting in the hotel room playing Go Fish with Woof, Zip, and Jangles…and kicking their asses, I might add. Earlier, she actually made Duff smile too, can you believe that? We didn’t think it was possible.
“And a funny thing…after this job, we’re all being transferred to Texas.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone had a hand in getting us out of DC.
Which, don’t get me wrong, we’re very glad for.
After everything we’ve seen and heard, guarding politicians isn’t high on our list of fun things to do. ”
“You’re coming to Texas on a permanent change of station?” Lefty asked.
“Yup.”
Tex. It had to have been him. Not only had he somehow found Simon and had the son of a bitch taken out, and gotten the other Delta team assigned to guard Kinley, he’d also arranged for them to PCS to Texas.
Fuck, he owed Tex. Huge.
Not that the man would ever admit he’d done anything.
“She doesn’t know I’m calling,” Merlin said. “But if you want to talk to her…” His voice trailed off.
Did he want to talk to the woman he loved more than life itself? Fuck yeah.
But he wouldn’t.
Lefty’s shoulders sagged. It sounded like she was doing well.
Merlin and his team would keep her safe and look out for her.
The last thing she needed was to deal with the emotional upheaval of talking to him in the middle of the damn trial.
Lefty felt stupid feeling insecure when it came to Kinley, but he didn’t want to create more drama in her life.
It was better to let things play out the way they had to play.
“I want to, but I can’t,” Lefty croaked. “If I hear her voice, it’ll gut me. But, please…keep her safe for me.”
“You don’t even have to ask. We know her story, it was in the info packet we got. She’s why we do what we do. Protect the innocent and all that. I swear to you as a Delta, she’s coming home safe and sound.”
Lefty wanted to ask what that meant. Coming home to him, or back to the home she’d made for herself, with the help of the WITSEC program? But he was too chicken to ask. “Is she all right?” he asked quietly.
“She’s a bit too skinny for my taste, and she’s obviously stressed out, but she’s hanging in there. Joked the other day about what the judge would think if she brought this weird flat stuffed-bear thing with her into the courtroom for emotional support.”
Lefty smiled at that. She still had the teddy bear he’d gotten her. It was a little thing, but it meant the world to him. For the first time in months, he felt lighter.
Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for them.
“I’m looking forward to you assholes getting here to Texas. It’ll be fun to kick your ass in PT.”
“As if,” Merlin said with a snort.
Then Lefty got serious again. “Anything you need, all you have to do is ask. Keep Kinley safe for me, and I’ll be forever in your debt.”
“We will keep her safe, and I’m offended that you think you need to do a damn thing for us to do our job.”
“She’s more than a job,” Lefty countered. “She’s my entire life.”
“All the more reason for us to make sure she’s safe,” Merlin said.
Lefty heard someone say something in the background but couldn’t quite understand it.
“I need to go. The witness is hungry, and it’s my turn to go out and find us some macarons and espresso.”
“The vanilla ones are her favorite,” Lefty whispered.
“Got it. Lefty?”
“Yeah?”
“Hang in there. This will be over soon.”
“I hope so,” Lefty said. “Bye.”
“Later,” Merlin said.
He sat on the couch in shock and had a hard time wrapping his mind around what he’d just heard.
“So Jangles and his team are coming to Texas?” Trigger asked.
Lefty nodded.
“Awesome. It’ll be good to have another team we know and trust here on base with us.”
“Lefty?” Gillian asked, and he felt her hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. I think so.” And as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Lefty realized that he was okay.
He still missed Kinley like crazy and worried about her every second of every day.
But knowing the trial was finally happening, and that she had five men making sure she was safe, went a long way toward easing his mind.
Knowing where she was, and that she wasn’t alone, made him feel so much better.
“Thanks for showing me the clip,” Lefty said as he stood.
“Do you want to stay?” Gillian asked.
Lefty chuckled. It felt rusty, but good. “I’m not staying with you guys the first night we’re back from a mission.”
Gillian blushed, and Trigger merely grinned.
Lefty walked to the door, his teammate at his heels. “Thanks again for coming over to get me,” he told him.
“Of course. You really all right?”
“Surprisingly, yes. I’ve had the same nightmare every day since Kinley left. She’s in a room and crying because she’s all alone. With Merlin and his team with her now, I know she’s not alone. That sounds stupid, but…”
“It’s not stupid,” Trigger reassured him. “Hopefully she’ll be home soon. Now that Simon is dead and her testimony is done, there will be no reason for anyone to want her dead.”
“Unless Stryker is a sore loser,” Lefty said with a shrug.
“Honestly? I think he’s got enough on his plate right now.
He’d have to pay someone a pretty penny to kill her, and I’m not sure, after losing two million dollars to Simon, he’d be willing to go that route again.
Not only that, but between the divorce he’s going through and paying lawyer fees, I’m betting he doesn’t even have the money he’d need to hire someone to go after her again.
I’m not a psychic, but I’m guessing after this is over, it’s over. ”
“I hope so.”
“She’ll be back,” Trigger said confidently.
“Again, I hope so,” Lefty repeated. “I’m gonna go crash.”
“Let me know if you hear anything else,” Trigger said.
“I will. Later.”
“Later.”
Lefty headed back to his apartment, feeling a tiny bit lighter than he had when he’d left. With any luck, he’d have Kinley back in his life, and arms, soon. All he could do was wait, and hope she’d find her way home to him.