Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
OFF-THE-GRID LOCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA - ONE WEEK LATER
“Falcon Falls,” Griffin said with a shrug. “How about that? It’s not like we’re going to be listed in the White Pages, but?—”
“Are phone books still a thing?” Oliver cut him off, petting Dallas sitting next to him on the couch at headquarters.
“I think so.” Griffin honestly didn’t know.
“Falcon Falls Security.” Gray turned away from the screen at his desk to look at everyone. “I vote yes.”
“Why that name?” Carter asked after calling his dog over to him. Dallas obediently leaped off the couch and rushed through the room to get to his master.
“All the waterfalls outside. And I saw a falcon on the way in this morning. I don’t know. It popped into my head.”
“Falcons represent freedom and success, right?” Oliver spoke up.
“Like I would know.” Jack laughed and peered at Griffin. “But mythology boy over here might.”
“Mythology boy, huh?” Griffin tipped his head and positioned his arms across his chest, wondering if Jack wanted to go hit the gym for a little hand-to-hand combat training. The “beef” was gone between them, but they’d kept up with the friendly jabs here and there. And he may have preferred it like that. Kept things interesting.
Jack had also seemed to be trying hard to distract Griffin since they’d left Savanna in New Orleans. They’d been training together and even had drinks at the bar a couple of times.
“I say yes,” their new teammate piped up. “Falcon Falls.” Jesse set his palms on the table in front of him. He’d been cleaning their rifles—new guy grunt work.
After only four days with the team, Griffin wasn’t all that surprised Carter had brought Jesse in. Though he felt bad Savanna would be down one friend back in Alabama, especially one who’d always kept an eye on her.
At some point, we probably should tell Jesse we know his sister.
“All in favor?” Gray called out and was immediately answered with a chorus of ayes. “Then it’s settled.”
“Go make the business cards, then,” Jack teased while joining Jesse. He hooked an arm over his shoulder. “You sure you want to be with us instead of Ella? From what I hear?—”
“There’s nothing between us,” Jesse hissed a bit more defiantly than Griffin would have expected, and Jack felt the heat and pulled his arm free.
“Ah. You’re a runner. Well, if shooting people helps you sleep better at night while abandoning a woman as beautiful as her, then so be it.” Jack shifted out of the way as if expecting a punch to the chin any minute, but Jesse didn’t react.
Aside from the clenched jaw muscles, he’d barely flinched at Jack’s poor attempt at humor this time. Griffin was certain he’d read Jesse right, though. The man was running from Ella, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Griffin was well aware of the reason he’d not yet returned for the “talk” he owed Savanna, but he had no plans on running from her. It was only a matter of when he’d hunt her down and take her into his arms. He just needed to get his head on straight and make sure he could truly be the man she deserved, and for that to happen, there was something he had to do first. But it’d take a lot for him to suck it up and actually do it.
She’s worth it. God, she’s more than worth it.
He’d been away from Savanna longer than they’d been together, and yet, somehow, his feelings for her had grown stronger in their time apart.
“Anyone else find it cathartic to check shit off a list?” Jack asked as he walked over to the whiteboard on the wall, obviously looking to change the foul mood he’d caused New Guy at the mention of Ella.
“What are you doing?” Oliver asked with a shake of his head. “Are you really listing all the bad guys we took down on that last case just so you can cross them off?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Jack shot back in a good-humored tone. “Everyone from the engineer insider to the terrorist buyer.”
“Basic bad guys?” Oliver read one of the lines as Jack wrote it and laughed.
“That’s what Sydney called the assholes who hunted her down in the swamp,” Jack casually tossed out. Griffin was relieved that Joe’s name didn’t need to be on that list. Nick’s either, for that matter. “Not bad for our first mission together.”
“Yeah, but don’t you think you could’ve used a woman’s touch?”
Gray went dead still at the soft voice floating into the large space, and Griffin turned to find Sydney Archer at the entranceway of the tunnel. “How in the hell did you find us?”
Sydney had on black jeans with a rip in one knee, paired with a gray Army sweatshirt and black kicks. Her hair was in a high ponytail that swung side to side as she strutted into the room like she owned the place.
Dallas began barking, but Carter ordered him to stand down.
“Not a bad setup you’ve got here,” Sydney commented, ignoring their “how’d she find them” question while looking around the space. “Batman vibes, but it’ll work.”
Jesse set down the rifle he’d been holding, and Griffin strode up alongside him to witness whatever was about to take place with Gray cutting across the room to get to her first.
“I quit my job,” she said to Griffin’s surprise. “My heart was never in it anyway, so I’m looking for work. I happen to be one of the best trackers on the planet, and my skills have been underutilized for years.” She was so calm and casual. Confident and headstrong.
“Yup, she’ll fit right in,” Griffin said with a firm nod.
“Toss in her billions, with Carter’s endless supply of cash, and we can actually get ourselves one of those Batman symbols installed to shoot into the air when we’re needed, except ours will be a falcon,” Jack joked.
“You seriously want to give up your job and work in private security?” Gray now faced her, hands on his hips. This should be interesting.
“I saw what you all did. I want to be part of it. And come on, it’s more than security work,” she returned in a bit gentler tone this time.
“What happened to Joe and his men?” Oliver asked when Gray and Sydney seemed to be playing a game of chicken to see who’d blink first.
“They weren’t arrested because, from what we can tell, they really did believe they were going after a threat. And after the incident with Griffin, Joe began asking questions about the mission. I’m pretty sure he would’ve been targeted next because of that and for what he knew had we not handled this when we did.” Sydney paused for a second. “But he still lost his job and security clearance for putting the company over national security.” Sydney pointed her attention to Oliver now. “I think Gray’s dad was happy to sweep this whole thing under the rug since the crisis was averted, and Elysium didn’t end up in the wrong hands.”
“Thanks to you,” Gray quickly replied, clearly impressed with this woman.
“Word is you and Carter are in charge over here, so, what do you say?” she asked, looking back and forth between Gray and Carter.
Gray peered at Carter, who nodded his yes. “Okay, then,” Gray said on an exhale. “You’re in. You still using the same call sign?”
Sydney smiled. “Damn right I am.”
“What is it?” Griffin asked.
“Juliet.”
Jack busted out laughing as he resumed writing shit on the whiteboard. “Well, this should be fun. Romeo and Juliet,” he said with a chuckle.
“Welcome to the team,” Griffin said.
The Romeo and Juliet reference had him realizing it was about time he man up and go after Savanna. No more waiting until his head was on straight or the stars aligned or whatever other bullshit he kept telling himself. If he wanted a happily-ever-after, then he’d better get to it. He looked over at Carter and announced, “I’m taking a vacation.”
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - ONE DAY LATER
Griffin’s pulse climbed with every step up the front porch of the big Southern home that sat regally on the several acres of property. There were horses in the pasture and green rolling hills in the distance. His mother’s home was like the setting for a movie. Picture perfect , she’d told him over the phone after moving there with her new husband years ago.
Now that he was there for the first time, he’d have to agree. And Savanna would love it.
Griffin wiped his sweaty palms on his jeaned thighs as he stood before the double doors of her home, trying to find the courage to face her after all the missed holidays and family events she’d begged him to come to over the years.
He drew up an image of Savanna in his mind, finding the strength to go through with this conversation for her. For them. And then he rang the bell.
The door opened a minute later, and his mom took a step back in surprise.
“You didn’t check your security cameras first, I take it?” He lightly shook his head. “Didn’t I teach you anything?”
His mom erased the gap between them and threw her arms over his shoulders, startling him with a hug. One he hadn’t known he’d missed so much.
“What are you doing here?” she asked after finally releasing him with one more squeeze.
He tipped his head toward the porch swing. “Can we talk outside?”
She looked behind her as if searching for her husband, then nodded and shut the door, stepping out onto the big, wraparound porch with him.
His mom motioned for him to have a seat on the porch swing, then sat next to him. Buying himself some time to summon the strength to speak, Griffin pushed the swing into motion using his booted feet. “I met someone,” he finally confessed. “She’s stubborn, smart, and sassy. So damn beautiful it hurts to look at her sometimes. But she’s a little like?—”
“Me,” she finished for him, her voice tight with what he could only interpret as pain.
He side-eyed her and nodded. “Loves your books too.”
“Clearly smart, then.” She lifted a hand, and it was then he spied her wedding ring. It was a punch to the stomach, but it’d been years now, and he needed to get a grip. Focus on the . . . well, the mission. To find a way forward so he could be with Savanna and not weigh her down with his own fucking shit that she didn’t deserve. If she’d still have him, that was. “Sorry, bad joke.” She looked to the rolling hills in the distance. “You’re scared she’ll be like me in the way I hurt your father,” she said softly.
He took a moment to truly look at his mom while her focus was elsewhere. Her black hair was in a loose bun at the top of her head, and he’d just noticed the pencil sticking out of it. Typical of her. Her skin wasn’t quite weathered as one would expect for a woman in her sixties who loved the outdoors, but she had laugh lines around her mouth and eyes. His mom was happy, and that was something.
When she looked back at him, her dark eyes mirrors of his own, he swallowed hard. The expression on her face was soft and understanding rather than one of regret like he’d expected. “I will always love your father. Always,” she said while reaching for his hand, and he surprisingly gave it to her. “But my heart somehow split into two, and I think I always loved Tony even before I met your father, but the timing had never been right for us. And then your father and I were together so long, and we had you . . .” She shook her head. “There’s no excuse for cheating. I should have left your father before anything happened with Tony.”
“You don’t wish you never?—”
“I can’t explain the ways of the heart,” she interrupted as if knowing where he was going with his question. “But I knew I couldn’t stay married to your father if half my heart belonged to someone else. And I know that’s not fair or the answer you’re looking for, but I don’t want you spending your life single because of me. Because you’re worried that one day your woman’s heart will split for someone else too.”
“It’s already split for someone else,” he found himself mumbling. “But that other someone died.”
His mom squeezed his hand tighter, and why did he feel sixteen again back in that garage punching the walls as pain flooded his system? Why did he feel so out of control of his emotions right now?
“Savanna’s the most forgiving woman I’ve ever met,” he added around that lump in his throat. “She deserves someone who can trust her. Someone who can, um, forgive others too.” He nearly choked on his words this time, emotion constricting his chest. “The only way I can be worthy of her is to be able to . . . forgive you.”
“Can you do that?” his mom cried, tears gliding down her face as she held tightly on to his hand.
He closed his eyes and was struck by the ridiculous notion that here he was, a thirty-nine-year-old man, a war veteran, someone who put himself in danger to save others even now as a special operator . . . and he was crying on his mom’s front porch. “I want to. I really do.”
“You must really care about this woman to be here, then,” she whispered while sniffling.
Griffin forced his eyes open to peer at his mom. “I do.”
She brushed away tears with her free hand, then lifted their clasped palms into the air. “Then how about we start with dinner and go from there?”