Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
GABE
I let out a long breath and slowly opened my eyes. My therapist, Teresa, was a tiny woman in her mid-fifties with long steel-gray hair pulled back in a neat braid. Intelligent blue eyes sparkled behind pink-framed glasses. She smiled at me. “You’ve come a long way, Gabe. It used to take you a lot longer to come here when you were feeling triggered.”
I rolled my shoulders and stretched my back. “Yeah, well, nightmares suck, and the EMDR helps.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What might also help is you not going into triggering situations.”
I blew out a breath. “You know that’s not going to happen. I’ll take the nightmares if I can save even just one kid.”
Her smile was sad when she replied, “I know. The work you do is invaluable. But it takes such a toll on you.”
“It’s what I do. It’s what we do. It matters. We got twelve kids away from traffickers. I’ll keep doing it until I can’t move anymore, or I’m dead.”
She shook her head. “Let’s hope it’s a very long time before either of those things happen.” She rose from the overstuffed armchair she curled up in during our sessions. I thought it was cute how she would tuck her feet under her because her legs were too short for her feet to reach the floor. “I’d like you to come back next week just to make sure the processing took.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
I made an appointment for the following week, and she walked me to the door. “I’ll see you next week, Gabe.”
“Yep.” I smiled down at her. “Can I get one of your world-famous hugs?”
She huffed a laugh. “Of course.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed tight. “Take care of yourself.”
I hugged her back gently. I didn’t want to break her. “I’ll do my best.”
Outside her office, I took a deep breath of the crisp fall air. It was a good day for riding my Harley. I pulled out my phone and called Marco.
“Hey, Gabe. What’s up?”
“Wanna get on the bikes and ride for a bit?”
“Sure. But we can’t go too far,” he added. “Zach asked us to stop over. Nico wants to talk about our search for Scott Bradley.”
I frowned. “How does Nico know we’re looking for him?”
“Zach told him,” Marco replied. “They went to visit Allie’s grave today. Zach said it was rough listening to Nico blame himself for Allie getting killed. He may have also told him about the video the cops got off the apartment complex security camera.”
I winced. “Well, shit. We’ll need to remind Nico that he just got out of prison and has a son who needs him.”
“Yeah, I know,” Marco replied. “So how about I meet you at your place in fifteen minutes, and we’ll head south for a little bit?”
“Sounds good.”
After a brief pause, Marco asked, “How did your appointment go?”
My stomach twisted. Marco didn’t know everything that had happened after he separated from the SEALs. I wasn’t sure I could ever tell him what I did. “It was good. Teresa got me back on track.”
“Good.” I heard him pick up his keys. “You know you can talk to me if you ever need to.”
“I know,” I replied. “See you in fifteen.”
I ended the call and got in my car. The drive to my house wasn’t far, so I had my leather jacket on and was pulling my bike out of the garage when Marco pulled up on his Harley. I put on my helmet and gestured at the road. “Lead the way.”
Marco got the hint that I didn’t want to talk, so we took off. We drove the hour to Long Beach Island and over to the Barnegat Lighthouse at its northern end. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse and stood looking out over the ocean we both loved. I closed my eyes and let the sea breeze wash over me, bringing with it the smell of salt and the call of the gulls.
“Sometimes I miss it,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, I hear you,” I replied.
“Do you ever feel like you made a mistake leaving?”
I shook my head. “Nah. It was time for me. I’m happy with the work we do now. It might be a smaller scale, but it still has a big impact.”
Marco smirked. “And every once in a while, you get to meet someone famous.”
I shrugged. “Meh. They’re usually more trouble than they’re worth.”
“Too true.”
I checked the time on my phone. Almost five o’clock. “What time did you say we’d be at Zach’s place?”
“Between six and six-thirty. I guess we should head back.”
As we walked down the winding staircase inside the lighthouse, I asked, “Speaking of meeting famous people, what time do we have to be at that gala in New York tomorrow?”
“Tony wants us there by four to do a security check,” he replied.
“Sounds good. Want to ride in together?”
“Sure. I’ll pick you up around two-thirty.”
Since it was so late, we went straight to Zach and Miguel’s place instead of going to get our respective cars. Marco called Liam and asked him to meet us there. I had to admit, I was curious about Nico. From everything I’d heard, he was a good guy who’d trusted the wrong people. Zach said Nico had been looking forward to being a dad. I was curious as to how he was doing when faced with the reality of being a father.
I remembered the picture of Nico Cody carried around with him after Allie was killed. Nico had looked young and carefree then. I wondered how much he had changed after being in prison for four years. Would he be able to be a good father to that precious little boy? I guessed we’d all find out soon enough.
Liam stood outside the apartment building waiting for us when we pulled up on our bikes. After we parked and secured our helmets, Marco went over, put his arms around his man, and kissed him. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey, hot stuff,” Liam replied.
“Why didn’t you just go up?” Marco asked.
Liam leaned into Marco, snuggling like a cat. “I heard your bikes coming. I figured I’d wait, and we could all go up together.”
“All right then. Let’s go.” I headed up the stairs to the double doors that led into the building with Marco behind me, grumbling about climbing more goddamn stairs.
Zach opened the door to his apartment, grinning widely. “Hey, thanks for coming by. I appreciate it. Nico will too.”
I took a deep breath. “I smell Mexican spices.”
Zach opened the door wider. “Yeah. Miguel is making tacos and fajitas.”
“Yes!” I hissed. “I hope he’s making a lot.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Of course. He knew he’d be feeding a couple of man-mountains.”
When we walked into the apartment, we were greeted with the sound of Cody’s high-pitched giggles and someone making growly monster noises. “I got you, Daddy!”
“Oh no!” Nico cried out in exaggerated dismay.
Zach chuckled and shook his head. “Cody’s been all hyped up since he got home from preschool. Nico is trying to wear him out.”
Miguel came out of the kitchen. “Hey, guys. Thanks for coming.”
“It’s no problem,” Marco said.
We continued to the living room to find Nico on his back with Cody sprawled on top of him, still giggling because Nico was lightly tickling his ribs. I almost wanted to back out of the room to give the two of them more alone time, but Cody spotted us.
“Mr. Gabe! Mr. Marco!”
Nico whipped his head around from his position on the floor, and his eyes widened. He gently set Cody on his feet and sat up. Cody ran to me, his eyes bright with happiness. “Mr. Gabe! My daddy’s here!”
I smiled down at him. “I see that.”
Nico rose and stood uncertainly in the middle of the living room, and I was able to get my first good look at the man. Gone was the bright and carefree smile. This version of Nico was wary and distant. He was also jacked and heavily tattooed, two things he hadn’t been in his picture. Along with the military-short haircut and the visible scars on his face, arms, and hands, he looked hard and dangerous at first glance.
Zach stepped into the room. “Nico, this is Gabe, Marco, and Liam.”
Nico stepped closer and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Cody talks about you all the time.”
We each shook his hand?. “It’s good to see you out. We want the bad guys in prison, not the good guys,” I said.
Nico looked taken aback by my statement. “Thanks,” he said gruffly. “I’m not sure how much of a good guy I am though.”
“You are so good, Daddy,” Cody chided. “Stop being mean to yourself.”
We all laughed, and Nico smiled fondly at his son. “All right, little man. I’ll try to be nicer to myself.”
Miguel popped his head in. “Food’s ready. Why don’t we bring our plates out here where there’s more room?” His eyes widened, and he looked over at Nico. “If that’s okay with you.”
Nico shrugged, his expression carefully neutral. “Sure. It’s your living room.”
I watched as Nico’s body tensed and he withdrew into himself. My eyes slid over to Marco, whose lips were compressed to a thin line. He’d noticed as well.
I felt like I should say something, but what would I say? Nico didn’t know me, and he’d probably think it was weird for a complete stranger to stand up for him. Marco and I both knew what it was like to not have any sense of privacy. But we’d chosen that life and accepted the lack of privacy as part of being a Navy SEAL. Nico hadn’t had a choice for the last four years, and even now, he didn’t really have many choices until he could get a job.
Dinner was full of lighthearted, meaningless chatter. None of us wanted to bring up the search for Scott Bradley while Cody was in the room. I noticed Nico glancing over at me now and then, but he quickly looked away when I clocked it. I wondered what that was about.
Like most little kids, Cody went from a hundred to zero in the space of five minutes. Nico carried him out to put him to bed while the rest of us cleaned up the dinner dishes. By the time Nico returned, the living room was clean and tidy, and we all had a beer in hand. He took the one Zach offered him with a small smile and a nod of thanks and sat in the remaining armchair.
Marco and I shared a look, and he indicated I should take the lead in the conversation. I met Nico’s gaze. “Zach said you wanted to know where we were in our search for Scott Bradley.”
He nodded. “Yeah. How did that fucker get away with murder like that? Zach said he’s out of the country. How did that even happen?”
“He ditched his car, and his parents got him on a plane that night,” Marco said. “Even with us feeding information to the local police, there’s not a lot they can do when he’s in a country with no extradition treaty with the US.”
“So he’s probably in Cuba,” Nico said.
My brows rose in surprise. Marco looked intrigued. “That’s our guess. The glimpses we get indicate a tropical place. It could be Nicaragua, but Cuba’s easier to get to.” I met his gaze. “Not too many people know we don’t have an extradition treaty with Cuba.”
He shrugged. “I read a lot. Wasn’t much else to do in prison.”
Except get jacked, I thought. I’d found myself, more than once, staring at Nico when he wasn’t looking. I guessed it was fair if he was going to stare at me. When I caught him the next time, he pointed at the bone frog tattoo on my left bicep. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
And he knew what a bone frog tattoo meant. “Thank you,” I replied. “How did you know what it meant?”
“One of the guys in prison with me was an ex-Navy SEAL. He was in for beating the shit out of the guy who raped his thirteen-year-old sister.”
“The fuck you say?” Marco barked.
“The guy’s lucky the brother didn’t kill him,” I added.
“Put him in a wheelchair for life,” Nico said.
“Good,” Marco and I growled.
I clenched my fists. “He shouldn’t even be in prison. They should’ve given him a goddamn medal.”
“A lot of us thought the same way,” Nico replied. “He’s a good guy. He helped me out when I was in there.” He paused, a haunted look flitting over his face. “I might not have made it without him.”
Marco pulled out his phone. “What’s his name?”
Nico frowned in confusion. “Paul Mitchelson. Why?”
“I’m going to have Tino look into his case.” He tapped furiously on his phone, no doubt sending a drop everything text to his older brother.
Zach cleared his throat. “I don’t want to be an asshole, but can we get back to figuring out how to get Scott back here so he can go to prison?”
Marco hit send and tucked his phone away. “Sorry, Zach.”
Zach waved him off. “I get it. You want to help a brother.”
“Is there anything I can do to help with bringing Scott back?” Nico asked.
Marco let out a soft breath. “At the moment, no. Since you’re still technically on parole, even though you shouldn’t be, you’d get in serious trouble if you got caught helping us arrange to get Scott’s sorry ass back to New Jersey. Anything we do is going to be questionable, at best. You have a son who needs you here. I don’t think you want to risk that.”
Nico shifted restlessly in his seat. “I don’t. But I also don’t want that piece of shit to get away with killing my son’s mother.”
I leaned forward and looked right into his eyes. “We will find him and bring him back.”