Ghosts
Travis
“I’ll pound your face in if you keep looking at my wife that way.” Creed warned Patrick, and I choked on my beer.
“Dude, she’s my fucking sister!” Patrick gave him a disgusted look.
“I know, that’s the problem, you sick bastard!” Creed was laughing almost too hard to get the words out, but I was about to piss myself. Magnus stopped taking in air because he was laughing too hard.
“That was top secret family business, dammit! And she wasn’t my sister, asshole!” Patrick was fuming.
“Sister, cousin, does it really matter? It’s fucked up no matter how you look at it.” Creed continued to poke the bear.
We were at a welcome home party in the banquet room. It was a bit too cold to have it at the lake. Units F and J just returned from a mission in South America.
“If I didn’t respect you so much I’d have your ass for that shit. You suck ass though, I went from being teased about her boobs to now that stupid family reunion shit. My sister is such a bitch sometimes.” Patrick threw back his beer.
“Your sister is amazing.” Creed loved his wife more than anything in this world. “Oh, and yes, they’re real.”
“Fuck you, Creed!” Patrick took a swig of his beer. “Oh yeah? Amazing, huh? Check her out now, she’s coming this way.” Patrick pointed his beer toward her, and we all turned to see her walking toward us with Melissa. Morgan was gorgeous, but as unbelievable as it was, she was even more gorgeous pregnant with twins. Maybe it was because we all loved her and Creed like family, or it was because she actually did glow.
“You just wait until these babies come. Then we can have a real race.” She said to Melissa.
“Just walk and quit complaining.” Melissa rolled her eyes.
“You’re the one bitching because I can’t keep up with you! Have you not seen my waddle?” Morgan said and I was already laughing.
“Do you know what I see when I look straight at you?” Melissa asked just as they stopped next to our table and Morgan was acting like she was out of breath. Creed stood and pecked her cheek before he sat back down.
“A nice set of boobs? They’re real you know.” Morgan bragged then winked at Patrick. “I heard it was Rossi night at the firehouse.”
“Screw you, fatass!” Patrick growled.
Melissa was trying not to laugh. “Your coochie, Morgan! Literally, I see your crotch, so stop complaining that I walk too fast. You almost tripped over me the other day! You can’t even see me over that belly of yours, and that means my legs are shorter than yours.”
It was my turn to laugh so hard it hurt.
Morgan opened her mouth to say something, but Melissa spoke over her. “No! Don’t you dare bring up the other day. That is not in my job description. That’s Creed’s job, not mine. You can be such a bitch, I’m not shaving you!”
Morgan’s face turned red, and her jaw dropped. “You’re such a little asshole!”
Creed was holding his stomach laughing, then Melissa looked at Drakos. “You better shut up too! Don’t you even start on me about convenience and my height being at my own advantage. I am not one of Felicity’s girls!”
I was falling out of my chair, and Creed was holding on to Morgan’s arm for support as he laughed too hard to make any noise. I never saw his face so red in my life.
Melissa looked at Patrick. “No! I don’t care about tips, you fucking freak. I’m not giving you and all these other assholes a pole dance! I’m also allergic to latex, so lay off! And yes, an average dick does fit, you prick.”
A few months ago, Patrick got drunk and told a story about fucking a girl with a condom and she swelled up so much they were dog tied. He said the trip to the medicine cabinet for a Benadryl was interesting.
Patrick was still laughing.
Morgan narrowed her eyes on Patrick. “Why are you so happy? You act like we’re at a family reunion or something.”
That was when Melissa almost fell over laughing.
“At least I’m not mom and dad’s teen crisis!” Patrick was obviously annoyed.
“Patrick! You’re such an idiot! You’re my Irish twin, good lord you’re the real crisis that made their problem twice as bad!”
“Dude, your mom is allergic to latex!” Drakos bellowed out and we all laughed.
“Fuck you, Drakos!” Patrick was getting pissed.
Suddenly, Melissa gagged, and we all looked at her before her little legs took off and she ran behind Patrick for cover.
“Oh god! Fuck you, Morgan!” Magnus stood and jumped back about five feet, and all hell broke loose at our table. Chairs scraped the floor as they were pushed back, and one fell over.
“I’m blind!”
“I can taste it!”
“It’s like oil!” Gag noise. “It’s sticks to me like fucking oil, and I can never get rid of it. I think it sticks to my clothes.”
Morgan smiled with satisfaction as she took a seat. “I thought none of you were going to offer me your seat.”
We were all standing with our t-shirts pulled up over our noses, except Creed. He shrugged. “I’ve become immune, that shit happens all night long now. One minute you’re having a good dream and the next you’re in a nightmare, except you already woke up. Look, I don’t even cry anymore.” He pointed at his eyes. “The doctor said it should subside after she gives birth.”
“Her doctor is a fucking liar! I get it when it’s still fresh and she uses it to her advantage all the time!” Melissa gagged again. “You never do it to Addie, you save all your best ones for me.” Melissa’s eyes began watering.
“Somebody pull the fire alarm!” Someone else gagged.
“Oh, quit being such babies or I’ll have Addie kick all your asses.” Morgan rolled her eyes as she popped a pretzel in her mouth.
“I’m out, there’s no way in hell I’m sticking around for anymore Rossi bombs. I’ll see all of you in the morning.” I was tired and just wanted a quiet night.
“You’re just jealous of my pregnancy super powers.” Morgan popped another pretzel in her mouth. “I bet your missions would end faster if you took me with you.” She spoke with a pretzel in her mouth.
I rolled my eyes. “When we go on a rescue that means gaining the victims trust. It’s kind of important. Nothing breaks trust faster than one of those damn Rossi bombs.” I looked at Melissa. “Don’t put up with any of their bullshit, and keep Morgan in line.”
Melissa smiled. “Always do.”
I turned and walked toward the exit. Both those women were two of the good ones. Neither of them had problems making friends at Creed’s Lake and they were loyal to us. That mattered more than anything. When I walked outside my eyes landed on my bike and I took in a breath of fresh air. It was once my Uncle Tony’s Fat Boy, and it has always been my prized possession. Thinking of him brought back one of my worst memories though.
Fifteen Years Ago
I woke in a hospital bed and had no idea what happened to land me there. I opened my eyes, and like usual I was alone. My eyes shut again when I realized I was in pain. My head was pounding and my ribs hurt. Slowly I started to remember what happened the night prior.
I remembered being at a party, but I was pissed off at the world. It started with a few beers, then I smoked a fat one with a few of the seniors. Then I remembered doing shots with the same guys. Everything seemed like a blur after that point. Then a face came into my memory. It was a freshman like me, a girl named Shelby. She was cute, but I just remember she took a pill from someone then gave me one. After that I was laughing a lot, then someone mentioned Uncle Tony.
I tried to open my eyes again, but the pain was too much. I pulled the hospital sheets over my head then there were flashes of me getting pissed off, finding a set of keys, pushing the unlock button and a car flashed its parking lights. I got in but wasn’t alone, Shelby got in the car with me.
After that came nothing else. I couldn’t remember what happened. Fuck, why couldn’t I remember what happened?
I laid under those sheets until I remembered something else, and a shocking pain shot through my chest. Uncle Tony, the funeral…shit!
Present Day
I pulled into my garage then shut off the engine. I was thankful for my place. Although, we typically referred to our home as rustic cabins, they were far from rustic. I put down the kickstand then shut off the gas before swinging my leg around and standing. I hit the button to shut the garage door, then stepped inside my house. The first room when coming from the garage was my laundry room, then I stepped in the kitchen and put my keys in the bowl. I then placed my wallet next to the bowl and went toward the steps. We had several plans to choose from when we built our log homes. I chose a two story home that was about three thousand square feet. It had cathedral ceilings in the living room and the main focus was the stone fireplace. There was a bedroom downstairs on the other side of the living room, a dining room behind the stairway that led to a loft area with a bedroom at each end. My place was nice, but nothing compared to Creed’s. His place was where we all lived as our homes and other buildings were under construction. All of the Originals had houses on the lake with docks, but the operatives lived in subdivided streets organized by their units.
Some homes in the subdivided areas were family homes, some were duplex style for the single junior operatives, and there were also smaller one bedroom homes for single operatives in command of their units. Over by the community center was an apartment building for our undercover operatives that were gone most of the time, and they were also for guests that needed short term housing. There were also a few bedrooms at the community center but that was a whole other story.
I went straight upstairs to the master bedroom and took a shower. I was beat because the returning units were mine and I was in the command center for almost twenty four hours.
The next day, we had our usual meeting with all the Originals. Since Creed developed a domestic violence program, we needed more operatives. We also needed people with investigative skills for our private investigator division. Creed felt we needed to add more to the MC for our cover. The motorcycle shop wasn't quite enough to explain why there was such a private community in the area. We had aircrafts going in and out and a few people in the counties around us learned of our bunkers. That meant more domestic businesses to hide our international affairs.
Creed’s Lake never accepted an application from higher ranking operatives. We only hired upon invitation, and we were in the research stage of our hiring process. The military and government had been working with us since the beginning, so when members of the armed forces separated, we would get a print out of who would be a good fit for us. We would research each name then come together and discuss the ones that might be worth looking into a little further. At times we were sent discharging special ops to become prospects, but what we really needed were operatives that we would bring in at a higher rank. People to command missions and take roles as vice presidents. That was what our meeting was about on this particular day.
Bolton and I got to look at the Navy Seals and the Air Force Special Warfare. Creed and Drakos did the Marine Raiders, Magnus and Jenson were assigned to the Green Berets and Delta Force. Since Axton was taking a bigger role as our Senior Executive VP and Creed gave him more responsibility because the twins were coming, he got to look at Space Force squadrons to work in our command center. It didn’t take up as much time for him. The program was pretty new and not as many were separating at the same rate as the other special op teams.
It was going to be a long meeting and would probably take up most of our day. Their photos showed on the big screen as we went over their accolades. That wouldn’t stop us from our lunch ride though. We always got on our bikes and invited a few operatives to ride with us to have lunch at Mrs. Hoffman’s general store in Cold Springs.
One of our main focuses was to bring on more female operatives. We only had a handful, and they would be especially useful for our domestic violence program. The problem we had was that there already were many even in special forces, but then their desires to settle down and have families were also a problem. We got turned down more than anything. That was why we decided to work with federal agencies for veterans working in law enforcement. We would look at members of the Secret Service, FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, and the CIA.
Axton only had one candidate, and she looked promising, but she wouldn’t work outside the command center. We decided to look into her past and possibly move her on to the next stage. Then it was Magnus that presented Delta Force candidates. He only had one woman and two men. The woman was pregnant when she separated but we would still look into her further. She looked promising. Then only one of the men would move forward. He had a lot of the skills we needed. Drakos moved on with four Green Berets, but they were all men, and we moved two into the pile for further research.
We broke for lunch and took a few operatives with us on our daily ride. I left Tony’s bike at home and was on my custom bike I built at the shop. After one of our prospects crashed his bike, we all decided to ride with helmets. We all got on our bikes and put on the helmets before we left.
Cold Springs was a lot different than my hometown. Where I grew up we weren’t far from Tulsa, so we had more stores and a few restaurants. Cold Springs didn’t even have a gas station. It was just a church, a bar, a general store, and a VFW hall.
I missed my small hometown on some days, and on others I hated it. That was why I never went back after the day Clint handed over the keys to Uncle Tony’s house and bike. He left everything to me, and it was handed over on my eighteenth birthday. Thinking of those days reminded me of one of the worst days of my life.
Fifteen Years Ago
I would never forget the way Wrenly looked at me that day. It had been a few days since my accident and Uncle Tony’s funeral. Wrenly was standing in the corner of the hospital room when I was read my rights. Clint was pacing outside the room and of course my parents weren’t around. They got another tip on Bobby through their hotline and took off right away for Oklahoma City.
I was being arrested for a laundry list of charges. Auto theft, driving without a license, driving under the influence, and the biggest was a class 2 felony because someone was injured by my actions. I was also charged with a minor consumption but that was the least of my worries. My parents were done with me and said to let the law do its job. They knew Shelby’s parents would probably file a lawsuit and they were pissed.
I was sitting in a wheelchair as I was being handcuffed and Wrenly was sobbing in the corner. I couldn’t even look at her, and I think that was the worst I ever felt in my life. Shelby was going to be okay, but she had a lot of internal bleeding and crushed bones. I didn’t think I could ever forgive myself for hurting either of those girls.
Since my grandparents sided with my parents they were also no help, but Clint hired me an attorney that I met with before I was even arrested.
To this day, I’ll never forget the way Wrenly looked at me and the sound of her cries. I cared more about that than anything that would happen to me. I was better off in jail, that way I couldn’t hurt her or anyone else again. What I did wasn’t just dumb, it could have killed people. I didn’t deserve to walk free as long as I destroyed Shelby’s life.
After that day, I fell into the deepest pit of depression. I didn’t feel sorry for myself, I felt sorry for Bobby, Clint, and Shelby. I hated that I hurt Wrenly, and I didn’t have many feelings toward my parents. They stopped caring about me the day Bobby disappeared.
I also never treated Wrenly the way she deserved. I could never get her to understand why I couldn’t spend more time with her. She hung out with the most popular and smartest kids in our school. She had a bright future where I had no future at all.
The first time I hurt her was when I promised to take her to a dance when we got to high school, but I was trying to grow up too fast and got involved with an older girl. I stood Wrenly up and took the other girl instead. I tried to tell her that we weren’t the same kind of people, and she should go with someone else. She refused and said she would be waiting for me to walk over to her house and escort her.
She didn’t get it. My friends were the fuck ups, and hers were the shining stars. Going to a dance with me would have just ruined her reputation. Hell, she was a virgin, and I already fucked two older girls before I was even fifteen.
Clint visited me as much as he could at the juvenile detention center. I went on trial where I was found guilty and had to serve two years. Shelby’s parents sued mine and my parents lost our house. My dad ended up losing his job because he missed so much work and my parents divorced.
Dad became an alcoholic, and my mom married the detective on my brother’s case. At least that’s what I was told since they never visited me one time, never wrote one letter, and didn’t even acknowledge my existence after they emancipated me while I was in custody. From what I understand, they no longer wanted to be responsible for my behavior. When I was finally released at sixteen, I was sent to a group home while in custody of the state, and never went back to see Wrenly. That detention center and the group home provided more stability than I ever knew, and I was able to receive intensive therapy and realized my true abilities. I was smart, like really smart, and finished high school a year early. I left Oklahoma for Nebraska where I was given a job on a farm, and I worked there until I was eighteen and joined the Army.