27. Jump
Chapter twenty-seven
Jump
Owen
I feel utterly fucking battered. Mentally, I’m fine, but physically, I feel like I’ve been run down by a train. Twice . I have more bruises on my left side than I care to think about. They run the length of my body after I crashed through a second-floor window to escape the explosion. I landed in a fucking brittle bush, luckily, so no broken bones. It could have been so much worse.
We were only meant to be on that job for twenty-four hours, but if there were ever an example of when shit goes wrong, it really goes wrong, then that was the last four days.
We could have never predicted what happened. It was brutal. Zan fractured his left arm after following me out the window and landing on the dirt beside me. I’m just glad he didn’t land on me; that fuckers heavy. We’ve been comparing bruises since we landed.
Harley was lucky. She was just outside of the blast reach when it went off. Dom managed to get them both under cover before Grey detonated the explosives that sent the run-down office up in flames, then crumbling in our wake. Dudes got issues, but he’s one of the best. Dom’s already had words about his timings on the flight over.
It should have been simple—in and out—but the guy we thought had been taken, well, it turns out he was behind the whole fucking thing. Him and his friends wanting some easy money. Expecting his wife to pay out, a way he could get money without breaking the prenup she had written up before they were married. These kinds of people deserve to rot in hell. They were even planning to fake the guy’s death once the money landed. All so he could go about fucking whoever he wanted.
What’s wrong with people?
As we got closer to the old warehouse, the intel we originally got changed. A local had spoken out to one of Grey’s informants. Grey went and did his thing, mingling with anyone who would tell him the local gossip, while we hung back, out of sight, and waited for more information.
Gathering the info we needed before we went in to that situation, held us back by a whole fucking day. Any delay would be unacceptable, but with the sort of information that was coming back to us, about parties, drugs, and women, instead of what should have been a hostage situation, contradicting what we initially had, there was no rescue, no risk to his life, he’d set the whole thing up. We turned our mission into recon to gather evidence against him. Going in with the wrong intel can cost you a life. Plans change, we adapt and move. It’s what we are good at.
We waited.
Apparently, the stupid fuckers thought they were on the home stretch, and got a little loose-lipped over some strong homebrew a few nights before we arrived, in the local bar, all Grey had to do was sit and listen, people love to tell a story, the locals told each other what was happening, and Grey likes to listen.
What should have been a simple extraction turned into a fight between three parties. Us, the husband and his friends, and a local gang thinking they were owed the money simply because the husband had implicated it was them who had kidnapped him. Idiots. They’d been partying hard when we walked in. The smell of stale booze, stealing the air. There were four women in nothing but their underwear, sprawled out on the old chairs and desks, enjoying the aftermath of the party the night before. In the run-down offices building. The place shut down eight years ago, abandoned, almost derelict, and stinking to high heaven.
Taking one look at us, as we entered the building, guns drawn, not even a shake in my hands, they realised we had one agenda and they scrambled.
Guns ready, we moved forward, scanning the area for life, and risk. Dom and Zan first, Me and Grey flanking behind, heading to where we knew they were held up at the back of the offices.
These guys fought dirty. When we entered the room, they came at us from all angles, fighting with whatever they had to hand. Unable to realise that it was already over, they were never going to get any money from this. We were in the way of them getting what they wanted.
The fight lasted longer than it should have. After taking down the four biggest guys, we managed to secure the rest of the room. Leaving us with six pissed off dudes, tied up and ready to roll. Dom held them, while Grey set to destroy everything when we left.
With Zan by my side, we moved throughout the building to gather anything we could to get this guy sent down. Images, phones, papers, receipts, all of it, evidence of what was going on. Harley kept watch, frequently checking in, ensuring we could get what we needed in the time we had.
When she radioed in that we had incoming unknowns, we had to act fast. Downstairs, Dom and Grey cleared the men out and into the van that was waiting on the other side of the building. Grey set the timer for the explosives while Dom ran back to get Harley.
That’s when we heard the first explosive go off. The whole second floor shook from the blast.
The gang arrived a minute later, the ones that had been implicated by the idiots now bound and hooded in the van. They wanted what was said to be theirs. Money. Listening intently as they entered the building, we both stood still, catching what was being said, not wanting them to know we were there. The instant they discovered there was and never would be any money, not for anyone involved, the firing began. They started ripping the place apart, the sound of bullets hitting any and every surface, glass shattering, wood splintering the thud of them hitting walls.
Looking to one another, shoving our bags on our backs, we ran down the hall only to be confronted by gunfire coming from the stairs, followed by voices screaming to search the place.
Scanning the hall, we both knew it was going to be a dramatic exit. Dom called east window from the radio, tracking us from his phone, sending us running full pelt towards the floor-length window at the end of the hall. Using my shoulder, I braced, smashing against the glass, feeling it shatter around me, the wind as I fell, then hitting the bush a few second later with a crash, only moving when I saw Zander, coming down after me.
Within seconds Grey appeared in the van, a cloud of dust trailing behind him. Collecting Dom and Harley on our way out, we were off, extraction and recon complete.
The only thing we had left to do was hand everything over to the local enforcements. Including the low lifes we picked up and the evidence we collected.
Telling his wife how her husband had betrayed her, and only wanted her money, was heartbreaking. Watching her place her hand over her stomach was worse than I could have ever predicted. Being pregnant with that man’s kid is lot to bear when he’s destroyed her. I hated walking away, but it’s not our place to stay and fix things. We did our job. She has the support system we now offer, something I asked Zan to put into place during our time together, for when things don’t go to plan. I just hope she takes the offer of help.
Stepping out of the pool I’ve been relaxing in for the last hour, the hot sun warms me instantly, water droplets evaporating as they trail over my skin. I love the feeling of the baking heat on my back. I put those memories into a small box to the back of my mind. I don’t need to replay what happened. We did well, considering the circumstances we were handed.
We got here this morning three days later than expected. But we are here. Dom and Harley have not come out of their villa yet, claiming they needed to sleep for a week before they did anything else. I’m sure we’ll see them for dinner later. I’ve been alone at the poolside for about an hour, and although it’s heaven, I can’t help but think it would be so much better if Charlie was by my side.
Placing my sunglasses over my eyes, I lean back on the sun lounger. As much as I want to get back to her right now, I need this break to get straight what I’m going to say without all the complications of having to work alongside it all.
“You need to come down to the beach, man.” Zan lands on the sun lounger beside me, soaking wet and covered in sand. “There’s this chick down there having a surfing lesson. Not that she needs them, she’s fucking brilliant, and the body on her is just divine.” He sounds like a puppy in heat.
“Why are you here then and not down there trying to get laid?”
“I think she’s taken. I watched the blonde bombshell for a bit on the board. Man, she was good. The way her body moved with the board was fucking amazing.” I watch him move his hands like he’s smoothing over her curves. “I think the instructor gave up and just rode the waves with her in the end. After a few minutes, I got a feeling I was being watched.” Shrugging, he carries on, “When I turned around, there was this guy giving me the evil eye like he knew what was going in my head. He was less than happy I was checking her out, so I headed back. Must have been her other half. Shame. If she was mine, I would have been out there with her, not watching from the sides.”
“At least you had the sense to step away this time.” Turning my head to look at him, he flips me the bird, then lies back on the lounger. Last time Zan got involved with someone, she neglected to tell him she was still married. Things got ugly. Zan stepped in when her other half started calling her some nasty names. But she just smiled and went back to him, leaving Zan with a black eye and a bruised ego.
“I’ll see if I can find her later and show you. She’s fucking beautiful, man. Even if she is taken, I can still appreciate a rocking bod and surf skills.”
Just thinking about Charlie in a bikini makes me realise I need to head back sooner. I don’t want to wait any longer.
Sitting up, I say, “Zan, I’m heading back before the week’s over.”
“We’ve only just got here. You can’t go yet. Grey’s already ditched us for the staff here, trying to find the hidden gems when it comes to local bars and places to visit. Don’t leave me as the third wheel in their relationship.” I laugh, knowing how hot and heavy Dom and Harley can get in public.
“You’re a dick, plus you know they love you like a son,” I tease as he is the youngest of us all. “You’ll be fine.”
“Prick. Fine, Mum and Dad can watch out for me.”
“Don’t let them hear you call them that. You’ll be dunked in that pool and held under.”
“No way. They love me too much.” He smirks, his bright white teeth shining at me.
“We’ll see. When they finally come up for air, I’ll fill them in on our little chat.”
“Funny. Don’t you fucking dare.” Dom hates being referred to as the dad of the group.
Pulling out my phone, I switch it back on after almost a week of radio silence. Listening to the notifications come in, I swipe away all the not so important ones. There are a few missed calls from Leon. I’ll call him back in a day or so when I finalise my flights. There's none from Charlie. I expected as much after her last call. Fuck, that was hard to listen to. I’ve played it a few times since. It’s not easy hearing her voice and the sadness in her words. Words that are on constant repeat in my mind.
‘I waited, Owen, I waited for you.’
She waited for me and I never came. She was still mine, after all this time. And I fucked it up royally. I left it too long. Leaning back again, I close my eyes.
‘You never got to know me; they have seen what I’m capable of.’
I can’t even express how gutted this makes me. She was right. I was too absorbed in my own mess to really get to know her. I left before I knew how we could be together. Maybe she could have helped me though this in a different way.
‘I tried not to love you, Owen. I tried so hard.’ This broke me. She loved me, and I missed out on Charlie whispering those sweet words to me. Now she’s trying to get over me; a relationship that was never really there to start with.
‘I kept my promise to you, no matter what. But I’m not sure I can be yours anymore.’ Even if she’s not mine, I’ll always be hers. I made my own silent promise to Charlie as I placed the necklace around her neck. No matter what, I will always be yours, heart and soul. There is no one else for me .
I’m coming home to beg, plead, and do anything I can to get her to be with me, to allow me to be part of her life.