Chapter 26 #2
He might have been a scary motherfucker scout sniper in the Marines, but he instantly folded to an old lady’s orders.
Watching the group, I could tell Duke knew something and was holding back. When he got up from the table after his second helping of pancakes, I motioned for him to meet me in the living room.
He shook his head and pointed at the stove, as if he was in line for another helping.
Walking past him, I whispered a SEAL motto he couldn’t ignore. “The only easy day was yesterday.”
He snorted and nodded. “Yeah.”
I was relieved when the SEAL brotherhood bond between us got him to follow me into the other room. “What do you know about this gathering?” I asked.
Duke shrugged. “I guess Lucas is going to tell us.”
I pivoted to my best guess. “Is Pete joining us?”
He sighed and looked around. “I dunno. I agree, though, that Pete seems listless to me, and I mentioned it to Lucas. He needs something to engage him.”
We both knew how coming back from a deployment could do a number on your psyche, and Pete had also been held hostage by some of the worst people on the planet.
“So Pete is the announcement?”
Duke didn’t say anything.
That was neither an agreement that Pete was joining us nor a denial. “Isn’t he still active duty?”
Duke nodded. “But on account of his experience…”
Experience was such a pussy word for what Pete had been through.
Duke paused when Peyton poked her head around the corner. I waved her away, and she left us.
Duke continued. “He’s got a twelve-month leave, psyche evals, and all that shit. He can’t just sit around and stew. You know what that’s like.”
I did. In some ways, it had hurt more than it had helped after my incident. Two good men had lost their lives. For a long time, I hadn’t been able to get their screams out of my head.
Duke glanced at the doorway again.
“Pete’s a good man. Giving him something to do with his time would help,” I agreed.
Serena came out of the kitchen area. “Hey, you two. Time to stop sharing war stories and join the rest of us.”
Duke nodded, and I followed him back to the kitchen.
The doorbell rang ten minutes later, and when I answered the door, Lucas strode in, followed by Jordy, who held a bunch of flowers wrapped in newsprint, and another man I didn’t recognize in an expensive-looking suit.
“Is everybody assembled?” Lucas asked.
“Yes, sir. Plus one.”
Lucas eyed me warily. “Duke told me he was bringing Serena, but otherwise, this is Hawk business for Hawk people only. Get rid of the extra.”
“You tell her. It’s my mother.”
“Hmm…”
Jordy held back a giggle. His brother wasn’t used to being told no about anything. Jordy thrust the flowers at me. “I’d say it’s a sure thing the guy knows she’s here. We found these by the street.”
I took the flowers—again, pink roses.
The stranger smiled, but he still hadn’t said a word, so I took him for a potential client.
He was dressed impeccably in a charcoal suit, a red power tie, and fancy shoes that I wouldn’t want to walk any distance in.
His features were strong, and his eyes held an edge.
Whatever he did, he was no doubt the alpha of the pack.
Lucas looked up and down the street. “Boston PD is really hot on catching this guy, and the sergeant we talked to, O’Connor, sent a message saying he was flying out himself, first thing this morning. He should be joining us here soon.”
I nodded. “Copy that.”
Likely having noticed me eyeing our guest, Lucas decided on an introduction. “This is Yates Sinclair. Yates, this is Zane March, former DEVGRU and primary protection on the current assignment.”
Yes, I puffed out my chest at that introduction. Since Lucas used the official DEVGRU designation instead of the news-media term of SEAL Team Six, this guy was probably ex-military.
Yates shook with me. “Pleasure to meet you.” His grip was firm in the extreme, and I returned the pressure. He was clearly much fitter than your average boardroom wuss. “MARSOC, Raider Regiment. I wasn’t smart enough to get into the Navy.”
The Raiders were no ordinary Marines. I liked him already.
Then the name registered. “You’re that Sinclair?” The Sinclair companies spelled money, the serious billionaire kind the rest of us could only dream of.
He chuckled. “I get that a lot. Yeah, but beyond the money, I put on my pants one leg at a time, just like you.”
Sure, a billionaire could joke about being just like the rest of us, only with an extra gazillion dollars in the bank. At least he could afford to hire us.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Lucas said, leading the way inside.
“Don’t try that power grip on Duke,” I warned our new guest. I’d seen many a grown man cry after trying on Duke’s vise-grip shake. “He’s also a SEAL.”
“Noted,” Yates said.
I followed Lucas, Jordy, and Yates Sinclair inside.
Jordy stopped me before we reached the kitchen. “He already bested Duke. He said being a rock climber builds grip strength.”
Adequately impressed, I followed him into the kitchen.
Mom turned. “Ah, some late arrivals. I still have a few pancakes left. The best this side of the Mississippi, if I do say so myself. How many would you like?”
The entire Hawk crew was eyeing our new guest, nonverbally asking who he was.
I didn’t enlighten them.
Yates stepped forward. “I think two will be sufficient for me.”
She plopped two on a plate and handed it to him.
“Thank you, Mrs. March.” He sat at the table and cut into the first one.
“I guess one for me,” Lucas said.
“You won’t be able to stop at one,” she predicted and used her spatula to flip one onto a plate.
Lucas picked it off the plate with his fingers and bit into it.
Mom whacked his hand with her spatula. “Did you grow up in a cave?”
Duke gasped.
Everything moved in slow motion as Lucas spun.
I lunged forward. In that moment, I saw the epitaph on my headstone—died protecting his mother from the most lethal man in spec ops.