Chapter 23
Zane
Since it was too late last night to go anywhere, I spent the entire night lying awake and staring up at the ceiling, almost hoping that Tessa was going to come out, and also terrified that she would.
She didn’t. Which is definitely what was best for both of us. I meant what I told her. The next woman I take to bed will be my wife, but that doesn’t mean that I feel like testing that particular temptation. Especially when it’s been building for eighteen years.
Anastasia offered for us to stay with her, but with the risk to our lives right now, I thought it best to take Garrison up on his offer to have us stay in his apartment right next door to the community center where he works. Which is exactly where we went as soon as he texted that he was awake.
Tessa is currently reading in the guest room, while the team and I have gathered in Garrison’s office to discuss the orders Brenda dealt out last night.
“So, we’re back on mission. Fantastic.” Sarcasm drips from Sawyer’s words as he takes the folder from me and studies the transcript. I know my team is just as tired as I am of being at Brenda’s beck and call. “I’ll get to work on prepping the bugs.”
“It should be a quick one. Get in, place the bugs, keep watch, record, and leave. A week max.” I cross my arms as I lean back against the cabin of my boat. My mind should be on formulating a plan to obtain the information Brenda has requested, but instead, it’s on Tessa.
Is she reading the Bible?
Is she thinking about last night, too?
Of that kiss that incinerated me from the inside out and left me desperate for more?
“Do we know what kind of friction we’re going to hit when we get there?” Ryker questions, pulling me back to the present.
“Unknown for now,” I reply. “But we’ll be setting up an OP and getting eyes on them as soon as we get there.
” Establishing the operational post is only one part of the puzzle.
We have to get in and get out without being spotted.
Something that we’re good at—but considering this mission is on US soil, and if we’re caught, there’s no one coming to bail us out—it’s a risk.
Add to that, whoever is running this show has ties to the CIA; well, there’s no telling how much trouble we could hit.
“I’ll pack what we may need should things go sideways,” Garrison says with a nod.
“Great, but—” I trail off as I prepare for his push back. “I need you to stay here and watch Tessa while I’m gone.”
Garrison arches a brow. “You’re grounding me?”
“No. I’m just assigning you to a different post. She’s at risk, and I need someone I trust to watch her.”
“Aww, poor Demo. He won’t get to blow anything up,” Sawyer says with a sarcastic pout.
“You sure about that?” Weston questions. “We’ve never done an op with one man down.”
“I know that. And to be honest, no, I’m not sure. But we don’t have a choice. I won’t take Tessa on mission, and I don’t have anyone else I can call in on such short notice. We need Sawyer for communications, and you and Ryker for a Plan B. We shouldn’t need to blow anything up.”
“Shouldn’t and won’t are two different things,” Ryker comments.
“If you have a different suggestion, I’m all ears,” I reply dryly.
“I don’t mind,” Garrison says quickly. “I’ll pack you what you need just in case, then keep an eye on things here.”
“Thank you.”
He nods. Since Garrison’s day job is as a counselor for high-risk teens at the community center, I know I can count on him to keep Tessa safe—and calm. The guy may set charges for us, but he diffuses for everyone else.
“If everything goes well, this is nothing more than an information gathering mission,” I say.
“And if it goes sideways?” Weston asks.
“Then we’ll be prepared for that, too.” I take a deep breath.
“Look, I don’t like it either, but something that FBI agent said last night has me concerned that this isn’t what it looks like.
” It was another reason I couldn’t sleep.
I kept running over everything he said in regards to Brenda and Tessa.
“When he had you go outside with him?” Weston questions.
I nod.
“What did he say?” Garrison asks.
“That Brenda has it out for Tessa. He said that Brenda is coming for her and that if she could find a way to pin all of this on her, she would.”
Sawyer arches a brow. “So you think we might be getting sent off on a wild goose chase?”
“I can’t rule it out.”
“Do you really think Brenda is heartless enough to leave Tessa purposefully unprotected like that?” Garrison crosses his arms.
“There is no doubt in my mind she would. I don’t believe she’d take matters into her own hands, but if she can set it up to get Tessa out of the way, she’ll do it.”
“But why?” Sawyer asks.
“Because Tessa is a distraction,” Weston answers. “An obstacle standing in the way of the Cap following every single order Brenda throws his way. Tessa gives Zane a reason to not want this life.” He crosses his arms.
“Ooh. You sure Garrison is enough then?” Sawyer jokes.
Garrison chuckles. “I’ll keep her safe,” he promises.
“Thanks. Keep an eye on Anastasia, too, please. If Jack drew parallels, then it’s possible someone else might, too.”
“You’ve got it, Cap.”
“Do you really think Anastasia’s at risk?
” Sawyer’s tone is lacking all humor. A rare thing for him.
But when it comes to my sister’s safety, there’s little else he takes more seriously.
Which, as an older brother, I can appreciate.
As his friend, though? His teammate? I wish he’d just tell her how he feels already so we can all stop dancing around it.
“I don’t think so. But I don’t want to take the risk.” I study them, feeling the weight of everything they’ve been through over the last six years. “Listen, I think this needs to be the last one.”
“Excuse me?” Weston arches a brow.
“You know something we don’t, Cap?” Sawyer questions.
I sigh. “I’m likely in this until they put me in the ground or I become too old to be useful. But you guys don’t have to be. You can lead normal lives. Start families.”
“We’re a team,” Garrison says.
“Besides. You wouldn’t last ten minutes without us,” Sawyer adds with a grin. “We both know you’re useless with a computer.”
Chuckling, I run a hand over the back of my head. “This isn’t your fight, though. This was my mistake. You don’t have to keep fighting.”
“We’re with you until the end,” Ryker says.
“What about your lives? You gave up everything for this. Your lives, homes. And for what?” Frustration pulls at me, but it’s not at my team. It’s at the fact that I practically condemned us all to a life sentence over one decision.
A decision I can confidently say I’d make again, even knowing the outcome. We lost two lives, but we saved four others.
“Because we’re brothers,” Weston says. “Maybe not in blood, but we’re family. And that kind of loyalty isn’t something to abandon just because things get hard.”
“We may not be behind bars, but we’re all serving a prison sentence,” I remind them. “But you guys don’t have to.”
“Only because you took the fall.” Ryker stands and crosses his arms. “The truth is, each and every one of us would have made that same choice.”
Weston, Garrison, and Sawyer all nod in agreement.
But it doesn’t alleviate the guilt I carry. “I just want you all to live long, happy lives.”
“That’s not up for you to decide, Cap,” Sawyer says. “The truth of it is, we’re not going anywhere. Not unless you’re out, too, or we’re shipped home in a pine box. So suck it up, buttercup. You’re stuck with us.”
“When are we heading out?” Weston asks, shifting the subject so I can’t protest any further. Not that it’ll do any good. We’ve had this argument many times over the last six years, and it always ends the same way.
“We’ll be wheels up at sundown.”
Exhausted, I take a seat on Garrison’s couch. After checking in with my mom and Anastasia, and ensuring the boat was prepared in case any storms roll in while I’m gone, I’ve completed all of my pre-mission tasks.
They’ve become second nature to me now, but it still doesn’t make saying goodbye to Mom and Anastasia any easier.
I know all too well that, even when a mission seems like it’ll be smooth, there are a million things that can go wrong.
Garrison headed over to the community center as soon as I got in, and the others are preparing to take off in two hours. The private plane Brenda sent for us is already at the small airstrip outside of town, fueled and ready to go when we are.
I sigh. Of all the missions I’ve been on, all the times I’ve had to say goodbye to my family, this one is the hardest. Glancing back at her door, I will it to open so I can see her before I leave.
I could go knock. See if she’s up, but I’d hate to wake her when I know she’s been struggling to sleep.
So, I lean my head back and close my eyes.
Not a minute later, though, I hear the faint squeak of the door behind me and turn to see Tessa step into the living room.
Bathed in the soft light from outside, she’s a sight to behold in blue leggings and one of my flannel shirts.
It falls to just below her thighs, and the bright red plaid contrasts perfectly with the dark strands of her hair where it rests just past the collar.
“Hey. Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t.” I smile, and she returns it, then crosses over to sit beside me. “Did you get any rest?”
“Not really,” she admits, then chews on her bottom lip. Her tell for having something on her chest that she wants to say but isn’t sure she should.
“What is it?”
“That obvious?” she asks.
“I know you exceptionally well.”
“I’m worried. And I know that I don’t really have a right to be after what I did. But I—” I silence her when I slip a hand around the back of her neck and pull her in for a kiss.
Those soft lips move against mine, a friction that causes a hammering in my blood.
Pulling away, I rest my forehead against hers. “If you have no right to be worried about me, then I have no right to be worried about you. And, I am.”
“I’m not going anywhere, though.”
I pull away. “That didn’t keep someone from trying to take your life twice already.”
Tessa takes my hand in hers. “Please come back to me. I want to know what’s next for us. I want to see where this can go. My life has been incomplete without you, Zane.”
Reaching up, I cup her cheek in my hand and run the pad of my thumb over her soft skin. “I just got you back, Tessa. I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiles, then leans in to press her lips to mine. The simple gesture sends heat through my body with such force that it would have knocked me to my knees if I weren’t already sitting. Tessa stirs desire in me unlike anything I’ve ever felt because it’s coupled with love.
And the fact that, even after so many years apart, I can still clearly picture our future.
It’s slightly different now, but still there.
Clear as crystal.
The front door opens, and Garrison walks in.
Tessa and I pull apart, but I drape an arm around her shoulders, and she leans against me.
“I can leave and come back,” Garrison offers with a grin.
Tessa laughs, and I smile at my friend. “No need. Everything okay?”
His amused expression falters. “I have this kid I’m working with who is really struggling with self-worth. It’ll be okay, though. I’ll get him there.” He smiles. “You guys up for dinner? The diner is serving meatloaf tonight, and I’m starved.”
I look over at Tessa. Aside from church service and Anastasia’s café, she’s been reluctant to go many places since she hasn’t wanted to face anyone in town just yet.
“That actually sounds great,” she says with a smile.
“Yeah?” Joy surges through me. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll get used to being out and about in Stormwatch Landing again. And then, once all of this is over, maybe that future I’ve been dreaming of isn’t too far out of reach.
“Let’s do it. It’s been a long time since I had one of Maddie’s vanilla shakes.”