13. Alex
13
ALEX
I placed some of Luke’s toys into a box, regretting that I wouldn’t see my son play with the little blue stuffed bear or the oversized plastic keys on a ring. I could hear Soledad in the master bedroom packing her things. Convincing her to leave with Luke had taken everything out of me. I didn’t want to be parted from her or my son, but I had no choice.
Even now, I missed Luke, who’d stayed behind at Colin and Lily’s house. My sister-in-law was taking care of him, and I knew he was safe, but I hated having him out of reach. Over the past few days, I’d spent as much time as I could with Luke, knowing my son would soon be headed to Philadelphia to live with Soledad and her aunt, which was for the best if my scheme was going to work.
My family and I had formulated a plan to smoke Bruce out. I had put around that I was leaving soon on a mission. To build the charade, I’d started my pre-mission schedule. I rose early to run ten miles and worked out in the afternoons. My goal was to be seen, so I’d stuck to the high school track and a popular gym downtown. I’d even carted some boxes to a storage facility and contacted my homeowner’s association to let them know I’d be gone for an indefinite amount of time. All clear signs to anyone looking that I was headed out with my SEAL team.
I hoped Bruce believed it, because I wanted this done. I wanted to be out of danger, but more importantly, once it was over, I could tell Soledad the truth. As it was, she had to be convinced that I was leaving her as well, that I didn’t want a relationship with her. Otherwise, she’d never take Luke and go away—which they had to do.
“I’m going next door to say goodbye to Gina.” Soledad leaned in the nursery door. It was the longest sentence she’d addressed to me in the past three days. She didn’t wait for my response but went down the stairs. After I heard the front door slam, I rapidly crossed to the master bedroom, where I could watch over her. She cut across the lawn, her arms swinging at her sides. A minute later, she was safely inside Gina’s house.
I blew out a sigh. My nerves were raw between my worry about Bruce and the emotional impasse I was at with Soledad. I thought back to the end of our conversation, when I’d pretended not to care for her. I’d almost lost it, almost confessed everything when she’d confronted me at Colin’s house and openly confessed her love for me, her hopes for our future together.
My SEAL training included techniques to resist various forms of torture, and I’d relied on those to get me through the moment when she’d laid her heart on the line. I’d had to dig deep to resist telling her how I felt. The toughest part had been not acknowledging how right she was about me. I had kept myself in a cage of my own making. I’d erected iron bars around my emotions…until recently, when Soledad and Luke had bent the bars and set me free. I longed to tell her that so much I’d literally bitten my tongue.
And now I had to avoid her for fear she’d see through the front I’d constructed. I could hardly be in the same room with her. But I had to pretend a little longer, until the threat from Bruce was neutralized. Telling myself it was for the best was little consolation, but it was. It was best if Soledad didn’t know my true feelings, if she didn’t know how much I loved her and wanted to be with her.
Shoving her away was the only way to ensure her and Luke’s safety. Because Soledad understood hope so much better than I did. If she thought there was hope for our future, she’d stay and fight Bruce alongside me. I couldn’t put her at risk like that, so I’d taken the words she’d spoken, controlling my reaction and hoping—a new concept for me—that there was a future for us.
Because I saw that future. The three of us together, with maybe more children down the road, filling this house up to the brim again. I looked around the upstairs, seeing possibilities instead of difficulties. I was going to fight for her love, and I was a hell of a fighter.
My fight was here now. Her tone had mocked me when I’d announced I was leaving on a mission—and she’d been right, because I could never leave them again. Never again could I travel the globe and put myself in danger with no definite date of return. That was no longer in me, and I didn’t regret it. My life had changed in the past months.
I had changed.
I’d loved Soledad a year ago at the time of our breakup, but fear had left me unable to speak the words. I could now—and I would, when this was over. As for Luke, I had lost my heart to that boy the second I’d seen him, and that was never going to change.
First things first: I needed to deal with Bruce.
I taped up a box and labeled it “Toys and clothes.” I carried it downstairs and added it to the stack near the back door. Frankie sniffed the boxes and gave me a pleading look.
“Need to go outside, girl?” I asked her, who responded with a whine. As Frankie trotted out into the yard, I studied the landscape I’d been creating. It was on hold, like everything else in my life, but my imagination filled in the details. As soon as this was over, I was going to put my plans into action and make the yard an oasis for my family.
I grabbed a ball from a basket left on the porch and chucked it toward the back fence. Frankie pivoted in mid-stride to chase it. She was bringing the ball back when my phone chimed to indicate that someone was at the front door. I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Soledad was back sooner than I expected. The door opened and closed.
“We’re out back,” I called to her, hoping she’d come join us. I wouldn’t be able to reveal the truth to her, but maybe we could have a moment of companionship. Was that too much to ask?
A low growl from Frankie stopped that train of thought, and I went instantly on alert. A sense of dread filled me as I realized it hadn’t been Soledad at the door. Frankie growled again before barking a warning.
“ Platz !” I said. She lay down at my feet, quiet and still, obeying the German command I’d used in training her.
I cautiously entered the house, leaving the door open behind me. When I reached the entryway, I stopped cold, sick fear filling my stomach. Bruce’s left arm was around Soledad’s neck, forcing her body tight to his. But that wasn’t the worst of it. In his right hand, he held a Sig Sauer P226 to her temple.
Her brown eyes, wide with fear, met mine. I kept my gaze steady on her, trying to convey reassurance. Inside, I wanted to strike, wanted to hurt Bruce so badly that he could never threaten anyone ever again. But I couldn’t lunge forward and act. Bruce was as highly trained as I was and was running scenarios in his head just like me. Bruce was expecting me to react physically, so I couldn’t.
“You don’t need her as a hostage, Bruce,” I implored, letting myself seem weak. “It’s me you’re after. Let her go, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You aren’t in a position to bargain with me,” Bruce said, tightening his hold on Soledad. “I’m holding all the cards.”
Not all of them, I thought. Luke wasn’t there, and Soledad was far from helpless. But that’s not what I said. “You are.”
“Don’t like it, do you?” Bruce snarled. “How does it feel to have shit happen to you? New experience, Golden Boy?”
“I’ve dealt with plenty of shit,” I said, keeping my voice steady. My youth had been pure shit until the Admiral took me in. My early experiences, though, had helped form me.
“Looks to me like you’ve been leading a fine life lately, while mine’s been fucked up.” Bruce’s expression was ugly, anger pouring out of him. “You did that to me. All while you’ve been living the good life. But that’s over. You aren’t going to have this pretty woman anymore. Hell, you won’t even have that mutt of a dog if it gets too close to me.”
Soledad gasped and opened her mouth to protest but quickly closed it. I had no doubt Bruce would shoot Frankie given the chance, since he had a cruel streak.
“You’ve tried to protect them, but I’ve watched you. I’ve seen your baby boy, too. Oh, yeah, I took some nice pictures while you were all out for a walk and at the park. I saw you looking around for me, thinking you were being careful. But you can’t hide from a telephoto lens.” Bruce grinned, his expression gleeful. “I’ve even got pictures of you kissing your woman like a randy teenager.”
Bruce planted a smacking kiss on Soledad’s cheek. He was going to pay for that, I thought, in blood.
“Let her go,” I repeated. “Your beef’s with me, not her or my son.”
“Don’t like me touching her? Does that bother you, Golden Boy? I think you’ve had the perfect life a little too long. You need to remember what it’s like for the rest of us who aren’t the Goody Two-shoes with the white picket fence. Do you even know what a lucky son of a bitch you are?”
“I know it,” I said. “I know how lucky I am to have a woman I love and a beautiful baby boy.” I saw Soledad’s eyes widen and her expression soften. The words I spoke were for her. I hoped she knew that. “The only thing that matters to me is being here for them and earning their love. I plan to spend the rest of my life doing that.”
Bruce scoffed. “That’s the sappiest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“Maybe, but it’s true. I love you, Soledad. I have for a long time.” I took my eyes off Bruce for a second to focus on her face. The tiniest smile told me she believed me.
“Christ,” Bruce spat. “I don’t want to hear your eleventh-hour declaration of love. It makes me want to puke.”
I ignored him. I’d gotten my message across, and that’s what mattered. Even if I didn’t get out of this mess alive, Soledad would know how I felt about her and our son. That counted for something, but I wasn’t giving up. While Bruce talked, my mind had been ticking through what I knew about Bruce. I needed to use that knowledge against him. The guy was a narcissist with little understanding of the word “team,” but more than that, Bruce never wanted to take responsibility for his actions. Maybe that was the right angle. All I needed was an opportunity, a moment of weakness, to attack. But I had to get Bruce to loosen his grip on Soledad first, so she had a chance to get out of the line of fire.
“You can blame me for the punishment you got if you want, but you chose a path you knew was wrong all on your own,” I said, goading Bruce. “I was doing my job, respecting the oath we both took.”
“Fuck you and your superior attitude,” Bruce growled. “You always thought you were better than the rest of us. You had to play the perfect Boy Scout, the dutiful soldier. That mission sucked. I got bored. Intelligence gathering? Shit, all we were doing was talking to the locals about farming. So I figured out a way to entertain myself and turn a tidy profit.”
“You sold drugs to your fellow SEALs,” I said. To me, that was the unforgivable part. Engaging in the opium trade was bad enough; hooking our comrades in arms on the junk proved what sort of man Bruce was.
“So? I wasn’t the only one doing it,” Bruce said, as if that were a defense.
“You were the only SEAL,” I shot back.
“Which is why you should have turned a blind eye like everyone else did, Golden Boy. But do you know what he did instead?” Bruce addressed his words to Soledad. “He gathered intelligence on me and turned me in like I was no better than the people we were fighting. Me, his SEAL brother. Me .”
Bruce tapped himself in the head with the gun as he said the word, giving me the opportunity I needed. I lunged forward and knocked the gun from Bruce’s hand. Soledad spun away as Bruce’s hold on her loosened. I gripped Bruce’s arms, taking him down to the floor in an attempt to subdue him.
“ Fass !” I yelled, giving Frankie the command to attack. She charged in and wrapped her jaws around Bruce’s leg. Bruce shouted in pain and thrashed wildly, trying to shake her off. He landed a punch to my jaw, dislodging me enough to wrestle me to the floor. Bruce struck out with his leg and slammed Frankie into the wall.
I caught a glimpse of the stunned dog. She shook her head and rose, poised to leap back at Bruce.
“Platz!” I shouted to call her off. I didn’t want her hurt. I got my hand around Bruce’s throat, trying to force the man off me, but Bruce was as strong as I was. I was moving to slam my forehead into Bruce’s, when I heard a crack and felt dirt sift down on me.
What the hell? I didn’t know what had happened, but Bruce weakened, giving me the chance to roll us over and get the upper hand. I scrambled to my feet, ready to end this. Bruce was struggling to his knees before I landed two right hooks to his jaw, knocking him back to the floor, where he lay unmoving.
Breathing heavily, I assessed the situation. Fragments of pottery and soil littered the area. Understanding dawned. Soledad had slammed her potted cactus into Bruce’s head. I took my eyes from Bruce long enough to give her a grin.
I had a sentimental fondness for the potted plant that she’d tried to use against me the day I returned home to find her there—and for the woman who wielded it—but I couldn’t allow myself to go there yet. I had to secure Bruce. First I checked the man’s pockets for additional weapons, pulling out another handgun and a hunting knife. Then I grabbed zip ties from a kitchen drawer and bound Bruce’s hands and ankles before hog-tying him with a belt. SEALs knew how to get out of the usual restraints, but I didn’t think Bruce could get free from this. At least, not in the time it would take for the police to arrive.
I’d make the calls to the authorities and my family in a minute, but first I needed Soledad. She was seated on the floor next to Frankie, gently stroking the dog’s side.
“Is she okay?” I asked, dropping to my knees in front of them.
“Just stunned, I think,” Soledad said. “I want to have a veterinarian check her out.”
“We will. Are you okay?” I looked at her with utter admiration. She’d just had a gun held to her head by a trained killer, but she was more concerned with the dog.
She nodded.
“Soledad, I am so sorry about all of this,” I said. There was so much I wanted to say to her, but I had to start with an apology. I didn’t think I could ever apologize enough for what she’d just gone through.
She gave me a little smile and came up on her knees, facing me. I took her actions as permission and reached for her, yanking her to me more roughly than I should have. She didn’t object, wrapping her arms around me in a fierce hug. I needed to know where we stood, but this was a good start.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into her hair. I was never going to be able to say it enough, even if I repeated it every day for the rest of our lives. I hoped she’d give me the chance to do that. I stroked a hand down her back, grateful she was unharmed. After a minute, I released her. “I’ve got to deal with this, and then we’ll talk.”
And somehow I was going to have to find the right words.