CHAPTER THIRTY
MARSHALL
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“He checked out in the middle of the night,” Josh says, leaning against the wall of the gym with his hands on his hips.
Sweat drips off me.
We’ve been going at this for fucking hours, and I’m still coiled up like a wild animal.
“Of course he did.” I punch the bag again, surprising Cole who takes a few steps on the mat to steady himself.
“Little warning.” He grumbles.
“We’ve been here for hours. What part of I’m going to punch the fucking bag do you need a warning about?” I growl.
Cole releases the bag and steps back, shaking his arms. I am a pain in his ass right now and his patience is almost unbreakable.
I’ve tried.
“I’m done. Go punch someone else.” Cole reaches for a bottle of water and almost downs the whole thing.
“Take a break.” Josh tells me pointedly—a warning in his voice—and pushes off the wall.
He stalks to the mini fridge in the gym and grabs a bottle of water. He throws it at me, and I have to catch the fucking thing with boxing gloves on.
I miss.
Curse.
Then tug the gloves off and rip the bottle open like I’m a thirsty man in a dry desert. Which I was a week ago.
I gulp it down and let out a guttural moan.
“So, where are we at?” I’m eager to get out there with the team but I know none of them will let me so it’s not worth wasting my breath.
My brain just keeps flicking back to Trina. Wondering what sort of state she is in. Mentally, physically. If she wants to see me, but is being stubborn.
She hasn’t replied to my message.
“We’re tracking him. We finally got a mobile phone number,” Josh tells us.
I perk up, and Cole shakes his head. “No. I’m not bailing you out of jail. Stay put.”
“Listen to him,” Josh adds. “If we find him, I’ll make sure you get a minute with the guy before we hand him over.”
“Thank you,” I reply darkly. I plonk down on one of the weight benches and hang my dripping head, wiping it with my towel. “I need to see her, man. Has anyone heard from Aidan?”
“Just wait for her to call you, buddy. It could take a while.” Cole says wisely even though this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
I was even thinking about ringing my dad.
But I’m so ashamed I never answered her call. My parents didn’t raise me to leave a woman vulnerable. I shouldn’t have left knowing she was there with Roger.
But goddamn Trina is so fucking stubborn.
We hear a scuffle outside and all go stiff turning our heads to the door.
“Scarlet! Wait, you can’t go in there!” Penny yells as the door to the BHS gym comes flying open.
The hell?
Scarlet, Cassy’s best friend, stands in the doorway, her hand still on the handle looking furious as she glances around.
“What’s going on?” Josh demands.
Trina is sassy, but she has nothing on Scarlet. In fact, she kind of scares me a little. I think she scares most of the guys. There’s something a little unhinged about her.
“You!” Scarlet points at Cole.
“Fuck,” he curses under his breath.
“Yeah well, you did that.” She plants her hands on her hips. “And have been ignoring my calls.”
We all turn to Cole, who is wiping a hand over his face.
I glance at Josh because if anyone has information on what this is about—apart from the obvious which she just shared with the whole gym—surely he does. Cassy is his wife after all. Scarlet also works at her hair salon.
“I’ll take her into the boardroom,” Penny says, shooting Cole a narrowed look.
Oh shit.
Scarlet spins. “Oh no you fucking won’t—”
Josh holds up his hands and the entire room goes quiet. “Hey! No one speaks to Penny like that. Scarlet, clearly a conversation between you and Cole is needed here.”
That sorts her out and for a moment I’m distracted from my problems.
“Fine.” Scarlet glares at Cole.
“Follow Penny. Get a drink. We’ll send him out when we’re finished.” Josh orders her. After a bit more glaring, Scarlet spins and storms off.
I start smiling as we all turn back to Cole after the door clicks shut.
I can’t wait to hear this one.
He holds out his hands. “What? She’s hot. A little crazy, I’ll admit. But we fucked. The end.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Josh shakes his head. “I should have hired monks.”
I snort.
“They’re not so good with guns.” Cole shrugs with a smirk. “I think. Shit, do you think they train monks how to shoot?”
He’s stalling and we all know it.
“I think you need to clean up and go face the music.” Josh laughs. “I’m going to take this big guy home before he kills himself in here.”
Great.
Home.
Where all I’ll do is sit and think about Trina. But he’s right, my body is aching. My wound has split open and I’m extremely dehydrated.
I hit the showers, then let Josh drive me home.
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TWO DAYS LATER, I’m back at work, my arm is healing well but my mind is a fucking mess.
Roger, like the snake he is, was difficult to find. But I just received news he’s been captured.
Thank fuck.
“Where did you catch him?” I ask Josh, sitting opposite his desk while Cole and Aidan lean against the wall and a cabinet.
“He’s a clever asshole.” Josh leans back in his chair and taps a pen on one of the arms. “He ditched his phone.”
“Of course he did.” I mutter.
“But he needed cash, so withdrew a bunch from an ATM on a busy street. Guess he didn’t have many options. We got footage when our system picked him up on face recognition, then just plugged it all into our AI program and we followed the footsteps.”
I was kept right out of the loop.
“Why did it take two days?” I frown.
Every single day he was on the run, I was worried about Trina. I know we had a guard outside her home, but Roger is a Green Beret. If he wanted to really hurt her, he’d find a way in.
Yes, I did about a dozen drive-bys.
After the final one I got a call from Josh after. “Go home. Or I’ll cable tie your ass to your sofa.”
“Fuck off Josh. What if this was Cassy?” I snarled through the phone.
“I’d burn all of California to the ground until I found him. Then end up in prison for the rest of my life. Don’t be me.” Josh then hung up.
I’d laughed out loud for the first time in days.
I knew he would do it too.
Both threats.
“He kept moving and didn’t stop.” Aidan answered my question, snapping me back to the present. “By the time we pulled him out of a McDonald’s restaurant, he was almost dead on his feet.”
Mc-goddamn-Donalds? That’s where they found the Green Beret?
That’s fucking sad.
“Where is Miller now?” I shuffle in my chair, eager to get my hands on him.
Josh promised that I would get a few minutes with him to share my displeasure if you get my drift.
When he doesn’t reply immediately I know the answer. Shit. It was always a long shot. I knew that despite his promise.
“The JAG team was right behind us. We had to hand him over to them. Sorry.” Josh shakes his head. “But you know how they treat sexual offenders inside. His military career is now over. He’s not going to go unpunished.”
“No, but I don’t get to smash my fist into his face.”
He shakes his head.
But Josh is right. I know JAG—the military legal division—will make sure it’s handled correctly, and he’s punished.
“Trina handed over some evidence, so they have a strong case.”
I swallow and feel myself pale.
“The restraint he used.” Aidan shares.
“Fucking piece of shit,” I mutter, gripping the arms of the chair and hearing them crack.
All three men are quiet.
Then Aidan says, “He can’t hurt anyone else, including Trina. Time to stop blaming yourself, Marsh.”
Bullshit.
“I’m the reason he did this. Roger messed up and got reprimanded.” I glance at Cole who doesn’t have clearance on the black ops mission, so I can’t say anything more. “Then he shows up in California a week later and forces his way into Trina’s life to get revenge.”
“You don’t know that.” Cole shakes his head.
Yeah, I do.
I glance at Aidan. Trina shared with Briar what Roger had said to her, and it’s made its way to me.
It was about getting revenge on me.
For his fuckup. He’s the one who got drunk and almost killed a bunch of Tier One operators, me, and let dangerous enemies go loose.
One who was trading in uranium and could right now be providing the product to dangerous people in Iran to make nuclear warheads.
But he’s not because I put a bullet in his fucking head.
I have another one in my pocket for Roger Miller if I ever get the chance. The guy is dangerous and shouldn’t be anywhere near a weapon or uniform again.
Except for a prison one.
“I want to be the one who tells Trina,” I say firmly and when a few brows lift, I snap. “I’m not the one who fucking raped her. Jesus Christ. She can tell me to leave if she wants, but I need to see her.”
A bunch of curses sound out.
“We can’t stop you.” Aidan lifts his hand in defeat.
No, they can’t. Trina’s radio silence has been deafening. I can’t stand it for a minute longer.
I know that she’s not physically harmed except for a few bruises but that’s not good enough.
She’s mine.
I can barely sleep. I can’t stomach food. I’m fucking broken right now, having to sit back like a little bitch and do nothing.
That’s not who I am.
I’m a soldier.
I stare at the painting on the wall of Josh’s office and tune them all out. Then suddenly I stand. I have to go now or I swear I won’t be able to breathe.
I push up out of the chair and run a hand over my hair, then grab my phone.
“Gotta go.”
“Marshall.” Josh warns deep in the back of his throat.
“If you think I’ll hurt her, then I shouldn’t be wearing this shirt.” I point to the BHS emblem on my chest. “You know me, all of you know me. Trina needs me and I’m not asking anyone’s fucking permission.”
Aidan grins.
The fuck?
“Go get your girl.” Cole smirks. “We’ll bury Miller.”
“Not literally.” Josh rubs his jaw, then waves out his arm. “Go. If it was me I already told you I would’ve burned down the state and told you all to get fucked.”
Now he tells me.
I let out a laugh. “You assholes. By the way there are two spades in my shed if you need them.”
“What did I miss? Who are we burying?” Ryder pushes past me into the room and Aidan shakes his head laughing.
“Jesus we mention gardening tools and all you assholes assume we’re burying a dead body.” Josh runs a hand over his face.
Everyone nods.
“I’ll do a shift, but not the whole six feet.” Ryder drops down into the chair I just vacated.
I leave the idiots and head down to my car.
On the drive over to Trina’s I wonder how she’s going to react to me showing up. It’s now or never. I’m going out of my mind worrying about her.
She belongs in my arms.
I’m old enough to know the difference between a woman I’m sexually attracted to and someone that gets my heart beating in ways that make me want to be a better man.
Be her man.
Not for one night or one month, but for as far as I can envisage. That’s scary and I know it’s terrifying for Trina. But I understand now why she’s so scared and not willing to even commit to a date.
I don’t have all the answers but together we can find a way to be happy. I’m sure of it.
These feelings mean something.
If they are truly just one-sided then I will walk away, but staying away is not an option.
I’ve lain awake at night haunted by those piercing blue eyes of hers and how they reach inside to my soul. How her fingers press against my hard muscles pleading for pleasure, but it’s when I wrap her in my arms and I feel her soften that our hearts collide.
Trina Thomas is my missing jigsaw piece.
The moment she slid into my life, I knew she could never leave it.
But I failed her. Because of me she has been irreversibly harmed. It doesn’t matter what my brothers-in-arms say, it’s true. I should’ve answered the damn phone and been there for her.
I should’ve thrown her ass over my shoulder and carried her out of the party so she never left with Roger.
Logically, I know those choices weren’t mine to make. Trina would have thrown an absolute (loud!) fit.
I don’t care.
I would do anything to turn back time, but I can’t.
So, we start again. From here.
If she’ll talk to me.