31. Thad
Thad
We were in the rental car driving to Decker “Gumby” Kincade’s beach house and Emerson was in the passenger seat fiddling with her seat belt. She’d been doing it since we’d left The Del.
“Why are you nervous, Emmy?” I asked.
“What? Why do you think I’m nervous?”
“Because I know you. You fidget when you’re nervous, and you haven’t stopped moving since we got in the car.”
“I’m not sure I like that you remember all of my habits,” she mumbled irately.
I did. I liked that I knew her every tell, yet each day with her I discovered something new. It was the best of both worlds. We shared a deep connection and familiarity, but we were still on a journey of discovery.
“So, why are you nervous?” I asked again.
“Because I’m meeting your friends.”
I thought about what I could tell her about Gumby and his fiancée Sidney.
I didn’t know much about the woman, only learning they were getting married later this month, from Declan earlier that morning.
When the team had met Sidney at Faith’s animal rescue before the mission, there was an obvious connection between her and Gumby, and she was wearing what I’d thought looked like an engagement ring, but during the short meeting, there’d been no time for personal inquiries.
Gumby’s team was leaving for a mission and so was our team and gathering intel had been more important.
“Gumby is—”
“Gumby?”
“Decker’s nickname,” I told her, forgetting I’d called him by his given name when I told her we were going to his house.
“Why is his nickname Gumby?” she asked.
“No idea. You earn your nickname, so it could be anything. The team could’ve christened him Gumby because he’d squeezed his body through a small opening and they thought he looked like the cartoon character as he did it.
Or he could’ve gotten sick on a mission and turned green before he lost his cookies.
Don’t know how he earned it, and I doubt he’d share. ”
“Do you have a nickname?” she asked.
“When I was in the teams, it was Jack. Now when we’re on a mission that requires radio call signs, the team uses MacGyver.”
“Jack?”
“I’d like to tell you the nickname was given because I’m a Jack of all trades and can rig any piece of equipment in front of me, but that’s not true.”
“Was Jack short for jackass?” She laughed.
“Should’ve been.” I chuckled. “But it was because my first team leader was raised on a farm. He said I reminded him of one the donkeys they had.”
“But you’re not stubborn.” She sounded affronted on my behalf .
“That’s not why,” I told her, as I rounded the corner pulling onto Gumby’s street.
“Horses are known to run when they get scared. Donkeys are the opposite. They don’t move, they stay planted and assess the situation. People mistake that for them being stubborn.”
“I still don’t get it, why didn’t he just call you donkey, then? Why Jack?”
“The Mammoth Jack is a large breed of donkey. My team leader thought it was funny because I was the tallest on the team, so he coined my name Jack.”
I rolled to a stop in front of Gumby’s and she asked, “Do all the guys have nicknames like that?”
“Yep.”
“Will you tell me what they are?”
“Sure will, but we’re here so it will have to wait.”
“Oh.” Her gaze slid away from me and she looked out the car window.
Thankfully my story about my nickname had done what I’d intended and she’d been concentrating on it rather than being nervous.
“Nothing for you to worry about, you’re gonna like Gumby and I’ve only met Sidney once but if she’s marrying Gumby then she’s solid.”
“Okay.”
Just as I’d thought, Sidney was great. She was open, welcoming, and had a huge heart.
She proved this by launching straight in with a thousand questions about the dogs we’d encountered.
She wanted to know where the dogs were kept, in what condition they’d been in, if the international rescue operation she and Faith had found was able to help.
When she was done asking about the animals, she started asking about the team; did anyone get hurt, did any of the dogs’ attack—it was worth noting she’d winced when she asked if anyone had gotten bitten.
I’d answered everything I could, and she was visibly relieved when I’d told her no one was injured, we were all home, and my boss had been in touch and rescue efforts were underway.
I didn’t tell her that Zane was personally funding those efforts.
Once Sidney had ascertained all was well, she’d turned to Emerson, and with a huge smile she offered to take her out to the deck to enjoy the view.
What that proved was she was a SEAL’s wife and understood I’d left out more than I’d said and Gumby would have his own questions, and the answers I’d give him would be different than the watered-down version of what I’d told her.
“So, how’d it go?” Gumby asked when the women were out of earshot.
“Total shit show,” I told him. “Dec confirmed what you and Sidney had warned about and inside the warehouse was the shit nightmares are made of. Took out two of our targets, but was told to stand down from the third. The girls we’d come in contact with were just that, fucking girls.
Luckily we found two stables before transport.
One set we got to safety, the second we had to let swing.
Guts me we couldn’t get them where they needed to go, but I have a feeling Emerson’s sister got them to safety. ”
“Emerson…” he trailed off.
“Fell in love with her when I was in BUD/s. For reasons that were beyond our control she took off. I found her again, she’s mine, and if I can get her to agree I’m stopping at the courthouse after we leave here and I’m marrying her.”
“Goddamn, sounds familiar,” he muttered .
“What about yours? How’d it go?” I inquired about the mission he’d just returned home from.
“It’s gonna take a while to digest,” Gumby admitted.
“It never fails to surprise me what humans will do to one another. When we got to the orphanage to secure the Peace Corps worker, rebels had already overtaken it, and our target was DOA. It wasn’t a complete failure, we were able to rescue the Peace Corps volunteer’s friend Piper Johnson…
um, I mean, Piper Morgan and three of the orphans. ”
Morgan? The last name took me a moment to recognize. Beckett “Ace” Morgan was a member of Gumby’s team.
“Piper Morgan? Any relation to Ace?”
“Wife.”
“Come again?”
Ace wasn’t married.
There was a knock at the door cutting off Gumby’s much-needed explanation. “That should be Faith or Declan,” he said and started for the door.
After Gumby’s bombshell, I’d almost forgotten Declan and Faith were both on their way.
Faith had arranged the meeting, suggesting that it take place at Sidney and Gumby’s because there was work being done on the shelter she owned.
Thanks to another generous donation, Faith was adding more playrooms to help the pit bulls she rescued.
Speaking of pit bulls, I remembered Gumby had adopted one, Hannah, but I hadn’t seen her.
My gaze went around the room, noting the empty crate and numerous dog toys, and finally landed on the two women on the deck.
Emerson was sitting on the wooden planks with her hand outstretched petting the dog’s head while Hannah sniffed her hair and licked her face.
I was so enthralled watching my woman, wondering if I should ask Faith if she had dogs that were ready for adoption, I hadn’t heard anyone enter the room .
“Oh, good, Sidney is occupied.” Faith’s statement pulled me from my thoughts and I turned to face her.
Declan had arrived as well, and he didn’t make me wait long before he started in with his snarky comments. “I see that woman is going to be the death of you.”
“What?”
“So wrapped up in watching her, you didn’t hear us come in. And, brother, we were not quiet. In my head I killed you ten times before Faith spoke and pulled your lovesick, fool head out of your rectum and you realized you had company.”
“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, friend. I’m sure we can arrange for a personality transplant and you can find a woman for yourself,” I returned.
“Thanks, but that’s a hard pass for me. Besides, the way you morons are dropping, someone’s gonna have to stand guard since you’re all turning soft.”
I wanted to explain to him that the last thing Emerson did was make me soft, but there was a lady in our presence and I had better manners than that.
“Why’s it good Sid’s occupied?” Gumby asked, cutting off our banter.
“Because I don’t want to worry her. I know she agreed there’d be no more vigilante business and I trust her when she says that, but I also know she cares too deeply not to stress. So I don’t want her to know about this.”
Gumby’s body jerked and he was strung tight when he inquired further. “Know about what?”
“I had an anonymous tip come in yesterday. I searched around and I believe it’s credible. There’s a breeder up in Long Beach, he’s known as a puppy mill, but apparently he’s been trading his litter runts to dog fighters as bait dogs.”
“Trading?” Declan asked.
“That’s what the person said. He trades his runts for his buy-in to fight his dogs. ”
“What’s a buy-in?” I asked.
“Some fighting rings make the participants pay the host of the fight. Some call it the house fee. There’s no set of rules every group follows.
But it can be a hundred dollars, or the buy-in could be five thousand, or there could be none, it all depends on how high the stakes are and the caliber of dogs,” Faith explained.
“What do you need from us?” Declan asked.
“There’s a fight scheduled tomorrow night here in San Diego. The breeder from Long Beach will be there. I was hoping you could—”
“Yes,” Declan answered before Faith could finish.
The older woman’s lips tipped up and she flashed a knowing smile. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“No, you knew he’d say that.” I chuckled.
“Not a word of this to my woman,” Gumby instructed.
“Faith is right, this information will stress her out. We have less than a month until the wedding and I want her focused on that and finishing the remodel on the house. I swear, if she catches wind and bends my ear, which will stress me out and piss me off, I’m gonna start revoking wedding invitations. ”
“Copy that.” I chuckled.
“Great. Now that that’s settled, grab a beer and head to the deck. I’ll start the grill,” Gumby commanded.
I noticed that Faith was looking at Gumby with so much motherly love I wondered how close she and Sidney were. By the approval in the elderly woman’s gaze, I’d say they were extremely so, and Faith was more than pleased Sidney had found a man as honorable and kind as Gumby.