by Melody Anne
Eyes paused as a voice spoke. “We aren’t going anywhere until your wife and daughter get here and then we’re all going for a little drive. I promise they won’t feel a thing. You, on the other hand, you’re going to watch them die, then your death will be very, very slow and painful.” The glee in the person mocking Damien was as evil as it got. These types of men feasted on pain and misery.
Staying in the shadow, Eyes knelt down, keeping as much of his body in the dark as possible.
“Why are you doing this?” Damien asked. From the sound of the words, it was clear to Eyes Damien’s jaw was either broken or badly damaged.
Eyes made it to the junction between the hall and kitchen to find five people standing around a chair where Damien was sitting, his arms and legs bound.
“I’m going to go see what the hell Jerry’s doing. It looked like he was going to pop that little man’s head off,” one of the voices said.
The man, who Eyes had seen a few minutes before, was walking from the kitchen. Eyes made a pivot, eased himself into a closet, left it open just enough to get out, and waited for the man to pass. When the man did, Eyes slid out of his hiding spot, snuck up behind him, and struck like a viper, the power knocking the man off his feet. He fell face first to the floor. Eyes was able to catch the fall enough to not make a loud sound that would carry back to the kitchen.
Eyes secured the man, then drug him to the closet he’d just been inside. They needed as many of these men secured and unable to fight as they could get. There was no telling what was going to happen once everyone came face to face. It was an incalculable variable.
Returning to the spot at the entrance to the kitchen, Eyes arrived in time to see someone wind their arm back, make a massive arcing swing, and connect with Damien’s face.
Eyes got down on his hands and knees and crawled between the island and the wall where the fridge was. He continued down the line, stood, and in a flash took two huge steps, grabbing the back of the chair Damien was tied to, spinning it around him, and then standing in front of the group of people who held his friend captive.
Eyes’s blood went cold as he saw who was standing among the three remaining goons.
Few times in Eyes’s life did he have a hitch in his thought process, but at the moment he was so stunned he was stumped. This day had been too full of surprises. What in the hell was going on?
Senator Anna Miller gave him a cold stare, not seeming in the least afraid of this new change in circumstances.
He paused for too long, the goons with the senator leapt forward, ready to take him down. It wasn’t the first time Eyes had been in a three-to-one fight. It hadn’t been fun in the past, and it wasn’t going to be fun right now. They all fell to the floor as they each attempted dominance.
Eyes slid his arm under an attacker’s chin, then cinched his arm, locking the man in. Fists were raining down on him from the other men, but luckily their hits weren’t connecting in the right places. He couldn’t stay in this position long, it was just a matter of time before things went bad for him if he didn’t gain control over the situation, and fast.
Eyes kicked at one of the men’s legs, but the move didn’t have the intended effect, instead bringing the man down on top of him. Eyes smashed his forehead into the nose of the man, instantly breaking it and causing him to scream and spray of blood all over Eyes’s face.
Just as he brought his arm over the man spewing blood, the last man walked up to the pile of fighting bodies. The sole of a boot blocked out the lights in the room, and Eyes knew he was about to get his face bashed in. Just as the boot started coming down, a crunching sound blitzed into his attacker.
No more than three seconds went by before the massive sliding glass door in the kitchen exploded, glass falling down in tiny shards. Three men came through the door like a Michael Bay movie. Sleep, Smoke, and Chad, holding long guns, stepped into the room in unison, stopping all the fighting.
Green had made short order of the man he’d tackled seconds before. And then in another few seconds all of the men who were so-called security for the senator, were on their knees, hands behind their backs, zip ties locking their hands in place.
“Four men outside have been secured,” Smoke said.
“No one was upstairs, we’re clear there,” Green added.
“Nice try, you son of a bitch,” Eyes said into the ear of the guy who’d almost stomped his face. He put an extra pinch on the zip tie holding the security man’s hands.
The senator, who’d been looking so cocky just moments before, now seemed a bit rattled. It was almost fascinating watching all of the emotion flitter across her face. She was rapidly recovering her composure though, faster than most people would.
“Hendrick?” the senator’s voice questioned as Green moved forward with confidence.
“Don’t say a word,” Eyes shot out to Green. He knew this would now turn into a legal battle that couldn’t be avoided, and he needed to make sure his men didn’t incriminate themselves in any way.
He turned to all of them. “None of you say a word. Take the guys to the front door and connect them with the others. You, check the senator for weapons. You and you, take a route and make sure everyone’s completely secure, then get back here asap.” He didn’t use their names. He wanted the senator to have zero information.
Sleep and Smoke nodded their heads, confirming they’d return fast. Chad checked the senator for weapons, not caring about her personal space by patting down every inch she could possibly hide something. He found nothing. Eyes didn’t want Green in the room at all and knew that Chad would be able to work with Sheriff McCormack once he arrived. Green was the only face the senator recognized other than Damien’s.
“Are you okay?” Eyes asked Damien, looking over his bloodied face.
“Just a scratch here and there,” Damien said.
“I thought the same thing but wasn’t sure how soft you’d gotten over the years,” Eyes said.
Damien’s smile fell and was replaced by rage. A fire overtook him, and he was about to become unleashed, but Eyes stopped him, putting his hand on his shoulder, keeping Damien in his seat.
“No, D-Train, not here, not now,” Eyes whispered in his ear.
Eyes brought his attention to the senator, his focus burning into her. His own rage was trying to escape. Whatever was happening, this woman was at the head of using his friend as a pawn in something bad. He wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he’d do his best to help Damien figure out what in the hell was going on. Eyes also worried about Green, who was now wrapped up in the mess. He knew Green was clean, and they could prove it, but this entire thing was going to be a massive cluster.
“What’s this all about?” Eyes questioned the senator.
She smiled, the way a snake would look at an injured rabbit. “Whoever you are, you’re so far removed from any importance in my world, I can’t think of a response that would be worth using on you.”
Brackish’s voice jumped into Eyes’s ear, “Tell her you know about her company — Redsnow Consulting.”
“You might not have any response for me, but I know about Redsnow Consulting, and more than you can imagine,” Eyes said with a smirk he knew would get under her skin.
The senator went from cocky to aghast in a single heartbeat. She’d believed that company was so far removed from any person she was attached with that hearing someone utter the name in front of her had to be a kick in her gut. She took a step toward the island, reaching for it, using the surface to help maintain her balance.
“Yeah lady, you’re going down,” Eyes said with a smile. It wasn’t his goofy smile his team knew so well, it was a return of a smile that was snake-like, that knew it had injected venom into its prey and the end was near.
“What’s this about?” Damien asked.
“We’ll talk to you about it when she’s in jail,” Smoke said over his shoulder.
Sheriff McCormack called into the house,
“Clear?”
Eyes responded in the positive, telling the police officer to come in and arrest the woman for false imprisonment, which was enough to take her for a ride to the jail. By the time she was there a host of new charges would be sent over.
That didn’t mean she’d stay in jail, but at least it was a start.
The senator was shell-shocked, but wise enough to not say a word as she was read her Miranda rights while the sheriff slapped handcuffs on her and walked her to the police car. The senator’s security team was loaded up and taken away as well.
All the members of their team exited before the rest of the police showed up, and Damien and Eyes gave statements just as the media vans arrived. Eyes flipped his hood over his head and looked down at the ground before grabbing Damien and loading him into his car.
“Don’t want to be recorded,” Damien said as he looked at Eyes in a knowing way.
“Nope,” Eyes said simply.
“Are you going to tell me who those men working with you are, and why you’re acting like a SEAL?”
“Nope,” Eyes said.
“Good enough for me. You guys saved my life and the life of my wife and daughter,” Damien said as he reached out and patted Eyes’s shoulder. There was a suspiciously choked sound to Damien’s voice. Eyes gave him a few seconds to recover himself. “Thank you. Those words aren’t nearly enough, but they’re all I have. Thank you.”
“You’d do it for me,” Eyes told him.
“Without hesitation,” Damien said.
Eyes drove Damien to the hospital and his wife and daughter were waiting as they arrived, their tears flowing as they wrapped Damien in their embrace and took him inside. Eyes slipped away. He didn’t have to ask Brackish to handle the clean-up as he’d already made the calls to get the house cleaned and the door repaired.
Eyes had never been more thankful for the team he was on and who he worked with. They not only had each other’s backs every single day, but they could communicate without words. Eyes knew this was far from over, but he felt closer and closer to solving the entire puzzle.
He didn’t care what it took, they’d find all they needed to take the senator completely down. She was a menace to society and any longer in office and she’d be unstoppable. The only reason they could get to her now was she was so new in the political world and didn’t have all of the protection in place so many long-time government servants had.
They were going to get her — and they’d find out why Damien was such a target. They’d find it all out . . .
Chapter Twenty
Joseph Anderson looked around and since no one was watching, he pulled out a cigar, prepared it, sucked a nice plume of smoke in his mouth, then let it back out and smiled. He was good — he was damn good.
“Someone’s looking mighty proud of himself.” Joseph choked on the last of his cigar smoke as he spun around to see Sherman Armstrong walking up to him with Avery’s mother, Bobbie, on his arm.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack, Sherman. What are you doing sneaking up on an old man like that?”
“I’m out having a stroll in this tropical paradise,” Sherman said. The smile he sent to Bobbie made Joseph’s heart proud.
“It looks like the two of you are enjoying this paradise together,” Joseph said with a chuckle. Bobbie blushed as she looked down.
“We’re . . . um . . . we’re just friends,” Bobbie finally said.
Sherman chuckled. “Yes, friends,” he said, giving her such a loving smile it nearly made Joseph blush, and that wasn’t something that happened too often.
“Well, there’s no better place to be with friends,” Joseph said, deciding now wasn’t the time to push the new couple. They needed to come out in their own time. As people aged, there wasn’t the hurry he saw in the younger generation. As long as they were together, that was good enough for him for now.
“I’m so glad Steve and Erin decided to have a second wedding in Fiji. Unbelievably, I’ve never been here before. But we’ve only been here two days and I already know we’ll come back each year,” Sherman said.
“I never traveled,” Bobbie said. “So, this is beyond a treat for me. I was so glad to be included in this family event.”
“Those boys work together and play together. When your Avery married to Carl, you became family as well,” Joseph told Bobbie. The smile she gave him was sweet and appreciative.
“When you’re on your own as long as Avery and I had been, it’s sometimes difficult to feel like a family, but each day that passes in our new lives in Washington is another that makes me feel we’re right where we belong.”
“You’ve been here a while now. Will you stay?” Joseph asked her.
“Yes, I think we’ll most certainly stay,” Bobbie told him.
“There are many reasons you’re wanted here,” Sherman said. “I think this is an ideal location for a wedding and honeymoon. We might just have to come back real soon.”
Bobbie’s eyes widened at Sherman’s words, and Joseph took another puff from his cigar and smiled as he looked out over the incredible ocean.
“I wouldn’t mind attending a dozen weddings here,” Joseph said. “Just let me know when.”
Before Sherman could respond, Hendrick walked down the path, Mallory at his side, deep in an intense conversation. They stopped, Mallory blushing, and Hendrick looking quite pleased with himself.
“What are you up to on this fine day?” Hendrick asked as his arm wound around Mallory’s waist. She squirmed for a moment before she sighed and snuggled in a little closer.
“We’re just discussing how much we love this location for weddings and honeymoons,” Joseph said. “Do you agree?”
Hendrick beamed. “I couldn’t agree more. I was just saying the same thing to Mallory.” The woman, who was normally so confident, blushed scarlet and looked at her sandals as if they were the most fascinating things she’d ever seen.
“How did you get Mallory here? The last I heard she was doing her best to avoid you,” Joseph taunted.
Hendrick laughed, not at all affected by the teasing.
“I told her I was taking her on a date. Then I recruited her friend, who packed a bag for a tropical paradise, and whisked her off on the jet. She wanted to kill me at first, then decided since she hasn’t had a vacation in three years, she’d earned one, and here we are.”
“How did the FBI feel about you being kidnapped?” Joseph asked Mallory.
She glowered for a moment. Then she chuckled. “My boss told me it was about time someone kidnapped me. He said I talk so much smack to everyone he was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. Then he said I’d handled the senator’s case to perfection, that I was getting a promotion, and to enjoy the next two weeks off. I think he might worship Hendrick a bit.”
“Ah, it sounds like you have a pretty amazing boss. And he knows there’s much more to come with the senator and the high-powered players who are beginning to go down. I’m glad you get to refresh in this paradise,” Joseph said. Then he smiled as he gazed at Hendrick. “But more importantly, what is this about weddings you’re speaking of?”
Hendrick looked like a kid in a candy store. “I’ve decided I’m going to marry this woman. But I don’t want to scare her off, so I’m just throwing out little clues for now so she’s prepared when I propose.”
His words made all of them laugh. “That was a little hint?” Sherman asked.
“What?” Hendrick asked with an innocent act the man must’ve perfected in his thirty-two years of life because it was almost believable. “That wasn’t a hint.”
“If you say it’s not a hint, then I’ll take you at your word,” Joseph said. “And I want an invite to the wedding. No more quickie weddings. The joining of two people should be celebrated and enjoyed for weeks not hours.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Plan on coming back to Fiji or somewhere else tropical in about three months,” Hendrick said.
&nbs
p; “Deal,” Joseph said, beaming at Mallory who seemed as if she was accepting this new reality Hendrick had thrust upon her. They were falling in love, and it was quite beautiful to see they weren’t fighting it.
They heard giggling and turned to see Carl and Avery running down the wooden dock in their swimsuits, grins on their faces as they clasped hands. They turned onto the next dock before they saw Joseph and the rest of their group, and then the two of them launched themselves from the end of the pier and dove into the ocean, breaking back out of the water and falling into one another’s arm. The kiss they shared made the entire group turn away, not wanting to intrude on their intimate moment.
“I always hoped Avery would find a suitable husband. I’m so happy she got the love of her life instead,” Bobbie said with a sigh. They heard splashing behind them, making all of their group giggle.
“Everyone deserves deep love,” Sherman said as he again looked at Bobbie with so much love it was impossible not to be touched by it.
“I agree. Without Katherine life would have no meaning,” Joseph said.
“My ears are burning,” Katherine said as she walked down the pathway, light surrounding her in her flowing white sleeveless vest. She had a clip in her silver hair made of leaves and flowers that looked like a crown fit for a queen. Her lips were painted pink, matching her bare toes, and she was so stunning she literally took his breath away. She easily slid up to his side and wrapped her slender arm around her husband. He carefully pulled her close, knowing she was the most precious gift he’d ever been bestowed.
“You know I can’t go five minutes without thinking of you, my love. Especially in this paradise. Let’s come here next year on our anniversary and renew our vows.”
She beamed up at him. “Oh, Joseph, that’s a lovely idea. Let’s spend a month here fishing, taking tours, and spending days at the spa.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll spend as much time as you like my love. There’s nothing I won’t do to see that smile on your face.”