by Barb Han
“I need a good man and we both know that you’re the best.” Jaden leaned against the wall and folded his arms. His gaze surveyed the one-room apartment and he looked unsure if Daniel would pop off the couch and throw a punch.
“You’ve come to the wrong place. I don’t do grunt work for idiot politicians anymore.”
“Neither do I. This isn’t the same kind of assignment we used to do. In fact, I almost didn’t come because...” Jaden looked around before kicking a Coke can out of the path on his way to the sofa.
“Maid doesn’t come ’til Thursday,” Daniel stated.
“It is Thursday,” Jaden said plainly.
“Then she’ll be here any minute, so you’d better get to the point.” Daniel sat up and rubbed the scruff on his chin. He probably looked like crap, which pretty much matched his mood so he couldn’t care less. “Besides, I have shit to do.”
“A girl’s missing,” Jaden said.
“Now I see why you’d come to the holy trinity of human trafficking epicenters,” Daniel said, referring to Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. “Still not interested.”
“Look, Gunner told me what happened before and I’m sorry—”
“Save the sermon.” Daniel didn’t do Sunday church and especially not on Thursday. And those last two words grated down his back.
“I would’ve come with him if I’d known.” Remorse scored Jaden’s forehead with slashes. “It should’ve been me telling you, not—”
“Why are you really here?” Daniel cut in.
“I haven’t seen you in two years. I’ve been trying to track you down, which hasn’t been easy—”
“There’s no one I want to talk to and especially not someone from ManTech, which is exactly why I moved here,” Daniel said. Cuba was underdeveloped and poor. Food was scarce. It was hot as hell and there was no A/C in the shoebox of an apartment that Daniel had rented. He deserved Cuba.
“Like I said, I need your help.” Jaden didn’t have a clue any more.
“You said you needed a good man. You came to the wrong place, hombre.”
Jaden folded his arms over his chest and looked like he was waiting for a better response.
Daniel searched his friend’s expression for judgment but found none. That pissed him off even more.
He popped to his feet. “I don’t want any part of whatever it is you think you need me for.”
“I heard you.”
“Then what are you still doing here?” Daniel’s temper was escalating.
“Checking on my friend,” Jaden said.
“That bastard died along with his wife and child two years ago or have you forgotten what I said to you at the funeral?” Daniel retorted, pushing Jaden back a step.
Jaden tensed, and for a split-second Daniel thought his friend was about to fight back. He felt like a prick when he realized Jaden was tensing up to be able to take a punch.
But Daniel’s anger was relentless. “You came. You saw. Now leave.”
Silence sat between them like heavy pre-storm air.
“What have you been up to?” Jaden scanned the one-room apartment, no doubt looking for empty whisky bottles or beer cans. He wouldn’t find any. Numbing himself from the pain would be taking the easy way out. Daniel deserved to suffer.
“Quilting.”
“In a place this hot?” Jaden shot a questioning look.
“Plan to sell them online,” Daniel quipped.
Jaden walked around the one-room space. The place was a hole but what did Daniel care.
His friend walked over to the mini-fridge and then opened the door. All he would find was yogurt and a carton of milk. Daniel didn’t cook. When he was hungry he walked to the corner where Senora Bassave-Espellosa cooked from her small kitchen. Two knocks on the backdoor before opening the screen was all it took to get the finest Ropa Vieja in all of Havana. The best part was that no one ever asked questions.
“Why come here to live?” Jaden closed the fridge door.
“What’s wrong with this place?” Daniel feigned insult.
Jaden lifted an empty container and then dropped it on the floor. A roach scurried across the floor. “Nothing. Doesn’t answer my question.”
“Marlin fishing.” Daniel hadn’t been on the seas since he’d arrived six months ago.
“You’re a regular Hemingway.” Jaden slowly walked around the place. He picked up a pair of ripped jeans and tossed them toward Daniel. “This isn’t healthy. You gotta rejoin life, man.”
“What? Me? I’m living the dream here.” Daniel stretched out his arms. He was being a prick but his anger—anger at himself—was relentless. He didn’t deserve to be let off the hook for Ruthie’s and Naomi’s deaths. He should’ve been there to stop Nunez and those bastards.
Jaden’s brows creased and worry lines bracketed his mouth. “I’m being serious. What do you think about coming back to the states, taking the job?”
“I’d like to help you out but WiFi’s too unpredictable,” Daniel shot back.
“Who said this involved a computer?” It wasn’t hard to see that Daniel didn’t own one. Well, he did. But it was in storage in Dallas, gathering dust along with the rest of his possessions.
“I’m not leaving the island, so I figured you’d—”
“Might not hurt to get out of this apartment and make a little money on the side,” Jaden continued. “In case you wanted to buy a laptop or something.”
“What would I use it for?”
“Check your stock portfolio,” Jaden said.
“You don’t have the kind of work I want to do.” Daniel didn’t miss a beat.
“And what is that?”
“Barista at a coffee house.”
Jaden laughed despite his obvious somber mood.
“I like coffee,” Daniel defended.
“Really? Because you seem like a Coke drinker to me.” When Daniel didn’t shoot a comeback, Jaden continued. “A few weeks is all it would take. Maybe less. Might not hurt to dust off your boots and get some exercise.”
“I don’t do the jungle anymore. No more ants the size of my hand,” Daniel snapped. Thinking about work reminded him of things that woke him in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Hell, not thinking about work had the same effect.
“Good. I hate the jungle. I’m based in America now,” Jaden said.
“Well, that’s too bad. I gave up my citizenship when my country betrayed my family.” He didn’t bother to hide the venom in those words.
Jaden took a couple of slow laps around the cramped space.
“You trying to make me dizzy?” Daniel asked.
“Something like that,” Jaden’s voice was a study in calm.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
“On what?” Jaden gave a hard look at the sofa that was covered in clothes and boxes.
“That armchair not good enough for you?” Daniel cleared a box and made a production of wiping the material on the seat. Yeah, he was being a prick.
Jaden perched on the edge, clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on his knees. It was then that Daniel saw that his friend was holding something in his hand. A photo?
“Don’t people keep those on their phones now?” he quipped. A pang of guilt nailed him at being a jerk to his old buddy, especially since it was clear the guy’s heart was in the right place. Daniel just had so much anger at the ready and no one to take it out on.
But then, orphaned by age four and then passed around foster homes, Daniel was used to being alone. Naomi and Ruthie had changed that for him. They’d cared. And look at how he’d repaid them. Rage heated his veins.
“Yeah. I guess some people do.” Jaden’s gaze intensified on a spot on the floor.
When he didn’t continue, Daniel said, “Care to elaborate?”
“I’m trying to decide.”
He could admit that his interest was piqued a little.
“You came a long way for nothing. Might as well show me what you brought,” Daniel sa
id.
“I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it,” Jaden said after a few beats.
“Worth what?”
“If it’ll make a difference.” His friend took him apart with his gaze, head to toe. “Or just make things worse.” Jaden paused. “I didn’t come here to do that.”
A look of pity crossed his features, causing another shot of anger to bolt through Daniel. This shit was about to get real.
“Spit it out, Orchard,” Daniel said. He picked up a pack of matches and lit the first one before tossing it into an empty coffee mug and watching it burn.
“You remember Bear—”
“Let me stop you right there. Not interested.” The last Daniel had heard of Tate “Bear” Parker was that after he’d been medically discharged from the Army, he started work in Montana for an agency calling themselves the Brotherhood Protectors. Bear had found the real deal with a screenwriter by the name of Mia. Daniel could only hope their old friend’s family didn’t suffer the same fate as his own. This line of work left collateral damage that could break even the strongest person.
“You know what?” Jaden stood. “I came to the wrong place.”
“You don’t like it here?” He cocked his head to the side, pursed his lips and squinted at his friend.
“It’s not that,” Jaden said.
“Something wrong with my personality?” Daniel asked. Damn. He wasn’t picking on Jaden. His anger was a deep well that had had no outlet. Even bringing justice to the men who’d killed his family hadn’t eased the ache. Nunez and his men would rot in prison for the rest of their lives. It didn’t change the fact that Daniel’s family was gone. He wanted to be left alone.
“Nope. You’re a peach.” With that, Jaden walked across the room and to the door. He paused, bent down, and picked up a can. Jaden crunched it in his fist. He turned toward the door like he was about to walk out, spun around and chunked the can at Daniel’s head.
With pinpoint accuracy, Daniel caught the can before it collided with his face.
“Yeah. You’re out of shape. I’m wasting my time here.” Jaden walked out the door.
For a split-second, Daniel considered chasing after his friend. Instead, he lit another match. Then he sucked in a sharp breath and shot to his feet.
It was then he saw the piece of paper on the chair. He considered lighting another match and torching the chair.
He figured his landlady wouldn’t appreciate her livelihood going up in flames and even in his current crappy state of mind he couldn’t do that to the woman who’d been nothing but kind to him.
Besides, curiosity got to him.
Daniel walked over to the picture, picked it up and stared in disbelief. He fought against the instinct to crumble it in his hand. This was below the belt, even for a ManTech employee.
“Asshole,” he muttered. And then came, “Fuck.”
Daniel drove onto the property, stopped and double checked that this was the address on the back of the photo. He had a bone to pick with Jaden Orchard.
What the hell was the man doing with his name on a peach orchard in North Texas? The irony wasn’t lost on Daniel. He parked the duel king cab pickup truck that he’d rented next to the house. His mood hadn’t improved since the last time he’d seen Jaden, and Daniel didn’t figure it was about to.
Anger burned through him for the past three days as he tried to forget the round angelic face on that picture. It was hot outside. People said dry heat made a difference but hot was freaking hot.
Daniel glanced around and didn’t see a welcome wagon. So, he walked onto the porch and tried the door handle. It wasn’t locked. He jerked the door open so hard that it smacked against the wall.
“Jaden Orchard. Sonofabitch. Where are you?” Daniel’s voice echoed in the open-concept space. He stalked across the wood flooring, his boots boomed with each forward step.
The backdoor opened and a woman walked inside. Her curly mane of red hair was barely contained in a ponytail. She froze the second her eyes landed on Daniel.
Daniel’s gaze landed hard on her round baby bump. A flashback of his own wife pregnant with his daughter slammed into him.
“Are you okay?” the redhead asked. Her brow shot up like she’d just read his mind.
His head pounded in the damn heat. “No. It’s freaking hot, my tires are melting and I came a long way to speak to Jaden Orchard.”
“You must be Daniel. Jaden said he was expecting you.” Her voice trembled enough for guilt to slice through him. He didn’t want to take his frustration out on a pregnant woman.
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
He nodded, figuring the opposite was true.
“I’m Lauren,” she continued, eyes on him like she’d been cornered by a hungry lion. She pulled her cell from her handbag that was sitting on top of the center island. “I’ll just let Jaden know his friend has arrived.”
She didn’t take her gaze off Daniel for a few seconds before breaking contact in order to punch in a text message. The redhead set her phone down and looked up at him. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
He lifted his chin in a slight nod and stopped staring at her.
The living room, kitchen and dining rooms could be best described as airy. The decorations were contemporary but softer. There was definitely a feminine touch on the place that had a modern feel with clean lines. Blue-gray paint covered the walls in the open-concept space that was family room, gathering area and kitchen. Cathedral-like ceilings with a wood beam running across gave the place a dramatic feel.
“Have a seat.” She motioned toward the white granite kitchen island that had enough chairs around it for eight people.
He complied.
“How was your flight?” she asked after pouring water into a container and then pushing a couple of buttons on one of those fancy automatic coffee makers.
The machine hummed to life as it started spitting the dark roast into a clear cup.
Daniel didn’t want to do small talk and he sure as hell didn’t want to be in the same room with a woman glowing from pregnancy.
“I’ll wait outside.” He pushed away from the island and got to his feet.
“Don’t go,” Lauren pleaded. His gaze on her belly caused her to rub the bump subconsciously. A train horn sounded from the cell phone in front of her cutting through the air, thick with tension. She picked up her phone and read the screen. “Jaden’s headed in from the barn now.”
Her gaze darkened and he could almost feel a wave of fear ripple off of her.
“That all he said?” Daniel’s interest was piqued. Why the reaction?
She stared at him blankly. “He said I should ask you to wait outside and then lock the door the second you leave.”
Chapter 5
Daniel smirked. He appreciated the honesty. “You can tell him that I’m not going to hurt you.”
He reclaimed his seat at the granite island.
“I didn’t think you would.” A nervous smile played with the corners of her mouth, but she turned her back to him in order to pour coffee into a mug—a move that showed trust. One of the fundamentals of combat was never turning away from an enemy. Soldiers were trained in the move but, honestly, most people knew it on instinct.
“Do you take sugar?” she asked, turning her head to the side.
“No,” he practically grunted, causing her shoulders to tense.
“Cream?”
“Black’s fine.” Seeing a pregnant woman wasn’t doing good things to his mind. He hadn’t been there for Naomi’s pregnancy. He’d found out that he would be a father via a video chat. She’d kept it a secret for the first six months, afraid of his reaction to the news. He’d lied and told her that having a baby would be a good thing, covering the fact that he’d been planning to break off their engagement. Guilt picked at the edges of still-fresh scabs.
Naomi had sure as hell deserved better than him.
For the past two years he’d wallowed in self-pity, hating the w
orld, trying not to get sick to his stomach when he looked at pictures of his wife and daughter, hating himself for missing so much of their lives.
To make matters worse, he could’ve come home for Naomi’s last trimester but volunteered for an additional deployment instead. Yes, that made him a bastard.
“Here we go then.” Lauren turned around. Her smile was plastered on but he appreciated the effort she was making. He shouldn’t let it put a chink in his armor as he took the cup of fresh coffee. It might be hot outside but the A/C in this house ran on full tilt.
“Thank you.” He took a sip and set it on the granite.
The back door opened so fast and hard it smacked against the wall.
Lauren gasped as Jaden filled the frame, his face a study in tension and anxiety. His gaze froze on Daniel, who didn’t bother to stand.
Instead, he sipped his coffee like this was nothing more than Sunday brunch.
Lauren’s gaze bounced from her husband—Daniel could tell they’d married by the matching gold wedding band she wore—to him.
“I’ll leave you guys to business,” she said, catching Daniel’s gaze. It was almost like she was asking permission to go, checking to see if Daniel would be okay.
He’d be damned. The kind gesture softened him and for a split-second he remembered what it was like to have someone on this earth who cared about him. Another jab of guilt followed as he remembered the burden he’d been to Naomi.
The image of his dead wife and child assaulted him. He mentally shook it off and gave a curt nod in Lauren’s direction.
“Holler if you need me,” she said before walking over to give her husband a kiss. She turned to Daniel and patted her bump. “We’re getting close to meeting this little guy. Seems like he’s all I can think about these days. That and sleep since I’m not getting much more than naps anymore.”
Daniel nodded and grunted. He took another sip of his coffee and worked hard not to let her condition impact his judgment with Jaden. Daniel did realize why Jaden would come to him. The young girl’s face in the photo was someone Jaden wanted to help. Coming to Daniel to save a child was the equivalent of emotional blackmail. What grieving father would turn down the chance to save someone else’s little girl?