Burt began to sign where he was instructed. He coughed as another sheaf of papers was presented to him and the original set was given to the doctor to also sign.
A loud intercom page for the doctor barked in the hallway and startled everyone. Another pile of papers was hurriedly shoved at the doctor and he began to protest, but Fellows insisted. Burt began to cough again as the doctor left the room in response to the page.
In between coughing fits Burt attempted to complete another signature, while Fellows helped stabilize his wrist and hold the paper, but midway through, Burt’s hand fell back to the bed, the pen still gripped in his fingers. His head drooped to the side. His eyes were still open, staring at the ground.
Ginger flagged the nurse and directed her toward Burt’s room.
As suspected, Burt was gone, the nurse confirmed. The attorney was picking up his paperwork and stuffing them back in his briefcase. He headed for the door.
As he passed by, he stopped. “Tell Adele I’ll phone her. I’m afraid he left us before I could finish so nothing is signed. I’ll explain it all to her when I talk to her.”
“I will.” Ginger watched Fellows head toward the elevators as the finality and sadness of Burt’s passing hit her. Now she was all alone with her former father-in-law. Jake was in Mexico. The whole family had been ripped apart, admittedly by their own actions. And even run out on each other.
Even the dignity of Burt’s last breath was stolen from him. He died over a pile of papers, which was how he lived.
She slid down the wall, bending her knees, buried her head there and sobbed.
Chapter 20
Back at the lodges, the Team was in an upbeat mood. Kyle called a meeting and lined out what they were to do. T.J. brought out the beer, and Fredo laid out the fruit from his brunch on the beach, courtesy of Rodrigo. He zapped the leftover tamales and finger foods in the complex kitchen and placed them on the table in the middle as well.
Jake squeezed a lime into the long-necked beer and had it half downed before he felt something wrong with the taste, and then remembered his promise to stay sober. He set the bottle down, sliding it toward T.J, and went in search of a bathroom.
Sounds of laughter and music coming from the living room didn’t match his mood. He was upset with himself for the slip with the beer and hoped Kyle and Coop didn’t notice. He’d given his word. This was Day 4 of his new clean and sober lifestyle. He cursed himself for having forgotten so soon, and then realized it must have been the pressure from not knowing what was going on with his dad. He had never considered the possibility Mr. Green was more fragile than he normally looked. But Jake also knew what pressure could do to a man. Drive him literally insane.
He washed his hands and stared into the mirror. It was funny how that half bottle affected his nerves. Took the edge off the pain. He hoped his father recovered and made a vow to repair his relationship with him first thing when he returned.
That and re-marry Ginger. Something small and intimate.
He re-hung the hand towel and decided he looked acceptable. As he reached for the door handle he noticed his hands were shaking.
Jake sat on a bench with Fredo, rather than the couch sandwiched between T.J. and Armando.
“So, Fredo, Danny and Armando will be going to the Pink Palace,” said Kyle. “I’ll have Ollie and Tay hang back and give cover in case we have to do an emergency extraction. Alex, I’m putting you up on this rooftop here. Looks like it’s a storage room for the complex. All three of you bring your long guns and your night gear, okay?”
“You think I should get miced up?” Asked Fredo.
“No, because then someone’s got to monitor it. I’m trusting you guys on this one. We’re in, we don’t want to get caught with an Invisio in our ears and blow the cover.”
“Could use one of my button minis,” suggested Fredo.
“Nope. I’m going to nix it. We’ll have a com between us, but you guys inside are gonna have to be quiet. Can’t risk it. This will be a fast-moving party, I’m guessing. We’re here to get the introduction cemented so we can catch them at home. The Feds are going to make the arrest. We’re here to help them build a case, and protect American citizens.
It made perfect sense to Jake. But since he didn’t hear his name called, figured he’d be part of the second round of backup shooters, or relievers.
“No drones?” Ollie asked.
“Not at nighttime. Line of sight is compromised and with all the revelers, I just don’t want to tip our hand.”
This was the part of a new operation that was exciting. Jake knew every one of the SEALs felt like he did, and if they didn’t feel that adrenaline and determination driving them to an effective outcome, that was the time to quit. Scanning the room, he saw faces of men who would lay down their lives for him. Everyone came with their own baggage. He’d been dosing and medicating himself with alcohol, and just now began to realize how much of it was unconscious. He needed to admit he was afraid sometimes. He worried sometimes, but rather than get a crutch, he’d use the crutch of their training, the abilities of men on both sides of him who would not give up.
No matter what.
Across the table his long necked beer with the lime stuck in it remained half consumed. It was his trophy. A symbol of him becoming a better man. A better husband, lover, father. A better son, even if his father wouldn’t live long enough to see it in him.
And if he had the opportunity, he’d be kinder to the man who had helped create him. He’d give him a break. He’d do what he could to lift the man’s spirits and perhaps help him repair his soul. Because he knew his dad had always been a warrior and was driven. But somehow he’d lost his way. Jake might be able to help lead him back. Ginger had given him that opportunity to be the father and husband he’d always wanted to be. She believed in him. Jake decided he needed to start bringing some of that to his dad.
Coop saw him staring down at the bottle, but his face showed no emotion.
“Everyone good? Speak up now if you have questions,” said Kyle, finishing off his briefing.
Quietly, the group prepared. Backpacks were adjusted, loaded up with supplies for danger and for safety. Each man was responsible for carrying with him the tools of the trade. His favorite sidearm. His favorite clips and straps. Ammo, scopes, goggles. First aid kits were checked and replenished. Something for heat, something for pain. Something for staying awake. Maybe even something from home, if they dared.
He thought of his dad, lying in a hospital bed, and wondered what he’d think if he could see him right now, preparing for the unexpected, doing his job. Doing what he’d been birthed to do for people he’d never meet. Only because he was that guy who could do it.
Even with all the fears that made other people quit or run away.
I’m still here.
PT and training was always filled with music and bravado. Getting ready for a mission and doing that was like spiking the football before the goal was achieved. Some men listened to music or something inspirational. Others listened to a favorite song because that was their lucky routine. Jake just sat with his pack on his thighs, waiting for the group to move out. Some were prepared with funny-looking backpacks and Aloha shirts, canvas slip-ons and backwards-turned baseball caps, with a sidearm strapped some place hidden and quickly accessible. Others were wearing all black to blend into the night, carrying long gun duty bags, black backpacks or vests with custom pockets stuffed with their own tools. They’d be driving in two separate vans. One was for the tourists. One was for the security detail. Both were equally important.
Kyle approached. “How’re you feeling, Jake?”
“I’m good.”
“You need to check in before we go?”
“If there was news, they’d call me. No news is good news right now.”
“So you know you have to go dark until we’re done here. You okay with that?”
Jake looked his LPO in the eyes. Kyle was not always the fastest or strongest, but
he would always go emotionally where none of the other guys would go every time. And that’s what made him a leader. He never ran away.
“You mean, would I be okay if I learn that my father has died while I’m here and dark? That what you’re asking?”
“Yup. That’s it.”
“My focus is on my job, Kyle. I’m not going to lie and say I’ll not think about it, but I’m going to think about how good it will be to shake his hand again and give him a hug. That’s what I’m going to be thinking about.”
“You’re a good man, Jake.”
When Kyle walked away, Coop was on him. Kyle was giving the instructions to move out. Jake stood up, adjusted his pack over his shoulder and walked with Coop.
“I liked what you did over there,” Coop said, pointing to the empty bottle at the table. “So that’s the battle you forge every day, man. You made the right choice today. Some days you won’t. Today you did, Jake.”
Jake gripped his hand, and then the two walked away because nothing more had to be said.
The squad piled into the two vans and both took separate routes out of the driveway, one to the right, one to the left.
Jake, Coop, Alex and Jameson hiked up the forested ridge behind the pink complex. At night, the jungle-like foliage was teeming with bugs and reptiles, and small mammals frightened by their footsteps. The moon was full, so they didn’t have to resort to any Night Vision gear. If the clouds kept coming and the moon was obscured, they’d need their enhancements.
But he was glad he’d brought extra repellant, because the biting bugs were all over the place and several fell down his back and pinched his flesh, but didn’t hang on. He stopped trying to smash them after awhile and just dealt with it.
Coop motioned to the warehouse building on the right on a slight rise above the main house, where Alex was supposed to get set up. It would give them an unobstructed view of the approach to the front door, but not the door itself. They split up into two groups, each scaling the wall and then lying flat on the corrugated metal, being careful to stay quiet. Normally, Armando or Luke would be their lookout-shooter, but tonight Armando was bait and Luke had a little one expected any day so wasn’t tapped for the trip. Alex was good, but everyone knew he was number three shooter, tied with Jameson. But he had more experience on the Teams, so it was his job tonight to be the sniper.
When Kyle wasn’t present, Coop would take over leadership, unless he was tending to someone, since he was their number one medic. T.J. had become a very close second, and he was with their other group.
Alex was set up and in place in less than two minutes.
They observed Fredo’s van pull up to the house and park where directed, down a small driveway offshoot to a secluded parking lot. The trio of Amigos looked like normal twenty-year-olds looking for a party with hot girls and plenty of recreational substances. Fredo had put extra pomade in his hair to slick it down, and unbuttoned his tropical shirt one button too many, exposing the gold chains he wore, along with a prominent cross that actually was something he wore that had belonged to his dad.
Armando was looking cool with his shades on even though it was dark. With his Hollywood good looks and shiny light grey silk shirt over jeans, he too had applied extra hair wax but was more discrete on the chest hair exposure. He walked with a smooth gait. Jake knew in the back of his pants, underneath the untucked shirt was a Glock, unlike Fredo, who liked to be strapped on the calf.
Jake didn’t know where Danny was stashing his piece. With his proud Navajo features and his unusually tall height from his mother’s Northern California tribe connections, he wore only a turquoise pendant and white tucked-in long sleeve button-down shirt like it was the only one he owned.
All three of them were dressed well, were greeted and checked over by a two-man security team outside the entrance, and were inside like they did this sort of thing every day.
Music echoed down the canyon and over the water. The view of twinkle lights from a handful of small craft anchored off shore was peaceful. The air was warm and there was a slight breeze, which helped with the insects. Now it was just hunker down and wait.
He heard Coop give Kyle the ready-in-place sign, and it was showtime.
“Jameson and Jake, you guys can take a rest if you want. I’ll get you to spell Alex in an hour, okay?” Coop nodded to Jameson who nodded back.
Jake turned to his back and watched the stars. Smoky clouds with long tendrils of opaque covered the sky in patches, but in general the weather was mild and non-threatening. He thought about his dad, lying in the hospital bed and hoped, if he survived, perhaps he could start working with him to get a healthier lifestyle. Maybe take him to Coop’s father-in-law, who was a shrink Kyle wanted him to see. As the unofficial Team headbanger, the guy was supposed to be pretty good with the SEALs. Might be good for his dad, he thought.
He warmly thought of Ginger, holding the whole fuckin’ family together, relaying messages and having to deal with his exes. And the kids he’d brought into the world. The lady was a saint. Why the hell hadn’t he seen that before?
But it was like what he’d learned from one of the old Team guys:
Circumstances don’t make a person, they reveal a person.
She was holding up better than he had any right to hope for. He was going to work hard not to let that coldness and fear grip him, that worry that she’d leave him because he had to keep so much inside. He was afraid of hurting her by telling her some of the things he’d seen. And done. Better to keep her soft and innocent. Better to have her believe in the goodness of mankind, to stay tender and not hardened. Only needed to have one warrior in the family.
But she was being one. He hoped the call with Karlene went okay. He’d left and dumped all that on her, not on purpose, of course, but just because he never really handled anything. He knew how to kill, to protect in times of conflict, to react, to train harder than anyone else he knew, and to fuck like there was no tomorrow. In her quiet way, she met all his intensity with a metal all her own. Her own weapons and tactics. Her own inner strength. She had the ethos.
She’d be the one, like that quote says, who would be the warrior who would bring them all home. He’d left his family in good hands. Of that he was sure. And he’d make sure he came home to help take that load off her as soon as he could.
He thought about the way her hand felt when she grabbed his as they crossed the street just four days ago. Like she was saying, “Jake, are you ready to be the man I married?” And just because she had extended that hand, she helped him to believe he could be that man. Now he’d have to make sure he could do it even if she doubted him again. Things were good now. They were in love again, but he knew, just as sure as he was breathing on top of some building in Mexico, a long way away from home and his family, that there would come a day when he would be tested.
And that’s when he’d know for sure if he could do this, have it all again, or if he had to walk away.
Chapter 21
Ginger felt a strong arm on her shoulder and looked up to see the kind face of the young Indian doctor gently peering down on her.
“I’m so sorry. Would you like to lie down?”
“No.” She allowed him to help her up. Brushing the tears from her cheeks she wanted to tell him what she’d seen, but knew there was no way she would breathe a word of it until she could talk to Jake. “I have to find out where his wife is. Call everyone. I’m the only family here.”
“I understand. But, if you need to rest up, things are simple now for us. Let us handle the relatives. Give yourself a few minutes.”
She needed to call Adele, Gerud, everyone. And Jake. But she nodded as she allowed the nice young doctor to lead her to the chapel, which was mercifully empty. Yes, everything could wait just a few minutes. Give herself time to process it.
“I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed,” the doctor said. “Take as much time as you like. Mr. Green’s door will be closed and posted with a sign. You just come out
when you’re ready.”
She gave him a big hug, nearly bringing back the tears she’d been shedding, holding on to him, the one person she could physically touch who cared anything about what was going on with her. But then the realization began to sink in. He was not Jake. He was just a kind stranger. She had to hold on a bit longer.
When the doctor left, she took a seat midway on the right. The simple room décor, with lighted stained glass window above an altar with a fresh lace runner on it, bearing a small brass cross, was calming. The signal was there. Life came. Life went away. One day onto the next. The finality of parting and death was staring her right in the face, in a serene and peaceful setting. Almost orderly.
Poor Burt wasn’t surrounded by those who loved him. He was surrounded by those who used him. And perhaps that’s what he’d done to them. But it still was a horrible way to die, and something she wished she’d never seen.
She took several deep breaths until the urge to cry left her. Her focus returned. Her mind started to tick off the things she had to do, one by one. She didn’t want to forget anything, anyone.
And it began to make her feel better. She had a job to do. Time to focus on her role.
The hallway was still sparse. The family waiting room was now occupied with an older woman and her friend or sister, one consoling the other. Ginger walked past them to the elevator lobby, pointing to her phone as she caught the attention of the nurse’s station.
First, she dialed Adele and got voicemail.
“Adele, I need to speak with you right away about Burt. It’s urgent.”
Then she called Gerud who picked up on the first ring.
“Anything new?” he asked. He sounded nasally, and tired.
“I’m sorry, Gerud, but your father has passed away.”
The scream on the other end of the phone was full of pain as he shouted No several times.
“Is Mom there?” Gerud said through tears.
“Not yet. I’ve left her a message to call, but she does not know.”
Band of Bachelors: Jake Book 3 Page 12