by Jana Leigh
They called for Champagne, which was two teams in front—one behind. Master Chief was the leader of the team on the roof. They were waiting for the go signal to move lower, joining the two other teams who were already positioned, one on the left of the building and one on the right. His would take front and center when it came down. His job was to guard the front of the building until the other two teams secured the target.
“Green,” the quiet voices started announcing and Master Chief waited.
There was a pause, and they waited for their final okay for the mission. The man they had been searching for had been verified as being in an apartment on the second floor, shit, he was staring right at the asshole. Their mission was to grab the man; he was responsible for the death of a lot of people, sitting in this hovel directing terrorist attacks around the world. The Intel said he had a woman he visited in the building.
There was a little movement but not much, it was dusk and they were going into the building at the most opportune time. Master Chief watched below at the surrounding people who seemingly were innocently strolling. They were waiting for 1800 hours when most people were off the street.
“Irene, I repeat, Irene," LC said clearly, which meant they had the go to do the mission. Now it was a matter of waiting for the correct time. Master Chief gave the nod and Raider, Voodoo, and Emo moved quickly to their positions on the street. Down the stairs and behind the large vehicle they had parked there two days before. He tapped on his watch and looked at the specs of the building. Alex had given them the specs of the building. The man was like a machine when it came to details. Master Chief used his hands and signaled where they would each go when given the order. They had been briefed and walked through many times over the last few days on how this was going to go.
“Heads Up,” he heard LC say. It was almost time, the sun was setting, and from now on the communication would only be by hand signals. They were going dark since the smallest noise could draw attention to them, and that wasn’t what they wanted right now.
Master Chief watched then LC held up a fist, it meant hold up. He watched as a group of men came around the corner, they waited for them to pass and then the first team began to walk swiftly toward the entrance of the building. The team was halfway across the street before anyone had figured out there was a problem.
The lone man walked with determination, Alex tapped their ear wick three times, and all of the men froze and walked to the side. Master Chief saw the man, too, coming around the edge of the corner where Alex and his team were.
The man walked to the front of the building they were breaching and stopped, he grinned and looked around, his eyes stopping on each of his team members. No one had time to react as the man opened his arms wide and lifted them to the sky, that’s when he saw the bomb strapped to the man's stomach and Alex stood and yelled, “Joker!”
The man pressed something on his chest and laughed—the explosion rocked the street.
Fuck, a suicide bomber tried to take them out. How had they known?
It had also been the last time he had spoken to his best friend Raider.
“We good?” Master Chief asked and looked at Raider who was next to him. They had gotten into a pissing match when Raider insisted on shoving the picture of his baby and the death letter in his side pocket just before the mission. Raider knew better than to jinx the fuckin' mission. They were currently waiting on the rooftop to receive their orders. Everyone had to be in place, they needed eyes high up until they were. Then the two would move to their position once the little muther fucker showed up.
“Yep, you didn’t have to pin the ears back though, man. I think I am deaf in one ear now. How am I gonna tell my baby girl that her daddy is deaf because of her godfather. Man, that is totally gonna make me look like a pussy.” Raider laughed.
“Fuck off. You ready?” Master Chief asked and pointed to the small little device that was on his arm.
“Down to the second.” Raider nodded.
“How is Marie?” Master Chief said, hoping to ease some of the tension they were all feeling. They had been gone for a long time, all of them were ready to have a little off time. Especially to meet Raider’s little girl.
“Doing good, we are having a party when we get back. You have to be there and make a speech, asshole, so don’t go disappearing to the bars and banging random chicks. Your presence is requested by the ‘MOM’,” Raider said quietly.
“Hey, I only disappeared once, when that chick tied me down and held me prisoner as her sex slave for a few days,” Master Chief argued.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to have to tell Marie that excuse, so no banging until after the party,” Raider said and glared at his boss and friend.
“Don’t worry, Raider, I will have Mama cast a special spell,” Voodoo said.
“Hell no, she will shrink my dick or something like that,” Master Chief growled.
“Better shrunk than cut off, which is what Marie would do if you missed the shower, or brought one of the barflies with you.” Raider chuckled.
“Green.” They heard over the mics.
“To be continued,” Raider promised and then followed the team to the street.
That day had fucking sucked when he woke up on the street laying among the debris with burn marks and broken bones. His arm had hung down to his side until he made it back to the apartment they shared. That’s where he set his own shoulder against the wall, silently taking the pain because he wanted to help his men. He saw Voodoo come in carrying Raider and he went to his friend’s side.
Fuck! Master Chief cried in his head, he knew if he had opened his mouth a tortured scream would erupt and never stop. How the hell had this happened to Raider? LC had came up, grimaced, and said, “We deal later, together. For now, we need to get the fuck out of here. I need you, Master Chief.”
He had taken a deep breath, stood and nodded, then had shut off his emotions as he always had and took care of the job.
“Stop thinking so hard,” David said to him quietly.
“Fucking dreams,” Gage said and ran a hand over his face.
David looked at this friend closely, they had become close over the last few weeks. He knew what was going on, Gage just never talked about it. The nightmares, the guilt, all of it were weighing on him.
“Yeah, well, this is your first day, and you have a lot more coming. So take it a day at a time, and we will see what happens,” David said and stood.
“Let’s go and unwind at the ranch. Sable called three times already to let me know we needed to ‘hurry our asses up,’” Gage said and stood up. “I am pretty sure the jaywalker isn’t gonna run over night.”
“You never know, man, first jaywalking, then shoplifting, robbery, armed robbery and murder. Things go south all the time,” David argued.
“Now who is dreaming here?” Gage laughed.
“Well one can only hope.” David smiled as they walked out of the Sheriff's office.
Chapter Two
Gage was lying in bed grinning while his little cowgirl was getting dressed to leave. She was on the same page as him—no relationships—no ties. He was never going to settle down as his teammate had just done, it wasn’t in the cards for him.
Last night he had finished his last shift with David and they celebrated by going out to Boots, his cowgirl was a waitress there. Since finally getting out and socializing with the community, Gage had found the women in Wyoming were pretty low maintenance, something he had always dreamed of in a woman.
“See you later, darlin',” the woman said, leaned over, and kissed him quickly before leaving.
“Later,” Gage said and leaned back and sighed. Sleep is what he needed now, tomorrow was going to be a full day, he had training in the morning, and then he had to ride the fence to fix it tomorrow.
Just when he was ready to fall asleep, Gage heard his teammates’ voices. “Dude, get the fuck up, this is important. We have been waiting forever for you to quit fucking around.”
“Huh?” Gage said and looked up—his dead teammates were in his room. “Holy Hell!”
“You could say that, man, you have got to get a clue and stop thinking with your dick. We have a huge problem. It is time for you to get the letter and read it,” one of his teammate’s stepped forward. “Someone's life depends on it.”
“Shit,” Gage groaned and looked around desperately. “Why me?”
“Because I trust you, man, I explained that,” Raider standing before him said.
“Fuck a duck, what do I need to do?” Gage sighed. He had seen Marie a few times since they arrived back, but it had been painful and a reminder to her having him around. He sent money every month, but so far, none of the checks had been cashed.
“You have lost contact,” Raider said slowly.
“I know, I am a bastard, man, but I was fucked up, and she had a new baby. Our grief was drowning both of us,” Gage whispered.
“I know, but things change,” Raider said.
“Like what?” Gage asked confused.
“Read the letter,” Raider said and then faded.
Gage stood and screamed loudly. He heard feet pounding on the stairs and the floor, then his door was flung open.
“What?” Thane roared as he came in the door with a weapon drawn, sweeping the room.
“This is your fault!” Gage yelled at Alex as he walked into the room, disheveled and sleepy.
“Huh?” Alex said, rubbing his eyes.
“You," Gage said as he pointed his finger at Alex. "You started the whole damn thing with all the, 'I see dead people' shit. Now I am talking to dead people! ALL YOUR FAULT!” Gage barked as he shook his finger at Alex.
“Who?” Thane said, relaxing and waiting for an answer.
“Raider,” Gage said sadly. He was already thinking back over the times they shared with one another. Raider had been the only one who understood his need to not commit, to be focused. Shit!
“What did he say?” Voodoo asked slowly and the others all relaxed and took a seat in his room. Hell, he had room. The place was like a freaking mansion in disguise of a Southern Plantation home. Each of them had huge bedrooms with super-king size beds and a sitting room, plus office. Their own bathroom and sadly enough, chick's decorating.
“I have to read,” Gage said and ran his hand through his slightly longer hair. Since leaving the military, they had all gone through a transformation of sorts. He figured it was time to find out what hair color he had.
“I will get it, then let's meet in the living room,” Thane said grimly. Since they had been given the boxes of their teammates after the bombing, they had been unable to open them all at once. They had done their duty with regards to speaking to family and notifications with each of the contact people of their friends. However, there was a small matter of the last letters the men wrote, which had not been delivered yet. One—because they had shit to deal with, and two—they were addressed first to them with a personal letter inside to take to the family.
Gage groaned and flipped off his friends as they left and went into the shower. Dealing with the bombing was a task in and of itself. But dealing with a whole entire career of messy excursions, and critical missions, had taken its toll on all of them.
Gage thought back to the first day he met his best friend and wanted to laugh out loud. Raider arrived to the SEAL training and he had been sent to the first class to be evaluated for the new Team TEN. That was when most of them met, and that was when they became family.
SEAL training was rough. Sleep deprived, physical and emotional exhaustion was only a small part of the training. Bonding with members of the SEALs was the most important. That was where they developed their team, and that was where the nightmares could have started.
Without each other, each of them agreed they would have gone bat shit crazy. Raider was the first one to catch his eye. He was smart, cocky, and a player. While Gage observed them in training and in down time, he felt like they were kindred spirits. The only difference was in their childhood, Raider had a good family, and Gage’s was a bit fucked up.
His mother ran off with a stable mailman from the base where his father was stationed. Claiming she was not built for the constant moving or the daily uncertainty of who would come home—the solider or the already emotionally scarred Vietnam Vet who had become making a regular appearance. His father’s late night pacing, and obsessive behavior had scared the crap out of Gage. However, it wasn’t until his mother was gone that he truly began to understand what his father was going through. He watched his father waste away in the bottle until one night after drinking himself into oblivion, his father set the house on fire with a lit cigarette and burned their house down. Making him an orphaned military brat—and his father a hero once again.
His issues surrounded being a prisoner of war in Vietnam, the torture he endured would have been enough to break anyone. His father had sucked it up, came home, and then continued the mission. Until the day he died, Col. Steven Loman worked in his Base Commander's office, making sure his men were protected, had backup, and more importantly, got help when they returned.
David and he had talked a lot over the last few weeks about their past. He was relieved to find that his new friend had a similar upbringing. Only his father was a police officer and had been abusive. Luckily, Gage escaped the abuse, his father more intent on drinking his guilt away for the men he saw die while imprisoned.
The Sheriff had understood exactly what he had been going through and every day Gage disclosed a little more information. The man was a good listener and Gage felt comfortable sharing his history with him. No, he was not attracted to the man, he snorted.
It was like when he met Raider, David was a kindred spirit. Trusting people had always been hard for Gage, but when he did, they were his friends for life. There were only six, well now, seven men he could have said that about five months ago. Now, he could honestly say, some of the past was reconciling itself in his head, well, that was until this morning when a ghost appeared in his room.
How the hell was he supposed to deal with this? What if his friend asked him to marry Marie and adopt Sammi? He knew it was not going to go well. He couldn’t be tied down like that, have civilians depend on him. If he would go nuts, or get killed in the line of fire—the women would be in the exact same place they were in right now. Alone, with dependent's money and no support.
This was a problem, one he'd need his friends to help him with. Drying off he looked into the mirror and grimaced. He saw a battle-hard man who had no business thinking about being around a child long-term. It would never work because the first time a boy came to the house, he would be arrested. He was hard, overprotective, and basically an asshole. Compared to Raider, he was the devil incarnate, he had no sense of understanding of how the female mind worked. Nor did he really want to dive into that labyrinth of trying to figure it out as well.
Grumbling the whole way down the stairs after dressing, he went into the kitchen to get his cup of black coffee, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to deal with shit, without some bitter caffeine to help him. Lou was bustling around the kitchen like normal. Gage grinned at the older woman they all considered a grandmother figure. Each of them needed her, and she was more than willing to shoulder the responsibility. She reminded them to tuck in their shirts, fed them their favorite home cooked meals, and listened when they had panic attacks from the PTSD.
Gage fell in love with her when she found him in a closet in the middle of the night after a particularly harsh thunderstorm. It had woken all the men, and each of them dealt with it differently. Gage had been having a nightmare at the time, and the noises took him right back to the day of the bombing, staring in horror as the terrorist blew himself up in order to kill them.
She sat with him for hours as he mumbled and talked about the night. Gage never felt ashamed when she picked up on his anxiety, she just patted him on the back, and made sure she made him his favorite dessert that same
night. She did that for them all.
Her husband, Timothy, was the head ranch hand and all around handyman around the ranch. He still rode on horses to round up the cattle, and rode the fence line. He was also a Vietnam Vet who knew a thing or two about what they went through. Gage and the others respected the couple and allowed them to help them heal. As if they really had a choice.
Finally Lou turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Well, I am waiting. You have been standing brooding for a few minutes now. What is wrong?”
“Oh, well, we are opening another letter in a few minutes. Uh, Raider, my best friend,” Gage stumbled over his words. Shit, he hated it when it was like this. Never had he been rattled so much he stuttered, and it was happening increasingly when he was around the women.
Lou and Timothy knew they had seen the spirits of their fallen friends. After Sable came to live with them, they decided not to keep the secret in the house. The older couple took it in stride and accepted what they thought was true, never judging or calling the mental ward to have them checked in.
“Okay then, let me get Timothy and we will be right in,” Lou said and hurried to the back door and before he could open his mouth, she was yelling for her husband to come quickly.
Damn it, the guys said they would open the letters alone and deal with it together. That is what they had done for Wolfman. He wasn't sure how they were going to react when the older couple showed up.
“Wait,” Gage said as Timothy walked in and Lou quickly explained the situation. Timothy looked at him with his tanned, weathered, narrow face.
“Nope, we talked to the others a while back—we are in for a penny in for a pound,” Timothy said firmly.
“Oh, then okay.” Gage shrugged.
“It was when you were at work, dear. We didn’t go behind your back and ask them,” Lou said quietly. She knew him so well already. If he didn’t know better he would have thought she was one of those mind readers. After raising two men, she said she could read a man's expression a mile away. He agreed since so far she had never been wrong with them.