In that role, he’d gone undercover more times than he could count. During one of his assignments, his mother died. It was the only thing he hated about the job he did. The mission came first, no matter what.
Working for Doc’s company was different, though. K19’s policies weren’t as strict as the company’s. If someone needed time off, they got it. Monk hadn’t yet, but he appreciated it when he saw the other men and women he worked with take time for their families.
HE WENT DOWNSTAIRS to finish the workout he’d started earlier, and when he heard Razor and Ava come inside a little while later, he went upstairs to check in.
“Am I interrupting?” he asked when he met them in the kitchen.
“Not at all. I was about to make eggs and toast if you’d like to join us.”
Monk walked over and opened the refrigerator, pulling things out and setting them on the counter. Plain eggs and toast didn’t really appeal to him.
“I could make omelets if you’d like,” he offered.
“You cook?” Razor asked.
Monk nodded. “I spent a year undercover as a private chef.”
“I can’t cook for shit,” said Razor, turning to Ava. “Do you think you could manage an omelet, or would you prefer to stick with plain eggs?”
“I’d love an omelet. Thanks, Monk,” Ava answered.
“DAMN, YOU’RE A GOOD COOK,” Razor said, rubbing his belly when he finished eating.
“Chef.”
“Oh, sorry. Maybe we should start calling you that instead.”
“Chef Monk is fine with me.”
“So, Monk. Are you single?” asked Ava.
“Excuse me?”
“You know…not married, not dating anyone.”
Monk looked at Razor and then back at Ava.
“Yeah. Single.”
“Are you gonna ask him anything else, or just leave him hangin’?” Razor asked.
“I wasn’t sure I should.”
“My sister has the hots for you, Monk. Beware, though. She comes with two of the sweetest little girls on the face of the earth.”
Monk nodded, but didn’t say anything. A minute later, he stood and went into the kitchen.
“Hey, you cooked; I’ll clean up,” Razor shouted over to him when he started rinsing the dishes.
“I got it,” he answered. “Your sister. Was she the one here earlier?”
“Yep.”
“She’s pretty.”
“My mom’s gotta be champing at the bit to have us over for dinner. We’ll get Saylor to bring the girls, and we’ll bring Monk along with us.”
“Saylor? That’s her name?”
Razor nodded.
“Cool name,” said Monk before he turned back to the dishes.
“I can help,” Ava offered, joining him near the sink.
“I like doing dishes. It relaxes me.”
“You should invite your sister back over now,” Ava said to Razor. “A man who cooks the way Monk does who also likes doing dishes? She should grab him before someone else does.”
MONK DIDN’T SEE where Razor and Ava went when they left the room, and he didn’t care. He was happy to be alone. He wasn’t lying when he said doing dishes relaxed him. Cooking did too, as long as it wasn’t a job, like it had been when he went undercover as a chef.
That mission had been to take down a Boston crime syndicate, and it had taken almost a year for his team to gather the evidence to do it. Monk had worked as a private chef for the ringleader. He lost count of how many times he’d wanted to poison the bastard while the investigation was taking place.
Eventually, they nailed him, he turned state’s evidence, and they took down a whole helluva lot more of the bad guys.
After he finished the dishes and cleaned up the rest of the kitchen, Monk poured himself a glass of the cognac he found in one of the kitchen cupboards. He went outside, watched the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean, and thought about Razor’s pretty sister.
“AVA and I are going for a run,” Razor told Monk the next morning.
“North or south.”
“North.”
“Roger that.”
They weren’t gone long when Monk got a call from Doc with intel indicating Ava was being tracked.
“What’s up? We were just about to head back,” said Razor when Monk called the man’s cell.
Monk repeated the intel he’d been given.
“Fuck,” Razor spat under his breath. “Shit. It wasn’t my imagination. We need cover, Monk. Someone’s following us. There’s a four-wheeler in the garage.”
“Roger that,” said Monk. “I’ve got your coordinates; I’m on my way.”
He’d just pulled out of the garage when he received another call, this time from one of K19’s on-staff pilots.
“We’ve got drone coverage on Razor and Ava,” Onyx told him.
“Didn’t know you were here.”
“I’ve been on standby with the plane. I got the call to jump in on Ava’s detail right after you did.”
Monk arrived at the beach parking lot at the same time Onyx did in the SUV.
Hang tight, Onyx messaged him.
He sat nearby on the four-wheeler until he saw that Ava and Razor were in the SUV before going back to the house to await further instructions.
2
Saylor had just made lunch for the girls and sat down for the first time all morning when her cell phone rang. She thought about not answering, but she wasn’t that person. Even if it was from a number she didn’t know, she typically picked up. Razor had warned her that doing so wasn’t smart, but her curiosity always won out.
This time, the call was from a number she recognized.
“Hey, Sis.”
“Hey, Raze. What’s up? Why are you at Dad’s cabin?”
“I need your help with something.”
He asked her to make contact with Monk and gave her a cell number. “Tell him I need two phones. He’ll understand what to do.”
“Roger that,” she joked. “Anything else?”
“I’m not sure how long we’ll be here. We might need some provisions.” Razor rattled off a list.
“On my way,” she said. “Be there as soon as I can.”
She went next door and found her mother out on the deck, watering pots of flowers. “Hey, sweetie.”
“I just got a call from Raze. He needs me to bring some stuff to Dad’s fishing cabin.”
Her mother raised her eyebrows like Saylor had expected her to.
“He’s there with Ava.”
Another eyebrow raise.
“Anyway, he gave me a list of things he needs. Wanna come along?”
Her mother practically dropped the watering can where she stood, wiped her hands on her shorts, and came out of the gate.
“Do you want to lock up the house?” Saylor laughed.
“That’s a good idea.” Her mother went back inside, and Saylor went to get the girls.
“When can we visit Aunt Ava again?” asked Sierra when Saylor came back in.
“How’s right now?”
Both girls jumped from their chairs, squealing with delight.
“What’s this?” asked her mother, coming in the front door.
“Aunt Ava! Aunt Ava!” the girls sang.
“They’ve been begging me to take them to see her all morning.”
“This should be interesting.”
“Stop raising your eyebrows. You’ll get wrinkles,” said Saylor, reaching out to smooth the skin on her mother’s forehead.
“More wrinkles, you mean.”
“Oh, shit. I have to call Monk. Be right back.”
She went into the bedroom, escaping her girls’ cries that she owed them both money for swearing.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered as she dialed the number her brother had given her.
“Perrin.”
“Uh, Monk? This is Saylor Davis, um, Razor’s sister.”
“I know who you are.”
�
�Right. He asked me to call and tell you that he needs two phones and some clothes for Ava. He said you’d understand.”
“Where?”
“He didn’t say. He’s at my dad’s fishing cabin. Maybe he wants you to take them there.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
Saylor stared at the phone; he’d ended the call. When Ava said the man didn’t say three words to her, she wasn’t kidding. Evidently, goodbye wasn’t necessary. A minute later, she got a text with GPS coordinates. She plugged them into her map app and saw it was for the beach club where their family were members. Her phone pinged again, this time with a locker number.
“Come on, girls,” she said as she came out of the bedroom, but neither her mother nor her daughters were anywhere in sight. She locked up the house and went out the door to the garage, where she saw the three of them waiting for her in her Jeep.
“Anxious much?” Saylor asked when she got in.
She drove to the beach club first and found a duffel bag inside the locker Monk gave her the number of. She looked all around when she came out, but didn’t spot him. Not that she would stop and talk; just laying eyes on him would’ve been enough for her.
“I thought we were going to see Aunt Ava,” whined Sierra from the back seat when Saylor returned to the vehicle.
“We are, but first she asked us to stop and pick up some very important things for her. She knew she could count on the two of you to help her. Was she right?”
With wide eyes, both girls nodded their heads. Saylor looked over at her mother and winked.
THEY MADE two more stops before driving inland to the cabin where their father used to take Saylor and her brother fishing. She doubted her mother had been here since her father died.
“Are you okay?” she asked, reaching over to squeeze her mom’s hand.
“I’m fine, sweetie.”
Razor walked out the front door just as they drove up.
“Where’s Ava?” Saylor asked, climbing out of the Jeep.
“Uh…she’s calling me Razor again.”
Saylor burst out laughing, knowing she only called him that when she was pissed; otherwise, she called him Tabon, his given name.
“I need help,” Razor whispered to her.
“Aunt Ava is sleeping,” Saylor said to the girls, putting a finger to her lips. “Why don’t you and Ya-Ya take a walk down to the lake. When you get back, she’ll probably be awake.”
“Okay,” both girls grumbled, taking their grandmother’s hands.
“All right, they’re gone. Tell me what happened. Word for word.”
After Razor reiterated their conversation, Saylor left her brother sitting on the porch and went inside to see if she could smooth things over with Ava.
They’d only been talking a few minutes when they heard a knock, and then Razor stuck his head inside. “Can I come in?” he asked.
Saylor excused herself, went back outside, and sat on the porch. She closed her eyes, remembering a time she and Razor came to the cabin with their dad when they were teenagers.
It had started out as a shitty day. Their father had picked a fight with their mom and then hustled Saylor and Razor into his Jeep, the same one Saylor still drove.
As they got closer to the cabin, it was as though the tension in the car simply faded away.
They ended up having a great day and caught lots of fish. When they trudged up to the cabin, their mom was there too, and it was as though the earlier argument had never happened.
“AVA WILL BE OUT SHORTLY,” Razor said when he came out and sat down next to her.
“Good.”
“How’s Ya-Ya?” he asked.
“She’s okay. I don’t think she’s been up here since Dad died.”
“Who has been?”
“Me. I bring the girls up here sometimes. I want them to know things about him, ya know?” Saylor sighed, looked toward the lake, and saw her mother and the girls walking back up.
Before they got to the cabin, Ava came outside.
“Aunt Ava!” Both girls shouted and came running, dragging their grandmother with them.
Saylor leaned back on her hands and watched the look on her brother’s face as Ava talked to them. Her brother was absolutely head-over-heels in love with this woman.
She envied that, but not enough to ever go down that road again herself. She’d learned her lesson; love worked out for some people, but not for her.
When Razor got up and walked over to the picnic table, Saylor followed.
“Thanks for getting the phones, Sis.”
“You’re welcome. Although you should thank Monk, or maybe I should.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ll go rescue Ava from my girls who are now probably asking to get fitted for flower girl dresses for your wedding.”
Razor was distracted entering codes into the phones but looked up. “Wait. What? My wedding?”
She punched his arm and walked away.
“I AM SERIOUSLY OUTNUMBERED,” Razor said, walking over to the picnic table where Ava was still chatting with the girls and their grandmother.
“You could invite Monk to join us,” Saylor suggested.
“He already did,” said Monk, walking out of the woods and startling her.
“I told him we needed a cook,” Razor explained when Saylor looked back at him.
“Chef.”
“Right. Mom, meet Monk. He’s a chef, and Saylor has a mad crush on him.”
“Monk, this is my mom, Sally.” Razor introduced them.
After shaking her mother’s hand, Monk turned toward Saylor and winked. “I already know who you are,” he said, repeating his words from their phone call.
Saylor put her hand on her heart and smiled.
“Oh my God,” she mouthed at her brother, not really trying to hide it from anyone, including Monk.
—:—
“You’re pretty,” Monk said to Razor’s sister as he took a drink from his insulated water bottle.
“So are you.”
He smiled and looked over at the two girls. “Razor says they’re yours.”
“That’s right.”
He turned his head back toward her. “They don’t look anything like you.”
“I used to have blonde hair just like theirs.”
“Really?”
She laughed. “Hell no. Do I look like I used to have blonde hair?”
He shook his head; she was smirking. She’d caught him off guard, and not many people did. He liked it.
“Heard their dad’s in prison.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Saylor as she reached over, took the water bottle from his hand, and brought it to her lips. “I don’t keep track.”
He looked into her dark brown eyes. She had smile lines at the corners. He liked that too. He looked down the length of her, not hiding that he was, and then took his water bottle back and had a drink himself.
When he felt his cell vibrate, he handed the water back to her and pulled out his phone. He read what was on the screen and then looked over at Razor.
“I hate to cut the party short, but we need to leave,” the man said, without Monk needing to say a word.
Saylor stood, as did her mother. “Time to go, girls,” she said, hustling her daughters toward Ava. Monk watched Saylor hug the woman that he and Razor were keeping safe. After she did, Sally and the two little girls hugged Ava too.
“MONK WILL GRAB your bag when you’re ready,” Razor told Ava after the others had left.
Monk followed her inside the house and was in the process of checking each room when something caught his eye outside. He went through the kitchen and out the back door.
Before he could get a word out to warn Razor or Ava, someone hit him on the head with what felt like a sledgehammer. He fell to the ground; blood ran down the side of his face as he floated in and out of consciousness. He caught a glimpse of three men carrying Ava out and running into the woods before everything went black.
3
The girls went inside to play while Saylor sat on the deck with her mother.
“I hate this part. Waiting for word,” she murmured.
“I do too,” said her mother.
While neither knew the details about what Razor did when he’d disappear for weeks or sometimes month on end, they both certainly knew enough to glean that Ava was in danger and that was why they’d left so abruptly.
“What did you think of her?” Saylor asked.
“The girls like her. That’s always a good sign.”
“I like her too.”
“Your brother’s in love.”
Saylor met her mother’s gaze. “Picked up on that, huh?”
They both smiled.
“I’ll admit, I worried it would never happen.”
“What about you, sweetheart? When will you open your heart again?”
Saylor stood, walked over to the deck’s railing, and looked out at the ocean. “Never again, Mom.”
Her mother joined her, covering Saylor’s hand with hers. “It’s time.”
“As you can see, I don’t have suitors lined up waiting.”
“Monk seemed interested.”
“Interested and lining up to woo me are two different things. Plus, he works with Razor.”
Her mother murmured in agreement and pointed out at the ocean to the pod of whales that, instead of migrating, lived year-round off the coast of Yachats.
Saylor never took being able to see the beautiful creatures for granted. It was one of the things she liked best about the small town she’d lived in since she was born.
She’d gone to college in Eugene for aeronautical engineering, which had initially appealed to her just because it was funded in part by the NASA Oregon Space Grant, and she thought that was the coolest thing ever.
When she graduated with her bachelor’s degree, she came back to Yachats. In hindsight, she should’ve started flight training right away and continued her pursuit of becoming a pilot. Instead, she’d gotten married.
She always struggled with wishing she’d done things differently and the idea that if she had, the two beautiful little girls who made her soul shine wouldn’t grace the planet.
“Monk said Cliff is still in prison.”
“Good to know.”
Monk (K19 Security Solutions Book 7) Page 2