by Susan Stoker
“You and Mom used to say that I was good at everything,” Tommy shot back quickly.
“I lied,” his father said, scowling.
“Enough of this shit,” the other man growled. “Your ass is mine, kid.” He held the sharp knife out in front of him but had only taken one step before suddenly stopping.
Fatty, Boba, and Jango had somehow piled high on top of each other’s shoulders in front of the boy. Together, they stood six feet tall, a furry, pissed-off wall between Tommy and the man with the knife.
“What the fuck?” the man gasped, gawking at the sight in front of him.
Tommy wanted to stare as well, but he immediately started shifting sideways instead.
“Stay still, Tommy,” Jango ordered from the bottom of the pile in a harsh tone he’d never used before. “We got this.”
Tommy froze, scared out of his mind, and in awe of the cats he’d always thought were kinda weird.
There was nothing weird about them now. No jokes about salmon cakes. No bantering back and forth, and no licking themselves.
“Gut them, Deke. Fucking cats. Hate them,” Tommy’s father stated coldly.
The man with the knife thrust it forward toward the cats but the knife stopped in mid-air, just like Tommy’s foot did when he’d tried to kick Fatty. He tried it again, with the same result. “What the fuck?” he asked, looking down at the knife in his hand, then at the cats. “Screw this.”
Tommy’s eyes widened as the man pulled out a pistol.
“No, don’t hurt them!” Tommy yelled.
But it was too late. The man emptied the clip at the cats and small boy in front of him.
“Door’s opening,” Dude said as the front door of the house slammed open right before they were about to make entry. Two little blurry streaks hurled themselves out of the house and straight into Abe’s arms. He gathered them close and immediately twisted so his back was against the side of the house, out of the way.
It wasn’t a moment too soon, because two men barreled out after the girls. The first was immediately taken out by Dude’s powerful throat punch. The second man fell over the first’s motionless body as he followed close behind him. He looked up, saw Dude, dressed all in black and obviously pissed off, and bolted upward. He took off running but Dude didn’t bother chasing him, knowing his teammates wouldn’t let him get away.
Abe watched absently as Wolf and Cookie shot after the man and took him down before he’d even run past the house next door.
Dude took a moment to look over at Abe, Brinique, and Davisa. Abe nodded at him and gestured toward the now-open front door. It killed Abe that Tommy wasn’t with his girls. This op wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
He crouched down and urged his kids to do the same. “Stay here,” he said in a toneless voice to his children. “Right here. Do not move. Understand?”
Both girls nodded, the whites of their eyes bright in their dark faces.
Abe tried to tone down his “I want to kill the men who took you from me” voice. “You’re safe. You did good, babies. I need to go and get your brother. Yeah?”
“Yeah. Okay,” Brinique told him, her voice wavering, pushing at him with her tiny hands. “We’re fine. Go get Tommy.”
Just as Abe stood back up and nodded to Dude that he was ready to continue, shots rang out from inside the house.
Dude didn’t hesitate. He took high point while Abe took low, and together they burst into the small room, fingers on the triggers, ready to take out the threat to their SEAL family.
13
Tommy’s eyes widened as he watched the bullets from the man’s gun literally bounce off of the cats standing tall in front of him. One went wide and thunked into the wall next to him, but Tommy didn’t move from his position behind the wall of cats.
“What the fuck?” the man shouted in confusion, looking down at the gun at his hand.
“Freeze!”
“Put the gun down, asshole!”
“On the ground!”
“Hands up!”
The four voices sounded at the same time and Tommy stood stock-still. The cats in front of him moved so they were all standing with their paws on the ground again. As if the weird, scary scene hadn’t happened, all three turned their attentions to their private parts between their legs. Slurping at themselves as if they hadn’t just been shot at and had bullets bounce off their bodies.
Before Tommy could say a word or even really understand what was happening, Abe was in front of him. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? Did you get shot?” His voice was hard and brusque, but not unkind.
“I’m okay.”
Abe’s hands landed on his shoulders and he turned him around so his back was to the room. Tommy felt him running them over his back and legs. Then he was turned again and was in Abe’s arms, held tightly to his chest.
“Jesus. Thank God. Shit. When I heard the shots, I thought… Damn.” Abe’s words trailed off. Tommy could feel the man’s heart beating hard against his chest and could feel and hear his harsh breaths against his skin. He wrapped his own arms around Abe’s neck and buried his face into his strong shoulder.
Tommy had never thought that Abe would be that upset about him. A thought struck him and he jerked his head back. “Brinique and Davisa?”
“They’re fine,” Abe said without letting go of him.
“Why aren’t you with them?” Tommy asked, confused.
Abe finally pulled back at that, not letting go, but far enough so he could look into his eyes. “Because I know they’re okay. They weren’t the ones inside this house when shots were fired. You were.”
“But they’re yours. I’m not,” Tommy said in a small voice.
“The fuck you’re not,” Abe returned immediately, wrapping his large hands around Tommy’s face and holding him still so he had to look into his eyes. “You think I don’t know that it was you who told my girls to run? You think I don’t know you protected them from the man who was supposed to love and protect you for all your days? You think you’re not mine in all ways after today? Bub, it’s been a long time since I was as scared as I was a moment ago. It wasn’t because of Brinique and Davisa. It was because you were in here. I was worried about you.”
Abe took a deep breath and Tommy could tell he was trying to control a deeper emotion. “And if you tell your mother I said fuck, I’ll deny it. I’m not doing a very good job, but I really am trying to curb the swearing thing.” He tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. He took another deep breath and asked softly, “You’re really okay? You weren’t hit?”
Tommy shook his head. “No. The cats saved me.”
It was obvious Abe didn’t understand, because he looked over at the cats who were sprawled on the ground, energetically licking themselves still, and laughed. “Bub, I have no idea how you managed to get kidnapped with those three fat cats, but it doesn’t matter. Besides, I don’t care if magic sprinkles fell from the sky, I’m just glad as all get out that guy was a bad shot.”
Tommy looked away from Abe then, and saw Fatty, Jango, and Boba staring at him. All three winked at the same time, a weird thing that was kinda scary on a cat, then went back to their tasks.
Abe stood up with Tommy in his arms and didn’t waste a moment more before turning around and stalking out of the ramshackle house. His teammates were dealing with the drugged-out men inside, and Cookie and Wolf had the two who had chased after his daughters under control as well. Sirens were blaring in the distance as the police raced to their location, having been informed of where they were by Wolf right before they pulled up, but Abe ignored them too. He put Tommy down and put his arm out to his daughters.
Brinique and Davisa ran toward their daddy and threw themselves at him, almost knocking him over. He picked them up, one in each arm, and the four of them went down the street toward Wolf’s SUV. He opened the back hatch and sat both his girls down. Tommy crowded in next to Abe while he pulled out his cell phone.
He hit the con
tact that said simply, “Home,” and waited.
“Hello? Christopher?”
“Yeah. I’ve got them. They’re all fine.”
“Tommy too?” Alabama asked.
“Tommy too,” Abe confirmed.
As Brinique and Davisa babbled to their mother, Tommy felt the black ball of goo, which had taken up space inside his belly since his dad had stopped being his dad and had started being a scary stranger, melt away. It simply disappeared as if it had never been there. Not even a pea-size blob was left.
Alabama had specifically asked about him. Not only her daughters. Tommy had forgotten what it felt like to be wanted. To be loved.
Even though Tommy had only been with Abe and Alabama Powers for a short time, he knew a good thing when he saw it. He’d known it once before, and somehow, he knew his birth mom was looking down at him from heaven and smiling.
Feeling something at his feet, Tommy looked down. Fatty, Jango, and Boba were twining around his ankles and purring loudly. He kneeled down.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Sure thing.”
“No problem.”
“I’m sure Alabama will have the biggest salmon cake you’ve ever seen waiting for you when we get home.”
“It’s time for us to go,” Fatty said in a matter-of-fact voice. “We did what we came here to do.”
Brinique and Davisa hopped off the back of the car and squatted down next to the cats.
“No, we don’t want you to go!” Davisa wailed, obviously still emotional from the last hour or so.
“Please, don’t go,” Brinique pleaded.
Tommy looked down at the cats, then at his sisters. He felt good. Still shaky from everything that happened, but good. Different. Suddenly he knew what it was he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to protect others from bad men and women, like the ones who’d taken him and his sisters today. He wanted to do what Abe and his friends did, but not in the military. He didn’t know how, but he’d figure it out.
“Thank you,” he told the three cats again. “Someday I’m gonna get to Assjacket, West Virginia. I’m gonna meet Roger and Zelda and Mac and Jeeves. I’m gonna sit down and have a nice meal and tell you all about my life and the good things I’ve done with it. I swear I am.”
“We believe you, Tommy. And we know you will, because we’ve seen the future. We’ll meet again.”
The little boy stood up and put his arm around Brinique, who had tears running down her cheeks. “It’ll be okay, sis. They have places to go and people to see. They’ll be okay. Besides, I’m sure we can talk Mom into getting a pet or two when we get home. Right, Dad?”
Tommy could’ve sworn he saw tears in Abe’s eyes, but if they were there, they’d disappeared when the large man blinked. “I think that can definitely be arranged…son.”
Hours later, after eating junk food for dinner, after watching The Little Mermaid to try to get everyone back to normal, after speaking with each and every one of their friends and reassuring them that everyone was home and perfectly fine, after being reassured by the police that Tommy’s dad would never be able to break out of jail again, after speaking with Tex and brainstorming ideas for a tracking device for Tommy, and long after the kids had gone to bed, Alabama and Abe lay naked and entwined in their king-size bed.
Neither said a word, just soaked up each other’s essence. Finally, Abe’s hand moved from the small of Alabama’s back, down to her ass. He stroked up once, then back down. Alabama’s hands moved as well. Caressing her husband’s sides.
He turned her so she was lying on her back. Abe moved down her body, using his lips and hands to show her how much he loved her. Lying down between her legs, Abe pushed his hands under her ass and lifted her so he had better access to lick and suck at her sensitive nub.
Alabama writhed and arched her back as Abe feasted on her, making her explode in pleasure twice before he moved back up her body. He put the tip of his hard cock just inside her, then put both hands on either side of her face. He held her eyes as he slowly, very slowly, pushed all the way inside.
Still without words, speaking only with their eyes, Abe and Alabama made love. They celebrated the fact that their family was safe. Celebrated their bond, and celebrated their everlasting love.
Their lovemaking was tender and easy, and they both exploded together quickly.
Now sweaty and replete, Alabama and Abe Powers fell asleep, still as intimately connected as two lovers could be. Life might have thrown them curveballs, but together they’d learned they could conquer anything.
Epilogue
Twenty-four years later
Tom Powers walked into a dingy diner in Assinippi, West Virginia. He had no clue if he was in the right place or not, the town was a dump and it looked like no one had lived there in generations. But a niggling voice in his head kept telling him to stop. To pull over and check it out. Over the years, he’d visited dozens of towns in the state, looking for the one the cats long ago had called Assjacket, but obviously hadn’t really been called that.
The second he walked in, however, Tom knew he was exactly where he needed to be. He’d found the town he’d been searching for years to find. From the outside, the town was a shithole. Decrepit buildings, unsavory-looking characters hanging around, but the moment he walked into the diner, it was as if he’d walked into a different world.
The counter gleamed a bright white, the tops of the tables were pristine and clean, and not one of the leather bench seats was cracked. Several people smiled at him when he walked in and sat down. The air buzzed in a way he could only describe as magical, and he felt safe and content. Yeah, he was definitely in the right place.
He was dressed in his usual work attire…black slacks, black suit coat, white dress shirt, and gray tie. In other towns he’d visited, more than one person had eyed him strangely, and several had asked if he was a “Man in Black.”
He’d merely smiled politely—it wasn’t as if he hadn’t heard that dig before—and continued on his way. He had a goal in mind, and even though this diner wasn’t what he’d expected, it sorta was.
As he was sitting, his phone rang. Tom smiled as he answered. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi. You find it this time?”
“Actually, yeah, I think so. I’ll know more later. How’re the kids?”
“Good. May misses you and has already taped three videos for you about her days for you to watch when you get home.”
Tom’s smile grew, thinking about his daughter. She was eight going on fourteen and he thanked God every day for having her in his life. His wife hadn’t had an easy pregnancy, and the doctor had warned that for the sake of her health, it should be the last, and only, child she birthed.
“And Chris?”
“Your son’s as precocious as ever. He’s into a ‘green food’ phase. He refuses to eat anything that isn’t green. So it’s been green beans, peas, lettuce, pickles, and I’ve used a lot of green food dye in things like milk and mashed potatoes.”
Chuckling at that, Tom closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the red vinyl seat behind him. He and Donna hadn’t planned on having any other children after May. But Brinique had called him, worried sick about a child in her district who wasn’t a good candidate for adoption. His sister worked for child protective services, and he couldn’t be prouder of how she always fought hard for the children who didn’t have anyone else to fight for them.
The child she’d called about had been diagnosed with Down syndrome and had been abused in his birth home. He was a ward of the state, and tenderhearted Brinique knew the boy would most likely spend his life in an institution if he wasn’t adopted soon.
So he and Donna had gone to meet the child. And that was that. They’d started the paperwork that day to get approved to be foster parents, with the intent of eventually adopting the child. Tom’s father, Abe, had no problem with them renaming the boy after him. Tom had seen his father, the big bad retired Navy
SEAL, crying when he’d held the one-year-old in his arms the first time he’d met him.
At four, Chris was a handful, but saw joy in everything and everyone around him. Tom couldn’t imagine his life without him. “And you? How’s my beautiful wife holding out?”
“I’m good, honey. You’re coming home tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. I’ve been away from my family for too long.”
“Well, you could always tell the President that he needs to stay home more,” Donna teased.
Tom chuckled. “I’m not sure he’d go for that.”
“I’m proud of you,” Donna told him. “And not because you stepped in front of a bullet for him. I’m actually more pissed about that than proud,” she said teasingly.
Tom didn’t take offense. He knew quite well his wife’s feelings about the time he’d seen someone pointing a gun at the President of the United States, who he’d been guarding as was his job as a secret service agent, and had stepped in front of the man, his Kevlar vest taking the bullet meant for the President. And he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“I’m proud of you for the man you are. The man who sees people in need and wants to protect them. From the old ladies at the grocery store, to the kids you spend your weekends with at the Boys and Girls Club. From your own son and daughter to your nieces and nephews. From me, to the President of the United States. No one is too big or small for you to step in to assist. I love that about you, and just plain love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. I’ll show you how much when I get home tomorrow.”
“I’m counting on it. I went shopping today with your mom and her friends.”
Tom chuckled. “I still think it’s kinda cool that you and my mother hang out.”
“She’s hysterical. And those friends of hers are pistols. I’m sure they keep their husbands on their toes.”
Tom thought about his father’s friends. Wolf, Cookie, Mozart, Dude, and Benny. He wasn’t sure he even knew their given names anymore. Their nicknames were all he’d ever called them. But he’d never forget their wives. Their amazing, strong, kick-ass, beautiful wives.