Unexpected Packages

by Stacy Eaton

  I couldn’t understand how she could let go of what we had so easily. Yes, I understood that she lost someone that she cared deeply about, and she was afraid that she’d lose me, but she wouldn’t. I’d be back.

  I stepped out of her apartment, the necklace box clenched in my hand as I clomped down the stairs to the first floor. My chest felt hollow as if I’d left my heart two flights up. When I stepped into my apartment, I tossed the necklace box to the counter and flopped on the sofa.

  I couldn’t believe that she broke it off. We were so damn good together. I swore as I sat there that once I got back, I’d prove it to her. I’d find a way to show her that we could make it work. I’d make her see that we could have a life, a future.

  My cellphone rang, and I saw it was Nica. I inhaled deeply and released it before answering. “Hey, young lady. How was practice tonight?”

  “Exhausting.” She groaned. “And now I have to eat and finish my homework. Patrick said you needed to talk to me. Are you getting married to Lexi?” she asked excitedly, and I felt a stab in my hollow chest.

  “No, no wedding plans,” I told her. “But I wanted to make you and your mom aware that I’m going out of town for a little while.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Are you going back overseas?”

  I didn’t want her to worry, but I also wasn’t going to lie to her. “Yes, I have to help with a situation over there. Hopefully, it will be quick, and I’ll be back in about a week.”

  “Okay, you better. Lexi already promised that you two would be at my competition.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was still the case, but I wouldn’t miss it. “I’ll be there, I promise.”

  “Okay, I guess you want to talk to Mom, right?”

  “Yeah, put her on the phone, please.”

  “I love you, Dad. Hurry home, and be careful.”

  “Thank you, Nica. I love you too.”

  The phone changed hands, and Annie’s voice came over the line. “I thought you were done going overseas, Alex.”

  “I’m only going over for a week or so. We have to help with some contracts that are having some issues. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She sighed. “You know I’ve heard that before and then it’s taken you another six months to get back here.”

  “This isn’t like that, Annie, and you know it. I’ll be back in a couple weeks.”

  “Okay.”

  “Annie, I still have you listed as my emergency contact. Is that alright?”

  “Yes, Alex, you know that is fine. In fact, I think that’s a good idea. Your parents aren’t as strong as they used to be. It would be better for me to get the news and explain it to them if something happened.”

  “I appreciate that, Annie, but nothing is going to happen.”

  “Alex, you never know.”

  I released a sigh. “Yes, I know, Annie. Look—” I paused. “I hope to be back by her local competition. If I’m not—”

  “If you’re not, I’ll explain it to her. Nica told me that you’re seeing someone. She really liked her. I’m happy for you, Alex. You deserve to be happy. Make sure you get back for both of them, and me. I worry about you.”

  “Thanks, Annie.” I didn’t want to get into it with her, so I left it like that. After hanging up, I was alerted to a few new emails and quickly got lost in the business at hand again. Every few minutes, Lexi would come to mind, but I’d just as quickly push those thoughts away. I’d have time to think about her when the job was done.

  I got to sleep around midnight and was back up at four. I had a long plane ride ahead of me, and I’d take a nap on the way. After I finished my packing, I looked around my apartment, and my eyes landed on the necklace box. I opened it and stared down at the heart charm.

  She no longer held my heart, but sadly, my heart had yet to show back up inside my chest cavity. I removed the necklace from the box and slipped it into a small velvet pouch that one of my military ribbons had come in. I tucked the bag into my pocket, gathered my stuff, and then locked up my apartment.

  In the main entrance, I opened my mailbox, slipped in the hold mail slip, and then locked it again. I paused, staring at the A. Miller on her mailbox and reverently touched it. I’m coming back to you, Alexandra, and I am not going to let you go once I do.

  Class went quickly, and before we knew it, Trevor and I were off to the airport. I hadn’t had much of a chance to think about anything other than the trip, and the only time that Lexi came to mind was when I stuck my hand into my pocket and felt the small pouch. I’d finger it momentarily and then shift back into gear.

  Our travel time was almost twenty-four hours, and we were changing planes three times. It was going to be a long night and the next day, but I’d done it several times before. It would probably only take me a day to get my bearings once we arrived.

  Trevor and I were mostly quiet on the journey, our mind-sets shifting back into warrior mode and away from the civilian way of thinking. Soon it was going to be time to watch our every step, every word we spoke. Once we stepped off the plane, we couldn’t really trust anyone except ourselves and the people we were going to help. Even those we’d have to be careful with. Who knew if any of them were working on the other side.

  By the time we were ready to land in Afghanistan, I was prepared to get to work. For the last few hours, all I had been able to do was replay the previous conversations with Lexi over and over again. Trevor and I disembarked from the plane and stood in the terminal. I don’t think either of us ever really thought we’d be back here, and not in a civilian contractor capacity. We no longer had units and commanders behind us. Once we met up with the Kendall Group, we would be in charge, and their safety would become our responsibility. We nodded to one another and went to collect our backpacks.

  A man approached us once we’d collected them and introduced himself as our guide to the location. The limited trusting began right then, and Trevor and I followed the man out of the airport.

  As we drove down the bumpy roads, I’m sure Trevor’s mind was going a million miles a minute as mine was. Reliving moments in time from past deployments. Buildings that had once been blown apart before our eyes were either no longer standing, or worse than they had been. Amidst the bustling streets, I saw ghosts of our brothers lying in pools of blood or screaming in agony. It made for a tense ride to the hotel that our people were in.

  Once we arrived, the driver sped off after telling us that we’d find our party on the third floor. Trevor and I headed up the stairs. “Did that guy make you as nervous as he made me?”

  “Oh yeah, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. Every time he glanced in the rearview mirror at me, I tensed,” Trevor replied quietly.

  “I’m glad it wasn’t just me,” I said as we hit the third floor. Farther down the hall, two security guards were stationed, and they eyed us carefully until one started laughing.

  “Well, damn, we knew we were getting help, but I had no idea it was going to be you two,” Cliff Warner said as he approached us and took my hand, bumping chests with me.

  “Good to see you, Warner,” I told him.

  “You too. Tell me, did you think you’d ever see this place again?”

  “Oh, hell no,” Trevor responded. “At least I’d hoped like hell that we wouldn’t.”

  Warner filled us in on the people who were with us, and how four more security members were coming to assist. Right now, we only had the four of us for twelve other civilians, so having eight was great. We had four vehicles for the twenty of us, and hopefully we’d get the convo on the road at first light tomorrow.

  In the meantime, he took us into a room to show us the gear, and the first thing Trevor and I did was look over the weapons. After a quick check to make sure they were in good working order, and we had adequate ammunition, Warner took us to meet the engineer in charge of the group.

  Warner knocked on a door two down from where we’d been, and a tall man pulled it open. “Vick, this
is Alex Miller and Trevor Vaughn. They just arrived from home to help us.”

  We shook hands as we entered his room, and we found three other people in the room with him, two men and a woman who eyed us carefully. Introductions were made around the room, and Vick took a moment to ask how our injured friend was.

  “Murdock’s on his way home as we speak,” Trevor told him. “Can you tell us how it happened? We saw the report, but I’d like to hear it in your own words.”

  Vick explained that they were passing through a small town when they came under fire, and a small IED went off. Luckily, none of them had been injured, although one of the vehicles sustained significant damage to it. It was as they were getting everyone off the road that gunfire had started, and Murdock had been hit.

  After a few more questions and hearing what was planned for the next day, we told them to get rest and eat well. We’d be on the road before the sun came up the following day.

  Trevor, Warner, and I returned to our room, where we went over maps and notes on the assignment and then decided to get some shut-eye before the other members arrived. I told Warner to wake us in three hours, and we’d take over the watch in the hallway.

  Before I lay down, I stood at the window and stared out over the city. My hand in my pocket, my fingers rubbed the pouch, and I thought about how less than two days ago, I’d been holding Lexi for the last time. I was determined to get this done as quickly as I could and get back to her and my daughter.

  As I watched the shadows fall over the city, a shiver slipped down my spine. There was danger in the air, and I suddenly had the feeling that this trip wasn’t going to go as quickly or easily as I’d hoped it would.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lexi

  I stared at the calendar on my desk. It was February fourth, and Alex had already been gone for four days. Alex—

  I closed my eyes, trying to stop the pain that just the echo of his name caused from bouncing around in my skull. Telling him it was over had been one of the hardest things I had ever done. I’d missed him every moment since he’d closed my door, and yet I knew that what I had done had been right—for me. It wasn’t fair, but love never was—neither was war. Besides, I had barely known the man, and here I was acting like I’d lost the love of my life.

  The love of my life— Will had been the love of my life, right? Not Alex.

  My hand strayed absently to my neck, touching where the necklace had rested for only one short day. I’d given Alex back his heart, and in actuality, I gave him a chunk of mine, too. Please make it home safely, Alex, I prayed to myself.

  I pushed away from my desk and collected my things. It was time to head home and change so I could meet Clare for our Tuesday night hangout. I hoped that seeing her would help break me out of this funk. If anyone could do it, she could.

  I was at the bar before her and ordered our drinks. My mind stole back to a couple weeks ago when I’d arrived to find Alex sitting with Clare. I’d been mortified to see him, but at the same time, intrigued. I’d barely gotten to know him in the next week, and yet I felt like I’d known him for years. The two of us had clicked, and I hated that it had been destroyed the way it had.

  “You’re early,” Clare said as she took the stool next to me. “You must have been bored at work, or you really needed a drink.”

  “Oh, I think it is the latter.” I lifted my rum and Coke and toasted her before taking a sip.

  “What’s going on?”

  I sighed as I turned to her. “I broke it off with Alex.”

  She looked shocked. “What? Why would you do that? I thought you really liked him, and why didn’t you call me and tell me that?”

  “I did really like him, and that’s why I broke it off.” She looked utterly befuddled, and I sighed, my shoulders rounding forward in despair. “Alex is overseas right now. He got called away for some protection detail concerning some of his clients.”

  Her brows disappeared under her bangs. “By overseas, you mean, overseas, overseas. Like in that dangerous and deadly place?”

  “Yes, that overseas.”

  “Oh, shit, Lexi. When did he leave?”

  “Friday.”

  “When did you break up with him?”

  “Thursday night after I learned where he was going.”

  She grabbed my arm. “Wait, why would you do that? I talked to you Thursday morning, and you said you had a fantastic time Wednesday night when he took you out to dinner for your birthday.” Her eyes dropped to my neck. “And where is the necklace that he gave you? It looked gorgeous, and I had a feeling the picture didn’t do it justice.”

  “I gave it back to him.”

  “Are you crazy?” she hissed.

  “Clare, I couldn’t keep it. He told me it was a piece of his heart, but I can’t hold a piece of his heart if he’s going to be over there. I can’t be involved with someone who risks their life that way. You know that! I can’t afford to lose someone else that I love.”

  “Oh, Lexi, I get it, I do, but how can you let go of something that could have been so much more? Why not talk to him and tell him how you feel?”

  “I did tell him, but he had to go. It’s his job. I can’t ask him to change his job for me, especially when we barely know one another, and I can’t sit around waiting for a pine box to be returned. I can’t go through loving someone and losing them again, Clare. I just can’t. I’m finally getting my life back in order, and I can’t go backward. No matter how much I care or want someone.”

  “Damn, Lexi.” She squeezed my arm. “I get it. I really do. Maybe when he returns, you two can figure something out.”

  “Maybe, but I’m not holding out much hope. He spent the last twenty years living that stressful kind of life. Did you know he was a sniper? I heard guys talking about it at the training class. He’s a trained killer, Clare. This is what he’s trained for, what he does, who he is.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “I’m not sure that’s what I need in my life.”

  “Oh, Lexi,” Clare put her arm around my shoulder, “I’m so sorry. I get it, I really do. Is there anything I can do?”

  “No, well, yes.” I shook my hair back. “Let’s not talk about my disastrous love life. Tell me what is going on with you. I need to focus on something else for a change.”

  Thankfully, Clare had a lot to say, and as we ate dinner and enjoyed a few drinks, I began to relax. I even laughed several times, and a few minutes before we were getting ready to leave, my cellphone vibrated, and I saw Alex’s daughter’s name pop up.

  I unlocked my phone and pulled up the message. As I stared at the words Nica had typed, every muscle in my body tensed.

  Lexi, did you hear????? Dad was kidnapped!!! OMG!!!

  Then there was a link, and I clicked the link. A video of a man on his knees, his face badly beaten, holding a paper in front of him began to play. The sound was off, but even if it was playing at full volume, I wasn’t sure I would have heard it.

  “What’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet.” Clare leaned over and looked down at my phone. “Oh, my god! Is that Alex?”

  My phone pinged again, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t react. I just stared at the image of Alex as the man’s mouth behind him moved as if he were speaking, a gun pointed at the other side of Alex’s head.

  “Hey, can you turn that up?” A man next to Clare spoke and for some reason it grabbed my attention. I lifted my head to the television and saw the bartender hitting the volume. There was the same video playing, although only a piece of it and a reporter talking about local residents being taken hostage.

  The room spun around me, and I grabbed the bar to keep me on the stool. Clare’s arm was around me as we listened to the short news report. When it was over, Clare turned to me. “Who sent that link to you?”

  “Nica, Alex’s daughter,” I said and then hit her contact information and put the phone to my ear as I clambered off the stool and gathered my jacket and purse.

  “Lexi!” she said almost immedi
ately, and I heard the tears in her voice. “Did you hear? Did you see it?”

  I was rushing out the door, hoping that the cold air outside would somehow reach my lungs. “I did. Nica, how did you hear about it?”

  “Someone from where Dad works called my mom a little while ago, and then I found the video.”

  “I just saw it on the news, Nica. He’s going to be okay. You have to believe that.” I said the words, but I didn’t believe them myself. I stared at the traffic passing by, wondering how this could be happening to Alex when life was so normal here.

  “What if he’s not, Lexi? What are we going to do if he doesn’t come back?”

  The thought made my knees buckle, and I was thankful that Clare was suddenly at my side, holding me upright.

  “Wait, my mom wants to talk to you.” She handed the phone off, and then another voice came on the line.

  “Lexi? Hi, this is Veronica’s mother, Annie. I’m sorry we’re speaking under these conditions. I assume she told you what’s going on.”

  “Yes, she did. I just saw it on the news, too,” I replied numbly. “What do you know?”

  “Nothing much. Jake called and said that Alex and the group he was traveling with had been taken hostage. The video just surfaced a few hours ago.”

  “I can’t believe this.” I clenched my eyes closed.

  “He’s alive right now, Lexi. We have to believe he will remain that way.”

  “Yes,” I said on a shudder. This is why I had broken it off with him, and here I was dealing with it all over again.

  “Look, I’ll get your number from Nica and let you know if I hear anything else, okay?”

  “Thank you, I would appreciate that, Annie.”

  “Hold strong, Lexi. I know Alex, and I know he’s going to get back.”

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  Nica was back on the phone. “I’ll talk to you later, Lexi. I have to go.”