Alex pressed the satellite phone into her hand. “I had to give Parker a heads-up. They’re arriving in Los Angeles soon and will spend the night. I’ve sent Sawyer to pick them up.”
She took the phone and stared at it.
“If he calls, answer.” He arched a brow. “Babe, this is important. Are you with me?”
Something in his tone snapped her to attention. She’d always known serious stuff was lurking in Alex’s past. Drae and Cam too. The news that Parker was involved shocked Meghan to her core. She thought she knew all these guys pretty well. Apparently, there was more to their story than meets the eye.
She was Meghan Marquez—wife of Major Alexander Marquez. Shit just got serious, and she knew what he needed from her. “Yes,” she replied with a calm assurance she didn’t feel. “I understand.”
He started to confer with Duke, and she took the opportunity to fill a glass with ice water. Her throat was on fire from having to hold back her words.
Victoria came through the kitchen door with Drae right behind. She had the same frightened scowl that Meghan wore.
One minute later, Cam appeared.
“Who’s with Lacey?” she demanded.
He gave her a blank stare and woodenly replied, “Heather came over.” Then he ignored her and went into a huddle with the other men.
“Where’s Danny?” she whispered to Victoria.
“Oh, sorry. He’s keeping Dyl occupied and out of Lacey’s hair. Bella was with Heather. I need to be here.”
They stood like statues and listened. She heard them mention Calder, and Tori shot her a concerned look.
At one point, all of them had their phones out, and it looked like they were comparing and exchanging information. Duke went into detail about something while the boys stood with arms crossed and listened attentively.
Every second that passed seemed more surreal than the one before it.
When everyone started for the door, she held up her hand. “Whoa. I don’t think so.”
Four sets of eyes blinked at her and Tori as if just realizing they were all on the same planet.
“Oh,” Alex tightly drawled after clearing his throat. “Yeah. Uh, we have to go to the armory. Check some things out.”
“I’m coming with you.” She just knew that some sort of 007 quartermaster stuff was about to go down. The idea of them suited up in night vision goggles or wielding a pen that could launch grenades was something she had to see if she were to fully understand this situation.
“You can’t,” Duke bit out.
She stared him down, and he used the good sense God gave him to help him realize she wasn’t taking anyone’s shit. There is no way in hell she would let them go to the armory without her. Or without Tori
She held up her left hand and pointed at the wedding ring. "This says we get to go.” Tori also held up her wedding ring.
Alex looked at them with one eyebrow raised. "Okay,” he ground out, “but you aren’t gonna like it."
They loaded into Duke’s huge black SUV and silently drove deep into the Justice compound. She and Tori took the seats in the back and clung to each other for support.
The armory building had the look of a military warehouse. In the parking area, multiple signs warned of live ammunition and safety precautions. Meghan almost drew blood when she bit down on her lip. Sometimes—hell, most of the time—she forgot or ignored the serious work that Justice did.
As they tromped along behind the boys, she and Tori held hands. Afraid she might hyperventilate at any moment, Meghan counted the steps between the parking lot and the building.
She glanced over at Tori, who looked up at her with worry etched on her face. Both of their hands were trembling. Her Justice sister reached up and pulled a pair of sunglasses down from her head to cover her eyes. Meghan pursed her lips and sighed. Damn, she thought. Why didn't I bring my sunglasses? It was no surprise that Tori had hers. Her go-to move was always to cover her eyes.
It felt weird walking behind them and seeing this other part of their lives. A part that had been sitting quietly on the shelf suddenly came to life and fired up right before their eyes.
She was glad Lacey wasn't here to see this because yeah, it was a bit daunting. The three of them looked and sounded like warriors—something the ladies were not accustomed to.
At the armory door, a bunch of military types were on their way out. There was a Justice session going on, so it wasn't surprising that people were around. What was surprising, though, was the reaction of the small group of individuals when they realized who was stomping along the walk straight for the door.
Tori clutched her hand tighter. Meghan's anxiety ratcheted up even higher. The four men and one woman leaving the building snapped to attention so fast you would think the commander-in-chief was barreling down on him.
Duke, Alex, Draegyn, and Cameron barely noticed and simply blew right on by. It was such unexpected behavior that the people standing at attention looked momentarily stunned. One of the men held the door open for her and Tori. She mumbled a thank you as they passed through.
The simple fact that neither of their husbands stopped or held the door indicated how serious things were.
Making their way through a labyrinth of rooms and hallways, they entered a secure area that required an ocular scan to open the heavy door. At one end of the largely black and gray room, Calder was milling around a table piled with god knows what. He wore an intense, serious expression.
Feeling invisible, she steered Tori toward a row of seats against the wall and sat down. The next hour left her bewildered and out of her mind with worry.
Drae’s mind was clicking at a fast pace. It was obvious from Calder’s behavior that he and Alex had been busy.
“I’ve been working on this for months,” Calder told them. “It’s next level tech. In addition to tracking, it also transmits physical data like heart rate, respiration, and temperature. The GPS is only one layer. Not only can we see what’s happening to you physically in real time, but you can also communicate by holding and releasing your breath. We’ll go over some simple tap code adaptations.”
Cam inspected the small device. “So if one of us finds ourselves thrown in the trunk of a car, we can S.O.S.?”
“Theoretically,” Calder told him.
Next, he held up a pair of sunglasses. “You know what these are for. I’ve modified the ocular sidebar to make hands-free adjustments easier while you’re on the move.”
Drae had a thought and blurted it out. “Can you throw together some of those sound buttons you did for the bachelor party? Color coded maybe.”
“What are you thinking?” Alex asked.
“There isn’t a shithead out there who doesn’t think he can singlehandedly take down a small, fast-moving team, right?”
Everyone nodded and muttered their agreement.
“Element of surprise if we need it. Make ‘em think a whole fucking brigade is descending. Gunfire, explosions, use your imagination.”
“I like it,” Cam said.
Calder threw each of them a small plastic vial. “This is the night vision serum. Put some on your forehead. Only your goggles can pick it up so if there’s smoke or anything like that, you’ll be able to pinpoint each other with the goggles.”
They moved to a corner of the room and tried on an assortment of tactical vests and other equipment while Calder kept careful notes about modifications requested by each of them.
Drae brought everyone up to speed about the others. “Rafe will be here on Saturday. He’s got most of this gear, but you’ll have to bring him, Bishop, and Rivera up to speed too.”
Duke agreed and added, “I’ll send my guy over later if that’s okay. He’s out with the drone squad today.”
It felt damn strange to be doing this again, Drae thought when Alex and Calder started talking. He could see from Cam’s expression that he was also internally scrambling to catch up. Now that he understood what Alex had been keeping from them, he mar
veled for the zillionth time about the man’s strength. He’d been silently shouldering the burden for months so no one else was aware of the looming darkness. He, Cam, and Parker had been blithely going about their business without a care in the world.
“Sinjin,” Alex snapped. “What’s Bishop’s ETA?”
It had been a long time since he’d heard either that name or the Major’s tone.
“Friday. Rafe’s got his own transportation, but I told Roman we’d send Sawyer. He’s bringing his kid and fiancée. Gonna stay with Heather while we’re gone.”
After getting the information he wanted, Alex went back to doing the thing he was so good at. Thinking.
Cam picked up a device Calder called a state-of-the-art multi-application tactical intercept base station. A lot of words that meant something to him and Alex.
“Can you believe this stuff?” he muttered to Cam. “Hi-def video pens, thermal imaging cameras, sound amplifiers. Holy fuck.”
“And here I was worried about getting a dog. Seeing all this in such stark terms is like a smack upside the head.”
Drae grunted. “Word.”
“The wannabe Kevlar cock cup is a nice touch, though.” Cam snickered with a sarcastic laugh.
After a short laugh and a fist bump, he was rounding the table and inspecting more stuff when his eyes landed on two wide-eyed pregnant females sitting in a shadowed corner. Fuck. He’d forgotten about Victoria and Meghan.
Forgetting about the women was an egregious affront to who they were. Meghan and Victoria—Lacey too—merited the same level of respect and deference as the men did. But the moment the call for Team Justice went out, they took a seat on the bleachers. And he’d allowed it.
Unacceptable.
Drae tried catching Alex’s attention as he crossed the room, but the guy was entirely focused on the matter at hand. He grimaced slightly. It was up to him as the Major’s second to manage the wives.
Taking Victoria’s hand, he was momentarily taken aback by the cold, limpness he found when he grabbed hold. She looked up at him with a lost expression. Studying his wife’s face was one of his fondest pleasures. He knew every freckle, every line, and every shadow. The pale thin line framing her succulent lips was a red flag.
“Draegyn,” Meghan murmured. He schooled himself not to react to the uneasiness in her voice. Scaring them even more wasn’t a good idea.
The Major’s wife turned wide, green eyes his way. He saw her fear and drifted back in time to when they’d had the talk. The serious, thoughtful discussion about what it truly meant to take on Alex as a spouse. He’d told her that their love didn’t alter the past and couldn’t change the darkness inside the man. A guy carried some shit with him till the end of time.
She’d understood what he was trying to say. Meghan was truly an extraordinary woman. She was one of a kind.
“What can I do?” she asked. Her voice came off small and uncertain. He was proud of her at that moment. Despite her obvious fear, she was ready to stand tall and be the wife Alex’s unusual station in life demanded.
“I think you know,” he softly murmured.
She nodded and looked away. Victoria clung to his hand and stared at him. Silent. Wordless.
Drae sighed heavily. His nerd queen wife had just gotten an eyeful of deadly reality. He knew what all the equipment and battle gear looked like. Movies and TV shows only caught a fragment of what actually took place in these situations. Seeing it up close and personal must be scaring her shitless.
She looked so small and uncertain. He wanted to comfort her. Take her on his lap and soothe her fears with his lips and hands.
But duty was calling. What he wanted didn’t matter. The team was in jeopardy, and by extension, so was the family. There wasn’t time to cajole his pregnant wife into accepting that he was about to go to the other side of the planet and jump into a deadly situation.
Oh, hey honey. Listen, babe. I thought I might jet off to the one of the most dangerous locations on Earth and kill a few people. Maybe steal some shit and possibly burn a top-secret facility to the ground. No worries, though. I’ll bring back t-shirts. We good?
“Victoria,” he murmured. “I want you to take Meghan and go back to the house.”
Her head shook, and she started to deny him. When she tried to take her hand back, he held tight and stood his ground.
“Honey, I need you to do this.”
There was a silent, emotional tug-of-war that played out on their faces. But in the end, she gave in because there was no other option.
Drae knew she’d be distracted—barely—by having been assigned to take care of Alex’s most precious possession. His wife’s loyalty to the Major was a given.
She scowled, and he knew he’d gotten through. A curt nod told him she’d do as he asked—but later, when they were alone … look out.
He pulled her from the chair and walked a few feet away. Drae glanced at Meghan. She looked forlorn and close to losing it. There was no time to waste.
“Are we on the same page?” he quietly asked. Brushing the side of her face with his fingers helped to calm his nerves. Feeling his wife’s soft skin reminded Drae what was at stake.
“I, uh … yes.” She nodded once and clutched the front of his shirt. “Draegyn, I will personally murder you if you die or anyone gets hurt.”
Nobody except his sister, Desirée, had ever said word one to him about his Justice activities. Something was oddly comforting about Victoria’s blunt threat.
“This is what we do.” He imagined the stupid one-line statement was all the explanation that was required, but her hands on his chest went from desperate clutching to a hearty shove, and he saw how idiotic his answer was.
“Uh, no,” she scoffed. “This is what you did. Big difference, St. John. Don’t treat me like a kid with prepared comebacks and lazy excuses.”
Whoa. The lady knew how to avoid the bushes and go straight for the danger zone.
“This stuff was supposed to be in the past. Laid to rest or whatever dumbass phrase you guys prefer. Jesus, Draegyn. Cam has a new baby and a fragile wife. Meghan is baking twins in her baby oven. Parker and Angie are barely back on American soil and don’t get me started about you and me. Are we on the same page? Seriously?”
She shook her head and gave him a serious thunderbolt of eye shade.
“I’ll do what you ask because I love your sorry ass, and I’m not crazy enough to pretend I didn’t know what I was taking on when I married you. We both know that’d be bullshit. But it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear, mister.”
He tried not to smile—really, he did. The thing was, though, his wife’s take-no-prisoners attitude always turned him on. Couldn’t be helped. Something was drop-dead exciting and sexy about a little woman who kicked ass and took names.
“Wipe the silly grin off your face, you boob.”
She started to walk away, but he swung his hand and smacked her butt hard enough that she jumped and yelped. Nobody else in the room noticed, which was an indicator of how serious things were.
Victoria’s blazing eyes nearly cremated him on the spot. “You’ll pay for that later, Sinjin,” she coyly purred.
Drae waved Duke over and tersely spit out his orders. “Have one of your men take the women back to the house. And he’s to stay on-site until we can take over. Understand?”
The security chief grunted his acceptance of the demands and walked away to use his phone.
Cam and Alex were in deep discussion with Calder. Drae had to wrap it up and get back to the issue at hand.
His wife was trying to get Meghan out of her seat, but she was shaking her head and pulling away. Time for a firm hand.
“Okay, Lady Mama, let’s get you back to the house. This is not the place for either of you.” He gently pulled and put an arm around her when she stood.
“But I want to stay with my husband.”
“Meghan,” he said in a calm but serious tone. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you�
��re a distraction right now. We need Alex to focus. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“He’s right, Red.” His wife turned away from Meghan and stuck her tongue out with deliberate emphasis. “You want to help Alex?”
Meghan nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. What can I do?”
Victoria took her friend’s hand. “You can take care of yourself and those babies. Alex can’t concentrate on anything but Justice right now. He needs us to have his back, sweetie.”
“Oh,” she murmured. “Okay.” Meghan clutched his wife’s hand close to her heart. “Don’t leave me.”
He and Victoria looked at each other. Even though he had seen Meghan vulnerable, his wife hadn’t. This was how he had found her when she and Alex were apart. Her love for Alex was palpable. And so was her fear.
“Sisters,” Victoria murmured. “We do this together.”
With one last terrified glance at Alex, Meghan let Victoria lead her away. He told them to go wait in the lobby—that Duke would send someone to see them safely home.
Part of him trembled when they left. As the door closed behind them, Drae drew on the strength of the love of his family to get his head on straight. He’d deal with Victoria later. She’d do whatever he asked—a small comfort despite knowing she’d also be giving him a world of shit.
Right now, though, he had to get his ass in the game. The quirky but stable little world he and his Justice Brothers had made here in Arizona was under assault. It didn’t matter that the battleground was continents away. Not when the bald truth was that if they couldn’t shut down Polaris, the threat was sure to find them on home turf. And that, he thought with steely resolve, was the deal breaker to end all deal breakers.
Anyone or anything that threatened Family Justice would find out just what kind of badass motherfuckers they all were. Not a promise—a vow. If he ended up with even more blood on his record, so be it—as long as Victoria and Daniel were safe.
Meghan couldn’t look at Carmen when they got back to the house. She had spied the pile of smashed phone pieces on the counter and knew the woman was probably full of questions. Questions she didn’t have the voice to answer.
Everlasting (Family Justice Book 6) Page 33