The Protective SEAL

by Knight, Katie

  “Yeah?” She raised a brow at him. “How? You can’t reach the back of your arm and this will get infected if you don’t take care of it properly.”

  “Since when are you a doctor?” he grumbled.

  “Since when are you a smartass?” she replied, not taking any of his shit.

  “Fine. Whatever.” His shoulders sagged as he let her clean and bandage him up. Luckily, the wound had stopped bleeding, so the stitches weren’t necessary after all. He had bigger issues to tackle anyway. Like convincing her that calling his buddy at the marshal’s office was the right thing to do. “When you’re done, I’m going to call Zeke.”

  She just kept on working, as if she hadn’t heard him, gently cleaning his injury with antiseptic, then covering the wound with a gauze pad.

  “Did you hear me?” Jack asked at last, frowning.

  “I did,” Sam said, taping the bandage into place. He’d expected another fight, another argument, but there was nothing. That left him more unsettled than ever.

  He felt like he should explain, to make sure they were clear. “I just think we have to get the marshals involved at this point. Zeke’s a good man. He’ll have the resources to keep you and Glory safe.”

  “Agreed.” She turned away to toss the soiled cotton balls and trash into the nearby bin. “I think you should call him right away.”

  Her voice sounded tighter than usual, as if she was holding back anger. Or disappointment. Gutted, Jack pushed off the bed and stalked over to the dresser across the room. So, she agreed he wasn’t a capable protector. Good. Even if it felt so incredibly bad. She’d lost faith in him too. Now he felt even more worthless than before. As he passed by Glory’s carrier, she began to fuss. With all the tension thickening the air, he wasn’t surprised the baby would pick up on it too.

  Without thinking, he reached into the carrier and picked his daughter up, cooing to her and making funny faces to get her to giggle. Before he knew it, Glory was calm again, gazing up at him with her wide, adoring eyes. His battered heart squeezed a little more. Man, he was going to miss this when they were gone. Holding his little girl, smelling her good baby smell, seeing that tiny smile she’d give only for him. Even it was the best thing for all of them to get her and Sam back into witness protection, it eviscerated him to know he’d likely never see them again. They’d been back in his life such a short time, but already he was attached, far more than was wise.

  Sam came over to stand next to him, smoothing her hand over their daughter’s head. “I mean, I’m not looking forward to leaving all this behind, but we’ve been enough of a burden to you already.”

  The constriction in Jack’s throat increased, threatening to choke him until he swallowed hard. “You’re not a burden.”

  “Seriously?” She gave a sad little snort. “Don’t say that to make me feel better. We’ve been nothing but trouble since you found us wandering alongside that road. You’ve already lost your vehicle, your cabin, and your peaceful farm because of me. I won’t let you lose anything else. So, yeah. Call this Zeke person, if you think you can trust him, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “All of that stuff can be replaced, Sam. My cousin can rebuild his cabin.” He placed Glory over his shoulder and began pacing the room with her, rubbing her back as he walked. “Your life and our baby’s can’t. That’s why I’m doing this.”

  “You don’t have to explain it to me.” Sam walked toward the bathroom. “I’m not arguing here. I just think it’s best to part ways now. That way neither of us loses any more than we have to. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s my turn to take a shower.”

  With that, she closed the door behind her, leaving him to stare after her as the sound of the lock clicking into place echoed through the room. Perfect. He should be happy. He’d gotten what he wanted. Sam had agreed to him calling in the US marshals again and going back under their protection.

  He should be ecstatic. Overjoyed. Relieved.

  So why then did he feel like the biggest failure in the history of the world?

  As if to agree with him, Glory gave a grunt and messed in her diaper.

  Perfect.

  Welp, time to see if all those video tutorials he’d watched paid off.

  “What did my baby girl do, huh? What did you do?” he asked as he carried his daughter over to the bed to lay her down, getting a couple of gurgling giggles out of her for his efforts. He dug through the diaper bag for supplies, then laid them out with military precision on the comforter before taking a deep breath. Okay. He mentally talked himself through the steps as he went. First, onesies off. Next, remove soiled diaper and discard it.

  Jack’s nose wrinkled as he peeled away the thing and peered inside. Holy mother of God, what had the kid been eating? Toxic waste? Quickly as possible, he folded the dirty diaper and chucked it into an empty plastic bag before setting it on the floor. He’d be taking that out to the dumpster as soon as he was done. He grabbed several wipes for the plastic container and carefully cleaned Glory up, then applied diaper rash cream to a few red spots before letting it all dry. While he waited, he got the clean diaper ready along with a new onesie. Finally, he hoisted Glory’s little bum into the air and slid the new diaper underneath before securing it in place and slipping on the new onesie. By the time he was done he felt like high-fiving the world. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. He’d just changed his first diaper.

  As he picked up the baby to put her back into her carrier, the sadness of the moment also struck him. He should savor this moment of caring for his daughter because all too soon it would be over and he’d be back to his bachelor life on the farm with just his substitute teaching to keep him company.

  Because that’s the way he wanted it. Because that’s what was best for them all.

  Wasn’t it?

  Eighteen

  The next morning, Sam was up early, as usual. Glory was fussy again, most likely because of their new environment. She wasn’t running a fever, thank goodness, and otherwise had no other physical signs of their ordeal in the woods the previous day.

  Jack had gone to the drug store to try to get them enough supplies to last them until his friend from the marshals’ office could get there later that day. He’d also mumbled something about patrolling the area as he’d left.

  Things were strained between, to say the least, since their conversation the night before.

  Sam sighed and sat down at the small table in the room. Glory was sitting in her carrier atop it, chewing on her plastic key set with a drooling grin. She was such a happy baby. She was never colicky. She slept surprisingly well most nights. She was fascinated with new things and new people, not scared and temperamental like some kids. Sam knew how lucky she was. She loved her daughter more than life itself and would do anything to keep her safe. Even if it meant leaving behind Jack.

  Since last night, she’d been working hard to build her emotional walls back up, high and strong, but it turned out to be far harder than she’d imagined. It had only been a short time since Jack Williams had appeared back in her life, yet he’d somehow managed to get closer to her than pretty much anyone else in her life. It was amazing. It was sad. It was terrifying.

  The fact that she felt way safer with Jack by her side than she ever had with the marshals didn’t help either. But she had to go. For Glory. For their future. Besides, Jack had built a nice, quiet life for himself here in Nebraska. He didn’t deserve to have her ruin it all because of her asshole father.

  Alone with Glory in the crappy hotel room, Sam allowed her sobs to overcome her and she cried. Cried for the mother she’d lost so young. Cried for the father she’d wished she’d had instead of the monster he’d become. Cried for her lost innocence.

  Bad as things were now, they hadn’t always been that way. When her mother had still been alive, she’d done her best to shield little Sam from the treachery of her father’s world. They’d spent most days outside Chicago at the racetrack where her mother had worked as a horse trainer. Sam�
�s love of nature and animals had started there in those stables. It was part of why she’d wanted to become a marine biologist. To help protect those that couldn’t protect themselves.

  After her mother had passed, her maternal grandparents had taken over, bringing Sam to their small amusement park after school. She’d loved all the carnival-style rides and playing the corny games. She’d had no idea that back at home, her brothers were being groomed to join their father in the mob. Sam sniffled and swiped her hand across the back of her damp cheeks. Just one more part of her old life that witness protection had stolen from her. She yearned to call them and find out how they were, but that could be signing their death warrant. Not from her father, per se, but from his enemies.

  It was all such a mess.

  Then there was Jack. The man she’d never forgotten and now couldn’t imagine living without, even though she knew she’d have to. Her heart squeezed tight in her chest. Why did love have to hurt so badly? In all those sappy love stories she’d devoured as a teenager, the couples went through problems, sure, but they always found their way to happily ever after. Not in real life though. In reality, people died, people went bad, people tore the ones they loved apart for their own selfish reasons.

  Sam covered her face with her hands and let her tears flow freely.

  Oblivious to her mother’s turmoil, Glory giggled and threw her keys at Sam. They bounced off Sam’s forehead before clattering to the floor. It was enough of a shock to draw Sam out of the sadness of her past and the sorrow of letting Jack go and bring her focus back to the here and now. Her focus needed to be on her daughter if they were going to make it through this in one piece. Time she snapped out of her depression and sucked it up. That’s what moms did.

  After a few deep breaths, she squared her shoulders and forced a smile for Glory.

  “What are you doing, huh?” Sam snorted and picked up the plastic keys, carrying them to the bathroom to wash them off before returning them to her daughter. “Are you trying to cheer mommy up?”

  As if in answer, Glory gave her another toothless, drool-filled smile.

  “Well, it worked.” Sam wiped away her tears and rolled her stiff shoulders. Jack should be back soon. She didn’t want him to see her crying. She needed to be strong, now more than ever.

  The scrape of a key in the lock had her rushing to the bathroom mirror to make sure all signs of her tears earlier were gone before Jack walked in.

  A gust of cool, early-springtime air followed behind him as he trundled inside the room, his arms laden with white plastic bags. He set them down, then secured the door behind himself. Even with the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and his wind-tousled hair, he was still the handsomest man she’d ever seen. Her heart did a little flip before she shoved those feelings aside. Once his friend from the marshals’ office got here, this would all be over.

  The sooner she remembered that, the better.

  “I got us each another change of clothes,” he said, unloading the bags and not looking at her. “Plus more stuff for the baby—diapers, rash cream, a couple more bottles, some jars of baby food, some clean onesies.”

  “What time will the marshals be here?” she asked, taking a stack of things for Glory from him to restock the diaper bag.

  “Not sure yet,” Jack said, still staring into the bags and avoiding her gaze entirely. “Zeke is supposed to call me back once he has details.”

  “Oh.” Sam shoved a handful of diapers into a pocket inside the diaper bag with more force than was necessary. The tension was so thick in the room it was stifling. She wished the easy banter between them would return, but knew that after last night, that was probably impossible. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to explain. “Listen, Jack. About last night…”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. You’re right. We need to keep our heads in the game here and not let our emotions get involved. This is temporary. You’ll be leaving soon and I’ll be back to my farm and life will get back to normal. It’s all good.” His tone said the exact opposite and Sam winced. He quit futzing with the bags and strode back over toward the door, his expression bleak. Their daughter squeaked, as if trying to draw his attention, but he didn’t so much as glance at her. “I’m going to patrol the area again and call Zeke back to see what’s happening at the marshals’ office. Stay inside and lock the door behind me.”

  He walked out without another word to her or Glory.

  She finished putting away their new supplies, then walked over to bolt the door behind Jack.

  Sam leaned her forehead against the cool metal, her heart aching for all they could have had together and all that they’d most likely lost. It might be better this way, but it hurt like hell.

  Nineteen

  As Jack circled the perimeter of the motel for the third time, he couldn’t stop beating himself up inside. Things were complicated enough in this situation without him allowing his emotions to get involved. That was rule number one in the SEALs—stay cool, stay calm, stay detached and rational.

  Of course, his well-honed skills had gone right out the window the minute he’d spotted Sam on that old country highway. Man, he was such an idiot.

  A stupid, besotted fool.

  He kicked a pebble across the cracked pavement of the parking lot and cursed under his breath. He’d known better than to let Sam into his heart and his life, then he’d went right ahead and done it anyway. And as for keeping Glory out of his heart… Well, forget about it. He’d loved that kid from the second he’d seen her. Knowing that he’d created a child, that a part of him would live on well after he was dead and buried—that touched him deep in his soul.

  But Sam was right. She was safer with the marshals. The honorable, true marshals. Not those traitorous bastards who’d fallen under the influence of her gangster father. Which made contacting Zeke even more important. It had been several hours since he’d talked to the guy that morning. They had to have some sort of plan in place by now.

  Jack headed back to the motel room and started to call Zeke’s number, only to have the landline phone on the table beside him start to ring. Huh. That was weird. He stared at the receiver as a niggle of dread bored into his gut and his instincts went on high alert.

  Chest constricted, he answered. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Williams, this is Deputy Marshal Turner with the U.S. Marshal’s office. I work with your buddy, Zeke. He asked me to give you a call back about the precious cargo you’re carrying.”

  Precious cargo? Okay. Yeah. Whoever the hell this guy was, he was definitely not friends with Zeke. Zeke was the biggest smartass Jack knew, and back when they’d been in the SEALs together, they’d always made fun of all the cheesy lines and lingo from the action movies they watched on base during their missions. No one who was actually close to Zeke would call Sam and Glory precious cargo. Plus, if he was really connected to Zeke, wouldn’t he have called Jack’s cell phone instead of the room? Come to think of it, how had he known what room to call? Jack had told Zeke what motel they were in, but he hadn’t mentioned the room number.

  If this was another one of the bastards on her dad’s payroll, that meant they knew exactly where they were. But it sounded like their plan was to get Jack to hand Sam and Glory over willingly, believing it was a legitimate transfer. If that’s what they were going for, then there was still a chance to turn this around, set a trap. Best way he could think of to do that at present was to go along with whatever this Hans Gruber-wannabe said.

  “Yeah, your precious cargo’s safe with me,” Jack said, managing not to cringe, barely. “What’s the plan for transfer?”

  “You sound eager to get rid of her?” the agent said.

  “You have no idea.” He swallowed hard against the lump in his throat at the thought of Sam and his daughter walking out of his life forever. Best to let these guys think he had no vested interest in the situation, no matter how much he really did. “She’s been a real pain in my ass, dude. I just want to han
d off her and that baby so I can get back to my normal life.”

  A few seconds ticked by before Agent Turner said, “Good. Give me an hour to get a team in place, then we’ll be there to grab them. You’re at the Moonlight Inn, off Route 8, yes?”

  “Yes. What time?”

  “Let’s say two o’clock at the gas station across the street. More people, less suspicious.”

  “Fine.” Jack ended the call without saying goodbye. Shit. He checked his watch and saw it was a bit past noon. Zeke better have come up with a plan. He walked back out to the parking lot. He needed to pace to clear his head and get his focus back, and the room was just too damn small. Sam gave him a flat stare, but didn’t say anything. It took all Jack’s willpower not to coo and cuddle Glory on his way back out the door. But touching her and playing with her and smelling her good baby smell now would only make the handoff later that much more difficult.

  Once he was alone again, he pulled out the burner phone he’d bought and dialed in Zeke’s private cell number.

  “Jack?” Zeke’s voice sounded concerned. “What’s going on?”

  “I just got a call from another crooked agent in your office, that’s what’s up.” Jack stared at the busy two-lane highway in the distance. “Some asshole named Turner who thinks he’s going to take over Nakatomi Plaza or something.”