by B. B. Hamel
Chills ran down my spine.
“Funny that you’d want to shake hands,” he said.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I mean, I don’t know what this is.”
“It’s coffee. And just so you know, I don’t shake hands with women I’ve already fucked.”
I smiled. “What about impregnated?”
“Well.” His grin slipped a little. “Let’s sit.”
We sat back down and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. I studied him, impossibly curious. He was wearing a loose black shirt and well-fitting jeans. His tattoos snaked up his arms, disappearing underneath his sleeves, and I vaguely remembered tracing them with my fingers once, a long time ago.
“I’m sure this is strange for you,” he said, “me just showing up like this.”
“Very strange,” I admitted. “How did you find me?”
He just smiled. “I’ll get to that. First, I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner. I didn’t know about Mason. I may not be a fucking saint, but I wouldn’t ignore my own kid.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I tried to find you, but it’s like you don’t exist. Is Emory your real name?”
“Yeah,” he said, grinning again, “it is. But you won’t find me under that name.”
“Why not?” I asked, cocking my head.
“What do you do for a living, Tara?” he asked instead.
“I go to school. I want to be a nurse.”
“Well, my job is a little more complicated.” He leaned toward me, speaking low. “What do you know about the Navy SEALs?”
“Aren’t they, like, an elite special forces group or something?”
“Exactly. That’s my job. In particular, I’m assigned to a team that fights a Pakistani terrorist group called The Network.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds fake.”
He laughed. “It does, but I’m not lying.”
“Okay, so I couldn’t find you because you’re a spy or something?”
“Not exactly,” he said. “Our identities are protected because of the dangerous shit we do. I’m not in the public databases anymore.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.”
“It’s also how I found you. Being a SEAL team captain means I have access to some pretty cool fucking tricks.”
“But if you didn’t know about Mason, why did you come find me?”
I watched his face fall for a second before quickly gathering himself. “Do you remember the night we first met?”
“Of course,” I said softly. I felt a thrill run down my spine.
“You’re just as fucking sexy as you were that night,” he said softly.
“Obviously,” I said, joking.
“Some hard shit happened to me after that night, but all through it I kept thinking about your delicious little pussy.”
“What sort of stuff happened?”
“Just a mission. But you put a fucking fire in my veins, Tara.”
“So you found me because you wanted to sleep with me again?” I asked, feeling slightly annoyed.
“Would that bother you if it were true?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Probably.”
He smirked that delicious smile and leaned back, crossing his arms. “I’m not the type of man to play games, Tara. If that was what I wanted, I’d take it.”
“You can’t just take whatever you want,” I said, annoyed.
“Sure I can. Especially when you want to give it to me.”
“I don’t want to give you anything.”
“Are you sure about that?” He leaned forward again, looking hard at me. “Are you sure you’re not dripping wet, squirming in your seat right now?”
“Positive.” I stared back at him, my face hard, even though he was absolutely right.
I was dripping wet. I didn’t want to be, but my body was totally betraying me.
It didn’t matter though. I wasn’t going to give this cocky jerk an inch of what he wanted.
“We’ll see about that.”
“You haven’t answered my question yet,” I pressed. “Why are you here?”
“I know I didn’t answer. I will eventually, just not right now.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry, princess. It’s part of the job.”
“So you’re here because you’re a SEAL?”
“Not exactly.”
I sighed, exasperated. “Try being a little more exact. I’m tired and I have a baby at home. Your baby.”
“You’re tough, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have time to be weak. I’m a single mother now.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get that. I don’t have time for weakness either.”
“But you’re still dodging my question.”
“How about this. When you give me what I want, I’ll give you what you want.”
I sighed and crossed my arms. “And what exactly do you want?”
“I want to see the look on your face as you slowly slide down my hard cock.”
I sighed and shook my head, completely annoyed. “I am not sleeping with you just to get one stupid answer out of you.”
“Your loss. I think you’d be getting the better deal.”
“I doubt it. Apparently you came all the way here just to try to get in my pants again.”
He laughed, grinning. “Okay, you got me there. That pussy is definitely worth coming across the country for.”
I wanted to say something cutting, but he suddenly sat straight up. He was looking out the window with this strange look on his face, half intense and half angry.
“What?” I asked him.
“We need to go,” he said, without looking away from the window.
“Excuse me? We haven’t talked about anything.”
He looked back at me. “I promise we’ll talk more, but you have to trust me right now.”
I stared back at his piercing eyes and felt something shift inside me. He wasn’t joking around anymore, and that cocky grin was gone, replaced with this intense stare and strange stillness, like he was completely in control.
“Okay,” I said, and I didn’t know why.
He stood. “Come on. Follow me. Stay close.”
I stood up and he headed toward the front door. I followed him and we moved outside.
“My car,” I said as we began to walk away from the building.
“Leave it,” he said. “I’ll get it later.”
I frowned but listened. We moved toward the back of the café and then down through the alley. He cut right at the end and we moved down a residential street. He kept looking around, his eyes sweeping the place.
“What’s going on?” I asked him.
“Just keep up.”
He cut down between two houses and I followed. We moved down their lawns and came out on another street on the other side. He turned left, heading away from my house, walking, but at a fast clip. I had to walk fast to keep up.
“I’m from Indiana too,” he said suddenly as we turned onto another street.
“Really?” I asked.
“Sure. Small town, just like this one. I’m a Hoosier, born and bred.”
“What is a Hoosier anyway?”
“Nobody knows.” He turned down another street. I felt like I was going to get out of breath soon, but he seemed like this was nothing.
“Did you go to school around here?”
“High school,” he said. “I went to the Naval Academy for some college but dropped out to enlist in my second year.”
“Really? Why?”
“School wasn’t for me,” he said. “I was more interested in the action. I had top marks in school too, but I just couldn’t stand all that sitting around shit.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “You don’t meet a lot of people who really go for what they want.”
“That’s the kind of man I am.” We made another strange turn, heading away from my house again and down an alleyway. When we
got to the end, he turned right, and I realized that with each new turn, we were getting closer and closer to my house, even though we were taking the strangest route possible.
“I grew up with my mom mostly,” he said. “My dad left us when I was just a baby.”
“What happened to her?”
“Cancer,” he said. “Died when I was fifteen. I lived with my aunt until I left for the Academy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“So I understand what you’re going through to some extent. I respect single mothers.”
I nodded but had no clue why he was suddenly telling me all of this. Not that I minded; actually, it made me like him much, much more knowing that we had similar backgrounds. But I didn’t get why he was just talking, on and on.
And then it hit me as we made another weird turn. He was trying to keep me calm by talking to me. What we were doing was bizarre, totally strange, and he was basically a complete stranger to me. I was following him along and he could be taking me anywhere.
My heart started hammering in my chest when I realized that. He was keeping me calm and could be leading me anywhere.
I stopped walking.
He turned back to me. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know you,” I said. “Where are you taking me?”
“Back to your house.” He walked closer to me. “We have to move, Tara. We can’t stand here.”
“What’s going on?”
“You have to trust me. Come on, we have to move.”
“No,” I said. “Tell me what’s going on or I’m not moving.”
He took a deep breathe and slowly released it. “Listen to me, Tara. If we don’t start moving right now, we both might be in danger, and I can’t put you in that position.”
I stared at him, and that same look crossed his face, sincere and intense. As strange as this was, I still believed him and trusted him. I didn’t know why, but I did.
“Fine,” I said, “But promise you’ll tell me what’s happening when we get back.”
“I promise.”
He turned and started walking, and I followed.
He wasn’t talking to me anymore. He wasn’t trying to keep me calm. I just kept pace with him down the streets, cutting through yards where we could, moving in the strangest pattern back toward my house.
Finally, after maybe a half hour of walking, we made it. I spotted my house up ahead.
“Wait,” he said, stopping me. “Stay here.”
“What?”
“Stay here.” He walked off without another word.
I stood there and watched as he slowly walked around my house, checking in the windows. He paced across the street, his eyes constantly sweeping the space, before coming back to me.
“Okay. Come on.”
I followed him again, my heart racing, completely confused.
We went up to my front door. I unlocked it and pushed it open. “Hello, Mom? I’m home.”
“Hi, sweetie.” My Mom appeared in the kitchen, holding Mason. “Who’s this?”
I looked back at Emory and watched him relax. “Mom, this is Emory.”
“Emory Rush. It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” He walked inside and smiled a charming smile. My mom shook his hand.
“Oh, hello. Are you friends from school?”
“Not exactly, ma’am. I know Tara from India.”
She paused, and I knew she had just put it together. “Oh, that’s nice,” she said absently. “Why don’t you two go sit in the living room and talk? I’ll take Mason to the park.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said.
“That’d be great, Mom,” I said, interrupting him.
“Great. Well, have a nice time.” She walked off and headed upstairs.
Emory looked at me. “Nice lady.”
I rolled my eyes and dragged him into the living room. I pushed him lightly and he dropped onto the couch, grinning at me.
“Okay, we’re here,” I said. “Now talk.”
“Sit down first,” he said, looking serious.
I sat down, my heart racing in my chest.
Chapter 6
Emory
Tara sat down next to me, looking annoyed as hell.
I had to admit, the girl was fucking sexy when she was pissed. She was a good sport following me back from the café like that. I’d completely expected her to rebel at least a few more times, but she managed to question me only once.
Which was impressive. Not many civilians would be willing to go along with an evasive maneuver like that with absolutely zero explanation, especially with a stranger.
Which was why I wanted her to know me better. We really did have a lot in common. Meeting her mother, seeing where she lived, it felt a lot like the way my life looked back before my mother got sick.
But unfortunately, I had to tell Tara what was happening. I’d meant to tell her today regardless. I wished I could keep it away from her, but it would be hard to protect her if she had no clue what I was doing. I couldn’t risk her thinking I was just some psycho and potentially calling the local police on me or some shit like that.
And so I had to tell the girl that she was in mortal danger from a serious terrorist group.
The same terrorist group I had spotted while we were sitting in the café.
It was all but confirmed for me. The man I spotted was sitting at the bus stop across the street, pretending to read the paper, but I would have recognized him anywhere. Omar Vazir Hooth was one of the deadliest members of The Network, and the fact that he was anywhere near Tara meant that her life was in more serious danger than I had thought.
Omar was one of the leaders of The Network, and definitely one of the most radical. In our raid of their organization, I’d killed his brother and several of his cousins personally and had wondered why I’d missed him.
Now I knew. Omar Hooth had been in America this whole time, probably for years. I was willing to bet this thing with Tara was personal revenge for what I’d done to his family, but I couldn’t be sure.
Tara looked at me expectantly, and I wondered how the hell I should phrase this.
“You know I’m a SEAL,” I said.
She nodded. “You told me that already.”
“Well, I specialize in anti-terrorism. The night we met was the night before I deployed into Pakistan.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“No. I couldn’t have even if I’d wanted to. But in Pakistan, we went after a terrorist group called The Network. They’re one of the largest and deadliest organizations in the world, and they absolutely hate us.”
“Okay,” she said. “So what?”
“I don’t know how, but The Network figured out my identity. Worse than that, they had spies in the resort we were staying at.”
I saw the wheels turning in her mind. “In India, they were watching you?”
“Yes,” I said. “That was how they found out about you.”
She stared at me, and I could see comprehension dawning on her face. “They know about me?”
“Tara, about two days ago I got a photograph in the mail. It was a picture of you, a recent picture of you. I believe The Network sent it to me as a message.”
She leaned back into the couch, shaking her head. “No way. This is crazy.”
“Stay with me, Tara,” I said. “This is all real.”
“No,” she said. “No. I’m not the target of some terrorist group. You’re crazy.”
“I believe you are. In the past few days, has anyone approached you? Possibly a man that looked Indian, about my height and weight? He likely spoke perfect English.”
She shook her head. “No. Nobody like that.”
“Think harder, Tara. Have you seen anyone following you lately?”
Slowly she nodded. “Oh my god. Yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“Just before you showed up, I was in the park with Mason and I dropped my wallet. A man followed me back to my
house to return it.” She looked at me, stunned. “He looked Indian, just like you described. Seemed nice.”
“I believe that man was Omar Hooth, one of the most dangerous Pakistani terrorists in the world.”
She looked dazed. “Is that why we left the café?”
“Yes,” I said. “I spotted him sitting nearby, watching us. I decided we should lose him and talk.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said. “I can’t. You have to be lying to me. A terrorist wants to hurt me?”
“He wants to hurt me,” I said, “and he’ll do anything to do that.”
She stared at me, and I could see the fear beginning to bubble for real underneath her gaze. She was taking it pretty well, all considered, but I knew she was just a second from losing it completely.
“We need to call the police,” she said.
“No. We can’t call them.”
“Why? Emory, they can help us.”
“I’m under orders from my commanding officer. We can’t alert the local police.”
“But they can help,” she said again, clearly desperate.
“If we call the cops, the media will hear about this. Maybe not right away, but sooner or later, they will. And if word gets out that Omar Hooth is in America, there will be a panic, and we will lose him.”
“So you’re using me and my baby as bait?”
“Not at all,” I said. “But if we want to stop him, we can’t let him get away.”
“Emory, this is insane. Please, let’s just call the police or the FBI or someone.”
I shook my head. “No, Tara. You don’t fucking need them. You have SEAL Team Eight.”
“I just have you,” she said softly.
“For now.”
“There are more of you?”
“Of course there are,” I said, grinning. “If we need help, they’re a phone call away.”
“Call them,” she said.
“Not yet. Omar hasn’t made a move yet, but he definitely knows I’m here. We can’t risk spooking him.”
She shook her head, her eyes wide, and stood up. “I want you to leave.”
“Tara—”
“No. I want you to get out. First you get me pregnant and disappear, and now you’re saying some terrorist is going to try to kill me?”
I stood, shaking my head. “I didn’t want any of this.”