by Bella Juarez
“She’s slowed down since she’s been living in the city,” Anna said standing next to Reese.
Slowed down! Reese looked at this crazy woman like she was from another planet. There was nothing slow about what Victoria was doing. He could feel his heart in his throat as she finished and took the horse to full speed as she rounded the last barrel. She slowed down and galloped then trotted the horse around the ring as she petted the horse’s neck. She looked up and saw him standing next to Anna. She smiled wickedly as she turned her horse around and started around those barrels once more, much to the delight of her cheering nieces and nephews.
Victoria rode for a moment and jumped off the horse as she handed it off to Michael. Anna grabbed a couple of the kids for a project she needed done and turned for the house. Victoria was flushed with excitement as she walked up, put her arms around him, and kissed him.
“I should spank you for scaring the shit out me with that little display,” Reese snarled into Victoria’s ear.
“Why? I’ll be sore enough. I haven’t been on my horse in almost three years. So what did you and my dad do?” Victoria asked.
“Chores. What have you been doing other than scaring me?” Reese asked.
They started walking back to the house and sat on the back porch as Victoria told Reese about how she, Anna, and her sisters-in-law had already pretty much laid out the wedding. They were planning on having the wedding at the ranch and it would be family and very close friends. No more than a hundred people. That suited him fine. The wedding he had endured with Maggie had been an eight-hundred-person, three-day circus. When he asked about the barrel racing, Alyssa, it turned out, had been the culprit to the barrel racing dare.
“And you’re listening to a thirteen-year-old kid, why?” Reese asked.
“Reese, she didn’t talk me into anything I didn’t want to do,” Victoria said with a smile.
“I knew that girl was trouble,” Reese said as Alyssa walked by. Reese stuck out his foot like he wanted to trip Alyssa.
“Hey!” Alyssa exclaimed as she lightly jumped over Reese’s foot.
“If your Aunt Tori dies while she’s racing that horse around, you’ll have to marry me,” Reese teased Alyssa.
“Eww! No way! I’m not getting married!” Alyssa quipped.
“Gotta find a replacement!” Reese retorted.
“I think you’d have to fight your mother, Alyssa,” Victoria teased.
“Damn right!” Anna said, stepping out onto the porch. “Brittney found a florist, Victoria. I’ve just about finished the menu. Do you want to go shopping for a dress later on?”
“Reese’s mom is helping me with a dress. You can do yours and Alyssa’s dresses,” Victoria said.
“Aw! I don’t want to wear a dress!” Alyssa lamented as she played with Victoria’s hair.
“What do you want to wear, mi hija?” Victoria asked Alyssa.
“Jeans and a shirt with boots,” Alyssa said.
“Whatever. Come on, I need some help,” Anna said as she turned and walked back into the house.
Alyssa followed Anna into the kitchen. Victoria slowly got up from the chair she was sitting in and groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Reese asked.
“I told you, I’m getting really sore from that little show I put on earlier. I haven’t used those muscles in a long time.” Victoria bent over and stretched.
“You’ll get sorer yet! I’m still considering that spanking,” Reese said.
“You have to catch me first!” Victoria quipped as she closed the door to the house.
Victor was planning a barbecue for late this afternoon. The ladies, under Anna’s direction, were doing the rest of the cooking. The smells coming from the house were incredible. Reese stood and walked around, finding Victor and Raymond in one of the barns. Ray was looking at one of the newborn calves. Ray was a large-animal veterinarian. Victor Jr. would eventually take over the large ranch, and Rudy did all the trucking and equipment maintenance on the ranch. It was a well-oiled machine and everyone had a job and a purpose right down to the dogs and cats on the ranch. As soon as he walked up to the pair they put him to work.
It was a few hours later when Michael came and found the men in the barn. Apparently, the elder Espinozas from Kingsville had just arrived. Before they could stop what they were doing and clean up, Victoria’s grandfather found them and started working as well. The elder man argued with Ray about his “modern techniques.” Gavino loudly explained to Ray that based on his seventy some-odd years of farming and ranching experience, Ray’s methods of animal care would not stand the test of time. As offended as Ray seemed to get, he kept his remarks respectful.
After the men were finished, Victor introduced Reese to Gavino Espinoza, the patriarch of the family. Victor and Ray gently teased the elder man about the ride to Houston from Kingsville. As it turned out, it hadn’t taken fifteen hours, but they had made the drive in just over ten hours. The men dug out our wallets and each of them paid Rudy five dollars. Last night under the tree while they had been drinking by the fire, they had started a pool to guess how long the trip would take. Rudy had nailed it and won the pool. Victor asked about his mother. Gavino let out a string of curses that he seemed to be holding back until that moment. The group burst into hysterical laughter. It was clear the elder Espinoza was not amused.
The men shuffled their way to the pits that Victor and Reese had set up earlier during the day and started cooking the meat that would be served for dinner. As the men of the ranch gathered around to cook, Ray handed out beer. The work was done for the day, and now it was time to relax. It had been a very busy day. Reese realized it was creeping up on four in the afternoon. He was tired. Reese hadn’t really stopped since six this morning. It was a good, contented tired. Reese was ready to eat, clean up, and curl up with Victoria later tonight.
Victoria found Reese and took him to meet her grandmother. The woman was a small elderly lady with white hair and dark skin. She reminded him of his own grandma in Naples who came over every summer to visit his mother. Maria Espinoza seemed like the sweetest thing in the world. She looked like the grandma that every kid wanted to go spend the summer with because she’d let them get away with murder. Maria was charming. It was hard to picture this sweet, kind old lady giving her husband hell for ten hours while he was trapped in a vehicle with her. I guess you never know…
Later that night, as Reese held Victoria close, he thought about the people that lived here who would soon be his family. He knew he shouldn’t have, but he compared Maggie’s family to Victoria’s family. His marriage to Maggie had been cold and one compromise or demand after another. Maggie’s family was much the same way. Someone always had to kiss their asses to get anywhere with them and the hoops he jumped through were rarely appreciated. There was no joking around or teasing. It was an emotionless and inflexible relationship. Everything with Maggie’s bunch was always one strategic move after another to better place themselves. It didn’t matter who they screwed to get there.
Victoria’s family on the other hand was a close-knit, hardworking, down-to-earth, loving bunch of people. They may have not been showy, but you could feel it. It was genuine. If these people didn’t like someone there would be no faking. Reese now understood Victoria’s struggle when he took her around people she didn’t like. These people were honest and passionate about the land as well as the people they loved. It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to drop your guard and be yourself. With all that he had seen in the last few days, it shocked him that Victoria had lowered herself to be a maid. It was obvious she could have asked her dad or her grandfather to support her through school while she was getting her degree and they would have done it without hesitation.
Victoria, unlike Maggie, was independent and had been raised to make her own way in life. She was too proud to ask her father, or anyone, for that matter, to help her. He smiled as he thought about how many fights they had had because she refused to take anything fr
om him or ask for his help. He pulled her closer and felt her arms wrap around him. He was proud of Victoria. He felt humbled that she had seen enough in him to find value and had decided to share her life with him. Maggie had leached on and tried to suck that very life from him. Victoria would be his partner and help him. He would never have to worry about a remote tour or coming home the way he had seven months ago. She didn’t need him. That was obvious by all the people who surrounded her. She had chosen him.
“I love you, sweetness,” Reese whispered as he kissed Victoria.
“I love you, too,” Victoria whispered sleepily.
“I want us to have a good life, baby. I don’t want you to ever feel like I don’t love you.”
Chapter Twelve
Omar Abdul and Krazi Mummar sat across the table from Marco Lima and listened carefully as the young man laid out the plan of attack for the base they were to strike. Marco added a twist. His new boss had just discovered a way to really take out the infidels that were wreaking havoc all over the border and against their brethren in Afghanistan. The government contract would be adjusted over time to include medical, electronic, and other supplies. They were to start selling material to the United States Department of Defense that would be tainted or strategically placed.
Krazi had his doubts and had expressed them to his cousin, Omar, before the meeting had taken place. He listened more intently as Marco laid out the cyber-attack that would precede the actual physical attack on the base. The company they owned would be doing several environmental studies at three of the Navy bases and one Marine base in the area. Crescent Environmental, LLP was one of two companies that had been awarded a huge contract on four military installations as well as several government buildings in the Virginia area. They were just starting to ramp up their company when Lima paid them a visit.
When they were awarded the contract, Krazi seriously considered cutting his ties with the sleeper cell that had brought them here. It didn’t matter that someone high up in the corrupt Musharraf government was funding them. This was a chance to live a better life. He could be a successful business man and start a family, opportunities he would have never gotten in his native Pakistan. But his ties to his cousin, Omar, were strong and Omar, at this point, was calling the shots.
“That’s the plan,” Marco concluded in his thick Mexican accent.
“We’ve already hired five engineers that would not raise suspicion and can pass the background checks for security clearances. That’s the loophole. Only people who have access to the base need a clearance, not the company. As long as we pay the FBI for the investigation, we will be fine,” Omar said.
“We’ll have to give the contracting officer and the client results, otherwise we’ll be brought under investigation. If they shut us down, this will all be for nothing,” Krazi said.
“I don’t care how you work it. Make copies of everything and find a way to get me on base when the time is right,” Marco said.
“We understand,” Omar said.
“I like the setup. No offices and you have all your employees telecommuting. Four men and one woman. What’s the woman like?” Marco asked as he looked over the employee list.
“I do not look at the filthy women in this country. I cannot tell you. The clients are supplying the desks for our people if they need one,” Omar snapped as he took the list from Marco.
“Working onsite? Even better! I’ll try and hack my new background into the system so I can get access as soon as possible,” Marco said as he stood.
Krazi watched Marco leave the office. He waited for a few minutes before he spoke to Omar.
“I do not trust him, brother. He is too reckless,” Krazi said in their native Pashtun.
“Unfortunately, we have to trust him. He is the contact for M-22 until we get a new contact or something changes,” Omar said in the same native tongue.
* * * *
Victoria and Lucia sat at an outdoor café sipping espresso. They had been shopping for wedding dresses all day long. She was so frustrated. Everything was either way out there in fashion, too much for the ranch, or sloppy. There was just nothing that fit. Lucia had shared her frustration. Sophia, Reese’s sister, had tagged along for a while until her husband called about baby Gina.
Victoria was staying with Lucia for the weekend while Reese was on a trip for work to Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in California. He had asked her to go, but now that she was involved with work and planning the wedding, she just didn’t seem to have enough time in the day. Instead she opted to spend the weekend with Lucia and Sophia shopping for a dress.
“Dolce…” Lucia started with a term of endearment. “I know you want a dress that’s yours, but I still have my dress. Maybe you could look at it and see?” Lucia asked tentatively.
“I’d try anything right now. It’s the end of March and I’m running out of time,” Victoria said.
“I promise if you don’t like it, I won’t be mad,” Lucia said.
“Will you still be able to meet us in Naples when we go in June?” Victoria asked as she sipped her drink.
“Yes. Mamma’s looking forward to meeting you. Don’t mind my Pappa. He’s, how you say, grouchy. He still hasn’t forgiven me for running off with Reese’s Pappa,” Lucia said.
Victoria couldn’t believe the story when Lucia told it to her one afternoon. Reese’s dad, Scott, had been in the Navy and stationed at the base in Naples, Italy. One rainy afternoon Scott took shelter in the restaurant and inn that Lucia’s parents owned. She had been working in the kitchen. According to Lucia, it was love at first sight. From that moment on they had been inseparable, much to the objection of her parents. When he received orders back to the United States, they eloped. Lucia’s parents disowned her and didn’t have any contact with her until Reese was born five years later.
They returned to Lucia’s apartment above the restaurant that she owned. She went to a closet and took out the dress. Victoria’s jaw dropped when she saw it. It was perfect and exactly what she wanted. Lucia smiled and told her try it on. Victoria was smaller than Lucia, so the dress was long and loose in some areas. Lucia called a friend. A man and a woman showed up within thirty minutes and fitted the dress for Victoria. In Italian, the woman assured her the dress would be ready in a few hours.
* * * *
Reese sat in a briefing with Colonel Winslow, his boss, listening to Captain Chuck “Dixie” Campbell, the commanding officer of Navy Special Warfare Intelligence, brief a new concept. The Navy would be developing a new type of Special Warfare Group. Force Recon and its intelligence unit, Reese’s unit, would be a joint operation with this new group. There was a new SOCOM Cyber Command being created and the site section for the operation would be housed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The new Navy Special Warfare Group from the Navy as well as Reese’s unit would be supporting the new CYBERCOMM. CYBERCOMM’s job was to shut down cyber terrorism, the new threat in the Global War on Terror.
“…so fellas, that’s why Navy Special Warfare Group Five will be created. Commander Jack O’Malley, you know him as ‘Rock,’ will be the new commanding officer. We’re still trying to figure out just where we’re going to dock this new group,” Captain Campbell said.
“Any idea what posts we’re looking at, Captain? The SEALs are in Coronado and Little Creek right now. Are you docking them at any of those locations?” Colonel Winslow asked.
“Ingleside, Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, or Randolph Air Force Base are in the running so far,” Commander O’Malley answered.
“All in Texas?” Colonel Winslow asked.
“That’s right, Colonel.” Commander O’Malley said.
“Why not Lackland where CYBERCOM will be located, or co-locate with CYBERCOM?” Reese asked.
“Good idea, Major, and we considered it. However, Lackland can’t support us without building another building and we want as little attention as possible. We will be ready and operational before CYBERCOM so we can’t co-lo
. The best choice would have been Kelly Air Force Base. Unfortunately, it was shut down a few years ago. Randolph is the best option so far. It has the runways and space we need and is in the San Antonio area,” Commander O’Malley explained.
“Isn’t Randolph a headquarters base? It’s kind of like main Quantico, kind of open? How’s that going to work for operational security?” Reese asked.
“We’ve been talking to the AETC general out at Randolph. Of course he wants us there because the Navy will become a tenant organization there, like we already are at Lackland and Fort Sam. They get a lot of money from our pot when that happens. We’ve also promised to hire some of the civilians in the area. We’re looking at the east side of the base. We can beef up the security and it’s easier to defend, if we have to. There are also hangars that aren’t critical to their mission that we can revamp and take over,” Commander O’Malley said.
“Gentleman, what we would like to do is eventually create a Force Recon unit out there to support our mission. That won’t be for four to six years, until the group has been standing for at least eighteen months,” Captain Campbell said.
“A lot could happen in six years, Captain,” Colonel Winslow said.
“A lifetime, Colonel,” Commander O’Malley said.
* * * *
Victoria was making her way through Reston traffic when Reese called to tell her he was waiting at the airport. He had been delayed and she had tried to kill time after she had dropped off her report at the office. She was in phase two of her study at one of the buildings on Quantico.