Protecting Olivia

by Riley Edwards

  “We were getting ready to call 9-1-1. Thought maybe you had a heart attack. Death by fucking,” Colin was the next to chime in.

  “I wouldn’t be mad if you named your firstborn after me,” Garrett said.

  Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “So, did you untie her before you left?” Eric asked.

  I wasn’t touching that. I hadn’t even talked to Olivia about my adoration for bondage. That was for another day.

  “When’s the wedding?” Z asked, his face deadly serious. Unlike the rest of the guys in the room who wanted to bust chops, Zane was asking a real question.

  “As soon as we get back and I can buy her a ring,” I answered.

  “Saw that coming,” he mumbled.

  “Saw what?” I readied myself for his answer.

  “I mean, I saw it the second I climbed into the helicopter and she was on your lap. You looked like you were holding the most precious thing in the world. Before we took off on our drive across country and I was explaining how things worked, you looked like you wanted to take my head off. And what really gave you away was while we were in California, you did take my head off and you threatened to take off with the girl.”

  “Your plan was to trade my woman for information,” I reminded him.

  “The fuck I was. And if you’d been thinking clearly you would’ve known I would never trade a human asset for information. I left the fucking agency because they pull that kind of bullshit. I do not trade lives. You have to know it pisses me right the fuck off you’d think that of me.”

  Fuck. He was right.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know you better than that,” I admitted.

  “Good. Let’s get hunting, boys. We have a scumbag to dispose of,” Zane said.

  “Roger that,” I answered and moved from in front of the door.

  “Happy for you, Panther,” Z said as he passed, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes. It was the same smile he gave when he looked at Jasmin and Linc. It was a look of longing.

  ***

  Iceland was cold as fuck.

  I hated the cold and snow. You’d think after all the time I spent over in the Sandbox I’d welcome the cold.

  Negative.

  I’d take the heat any day. The walk from where the helicopter landed was only a few hundred yards from where the prison Siles was being held, but I was still freezing my balls off.

  “Comm check one,” came over my earpiece.

  “Copy oversight one,” I responded.

  I heard the other guys answer in turn.

  We were fully kitted out, not wanting the prison guards to see our faces. They knew we were coming, they knew to get out of our way, but we still wouldn’t show our faces.

  “Panther. You’re clear to enter. Switching you to comm two. Viper to follow at your six o’clock. Over.”

  “Roger that,” I replied.

  Zane gave me point on this op, and he took my back. He knew I wanted to be the one to end Siles. Unfortunately, there was no other option. This wasn’t about revenge; it was about preventing a cartel war in Bolivia that would, in the end, kill thousands of innocent people. The Bolivian government would ask for US aid, and service men and women would be sent in to protect drug territories. We were being proactive and stopping the bloodshed before it happened.

  When we entered Siles’ cell, he jumped off his cot and put his hands in the air.

  “This isn’t a stick-up motherfucker. Sit down.”

  “Sorry, mister, habit. Sorry,” he stammered.

  “Cut the shit, asshole,” Zane shut the door behind us. “Overwatch, we have tango one,” Z reported.

  “We had a chat with your friend Gomez,” Z cut to the chase.

  “Please don’t take me back, he’ll kill me. I gave everything to the Americans. Please, everything I know.”

  This motherfucker.

  “You’re caught. Cut the shit and be a man. You were double-crossed on your double-cross, dumbass,” Z told him. Siles continued to stare at Zane. “Let me break it down for you in the simplest of terms. Your plan was to have the Americans take out Gomez. You needed bait. A reason for the Americans to want to kill him. What better way than to take the child of a government official? Good plan by the way. I gotta tell you, we were a cunt hair from taking out Gomez for you. Where you got fucked was the second double-cross. That’s where a member of your team that was holding Olivia recorded your conversations.” Z stopped, and recognition hit Siles. “I see you’re understanding now. Those recordings were sent to Gomez. He helpfully provided us with a copy. The AG isn’t really happy he helped the man who kidnapped and tortured his daughter.”

  “What do you want?” Siles asked, the bullshit innocent act dropped.

  “Nothing. You have nothing we want. We’re here to simply take out the trash,” I told him.

  “You have a traitor.”

  Zane rolled his eyes. “Ya think, fucker? We gathered that all on our own. There is not a damn thing you can tell us that we don’t already know.”

  “I can tell you who,” Siles said.

  “No, you can’t. You don’t know his name because if you did, you’d already be dead,” Z explained.

  “It’s not a man. It’s a woman. I can help you find her. I know her voice.” Siles was still trying to save his life.

  Holy shit, a woman? There was normally only about twenty percent truth in what a person told you when they were begging for their life. It was completely natural to start making up more information than you really knew in an effort to save yourself.

  “Gomez sends his regards. See you in hell.” I didn’t give him a chance to answer as my gloved finger followed the trigger guard down, and in one even pull, I squeezed the trigger.

  The crack of the bullet sliced through the room, the suppressor only quieting the sonic shockwave. Siles’ body slumped to the side. Zane walked over to his body and checked his pulse.

  “Extortion three-one on the move,” I called in our ride home. “LZ one for pickup.”

  Zane and I made our way back to the extraction point. Jaxon, Colin, and Eric all stood in front of the helicopter watching our six should anyone try and come out of the prison.

  We all piled into the helicopter. “Go,” Z instructed the pilot.

  Once we were airborne, my body relaxed a little. I was one step closer to getting back to Olivia. I rested my head against the window and enjoyed the vibration of the helicopter.

  Seven hours later we were back in DC. Zane called ahead and told Tom we needed a face-to-face. By the time we got to the White House, the situation room had been cleared and ready for our use.

  Zane knocked twice on the door and swiped his temporary White House badge.

  “Crash code of the day?” a voice said over the intercom.

  “Tanker One,” Zane answered.

  “Color of the day?”

  “Red.” Zane rolled his eyes.

  That about summed it up. The White House protocols were almost as annoying as Zane’s need for twenty security checkpoints before you could enter the office.

  “Confirmed.”

  The lock clicked, and Zane pushed open the door. The President sat at the conference table, suit jacket off and his tie loose around his neck.

  “Welcome back,” Tom greeted.

  He looked like shit, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. I guess being the President, it was.

  “Are we secure?” Zane inquired.

  “Completely,” Tom confirmed.

  “We paid a visit to our friend. My balls are still defrosting by the way. He gave us an interesting piece of information. He seemed to think that his contact was a woman. We haven’t vetted this intel. But I did want you to know,” Zane explained.

  “A woman? How reliable do you think this is?” Tom asked.

  “I think there’s a strong possibility he was telling the truth. It was the way he said it. He was smug like he knew something we didn’t and was happy to sha
re. He wasn’t running off at the mouth,” I interjected.

  The whole way back to the states, I was going over what Siles had said and the way he said it. The more I thought about it, the more I believed him.

  “I hate to sound like the sexist pig here, but women are easier to turn. It’s easy to exploit their emotional side. Women become irrational when a loved one is in danger. If it is a woman, the blackmail started with a close family member. We can also narrow it down to a desk jockey. She’s not a field agent and she most likely has access to files,” Jaxon explained.

  “I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman. Whoever it is, is a traitor, and I want he or she dealt with accordingly. I’ll make sure you have access to whatever you need.” Tom stopped and took a drink. “Take a few days, you all need some rest. We’ll shelve this for now.”

  “Copy that. Thank you for your time.” Zane handed Tom a file. “For your eyes only. I trust you’ll destroy it when you’re done.”

  “One more thing before you go.” Tom leveled me with his hard stare. “I heard you’ve claimed Olivia.” Tom put his hand up to stop me when I tried to interrupt. “She’s a good girl. I’m happy she has you. She’s going to need all the support she can get. Peter told me about your sit down and Pamela’s behavior. I need to explain something that could shed some light on her behavior – Pamela has a benign brain tumor. The swelling in her frontal lobe has caused mood swings and aggression. Pamela is normally a mild-mannered woman for the most part. She’s currently undergoing treatment to reduce the swelling so she can undergo surgery.”

  I knew Pamela was ill, Tex had revealed that much, but no one knew the exact details.

  “Shit. This is going to kill Olivia. She and Pamela are not on the best of terms. What’s the prognosis?” I asked.

  “Westinghouse pulled some strings and got her in with the best brain specialist in the country. He’s confident he can remove the tumor. But we’re talking brain surgery. There are no guarantees.”

  “I can’t keep this from Olivia. She has to know.”

  I will not start my relationship with my soon-to-be-wife with lies. That was not going to happen.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to. Pamela should’ve told her. Right now, it might be better coming from you. I trust you’ll tell her when the time is right. Peter is taking care of Pamela. They’re working out their issues. What a cluster fuck. I always had my suspicions but never asked. I wish I had. Maybe then both of them wouldn’t have spent the last twenty-five years in misery.”

  “How well do you know Peter Newton? Pamela eluded to him cheating on her while she was away,” I asked.

  I tried to remember as much of the conversation in the basement when Pamela and Peter came to see Olivia, but the truth was my attention was on Olivia and not Pamela’s drama. Olivia looked so broken and lost lying on the bed afterwards, I wanted to scoop her up and take her away from all the confusion.

  “Peter did not cheat on Pamela with that bitch, Anna Crofton. Anna set Peter up. They were at a party, Peter had too much to drink, and Anna got into bed with him. Took off both their clothes and made Peter think he’d slept with her. A month later she’s pregnant and threatening to expose him if Peter didn’t marry her. Peter didn’t want to marry Anna, but his father demanded he did, as not to embarrass the family. Peter followed orders because back in the day, no one crossed Thad Newton. Shortly after Peter married Anna, she conveniently had a miscarriage. By that time, Thad wouldn’t let Peter dump her lying ass because the Croftons had made large investments and donations to Newton businesses. He was stuck with the wench until she died. And I hate to speak ill of the dead, but that woman was a nasty piece of work, and Peter sucked it up. Miserable every day of his life with her. He never stopped loving Pamela.”

  I didn’t know Peter well, but I felt sorry for him. I hoped now that the truth was out they could find a way back to each other. That was, if Pamela pulled through her treatment. I prayed to God she did. This was going to kill my sweet girl.

  “That has to be the most fucked up story I’ve heard,” Z said.

  “Indeed. You boys get on home.” Tom dismissed us.

  I rushed through my SITREP while Zane drove back to Maryland. I normally went back to the office to file my reports. But then I’d never had anyone waiting for me to come home before. I sent my report to Garrett and closed my laptop.

  Almost home.

  Epilogue

  Leo

  It has taken a few months, but I finally did it. I knocked my woman up and got my ring on her finger. Pamela and Ma were so excited they were filling our house with so much baby shit I couldn’t find a place to sit.

  Once I had all the facts about Pamela’s brain tumor, I took Olivia over to Ma’s and sat her down with her family surrounding her and laid it out for her. She reacted the way I knew my girl would – she broke down. Ma, Bella, MJ, and Luca all closed ranks and gave her all the love she needed to get through the following weeks. I had never been prouder of my family.

  Once my family was told, Olivia and I visited Pamela in DC. We brought Ma along as reinforcement. Pamela was combative and aggressive and exploded when we confronted her with all the information. In the end, it was Ma who calmed Pamela. She broke down and told Olivia everything. Since that day, Ma and Pamela have forged a close friendship. Pamela was at most Sunday dinners. Peter, too. Olivia was one of us, and by extension, Pamela and Peter had been welcomed into the fold.

  Ma was happy; her family was growing by leaps and bounds.

  Peter never left Pamela’s side. Her surgery was a success, the recovery is still ongoing and would be for a long time. They were slowly working their way back to each other. Peter had proven to be a good dad and was making up for lost time. He called Olivia every day to check in with her. He supported her when she announced she was following her passion for art and going to design school.

  My Olivia was happy. And knocked up!

  I glanced at my wife in the chair next to me reading some sort of parenting magazine with a breastfeeding mother on the cover. I couldn’t wait for Olivia to grow round with my baby.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked me when she caught me staring at her.

  “Not at all. I know everything is fine.”

  “Mrs. Gillonardo we’re ready for you,” the nurse announced.

  Mrs. Gillonardo. Goddamn, I loved the sound of that.

  We both stood and followed the nurse to the exam room.

  “The doctor will be just a moment.”

  Olivia got herself situated on the exam table, the white paper crinkled as she tried to get comfortable. There was a knock on the door and relief washed over me when a woman in her mid-fifties walked in. The guys had been tormenting me all week at work about Olivia getting a male doctor. They explained all the ways the doctor would be examining my wife.

  After the introductions were made, Dr. Lee told Olivia to lie back and squirted a clear jelly all over her lower abdomen. Olivia squeezed my hand and smiled.

  “You ready?” she whispered.

  Was I ready? Fuck yeah, I was ready. I wanted to yell to the world just how ready I was. Instead, I settled on nodding my head.

  The doctor moved a wand over Olivia’s belly and the room filled with a swooshing sound.

  The most perfect sound.

  “One strong heartbeat,” the doctor announced.

  Nothing could’ve prepared me for this moment. The first time hearing my child’s heartbeat.

  Beautiful.

  ***

  Olivia

  I was stuffed, and Essa was still trying to force feed me more.

  “You need to eat, Figlia,” she said.

  “Ma, I’ve eaten two helpings. I can’t eat anymore.”

  “Essa is right, sweetheart, you have to eat,” my mom chimed in.

  I rolled my eyes at both of them. I hated when they ganged up on me.

  “She’s eaten more than the boys. Leave her alone.” Bella came to my rescue.

 
God, I loved that girl. She drove her brothers crazy, and I loved watching them get bent out of shape by her antics.

  We had a surprise for everyone. Well, it was actually a surprise for all of us. We secretly had a 4D ultrasound. Our moms were going to freak out they weren’t there for it, but we hoped that our surprise would make up for it. We also had DVDs of the ultrasound made for them.

  Leo came back to the table carrying a beautiful cake covered in white icing.

  “That looks lovely, Leo,” my mom said.

  Once he placed it on the table, I got up and stood by his side. His arm went around me, and he pulled me close.

  Always touching me.

  “We have an announcement. Grandmas look under your placemats,” Leo told them.

  I smiled at both women as they found the envelopes under their placements.

  “Go ahead and open them,” I instructed.

  Both of them gasped.

  “Is this?” My mom overcome with emotion couldn’t finish her sentence when she saw what was inside.

  “Our grandbaby?” Essa helpfully finished.

  I could only nod through my tears. They both looked so happy seeing their grandchild for the first time. The card had a perfect 4D close-up of the baby’s face.

  “Essa, look at those chubby little cheeks,” my mom cried and waved the card around.

  “I just, this is the...” Essa couldn’t seem to find the words she was looking for. “Thank you, Figlia. Thank you for this beautiful baby.”

  “We have one more surprise. This one is for all of us. Olivia and I don’t even know.” I looked up at Leo, a sheen of unshed tears in his eyes.

  “Dad, will you cut the cake?” I asked Peter.

  Peter stood and walked to me, pulled me from Leo’s hold, and hugged me tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  He passed me back to Leo and proudly walked to the table. Peter cut a slice out of the cake and held it up for the room to see. “We have a granddaughter,” Peter announced when he saw the pink tinted cake.

  A girl.

  Leo is going to have a daughter. Oh, Lord! I hoped the world was prepared for Leo being the father of a girl. I knew I wasn’t.

  The room exploded into cheers and a whole lot of tears. MJ, Luca, and Bella high-fived each other and argued who was going to spoil their niece the most.