Hard Landing

by Becky McGraw

  “There’s nothing to resolve. CID has resolved everything, but I’ll call and tell them we’ve recovered the asset,” he said.

  “Well, you can tell them thanks to Captain Carter, you’ve also captured the leader of the Medina Cartel and his top lieutenant. I’m sure that will earn you another star for your collar, if you relate that to command too.”

  “Who in the hell are you and who are you with?” he growled, his eyebrows crashing together.

  “Cade Winters, and if I told you any more, I’d have to kill you. But if you have high enough clearance, you can get that information from my former boss, Barack Obama,” Cade snarled back, as he shoved his prisoner toward the General. Two soldiers stepped up to take him by the arms. “I am fully prepared to give you a sworn statement before I leave as to what these men confessed to me in transit. They have verified what you’ve been told, and I will swear to it.”

  The General’s eyebrows relaxed back in place, and he lost some of his cocksure expression. He held Cade’s eyes for a moment, then shouted, “Menendez!”

  A soldier peeled out from the formation to step up beside him and salute. “Take these prisoners to my office and get me the clerk.”

  “And when you’re done?” Hawk said, stepping around Cade. “You owe Captain Carter a fucking apology, a formal apology, a medal and an honorable discharge. If she isn’t exonerated and released by the time we get home in two days? You’ll be seeing your name and face on every media outlet I can contact, and I’m sure that won’t earn you any stars.”

  Chapter 30

  Maddie didn’t walk into the conference room, she floated in there on the arm of her guard, the sergeant who said he was a friend of her brother’s. Her mind was in a state of suspended animation as she took a seat at the table. She thought they might need to tie her to the chair she felt so light inside.

  She might be released today. She would see Sarah, and Hawk…and the other men she owed her life to.

  Colonel Wright, the woman she owed more, walked in, gave her a chin nod and a wink, then took the chair beside her. When her father walked in, Maddie tensed, but Claire grabbed her hand under the table to squeeze it.

  Claire stood to salute him and offer her hand, but Maddie did not. Not just because her legs were too weak, because she didn’t owe this man she never wanted to see again, but had to this one last time, any respect at all.

  The General took his seat across the table from them and tried to intimidate her with a penetrating stare. Maddie didn’t look away like she usually did, she held his gaze and lifted her eyebrow. A laugh bubbled in her chest when his forehead crinkled before he dragged his eyes away first. Take that, you old bastard, because I’m not afraid of you anymore.

  “Thank you for coming in today to clarify some of the things in your statement to CID for me and to answer a few more questions, General. I’m sure you know your dau—” Claire stopped and looked at Maddie and cleared her throat then refocused on him. “Captain Carter has retracted her confession and her trial is set for the end of the month, so you’ll probably be called to testify then, too.”

  “Yes, I’m aware,” he replied, with a smug curl of his lips. He leaned back in his chair to tent his fingers between the armrests. “Not very smart of her, but I expected no better.”

  Claire tensed and Maddie could almost feel the heat radiating from her body, but she ignored his bait. Instead, she reached to the center of the table and pressed a button hard enough to push it through the recorder.

  “General Carter, as I explained on the phone, this interview will be under oath and recorded. Is it still your wish to answer my questions today without counsel present?” Claire asked, her voice in eat nails mode.

  “Yes, it is. I’m not the one who sold out my country and I have nothing to hide,” he replied gruffly.

  Maddie ground her teeth and her mood deflated. No, but you sold out your daughter.

  “Very good,” Claire said, then cleared her throat.

  She asked him to raise his right hand and swore him in then leaned down to pull out a thick file folder and slap it on the table in front of her.

  “Let’s proceed then, shall we?” Claire said in a sing-song voice as she laced her fingers together on the table in front of her as a predatory smile curved her lips. “My first question, General, are you aware that providing false or misleading information to a military investigative body is a felony offense?”

  Maddie bit back another laugh when the General’s face paled and he squirmed in his seat. That was just Claire’s opening volley, though. With every successive rapid-fire question, he sank lower in his chair as he gave his answers and Claire unraveled his testimony.

  “Was providing that misleading information about your daughter and her possible motives for the alleged crime, your way of punishing her for embarrassing you, General?” Clair asked, and Maddie sat forward in her chair.

  “No, it was not!” he growled, sitting up straighter. “But wouldn’t you have been embarrassed if your daughter disgraced you like that, Colonel?” he fired back, his face gray now.

  “No, I would have been damned proud that she chose to serve this country with honor, in spite of your influence,” Claire replied, spearing him with her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, tapped her pen against her fingers and smiled. “But speaking of her mother…I have some questions about her death too, if you don’t mind. To set the stage as to what Captain Carter must have endured in your household growing up, General. I’m sure any compassionate tribunal member would take that into consideration at trial.”

  “I won’t stand for this disrespect, woman!” he shouted, his face even grayer, his breathing labored, as he pushed back his chair to stand.

  “That’s Colonel to you, and no you won’t stand. You’ll sit back down and allow me to finish my questions, or I’ll have the MPs assist you,” Claire replied, her voice deadly.

  Maddie thought she’d died and gone to heaven when the General plopped back down in the chair and white-knuckled the armrests. She listened and watched with glee as Colonel Claire Wright proceeded to peel every inch of skin from her father’s body with her tongue.

  By the time Claire finally spit him out, the General had to hold onto the wall as he staggered out of the interview room. With a satisfied smile, she reached to turn off the recorder, then smiled at Maddie.

  “And that, Captain Carter, is how you bag a turkey,” she said with a laugh.

  Maddie smiled, but her eyes burned as she leaned in to hug her shoulders. “Thank you for kicking my ass too, because you saved my life,” she whispered, her voice choked.

  “Oh, you’re welcome. I’m all about justice and it has just been served,” Claire said, patting her hand. Maddie jumped and Claire frowned when commotion erupted down the hallway.

  She got up, walked out into the hall. Maddie stayed put, because she was still technically under arrest and didn’t want to be shot.

  Claire came back into the room a moment later grim-faced. “I’m sorry, I might have taken things too far,” she said, her voice shaking as she pushed her bangs from her eyes. “The General collapsed in the parking lot and they think he’s dead. The MPs called the medics.”

  “Don’t be sorry—if he’s dead, he got what he deserved, because he killed my mother with his abuse, just as surely as if he’d put a gun to her head. He would’ve killed me too, because before you came here, I was very close to doing the same thing she did to escape him.”

  Now, justice had been served, and maybe Maddie could finally have some peace in her life.

  Chapter 31

  Hawk’s throat closed shut when, a week after he finally had Maddie home, Mickie handed him a yellow manila envelope from his attorney. His hand shook and his heart pounded as he pinched the brass prongs to open it.

  When he slid out the sheath of papers inside, he set aside the letter, a final bill from the attorney and smiled when he saw the certificate with the embossed seal.

  “YES!” he shoute
d, hugging the certificate to his chest.

  Something was finally going right for them. Well, several things had gone right in the last few weeks. The Army had their helicopter back and he had Maddie for good. She had been cleared on all charges and released. He also counted her father’s death among those blessings, but he didn’t bring up that subject.

  Maddie would be so damned happy with this development, but not happier than him, Hawk thought, looking at the certificate again. He found his name, Rhett Butler Hawkins, on the father’s line and his heart swelled, his eyes burned and he sucked in a shuddering breath.

  God, he wished his mother, who told him Maddie was the one for him as soon as she met her, had lived long enough to meet Sarah.

  You would’ve loved her too, Mom. We named her after you.

  “What now?” Gray asked, frowning as he ran out of his office.

  “He just got Sarah’s birth certificate,” Mickie informed. “I yelled for him when I got the envelope from the mailbox this morning. I had a feeling that’s what was inside.”

  “You had a feeling, huh?” Gray said, looking at her.

  Hawk bit back a laugh. Mickie was amazingly organized, and second only to Lou Ellen when it came to running the office. But she had been known to open mail that piqued her interest before she delivered it to them. Logan had crawled Gray’s butt about it, but she still did it—she just got sneakier. Hawk noticed the steam stains on the flap of his envelope, but didn’t mention it.

  Gray stuck out his hand and Hawk took it. “Congratulations, man.” Gray laughed. “Who’d have thought you would be a father before me? Not long ago, you were chasing my wife.”

  Mickie socked him in the arm. “He wasn’t chasing me—he was teasing you. I let him, because you were being a Big Dill to me,” Mickie said with a laugh.

  Gray pulled her to him with a growl and hugged her tight. “Well, you better never do that again, Mrs. Jennings, or I will spank your butt.”

  “Promises,” she mumbled into his shirtfront and laughed, then pushed back to look up at him. “Answer the phone if it rings. I have a party to put together.”

  “Don’t we pay you to answer the phone?” Gray asked frowning.

  “Not today,” she replied, then patted his chest. “I’m off the clock as of right now. I have cooking to do.”

  Hawk grinned and Gray rolled his eyes as he went back into his office. His grin was still firmly in place when he punched in the code then strode into the suite. “Put your party shoes on, sweet thang. We have a birth to celebrate!” he shouted, and he heard Maddie squeal in the bedroom.

  Maddie selected one of the little donut-like Italian pastries from the tray on the conference room table and popped it in her mouth. Her eyes drifted shut and she moaned.

  “Wow, these are incredible,” she whispered, her tone closely mimicking the one she used when she thanked him for the orgasm he’d given her in the suite earlier.

  Hawk snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist then pulled her back against him, because damned if he wasn’t hard again. They had a lot of making up to do.

  “We might have to take some of those to bed tonight. Those sounds you’re making are turning me on.” He kissed her neck and Maddie moaned as she rubbed her ass against him.

  “You haven’t tasted anything yet, Maddie,” Levi said, walking into the room with a tray of his own. He set it down beside the tray that held Mickie’s pastries. “Try these beignets. I promise they will make you slap your ma—um—boyfriend.”

  Maddie looked at Levi and smiled. “What are you two doing in that kitchen? Having the Betty Crocker Bake-off?” she asked.

  “Damn right. That beautiful Italian Crème Puff has pushed me far enough. These are just appetizers. The next course will be my gumbo against her Italian Wedding Soup.” He harrumphed. “She better just set down her spoon, because she doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “Get out of my way, Swamp Rat,” Mickie growled as she nudged him aside to put down a perfectly sliced frittata on the table beside the beignets. Hawk remembered that egg concoction from when he was with her and Gray at the beach house. His arms loosened around Maddie as he lunged for a plate, but Gray beat him to it and blocked him.

  “Is that a frittata I smell, baby?” Gray asked sweetly, as he walked up beside her.

  “Yes, Mr. Dill. I knew you’d want some or all of it for breakfast,” Mickie replied with a laugh as she picked up a paper plate, scooped two slices onto his plate, then handed it to him.

  “What is all of this? Have I died and gone to heaven?” Slade asked, immediately swiping a fork up from the table to dig into a slice of frittata without moving it to a plate. Maddie slapped his hand, grabbed a plate, scooped his slice up and handed it to him.

  “If Levi would get out of my kitchen and let me finish cooking, it’s supposed to be a party for Hawk and Maddie. The baby’s birth certificate came this morning. And there’s Maddie’s release we still haven’t celebrated.”

  “Your kitchen?” Levi sniffed as he turned toward the door. “I’ve been in that kitchen a lot longer than you have, Lolita.”

  “Don’t you have someone to kill? Some mission that needs you?” Mickie grumbled, as she hurried out of the door behind him. “I hear Antarctica needs their special forces trained.”

  Maddie chuckled, Hawk burst out laughing and Gray did too. Hearing her laugh did amazing things to Hawk’s insides. He wanted to hear that sound often.

  “God, I love that woman,” Gray said, shaking his head. “Levi’s head might be on the next platter she brings in here, if he’s not careful. He has no idea who he’s dealing with.”

  “Levi can hold his own,” Hawk said, nuzzling his chin into Maddie’s hair, soaking up her sweet scent, which was much more appetizing to him than anything on the table at the moment, the frittata being the exception.

  Maybe they should carry that tray of pastries back to the suite. But this was a party, and he needed to be social. What he wanted to do more than anything, though, was lock himself in that bedroom with Maddie for a week. He had things to say to her he couldn’t say here.

  “We having a breakfast buffet?” Logan asked walking into the conference room. “I thought I was having a team meeting, but I guess we’ll move that to my office. I have a new case to talk to you guys about.”

  “It can wait, Logan,” Susan said, stepping up behind him. “This is more important,” she said, rocking Sarah in her arms. The baby cooed and she laughed as she stroked her cheek and gazed at her adoringly.

  “Forget it, Bunny—don’t even think it. Get that look off of your face right now,” Logan growled, looking at Sarah as if she were an alien. “We have our three-year plan, remember? DJ will be in school.”

  “Well, you know what they say about plans,” Susan replied, looking up at him with a grin.

  “Just rent this one out on the weekends or something. Get your fix with Taylor and Slade’s baby too.” Dave looked desperate as he ran a hand through his hair. “We need to wait, because we’re trying to open a new office, remember?”

  “I’m just getting you worked up, Logan, but I am enjoying practicing,” Susan replied, and his face relaxed. He tensed up again when she dropped the baby in his arms. “Hold Sarah for a minute, though, and see if you don’t change your mind.”

  Caleb strolled in with Dante on his heels. “I hear we’re having a party?” he said, his eyes fixed on the table.

  “Step away from the frittata, fat boy, and nobody gets hurt,” Dante said, moving around the table to push Gray aside.

  “I’m not fat,” Gray said, looking down at his dress shirt.

  “Well, you’re not skinny anymore,” Dante said, as he scooped two slices of the egg pie onto a plate. “You might want to hit that gym in the back on your lunch break.”

  Maddie laid her hands over Hawk’s, and sighed. Hawk hugged her tighter and his heart swelled because he could feel the happiness in that sigh.

  “Thank you all for what you’ve d
one for me,” Maddie said, and everyone stopped to look at her. “I will never be able to repay you.”

  “Did we ask you to repay us?” Logan growled, his face pinched. “Deep Six is a family and you are one of us now. We will always have your six, and this baby’s too.”

  Dave looked down at Sarah, she cooed at him and smiled. Hawk wouldn’t tell him like Maddie related to him that smile was probably just gas. To see the enraptured look on the former Marine’s face made Hawk want to tease him, but he didn’t. He imagined he looked just as goofy when he looked at his daughter. She had that effect on men, and he was going to have a helluva time if she grew up to be as beautiful as her mother.

  “See?” Susan said with a laugh. “We need a girl.”

  “Uh, are y’all expecting anyone today?” Levi asked, leaning in the door.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Dave replied, handing the baby back to Susan. “Why?”

  “Mickie just buzzed an SUV through the gate. The guy on the box said he was General something or the other and they were here to see Maddie.”

  Hawk’s heart stopped, fear froze his blood in his veins and he held Maddie up when she wilted in his arms. She pushed back up, turned around and the look of terror in her eyes mirrored his own fear. “Please, Rhett, sneak the baby and me out the back. Fly us to a deserted island, or something. I can’t take any more of this.”

  Neither could he, Hawk thought, helping Maddie down into a chair. If those men were here to take her away again, he was not giving her up without a fight.

  It was time for the military to leave his fucking family alone.

  Chapter 32

  Maddie couldn’t see who was in the room because of the wall of hard bodies standing in front of and around her. The men of Deep Six had her surrounded, and she felt safer than she had in a long time, but still terrified that the military was back to terrorize her more. Maybe because of what happened with her father.