Guarding Forever (Police and Fire Operation Alpha)

by Steele, C. M.

“Oh, Gage. You’ve got no reason to be jealous. I only have eyes for you.”

  “Yeah, but they get to enjoy something you make.”

  “Silly man. I love you.”

  “I love you past the point of obsession.”

  “Show me.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

  “Yes. I’m horny, Mr. Gibson. If you don’t want to…I guess I’ll just have to help myself.”

  “The fuck you will.” He stood up and carried her into the bedroom like a wild man.

  Chapter 7

  “Hello, I’m Denver. Sean sent us over per your request.” He extended his hand to Gage who shook it, followed by the other large gentleman in a black suit.

  “And I’m Mike.” Sean had sent over CVs to review and a photo spread of the two men so Gage knew who would be coming. When it came to someone’s family, who they hired to be close to them mattered. Everything checked out and Gage had approved them early this morning.

  “Hello, I’m Gage Gibson, and this is my wife, Hope.” They were wise not to shake her hand when she started to extend it, especially when Gage pushed it down. A feeling of possessiveness came over him. Both men were taller than him with even more muscle. It irked him that he needed their services to begin with. Perhaps I should have stuck with Hope’s other guards. He’d only used Grieg and Moran when he needed them, but he never found them even remotely intimidating or considered them competition when it came to Hope.

  “Nice to meet both of you. What would you like for us to do?”

  “My wife and son’s safety is the most important thing to me. That’s your job. Keep them safe at all times when I’m not around.”

  “Understood. Where is the baby now?”

  “Come in and we’ll give you a tour and introduce you to our boy, then at lunch you’ll meet my employees who will be coming and going.” They nodded and stepped behind Hope as Gage led them into the house.

  “There are five bedrooms, four are upstairs with a guest bedroom on the first floor. Our office is through that hallway and if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you the kitchen and the yard area.” They took the tour of the house, learning each and every room.

  “I expect one of you to have the room downstairs and the other next to the nursery.”

  “I’ll take the first-floor room.” Denver was the lead on this and in charge, so Mike nodded in agreement. To Gage, it didn’t matter which one took which room as long as his family was protected. It had been a rude awakening.

  “And I don’t know if you’ve been made aware, but Hope is pregnant.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. We’ll make sure to be extra careful.”

  * * *

  “Lunch was delicious. Thank you, Mrs. Gibson,” Bill said as he passed Hope on his way out of the house. They were switching spots to meet with Gage. The ranch had to still run, which didn’t just include manual labor. The day-to-day business operations were handled by the couple.

  “Thank you again. I think everyone has thanked me a dozen times today.”

  “Well, we can’t tell you how much it’s appreciated.”

  “Good. Hopefully we can find someone to fill in to cook the rest of the time for you.” Hope patted his shoulder, then turned and entered the office.

  “Hey, beautiful. How are you feeling?”

  “Wonderful. I just settled Johnathan down for his nap. The giant babysitter is sitting in the rocking chair. It’s so adorably comical. So what do you have planned for the week?”

  “Come, take a seat.” They spent the next hour going over the spreadsheets and the number of heifers that were in her same condition at the moment.

  The sound of Johnny’s cries came through on the monitor ended their work session. “I guess his naps are getting shorter and shorter.” Hope sighed. Gage could see the dark circles under her eyes. She wasn’t doing much better than he was when it came to sleep.

  “Relax. I’m here. Let me get him.” He kissed her forehead and then scurried out of the room to check on his baby boy.

  When he got in the room, the big guard, Mike, had little Johnathan set on the changing table. “Damn, diaper service too?”

  Mike vehemently shook his head. “No way. I called down to Denver to get one of you. This is as far as I go.”

  Gage chuckled and took over. “Thanks.”

  Mike threw his hands up and backed away. “No problem. I’m going to get a drink and a breath of fresh air.”

  “Okay.”

  As soon as Gage changed the baby’s butt, he took the big boy to sit with them as they worked. For the next three hours they played with the baby while crunching numbers. Hope picked up Johnathan and rested him on her hip. “I need to start dinner for the entire herd we have going on here. Why don’t you start drafting up an ad?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve got to do everything around here. Gosh!” Gage exclaimed, pretending to be overburdened.

  She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Whine, whine, whine.” She grabbed the baby’s pacifier that was clipped to the baby’s bodysuit and tossed it at Gage. “Here. I think you need it more than he does.”

  He growled and then cracked up laughing. Sticking the pacifier on the desk, Gage started to work on the ad copy. “Qualification number one—female. No more men in my house,” he muttered as he typed.

  Chapter 8

  Cummings’s body ached to hell. A month after his stint in the hospital, he still felt the pain daily. He’d popped another round of pills, but they weren’t strong enough to take the edge off anymore. The hospital refused to give him a stronger dose so he wouldn’t turn into a user. Cummings laughed in their faces because he knew that he was stronger than those weak-minded people.

  A knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts of getting revenge. He opened it to find his lawyer on the other side.

  “We have good news.” Cummings let him in and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, Dallas tossed Cummings a small bottle of pills. He smiled and walked over to his glass of vodka and took two of them.

  “Yes, and?” A wicked grin crossed the evil bastard’s face as he waited for confirmation.

  “It will all be ready tomorrow.”

  “Good. Very good.” He took a seat in his less-than-plush chair and smiled. Cummings hated that he was living in unacceptable conditions, but that would be over very soon.

  Almost everything had gone according to plan over the past few months after he’d been released on bail. He’d played his cards smoothly, and now he already had someone else who wanted his treacherous daughter and her bastard husband dead. He’d hated them both beyond belief, but he couldn’t let on that he did until he could strike at the right moment.

  The damn plan had been botched when it came to placing the blame on Perkins for letting the bull out. The one-ton bastard was less than cooperative and had been the reason Cummings ended up in the hospital. It worked for the email, but with the reroute set up, he didn’t need to be stomped on.

  “I want you to take out the pole, then we can let out that fucker and plant him on Perkin’s property.”

  “Easy.” The marksman’s hit split the wooden post with his long-range rifle. It fell, and then they moved into position. They’d brought the rope to wrangle the bull out, but they hadn’t expected him to be so difficult to rustle up. He broke through the rope and then trampled Cummings until the other two pulled him away. They got him on the back of the pickup truck.

  “Don’t take him to the hospital. Take him to his apartment and mess it up. Make it look like he was beaten.”

  “Yes, that’s a smart idea.”

  “Damn, he looks bad. We better hurry.”

  “Find that bull. Kill it. Dump it,” Cummings demanded before passing out. They left him at his place and did that before coming back and calling the cops.

  That was the last thing he remembered since he’d passed out. They called the doctor from the clinic to help him and then they dealt with the bull, dragging it onto the
nearest property.

  Taking a deep breath that sent a wave of pain through him, Cummings had been lucky no one noticed the damage. Many equated it to being beaten with a baseball bat like his men said when they called the attack in.

  “I say we should celebrate with a toast.” They had a lot to celebrate. By tomorrow, many of Cummings’s problems would be over with. Then it was just a matter of time before he could finish what he started. Revenge would be sweeter than anything he’d known. Little Johnny’s death would destroy Gage and Hope. Cummings couldn’t wait.

  “Sounds wonderful. Do you have any scotch?”

  “Why, yes, I do.” Cummings pulled out two tumblers and poured them both a drink. With a clink of their glasses, they began their celebration.

  * * *

  Sitting in his office, Gage took a long pause after hearing the news Dax shared. “What the fuck do you mean the charges have been dropped?” Their relationship had improved when Gage realized that Dax’s hands were tied by the law. He’d been there before.

  "Well, unfortunately, all the tapes are missing." Gage jumped out of his seat. If Dax had been standing in front of him, Gage wasn’t sure if he'd still be standing. Gage felt a new sense of rage and betrayal that was so damn profound that no one stood a chance in a fight with him. The one person who had a major grudge, who should have been locked away for life, just got a get-out-of-jail-free card.

  He paced the office several times before he stopped and leaned on his desk. "Missing?" he asked into the speakerphone on his desk.

  An audible sigh came from Dax. Nothing he could say would make his friend relax, but he had to tell him. "Yes. Apparently, someone hacked the system and wiped them away. I've already met with the specialist and they said all the files were irretrievable.”

  "I thought other copies were made." Gage knew the standard practice included several copies to be stored to prevent loss since it was critical evidence. Without it, it was Hope's word against Baxter's.

  "Yes we had a set of hard copies on CD, but they've disappeared. The station suffered a small fire, and during the process of putting it out, they were stolen. At least that's what I believe."

  "Do you know who the prosecutor is on the case?"

  “DA Rivers and ADA Jones out of the San Antonio field office.”

  “Who was the judge?”

  “Rivera.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “What? Why?”

  “I ran into him while I was out to dinner with Hope, and he managed to piss me off by implying that I’d been whoring around before I met Hope. She pretended not to be bothered by that shit, but she tensed when he first said it.”

  “Do you think?”

  “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past these assholes. At this point, I know there’s at least a handful of corrupt motherfuckers. It took at least more than one person to pull off the fire and the theft at the same time.”

  “Yeah, I’m looking into it, but this other case I’m on has me running around like an asshole. I’m betting someone involved dropped this one on me intentionally. I almost forgot to tell you. I have a nurse at the hospital who would swear that Cummings’s injuries didn’t come from a beating unless it was from a massive bovine.”

  “What?” Gage busted out a legal pad and started jotting down everything Dax told him along with what he already knew. Being a prosecutor had taught him to learn to ask the right questions. The key to bringing him down was out there. They just had to find it.

  Dax had pulled the nurse aside and interviewed her when the doctor wasn’t around because no one could be trusted in this. His close friend and wife were in danger, and hell if he would stand by and do nothing. “Yeah, she saw a hoof impression on his shirt before it was torn off him. As a trauma nurse, she’s seen many of these over here. You know how dangerous these bastards are.”

  “Fuck, he was the one trying to get on my property, I bet.” Gage had already watched hours of footage to get a better view of that morning, but there wasn’t anything damning on any of the cameras.

  “I’m betting he was hoping to pin it on Perkins, who had an alibi.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking as well. Do you think we can get her to testify to other charges?”

  “I mentioned it to the prosecutors, and they said without proof they couldn’t go on one nurse’s opinion.”

  “What about the doctor?” If the nurse noticed, the doctor and anyone else working on him would have too. They lived in cattle country where animal accidents occurred on a regular basis.

  “Nope. He claims to have seen shit. He works at the same office that your wife ran from.”

  “Shit. Did he get lucky, or did they call that bastard in to take care of him?”

  “Good question. I’ll be on that. Damn, it sucks that you’re retired.”

  “I bet Cummings and whoever he’s working with is banking on that shit.”

  Chapter 9

  Another month passed quickly as Hope's stomach swelled with their second child. The threat had come and seemed to have disappeared. She knew that she couldn't live in fear for the rest of her days, so she had to talk to Gage. Searching the house, she spotted him in the playroom with Johnathan. For a minute, she just stood there and watched her men. Everything appeared perfectly serene until Gage shifted his gaze to her.

  "Hey, baby. What's going on?"

  "Gage, can we talk?" His face changed. It was like a dark cloud had loomed over him.

  "Hope, what's wrong? You're scaring me." He stood up and closed the distance. Cupping her chin, he raised her gaze to his. "Tell me."

  "I'm nervous about going out." He pulled her into his arms, securing her tightly while he kissed her neck. The tension started to leave her body, and then he released her just enough to stare into her eyes. He loved her to the point of distraction, and he hated what the email and the whole bull fiasco had done to her. She’d lost that sparkle of adventure she had from the moment he met her.

  "I know, but we have to see the doctor and get the scan done."

  "You're right. I can't live in fear, but I don't know if I'm ready."

  “We have the two guys prepared to care for us. Nothing is going to happen."

  "Funny, I spent years locked away and I wanted nothing but my freedom. Now, I'm afraid of that freedom."

  "We're going to do our best to live our lives as they are. I'm taking the day off so we can go tomorrow, and we're taking Johnathan with us because he needs to get out as well. Besides, that will give the guys some actual real work to do.”

  “You’re right. I need to remember the woman I was. I can’t let these…bastards…get the better of me. I escaped his grasp before. I won’t let him trap me again.”

  “That’s the queen I married.” He crushed his lips to hers in a deep, penetrating kiss.

  “Ma…ma…”

  “Johnathan,” she squealed and picked her little boy up off the mat, holding him close.

  “I love you, my sweet boy.” She kissed his chubby cheeks, making him coo and reach for her face. “Say Mama.”

  “Ma…ma.” The gentle voice brought a smile to their faces and warmed their hearts. The love they felt for Johnny was immeasurable.

  “Tomorrow the new housekeeper comes. I’m sure the guys will be excited.”

  “I know, right? I’m kind of nervous. Colt’s recommendations are always good, but I’m still hesitant.”

  “Well, there were only two applicants in the two months since we started looking, and neither were even remotely good enough.”

  “I know, but I trust my cousin. Take a deep breath. I’m sure she’ll be wonderful.” It was the beginning of September and Hope was six months pregnant. The weather had cooled a little, giving her some relief when it came to cooking, but she still needed the help.

  “Why does she have to be a she?” She complained about that, but at this point she’d take anyone. Between the heat and her massive belly, she ended up taking longer to get the meals
done, which only made her even more tired than she’d been when she started cooking.

  “Because I have enough dicks around here to drive me nuts. I don’t want another man invading your personal space.”

  “Fine. I guess you have a point there.”

  “Let’s get him to bed and do the same for ourselves.”

  “I can agree with that one.”

  * * *

  “We’re going to the doctor’s office and then to the grocery store. The housekeeper will be here around two. We should be back before then. Don’t let anyone else on the property,” he told his mother, who would be babysitting Johnny. She’d offered to stay with him, so they changed their plans and decided to do some extra errands while they were out.

  “Of course, Gage.”

  The two guards followed them out, loading them into one vehicle before hopping into their own. Denver and Mike had it pretty easy, and they wondered if they were missing something. They had been given the rundown from Sean as well as Gage, but they knew it only took one moment to let their guard down for something crazy to happen.

  The ride to the clinic in Austin had been uneventful. They parked in the lot but Gage and Hope didn’t exit their vehicle until Denver gave Gage the signal. He walked around and helped his wife out. They had gotten halfway to the entrance when a warm breeze sent Hope’s hair across her face and her summer dress to flow around her. Gage stopped to take in the sight and came undone. “Beautiful,” he whispered before tucking the loose strands behind her ear.

  She blushed, smiling and unable to speak. He kissed her hand and walked her inside. About three minutes later, they were taken into the room and Hope’s vitals were recorded. The nurse handed Hope a small cup. “I’ll need a urine sample, please.”

  After doing her business, she set the cup in the special box for the nurse to pick up and then she returned to Gage. “The doctor will be with you in just a minute.”