Free - A last chance love story

by Riley Edwards

  The unfamiliar voice startled me and I contemplated not answering, but I was afraid they would come in and I was still only in my bra and panties.

  “Just a minute,” I answered. I glanced around the room momentarily disoriented in the near darkness.

  Finding my dirty clothes in a pile on the floor, I made quick work of getting dressed. I didn’t bother fixing my hair, even though it looked like a rat had nested in it. There was no one I was trying to impress.

  “Yes?” I asked when I opened the door.

  “Lenox said that you had not eaten. I wanted to see if you were ready for supper?” the man asked, his Texas drawl distinguishable now that there was not a closed door separating us.

  “And you are?” I inquired.

  “Sorry, ma’am, I’m Peter,” he introduced himself.

  “Nice to meet you, Peter. I’m sorry for all the trouble babysitting me may have caused you. Thank you for the offer of supper, but I’m not hungry.”

  Peter was a good-looking man. Maybe that was a prerequisite for joining the 707. God knows Shane was sexy as hell, and Levi, Jasper, and Clark were all pretty hot too.

  “Lenox said I was to make sure you ate tonight,” Peter informed me.

  “Is that so? Well luckily for us Lenox is long gone. He’ll never know,” I snapped. It wasn’t Peter’s fault that Shane was an asshole. The poor guy didn’t deserve my bad attitude. “Sorry, that was rude. Thank you for your concern, but I’m really not hungry right now.”

  “Not even for pizza? Pepperoni and mushroom?” Peter asked.

  “Asshole,” I whispered.

  “Ma’am?”

  “Sorry, not you, you’re not the asshole. Lenox is. In one breath, he shatters me then his actions show he cares.” Peter was staring at me confused. “Pepperoni and mushroom is my favorite. When we were kids, anytime I was upset he always came over with a pizza. He hates mushrooms but still ate them just because I liked them.” I had no business spilling my guts to this guy. “Anyway, you don’t care about my woes. I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you guys do. I won’t be any trouble. I’ll stay in my room.”

  “I’m a good listener, we could share a pizza and a beer. You can talk or not - whatever you need.”

  I took a minute to study Peter and contemplated his offer for a second. He had a genuine easy way about him. I didn’t want to talk about Shane, but getting out of the room I shared with him was probably a good idea.

  I looked back at the bed and thought about stripping the sheets down and washing them, but I wasn’t ready for that just yet. I needed to be close to him for one more night.

  “You know what? I’ll take you up on the pizza and beer.”

  Before I left the bedroom, I stepped in front of the dresser to check my appearance in the mirror. That’s when I noticed it. My necklace. The one Shane had taken all those years ago. The one he said he never took off. I sucked in an excruciating breath as I felt my heart truly break and leave my chest.

  He was really gone.

  Chapter 16

  Hot searing pain ripped through my shoulder. Before I had time to get a shot off, I heard Levi’s voice crackle in my ear. “Fall back. You have two unfriendlies at your three o’clock.”

  “Fuck,” Clark hissed. “Lenox, you pull some stupid shit like that again and I will yank your ass off this op so fast your fucked-up head will spin.”

  “Someone needed to draw them out. A graze to the shoulder is a small price,” I answered.

  But damn it still hurt. It had been a long time since I’d been shot - I forgot how painful it could be. Clark didn’t have anything further to say, he knew I was right. We needed to draw out the shooters before we could make our way into the house. They had the advantage of higher ground; if we charged the house they could pick us off.

  “Cover, ground team. Frag out,” Levi instructed.

  We took cover behind a sorry ass excuse of a tiki bar as the grenade Levi fired took out the side of the building the two men were firing from. I had never been so thankful for shoddy Bohemian construction.

  “Tango down,” Levi called in. “Charlie Mike.”

  “Roger,” Clark confirmed the order to continue the mission.

  Clark and Jasper both had their dive boots off and Solomons out of the dry pack before I had my first wet boot pulled off. I winced as the salt water, sweat, and sand abraded the bullet graze. Fuck, we did not have time for this.

  “Get a hop on it, Lenox,” Jasper said, adjusting his vest and covering us as I continued to struggle with my shoes.

  I hated the beach, sand was a bitch to maneuver in. Coming in on the sea side of the cay was our only option for cover. The rock formations and thick foliage gave us someplace to hide as Levi made his way on the beach to our far left. He had a steep rock face to climb, but it was the perfect place for him to perch as our over watch.

  With my dry boots on we were ready to hike to the other side of the cay where the main house was located. The latest intel put Roman on the island. His seaplane had been seen landing two days ago. The local government was of no help, they were easily bought. Luckily for us, the locals were too. The fish and game warden was a nosy bastard; he made it his business to be in the know. Not much went on in the wildlife park where Roman’s cay was situated in without the warden’s notice. He was on the take too - the man had no loyalties, the information he had sold to the highest bidder.

  We spent the last three weeks chasing our tails. The first report that had Roman in Cozumel was a bust. By the time we made it there, he was gone. We were greeted, however, by his entire household staff executed and a message for our team. The note simply read, “one step ahead.”

  Roman was getting desperate. He knew we were closing in and he had two options left - stand and fight or close his operation and go to ground. Knowing Roman the way we did, we knew there wasn’t a chance he’d run and hide. He was preparing for his final stand. This was his end game, where he thought he would finally take us out. Arrogant prick thought he had one up on us, but little did he know that I no longer had anything to lose. I was just as dangerous as him.

  Lily was gone. I’d made sure of it. I was the cold methodical asshole I was trained to be and cut her heart out with surgical precision. I needed her to hate me so she would never look back, and move on and live her life. There was no doubt I had succeeded. I watched the shine dim from her eyes when I said goodbye. She understood the finality in those words - I would never see her again. It was better this way. She was better off seeing the real me, the man I had become, rather than carry with her some false perception of goodness. I was not the teenage boy she once loved. I was a soulless killer. That’s what I was taught to be and that is all I’ll ever be. I took an oath to protect my country to the detriment of myself, and I fully intended to keep that oath.

  More shots rang out, and I mechanically returned fire. Four more of Roman’s men lay dead in the sand. This is what I was good at. Killing the enemy, not hearts and rainbows.

  “Anyone think it’s strange that there is not more security on the cay?” I asked.

  “I’ve counted twelve so far,” Jasper answered.

  “Something smells bad. Watch your six boys, this is a set-up,” Clark added.

  With Jasper to my left and Clark to my right, we breached the front door of the main house. The moment we entered my world came to a crashing halt.

  Lily.

  How the fuck had Roman gotten to her? She was supposed to be safely tucked away in Big Bear with Peter and James.

  Chapter 17

  Lily – Two days earlier

  For three weeks, I had been locked up in this cabin. I was officially bored. Peter had been great about keeping me occupied, but there was only so much a person could do in the house. I wasn’t allowed to go outside, so no more hiking, fishing, or trips to the store. James was standoffish and quiet. He barely spoke to me and was even short with Peter. No amount of reassurance on Peter’s part made me comfortable around Jame
s. I was actively trying to avoid him. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, like I was a bother. As much as I tried not to take it personally, I’m sure the last thing he wanted to be doing was babysitting, but his attitude was starting to piss me off.

  I had just stepped into the sunroom when I heard the front door slam. “Lily. The safe room, now,” Peter shouted.

  The glass of iced tea I was holding slipped from my hand and shattered on the tile floor. The cool liquid and ice hit my feet, shocking me into motion. But before I could move more than a few feet, Peter’s body jerked forward and he fell to the floor. James was right behind him with the proverbial smoking gun in his hand.

  “I wouldn’t bother, sweetheart, your ride is here,” James sneered now, pointing the gun at me.

  I had nowhere to go, Peter was too far away from me to try and get his gun now laying on the floor near his bleeding body. James was standing between me and any exits.

  “Thanks, James, I’ve got it from here.” Calvin Kincaid’s smooth voice came from the doorway.

  How was this possible? Shane and the team were out tracking Roman.

  “Anytime, Roman,” James replied.

  “You traitorous asshole,” I yelled.

  “That’s funny coming from you of all people. You’ve done nothing but mope around this house and cry over a man that clearly doesn’t want you. You should be happy that Roman will make him suffer for what he’s done to you,” James said.

  I shook my head in disgust. “You’ll rot in hell for this. Wait until I tell the guys what you’ve done. They’ll hunt you down like the dog you are and kill you.”

  “That’s sweet you think the team will be alive to do anything,” James laughed.

  “How could you?” I asked.

  This didn’t make any sense. James was a trusted member of Shane’s team.

  “How could I? You really are a naïve twit. You of all people should understand; loyalty has a price. Do you know how many years I’ve put my ass on the line for the 707? Three more years than that dumbfuck, Clark. Yet, I am passed over for Command Sergeant Major and Clark slides into the promotion that should’ve been mine. Fuck him, fuck the team, and fuck the 707. I’m looking out for me from now on. Roman simply had a better job offer and a pay raise,” James sneered.

  “Job offer! You sold out your team because you didn’t get a promotion and money?”

  There was no time for James to answer me, he continued to laugh until Calvin Kincaid shot him in the back of the head. There was no warning, no preamble; he simply raised his gun and shot him.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” I shouted. “You killed him. Right in front of me.”

  “Yes, dear, I did. He was annoying and his usefulness ran out.” Calvin shrugged his shoulders like it was all in a day’s work. Completely unaffected that he had killed someone. “Come. We have places to be.”

  “I’m not going with you.” I stepped back trying to put distance between us.

  “Sure you will. Because you are the only person keeping Shane Owings alive. I left a trail for him to find me, he needs to see you at the end of the path for my plan to work.”

  “Well, Calvin, the joke is on you. Shane made it very clear I mean nothing to him. So, your plan isn’t worth a shit. You’ll need to find something else,” I explained.

  Admitting that hurt, but it was the truth. Shane left, and in the three weeks he’s been gone, he stayed true to his word and hadn’t contacted me. I didn’t even know if he had been in contact with Peter.

  “Women are so stupid. You really believe that Lenox hid you and protected you for twelve years, visited that stupid gravesite every year so he could see you, only to come back to command and drink himself into a stupor after every visit because you’re meaningless?” Calvin threw his head back and chuckled. “Well then, I guess we’ll go to plan B. I’ll have to appeal to the mother in you.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  My hurt and anger toward Shane had now firmly slid into overwhelming fear. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my shorts in an effort to hide how badly I was shaking.

  “You heard me, Mommy. Either you come with me now or I can let you walk out that door. But know that if you leave, you’ll spend the rest of your life waiting for me to show back up. And when I do, I’ll take that baby you’re growing in your belly. You never know what I’ll do. I could be nice and kill it right then and there in front of you, or I might just take it, leaving you to wonder what I did with it.”

  “You’re a sick freak,” I yelled, instinctively covering my belly with my hands.

  “Not a freak. I am simply a man who knows how to get what I want. Come, we’ve wasted enough time here.”

  “And what do you want?” I asked.

  Calvin cocked his head to the side and studied me for a minute before he answered, “I suppose I want what everyone wants - wealth and power. And unfortunately for you, you’re my ticket to both.”

  “I have money. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

  If money was what he was after that was easy, I had millions. I would gladly hand every last cent over to him if it meant that Shane’s team and my baby would be safe.

  “That would be too easy, sweetheart. I like to earn my money. Besides, it’s going to be entertaining to watch Lenox when he sees you. I’ve been waiting to see the look of fear and panic cross his face for years. Ever since I first heard about you, actually. I never liked the smug prick. Rich boy trying to play soldier.” Roman stopped, a look of disgust crossing his face. “All because mommy and daddy were mean to him,” he mocked. “He really should be more careful when he’s drunk. Lovesick fool spilled his guts after he saw you at the cemetery. I kept the whisky flowing, and by the end of the night I knew the whole story. How he met you, his academy award winning father, his whore of a mother. She’s a good fuck by the way. I made sure to seek her out after I finally found you.”

  Shane was going to come completely unhinged when he found out that he told Roman everything he needed to know to find me. The guilt would be crippling, and I was afraid what Shane would do when Roman dropped the bomb. And he would, Roman was going to rub it in Shane’s face while he sat back and watched the shit show that would follow.

  “Storytime is over, Lillian. It’s time to get the show on the road.”

  Calvin didn’t wait for my answer, the smug bastard walked out the door knowing I’d follow. Of my own accord, I climbed in the back of the waiting SUV. I would rather go with him now at peace in the knowledge I was going to die along with my unborn child than walk this earth knowing that one day he’d be back to kill the life I was growing.

  “How’d you know?” I asked once we were settled in the car.

  “Peter told James he was going out to get you a pregnancy test. You know you really should be more careful who you tell your secrets to,” Calvin answered, a wide smile on his face. “It really is a shame you’ll have to raise the baby on your own. I hear being a single mother is difficult. You could always stay with me and I can play daddy.”

  “I’d rather die,” I spat out. The thought of being anywhere around this man made me want to vomit.

  “That can be arranged, Lily.”

  Chapter 18

  Lenox - Present day

  Seeing Lily in the hands of a madman was my worst fear come true. Terror pumped through my veins and I had to force myself to remain calm. If anything happened to her I was as good as dead. I couldn’t imagine a world without Lily’s bright smile shining. All my years of suffering were in vain; here she was caught up again in a shitstorm of my doing.

  I didn’t have time to contemplate how Roman had found her, or where James and Peter were. I had to focus if I wanted to get Lily out of here alive. But there would be hell to pay when we left this island. How the fuck had we not known that Lily was here? We would never have stormed the cay if we had known Roman had her. The plan of attack would’ve been very different; without proper intel we had inadvertently put Lily in gra
ve danger.

  “How nice of you to finally join us. I was wondering what was taking so long,” Roman laughed. “I guess the good ‘ol US of A is slacking on their intel these days. Good to know.”

  “Let her go, Roman. It’s me you want, she has nothing to do with this.” I cut right to the chase.

  I did a quick body scan of Lily. She was tied to a chair; her cheek was bruised, but other than that, I couldn’t see any blood or obvious signs of injury.

  Roman went about untying Lily from the chair, pulling her to stand in front of him, using her as a shield. Fucking cowardice dick.

  “You think I want you, Lenox? I will admit it is mildly amusing seeing the constipated look on your face now that you know I have your girlfriend. But not nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be,” Roman continued to laugh. “Let’s stop wasting time and get down to brass tacks boys. How bad do you want Lillian?”

  “Let Lily go. We are all here, let’s settle this like men,” Clark interjected.

  “Settle this? I have nothing to settle with you,” Roman replied.

  “She has nothing to do with this.” I tried to keep my temper in check, but the longer his hands were on my woman, the harder it became. I dared not look at Lily, too afraid that if I saw the fear in her eyes I would lose the battle and detonate.

  “Do with this? Have you poor assholes been chasing my tail around the globe thinking I was holding a grudge? Jesus Christ, you all really are idiots. Money, boys. Good old-fashioned greed. I didn’t give a shit when Melanie was fucking that Sergeant Major, and I certainly didn’t give a shit when I slit her wrists. The only thing I cared about was the mess I was gonna have to clean up after I put that bitch down. Using the bathtub was a nice touch, don’t cha think?”

  “Great. Let Lily go and we can take a walk down memory lane, hold hands, and reminisce about old times,” Jasper smartassed. “What do you want, Roman?”