SomedayMyGoodOleBoyWillCome

by AliyahBurke

  “I’m sorry, son.”

  Anger leaked over. “Sorry? I accused Jacey of keeping secrets from me about being pregnant again based on that. And you knew. Tell me, how do you know she’s pregnant?”

  “I don’t.”

  “What?” He clenched his eyes shut and ground his jaw. Letting go of the fence, Derek faced Jacob. “I would appreciate it if in the future you would keep your nose out of mine and Jace’s business. I get she’s your daughter but she is the mother of my child and I love her. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out how to convince her I’m not part of the manipulation plot you seem to be working on.”

  He strode inside and stalked upstairs. Derek ended up in Jacey’s room. Sitting on her bed, he ran over it all in his head. Jacey hadn’t betrayed him, she’d honored their agreement. Sure, she could have said something sooner once she knew, but it had to have been a shock.

  But their parents. Why?

  Jacob had been right. The Jacey he had grown up with was nothing like the one who was Caleb’s mom. She had learned self-confidence after leaving Leeburg. The thing that hadn’t changed was the way Jacey cared for others.

  “Jacey,” he muttered. Derek leaned back and closed his eyes.

  He slept until a cold nose woke him and he opened his eyes to find Shadow standing there. A glance at the clock showed 0530. By 0600 he and Caleb, along with Shadow, were jogging.

  Derek stood in his new room and unpacked the remainder of his items. Childish laughter filtered in through the open window and he looked out to see Caleb running around with Shadow and Honey.

  My son.

  With a sigh he opened the drawer to put away the rest of his boxers when an envelope with his name scrawled on it caught his attention. He picked it up from where it rested on top of the dresser, opened it, and withdrew a bunch of papers.

  Derek,

  I know you and Caleb will need to get your own schedule down but I put in what he is accustomed to on the sheets behind. Likes, dislikes, allergies, etc. Even info on Shadow. There is bank account info there also, so use the money for anything Caleb may need; clothing, whatever. If you need to get in touch with me that’s on a sheet as well. I can’t think of anything else to tell you. Take care of him. ~J

  He looked through the other pages. She had done a very thorough job in telling him what he may need to know. Glancing back to the top page, he frowned over the impersonal aspect to it.

  What were you expecting? A declaration of love? No. But that would have been nice.

  Small feet thundered up the stairs. “Papa. Papa!”

  “No running inside, Caleb,” Derek said, closing the dresser drawer.

  “Sorry. Can I go with Miss Susie to her house and play with TC? She’s downstairs.”

  “Let me talk to her, okay?”

  “’Kay.”

  Derek walked to the living room where Susie stood. “Morning, Susie.”

  “Hi, Derek. I stopped by to see if Caleb would like to come spend the morning with us. Bubba is building a tree house.”

  Tree house. His mind flashed to Jacey and the tree house. With a nod he said, “Sounds like great fun.”

  Caleb beamed and said, “I’ll be right back. D…don’t leave without me.”

  “Thank you, Susie.” Derek smiled at her.

  “No problem. He and TC get along really well.”

  Jacob walked into the room when Caleb came back downstairs. “Grandpa, did you read your letter from Mama?”

  Derek saw a flash of pain on his face before it was masked. “No. Did you read yours?”

  Caleb grinned. “Yes, sir. You always read yours in the morning, Grandpa.”

  Jacob ran a hand over his chin. “I must have missed it.”

  “It should be there. M…mama never forgets the letter.” Caleb looked at Susie. “I’m ready, Miss Susie.”

  Derek hugged his son before going with them to the car. With a wave to Caleb and Susie, Derek headed up to Caleb’s room. He slipped in when Jacob’s voice reached him.

  “She didn’t leave me a letter, Mother. She…” he trailed off.

  Derek could hear the raw pain in Jacob’s timbre. Etta Mae spoke to softly for him to hear. He looked around Caleb’s room and smiled over the neatly squared away space. He’s already a Marine. Derek caught sight of a folded piece of paper by the bed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he opened the folded sheet. Unlike his, this was done in print instead of script.

  To Caleb,

  My dearest son, I haven’t even left yet and already I miss you. I hold you in my heart, Caleb. Never forget that. No matter how great the distance or how long the time we’re separated, I am with you, holding you, loving you, and watching over you. Hold tight to the Ankh, I need you to keep it safe for me.

  Be good for your father. Don’t think you can pull things over on him. I need you to help him like you did for Grandpa and Grandma. Auntie Mac will come by for a visit. You have her number so call if you need her, or Auntie Shanni or Auntie Chandi. Not to mention your father’s family. You are not alone.

  I’ll call just as soon as I can. Keep an eye on our star and know, I too, am wishing upon the same one.

  I love you, Marine! Semper Fi.

  Love,

  Mom.

  Ps: I didn’t forget Shadow. But just in case he thinks I did, give him a kiss for me and tell him I said goodbye.

  Derek read the letter two more times before he put it back where he found it. He felt like an intruder and yet, more than anything, he wanted one from her. There was such love in the words she wrote, he could feel it jump off the page and wrap around him. Closing his eyes, he recalled seeing the Ankh around Caleb’s neck. He got to his feet and looked at the pictures Caleb had around of him and his mother. Jacey. You are so beautiful. She had a dazzling smile in each picture. The love for her son blatantly obvious.

  * * * *

  Jacey stood at parade rest before Major Jeff “Griz” Anderson, her gaze fixed on a place behind his blond head. The room was shrouded in terse silence, broken up the staccato of Griz tapping his pencil on the desk blotter. She’d been standing in silence for well over five minutes.

  “Damn it, Jack!” he thundered, slamming a hand down and sending a loud reverberation throughout the room.

  She didn’t even flinch.

  “You could have been killed.” The sound of a chair scraping back reached her. “How is it,” he growled low, filling her line of sight with his large body, “you can go on leave and get caught up in some kind of shit like you did?” Griz was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, his tone still angry. “Stop staring through me, Jack. Look at me.”

  Jacey focused on his hard blue gaze.

  “Listen to me and listen well, Jack. Your ass belongs to me and I’ll tell you when you can be in those kinds of situations.” He sighed. “You have a meeting with those two suits from before. They’re waiting for you in Building D, Room 526. Dismissed.”

  Jacey snapped to attention and spun around. She’d just reached for the handle when Griz’s low voice grabbed her.

  “One more thing, Jack.”

  She paused and looked at him. “Sir?”

  “I’m glad you’re okay.” He sat down at his desk and ignored her.

  Jacey left without comment. The moment the door clicked behind her, she released her own sigh of relief. Nothing like a royal ass chewing bright and early.

  “Well, I see you’re still breathing,” a voice said beside her.

  Jacey smiled wanly at another member of Zulu Spectre. Sergeant Tristan “Mayhem” Blade. “Barely. He wasn’t happy, that’s for sure.” She stared at his beautiful blue eyes. “How are you? How’s the fiancée?”

  Tristan grinned and Jacey got treated to such love in his gaze. “My Ivy-love is doing wonderfully.”

  “Awesome. Pass along my greetings when you talk to her next.”

  He nodded. Together they left the building and donned their covers. At the end of the sidewalk, they parted co
mpany, each going in their own direction.

  Jacey walked swiftly to Building D. Striding along in her cammies, she removed her cover upon entering. Her heavy boots were surprisingly quiet while she made her way to Room 526. She knocked twice on the door before entering. Her gaze fell on the two agents she’d seen over the Sat Com uplink. She walked to the table and faced them. “I was told you wished to see me.”

  “Sit down, Jacey,” the man said, waving a hand toward the chair she stood behind.

  She bristled. “Staff Sergeant Thompson.” Her gaze honed in on the visitor badge clipped to his jacket. Don’t even want to share names with me. Fucking agents.

  His bushy brows rose. “Excuse me?”

  “You haven’t been given permission to address me informally. I’d appreciate some respect. Call me Staff Sergeant Thompson.”

  They exchanged glances. The man smiled tightly. “I apologize. Please sit down, Staff Sergeant Thompson.”

  Jacey did so and watched them with their files before them. The woman cleared her throat, drank some water, and cleared her throat again. Jacey sat in silence and skimmed over them both. If they were thinking making her wait would make her uncomfortable, they had another thing coming.

  “I suspect you know why you’re here,” the blonde woman said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “No.”

  “No?” Her plucked brows rose. “This has to do with what we discussed before. Surely you remember.”

  Jacey clenched her jaw at the condescending quality to her tone. “I remember me distinctly telling you no. So why would I assume you would try again? I know you CIA people don’t like hearing the word, but surely you understand what it means.”

  “You could be a great asset to your country,” the man said.

  “I am one.” She pushed to her feet. “I am a United States Marine. If that is all, I am due at the firing range.”

  He leaned forward and clasped his fingers. “We know who your father is.”

  “Not surprising. Most in the CIA do.”

  “He seems to think you’d be a great benefit to us.”

  Anger began to unfurl in her belly. “Is that so?” They both nodded. “Such a shame I’m past the age of doing what my father says to do then, isn’t it? Let me spell this out for you. I will never work for the CIA. Do we understand each other now?” Jacey turned and walked out without another word.

  Determined steps took her to the range. “Afternoon, Gunny.”

  “Hey, Jack,” he replied with a smile. “Looking tense.”

  “One of those days, Gunny. One of those days. Mind if I start down on the end?”

  “Have at it.” He put his ear protection back in and resumed going up and down the line of men and women learning to better shoot their M-16’s.

  Jacey grabbed her gun, an M-14 DMR, Designated Marksman Rifle, and brought it to her shoulder after sliding on her shooting glasses. Butt against her shoulder, she sighted down the gun to the target, made a slight adjustment, and pulled the trigger.

  Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

  She dropped the barrel and squeezed the trigger five more times. In between the heartbeats.

  Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

  With a deep breath, she walked towards her target and stared at it, removing her eyewear. Two clusters, one in the middle of the forehead and one center mass.

  “I don’t know, Jack. Your aim seems off. Don’t you usually have two holes only, not clusters?”

  She punched the brownish-blond haired man. Another Zulu Spectre member. Dale “Lights” Curtayn. His brown eyes sparkled with humor. “Stuff it, Lights. I can still outshoot you any day.”

  He laughed, his bright white teeth shining against his tanned skin. “I don’t doubt that. But hey, up for a wager on that?”

  “Oh yeah. Mama needs a new pair of Manolos.”

  Lights dropped an arm around her and said, “Honey, I’ll buy you the Manolos if you’ll come to the range and shoot in them.”

  Jacey elbowed him and lifted one leg out before her. “Well, I think I want a black pair. Not too much else goes well with the cammies.”

  They chuckled and walked back. For another four hours she stayed at the range. By the time she had finished the rest of the unit had arrived and bets were being placed. Finished with her shooting, Jacey sat on the hood of Griz’s Jeep and watched Lights compete against Mayhem.

  “How are things, cherie?” Gambit questioned in his soft, deep Louisiana accent.

  “Good. Why?”

  “Two reasons. One, you’ve not said anything about da man who fathered Caleb and two, I’ve not seen your pendant.”

  Jacey’s hand drifted to the base of her neck. Her onyx spade. Since Trevor had ripped it off of her she hadn’t seen it. “Nothing to say about Derek. And I lost the spade. It was taken from me.”

  Gambit leaned against the grill. “Will you marry him?”

  Jacey sighed and rubbed her eyes. Before she could answer, Griz grabbed their attention with a whistle. “Mount up, ladies. There’s a bird waitin’ with our name on it.”

  Sitting in her seat onboard the KC 130J, a four-engine tactical transport, Jacey leaned back and closed her eyes. This plane was the Marine Corps version of the C130 Hercules.

  A whisper along her skin brought her eyelids up. Jacey sighed and turned her head. “I don’t suppose you’re a figment of my imagination and will go away if I close my eyes again, are you?”

  The familiar sexy grin spread across the tanned face of the man beside her. “I knew it. You do dream about me.”

  Jacey chuckled before rolling her eyes. “What’s up, Gambit?”

  “I want to know more.”

  “More about what?” she asked even though she had a hunch she knew.

  “You and Derek.”

  “What’s to know? He’s watching Caleb, living in my house, and still believes, along with my father, I’m pregnant and had no intentions of letting him know.” Jacey frowned over the bitterness in her tone.

  “Are you pregnant, cherie?” His timbre low and serious.

  “Well, I wasn’t when I got on this plane, so unless there’s been some divine intervention, I am still a mother of one.”

  “Checked your seat before you sat, right?”

  “Oh God,” she moaned playfully, craning her neck around like she needed an escape. “You weren’t up here with someone you shouldn’t have been with were you?”

  Gambit laughed. “Funny, cherie. I happen to think our children would be beautiful.”

  Jacey couldn’t argue that. They would make some attractive kids. “So, since our having kids together is not ever going to happen, I’m sure I’m not carrying any little life form within me.”

  “You and Derek make a good couple, cherie. Don’t give up on it.”

  Adjusting her head so she could see him, Jacey said, “You jus’ keep that damn ‘Star’ thing away from me.”

  “I have no control over the Zetwal d Ezili, Jack. You know that. It finds you.”

  “Well, hell man, start running some damn interference then.”

  Gambit leaned in close and whispered his accent extremely thick. “You love him, Jacey. Always have. Always will. You’ll never be happy with another.” He got up and moved to a different seat.

  Jacey closed her eyes and groaned. I hate it when he’s right. Damn it all, I hate it! There was no point in fighting with him. Gambit had his own beliefs and nothing would ever change them. But the Zetwal d Ezili, or Star of Ezili, wasn’t something she wanted to deal with. Gambit’s belief in it was staggering and she’d seen it work with Tristan, but Jacey wanted to at least pretend she had control over her own future.

  Forcing herself to take deep calming breaths, Jacey allowed the noise from the engines to lull her to sleep. Her body grabbed and stowed as much sleep as it could. The loud noise from the four engines, the bouncing flight, none of it mattered. Jacey and the rest of the Zulu Spectre slept like babies.

  She woke when the whee
ls dropped, well rested and alert. Stretching, Jacey frowned when Griz handed her a flak jacket. Shit! When the bird landed and the back dropped, Jacey bit back another round of curse words when they walked down and out into well over one hundred degree weather.

  “Let’s go,” Griz issued the command with a bark.

  They walked towards two armored Humvees and climbed in. Jacey met Gambit’s gaze and they shared a wry smile. No wonder Griz didn’t tell us where we were en route to. Fucking end up in the Middle East.

  They had a tent all to themselves and Jacey had just grabbed a clean tank top when Griz walked in, pulling off his helmet as he did, his countenance nothing but business.

  “Here’s the deal, ladies,” Griz said.

  Jacey walked closer and drew the tank top down over her bra, then sat on the edge of a cot, giving Griz her full attention. The members of Zulu Spectre soon had been given their mission and had begun their op.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Derek yawned and stretched. Tossing back the covers, he stood and tugged on the waistband of the black and slate gray woven workout pants he’d slept in, pulling them a bit higher. The cool morning air blew across his bare chest. It was late October. The clock displayed five forty-five and he knew Caleb would be in soon. It didn’t matter school was in session, every morning they ran.

  Jacob and Etta Mae had gone back to Washington. Jacey had called Caleb once. All in all, things were going rather well. Staring out the window at the darkness, Derek grinned.

  “I really like this being a daddy thing.” He slid open a dresser drawer and reached for a shirt.

  “Mama!” Caleb’s scream reached him, followed by a bark and running feet.

  Bolting for the door, he ripped it open and found the downstairs well-lit and saw Caleb launching himself into Jacey’s arms. She wore fatigues and looked beat, but there was no mistaking the joy on her face when Caleb’s arms tightened around her neck. She sank to her knees and brought Shadow in on the hug as well.