“Jesus! Precious. Don’t you dare be ashamed of anything that happened in that fucking container.” Jack leaned over her, one finger lightly touching the underside of her chin, asking her to meet his gaze. “You did nothing wrong. Nothing. Whatever went on in there, he carries the burden and he will pay for it. And, baby, it was your job to live and do whatever it took to make that so. You knew I was coming for you, didn’t you?” Hailey nodded, finally looking into his eyes.
“Right, I was coming. I could get you out of anything, anywhere, but I couldn’t have breathed life into a dead body. Do you understand what I’m saying? Whatever you did, whatever the other girl did to live, it was not wrong. Nothing you do to survive is ever wrong.” Her eyes were searching his and he hoped like hell she found truth in his. When her shoulders suddenly relaxed he knew he had reached her.
“She gets it,” he observed softly.
Tears silently tracked out of her eyes and into her hair as they looked at each other. There was no sobbing, just silent pain. Jack discovered his humanity was paper-thin. There was almost nothing he wouldn’t do never to see her in this type of pain again.
“He hit me, everywhere,” she whispered.
“Yes, baby.” Jack had to let her get it out. Her being able to put words to the experience was part of letting it go. It was a pure miracle that she was able to do it with him. A gift so magnificent it was humbling, but the pain, it was crippling. The drive to protect her, shield her, rendered each horrific word a serrated blade dragging across his soul.
“I was naked.” Hailey stopped talking and just looked at him, pain pouring off her in hideous waves.
Dangerous waters.
So fast.
He hadn’t expected her to get to this place so soon. Jesus. Whatever he said right now would break her or seal them together. The problem was, he didn’t have a fucking Psychology degree. A man. That was all he was. So he opened a vein for her and found it didn’t hurt at all when one was focused on removing the pain from huge violet eyes.
“Baby, what happened in that container has not one thing to do with what you and I are. I don’t care how you need me, what we do or don’t do, you are mine. I need to be right here beside you. If that’s all you can give me, it’s enough. This is what I need most, you and I connecting. What I do know is my girl is a warrior and I’m fucking proud of her.”
She was searching his eyes again. Jack concentrated on breathing as his girl reached in to his soul one more time. Hell, he wished she’d crawl in there and let him shield her for the rest of her life.
“Thank you, Jack.” Hailey’s trembling voice ripped away his control as she gave herself into his keeping. Jack squeezed his eyes shut.
When he opened them again she was still watching him. It was time to give her the whole truth. Whatever happened next, he was not letting her go. She needed to be aware of that. “I love you, baby. I’ve loved you since you were twenty and there is nothing that’s going change that. Not this, not whatever happens next. So, baby, you need to come to terms with the fact that I am your man. Regardless.”
Hailey gasped, her hand reaching up to cover his mouth. “No. No you can’t love me!” she wheezed in panic. “What if I’m broken? What if I can never stand for a man to touch me again?”
Jack kissed the little palm between chuckles.
“Quit laughing. This is serious. Take it back,” Hailey demanded.
“Can’t,” he said around her fingers.
“Yes you can. You have to. I’m a mess,” Hailey insisted seriously.
“Who was just in the shower with me and asked me to touch every inch of her a second time? Who is wearing my T-shirt because it makes her feel safe?” he purred softly, watching her eyes cloud with confusion then clear as she gazed up at him. “My girl is not broken. She is the bravest, strongest woman I have ever seen in my life,” Jack declared softly. “Sure, we might have some things to get through, but there is nothing broken about you, baby.”
Hailey’s hand dropped to the covers as her big eyes blinked up at him.
“You’re right, I’m not broken,” she breathed. A real smile broke across her face, kind of lopsided but still the most beautiful thing in the world.
“And you love me,” she added, her tone a little wobbly but not panicked anymore.
“I do,” Jack confirmed, grinning down at her.
“That’s good,” Hailey mused still staring at him. “I can quit stalking you now.”
“I kind of like that, baby. We’ll discuss you quitting that next year.”
“Next year?”
“Mmmm, or the one after,” Jack rumbled.
“I think I’m tired now,” Hailey murmured.
“Then sleep, baby.” Jack leaned down to gently touch his lips to hers.
And she did, drifted off as he watched. Jack felt both light and immeasurably heavy. She hadn’t said the words back to him, not directly, but that wasn’t the weight. His beautiful girl had battled demons and won this round, but there was something neither of them had mentioned. He hoped she really hadn’t thought of it yet.
She wasn’t pregnant. That was a fact. The doctor at Gitmo had said there was some bleeding but it could be attributed to trauma. There was no way to tell if she had been pregnant prior to her abduction. In his heart, he knew what he felt they had lost. What would her heart tell her?
Relaxing down on the bed beside her, Jack stared at the ceiling. There wasn’t a way to explain the loss. They hadn’t confirmed her pregnancy but it was real, he knew it. He’d failed to protect his woman and his child. The most innocent had paid the price for that.
Chapter Eight
It was only three hours after the group left the Marks family room but when Jack strode into the kitchen, every man was present. Grim faces greeted him.
Brad leaned back in a kitchen table chair, his gaze focused on Jack. “Crew interrogations verify the man who brought the girls on board left the ship an hour before we got there.”
Jack nodded on his way to the coffee machine. “I figured.” He sliced a glance at his father as he reached for a cup. “Your girl good? Fucker wanted you away from her, is my take.”
“Confirmed secure,” Smoke responded.
“He got the second Command group to expose and pursue. Means no family member is safe if this guy feels he needs leverage,” Jack stated. “Bastard has to survive capture or we will not know if he’s working alone.”
“Not our first rodeo,” Smoke drawled as his son took a seat.
“Having confidence issues,” Jack returned and raised a brow.
“Understood,” Smoke conceded. The responsibility for every mark on his son’s woman rested squarely on his shoulders. He wasn’t trying to dodge it. “How is Hailey?”
Jack sighed and glanced down at his cup on the table. “Fighting. It will mark her.”
“Right.” Brad brought the discussion back to the hunt. “Too much time has passed since we secured the boat. Failure to complete his mission will send our target to ground and that might be Eastern Europe.” Looking at Smoke Stone and his men, Blue Spanos and Pike Wilster, Brad asked, “Your team good to go back there?”
“Soon as we have something to hunt, that is our destination,” Smoke confirmed. “Target could be here though. He invested a lot of time and resources watching Jack. Had a secure base and might be as comfortable here.”
“Agreed.” Brad nodded curtly and directed the next question to Jack. “Hailey okay to look at photos soon?”
“She’s sleeping now.” Jack sat back and frowned. “But my take is she’ll be good to do it when she wakes up. Anything we can start on now?”
Brad stood and grabbed the stack of papers off the printer at the kitchen’s office nook, shuffling through them grimly and handing the stack to the man on his right as he sat back down. “Take one and pass it down. Get all you can on each guy in a quick check and eliminate as fast as you can.”
Each man took a paper and moved around the house sett
ing up laptops and getting on phones. Shortly, the women came in, Julie and the housekeeper Angie started making food. The type of food a man could eat as he did something else. No one was breaking for a meal.
An hour an half later Jack looked up at the large dog who stood in the doorway of the family room for the moment it took to make eye contact with him, then turned and trotted back down the hall. Apparently he had been summoned, so Jack followed Apollo back to the bedroom.
Entering, he found Hailey sitting on the side of the bed sucking in air like people do when working through pain.
“Jesus, baby,” he growled as he got to her side. “Let me help you.”
“Need to get to the bathroom,” Hailey said, glancing up at him. “Not taking a road trip.”
“Smartass,” he huffed and helped her stand.
“It’s a bad habit of mine. Only warning you’re gonna get,” she informed him through gritted teeth as they shuffled to the attached bathroom. “Got it from here.”
Hailey was leaning against the sink. Jack backed away reluctantly. “You call out if you need anything,” he admonished sternly. “Don’t go being a hero for dignity, woman.”
Apollo had moved with them, staying close to Hailey’s other side. Once in the bathroom, he sat. Jack regarded the dog a moment. “If you want me to make him leave, we’ll have to get Dean. That’s his mule-dog face.”
“No, I’m good.” She nodded and Jack stepped out of the room but didn’t close the door completely.
“You need to walk a bit, baby.” Jack kept talking as she took care of business. “The stiff muscles need to stretch or you’ll feel them longer. And you haven’t eaten.”
After the flush, Jack heard the sink going. “I could use a hairbrush,” Hailey called softly. “And I’m a bit hungry,” she agreed with him. “Is there a robe I can borrow?”
“Julie keeps brushes and junk in the draw.” Jack stepped back in the large bathroom to pull out the vanity drawer for her. “Pretty sure she puts robes in the guestroom closets too. I’ll check in a minute.” He picked up a brush and moved to run it through Hailey’s hair.
“What are you doing?”
“It will hurt your ribs to reach up and do this, baby,” Jack explained as he gently tugged the brush through her hair. “Let me.”
Hailey closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look in the mirror again. Both eyes were sporting shiners. Her lower lip was cracked and swollen and the swelling at her jaw and cheeks made her look a little monsterish. There was a jagged cut across the bridge of her nose. She looked like she’d lost a fight, because she had.
Putting down the brush, Jack gently gripped her elbow. “Let’s get that robe,” he encouraged her while moving her out of the bathroom. Apollo stayed with them beside Hailey.
Ten minutes later Hailey was gingerly spooning delicious-smelling but light chicken broth. Around the big country kitchen some thirteen people were trying to act casual while checking up on her. Having been to the Marks ranch for the Christmas party and varied other events off and on for the last five years, Hailey knew everyone to some degree except for Jack’s father and the two men who came with him. She wasn’t close with any of them except Julie, but at least she knew who they were.
Julie sat beside her at the table. Angie sat directly across from her, leaning back in her chair and not being casual at all about her thoughts. Hailey didn’t think Angie looked like a housekeeper. She was tall and fit but mostly the same kind of aggression that all the men in the room were putting out was coming off Angie as well. Glancing at Julie, who was all soft woman and not one bit warrior, it occurred to Hailey that this was the bodyguard Brad kept at the house for Julie.
Angie’s arms were crossed and her lovely face was set in a fierce scowl that managed to look glamorous in an action hero sort of way. Apollo lay under the table, a warm furry blanket over Hailey’s toes, his big head resting between his paws.
“Seriously, I need a turn at this guy,” Angie stated firmly, looking to the breakfast bar where Trace sat.
“I know, Wonder Woman, but the line is long.” Trace grinned at her.
“Don’t even have to be conscious,” Angie muttered.
“Actually…” Hailey put down her spoon and focused on Angie, her voice soft yet firm. “I’d prefer it if you waited until he’s conscious again. He did that to us. I mean the other girl and me. He waited until we regained consciousness to resume the beating.”
Angie’s brows rose as she leaned a little across the table. “No one mentioned that,” she growled. Visibly relaxing back in the kitchen chair, Angie’s arms uncrossed and casually stretched out on the table, hands clasped as she smiled at Hailey. “Not a problem. He really should enjoy the same treatment.”
Hailey nodded and picked up her spoon again, taking a sip and continuing the conversation. “Naked, too. The whole time he’s in captivity.”
Around the room people quickly resumed looking casual and acting like Hailey being able to discuss her experience wasn’t an immense show of courage.
“Also he needs to be hit in the junk.” Hailey frowned at Angie. “Can you do that? I know it sounds harsh.”
“Oh yeah, I can get that job done,” Angie assured her.
“Good.” Hailey half smiled. “I’d like a woman to do it but I don’t think I have it in me. I appreciate your help.” Reaching across the table, Hailey squeezed Angie’s hands.
Angie chuckled as her hands turned to clasp Hailey’s. Julie sniffed and took a deep breath, putting on a shaky smile.
Leaning at the counter or sitting at the breakfast bar or seated farther down the table there were eleven sets of male eyes focused on the women. Hard jaws flexed but no one interrupted.
“When you finish the soup, can you look at some pictures?” Angie asked.
“Sure.” Hailey went back to her soup. “I can look at them now though. While I’m eating,” she clarified politely.
Brad, seated on the other side of Julie, slid a stack of printouts past his wife to Hailey. “Start with these, baby girl.” His was voice low and gentle.
Hailey’s gaze flicked up to Jack. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, facing her. His slight smile warmed her. She saw pride there, approval and maybe even admiration. She put down her spoon, focusing on him openly. Drawing courage from her man and not caring if anyone saw her needing that.
Jack nodded, his grin spreading across his face.
Hailey looked down at the pile of papers and focused. Studying each face, she took her time, turning the rejected pages over one by one. It got easier, so she went back to eating soup while she did it. And then there he was.
Carefully putting her spoon in the bowl while not taking her eyes off the page she’d just revealed, Hailey felt the fear wash over her. Sitting perfectly still in the safe kitchen, she pushed the overwhelming revulsion out of her system. Giving the man pictured any power at all, even the power to make her feel fear, was unacceptable. He would not have that from her. She refused to allow it.
Warily she picked up the corner of the page and handed it around Julie to Brad. “Him.”
Brad took the paper, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “Sure?”
“He was the driver of the truck that ran me off the road,” Hailey stated and turned back to the stack of papers. “Didn’t see him in the container. Only saw him ramming my car. The other guy got out of the truck and broke my window. I had locked the doors,” she explained as she flipped another page. “So, I didn’t see that one again but he is defiantly the driver.”
She didn’t look up as she felt movement rippling around the kitchen. Several low male growls filled the air. The electric crackle of tension was a scent in the air and aggression rolled off the men like heat simmering off pavement in the summer sun.
“Mike, Sam, track this fucker down.” Brad’s voice was lethally low as he issued the command.
The two men nodded and left the kitchen.
It wasn’t until halfway through the third s
tack of papers, long after she’d pushed away the empty soup bowl that Hailey stopped again.
The photo was grainy, taken at a high angle, obviously at night. The man was looking to the right, his face only a three-quarter shot. However, the tattoo crawling up his neck was unmistakable, a batlike wing with a claw on the end of each spine.
Hailey pushed the page to the center of the table in front of her. The room went silent. Brad slowly folded out of his chair, watching Hailey as he did. Jack strode around the table, coming up behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders, looking down at the photo.
Jack’s hands were light on her body, ever mindful of the bruising, but he could feel her trembling beneath the loose robe. “Who is he?” Jack asked softly. She needed to say it, needed to name the man.
“That is the man who took me,” Hailey said into the charged silence.
Brad was instantly beside them, his long arm reaching for the paper, his lips brushed her forehead as he leaned across her to get it. “Proud of you,” accompanied the light kiss.
Controlled turmoil happened next. Focused, intense, and hard eyed, the men went to work. Just a week old, the photo had been taken from a bank surveillance camera.
Jack’s hands gently gripped under her arms at the one spot not bruised. He helped her out of the chair. “Let’s get some air,” he suggested in her ear. Apollo rose with her, flaking her other side.
“Yeah.” Hailey nodded, glancing back at the hive of activity as they left the kitchen.
Jack’s idea of getting her some air was walking them to the hot tub behind the pool area. A roomy pagoda protected privacy with a solid wall halfway up. The space above the wall to the ceiling was covered with white lattice. When the door was closed the occupants were free from observation while still enjoying fresh airflow.
Apollo stretched out in the shade, not bothering to go up the steps to the enclosure with them.
“Hot tub for ten minutes, several times a day. Helps increase circulation and heal the bruising,” Jack explained while stripping. “And it feels good.” Naked, he smiled down at her. “The space is private. Even the property security cameras can’t see in the shadow past the lattice unless we turn on the lights. But if it’s too soon, we leave the T-shirt on, baby.”
Perfectly Exposed (Command Unit Book 1) Page 8