Kassie had relaxed enough to talk openly with the other women. She’d laughed and joked with his teammates too. All in all, this had to be the best date he’d ever been on. He’d actually enjoyed one of the formal Army balls for once, which was a huge deal for him.
The only weirdness in the night, other than Kassie thinking she’d be forced to drink grog, came about halfway through dinner. Truck’s phone had rung and he’d gotten up and left the table as soon as he heard who was on the other end of the line. Excusing himself, Hollywood had followed him, wanting to make sure everything was all right.
Truck had shared more with him about his situation with Mary than with any of their teammates. She’d started chemo again, but hadn’t told Rayne. Both men hated keeping the secret from their teammate’s woman, but Mary had begged Truck not to say anything.
Hollywood didn’t agree with Mary’s thought process, that she’d taken up so much of Rayne’s time her first bout with cancer, she didn’t want to do it again, but it wasn’t his decision to make.
He caught up with Truck in the lobby and heard his end of the conversation.
“…me an hour to get back there. Will you be all right until then? And Annie’s asleep? Good. No, you did the right thing, and no, you’re not interrupting anything. The ball is boring anyway.” Truck chuckled, but Hollywood could tell there was no humor in it. “Mary, I already told you it was fine. You absolutely did the right thing. I’ll be there in an hour. No, I won’t tell them why I’m coming back to help babysit Annie. You’re just going to have to trust me, aren’t you?”
His voice dropped. “Don’t cry, Mare. I know you hate this. But we’ll get you through it just like last time. I don’t care what the statistics say, you will beat this a second time. Yeah, all right. Go lay down. Relax. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Bye.”
As soon as he hung up, Hollywood asked, “Mary and Annie okay?”
“Yeah. Annie’s asleep. Mary had chemo yesterday and can’t stop throwing up. She’s worried that she can’t look after Annie properly. If something happens, she said she’d be useless to do anything. So I’m gonna head back and take care of them both until Fletch and Emily get home tomorrow.”
Knowing there was a lot more going on between Truck and Rayne’s best friend, Hollywood asked, “You want me to let Em know?”
“Would you?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t tell them about the chemo,” Truck warned.
“Of course not,” Hollywood said, not offended.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“You know what you’re doing?” He had to ask.
Truck nodded firmly. “Yeah, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Mary hasn’t been very nice to you in the past.” Hollywood told Truck something he undoubtedly knew.
“Look, I know you guys worry about me, but don’t. Mary was protecting Rayne. She was pissed at Ghost and taking it out on me. Any snark she’s thrown since then hasn’t been because she doesn’t like me.”
Hollywood eyed his friend, then nodded. “She gonna be all right?”
“Fuck yes, if I have anything to say about it,” Truck said emphatically.
“Good. Drive safe. I’ll see you later.”
Hollywood had gone back into the ballroom and told the group Truck went home to give Mary a hand with little Annie. He’d had to reassure Emily and Fletch, and Rayne, a hundred times that it was nothing and that Mary and Truck could take care of Annie until they returned home the next day.
Now Hollywood was on the dance floor with Kassie. She fit perfectly in his arms, and even though they weren’t really dancing, more like swaying back and forth, Hollywood didn’t care because he could hold her.
“Can we talk?” Kassie asked after they’d been dancing for several songs.
“Sure, sweetheart.”
“Not here. Is there someplace we can take a walk or something?”
Hollywood looked down in concern at Kassie. It was never good when a woman said she wanted to talk, but he really didn’t like that he couldn’t read what was going through Kassie’s head at the moment. He’d thought her revelations about what had happened to her at the hands of her ex were over. He wondered what else the man had done disguised as an Army tradition. He didn’t like the man. Really didn’t. Kassie had already run a gamut of emotions, and he was liking the relaxed and easygoing woman currently by his side, and didn’t want anything else to upset her tonight.
“I think there’s a small garden off the lobby. We could go there.”
“Great.”
Hollywood pulled away and led her out of the ballroom, lifting his chin at Coach as he passed his teammate, letting him know he was leaving for the moment. They might be in the States, at a formal function, but no one on the team ever lost their attentiveness and support of each other. It had saved their lives many times.
Hollywood and Kassie wandered out of the lobby into the small walkway area behind the hotel. There were lights strung up in the trees, giving the entire area a romantic but safe feel. Benches lined the walkway and Kassie walked straight to one and sat.
Hollywood followed, suddenly more nervous than he’d been all night. He’d wanted to ask Kassie out again at the end of the evening. He not only wanted to see her again, he needed to. They’d clicked on a basic level, and he’d been overjoyed to find out that the funny woman on the other end of the emails and messages was exactly the same in person.
“What’s up?” he asked, taking one of her perpetually cold hands in his own. It seemed natural already, to take hold of her fingers and hold them against his leg as they sat next to each other. He couldn’t keep his hands off her.
“I’ve had a really good time tonight,” Kassie started. “And before I say anything else, I want you to know that I’d like to see you again.”
“Good,” Hollywood said in satisfaction. “I want to see you again too.”
She smiled shyly at him. “I wasn’t sure what to expect tonight, and you know about my experience with my ex’s military shindig. Even though I’d researched what to expect, I still wasn’t quite sure about it all.”
“I’m surprised you agreed to come. Especially if you thought you’d have to drink out of the grog bowl,” Hollywood said honestly.
“About that,” Kassie said with a bit of reluctance. “I…”
“What? You can tell me anything, Kass.”
“Okay, well, you know I have an asshole of an ex. He’s not in the picture anymore, but he has this friend who has been following me around and making my life miserable. I’ve tried to ignore him, but that hasn’t worked.”
Hollywood stiffened next to her. “He’s stalking you?”
Kassie shook her head. “Not really. But—”
“If he’s following you around and you don’t want him to, he’s stalking you,” Hollywood told her sternly. “Have you gone to the cops?”
“No. But I’m going to next week.” She held up her free hand and smiled at him as he continued to glare. “Swear. I can’t do this on my own anymore. I realize that now. But I need to talk to my family first.”
“You want me to come with you to the police station?” Hollywood asked, not sure why the question popped out, only knowing that he hated the thought of anyone harassing the woman sitting next to him. They weren’t exactly dating, but they were something. And he cared about her.
“Maybe. But Hollywood, there’s more.”
“More?”
“Yeah,” Kassie said. “Anyway, so my ex’s friend has been annoying me for a year or so. He and my ex were thick as thieves growing up. But you have to know when I first started dating Richard, he was sweet and kind. It wasn’t until he went overseas that he changed. He said an explosive went off too close to him or something. He was okay, but it rattled his brain. The doctors said he was fine, but I don’t think he was. It changed him. He’d asked me to marry him, but when he came home he was mean. He wasn’t the same man I’d been dating. I tried to be symp
athetic, the last thing I wanted to do was break up with him after he was injured while deployed, but after the thing at his house, I had to.
“His childhood friend tried to join the Army with him, but didn’t make it through basic. The two of them would train on a course my ex made himself. Day and night, they’d run through it. Richard taught his friend everything he learned. When Richard got back from overseas, he somehow got his friend to buy into everything he was saying and doing. It was like they were a cult or something. They scared me. Both of them. I tried to break up with Richard, but he wouldn’t let me.”
Hollywood didn’t like the sound of the story he was hearing, but he stayed quiet and let Kassie continue.
“I’m ashamed to admit I let our relationship go on too long, partly because I was hoping Richard would go back to being the man I fell in love with, and because I think I was scared what he’d do if I involved the police, but the bottom line is that I didn’t know how to extricate myself. The times when my ex was at Fort Hood were bliss for me because I didn’t have to worry about him. But he always had his friend, Dean, keep an eye on me. It got really bad in the last few months. My ex was crazy, talking about all sorts of insane things about revenge and stuff.”
All of a sudden, Hollywood got a bad feeling. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he stiffened.
“I tried so many times to tell him that he was imagining things and needed to go to the doctor, but he didn’t listen. I couldn’t do anything right, and he was always so angry. I was scared of him. I’m still scared of him. When Richard went to prison last year, I thought I was free. I thought I could finally get on with my life.”
She’d said it a couple of times, but it finally clicked in Hollywood’s head. He hoped like hell it was a coincidence, but he had a bad feeling it wasn’t. He loosened his hold on Kassie’s hand, feeling the loss acutely but ignoring it, and asked, “What was your boyfriend’s name?”
“You have to understand how scared I was of him,” Kassie said urgently, wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress. “Dean was still following me around and giving me messages from my ex.”
“What’s your ex’s last name, Kassie?” Hollywood asked again.
“Jacks. His name is Richard Jacks,” she whispered.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Hollywood swore.
“I know,” Kassie said quickly, her words running together now. “When he said I needed to find you on the dating website I didn’t want to, but I wasn’t given a choice. And I didn’t think I’d like you so much.”
“So you’re spying on me,” Hollywood said in a flat voice, all the good feelings about the woman sitting next to him now gone.
She frantically shook her head. “No, it’s not like that at all. I—”
“You messaged me because Jacks told you to. Then you befriended me and got me to ask you here tonight so you could report back to him.”
“Sort of, but—”
Hollywood wouldn’t let her finish. “What a joke,” he spat. “Here I was thinking I’d finally met someone who liked me for me instead of my looks, but instead I find out it’s worse than that. You’re no better than the barrack bunnies who just want to fuck for a night.”
“Hollywood, no, I—”
“So what are you going to report back, Kassie? You going to tell your boyfriend that Coach is now dating someone so he can go after her too? Maybe you’ll tell him to go after Mary, that she’s Rayne’s best friend and vulnerable.”
“No, listen. I would never—”
“Spare me,” Hollywood bit out and stood up, glaring down at her. “I don’t want to hear it. I honestly thought you were different. I was so pissed when I found out about the grog bowl and receiving line thing. But it was most likely all an act, wasn’t it? A story you two concocted to make me feel sorry for you. You’ve probably fucked all his friends, haven’t you? Did you guys all laugh about how scared little Annie was when she was drugged and ripped out of her wrecked car? Maybe you thought it was funny how Emily was blackmailed all those months and got sick because she didn’t have enough money to eat because she was giving it to Jacks?”
“No! Dammit, Hollywood, stop interrupting and listen to me, I didn’t—”
“Why should I listen to you?” Hollywood was on a roll. He saw her through a haze of red that had filled his vision. He couldn’t remember ever being so angry. Part of it was that he’d liked Kassie so much and the other was because Jacks wasn’t done fucking with him and his team. “You’re with Jacks. He’s in prison and still trying to make our lives miserable. Pass a message on to him for me and my friends, would you? Tell him to bring it. It doesn’t matter what he does, we’ll still kick his ass. Jacks is a miserable little coward and he’ll always be a loser.”
Hollywood continued to glare at Kassie. She’d stood up as well and was facing him with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked beaten down and scared. He hated that, but her betrayal was eating away at his soul.
“I know he’s a loser,” Kassie said quietly. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. If you’d let me finish a sentence, you’d—”
Simply listening to her speak hurt his heart. He couldn’t let her talk. If he did, she might say something that would make him feel sorry for her and he’d cave. His friends were more important than her. “Why would I let someone who deceived me, and my friends, tell me more lies? You go on home and tell Jacks whatever the fuck you want. But Kassie—if that’s even your name—if one hair on any of my friends’ heads gets hurt, I’ll make you pay.”
She didn’t try to say anything else, simply stared up at him as he glared down at her.
“Nothing to say now?” he taunted.
“You won’t listen to anything I do say, so why should I bother?” she asked flatly.
“Tonight’s been a complete waste,” Hollywood said bitterly. “You’re a waste.” He turned from her then, trying to block out the look of hurt on her face as his last jab hit its mark. He stalked back into the lobby of the hotel and went straight to the bank of elevators. He punched the button and seethed inside as he waited for the lift.
He needed to let his teammates know that Jacks was still out to get them and had no problem involving others from inside his jail cell. He entered the elevator when it arrived and pressed the button for his floor.
The last glimpse he had of Kassie Anderson was of her back as she walked out the front doors of the hotel. Her head was bowed and shoulders slumped. She certainly didn’t look like a woman who was proud of what she’d done…but that didn’t change the fact she’d done it.
Hollywood loosened the bowtie around his neck and sighed, suddenly tired. The adrenaline was being reabsorbed into his body, leaving him exhausted and heartsick. Thirty minutes ago he was on top of the world, and now he felt as though he’d been tortured for days by the Taliban.
As he exited the elevator and walked down the hall toward his room, he planned what tomorrow would bring. He’d give his friends their night off, then they’d need to figure out what the hell they were going to do.
Jacks was back, and he would use anyone and everyone to get what he wanted. Revenge.
Chapter 7
“Let me get this straight,” Ghost said in a pissed-off tone. “Kassie’s ex is Jacks, and she targeted you on the online dating site so she could learn more about us to pass on to that motherfucker?”
“Yes,” Hollywood bit out.
“Are you sure?” Coach asked. “I honestly didn’t get the sense from her she was that kind of person.”
“I’m sure. She told me herself,” Hollywood told his friend. “I didn’t want to believe it either.”
The six men were in Hollywood’s room, discussing the information he’d found out the night before about Kassie and their old enemy, Jacks.
Rayne, Emily, and Harley were still sleeping when Hollywood had texted his teammates for a meeting. Truck was back in Temple, but they’d fill him in on what was happening when they got home.
; “I don’t get it,” Beatle interjected. “What did he really hope to learn from her? It’s not like you go around talking about our missions and shit. So what…she was supposed to report back what you ate for dinner and how you kiss?”
Hollywood ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. He wished that he’d had the foresight to kiss her, really kiss her, instead of just a peck on the lips, before she’d dropped her bomb on him. “I have no fucking idea. Who the hell knows with Jacks. But it pisses me off she was using me.”
“It didn’t look like she was,” Fletch said easily. “In fact, from the way you were holding her hand, I thought you two were definitely hitting it off.”
“Why aren’t you pissed?” Hollywood ground out. “It was your wife and kid who were kidnapped by that asshole. You should be spitting nails that Kassie tried to do this shit.”
Fletch sat forward and pinned Hollywood with a look he couldn’t interpret. “I know that it was my wife who had a gun pointed at her head by Jacks. I’m fully aware of it, and I’ve wished a hundred times that Rock had put a bullet in that asshole’s brain. But, Hollywood, it was Jacks who held that gun. Not Kassie. I don’t think the woman I met last night could hurt a fly. Emily told me when they went to the restroom, she giggled and laughed with them as if she didn’t have a care in the world. My wife liked her, and I trust Em’s judgement one hundred percent.”
Hollywood shook his head, not convinced. “She lied, man. The only reason she messaged me was because she was trying to get information.”
“Maybe in the first place. But why did she keep messaging? She could’ve told Jacks that you didn’t take the bait. Or you didn’t seem interested in her. But apparently she didn’t. She kept emailing you,” Fletch pushed.
“Because she needed information!” Hollywood yelled.
Fletch leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Fuck, I don’t believe this,” Hollywood grumbled.
“Why did she tell you about Jacks?” Ghost asked, his anger from earlier banked.
Rescuing Kassie: Delta Force Heroes, Book 5 Page 7