Find A Way Or Make One

by Kelley, E. C.

  As I was heading out, I put in a call to Cale’s mom, knowing that if he had put where he was on Twitter, that it wasn’t confidential and she would know how to get in touch with her youngest son. She talked my ear off, but it was finally confirmed that Cale and some of the others from the platoon were working on a joint training exercise in Morocco. She said the best way to get in touch with him was through Alvin, who had been dubbed Chip in BUD’s training. Personally, I thought the Alvin and the Chipmunks reference a little cheesy, but se la vie. Hadn’t my swim buddy, a black man whose skin was extremely dark, been dubbed Sunny?

  When I got a hold of Chip, he was just getting out of bed and the noises in the background told me he wasn’t alone. After telling him what BUD’s class I was in, what team, platoon, and squad, he relented and told me that the guys on this mission beside himself were Cale, Sunny, Ken, and Crow. I knew and got along with the first three; Sunny had been my Swim buddy in Buds, but Crow was new. Chip told me that he had been on the team for about six years, so I assume he was my replacement. Awkward, but what the hell? I figured that if I could handle it so could the new guy, right? The guys had already gone to the training facility, an old warehouse that a new shipping company, RRP Shipping, had let the European Union use for this training. I had heard of RRP. They were taking Europe by storm, largely due to the connections that the owners had. The ten owners were the sons of five of Europe’s wealthiest Royal families and two sons and a daughter of a Bani Ark sheikh in Yemen, and the twin sons of a former United States Vice President. They definitely had some clout and some mighty strong connections, which only helped them in gaining access to ports and gaining shipping contracts.

  I realized before coming here, that I needed to get in touch with them and have a meeting, to see if there was any way we could work together. Even though Masters and Family still was involved with the ship part of shipping, we were now becoming a dominant force in moving shipments over ground, by either planes or trucks. By joining these two business factions, Masters and Family would soon begin to push UPS and FedEx out. RRP would profit as well from the possible stream lining of shipping goods from overseas.

  As Chip gave me the address he started talking about some retired DEA operative that they were working with, some dude named Kye. Chip went on and on about Kye, how strong he was, how smart, all the great things he had done…yadda, yadda, yadda. It had been a while since I had heard a guy talk about another guy without making any digs or cutting remarks. The business world was all about making you look better by pointing out the faults of others. Damn, I missed people wanting their coworkers to do well. I mean, the main reason that this was true in the teams was because your survival depended on the other members of your team being able to do their job well, but still it instilled a sense of camaraderie that I hadn’t felt since I left the teams. As Chip continued to go on and on about Kye, it was obvious, Chip was infatuated with Kye, but since Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was no longer in effect, I guess it was all good. Personally, I had never seen the big deal with it anyway. Love was love, wasn’t it?

  I walked into the warehouse, and followed the noise, and found Cale, Sunny, and Ken watching the action inside the boxing ring in the far left corner of the warehouse. Assuming that the two guys in the ring were Crow and the Awesome Kye, I walked over to the three men that had been as close to me as brothers shouting, “Hey, I heard that there were some drunk, washed up old farts trying to pass themselves off as SEALS in here?” I had assumed that everyone would be happy to see me, but joy was not the feeling that showed on the faces of my friends. Ken, automatically froze, and Cale and Sunny just looked at each other and mumbled what I was pretty sure was the word fuck. Then they all three turned to face the ring, and my eyes did the same.

  Assuming that two guys were in the ring was obviously a mistake. I noticed that one of the “guys” in the ring was wearing a sports bra. At first glance, the girl’s face was hidden, but when Crow started to pull her arm back in a submission hold her head came up and I could see her face; it was the face I saw every night in my dreams. I froze because I couldn’t believe it! Kylee, my Kylee had been using a rear naked choke to subdue the guy, and was now lying face first in the ring with her arm behind her back.

  Crow jumped up and started shouting, “I did it! I. DID. IT! Kye has finally been beat, and it was by ME!” As the guy continued to strut around the ring, I just stared at Kylee, my princess, my Darlin’ Princess for shits sake, it slowly filtered into my mind that Kye must be short for Kylee. As Cale helped her to her feet, all I could do was stare at the woman I had all but given up hope of ever seeing again. Her long brown hair was shorter now, and while her body still had the curves that I woke up at night reaching out for, there were noticeable changes as well.

  She now had two or three noticeable scars on her body. One was on her shoulder and her side, reaching in a downward motion to her lower back. I couldn’t put my finger on what would leave such a hellacious mark, but I easily recognized that it would have been painful to receive. I also noticed on her upper left thigh there was a burn mark, a perfectly circular burn mark about half an inch in diameter. What the hell had happened to her?

  That silent question was quickly swept to the side. She was here! After I had almost given up hope of finding her and being whole again, here she was, so close all I had to do was take a few steps then reach out and she would be in my arms again. Only she didn’t seem to be too overjoyed to see me. For about half a second I wondered over that, but in no time at all it came to me, she still didn’t know what had really been going on. Shit, some heavy groveling is going to be taking place, but it will be worth it. Having a chance to be with Kylee again is worth anything!

  I cautiously approached to the side of the ring where Kylee was jumping down from the ring as if in a trance. “Kylee, I have looked and looked for you for years. It was like you dropped off the face of the Earth. Where the hell have you been?”

  Kylee turned to stone. When she turned to face me, the eyes that had once been so expressive were completely devoid of any emotion. “Where I fit in, obviously.”

  My eyes closed, unable to remain open while being bombarded by so much damn regret. “Damn Darlin’ Princess, I have to talk to you. That night wasn’t what you think. I was…”

  In a low voice, full of pain and determination Kylee cut me off with a slash of her hand. “No! No take backs and NO SECOND CHANCES!” That obscure statement filled me with more dread than I felt when I was held hostage by the drug lord, Zandoville, or when I was told he had to leave the teams, Kylee all but ran out of the warehouse. As she walked out, I couldn’t help be notice she had some new ink. 7 years ago the only tattoo that Kylee had was a dainty and elegant crown on the left side of her lower back. When I asked her about it, she given me a small smile and told me that her daddy had always called her his little princess. That very night I started calling Kylee my Darlin’ Princess, and in my mind, I still called her that. Now she had something in a foreign language, looked like Gaelic but I could be wrong, down the right side of her rib cage.

  Then and there I knew it was going to take a lot of time to get her to listen to me, but it would be so worth it. As I walked over to where Cale, Sunny, Ken, and Crow were standing, staring with the same awe horrific awe that one feels when they pass a horrible accident on the highway. “What the hell just happened?” said Crow, who had finally shut up about beating the illustrious Kye, and clearly didn’t know what to think.

  Cale looked at me a sneer slowly crossed his face. In his eyes I could see all the emotions that were spinning around in him. Anger, pity, confusion; yeah they were all there, but anger was definitely the strongest. Shaking his head as he turning to walk out the door, to presumably chase down Kylee he said, “Crow, you shit for brains, you just got to see Kye drop Rule 2 on his sorry ass.”

  As I watched my old friend leave to go after the girl that was my only chance of happiness, I heard the guy named Crow ask, “What
the hell?” This was followed by what sounded like someone hitting him over the head. I stared in the direction that Kylee had gone. I would get her back, I had to. Filled with more hope and sense of purpose than I had felt since the last time I had kissed her lips, I walked over to the other guys, and found out when they were going to La Rassa tonight.

  3

  “One rule doesn’t always have to negate the other”

  Kye

  Kye

  Oh my God! I rushed out of the warehouse, making a beeline for the fire escape ladder on the side of the building. I had to get out of there to think. Behind me I heard Cale say something to Crow, but I couldn’t make out what. I really didn’t want to either.

  I quickly reached the roof and glanced out over the Mediterranean. As I worked on steadying my breathing and calming all the confusing emotions running rampant inside me, I heard a quiet and concerned voice. “What was that, Kye? Even when you came to help us get him out of Zandoville’s dungeon in Peru, I never would have guessed that you knew him enough to garner that kind of reaction. What gives?”

  How to explain? Not knowing a delicate way to start, I ripped the Band-Aid off and told the story of me and Wyatt with brutal honesty. “When I was 20, after the debacle with Christien, you know I came back to the States. Toby got me in at Quantico so I could study behavior analysis and profiling. He and his superiors thought it would benefit my work with the DEA. I met Wyatt while he was receiving some training there too. We had what I thought was a relationship for about six months. Only I guess that was just wishful thinking on my part, because I caught him out with another girl one night when he told me he had to go practice night maneuvers.” I knew that my voice sounded beyond flat. The only way that I could get through reliving this was by blocking out all emotion.

  As I looked Cale, I could tell he couldn’t put the pieces of what he knew and what he had just witnessed together. After hesitating a moment, he asked. “But what about TB? I know you loved him Kye, but what I just saw back there wasn’t you talking to someone you used to care about. And now that I know of your prior connection, I have to ask you if you still have feelings for him.”

  I didn’t know what to say to make Cale understand. I turned my head to look out over the city a minute. Usually, I was the master of the stoic poker face when I needed to be, but I knew at that moment, all my feelings and emotions; pain, anger, fear, desolation, were all written across my face. And truthfully, I didn’t give a damn.

  “Cale, I don’t know how to make you understand, because when you break it down to its most basic, I don’t even understand. Toby was my best friend, and yes, my feelings for him had begun to change when he took that last mission. I had always loved him, been grateful for his support and allowing me a place in Seamus’ life. And yes, I had begun to realize that we could possibly become…more. We could have become a family. Even knowing this, if Toby had ever asked, I would have had to tell him the truth. Yes, I loved him, but Wyatt, he has always owns my soul. No matter what, I have never managed to get it back.”

  Cale slowly processed what he had just heard and seen. “I don’t get it Kye. If you feel that way about him, surely you can make an exception to your rules for once? Obviously Wyatt realized what he had thrown away. That man back there wasn’t just shooting the shit. Maybe you misunderstood the situation.”

  I couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped my lips, but there was no humor in it. There was only sadness, and aching cadence of what might have been. “I did, even though he told me that I would never fit in his world, and all I would ever be was a good lay, I went back to see him about two months later. The blond that he had been with that night he finally told me the truth was at his apartment, and wearing my shirt and my shirt only as she answered his door. She laughed in my face when I asked to speak to him. She took great delight in telling me that I would have to wait, he was in the shower and was expecting her to join him in just a minute. I left, and became completely absorbed in the more dangerous aspects of my job with the DEA. I was pretty reckless for the next year and a half. If Toby hadn’t asked me help him raise Seamus, I would have probably been dead within a year. Not because I was trying to die, but because I just didn’t give a damn. That was probably why Toby was so pissed when I went to Peru. He thought I was done with all that reckless shit.”

  Cale barked out a sharp laugh. He looked at me like I was crazy and started shaking his head. “No, that wasn’t why he was pissed, well at least not all of it. He was pissed because he realized that you still cared about Wyatt. Is it any wonder that he started pushing for more soon after?”

  “Well, he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about. My second rule to live by was in full affect never to be forgotten again. Enough of this bullshit, since I lost the match, I get to go get “hookered up.” Damn. That alone makes me want to kick Wyatt’s ass for breaking my concentration”

  I started walking to the ladder, thinking Cale was behind me. I realized he had never moved when he asked, “Hey Kye, if you knew you would never give Wyatt another chance, why did you go to Peru?”

  I knew he would ask this question eventually. I tried to find a smile but couldn’t, so I just rolled my eyes. “Cale, one rule doesn’t have to negate the other. Just because you can’t give someone a second chance doesn’t mean you can’t love them with your whole heart.”

  Cale looked like he didn’t know what to think. He stared at me while his turbulent emotions rolled in his eyes. Finally a look of tenderness and awe replaced them as he spoke some of the sweetest words I have ever heard. “Damn little girl, you may be three years younger than me and I may be a grown ass man, but you are who I want to be when I grow up.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I will remind you of that when I need your help reigning in Seamus and Cian. Rashid is bringing them back from their camping trip the day after tomorrow.”

  Cale chuckled, “I love those boys, hell we all do, but you know that their mamma made them almost as stubborn as her. In fact, she is the only one they listen to.” I just shook my head and left. What could I say to that?

  4

  “Payback is a bitch, and it will be my privilege to collect”

  Ken

  Cale,

  Watching Kye jump down from ladder, and walk inside the warehouse, I was lost in thought. She soon emerged from the side door, wearing jeans and a black leather jacket and carrying her matte chrome half helmet. She quickly jumped on her purple Harley Sportster, and sped down the street.

  Once she was out of site, I quickly descended down the ladder and went inside. I was just walking in the side door as Wyatt, the pansy ass fucker, was strolling out the front. Kye was one of the sweetest people I knew, which was amazing when you think about all she has been through.

  Ken, Crow, and Sunny all looked at me. I could tell they were all waiting for me to tell them what was wrong with Kye. “I am putting you all on notice, that fucker is not to be around Kye again. Hear me?”

  Ken looked at me and knew something was up. Loyalty to those on or that had been with the teams was a given, and for me to be drawing a line in the sand against one of our own was huge, but the hurt, and sheer anger that had been exhibited on Kye’s face had run deep. Too deep. It brought back a lot of memories that I would just as soon forget.

  Tilting his head in concern Ken said, “Man that was intense. What exactly was that?”

  Blowing my normally cool, calm and collected outlook on life, I unloaded all my anger and frustration. “Evi-fucking-dently Kye dated Wyatt for about six months when she first came back to the states. He didn’t have the balls to end it and let her find him with some socialite bitch and told her that even though she was a good lay, she didn’t fit in with his people. She even went back a couple of months later to tell him who she really was, and the socialite bitch answered the door wearing her shirt and brushed her off so she could go join him in the shower.”

  Sunny, Wyatt’s old swim buddy, th
ought about that for a moment then stated, “I don’t get it, we only found out about his pedigree by accident, and he never tried to live off the family name or connections.”

  “Yeah Sunny I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that he cheated and even moved the bitch in with him!” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ken’s slight flinch. I could see the minute that Ken made the connection. I shook my head at the silent question in his gaze. I knew that the similarities to my own past weren’t the only reasons I was so pissed. Honestly, Kye was like a sister to me; she had saved my ass more times than I could count, and I couldn’t stand that she had been hurt like that.

  “Shit! The fucker is meeting us at La Rassa tonight at 9:00. He gave me his number, I’ll call the piece of shit now and tell him he better not show.” Crow was the newest on our teams besides Chip, and it was obvious that he was upset about what Asshole had put Kye through. It didn’t take anyone more than a day to lose a little of their heart to Kye. She didn’t even have to try.