Her Hero: Next Door

by George H. McVey

  Raisa nodded but couldn’t help the honest question that came to her. “And you think he’ll be able to stop Gregori and end the Syndicate’s hold on this city?”

  Mac nodded and indicated the briefcase at his feet. “After breakfast I’m going to show you some things. Missions that Kris has completed with his team. Missions that are beyond top secret and the only reason I can show them to you is because Kris has made it plain you and he are planning a future together. If that isn’t your intention you need to tell me because I am only allowed to show these files to his family and even then they have to sign a statement stating that they know disclosing anything they see is treason against the United States.”

  She swallowed and thought for a minute. She knew deep down she loved Kris and she knew he meant what he said about asking her to marry him and she knew when he did she’d say yes because she couldn’t stand the thought of not being with him. “He’s already told me he plans on marrying me and I can’t think of anything I want more. Does that answer your question?”

  Mac nodded once. “I would say it does. So let me tell you a story while we wait on Kris to finish those waffles he’s making. I know you heard the story about the young Russian girl he rescued for a friend of his?”

  She nodded. “The one where he took on sixteen Spetzna soldiers?”

  “Yes ma’am, single handedly I might add. But that isn’t the most impressive thing about that story. See the soldiers kidnapped the girl under orders from a high ranking general in the Russian army. He wanted to force her father to work for him. The girl’s father and Kris knew that the General would just send more men to take the girl again. So Kris went to Moscow and infiltrated the general’s office in the Kremlin and abducted the general. He did so without being caught or even anyone knowing the General had been abducted. To this day no one besides me, Kris and the Russian whose daughter was kidnapped knows what Kris did. That General, he just disappeared, no one has ever seen him since his office came up empty. That’s how good Kris is and that’s just one story. I’ll show you several more. Charlotte tells me you’re worried about Kris and what Gregori might do to him or that all this is for nothing and you’ll end up his mistress. I can say without a doubt that next to Kris Lawson, Gregori Volkov is an amateur and a thug. While Kris is one of the best operatives in the world when it comes to ending bad men and their organizations.”

  She looked at the man who made her heart sing in a new light. She remembered that first night him telling her he’d never asked her out because he was filled with darkness and didn’t want to dim her light but he was wrong. Here was a man who walked in darkness, yes; but he did it to preserve those filled with light. He ended the darkness keeping it in check. He wasn’t a good man he was the best man she knew and she was proud of the job he did without anyone knowing or praising him for it. She didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky to capture the heart of this special man, this hero, this hidden warrior. She didn’t know how but she knew that she would do everything in her power to make sure he knew she saw the real him and loved him for all those that would never know how he saved them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  K ris sat in his office going over the plan for that night while Mac showed Raisa what it was he did for the government. He hoped that seeing how good he was at ending threats would help her see he could and would protect her and end the threat that Gregori represented. On the other hand, he was afraid that she would see that he was a killer and as dark inside as he told her he was. He didn’t know if he could stand it if she became afraid of him or worse hated him for what he was. He wanted to be a better man for her, one she could be proud of; instead he was a killer. A man who ended the lives of other men and worse yet he did it for money. Once he finished the Syndicate contract he’d quit. He’d refuse to take anymore contracts through Blackguard and concentrate on being just a florist. He was getting too old to keep doing black bag stuff anyway. He would become the type of man that Raisa could be proud of, not the dark stain on the light she was made of.

  Just then Friday spoke. “Thorn, there is a problem with the latest surveillance of Site 2 for tonight.”

  He frowned. “What’s the problem?”

  “That site is not being used for selling or storing weapons. It has another cargo altogether.”

  “What’s the cargo?”

  “I believe that you have discovered a holding pen for the human trafficking of underage females. I sent in a stealth drone twenty minutes ago, the latest images are on your laptop.”

  Kris opened his laptop and saw a warehouse filled with thirty cages filled with what was obviously young women and even little girls. The quality of the drone photos wasn’t great but he believed he was looking at college age and younger women all of who were in cages made of chain link. This was definitely a holding pen for human sex trafficking. “Are we sure this site belongs to the Syndicate?”

  “Affirmative. It belongs to the same shell company that owns the office building you met Gregori in earlier this week.”

  “Friday, can you buzz Mac and ask him to come here. I don’t know what to do about this but I am going to do something.”

  “I will but it’s worse, Thorn. Several men have been shown through the warehouse. It appears there is an auction scheduled for this evening. If you don’t move on that site quickly those women will be sold and shipped out.”

  “Get Mac now and contact my team. I want them here in an hour.”

  “Affirmative. Mac is on his way. However, Raisa is coming with him.”

  Kris cursed. He didn’t want her to see this and yet she deserved to know exactly what he was and what he was willing to do.

  He looked up as the two of them entered his office. Mac saw the look on his face and frowned. “What is it?”

  “Things just got a lot more complicated. It appears that Volkov and the Syndicate are involved in human sex trafficking and have a warehouse full of young women and girls who are to be auctioned off tonight.”

  Raisa gasped and Mac cursed. “Show me what you have.”

  Kris turned the computer so that Mac could see the feeds. “This isn’t good, Kris. What do you want to do?”

  “You know what I’m going to do, Mac, it isn’t even a question. Team Alpha has been activated, they will be here in an hour. I’m not letting a single one of those girls become sex slaves. You need to find out who I report to and you need to let the powers that be know there may be lives lost at this location. I’m not going in with tranquilizers and knock out gas with these kinds of scum.”

  “I agree. I’ll make sure that the Alphabet agencies know this mission just went weapons free at that location only, Thorn.”

  Kris nodded. “Yeah, that’s all that’s on my agenda tonight now. The other sites can wait. Saving those girls is priority one. As soon as the team is here and a plan assembled we will be mission go.”

  Kris looked at Raisa “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think I’m going to be able to show you around today.”

  She looked at him and walked over, taking his face in her hands. “I would be upset if you tried to, Thorn. Today you are Thorn and those women need you and your team. You go be their hero because you’re already mine. And Kris, be Thorn tonight and you put those bastards in the ground where they belong.”

  Kris looked into her eyes and saw that she meant every word. She knew who he was and what he was and she didn’t see a monster she saw a hero. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her like she was water and he was a thirsty dehydrated person. When they broke for air she ran her hand along his cheek. “You save those women and come home to me. I’ll be waiting to welcome my hero as is fitting.”

  Then she got up and walked out, leaving him to start making a plan so when his team arrived they could go to work.

  Mac stepped back into the room. “Homeland is going to dispatch a clean-up crew to form a perimeter and catch up anyone trying to escape. They did ask that you and your men wear body cams so they can use the footage in a
ny trials that may arise.”

  Kris nodded and went back to looking at maps and surveillance footage. When his team arrived he took them into the armory and laid out the mission. They suited up and left, determined to make a difference.

  Raisa explored the house and the grounds while she watched the boat arrive with four very tough looking men all dressed in the black and grey tactical suits like she’d seen Kris wear. While the one he’d worn the day she was almost abducted had been solid black, she realized the two tone was made to better blend in with an urban surrounding. This must be Kris’s team that he’d told Mac he’d called in. That meant that soon the man she loved was going to do what she now realized he did best. Destroy evil men and save the innocent.

  The files that Mac had been showing her and the stories he’d been telling her about Kris’s missions probably should have worried her, she knew that’s what Kris thought they would do. Instead they had shown her a deeper picture of the man she was in love with; a picture of a man dedicated to making the world a better place. When Mac had been called to Kris’s office and she’d followed along she saw for herself the righteous anger at what he’d discovered on Kris’s face. For the first time since they’d become a couple she met Thorn the agent and not Kris the florist. Oh there had been hints of the agent in her florist but the man sitting behind that desk was determined and already planning to liberate those captive women and punish those who had them. That man should have scared her, and she saw the resignation on his face that said he thought he was going to lose her, but he didn’t scare her at all. Instead he’d excited her and made her proud.

  She worried that something might go wrong and that he wouldn’t come home to her and she realized that was the fear every soldier’s wife, every policeman’s woman, every fireman’s bride had every single day. Yes her man was a hero, not just her hero but a hero to people who didn’t even know what he did for them. Today he’d be a hero for that warehouse full of girls. Yet when the mission was done it would be her he came home too. Her he took in his arms and into his bed. Her he had pledged to not just protect but to love and cherish. Her he wanted to marry, and that thought turned her on. Yes, Thorn was intense and could be scary but not to her. To her Thorn was just a part of Kris Lawson, the man who owned her heart.

  Even more surprising to her was having seen that glimpse of Thorn she understood what those close to Kris had been trying to tell her. Gregori couldn’t win. Failure wasn’t in Kris’s nature. Yes until now Gregori had always gotten what he wanted, mainly because he scared people so bad they gave in to be left alone. But Kris didn’t scare. When normal people got scared that’s the point where Kris Lawson became Thorn the agent. This new knowledge had set her free from the fear in her heart and increased the love she had for Kris. For the first time she allowed herself to actually think that maybe they’d survive Gregori Volkov and she’d get that proposal Kris had promised her. That thought filled her and she sat in the flower garden she’d found letting herself dream of a life with Kris as her husband, living in this house. She saw herself raising children here with him, growing old with him. For the first time since Volkov had told her she would become his pet, his mistress, his prisoner, she saw a different life for herself, a life she wanted more than anything.

  Raisa heard a noise and looked up to see Kris standing before her. “Hey love, it’s almost time for us to head out but I wanted to give you something first.”

  She stood and walked over to him wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with all the passion she was feeling for him. She’d not told him she loved him yet but she wanted him to feel it in her kiss. She melted into him as he deepened the kiss loving her as she loved him. When she pulled back she couldn’t stop herself from telling him how she felt about him. “Kris Lawson, I love you with every part of my being. You have said that you are mine, the thorn to my rose, several times and I believe you. I just want you to know I am yours too. Every part of me as deep as I am belongs to you.”

  Kris smiled at her and kissed her again. “Thank you for that. I love you as well and that’s why I got you this.” He held out a jewelry box, opening it to revealing a simple gold chain with a small rose gold and silver rose on it. The bloom was made of rose-gold and about the size of a quarter. The stem had a single thorn on it and was about three inches long made of silver. It was simple yet elegant.

  “It’s lovely, Kris.”

  He smiled and placed the box in her hands taking the necklace out and walking around behind her. He placed it on her neck hooking the chain together. “It’s a symbol of us and our love. I’m your thorn, not to harm you but here to keep you safe. As long as you wear this necklace we are always connected. I will always be with you and will always protect you. If anything should separate us, I will always find you and bring you home to me.”

  She touched the rose and thorn that lay between her cleavage. Letting his words soak into her. Yes this was her man, her protector, lover. Her hero and she loved him. She turned and kissed him again. Everything around them disappeared and before they realized what they were doing she was wrapped around him trying to get close to him. She needed him as much as she wanted him and she could feel how much he wanted and needed her. Things may have gone differently if there hadn’t come the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. She put her feet back on the floor and they pulled apart. The man standing behind them looked apologetic. “I hate to break this up, but Thorn, Mac said the Homeland Security back-up team will be on site in half an hour. We shouldn’t be late. I’m not sure the local commander will wait for us and that would be a bad thing.”

  Kris nodded. “Eagle, this is Raisa. Raisa, my team leader and second in command Jackson, known as Eagle.”

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  She smiled. “You as well, Eagle. Now you men run along and save those girls. This can wait until after that is done.”

  Kris nodded gave her another quick kiss and the two strode off to save a warehouse full of girls from a fate worse than death. She sank onto the bench and her hands went to her lips that still burned with the intensity of their love. She whispered a wish to the universe that Kris would be successful and return to her safe and sound. Then she stood to go take a bath and prepare for his return. She wanted him to not be able to leave her alone when he got back. Thankfully someone from Blackguard had brought all their belongings to the house this morning so she had all those sexy outfits Nova had her buy yesterday. She just had to decide which one to wear.

  Chapter Sixteen

  K ris returned from this part of the mission feeling especially dark and dirty. He’d dealt with some of the worst terrorists in the world and they had felt less corrupt than those he had to be involved with tonight. He went straight to the arsenal and cleaned the weapons he’d used, as disgusting as he felt one needed to keep their gear in good working order for the next mission. As soon as the last weapon was cleaned, oiled and reloaded he stripped out of the tactical suit he’d worn and carried it to the laundry room. He’d wash the cloth parts tomorrow having left the armor plating stacked on the work table in the arsenal. Then quietly so as not to disturb Sparky or Raisa, both of whom he hoped were resting, he climbed the stairs to his master bedroom. The weight of the stain to his soul that tonight had left making him climb slowly and methodically. This was why he’d never pursued Raisa in two years. Dealing with the worst people on the planet and spilling their blood always left him feeling like one of them instead of the hero Raisa thought he was.

  He came up into his bedroom and felt the air sucked from his lungs. Laying in the center of the bed all spread out like an angel was the woman he loved. The woman who deserved a better man than he was. A man without his stains, without his burdens, a good man, a pure at heart man; that’s what Raisa deserved. She certainly didn’t deserve to be stalked by Volkov and she didn’t deserve to be tied to a man with such a dark stain on his soul like Kris. Yet as he stood there watching her sleep he knew as much as he didn
’t deserve her sweet innocence and pure light he couldn’t give her up.

  Quietly so as not to wake the slumbering angel in his bed he gathered a pair of sleep pants and slipped into the bathroom. Turning the shower on as hot as he could stand and then just a touch more he stepped in and started scouring his flesh. Scrubbing with all his might trying to wash off the film of gunpowder and blood and the feel of the darkness from his skin. He couldn’t cleanse his soul but he could try and get his body clean. He scrubbed until his skin was red from the heat of the water and the act of trying to get clean.

  He jumped when he felt loving hands pull his own away from his body. He opened his eyes to see the light of his life standing in the shower with him. She took the scrubber and soap from him and began to gently wash him. It was more than he could stand and he crumpled to his knees burying his face in her torso as great wracking sobs tore from his mouth. Raisa knelt in front of him and wrapped her arms around him as he wept for the darkness he had been corrupted by. She stroked his head. “Let it out Kris, my strong brave hero, just let it all out.”

  He shook his head. “You’re wrong Raisa, I’m not a hero. I’m corrupted by the evil that I touch every single mission. I’m no hero, I’m a killer, a dark stain on the soul of humanity.”

  “Oh Kris, you aren’t a dark stain on the soul of humanity, Gregori is, Nestor is too but you are a hero.”

  He shook his head; he couldn’t get her to understand when he went up against the darkness some of it clung to him, corrupting his soul. She held him tight. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. Listen to me. Did you and your team rescue those girls tonight?”