Was he asking that she give up her dream? Did he mean she should stop defending the helpless victims of these predators and creeps?
“But you would give up being a SEAL? You would consider getting out?”
“I didn’t say that. Not yet. The work isn’t done. I have a contract to fulfill. I made a vow and I’ll not go back on that word. But there’s always life after. And I won’t fight someone else’s war. I do what I’m signed up to do. I don’t make the fights.”
She wasn’t sure she fully understood him. So she asked.
His answer surprised her.
“It’s hard enough being with someone. Impossible if their battle and inspiration is elsewhere. If I put my Trident away, I want only one thing to focus on, one project left to accomplish. And for that, I’d give the rest of my life.”
She watched Jason all evening as he laughed, drank beer and savored the buttery crab they’d all been looking forward to. They told more silly stories. He demonstrated part of a Haka, a fierce Maorian dance he’d learned growing up. The patterns on his chest and arms seemed to come to life as he danced. Andy and Damon even joined him, playing the comic relief, unable to even partially imitate all Jason’s moves. He stretched his neck, stuck out his tongue and puffed up his chest, his enormous hands balled into fists he’d slap against his thighs. He was twice the size of anyone else in the restaurant.
With twice the heart.
She met Madison, introduced as Ned’s girl. Her mother was right in the middle of the conversation, along with her salty pirate boyfriend with a patch.
If they’d had more time, she would have participated more. But tonight she wanted to watch him, absorb everything about him so she wouldn’t forget a single smile, laugh, or glance back in her direction.
And the more she watched, the greater her heartache.
Later, when they returned to her place, she found it difficult not to cry as he softly worshiped her body for the last time. He chuckled, trying to console her, pretending that she was being silly. But he knew. He just covered up that part of him better. She was certain he would miss her too. She’d touched his heart and he had fed hers.
She was going to crave him forever.
Kiley had told herself she’d get up and kiss him good-bye, but when she awoke, he was already gone. On the kitchen table, he left a note with a bright fuchsia flower on top of it. He just signed his name and wrote his cell number.
Chapter 9
Jason let Andy and Damon imitate his dancing from last night while they waited for their plane in Tampa. He didn’t mind the joking around, because it took his mind off of things he had no right to think about. Unwelcome thoughts and anxiety over flying left him grateful for their antics. They’d waited in line to turn their cars in, waited in line to board the plane. Sat in crowded seats until they were upgraded to First Class. He drank a beer and slept the whole way back to San Diego.
He tried not to think about Kiley, but it was impossible. He’d done the right thing to not encourage her too much, but he still felt bad about it. It felt dishonest. Was he doing it for her, or for himself? If she’d have asked him, perhaps he would have just junked his whole career and disappeared with her. But that wasn’t really who he was. And she was woman enough not to ask that of him. But it still hurt.
Everything else around him was just noise. He hitched a ride to where he’d left his truck, grabbed clean clothes and his gear after a quick trip to his apartment, and headed back to the SEAL Team 3 building where they’d discover the details of their mission.
He could always tell the importance of the mission by the number of cars in the lot. Today, it was packed.
His team didn’t always go out together, often divided up into squads, depending on the action and the talent they required. Sometimes they’d employ other Special Forces talent on loan from other branches or specialists from the CIA or State. The group who stood up front with Kyle had some new faces.
But two of the faces he recognized were Kelly Fielding and Sven Tolar. He’d not been on the op when Team 3 had rescued Kelly’s sister in the Canaries, but Sven had been a regular at the Team building, working out with the guys. Jason had sat in while he talked about his FSK days as part of the Norwegian Special Forces group. Jason knew him to be a fierce warrior.
Jason received thanks from several brothers for carrying Thomas home. A couple of training buddies were there, as well as several men he’d gone through BUD/S with who had been medically rolled and graduated in later classes. Several asked about Andy, and Jason relayed the good news of his transfer and remarks about the new house they were working on at Sunset Beach.
He sat down with Ned and Damon. T.J. Talbot joined them, as well as several others from the previous missions.
Kyle Lansdowne began his address to the group of approximately sixty SEALs from Team 3.
“Welcome, gentlemen. We’ve assembled a rather large group here today, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Most of you know everyone on board, but we have a few froglets here, so let me introduce you to the team.”
“We have Lt. Commander Andrew Gibson, who led one of the previous forays this mission is a follow-up to.”
Gibson stepped forward and waved. “Glad to be with you, fellas.”
“He is joined by Lt. Jack Gridley, who has not only recovered from his honeymoon the last time, but now has a bouncing baby boy at home. That means she forgave him enough to have sex with him at least once.”
The men laughed. Gridley turned bright red from the attention. Although an officer and former cop, the Lt. looked barely old enough to be out of high school. He was a by-the-book officer, not quite sure of himself. That’s why the team liked to needle him so much. Gridley had learned one thing that would lead to a successful Naval career: let them do it, as long as they didn’t push too far.
“So his wife wants you guys to be really careful with his person, if you know what I mean,” Lansdowne continued. “Apparently, she’s not done with him yet.”
The group chuckled again. Trace and Tucker riddled him more than others.
“Are you sleeping in separate beds yet?” Tucker asked.
Trace added, “I’m more interested in the naked penance you had to do as you begged for forgiveness to keep your marriage intact.”
Gridley appeared to be a good sport. “Only for you, Trace. We’re hoping not to have to make a do-over. If we do, we’ll re-do our vows, unlike others I know here.”
Jason knew the two older SEALs on the Team were much revered. Both had been involved in messy first marriages and were happily married the second time around. Trace married Tyler’s older sister, Gretchen, and was fathering her three girls from her first marriage to the former NBA star Tony Sanders.
Gibson was a good Commander, mostly because he trusted his enlisted men and rarely overruled them. He didn’t brag and rarely showed off. He liked to joke but kept his opinions about anything controversial to himself. Jason felt lucky to be under his command.
Lt. Gridley was also well liked, his confidence growing with each successful mission he was part of. In the field, he stuck to Kyle Lansdowne like glue.
Kyle introduced Sven Tolar and Kelly Fielding, who were on special assignment from the State Department.
“We’re going back to the Canaries.” The lights dimmed and pictures flicked on from the last mission there, including pictures of two associates of the now-deceased gun-running billionaire Lars VanValle—Nigerian warlord General Two Fingers, and Jens Vandershoot, both captured on the previous trip but subsequently released.
“We don’t yet have all the details, but have reason to believe they are back in operation, being funded by their benefactor’s heirs, who now run the cartel from Europe. They have a fleet of cruise ships they’ve recently purchased on the open market from a now-defunct Italian cruise line, and are operating them as floating brothels.”
Kelly Fielding stepped next to Kyle and interrupted, “If I may?”
Lansdowne nodded.
The room was deadly silent. Jason knew this sort of crime, the selling of human flesh, was on the top of their team’s most hated list. Variations of the same themes had been operating for centuries and had touched just about every country in the world.
His grandmother told him stories of how early slaves had first made it to the Hawaiian Islands from the Orient, and that some of his ancestors had borne some of that guilt.
His LPO continued the logistics, how the team would be flown over and what the squad breakdown would be. They were to leave at 0800 for the flight to New York and then on to Gran Canaria via a stopover and plane change in Madrid. Jason calculated the flight times and discovered it would take them over thirty hours to reach their destination.
He hated long flights almost as much as he hated long airport waits. He’d be exposed to both this time around.
He made plans to have an early dinner with Ned and Damon, plus a couple others on the team before returning home to re-pack and get to bed at a decent time. He knew better than to be able to count on getting any sleep on the planes, since flying made him nervous.
On their way over to the Rusty Scupper, Jason dialed Kiley and was pleased she picked up right away.
“Africa? I didn’t know we had troops in Africa,” she said.
“Well, not exactly a deployment of troops. Just a mission. And that’s an approximate. I can tell you more when I return. But I thought you’d worry less if you knew it wasn’t somewhere in the Middle East,” Jason said, even knowing there really was no completely safe place to be. The places that looked quiet and normal were some of the deadliest. Africa was in some ways more dangerous. But she wouldn’t suspect that.
“You’ve got that right. So when do you leave?”
“Tomorrow. Early. So this will have to be good-bye for now.”
“For now. That’s how you say it.”
“That’s how we say it. I didn’t get to mention some things you need to know. You can’t just call me, Kiley. I mean, I won’t pick up. I will call you. My phone’s shut off as soon as we take off. It might take me days to see a message from you. But it doesn’t mean I don’t care, okay?”
“I got it.”
“I’m going to send you my LPO’s wife’s contact information, so if there’s anything that comes up and it’s like an emergency, you can call Christy.”
“LPO?”
“Leading Petty Officer. He’s sort of my direct boss, Kyle. You can ask Aimee about it. She’s met them both. If you have any questions, talk to her, okay?”
“I will. I was going to see Aimee tomorrow. She and Andy wanted to take me shopping, distract me, or so they said.”
“I think it’s a good idea. Stay close to them, at least until Andy’s gone. And just as an aside, stay away from Cory.”
“Why?”
“Just do it, okay? If you’re going to hear any horror stories, I want to be the one to tell you.”
“Fair enough.”
Jason knew she wanted to ask more questions so he offered help. “What else do you want to know?”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Depends. We really don’t know.”
“Will you stay in San Diego long after you get back, or will you come back out to Florida? Or maybe stopover in Virginia, maybe you could come down for a visit? Is that in the cards?”
“Kiley, I wish I could say. Everything’s up in the air. Best not plan on anything. But I’ll do what I can to be in contact. Sometimes we can facetime, but no guarantees.”
“Can I write?”
“I’ll read it when I get back. Writing’s good.”
“What if—?”
He knew what she wanted to know. “If anything happens to me, you’ll be contacted. That’s not going to happen, though. The best thing you can do is just go about your life. Focus on what’s happening in Portland. And I still think you should contact the Pinellas County Sheriff. I would feel much relieved if you did that, Kiley. Don’t try to do this alone.”
Jason pulled up to the restaurant next to Damon’s truck. He waved, showing he was still on the phone. Damon went inside.
Kiley whispered, “You forget, they don’t know how to find me. I’m small potatoes, Jason. All I did was knock the hornet’s nest around a bit. Besides, Carmen doesn’t even know for sure where I am. I’ll get a good feel for what’s going on when I call her today. Perhaps it will spur an investigation, maybe even a grand jury probe. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
“I still think it’s foolish not to involve the local law enforcement guys. But, hey, I don’t want to use up our time talking about it. Just be careful and know that I’ll be thinking about you nearly twenty-four seven. That’s a promise.”
“I can make the same promise, Jason. And I’m going to say the same thing you told me. Don’t worry, okay?”
He chuckled. “Fair enough.” He didn’t know how to end the call. He decided to give advice he’d once heard someone else give. “Stay busy and stay with other people in our community. That way, the time goes by faster. Don’t find yourself alone. Stay with friends, people we know. Be social, connected. Don’t try to do this on your own.”
“Thank you. But I still am going to miss you.”
“You better. I’m counting on you being able to show me when I get back. Be safe, Kiley.”
He wanted to say more, but the timing wasn’t right. And he’d not practiced that part enough. This was all new territory. He’d never left for a mission with someone like Kiley behind.
“Jason, I know you’re doing something good for the world. I’m proud of you. So, go save the day, or something like that.”
“That was perfect. Be safe, Kiley. I’ll call you when I can. Miss you.”
“Miss you more. And about the calling, I’ll be getting a new number, so I’ll leave you a message when I do. And I still miss you more.”
“Impossible. Sweet dreams.”
He hung up because they easily could have spent an hour saying good-bye. He knew something new was brewing. It was like the panther his grandmother had talked about, lurking in the jungle. He’d been so afraid when she’d told him the stories he couldn’t sleep for two days. Even though she told him panthers didn’t live in Hawaii, he didn’t believe her.
He now knew what she’d been trying to tell him. She wanted him to keep an eye out for danger, lurking where it was least visible. Hiding somewhere ready to pounce.
Jason knew he couldn’t control the circumstance, but he could stand ready. He could call on the chanting of his ancestors to ward off the evil panthers lurking in the jungle, while he transformed like the ancient warriors centuries ago.
He knew exactly what this new transformation was. The goddess of love had captured his heart and was holding him hostage. Like a tricky panther, he’d use it to spur him on to pay attention.
There was now more to live for.
Chapter 10
Aimee and Martel took Kiley shopping where she bought two more cheap prepaid cell phones and some groceries. They visited a bookstore Martel wanted to check out. Aimee stopped by a local hardware store and picked up paint she’d ordered, along with some painter’s tape and extra rollers. Afterward, they had lunch together at a tiny brewhouse down by the beach.
Breathing in the fresh gulf air was the best medicine in the world for Kiley. Today was windy, and several large dragon kites were flying high, soaring and diving in the fall wind.
“Are you
r guys nervous?” Aimee asked.
Martel shrugged. “I can never tell anymore. It’s like they train them how to talk to us. You couldn’t get a thing out of them they don’t want to tell us. But he did tell me Africa.”
“That’s what Jason said too.” Kiley was enjoying the camaraderie with the two SEAL wives. “Are you going out to San Diego at Christmas break, Martel?” she asked.
“Yup. I’m taking an extra week, so I’ll be there almost a month. I’m hoping to spend enough time there to get pregnant. That’s the plan, anyway.”
“Oh! That’s exciting!” said Aimee. “But aren’t you going to stay teaching here?”
Martel smiled. “I think so. But if the timing works, I might be able to take maternity leave and have the baby in San Diego, which would be way better. We’ll only have a year left on his enlistment after that, so we’ll see.”
Kiley asked, “Why doesn’t he transfer to an East Coast team?”
“He might,” Martel returned. “If he stays in, he could join Andy maybe on Team 4. Maybe if Jason transfers, too, well, they’d all be together. But we have to wait to see. A lot can happen in the next year plus. First, we gotta get pregnant. I can teach anywhere but I love my school, and this is now more my home than San Diego. But we’ll see.”
“I guess you have to stay flexible,” Kiley added, watching the two kites nearly collide.
Aimee nodded. “Way better than regular Navy where they’re stationed all over the world or gone for huge blocks of time. I can’t complain, really. As long as Andy is happy. So far, he’s gotten along well with the Team 4 guys he’s met.”
“When does he start?” Kiley asked.
“Twenty-one days. We’ve been doing a big push to get the house finished before he has to leave again.”
Both the wives looked at Kiley. Martel spoke up first.
“You can ask us anything you want to know, Kiley. Lots of times, the ladies have questions.”
Kiley appreciated their kindness but had found herself distracted by the screams from a child who had fallen in the surf and was brought up sputtering by one arm, his mother wrapping him safely in a huge beach towel to quell his sobbing. That also reminded her of the phone call she was going to make to Carmen this afternoon, and her stomach lurched. “I’m not sure we’re there yet. What a sweet guy. If only we had more time before he left.” She knew it probably wasn’t a very good lie, but wasn’t going to make all her feeling public. Not yet.
Escape To Sunset: One Night Stand Romance-Hiding From The Mob (Sunset SEALs Book 4) Page 9