Silver Shield Security Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Emily bit her lip and remained silent. Why won’t he shut the hell up?

  “How do you think he would feel if he got to know that his daddy set him up, that you were sent to make sure he agreed to join the Shadow Force team?”

  Emily saw him then. He was quite close to the elevator. All he needed was for someone to come through those doors and then he could dash in before she was able to do anything. She crept close to him, approaching him from behind.

  “Poor Wayne doesn’t know that he was played, does he?” Jack went on. “Why aren’t you talking, Emily?”

  Emily saw some movement from the side of her eyes. That was when she realized that the room was crawling with security operators. Her heart dropped to her feet when she saw Wayne. Had he heard the things Jack said? How much of it did he hear? Her gaze met his, but there was no expression in his eyes. That scared her more than anything. He made a sign with his hands. He wanted her to keep Jack occupied.

  She edged away from the elevator.

  “You do know that you can’t get away with this, don’t you?” she said when she finally spoke.

  “Tsk-tsk. I expected some more originality from you, Emily. You sound like a fucking B-rate movie.” He laughed softly. “Of course you know that I’ve already gotten away with everything and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “In a few hours, those drones are going to unleash death and destruction at the convention in D.C., and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m the only one with the microchip, no one else can deactivate that machine.”

  Emily could have sworn she heard him crow. But there was no time to confirm her suspicions as Jack had been surrounded by the security operators, even if he didn’t know it.

  “Jack Chance, drop your weapon and stand up with your hands in the air. You are completely surrounded so I would advise you tread carefully.”

  When Jack looked around him and saw that he was surrounded by more than ten operators, he knew that the game was over. He got to his feet and raised his hands in the air.

  **

  Wayne got the microchip that he had given to Drew earlier for safe keeping. He swapped it for the one he had given to Jack.

  “What’s the difference?” Drew asked, looking over his shoulder.

  “That was just a copy. The one I gave you was the Master. It overrides the first one.”

  He put in the code and followed the sequence. A couple of hours later, he had deactivated the drone.

  “Get all the drones and take them with you,” he told the government agents. “Where’s Emily?” he asked, turning to Drew.

  “She’s waiting for you on the surface.”

  Wayne nodded with a sigh. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Emily about the things he’d heard Jack say. But he needed to know if they were true. Had she colluded with his father to get him into the Shadow Force? It seemed farfetched, except that she had come into his life at the period he’d been arguing with his dad over the Shadow Force. Was that a coincidence? He was beginning to think not. Yet, he didn’t want to believe it. Emily was one person who hated lies and deception.

  Up at the surface, it was nightfall, but they had set up several floodlights and the entire place was well lit. He scanned the area until he caught sight of Emily. One look at her face and he felt like his entire world had come apart at the seams.

  “Wayne, I can explain,” she began, but Wayne shook his head.

  “I just want to know one thing,” he said, halting her attempt at speech. “Why?”

  “I loved you,” she said simply.

  Wayne shook his head, rejecting her words. “You had all these years to tell me, why didn’t you?” he asked.

  She opened her mouth to reply, but the sound of a chopper drowned out her words. They watched the helicopter as it landed. Then the familiar figure of General Carter came down and walked towards them.

  “You did good, Son,” General Carter said, “I’m proud of you.”

  Wayne had ached to hear those words for most of his life, but when he finally heard it, it had a hollow sound.

  “Let’s head for D.C.; you still have a paper to deliver,” the General said.

  “He’ll be going with us,” Emily said.

  “But there’s no need for that,” General Carter said, but Emily only shook her head.

  “We were engaged to protect him until he delivers his paper at the convention and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Never mind that he looked like she had broken something fundamental inside him.

  “Fine,” General Carter said and mumbled under his breath as he walked away, “Damn stubborn woman.”

  Emily ignored him and focused her attention on Wayne. He was looking dazed.

  “Wayne?”

  “Why, Emily?” he repeated with so much hurt in his voice.

  “Wayne…”

  “Was any of it real? The years we spent together…Kendra? Is any of it real?”

  Emily was helpless. She didn’t know what words she could speak to make everything better. Still, she had to try.

  “I did not plan to fall in love with you,” she began hesitantly. “But I did. The first time we met, and I never stopped, Wayne. I never stopped.”

  Wayne ran a hand through his head. “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” he said sadly. “I need to process things. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk.” He sounded distant as he walked away.

  Emily felt her heart shatter in that moment. She walked slowly behind him and got into the chopper. For once, she was grateful that the noise of the helicopter made it impossible to speak.

  **

  Six Months Later

  Standing in a short ivory dress, her hair flowing past her shoulders and almost to her waist, she was one of the most beautiful brides that Emily had ever seen. She stood at the door and watched with a smile. She thought of each of her people and felt her heart warm up. They had all done well for themselves. Each of them had found love, and even if she was not sure if she had a relationship, she had found love.

  The last mission had taken so much from her. But Silver Shield had delivered. They had made sure that Wayne was at D.C. to deliver his paper at the convention. She had never been prouder of him than at that moment. As for the villains…Jack Chance was charged with treasonable felony.

  Just then the bride turned and saw her.

  “Emily!” She hurried towards her much to the despair of the person applying her makeup.

  “Tamika, you look gorgeous!” Emily said, hugging her carefully. She pulled back and studied the woman who had become one of her closest female friends. She was practically glowing. “I can’t believe you guys decided to get married here in Chicago. I thought you would opt for some exotic location or something.”

  Tamika shook her head. “You know, I thought so as well, but when it came down to it, I just wanted to get married at home. It’s strange, but you all are the only family I have, aside from that crazy sister of mine.”

  “I heard that!” Takeisha, Tamika’s twin, shouted. “And you better sit your ass down so I can finish this makeup. No one wants to see you looking like that, sweetie.”

  Emily and Tamika glanced at each other and laughed. Emily was glad to see her friend looking so happy.

  Both women had only discovered each other about a year ago, but the resemblance was uncanny. Before it used to be that Takeisha was the chatty one, but Tamika had also become slightly more talkative, although she was nowhere as chatty as her sister.

  “I’d better let you go before Keisha has my head,” Emily said. “I wanted you to have this gift.”

  Tamika took the little box from her and opened it. “Oh my goodness!” she gasped when she saw the charm bracelet set in platinum. There was a little platinum gun, a poppy flower, the horoscope sign of Gemini, and a heart.

  “The gun is self-explanatory,” Emily said with a small smile, “The poppy because I know you’ll never forget
the ones you lost.” Tamika had lost her entire family, including her husband and kids. “Gemini because, well…” she waved a hand between both sisters, “And this one because no matter how far you go, you’ll always be in my heart.” Her eyes had misted by the time she was done.

  “Oh Emily…” Tamika hugged her with a sob.

  “Oh no, you are not going to ruin all my hard work by crying. Hell no!” Takeisha came and pulled her sister away.

  “She’s impossible,” Tamika said with a laugh as she allowed herself to be led.

  Emily laughed. “See you in church, boo.”

  They were at the lodge behind the church and as she began the walk back, Emily sighed. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She cried a lot these days, at the smallest provocation. She knew why of course. She had not heard from Wayne. She had tried to contact him once, but he had sent a message that he needed space. It hurt more than anything.

  She had fallen in love with her ex-husband…well, she had never really stopped. Wayne Carter was the only man who could make her heart beat. But she knew he needed time and she was willing to give him all the time he needed in the world. Although…

  Just then she bumped into a hard body.

  “Sorry,” she said without looking up. She tried to sidestep the person, but found him in the way once more. She was tired, heart sore and weepy. She didn’t need the added aggravation. “Look—” she began, then she looked up and her heart stopped for a nanosecond then began to race. “Wayne?”

  Wayne looked down at the woman in front of him and his eyes drank in her form. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. He gazed into her eyes and saw everything he was searching for.

  “I’m sorry,” he said simply.

  “What for?” she asked, a slight frown showing her confusion.

  “I should not have stayed away so long.”

  Her eyes softened and then she shrugged. “You needed the time.”

  He saw the question in her eyes that she did not vocalise.

  “I love you, Emily.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he held his hand out to silence her. He needed to say what was in his heart. “I spent some time with the general. We spoke. In a way, I understand why you did what you did. I still don’t understand why you kept quiet about it once we were married, but it doesn’t matter. I love you and these past few years without you have been too damn hard.”

  “I should have told you,” she said. “I know I should have, but I was so scared of losing you. When the general approached me, I turned him down you know. I never planned…then I met you.” She brushed impatiently at the tears that were streaming down her face. “I met you and I fell so hard for you, Wayne. I was afraid that if I had mentioned your father, you would have shut down. I wanted to give you a chance to know me and then after that, I was just scared that you would leave me.”

  Wayne knew that she had been insecure, but he’d had no idea it had been that bad. He should have done more to reassure her that he never could have left her. She was his life. Then he remembered that he might not have left, but he had driven her away. He had been such a fool.

  “Come here.” He took her in his arms and felt something inside him settle. It was like coming home. “I promise that I will never leave you again.”

  As he held her close, he felt something hard between them. He drew back and stared at her. She had that look about her. Could she be…? The possibility blew him away. He felt his heart soar at the thought, then settle back. He loved this woman with everything and wanted nothing more than to start life again with her and Kendra and any other kids they might have.

  “I love you, Wayne. And I’m sorry that I’ve soaked your shirt.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. You’re always very weepy when you’re pregnant.”

  She stiffened in his arm. “You…How did you know? Did Kendra tell you?”

  “Nobody told me anything. I felt the bump just now when I hugged you. Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked gently. He had a feeling he knew why. She’d wanted him to have the space he needed to think, without any issues clouding his mind.

  “I didn’t want to put you under pressure.”

  Wayne nodded. It was as he had suspected. He drew back so he could stare at her.

  “From now on, no more keeping things from each other, okay?”

  She sniffed and then nodded.

  “Mom, Dad…Come on! It’s time!” Kendra called, then hurried back to the church.

  “Quick, let’s go. I want to see Tamika walk in,” Emily said beaming. She took a few steps forward and then stopped when she realized that he had not taken a step. She placed a hand on her waist, “Well?”

  Yep, his woman was back.

  ###