Returning to Eden (Acts of Valor, Book 1): Christian Military Romantic Suspense

by Rebecca Hartt

  “I’m supposed to hide without Miriam?”

  Oh, shoot. He was definitely thinking too slowly. He couldn’t leave his stepdaughter vulnerable.

  “No, no. Go wake her up and take her into the attic with you.”

  Eden made a funny sound in her throat. “What about you? What are you doing?”

  He shoved his head and arms through the holes of a black T-shirt before he answered.

  “I’m going to stop them.”

  “Your door is locked,” she reminded him.

  “I’m going out the window.”

  “Oh, my gosh.” She sounded frustrated this time. “Jonah, this is crazy. Are you sure there are people out there?”

  In the same instant, the dog, who was in Miriam’s room as usual, gave a bark.

  “Yes,” he said. “Sabby hears them, too. Please, don’t waste any more time. Get Miriam and take her up into the attic with you.”

  “Fine.” Eden’s tone stated clearly, You are out of your mind. “I’m going to get her now.”

  “Hurry.” Maybe he was crazy. Maybe he was imagining there were men coming after him, but even the dog seemed to sense a threat.

  Ending the call without another word, Jonah slid his phone into the pocket of his black jeans and jammed his feet into his tennis shoes. Raising the blinds at his window, he flipped the locks and slid the window open, engendering the barest squeak.

  The steps outside his window stood deserted. A balmy, briny breeze greeted him as he removed the screen and placed it at his feet to put back later.

  Just then, snatches of a whispered conversation reached him, raising the hairs on the nape of his neck. The men he’d glimpsed earlier were now standing on his deck. Provided he’d seen all of them, the odds were four to one. No doubt they carried weapons, while he did not. Jonah would have to catch them by surprise, take down two at once, and seize their weapons to fend off the other two.

  Or he could call 911 and pray the police arrived before the men broke in.

  Recalling his brush with the police car earlier, he decided he wasn’t yet willing to test his sanity. If he’d hallucinated that entire scene, how could he know whether or not he was imagining intruders? Better to find out for himself than to be humiliated by law enforcement.

  Ducking through the window, Jonah put one foot on the stair railing. The wood was slicker than he would have liked. Carefully placing his other foot down, he sidestepped as nimbly as he was able up the railing’s steep grade, holding onto the wall of the house to stay out of sight of anyone on the deck looking down.

  As he neared the front door, he realized the interlopers had gone around the house toward the sliding door in the dining room because he couldn’t see them. Occasional whispers assured Jonah he hadn’t imagined them. His heartbeat doubled and a cold sweat formed a layer between his skin and his T-shirt.

  The railing, he realized, gave him access to the roof. He could climb on top of his house and make his way to the other side without anyone seeing him. With a bird’s eye view, he’d be able to assess what he was up against and catch the interlopers by surprise.

  Fortunately, the pitch wasn’t steep, but the asphalt tiles were wet and slick. As he neared the sliding glass door, the whispered voices grew more distinct. They were speaking in English, which took Jonah by surprise. A snippet of conversation reached his ears.

  “The tape’s not sticking.”

  “Try looping it over something.”

  Struck by something familiar in the speakers’ voices, and unable to imagine what they could be talking about, Jonah peered over the edge of the roof to look down. His gaze alighted on the tallest man, whose head was so close, the man would spot him if he so much as looked up. The breadth of his shoulders and the cleanness of his profile jarred Jonah’s memory—Lucas Strong, the newest officer who had taken Jonah’s place as troop leader.

  Jonah’s incredulous gaze flicked to Saul, whose long hair made him easy to pick out, then to Theo, whose dark skin blended into the shadows, then to Bambino, identifiable by his hooked nose. These men were his teammates and they were sticking something to the side of his home, not trying to break in.

  Rolling his eyes at his overactive imagination, Jonah backed away from the edge and reassessed his situation. He withdrew his phone and quickly dimmed the lighting before sending Eden a text.

  It’s just guys from my troop. He added a smiley face emoji before pushing his phone back into his pocket. The truth was, although relieved his imagination hadn’t been playing tricks on him, he felt foolish for not immediately guessing who the intruders were. He’d known they were pulling into port that day.

  In any case, the only way to shake off his chagrin was to play a practical joke on his brothers.

  Returning to the edge of the roof in a low squat, Jonah waited for one of the men to walk directly under him before jumping on top of him.

  “Agh!” Lucas yelped as Jonah jumped onto his back. The former football player thrashed to throw him off. With sheer tenacity, Jonah held on.

  Within the house, the dog started barking in earnest.

  “It’s Jaguar!” Saul exclaimed as Lucas went to slam Jonah between himself and the side of the house.

  Jonah slid off Lucas’s back and grinned at them.

  “Sir!” Lucas wheeled around to gape at him. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  With joyous exclamations, Saul, Theo, and Bambino all rushed at him. Saul hauled him into his arms and squeezed the air out of him.

  “It’s really you,” he marveled, releasing Jonah so the others could welcome him. A light went on in the house, shining through the sliding glass door to illuminate all five of them as they hugged and thumped each other’s backs.

  “Look at you, sir,” Lucas said, looking Jonah up and down. “You look good.”

  It was so obviously a lie. Meeting Saul’s pitying gaze, Jonah felt his throat close up. His men were clearly appalled to see him looking so thin.

  “Plus, you still got it in you,” Bambino said, in his thick Philadelphia accent, “springing on Strong Man like some giant cat.”

  Jonah looked at the young Tony Danza look-alike. “What about you?” Jaguar asked him. “You old enough to drink yet?”

  Bambino shook his head with mock dismay. “Not yet.”

  Jonah grinned and their gazes went straight to the gap in his teeth.

  “Oh, wow,” Theo breathed. “Your tooth.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah closed his mouth self-consciously.

  “I have it right here.” Saul’s assertion confused Jonah.

  With curiosity, he watched Saul pull a sturdy silver chain from under the collar of his camouflage jacket. Hanging from the chain by a silver wire was a human tooth, worn the way Saul’s grandfather, a Creek Indian, might have worn a claw.

  “That’s my tooth?” Jonah lifted it with his finger.

  “Yeah. We went back for you twenty-four hours after the warehouse exploded,” Saul explained. “This is all we found. The rest was just charred metal and ash.”

  “Who knocked it out of me?” Jonah wondered out loud.

  “How’d you survive the explosion?” Theo demanded in his deep voice.

  Jonah looked into their mystified faces and shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

  “Take it.” Saul unlatched his chain and freed the pendant.

  “Thanks.” Cupping the silver-mounted eye tooth in his palm, Jonah wished he could shove it back into his gums and restore his memory.

  The sound of the sliding glass door opening kept him from explaining further. Eden stood in a white satin bathrobe, her long hair in disarray, and an expression of wry humor on her face.

  Struck by her loveliness, Jonah nearly threw himself between her and his men to keep them from enjoying the view. Luckily, Miriam, who came up behind Eden, released the hound she was holding, and Sabrina claimed everyone’s attention as she barreled out of the house to offer them a frenetic greeting.

  “Well, I’m
glad it’s just you all,” Eden said from the doorway. “Why don’t you come inside and catch up?”

  “Oh, no, no.” They all protested in unison as they bent to pet the dog and to avoid looking at her.

  “We came straight off the boat,” Lucas explained. “You don’t want us stinking up your house.”

  “We got your text, sir,” Saul added, rubbing Sabrina’s side, which caused her to collapse onto her back for a belly rub. “We wanted you to know we were home and were thinking of you before we all crashed for like twenty-four hours.”

  Affection wrung Jonah’s heart. “Thanks guys. I had fun ambushing you.”

  They all chuckled at his success.

  “We’ll catch up as soon as you’re rested,” Jonah promised. “Head on home now and sleep your hearts out.”

  “Hooyah, LT,” Bambino said, looking up at Miriam, who shook her head at his tentative smile and walked away, no doubt heading back to bed.

  “Good night, sir. Good night, ma’am.” Lucas sent Jonah and Eden a respectful nod.

  Saul straightened from rubbing the dog and punched Jonah playfully in the shoulder.

  Theo grabbed up the box they’d brought with them and the four men took their leave. Jonah had to lunge for the dog who’d leaped up to go after them.

  “See you soon,” he called, trailing them a short way with a firm grip on Sabrina’s collar.

  Eden joined him on the deck, and they both looked up at the welcome-home sign fluttering in the breeze.

  “Well, that was sweet of them,” she commented.

  Finding it difficult to look at her, Jonah ushered the dog back inside, held the door for Eden, then locked it behind them. He was glad to see Miriam had returned to her room.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, forcing himself to turn around and face his wife.

  She was biting her lower lip, her gaze faintly pitying. “Jonah, who’s going to break into this house when there are two cars parked out front?” she asked him.

  The naiveté of her question made him blink. She had no idea what kinds of people he encountered in his line of work—people who wouldn’t bat an eye at slaughtering his family while coming to kill him. Nor did he wish to explain his absolute certainty someone was coming for him, and it wouldn’t take them long to find and execute him. He didn’t want to tell her that because he wasn’t quite positive the threat was real.

  “It happens sometimes,” he said, evenly, “and I’d like to know, if something bad went down, that you would trust me enough to follow my directions.”

  She pursed her lips while tightening the sash on her white robe. “Okay,” she grudgingly agreed. “Next time, I’ll follow your directions.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “Now, can I go back to bed? I’m working the aerobic marathon tomorrow,” she reminded him.

  She had explained at dinner how once a year the gym hosted an aerobic marathon, and she would have to work all morning.

  “I remember,” he said. “Sorry to interrupt your sleep.”

  “That’s okay,” she said, switching off the light. “I’m glad it was just your teammates.”

  “I need you to lock me in my room,” he reminded her.

  She didn’t quite succeed in stifling a sigh of irritation.

  As he lay in bed a few minutes later, Jonah reflected how he hadn’t exactly proven himself as stable, husband-material that night, let alone a man worth three hundred thousand dollars.

  “Help me out here, Lord,” he murmured, on a note of desperation, “before I screw this up completely.”

  At 7:30 the next morning, Eden stood outside the study door listening for an indication Jonah was awake. It was hard to tell through a closed door, especially since Jonah rarely snored. Hearing nothing but silence, she quietly turned the lock on the knob, freeing him to leave when he awakened, and then went to the kitchen to fuel her body for the hours of aerobics to come.

  Whisking a banana energy drink loaded with calories, Eden sat at the breakfast bar and forced herself to drink all of it. Her gaze wandered to the window where the clear sky promised a hot sun. Her wildflowers would flourish today from yesterday’s rain, but the weeds would grow back, too.

  The cactus on the windowsill caught her eye. Slipping off the stool, she approached it to admire how nice it looked, transplanted from the plastic cup into a small, brightly glazed pot Miriam had made in middle school. Jonah must have done that some time when Eden was at work. Sitting in sunlight, the little plant appeared to be thriving.

  Regarding it over the brim of her glass, Eden finished the last of her shake. Something about the happy cactus put a tender feeling in her stomach. Was it a sign, like the kind she’d prayed for?

  “Ready for the marathon?”

  The question, murmured practically in her ear, startled her so badly she let loose a startled squeal, whirled around, and nearly dropped the glass she was holding. Sputtering and coughing as her last sip went down the wrong pipe, she glowered at Jonah who stood inches away.

  “Please don’t sneak up on me like that!” she said when she could breathe again.

  “Sorry.” He looked especially contrite with a lock of hair falling in front of his heavy-lidded eyes. His warm gaze trekked from her jog bra to her bare midriff, causing Nina’s warning to echo in Eden’s head.

  Wearing a rumpled T-shirt and a pair of boxers, Jonah looked so huggable she had to turn back to the sink and rinse her glass in order not to give in to the profound desire to snuggle against the wall of his warm chest.

  “You look like you haven’t slept at all,” she commented as she put her glass inside the dishwasher.

  “I did a little,” he said.

  “Why don’t you go back to bed?” She dared to face him again.

  “I have to get to work,” he insisted.

  “On what?”

  “The deck. Ian and Miriam and I are going to start stripping it so we can have a party without our guests getting splinters.”

  “Thank you,” she said, meaning it. “Just…don’t overdo it, okay? You’ve only been home a few days.”

  His mouth quirked toward a smile. Her breath caught as he raised a hand unexpectedly and stroked the side of her face with his thumb. The simple caress made her stomach swivel and her heart beat faster.

  “I’m not the one headed to a marathon,” he reminded her.

  Under the spell of his caress, she saw his kiss coming and panicked. Once he kissed her the way he used to, she would forfeit her resolve to leave him.

  “I should go.” Sliding along the counter, she escaped around him and headed straight for her bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her hair.

  With her electric toothbrush humming, Eden dared to look at herself in the mirror.

  The rosy color in her cheeks said everything. She still found her husband impossibly attractive. She craved his touch. But her heart rebelled at the thought of suffering his neglect again. Eventually, he would get his memories back. He would return to his job and promptly start ignoring her the way he had after they married.

  Her thoughts flashed to the cactus in the pot with the lapis lazuli glaze.

  Or was it possible that Jonah could keep their love alive this time?

  Hearing a car engine over the whine of his sander, Jonah looked down at the street from the deck he was sanding and snapped the sander off. Alarm shot through him as he recognized the navy-blue Taurus following him the other day. His mouth went dry as it turned into the driveway, parking in the spot Eden had vacated.

  Jonah set the sander down. “Miriam?”

  “Yeah?”

  His stepdaughter and her friend were sanding the railing with sanding blocks. Both teens were covered in sawdust.

  “Go inside and get something to drink.”

  She looked like she might argue with him, but the look on his face had her closing her mouth and gesturing for Ian to join her.

  “Who is that?” she asked, spotting their visitor on her way to the door.

/>   “I don’t know,” Jonah admitted. “But I want you to turn the lock. Call your mom if anything weird happens.”

  The look on her face reminded him of Eden’s expression the night before. Great, now Miriam thought him out of touch, too.

  Jonah listened for the deadbolt to turn before descending cautiously to the vehicle. Awareness of his vulnerability kept him in a cold sweat. The car engine died and the door swung open. Out stepped an overweight, middle-aged man Jonah recognized right away as the NCIS special agent who’d visited him in the hospital. He chastised himself for his ungrounded fears.

  Jonah stopped by the front fender. “Special Agent Elwood.”

  “You remember me. Good.” Elwood looked him over as he shut his car door and approached him. “You’re looking better every day.”

  “You’ve been keeping an eye on me,” Jonah accused.

  The man seemed pleased by his observation. “I’m glad you noticed.”

  “Of course I noticed. How can I help you?” Jonah kept his tone neutral. He didn’t bother extending a handshake. This wasn’t a social call, and the last time they’d met Jonah had needed to be tranquilized.

  Producing a handkerchief from his suit pocket, Elwood mopped his brow. “I’d like twenty minutes of your time. Can I come inside?”

  The question put a cinching sensation in Jonah’s stomach. But leaving the man standing in the August sun in his dark suit would be rude.

  “Come on up.” He led the way to his front door.

  At Jonah’s knock, Miriam turned the deadbolt. If Elwood thought it odd Jonah had locked himself out, he didn’t show it.

  “You two keep working on the railings,” Jonah instructed his stepdaughter, “while this man and I talk.”

  Miriam gave Elwood a thorough once-over. “We’ll be right outside.”

  Jonah sent her a wink, loving her protective nature.

  With the teenagers back on the deck, Jonah poured the investigator what remained of the iced-tea.

  “Have a seat,” he said, indicating the dining room table since he was too filthy to sit on the sofa.