Page 87 of Thaddeus

“Jack?”

“I’d like to tell you the nickname was given because I’m a Jack of all trades and can rig any piece of equipment in front of me, but that’s not true.”

“Was Jack short for jackass?” She laughed.

“Should’ve been.” I chuckled. “But it was because my first team leader was raised on a farm. He said I reminded him of one the donkeys they had.”

“But you’re not stubborn.” She sounded affronted on my behalf.

“That’s not why,” I told her, as I rounded the corner pulling onto Gumby’s street.

“Horses are known to run when they get scared. Donkeys are the opposite. They don’t move, they stay planted and assess the situation. People mistake that for them being stubborn.”

“I still don’t get it, why didn’t he just call you donkey, then? Why Jack?”

“The Mammoth Jack is a large breed of donkey. My team leader thought it was funny because I was the tallest on the team, so he coined my name Jack.”

I rolled to a stop in front of Gumby’s and she asked, “Do all the guys have nicknames like that?”

“Yep.”

“Will you tell me what they are?”

“Sure will, but we’re here so it will have to wait.”

“Oh.” Her gaze slid away from me and she looked out the car window.

Thankfully my story about my nickname had done what I’d intended and she’d been concentrating on it rather than being nervous.

“Nothing for you to worry about, you’re gonna like Gumby and I’ve only met Sidney once but if she’s marrying Gumby then she’s solid.”

“Okay.”

* * *

Just as I’d thought, Sidney was great. She was open, welcoming, and had a huge heart. She proved this by launching straight in with a thousand questions about the dogs we’d encountered. She wanted to know where the dogs were kept, in what condition they’d been in, if the international rescue operation she and Faith had found was able to help.

When she was done asking about the animals, she started asking about the team; did anyone get hurt, did any of the dogs’ attack—it was worth noting she’d winced when she asked if anyone had gotten bitten. I’d answered everything I could, and she was visibly relieved when I’d told her no one was injured, we were all home, and my boss had been in touch and rescue efforts were underway. I didn’t tell her that Zane was personally funding those efforts.

Once Sidney had ascertained all was well, she’d turned to Emerson, and with a huge smile she offered to take her out to the deck to enjoy the view. What that proved was she was a SEAL’s wife and understood I’d left out more than I’d said and Gumby would have his own questions, and the answers I’d give him would be different than the watered-down version of what I’d told her.

“So, how’d it go?” Gumby asked when the women were out of earshot.

“Total shit show,” I told him. “Dec confirmed what you and Sidney had warned about and inside the warehouse was the shit nightmares are made of. Took out two of our targets, but was told to stand down from the third. The girls we’d come in contact with were just that, fucking girls. Luckily we found two stables before transport. One set we got to safety, the second we had to let swing. Guts me we couldn’t get them where they needed to go, but I have a feeling Emerson’s sister got them to safety.”

“Emerson…” he trailed off.

“Fell in love with her when I was in BUD/s. For reasons that were beyond our control she took off. I found her again, she’s mine, and if I can get her to agree I’m stopping at the courthouse after we leave here and I’m marrying her.”

“Goddamn, sounds familiar,” he muttered.

“What about yours? How’d it go?” I inquired about the mission he’d just returned home from.

“It’s gonna take a while to digest,” Gumby admitted. “It never fails to surprise me what humans will do to one another. When we got to the orphanage to secure the Peace Corps worker, rebels had already overtaken it, and our target was DOA. It wasn’t a complete failure, we were able to rescue the Peace Corps volunteer’s friend Piper Johnson…um, I mean, Piper Morgan and three of the orphans.”

Morgan? The last name took me a moment to recognize. Beckett “Ace” Morgan was a member of Gumby’s team.

“Piper Morgan? Any relation to Ace?”