Page 142 of No Fear

“Can’t around you. You drive me crazy.”

“I spoke with Sam yesterday.” That stopped him in his tracks.

“You did?”

“Yes. I wanted to know if you had any time off coming, and he said he was giving you the next few days”

“OK. You could have just asked me.”

“Then this wouldn’t have been a surprise.” She reached into her cross-body purse and pulled out her phone. She tapped away and held it up to him.

Donnie took it from her, reading the screen.

“Are you serious? You booked these?”

“I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate us, with Nate.” On screen was the electronic booking of two tickets to the Yankees game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday evening. Donnie was quiet. His silence making her nervous.

“If it’s too soon and you don’t want to go, I’d understand.”

Donnie handed her back her phone and pulled her tightly into his arms. When he spoke, his voice was raspy.

“Thank you. No one has ever done anything like that for me and it’s perfect. There is no one else I would rather go to Yankee stadium with than you.”

She sighed in relief and looked up at the man she loved. His eyes were moist. Just another thing she loved about him. He might be the tough protector, but he was also tender and vulnerable at times.

“I love you Donnie and I feel like Nate will be right there with us.”

“Yeah, he will. We will raise a glass to him, for sure.”

“Did you see who they were playing?” She smiled.

“I did. Padres. Can’t wait to see the Yankees beat their ass so I can claim it over Dex. He’s hardcore Padres.”

She laughed; pleased Donnie was smiling again.

“Thank you, Charlie. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for giving me another chance. Thank you for changing my life. A few weeks back I was terrified of my future. You took that fear away. Whatever hurdles I may need to cross, I know I can handle them with you by my side.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Right back at you Donnie.”

***

“MACKIE, THANKS FOR coming in on your day off, but this couldn’t wait.” Sam indicated the chair across from him. Dex was already in the other.

“No problem. This just us? Not the whole team?” he asked in confusion.

“Yes. For now. This is a needs-to-know operation.” Dex said.

“OK.” Mackie sat, still confused.

“We have a situation,” Sam said. “A computer programmer, Miles Cannon, working on a special project for the DOD was shot and left for dead in DC two weeks ago. His laptop was stolen. He was designing a computerized weapon that was close to begin testing. This cyber weapon would infiltrate the highest encrypted systems and shut them down,” Sam said.

“What type of systems?”

“Hydro grids, air traffic control or even nuclear weapon launches.”

Mackie swallowed. Shit, this was bad.

“Now it’s in the wrong hands. The laptop has military grade encryption, which is going to take some time to crack. Cannon also added a sophisticated passcode. Apparently, he had it memorized and had a copy stashed somewhere safe. Not even DOD have it.”