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Chapter Twenty
Maceo
“There better not be any shower babies leftover in the bathroom, Atlas,” Gauge mumbles around his third tamale.
Punk pegs Gauge in the head with a wadded-up banana leaf. “Will you shut the fuck up already?! I’m trying to eat here.”
“I cleaned up my mess,” I repeat for the hundredth time as I shovel food into my mouth.
Chase’s shoulders shake with silent laughter, the biggest shit-eating grin plastered on his face. “How I managed to let WhatsApp slip my security detail is mindboggling.” He sighs. “I’ll have to add it.”
The rest of us start protesting frantically, food spitting out of our mouths.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I threaten.
“Hands off, Chase. I fully intend to capitalize on this tonight with Opal, right after I kick bathroom baby-maker out of the room,” Gauge snarls.
“I don’t even have a woman, but if one of my honeys decides to call…” Punk trails.
Brass fist bumps him. “Preach.”
Chase wipes his face clean and gives us a pointed look. “It’s a loophole in our security. I’m shutting it down. Trust me, I hate doing this. You think I don’t want to call Simone and get off to her moaning my name?”
Punk covers his ears, his face twisting in disgust. “Gah! That’s almost worse than hearing my sister getting off.”
I backhand Punk in the chest. “You didn’t hear shit. Stop talking about my wife orgasming.”
“Back at you, bro,” he retorts.
“Everyone, stop talking about it!” Gauge snaps. “We’re all horny bastards missing our partners, so let's stop thinking about it.”
We all fall silent, lost in our thoughts.
Punk is the first to break. His head falls into his hands. “I miss pussy.”
I agree. But pussy is not even what I miss the most. Holding my woman, going for our morning runs with Hades, palming her stomach, kissing her elfin nose, whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she drifts off to sleep… The list is endless.
Ziggy shrugs. “Meh. Pussies are overrated. But anal…”
We all cringe. Visuals of Ziggy and Jared in compromising positions isn’t something we want in our heads.
“Dude! Too much info.” Brass chides, shaking his head.
Ziggy laughs. “You all are prudes. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Suppressing a groan, I address my brothers. “We finish these last few leads, then we fly out.”
I don’t add that it’s the only thing that will save this mission from being a flop. No captain ever wants to admit failure to his team. Reaffirming our spies are onboard is all we have going for us.
I grab mypadre’sjournal off the nightstand and make my way to the door. “I’m heading to the roof. Gauge, I suggest jumping on WhatsApp with Opal before Chase bans it.”
“Get the hell out, assholes. I have a date with my girl,” I hear Gauge tell our other brothers as I exit the room.
When I get to the roof, I breathe the night air deep into my lungs. It may be December, but on this side of the equator, it’s the warm, dry season in Colombia. There would be snow back home in Colorado.
With my eyes closed, I daydream what it will be like, snuggled up on the couch next to the fireplace with Josephine draped across my chest. Melancholy, I gaze at the clear night sky. “I’ll be home soon, Pixie.”
The first journal entry I read of mypadre’sleft me with a deep ache in my chest, so much so, I’ve avoided opening it back up. The more I think about what Warren said to me the night of my wedding, the more I’m suspecting there may be clues in here to help us find Esteban. Warren led my dad’s SEAL team six and would have given me inside knowledge if he had any to give. But my dad documented a lot while in pursuit of Esteban. Maybe something is in plain sight.
