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I will never forget this moment for as long as I live. And I’m determined to make sure I’m living until I’m old and gray.
I know why I’m in this world now, to be a protector, but not just any protector.
Their protector!
ChapterSixteen
7 YEARS LATER - CURRENT DAY
GHOST
“Cassie, I’ll be in my office. Bull’s in trouble,” I call to her as I’m running past the nursery, where she is feeding Eli, our son. I wish I could stop and just take in the view of the two of them in the rocking chair and Bessy lying on the floor coloring a picture, being guarded by our not-so-fierce dogs Ace and Bandit, but I can’t. Time is of the essence, and Cassie understands that.
I lost the vote when I suggested we get some dogs to help with security. I was politely told no, we are getting cute fluffy dogs for Bessy to play with. We all know who won that argument, with the two Cavalier King Charles spaniels curled up sleeping at her feet. They might look cute but looks can be deceiving. They still know to alert me of any movement around the place that isn’t normal.
“Bad trouble?” Cassie’s voice comes from behind me. She has never met Bull or talked to him, hell, he doesn’t even know she exists, but she knows how much he means to me. I’ve been watching over him for the past seven years from afar, doing my best to keep the dumbass alive.
“Bad enough that I’m bringing him here!” I yell as I enter my secure office, hand on the door before I close it, and all I hear is part of her sentence.
“Oh fu—” I hope she managed to pull herself back and not say what she was thinking in front of Bessy. That kid will have the worst vocabulary before she turns ten, the way she always manages to hear me saying the wrong thing when her little ears are around.
Cassie will know how much danger Bull is in, with me bringing him to our home. Since the home was finished and we moved into it after Bessy was born, no one has ever been here. I have locked things up tight and made sure my family was safe but had the freedom to live happily. It’s been a struggle, I’m not going to lie. With Jason getting slowly more active again after Bessy was born, there was no way I was letting anyone near Cassie, Bessy, and now little Eli.
When Cassie suggested having another baby, I didn’t know if I could go through another home birth, but she was restless and didn’t want Bessy to be an only child like she had been. Especially with us being in the middle of nowhere with no one for Bessy to play with. She has had a strange upbringing being locked up here, but we have tried to make it as normal as we could.
* * *
It's been a full day since I’ve left my office which is more like a security bunker, just keeping an eye on things and doing some background work. I’ve pulled Bull out of some scrapes before, and I have to admit, the last big one a few years ago that went wrong was his deciding factor, and I was glad he decided to leave WITSEC and go live a normal life back at home with his family. We have stayed in touch but not as much as either of us would have liked, and we haven’t seen each other, and to be honest, it’s long overdue. I know I’m going to be in big trouble when he gets here and finds out about my family, but part of me is happy it’s finally happening. Since Asha has come into his life recently, I think he will understand why I did what I did. But if he doesn’t, too bad, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Working rapidly, I’m putting everything into place to get him and Asha here safely. Since I started working undercover for Rocket, after Bessy was born, my life has changed. I now run a private security company from here with my partner, Ashton Taylor. It’s very high-end and usually undercover. We aren’t the company you call to provide five security guards for an event to check people’s licenses and do crowd control. We are the people you call when you know you need serious protection and will pay whatever it takes.
Badger is on board when I need him, but he’s become a drifter too. He’s never asked to come here, and I’m thankful for his respect in that. I know he is like a vault with information; whatever I talk to him about, stays with him. I have learned to confide in him things I normally would have told Bull. That pisses me off, that my life has taken that turn, but I wouldn’t change the reason I’m here for anything in this world.
Badger has also built up his network of contacts over the years, so when we need a specific person for a job, he usually knows a guy who knows a guy. I trust him unconditionally, and when we decided to start this business, I asked him if he wanted in. But he said it’s just not him, so I decided to make him our silent partner, and Ashton agreed with me. So much so, that it’s even silent from Badger, and he has no idea what we do behind the scenes for him. I have been putting money away for him from the profits from the beginning, and when the time comes that he wants to settle somewhere and watch the world go by, he’ll be doing it comfortably whether he likes it or not.
I met Ashton through Badger a few years ago. They had worked together doing contract security jobs with a group of guys who are all ex-military, based out of Chicago. Ashton and Badger hit it off straight away, with common backgrounds. Then once all three of us were connected together on a job that I needed some help with, everything clicked between us as a group.
Ashton had just recovered from being injured on deployment, and when I was doing my background check, which is usually much more thorough than any normal agency check, a few things sank into my gut that I have never been able to share with anyone, not even Ashton. I promised myself that I would make sure he was looked after like the rest of my extended family. He doesn’t know that and assumes it’s just because we’re buddies that are perfect for each other. One day, the time will be right, and I will share everything I know, because it doesn’t change anything in his life going forward. But now is not the time. For the moment, I have his back and he has mine, and that’s all that matters.
In Chicago, Ashton has a close group of friends, people he met once he got home from being in the military. He reconnected with Mason White, an ex-Army pilot buddy from when they served together. From what he has mentioned, he's happy there, and it makes a good place for him to be based.
“Yep.” His voice is in my ear as I’m punching away on the keyboard. We don’t bother with pleasantries, it’s just how we are.
“Like we thought it would, it’s all gone to shit with Bull. We need to extract them both now.” My voice is calm, even though this job is different, and Ashton knows that. I’ve been keeping him in the loop since Bull called me not long ago. If there is one thing I learned a very long time ago in this job, it’s to trust your gut instinct, and mine was telling me that this was going to end up here.
“On it. I’ll get a plane in the air.” We’re partners, and Ashton knows a lot about me, but we have never met in person, and he doesn’t know where my house is either. That’s why we click, because he doesn’t give a fuck. We both have our roles, and mine is here behind the computer screens, while he’s on the ground and all the muscle we need.
“Sending you the coordinates of the airport we’ll use, get me an ETA for the plane. I will then line up the airstrip and the vehicles needed. We are time sensitive.”
“I’m here with my buddy Mason, and I think I can make this super quick. Hold on.” The voices in the background are mumbled, and I know he wouldn’t bring him in on the job unless he trusts him.
“Done. Mason has a private plane ready to go.” There is no long chitchat between us, just straight to the point. “We can be on standby in less than thirty minutes.”
“Thanks, Ashton.” Hanging up, I’m thinking about his name; he still won’t let me give him a code name, the bastard. He tells me he’s not into spy games. It’s funny because in the Army, usually everyone ends up with a nickname, but he’s not sharing his and he remains adamant that he is Ashton. Whatever, I don’t have time to worry about that shit right now.
I’ve been busy all afternoon and have everything in place. Plans are set, and Bull is ready to put it into action tonight. Now we sit and wait. The worst part is that I’ve never been a patient man, and neither is Bull, although we’ve both had to learn to be, as much as it almost kills us.
Cassie sent me a message a little while ago to let me know she was putting the kids to bed and will get me some dinner. I’m not hungry, but who knows how long it’ll be until I leave this room. The smartest thing I did was build a toilet in this office and a couch that is big enough it can double as a bed when I need to nap, which means I don’t have to leave when things are crazy. She’s used to it and ignores me when I tell her that I don’t need any food. But when she arrives with something that usually smells and tastes amazing, my plate is empty before I know it.
