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LUKE
Icurse my foolishness as I head toward my office door. I jerk it open to see Hawk standing there with several large men behind him. “How the hell did you get here so fast?” I demand, shocked to see him standing in front of me.
“When Daisy wasn’t answering, I arranged transport up here. Now you tell me what the hell is going on,” Hawk demands.
“I just listened to Daisy’s voice mail. She was at a cabin watching for a suspect on a case I am working. She saw the suspect with Marley, my girlfriend.” I pause for a moment as the gravity of the situation hits me. “She was going to try to rescue Marley from the man. We need to get to them as soon as possible. These men are very dangerous.” Hawk is on his phone before I’ve even finished speaking.
“Give me the address. I will have support on the way,” Hawk calls to me as he is relaying my information to the person on the other end of the call. The group of soldiers follow me into the parking lot where we all quickly load up and move toward the cabin where Daisy and Marley should be.
On the way, Hawk informs me that Ace and his team have been found and are on their way to our location as we speak. It’sreassuring that Daisy will have Ace with her once we get her free. I know that she and Ace have something special going on. I could see it when they visited recently. I’m happy for my sister. She deserves to have love and happiness. I just hope she survives this to have it all.
“Luke, I’ve gotten in touch with Ace. He and his team have been re-routed here. They’ll be landing on base soon,” Hawk tells me as we are nearing Daisy’s last known location. I nod not really paying attention as my fear for how all this will end overcomes me. With Rosco, Bo, and Enos out of town, I’m on my own. I know that Hawk will help handle the situation. I just wish I had my brothers here, too. I need their support more than I’ve ever needed it before. I’m anxious and irritable, snapping at everyone who dares speak to me.
It seems to take forever to get everyone here and to formulate a plan to rescue the women. The feds and state police have shown up as well as Hawk and two of his special forces teams. I feel so damn helpless in this chair. I can’t be part of the team going in to get the girls. The terrain surrounding the cabin is not conducive for me to get around on my own. It wouldn’t be safe to have someone pushing my chair.
Therefore I have to wait at the staging area, and it’s killing me. I can’t stand the thoughts of what might be happening to my girl and my sister. How can Marley trust me after this? I let her get taken in broad daylight. Will this be what shows Marley she’d be better off with someone else? Someone who can protect and defend her much better than I can?
Ace is understandably pissed when he arrives, and he takes his fear and frustration out on me. Not that I blame him, because I’m kicking my own ass in my head. I should never have let Daisy go off on her own. Nor should I have allowed Marley out of the house without a protection detail. I’d gotten complacent since nothing new had happened to her in weeks. I’d almost convinced myself whoever has been messing with her had given up. I shouldhave known better. No one would go to all that much trouble to ruin her life, then just give up.
I’m sitting at the staging area waiting anxiously to hear word from the teams moving in to find and free the women. Hawk’s teams, including Ace are out canvassing the area around the cabin, looking for the women. I can’t believe this is happening. How could I have allowed Daisy and Marley to be taken essentially out from under my nose? I hear the arrival of an email. I’ve called Jay requesting he send me security footage from his bar around the time Marley left, this afternoon.
I pull up the security footage to see the moment Marley is taken as she leaves the bar. Bile rolls up my throat as I see the man grab her from behind. She struggles to get away at first. The man leans in close to her. What did he say to her? It must have been bad because she suddenly stops fighting him and walks away with him to what I assume is a vehicle that’s out of the view of the camera. I’m again hit with the thought; I should never have allowed her to be out by herself without a body guard.
I hear static as one of the team members begins to speak over the comm. It’s Ace and he sounds pissed.
“Fuckers are planning something big, using the women as suicide bombers. No sign of assets,” Ace whispers. I refuse to consider these men will be able to carry this out. Ace and his team have to get the women out. Failure is not an option. I wish like hell once again that my brothers were here. Bo, Enos, and Rosco took off for Atlanta a couple of days ago following a lead they’d gotten in relation to the men who’ve taken Marley and Daisy. The man I’d linked to this address is a member of a radical Islamic organization that has claimed responsibility for several bombings around the world. I would rather die than allow this man to harm Marley or Daisy.
A few minutes later, Ace’s voice comes over the comms again. “They are planning to use the women as suicide bombers. They have remote detonation. We have to get them out before theyhave time to get the bombs on them. We need to find them as soon as possible.” The urgency in his voice is easy to hear. We are running out of time. We need to find the women before the men can begin to implement their plan.
“Get back here as soon as possible.” Hawk demands over the comm. “We need to formulate a plan.”
In minutes, Ace has returned. We are all conferring at the command center. Static crackles signaling incoming message from one of the men watching the property. “Wallace, here. I have found a trail behind the cabin that looks like it was used recently. I’m going to check it out. It could lead to the women or the bomb making materials.”
We wait for Wallace to check out the trail and provide intel on what he finds. A few tense minutes later, an urgent call comes over the comm from Tank. “Targets are heading your way, Wallace. Moving fast.” The air inside the command center is thick. Everyone’s anxious to know what’s happening. Ace takes off for the cabin at a dead run, the others follow not wanting to allow their teammate to face the targets unhinged and get himself or the women killed. I’m forced to wait, wondering what’s happening.
It seems to take an eternity, but I know it has only been a couple of minutes when reports begin coming in that the assets have been recovered. There is a lot of chatter, so details are sketchy, but it seems, at long last, the women are free from the men holding them. A little while later, I learn my sister killed both men before the extraction team could get to them. I’m so fucking proud of her for keeping a level head during the crisis, but honestly, I expected nothing less. She’s proven she’s more than capable in her years of service in the Navy. Hearing the women are safe over comms leaves me weak with relief.
I’m forced to wait many more long minutes before I see the teams exiting the property. The men have formed a barrier around the women. I can’t see Marley at all. Daisy’s head bobs upand down as they get closer. I can see she is being carried by Ace. I rush forward, anxious to know if either of them has been injured.
Ace carries Daisy over to an awaiting ambulance. The medics check her over, but she’s refusing to go to the hospital to be evaluated. She and Ace are arguing, which lets me know she’s going to be just fine. I turn back looking for Marley. I finally see her emerge from the crowd of men. A couple of Hawk’s men, I think their names are Straw and Wallace, are escorting her toward me. Our eyes meet, and I’m hit with a ton of emotions. Relief at seeing her upright and walking, but that is closely followed with anger. She’s been beaten, severely from the looks of it. I begin wheeling in her direction. She breaks free from the hold the men have on her. She runs toward me, tears streaming down her face. I can’t seem to get my chair to move fast enough.
“Oh Luke!” Marley cries as she throws herself into my lap, wrapping her arms around me. “You’re okay!” I wrap my arms so tight around her. I’m surprised she can breathe. I’m just so thankful to be able to hold her again. It takes a minute for her words to register in my head. She’s been worried about me.
“Baby,” I whisper into her hair where I’ve buried my face. I can feel my body shaking with relief as tears stream down my face. “I’m so happy to have you back in my arms. How bad are you hurt?” She pulls back to look at me. I cringe when I see the bruising on her face, her eyes, and her busted lip. She has dried blood on her face and her shirt.
“I’m okay,” she replies a little too calmly. “I was so scared.” Fresh tears form in her eyes threatening to brim over and run down her already tear-stained bruised cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I apologize to her. “It’s my fault. I should never have let you go to work alone. I should have had a protection detail on you at all times.” I shake my head as the self-incrimination hits me hard again. She would never have been taken or beaten if I hadn’t failed her.
“Luke Robertson,” Marley says in a scolding tone. “This is not your fault. Those men are at fault. They chose to do these awful things. Don’t go blaming yourself.” I nod, wanting to pacify her, but the guilt is still weighing on me heavily. “Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Her questions throw me off guard.
“What are you talking about, Marley?” I ask. She looks me over from head to toe and back again as if she can’t believe I’m here in one piece.
“The man that took me said he had someone watching you.” Marley’s voice cracks. “He said he’d have you killed if I didn’t cooperate. I had to go with him. I couldn’t let them hurt you, not for me.” She throws her arms around me again. I return her hug briefly, before pulling her lips to mine. I kiss her gently, knowing her face and mouth are sore from the beating she’s taken. She kisses me back with more fervor than I’m expecting. I savor her taste. The feel of her tongue dancing with mine. I need to have her seen by the EMTs, but the need to hold her, feel her, know that she’s alive and well in my arms is overwhelming to the point I can’t think clearly. At long last, I end the kiss, letting my forehead rest against hers, reveling in the fact she’s here with me, alive.
“Leave it to you to be worried about me instead of yourself.” I chuckle humorlessly. “I was never in any danger, but you were.”
“I’m okay, Luke,” Marley says softly. “We are okay thanks to your sister. Daisy is the fiercest woman I’ve ever seen. She took both of those men down without hesitation. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”
