Sweet Eternity Read online

  Gin and I were in the small bedroom packing the meager belongings we had in the cabin into a duffle bag when a cellphone rang out in the living room. Walking over to the doorway, I watched as Baker pulled his phone out of his pants pocket with a slightly surprised look on his face. No one ever called us while we were gone on a mission, so I could understand Baker’s bewilderment. Hell, I even sort of felt bad for the guy since the last phone call we got during a mission was the one to inform him that his wife had gone into labor early and was about to deliver his daughter.

  Bobby looked at his ringing secure SAT phone and frowned. Before any of us could ask him what was wrong he had the phone to his ear. “Is everyone okay?” A moment of silence passed and then his eyebrows shot up to his hairline in a look of surprise. “Do I need to be worried that you want to be on speaker phone so everyone can hear you? We’re a little busy here babe...”

  He pulled his phone away from his ear almost immediately and pressed the speaker button. “Alright you prickly woman, you’re on speaker. What’s so damn important Belle?” Bobby growled.

  “You boys want to tell me why my old ATF partner showed up on my doorstep with a message that you and your boys need to back off?”

  “Maybe if you tell me why you’re acting so bitchy?” Bobby asked his wife immediately with a half grin on his face, temporarily deflecting her question.

  For the love of Jesus, but these two acted like this was foreplay. We were on a mission here. A mission I didn’t even want because I wanted to handle it my damn self. And these two were going to spew their weird ass marriage foreplay where we could all hear it? My eyes flicked over to the brick wall to my left and I thought about banging my head against it a few times to make all of this seem less painful.

  “That’s easy. Your daughter is breastfeeding at the moment, which means it feels like she’s either going to suck or chew my nipple right the hell off. How about we let her chew on your nipple next time and we’ll see how much you like it Bobby Baker!”

  We all cringed at the mental image Baker’s wife had just painted for us. Chase even rubbed over his nipples with his hands and cringed as if he could feel it himself.

  “Now you boys stop avoiding the subject at hand and answer my damn question!”

  God Bobby’s wife was prickly when she was feeding the new squally Baker addition… and by the look on Bobby’s face he was loving every minute of that. No matter how much he loved his wife though, the man knew when to draw the line when it came to his personal life and his job. Which is why even though he was on the phone with his wife and she couldn’t see his face, it didn’t stop him from putting on his much-practiced blank mask to answer her question. “That’s not exactly something I can discuss with you darlin’.”

  A weary feminine sigh came through the line, and then she whispered. “Promise me you’re going to be safe Bobby Baker. I just got you back, I don’t want to lose you again.”

  Every man in the room could see Baker crack a bit at those words. Pushing a button on his phone’s screen he took his wife off of speaker and turned his back towards us so that he would have a bit of privacy. We couldn’t hear what Belle was saying anymore, but I could still hear Baker.

  “There’s not a thing in this world that can keep me from coming home to you baby.” He was silent for a minute or so while presumably his wife replied, and then he spoke again, “I love you too sweetheart. Give my baby girl a kiss, tell my kids I love them and I’ll be home as soon as I can.” With that he hung up his phone and turned back to face us. He didn’t waste any time pretending we had all overheard a very intimate moment between him and his wife. Instead, in typical Baker fashion, he moved on to the next subject. “Anyone else curious as to why the ATF would know that we’re dealing with Wellington?”

  Commander Wall is stroking his chin as if he’s Sherlock Holmes trying to solve some mystery. “Interesting, isn’t it? Wellington must have his fingers in more pies than we originally thought.”

  The normally mute Chavez’s gravelly voice cuts in. “If the ATF has wind, then he’s doing a fuck of a lot more than drugs. The question is, if he’s into guns, how deep is he and will he have partners that will come after us when we go to take him down?”

  The entire room is silent as everyone stares at Chavez in shock. After that goes on for a few minutes, annoyance flashes over his face and he snaps out at all of us, “What? Why are you fucking staring at me like that?”

  Baker murmurs in awe. “I was starting to think you only spoke to order food and beer. I think we’re all in a little bit of shock that you’ve said something that involves more than that.”

  Chavez flips Baker the bird. “And you guys wonder why I don’t talk much. Thanks a lot asshole.”

  I started to wonder if Wall is going to have to break up Chavez’s verbal snit when Chase broke the silence. “Well that’s not what I was wondering at all.”

  “What’s on your mind then Anderson?” Commander Wall asked him.

  A big grin split across the other man’s face before he answered. “I want to know if Bobby is going to let the baby chew on his nipples to make his wife happy.”

  Baker picked up a throw pillow from the couch and threw it at Anderson’s head as the rest of us laughed at the joke. I wasn’t surprised that Anderson would throw his comic relief around in such a tense moment as this. What did surprise me was how jealous I suddenly was at Baker’s happy home life. Looking over to Gin I couldn’t help but wonder, and perhaps hope, that we would have that one day too.

  ~~~

  After making some arrangements with my team, I packed up the meager belongings Gin and I had in the cabin and we left. The entire group was traveling in two large, black extended cab SUVs as we hit the road and made our way to the private airfield twenty minutes away that the Ex Ops Team had flown from Virginia to us in New York. Gin and I were sitting quietly in the back seat of the vehicle as Commander Wall and Bobby Baker rode up front.

  I knew the reason the guys and I were being quiet was because we were all thinking about the mission ahead of us. Plotting ways to get to Wellington, calculating possibilities of certain events happening. Basic strategy stuff. Ginny’s silence was somber though as she stared out the window, and that bothered me. Leaning over to put my lips near her ear I whispered, “What’s wrong angel?”

  She turned her face back towards me and bit her bottom lip. “How long do you think it’ll take you guys to get mom out of there Lucas? I can’t stop thinking about what she might be going through with me gone.”

  Reaching over I grabbed her hand and pulled it in my lap so that I could entwine our fingers. “Don’t know how long it’s going to take sweetheart, but I promise we’re going to do everything we can to get your mom out of there. You trust me angel?”

  Ginny nods, then hesitates for a second. Squeezing her hand, I ask her to tell me what she’s thinking. “It’s not a matter of trusting you Lucas, it’s a matter of not trusting my father. Even knowing how much he loves my mother, sometimes I think he would rather kill her than let her go again. How can anybody be that twisted?”

  I squeeze my arm to give her a gentle hug. “I’ve heard that every woman had to love a bad man once so that she can be thankful for when the good one comes along.”

  Ginny

  I can’t help but roll my eyes at the thought of my parent’s situation being boiled down to such a simple statement. “If that’s the case then Lucas, mom’s next man should be a freaking saint because I’m almost convinced my father is the devil himself.”

  Lucas laughs at my comment then adds. “You never know, maybe she’ll find her prince charming.”

  Shaking my head, I tell him the god’s honest truth. “I wasn’t lying to you when I told you I’m over those fairy tales. I just want to concentrate on being here, in the moment, in real life from now on.”

  “How come Gin?”

  I can’t help but snort. Needless to say, it’s rather indelicate and garners the attention of the tw
o men in front of us. That doesn’t stop me from telling Lucas exactly why I’ve given up on believing my mother’s fairy tales. “Because my mom thought she found prince charming once upon a time, and instead she ended up with an idiot wrapped in tin foil. If that’s what believing in her fairy tales is going to get me, I’d rather live in the real world.”

  Both Lucas’s Commander and the other man known as Baker start laughing, but my eyes are glued to the man next to me who isn’t laughing at all. When the front quiets back down, Lucas murmurs, “If I’m not your prince charming anymore, then who am I Gin?”

  My heart starts pounding in my chest as the truth practically slaps me in the face. With our past always between us, and Lucas’s insecurities that I haven’t really forgiven him for causing me so much pain over the years, I only hope Lucas understands what I’m trying to say when I say it. “It’s hard to resist a bad boy who’s a good man.”

  His eyes search my face for a minute, and just when I think I’ve screwed it all up between us again, he leans forward, puts his forehead against my own and whispers back. “It’s a damn good thing I fell in love with a good girl who knows when to be bad then.”

  We stayed that way until the SUV came to a stop on a open field with a private jet on it, and a little hanger in the distance behind it. The guys loaded us up fast, and within minutes we were taking off. I hated to fly, so I closed my eyes, snuggled into Lucas’s side, and mentally painted myself a picture of a Princess slaying a fiery dragon wearing a golden crown.

  If only I was as deadly in real life as I was in this day dream I could solve all of my problems without putting other people at risk. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the sort of hand life had dealt me and, as I told Lucas earlier, I no longer believed in fairy tales. It was time to face reality again.

  But it couldn’t hurt if I snuggled into my lover’s side and pretended for just a little while longer that it was just the two of us and everything in our world was perfect, would it?

  ~~~

  I woke up later to a hand stroking hair off of my face. I’m not sure when I fell asleep, or how long I’ve been out. The only thing I do know is that there is no need to panic at the hand gliding across my skin because I know it’s Lucas sitting beside me on the plane. I would know the feel of that hand, those callused finger tips, and his touch any day.

  Slowly opening my eyes, I blink twice then rub my fingers over them to get the sleep out. Lucas is watching me and it’s eerily silent. Glancing around I see we’re the only ones on the plane. “Where did everyone else go?”

  He smiles at my confusion. “The guys already got off. They’re waiting for us outside. Ready to go angel?”

  Groggily I nod, then stand and start the trek down the aisle to the door of the plane. Walking down the steps, I see that it’s dark outside now. I must have slept hard during that flight. There’s a small self-conscious part of me that prays I didn’t do anything embarrassing, such as drool or snore like a freight train.

  Once my feet hit the tarmac, Lucas is right beside me, his hand on the small of my back as he guides me forward to where the men are waiting next to what looks like a white delivery van. The back doors are open and Chase is standing there with his hand out for me to take. I do, ignoring the growl from Lucas, and let his teammate help me up into the back of the van where I find two benches, one on each side.

  Sitting down, I wait for Lucas to sit down next to me before I ask the burning question on my mind. “What kind of van is this and where did they get it from?”

  Lucas shrugs. “The team has resources all over. This particular van I would guess came from either a police department or a jail and is used for either undercover cases or inmate transportation.”

  The irony of the moment hits me. Here I am, the daughter of one of the biggest criminals in the country, and yet I’m the one sitting in the back of a law enforcement vehicle. That sounded like my luck.

  The van pulls forward and I have to grab hold of Lucas so I don’t fall of the bench. He wraps his arm behind and around me, securing me to his side as he kisses the side of my head. “Hold onto me babe. This drive shouldn’t take long.”

  “Where are we?” I ask him.

  “About an hour south of Chicago. You can put your head on my shoulder and go back to sleep if you want to.”

  If only I could. But now that I know I’m only an hour from potentially being back in my father’s grasp, I’m suddenly wide awake and my stomach is in knots. Not wanting to explain all of that to Lucas in front of his team, I just shake my head no. Pushing down the panic and nausea, I decide to focus on something else. Looking back to Lucas, I ask, “So how are we going to get to Jay without my father finding out?”

  Lucas’s lips firm into a tight line and I can tell that whatever the plan is, he’s not happy about it. Baker’s voice calls out from the opposite of the van. “Easy, we dangle something he wants out in the open and then grab him when he tries to get it.”

  Slightly lost at what the man was trying to say, I asked “What does Jay wan-” My word dies off as the lightbulb clicks on inside my brain. To hell with it being a flashlight, it’s such an obvious revelation that I feel as if someone has slapped me upside the head with a freaking lighthouse. “It’s me, isn’t it?” I finally whisper.

  Lucas’s arm tightens around me until it feels as if a boa constrictor is trying to squeeze me to death. I don’t have the heart to tell him that it hurts a little though because I’m too busy watching the man across from me spell out my fate.

  “It’s you.”

  Chapter

  10

  Lucas

  Ginny was sitting at a table in the outside seating area of some local coffee shop, approximately a hundred feet from where I sat, parked in the same white van that picked us up at the airport.

  I fucking hated that she’s sitting out in the open the day after we rolled back into Chi-town, but Commander Wall and the rest of the team seemed to think that this was the fastest way to get our hands on Sanjay Kahn. Lure him out with his supposedly missing fiancé.

  We gave her a burner phone before dropping her off so that she could call Sanjay after she sat down. Which she’d done, and since she didn’t give us a sign to pick her up, it must mean that he was coming out to meet her.

  I didn’t care how good of an idea all those asshats on my team thought this was, I fucking hated it. In fact, it made me rethink calling them in to help at all. Too late to go back, so all I could do was keep my woman safe.

  And I would do whatever it took to keep Ginny safe and with me.

  Ginny sat at the bar-height table, sipping her water with lemon. While I wished her lips were on me and not the straw, I could see the blush to her cheeks from her anxiety. The constant shifting of her legs. Anyone with any training could read Ginny like a book right then.

  Which only made me more on edge having her out there as bait.

  Closing my eyes and breathing deep, I could remember when life seemed simpler. I had this plan. I would watch Ginny under that big tree in her yard drawing. Deep inside I knew she was the one for me. We would one day have everything together.

  Then I went off. I let the Army make a man out of me. Everything I thought I was doing to save Ginny the heartache of my lifestyle and choices only made things worse.

  Here we were, all these years later and so close to having it all. The only thing standing in our way was her father. If Wall considered this a necessary step in getting to Wellington and freeing Ginny’s mother, than I’d stand down no matter how much it killed me inside.

  Only Sanjay Kahn wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Anderson, Baker, Sullivan, Chavez, and even Wall were within sight, while Ginny continued to sip her lemon water.

  The SOS beeping assaulted our ear pieces. “Anderson, check.” Chase reported across the communication link. “Baker, check.”

  “Sullivan, check.”

  “Wall, check.” We all waited with baited breath for the last member of our team to respond, but he
didn’t.

  “Chavez, respond.” Wall commanded over our line, yet seconds passed and still nothing. “Young, keep your eyes on the prize.” Commander Wall’s voice came over loud and clear while I fought my urge to rush in on Ginny. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, I waited for what seemed like forever, not once taking my eyes off of Gin.

  And it’s a damn good thing that I didn’t, because at that exact moment, Sanjay Kahn came strolling out of his building and crossed the street to where Gin was. He was alone, which was weird since Ginny said he always traveled with one of his bodyguards, but perhaps he didn’t feel the need to since he thought he was just meeting his fiancé. Then again, his fiancé had been off the grid for months. Off the grid with me, where she belonged. I didn’t waste any time starting the van and roaring down the street towards where they were.

  The moment he stepped off the street onto the sidewalk where my girl waited for him, I skid to a stop just behind him, hitting the automatic door opener. As the door slid open, Ginny shoved a surprised Sanjay into the van and leaped in after him, slamming the van door closed behind her.

  Pushing the button on my comm link I let the team know, “Target acquired.”

  “Roger that. Everyone meet at the extraction point.” Jaxon called back. His voice sounded strained and that’s not something any of us were used to hearing from our Commander. I wondered for a brief moment if he found Chavez.

  Looking into the rearview mirror for a quick second I saw Sanjay watching Ginny with the stare of a predator watching its prey. I didn’t like it one fucking bit. Putting my eyes back on the road I slammed on the gas pedal and hauled ass out of there, since people had started to shout at us. A few of them realized something was wrong and ran after the van as I flew down the street. They didn’t have a snow ball’s chance in hell of catching us.

  I heard Ginny’s voice in a pleading tone behind me. “I’m sorry Jay, but we need to talk to you and this was the only way.”

  He gave her a hollow laugh. “Right. Because nothing says ‘hey, I just want to talk’ like shoving you into a van and kidnapping you.” His sarcasm towards Gin grated on my nerves, but since we did kidnap him, I decided not to say anything about it—yet.