GUNNER, page 16
“Thank you Tango.” He nodded, smiling at the little woman.
“Coffee?” asked George holding out the mug. He took the cup and sat at the end of the table, his whiskers rough, his eyes creased with lines, lack of sleep visible in his features.
“How is she brother?” asked Gunner. Tango shrugged, biting his lower lip.
“She’s…she’s fucked up…she’s hurtin’ bad. Fucker really did a number on her. He was only alone with her for like five minutes and nearly killed her. Plastic surgeon fixed her nose and eye socket. The rest will heal in time.”
“That’s good, right?” asked Zulu.
“Yea. What we didn’t know…none of us knew until Bree talked to her this morning…she’d been taken once before as a teenager.”
“Fuuucck!” growled Ghost.
“Yea…that’s almost exactly what I said,” he tried to grin but just couldn’t manage it. “She was taken by her step-brother…raped and beaten for days before the police found her. It’s why she was here with her grandparents so much; she couldn’t stand to be at home.”
“Jesus brother, what can we do?” asked Gunner.
“Not sure yet. She said she wanted some time to think…time alone, so…” He shrugged, his big hands in the air and then slamming back to the table.
“Give her time Tango,” said Grace. “I’ll see if she’ll let me visit today. Maybe we could get her to come back here when she gets released…make her feel safe again.”
“Yea…that would be great Gracie. Thank you.” They heard the big steel door slam and turned to see Skull.
“What did I miss?” he asked. The room laughed nervously, waving him to a seat.
“We’ll tell you later,” said Gunner. “What happened with Olivia and the charity function?”
“Boring as shit is what it was. Rented a fucking monkey suit and everything. Bunch of pretentious pricks…bitches with more money than common sense.” He winced looking at Grace and Kat. “Sorry Gracie…not you and Kat.”
“I understand,” said Kat. “I’ve had to attend a few of those, and your description is pretty accurate.”
“Anyway, I watched to see if she was approached by anyone, made any calls and nothing. I made the decision to approach her on my own. Told her I was a friend of Darby’s and wanted to be sure she wasn’t going to interfere in her life. Woman looked as though I’d flashed nude photos of her to the room. She pulled me aside and said she’d already forgotten about Darby and her escapade of deceit.”
“Escapade of deceit? The fuck?” said Gunner.
“Said she figured with Darby running away from everything she was offering her and the girl, that she must have been right to assume the little girl was not her sons. Bitch actually told all her friends of the ‘treachery’ that she suffered at Darby’s hands.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me?” said Gunner. “I’m not sure whether to be happy about this or to kill the bitch.”
“I’d be happy brother. She has no intentions of coming near Darby or Calla. As far as she’s concerned, they were never a part of her life. I went to the mansion…big as fuck all…said I was doing some contractor work for the old woman. Looked in every damn room…not one had toys, dolls, nothing. There is no sign of a child ever living there. She wiped them out brother and if I were you, I’d be fucking thrilled as shit for that.”
“Damn…I just can’t believe she would do that, but I guess gift horse and all that shit,” said Gunner.
“Yea man,” said Zulu holding Wade in his arms. “Now you can focus on getting married and raising that little girl as yours…the way God intended if you ask me.” Gunner nodded smiling.
“Room for one more at this table?” asked Admiral Crossing.
“Geez…who let the riff-raff in?” said Zulu.
“Who would believe someone would marry your ass and actually give you children?” he remarked staring at the big man. Gabi looked up at the man and his eyes grew wide. “Wow…you hit the lottery didn’t you Zulu?”
“Yes sir…I believe we all did.”
“Hello, I’m Grace…married to Ghost,” she said with an extended hand.
“Kat…married to Whiskey,” said the other woman.
“What the hell? Maybe I need to hang out here for a while,” he said smiling at the women. “Boys, I was hoping you’d have a few minutes for me this morning.” Ghost nodded pointing the way to the conference room. As they all took their seats, Admiral Crossing cleared his throat.
“You boys did a nice job of stopping this shit show from getting worse. Wouldn’t have expected anything less.”
“Thanks Mike,” said Ghost grinning at the man. “But I know you didn’t come all the way out here from your fine home in D.C. to tell us we did a good job.”
“You always were a smart-ass,” he smiled. “No…you’re right. President got wind of what you boys stopped. He was impressed that you did it without help from any of the alphabet agencies. I explained to him what you used to do, and he was intrigued.”
“Hold it right there,” said Gunner. “We’re retired. Forced to retire actually. I’m not active duty and I won’t be again.”
“Nope…not asking for that.”
“Then what are you asking for?” said Whiskey.
“I’m asking you to consider…on occasion…unofficially helping the country with things similar to this issue. I would be your liaison with the President and the President only. He would fund everything, and you would get contractor wages.” Ghost never moved, never looked at his teammates once. He knew they were doing the same thing, staring down the older man.
“Why would we do this?” asked Gunner.
“Because we still need men like you,” he said with honesty in his voice. “We won’t send you to any foreign countries, we won’t ask you to fight terrorists in their backyard, but we may ask you to fight them in ours. Gather intel, find ways inside using the club as your cover…something along those lines.”
“What do we get for this besides a little extra coin?” asked Zulu. “Which by the way…as you can see…we don’t really need.”
“State of the art everything. Weapons, security, phones…you name the toy and I’ll give it to you. Even let Ace improve upon it. Nothing will be traced to you and nothing will be traced to the government. You boys seem to have an affinity for helping the underdog. Well this gives you the chance to do that and get paid well for it. You get to say yes or no to the missions…no questions asked…no backlash. It will all be in your control.”
Ghost let out a long sigh and looked at his teammates.
“We’re a team…we decide as a team,” he said as they nodded. “Give us until after the holiday.”
“Done. You have my contact and just so you boys know…I’d be damned proud to work with you again.” Admiral Crossing left the room and they all looked from one face to the other. Whiskey finally stood and stared at his teammates.
“So, what time do the unicorns and leprechauns show up?”
CHAPTER FORTY
“Mom? Let the poor woman go will you?” said Gunner as his mother held Darby so tightly, he could see her face turning red.
“Oh, leave me alone,” she said pulling back to look at her. Anne Michaels was a very attractive older woman, her dark hair streaked with silver making her look regal. Her brown eyes were the same as her sons, all three of them. Ranger Michaels was the spitting image of his sons other than the snow-white hair. He was tall and well-built for his years, with wide shoulders and a straight, strong back.
“Darby you’re simply stunning honey…absolutely stunning,” she said kissing her cheek again. Ranger pushed his wife out of the way and grabbed Darby, hugging her and kissing her cheek.
“Thank you, Mrs. Michaels,” she said breathlessly.
“Just Anne honey and where is my granddaughter?” she asked looking around the big green space behind the club.
“Here she comes,” said Darby. “Calla? Calla honey come here.” Calla ran towards her mother and stopped, her long brown hair with big curls and a huge white bow at the back. She had on one of her favorites dresses and was smiling big at Gunner.
“Calla…this is…”
“We’re your grandparents honey,” said Ranger kneeling down.
“You are!?” she asked with a gasp. Ranger laughed pulling her into a big bear hug.
“We are,” he said laughing. “You can just call me grandpa or grandpa Ranger, and this is…”
“Move out of my way,” said Anne pushing her husband aside. “Hello sweet child. I’m your grandma and I brought so many presents for you!”
“You did?” said Calla’s eyes growing huge.
“Calla, what do you say?” said Darby.
“Thank you, grandma and grandpa!” She hugged them tightly and then looked at the two men standing beside them. “Are you my uncles?”
“We are,” laughed Striker. “And this is your aunt Laura.”
“Wow…I have two more uncles and an aunt,” she whispered.
“Yes, but I’m the coolest uncle,” said Striker pulling a bag from his shoulder. He reached inside and pulled out a replica of one of his boats. “This will float in the water and you can drive it from this little machine. I’ll show you how.”
“Whoa! Daddy look!” she yelled.
“I see baby,” said Gunner looking up to see his mothers’ eyes fill with tears.
“Well, I think I’m the coolest uncle,” said Hunter. From inside his bag he pulled out a huge puppy, his head all black and brown, his big paws already making Gunner think twice about the gift.
“A puppy! A puppy! Mommy, uncle Hunter got me a puppy!” she yelled.
“Yes, I can see that,” she said crossing her arms. “I wonder if uncle Hunter is going to be around to train and feed the puppy and pick up the piles he leaves.” Hunter laughed, holding up his hands.
“I’m only here to be the favorite uncle…not the favorite brother or brother-in-law,” he said laughing.
“Well, when is this wedding?” asked Anne.
“We’re actually doing it this afternoon at the courthouse so we can get Calla’s name changed at the same time,” said Gunner. Anne smiled down at Calla and a tear slipped from her cheek again. Darby wasn’t sure if they were happy tears or sad tears.
“Anne…you’re making the poor girl nervous,” said Ranger.
“Oh…oh sweetheart…these are happy tears. I can already tell how much Gunner loves you both and that you love him. I’m so happy for the two of you. Does she have…is her…” Darby shook her head.
“My ex-husband wasn’t really part of her life, but he died about a year ago. His mother wants nothing to do with us, so I’m afraid you are crowned favorite grandparents without even trying.”
“I can live with that,” said Ranger. “Calla? What are we going to name the puppy?”
“Yea, Calla,” said Hunter, “what will you name him? He’s yours, so you have to feed him, and walk him, and train him.” Hunter set the puppy down and handed her the leash. She was already struggling to hold the ball of muscle.
“Hmmm…let me see. Daddy is Gunner, grandpa is Ranger…that’s a cool kind of soldier, uncle Hawk told me.”
“He did, did he?” said Darby looking at Hawk across the lawn. “Mommy might have to talk to uncle Hawk about appropriate discussions with a four-year-old.”
“Okay…and then I have uncle Hunter…and uncle Striker…so I think he should be named Bullitt.”
“Bullitt?” said Darby. “Gunner? Seriously?”
“What? I didn’t tell her to name him that! She’s a very intuitive little girl.”
“Bullitt come here,” called Calla. Darby watched as the damned dog ran right to her, jumping into her arms and licking her face. Frustrated, she blew out a breath and waved her arms.
“Fine…Bullitt it is. Just what kind of dog is that and how big will he be?” she asked Hunter.
“Well…I got him from a friend who runs sled dogs in Alaska. He was part of a litter of pups. The mom was a German shepherd and the dad as Burmese mountain dog.”
“Wait…aren’t those dogs like huge?” asked Darby.
“Ummm…yea babe,” said Gunner. “You can tell by his paws and his ears he’s going to be a big one but think of it like an extra layer of protection for Calla.”
“Hunter…you might just be my least favorite uncle right now,” said Darby with her arms crossed.
“Naw, you’ll learn to love me,” he said kissing his sister-in-law’s cheek. “Besides, he’ll probably only grow to be one-twenty or one-thirty.” Darby gasped, but before she could say anything Gunner spoke.
“Alright everyone, I need to marry my girl and then we’re going to celebrate!” said Gunner waving at everyone to follow them to the vehicles. Two hours later Mr. and Mrs. Gunner Michaels and their daughter, Calla Irene Michaels were eating cake and opening presents. For every wedding gift the couple received, Calla received a gift.
Ranger was off to the side speaking with George, the man closest to his age, while Anne doted on her new granddaughter, already planning trips to the amusement parks near their home in Florida. Toward the end of the evening, an exhausted and drained looking Tango finally showed.
“Hey man, how is she?” asked Gunner.
“Same. We got her settled upstairs near my room, but she doesn’t really want to see me.” Tango shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t bother him, but Gunner knew that it damned sure did.
“She’ll get there brother, give her time.” He nodded and then turned back to the barn to head to his room. He stopped outside Taylor’s room and knocked softly.
“Come in,” came the meek voice.
“I was just making sure everything was okay…do you need anything?” he asked keeping his distance. Her face was swollen and black and blue, the features vastly different from what he remembered on the woman.
“No…no it’s okay Tango. Tango…Tyler…why are you doing this? This wasn’t your fault; you don’t owe me anything.”
“Not about owing shit, honey. It’s about not protecting you when I should have. This is my fault and I should have been there.” She shook her head from side to side slowly, careful not move too quickly.
“Not your fault,” she said.
“It is and every time I look at you, I see the mistakes I made.” Taylor felt the tears in her eyes and turned away.
“I’m tired. I think I want to be alone now,” she said. He nodded, closing the door and went across the hall to his own room. She deserved whatever she wanted as far as he was concerned. If she wanted peace and quiet, he would give it to her. If she wanted a new house, he’d buy it for her. He was already working on getting the shop back up and running.
He would give her anything she wanted.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The noise was nearly deafening at the breakfast table the next morning. George had to delicately tell Calla she could not bring Bullitt into the kitchen, which made her demand breakfast on the porch through tears that nearly killed poor old George. Her uncle Hunter was relegated to the space beside her for giving her the suggestion that Bullitt should enjoy breakfast with her.
Gunner and Darby were going to spend a few nights at the property on the Chesapeake and leave Calla in the capable hands of his parents and brothers. Tango walked downstairs looking around to see if Taylor decided to come down for breakfast, disappointment showing on his face when he didn’t see her.
“I’ll go check on her Tango,” said Gabi smiling at him. He nodded his thanks as the woman disappeared upstairs. Gunner’s sister-in-law was holding one of the twins, marveling at how big they were, feeling sorry for poor Gabi. Zulu could only nod and shrug, it wasn’t his fault he was so damned big. Besides, Gabi wasn’t exactly petite, it was her fault too.
“Tango,” said Gabi standing in the doorway, “she’s gone. Sh-she left you a note.” Tango swallowed hard, looking around the room at the shocked faces.
“Read it,” he said quietly. “Please.” Gabi nodded.
Tyler – you were right—looking at me must be very difficult for you. You don’t owe me anything. You saved me and saved Calla, you should be so proud of yourself. I’m going away for a while…I need to go away for a while. I’ll be selling the business, so I might not ever be back. My only regret is I wish we had our date Tyler…I was really looking forward to finally kissing you…the only man I ever willingly wanted to kiss…desired to kiss. You deserve to be happy…find someone you can look at and feel happiness. Yours – Tay
“Fuck,” he whispered. “She thought I couldn’t look at her because of her injuries. I have to find her…I have to…” Ace poked his head in the door and smiled.
“Found her.”
EXCERPT From TANGO
Tango couldn’t believe she’d walked out on them. She was in pain and couldn’t drive, so she had to have called for a ride. He drove in the direction that Ace told him she was located, eyeing the small little houses with their perfectly manicured lawns and flower beds. At the end of the cul-de-sac he saw the yellow cab idling in the driveway. Stepping out of his truck he ran toward the car.
“You waiting for a blonde girl with bad bruises on her face?” he asked. The man looked him up and down, sneering.
“You hurt that little girl?” he asked.
“NO! Fuck no…I’m in love with her!” The man looked as though he didn’t believe him, sneering again. “Listen, she’s the love my life. I didn’t hurt her. I need to protect her. Here, a hundred bucks for you to go.” The man took the money and nodded.
Tango watched the cab pull away and wiped his hands on the front of his jeans. Walking toward the door, he knocked softly. A few minutes later, the door cracked open.
“I’m almost done…” she gasped. “Tango…what…why…”
“Because I’m in love with you Taylor. You misunderstood me. I didn’t mean I couldn’t look at your face because of the damage, I meant I couldn’t look at it and not see all the things I did wrong. It’s because of me you look like that honey. It’s because of me you’re in pain.” Taylor felt the tears come and couldn’t stop them. Tango pulled her into his body, holding her gently so as not to hurt her.
