Buck, page 13
“But it’s the truth!” Pollack squawks.
“The truth is overrated,” Luke says. “Believe me.”
A few hours later, Chris Pollack is in custody, and Darnell, Luke, and I are free to go. Just like the old man predicted.
Also in custody is Nancy Mosely.
She tried like hell to squawk on Aspen, tried to get her on assault with a deadly weapon, but Aspen remained calm. Said she only did what she had to do to protect herself.
The intake officer was gutted by the story of her ordeal on the island, and that was all it took.
Aspen was also free.
Chris Pollack’s arraignment is tomorrow, and we all have to be present. We won’t have to testify at an arraignment, but the officers have requested that we be there.
Right now, though?
We can go.
I’m exhausted. I’m still recovering from my injuries, and today took a lot out of me.
I don’t really want to stay at Luke’s place, but his security is top-notch, and I want Aspen under constant guard, especially if she’s a potential witness.
Pollack is now in custody, and Greg Wallace is in prison. Nancy is in custody and Taylor’s dead.
Still… I won’t take any chances with Aspen’s life.
Darnell joins us at the beach house as well.
“I need to call Lisa,” he says.
“I want to talk to Mom,” Aspen says.
“All right, little tree. Come with me. Let’s go outside and give her a call.”
That leaves me with Luke and Katelyn.
I turn to Katelyn. “Hey, I’m sorry you had to talk to Ice Man, but thank you.”
“It made my skin crawl,” she admits, “but Aspen’s life was in danger. And I know how much finding the truth means to her. And now… I hope she’ll calm down. Try to truly heal.”
“I hope so too,” I say.
“And you don’t have to worry about Ice Man ever again,” Luke says. “He’s going away for a long, long time. And believe me. Prison will be hell for him.”
I almost expect Katelyn to tell Luke to go easy on him, but she doesn’t.
Apparently she doesn’t care if Pollack gets abused in prison. Why should she? He abused others. An eye for an eye and all.
Everything has turned out fine.
Except…
Something tingles at the back of my neck.
I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet. I can’t say why, but it’s just a hunch.
And one thing I learned in Afghanistan?
Never ignore a fucking hunch.
28
ASPEN
“I’m fine, Mom,” I say into the phone.
Dad has the phone on speaker and we’re talking to my mother.
Her voice is distraught, and she’s been crying.
“Thank God you’re both all right. Darnell, you get your ass home.”
“I can’t, honey. Not yet. I need to be at the arraignment tomorrow.”
“Can’t they do that without you?”
“No. I’m a material witness. This is a man who killed two people,” Darnell says. “And also a man who violated Aspen’s friend and countless others. He got off with immunity for turning on his friends. Not that I care about any of them, but this is not a good man, Lisa. I need to be here to see this through.”
“Then I’m getting on a flight to LA,” my mother says.
“No, Mom.” I intervene this time. “I don’t want you here. I didn’t even want Dad here. You need to stay safe where you are. These people… They have connections. Big connections that we can’t protect you from.”
Mom gulps. I hear it through the phone.
“Lisa, precious,” Dad says, “I will be home. As soon as this guy is arraigned and safely behind bars and the local PD has no more use for me.”
“Is his immunity federal?” my mom asks.
“Most likely,” Dad says. “I don’t know all of the details. But he confessed to murdering two people in cold blood. Little tree and I and two others are witnesses. We have to be there.”
She sighs. “All right. I understand. But I want you to get your butt back home as soon as you can.”
“He will, Mom.” I clear my throat. “In the meantime, Buck has arranged for a bodyguard for you.”
Mom gasps through the phone.
“I okayed it, Lisa.” Dad says. “It’s important, honey. Don’t fight me on this.”
Another gulp through the line. “I won’t. I won’t, Darnell.”
“Good. I love you.”
“I love you too. Both of you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
Dad ends the call.
“Now what?” I ask.
“I guess we join the others.”
After a subdued dinner, I head to my bedroom.
I’d like to stay with Buck, but he needs his rest, and my father’s under this roof.
It feels too weird.
I shower to get all the grime of the day off me. Has anyone even found Taylor’s body yet?
What is the connection? Why did Taylor’s father disown her?
Clearly it has something to do with this whole situation. He must’ve known about his brother. Or he knew about what Taylor did.
That’s the connection. Taylor went to her uncle to get rid of me, and Taylor’s dad found out and disinherited her.
But we’ll never know for sure.
We’ll never know because Taylor’s dead.
Damn you Taylor. Damn you to hell.
My door creaks open.
I jerk toward it, but then I sigh.
Buck stands there.
He’s freshly showered also, wearing a simple white T-shirt and blue lounging pants. His feet are bare, and his hair is wet.
He looks absolutely scrumptious.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I was hoping you’d come to my room.”
“Believe me, I’d love nothing more, but you need your rest. You’re still not fully recovered, and today was… Well, you know what today was. Plus…my dad is here.”
“You’re a grown woman, Aspen.”
“I know that. So does he. Still… It’s a little weird, don’t you think?”
“The only thing that would be weird to me is not sleeping next to the woman I love.” He stalks toward me, takes me in his arms, and gives me a passionate kiss.
I open for him.
I can’t not.
He’s so much a part of me, and he gives me so much comfort.
My door, of course, is still cracked open.
And my father… My father is somewhere in this house. I don’t know if he’s gone to bed yet.
But if he has? He’s somewhere in this hallway.
I break the kiss. “Buck…”
“Please, baby. I need you. After the day we’ve both had, we need each other.”
He’s not wrong.
“All right,” I sigh. “Close my door. And lock it.”
“Absolutely.” He inches back toward the door, closes and locks it, and then he comes back to me, cups my cheek. “You’re so beautiful, Aspen. I’m so sorry about today. About what you had to go through.”
“It’s okay. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know who set me up now, and they’re going to pay.”
“They will. I promise you that they will.”
“I suppose Greg Wallace is already paying. I wish I knew which one he was.”
“Do you really need to know that?”
“I suppose not. Gloria… She was innocent, and now she’s dead.”
“She was innocent with regard to setting you up. But she did lie to us. She knew those two voices she heard talking were Taylor and Nancy. If she had leveled with us, we could’ve protected her. Kept her safe. And she and her husband would still be alive.”
“She was afraid.”
“Of course she was afraid. But whatever kind of connections this Greg Wallace has from prison, they’re nothing compared to the kind of connections the Wolfes or Luke have.”
“I suppose they’re not.”
“So if she had leveled with us, we would’ve known she might be in danger, and we could’ve protected her and Brian both.”
I nod. He’s right, of course. And frankly, Gloria wasn’t the person I always thought she was. She did have negative feelings toward me, even if she hated herself for it.
But would I have felt any differently? If I’d been all but promised middle blocker, and then some newbie swooped in and took it right from under me?
I’m not the devout Catholic girl Gloria was. I would’ve had some very negative feelings. But the world of pro sports is brutal. We all knew that. I would’ve come to terms with it. And I certainly wouldn’t have sold my opponent off to some island to live as a slave.
That wasn’t Gloria, of course. I don’t think she ever would’ve done that. That was Taylor and Nancy…and Greg Wallace.
Damn…
Greg Wallace.
I turn to Buck. “I want to see Greg Wallace.”
He furrows his brow. “Baby… Come on.”
“I have to. I need to ask him questions. I need to find out—”
He pushes two fingers over my mouth to quiet me. “Isn’t this enough, baby? Please? We know who was behind it, and they’re all going to pay. Wallace is already paying, Taylor paid with her life, and Nancy’s going to pay. Katelyn’s tormentor, Chris Pollack, is finally going to pay because he killed Gloria and Brian.”
Still, my nerves jump under my skin. There’s something more I need to know.
And Greg Wallace can tell me.
“Please, Buck. I need to talk to him. You can arrange it. Or Luke can.”
“Anyone can visit a prisoner. Of course it can be arranged. But Aspen, it’s not a good idea.”
“Please.”
“What would your father say?”
“We can ask him.”
“That’s not the point I was trying to make. Your father wants you safe. He wants you healing. You can heal now. You’ve got your revenge. All the people behind your abduction are either dead or are going to spend the rest of their lives in prison.”
“No,” I say, beginning to pace around the room. “It’s not enough, Buck. I need to know everything.”
29
BUCK
Yep.
I never doubt my hunches.
I had a feeling this wasn’t over.
And I was right.
Aspen is not going to let this lie. At least not yet.
Frankly, I’m glad Darnell is here. He and I will chat in the morning. Hopefully he’ll be able to talk Aspen out of continuing this.
Why would she want to see Greg Wallace? He’s a psychopath. A psychopath spending his life behind bars.
Apparently he couldn’t buy his way out like some of the other billionaires from that island.
If only I could fuck this need out of her.
But this is Aspen Davis. I can fuck her until the sun comes up, and I plan to, but none of that will change her mind.
“I’m serious,” Aspen says again. “I need to know everything.”
I grab her then. Meet her gaze and stare into those fiery brown eyes.
“You’re going to try to talk me out of it, aren’t you?”
“Hell no,” I say. “I’m not going to talk at all.”
I crush my mouth to hers.
She opens for me, which is not totally unexpected.
The chemistry between us has always sizzled, and we can’t resist each other.
She’s wrapped in a robe, and already my cock is hard for her.
I rake my fingers through her short hair, massage her scalp, and then I let one hand drop to the robe’s sash and untie it.
Then with both hands, I brush it off her shoulders. It falls into a puddle on the floor.
She’s naked then. Naked in my arms, and without breaking our kiss, I lead her to the bed.
The door is locked. I don’t know where Darnell is, and he’s certainly not at the front of my mind right now.
Nope. Lover’s six-foot six father? Big boner killer.
I wipe that from my mind.
This will be hard and fast. We’re good at that.
But first—
I spread her legs, and I touch between them.
She’s wet for me.
I inhale. She smells fresh, like soap and woman.
But between her legs is the ultimate delicacy. Her. Aspen. My beautiful Aspen.
I suck on her clit, thrust two fingers inside her, and she shoots, climaxing around my fingers.
That didn’t take long.
Not that I expected it to, after the day we had. She’s clamoring for release, and so am I.
I pull my cock out of my lounge pants, climb atop her, thrust inside.
Sweet, sweet relief.
I won’t be able to last either.
I pull out and thrust back in. Again. Again. Again.
Until—
“God!”
I release. I come. I give her everything. Everything in me. Everything—my heart, my soul—shoots out through my cock and into her.
The end of her climax and the beginning of mine, and as we soar together, reality hits me in the head.
I love this woman, but she won’t stop.
She won’t stop until she’s done.
So I have a choice.
Do I help her? Or do I hinder her?
Already I know the answer.
She’s my forever. I love her. And until she’s happy? I won’t be happy.
When the contractions finally cease and relaxation sweeps over me, I roll off of her. I turn on my side, my head on my shoulder.
“Baby?”
She opens her eyes and turns her head to look at me. “That was amazing,” she says.
“It was.”
Then she closes her eyes again.
“Baby?”
She opens them. “Yeah?”
“Whatever you need. I’m here for you. If you want to talk to Greg Wallace, I’ll make it happen.”
“Really?”
“I’m not saying I think it’s a good idea, baby. But I understand you. I understand you need more answers.”
“I do. And thank you.”
It’s not a lie. I do understand her need. I just think that sometimes there are more important things than the need for answers.
Like getting on with your life. Healing. Moving forward, not backward.
It took me a long time to understand that. Because I used to be exactly like Aspen.
Honor, courage, and commitment.
It’s what we learn as SEALs.
It’s why I did not break—why I did not give away my secrets—even during the most brutal punishment I’ve ever received.
And it’s what keeps me together now.
Humiliation threatens to overtake me.
But I control it.
I stay outside of myself. I do not focus inward.
I focus only on what I learned in training—how to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance.
The humiliation does not define me.
What someone else did to me does not define me.
My pain does not define me.
And I will not succumb.
Moments pass, and I drift in and out of consciousness.
I’ve lost a lot of blood. Will I even make it through this?
I open my eyes.
A light. Bright light, and a tunnel.
Peace is in that light. Peace and tranquility and no more pain. No more humiliation.
Tempting. So tempting—
“Buck!” A harsh whisper.
The light disappears.
Phoenix. His face. It’s blurry, but it’s him.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“How?”
“Friends on the inside. The insurgents have been…detained. We don’t have much time.”
I’m naked, and I make it to my feet.
Only then, through my blurred vision, do I realize that Leif is naked too.
“Clothes?
“Waiting for us. Guards’ clothes.”
“Guards’ clothes?”
I can pass as an Afghan with my dark hair and dark eyes, tanned skin. But Leif? Phoenix? He’s a blond and blue-eyed Scandinavian.
I don’t ask the question. He’ll find a way. The phoenix always rises.
The door to my cell is open, and Phoenix pulls me through it.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Am I okay? What a loaded question. Surely they did as much to Ramsey as they did to me. And I can be as strong as the next person.
“Fine,” I groan, ignoring the pain shooting through my legs, my shoulders, my ass. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
Several guards lie unconscious in a heap in the hallway.
The other prisoners taunt us, but we pay them no mind.
They yell at us in foreign languages, sometimes in English. “Take us with you! Please!”
It hurts me to ignore their pleas, but I have no choice.
I’m on a mission, and the mission comes first.
“Come on. That one looks about your size.” Phoenix gestures to one of the unconscious guards.
“Right.” I get to work, undressing the guard and praying he won’t wake.
I put on his clothing and take everything, including his firearms.
Phoenix does the same.
“Your eyes,” I whisper.
“Already taken care of.” He dons a pair of shades. I have no idea where he got them, and I don’t ask.
More pain lances through me.
But I won’t let any of it stop me.
They will not take me alive.
And they will not get any information out of me.
I held up during the worst torture imaginable.
But I’m not naïve. I know how much more they could do.
We stalk quietly through the pathways toward an open door, brandishing the guards’ weapons.
“We may have to separate,” Phoenix says.
I nod.
“Once we’re out, get to safety. Anywhere. We’ll find each other.”
“The others?” I ask.
“Wolf’s already out.”
