Jordy army, p.23
Jordyn's Army, page 23
“You will leave me behind. Everyone has.”
“What? Hannah, no – listen, I’ll marry you tonight. Now.”
“That’s not what I meant, Jonah. You almost died today! I can’t do this.”
I laughed, still not realizing how serious that moment was. “Aw, baby, no – equipment fails all the time.”
“Equipment fails all the time!” she repeated, her small hand slamming down on the table.
“Hannah, honestly, I’ve cheated death so many times that—”
And that was the exact wrong thing to say.
“I don’t want to be a with a pilot. Never again will I sit home and wait for them to come to my door and tell me…” Tears flowed down her face.
I knew then I was losing her. “I could maybe get a desk job next or something.”
A weak smile wiped across her face. “I would never do that, ask you to change. Jonah, I just need space. Please – this is all too much for me right now. Let me think.”
“We’ve both already done too much thinking. It’s time for us to live!”
She pushed her chair back and stood. “Don’t come over tonight, okay? Promise me.”
“Hannah—”
“Don’t!” she said sharply.
She wouldn’t answer my calls or my texts. Finally, I took to sitting at the bar at the club across from her each night she worked. She’d ignore me, but I just wanted to be close to her.
I knew she felt as strongly as I did, so I’d sit there and sip water. Yes, water. Those long nights, my sole intention was to get her back. But she wouldn’t even speak to me. Every night she worked, I followed her home. I wouldn’t go back to base until I saw her door close and the lights turn out.
One night about a week after she’d left me, though, I decided to trade my water from something stronger. My former squadron, one I’d deployed with to Iraq and Afghanistan, was in town for exercises. We were tight, as those who get shot at together always are, and I decided to let my guard down a little.
Shot after shot later, I was wasted. And that’s, of course, when my DO chose to mess with me.
“Up to no good again I see, asshole.” There stood Danno, and his face looked like he’d sucked a thousand lemons.
“Jusssttt a few drinkks wiff da boys,” I slurred.
“Drunk and bloody. Very becoming for a field grade officer in public, I must say.” He glanced down at my ripped jeans, the dried blood from a wicked round of Crud crusting over.
“Just a game with the boys…weren’t you in the Panthers once? Oh, nevermind, I forgot you haven’t done much actual warfare. Desk work, right? Playing it safe back home with the fam while we were getting shot at by shoulder-fired missiles.”
His puffy hands stroked his starched, ironed flight suit. “Watch yourself, Whaler.”
I knew I’d gotten to him when he used my call sign, which he never had before. But I never knew when to stop. “Did you have that dry cleaned? It looks…crisp.”
His face red, he nearly spat the words into my face. “Screw you, Jones. Wouldn’t your wife still be alive if you had an ounce of self-respect? What was her name…I forget…”
His eyes rolled to the ceiling, his stupid finger parked on his lower lip. Like a volcano, I could feel myself about to erupt. “Don’t you say her—”
And then he said it. “Rachel.”
That was all I needed to punch him in his stupid face as hard as I possibly could. And lucky for him, I was inebriated enough not to break his ugly nose. A boxer throughout college, I certainly could have done a shit-ton more damage sober.
But it was bloody – far bloodier than my gashed up left leg, that’s for sure. Even worse, as Danno fell to the ground, I saw her run to us. Hannah – she saw the whole thing.
Ten of my buddies nearly carried me out the door of the club. They must have gotten me to my room, but I sure as hell don’t remember it. Just before passing out, fully clothed, on top of the bed – I heard her one more time.
“Tomorrow, Jonah, go get my roses.”
“I can’t,” I begged. “She won’t talk to me.”
“She will. Sleep it off, clean up, and go get my roses from Hannah. A dozen copper roses – and it’ll all be okay.”
The next morning, I got up and showered, shaved, put on actual clean clothes, and headed toward the Base Exchange. There wasn’t much hope in me; she’d ignored my calls and texts and wouldn’t even look at me in person. But Rachel was relentless, and I wasn’t about to let her haunt me.
It was Saturday and busy. With kids running everywhere, a packed food court, and an endless Starbucks line, I knew she’d be working her craft stall. I braved the coffee line, and caramel macchiato in hand, I watched her from afar.
Twice she looked over at me, her expression unreadable. There’d be considerable fallout from my encounter with Danno, and I knew it. Punching your DO, your squadron’s second-in-command, in the face in the middle of the Nellis Club wasn’t something that would go unpunished.
With my history, even though I’d managed to avoid major fallout for my prior screw-ups, I knew I was done career-wise. This time they’d take my commission, take my wings, and kick me out. But that was the very least of my concerns that morning.
My goal was to talk to Hannah – to fulfill Rachel’s request. I had to have her.
It wasn’t until an hour later when there was a break in her traffic. I walked up, determined to be near her at least one last time.
“Major Jones,” was all she said. “How can I help you?”
Her words were formal, but her eyes brimmed with tears. “I need a dozen roses,” I said.
“Uh, what?” I think she expected a much more personal conversation, perhaps some mention of my circus-act the night prior. But Rachel told me to go get a dozen roses, and that’s what I focused on.
“I-I…it’s been a really busy day.”
“Yeah, payday. I saw the retirees wheeling out their cartons of cigarettes and gallons of tax-free vodka.”
She smiled through her tears and nodded. “A dozen?”
I waited until her eyes met mine. “Rachel asked me to get a dozen. She sent me.”
The tears flowed over, down her face, as everyone began to watch. “I’m sorry about last night, Hannah, but the thing is I love you. Not because a ghost told me to, not because I’m lonely, and not because I’m at rock bottom. Because I’m not – for the first time in forever, I’m not. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
A hard sniffle, the back of her hand across her nose, and a glance around at the gathering crowd, and she said words that were unexpected. I was hoping for, “I love you, too.” I was expecting, “Go to hell, Jonah.” What I got was purely my Hannah.
“I don’t have a dozen left.”
“Well,” I said. “I guess I’ll have to wait.”
“I can’t just…I mean they take time. I have maybe two left.” She glanced toward her materials and back to me.
“Like I said, I guess I’ll have to wait.”
“Oh, um, I could probably have them for you in a week or so…” She was confused, but I wasn’t. I knew exactly what I was doing.
“Hannah, I’ll wait with you for those twelve roses. And then, I’ll wait for twelve more, and twelve more. I can’t lose you again.”
Another massive sniff and more tears before she reached for me. And then, finally, after everything, she said those magic words. “I love you, too, Jonah. Yes.”
6
The next morning, in her arms, I didn’t care about anything but us. At last, she was mine.
Her index finger snaked across the tattoo on my chest. “Why the wings? I’ve always been curious.”
“The last time they tried to take them, I decided to have them made permanent. They’ll never take these.”
“No one’s taking your wings, Jonah.”
“Danno will get it done, finally. My record is shit.”
“But you’re good! I heard the guys in the bar talking. One of them said you were the best he’d ever flown with.”
“It’s not about that anymore. I’m old-school. Now days they want guys who fall in line and are perpetually politically correct. Even before my downward spiral after Rachel died, I didn’t color between the lines. They want yes-men and any reason to toss me; he will get it done. Last night I gave him the fuel.”
“Trust me on this one,” she said, her fingers reaching for me, bringing me to life again as she always did.
I was two hours past my show time that next morning. And, of course, the first person I see is my commander.
“Oh hey, Whaler, sorry about all the commotion. Do you think you could lead that four ship at thirteen hundred? The boys from Hill are out, and Razor is out sick with a case of the shits.”
“Uh, what, bro?” Commotion? I was still flying?
He raised his eyebrows, reminding me we were standing in front of the Ops Desk. “Oh, I mean, yes, Sir.”
“Your twelve hours good?”
“Yeah, I’m cool there.” He was referring to the twelve hour “bottle to throttle rule” – meaning you can’t fly within twelve hours of drinking.
“Top notch,” he said with his signature thumbs up.
I glanced toward the squadron admin – she always knew everything going on at Nellis. “Oh hey, Steph, are things…okay today? I mean have you heard anything about me?”
“You mean your club performance, Whaler?” she answered with a bored snicker.
“Yeah, that,” I answered quizzically. Had the universe turned on its side? Was Rachel watching over me like a guardian angel?
“I think it’s cool.”
“Cool?” This was seriously odd.
“Yeah, um, talk to Danno or whatever, but I don’t think there’s any worries about it at the Wing. It always gets crazy when the Panthers are in town.” She never even looked up from her screen – and Stephanie Lawson knew everything that went on.
“Bullshit,” I said out loud. Done hiding from life, I was taking the virtual bull by the horns.
“I’d tell you, Whaler. You’re like my favorite and stuff.” She looked up at me from behind her glasses.
“Only because I bring you lattes.”
“Well, that and the whole bedroom eyes thing.”
I grinned at her. “Let me know if you hear anything, okay?”
She winked at me. “Should I text you? Ya know, like around midnight?”
I winked back, always a flirt. “Sweet of you, but I have like a thing going on. Lattes tomorrow, though, I promise.”
“And croissants?”
I nodded. “With extra butter.”
“Deal.”
I knocked on Danno’s door, bracing for the heat I was about to get.
“C’mon in,” he said absently from his large oak desk.
He looked up at me, his face turning red for a second before he gestured toward a chair. “Ah, Major Jones. Can I help you with something?”
I turned the chair backward, obstinately, and plopped down in it. There was a bandage across his nose – an obvious sign of damage from my drunken, enraged fist the night before. So I hadn’t exactly imagined the “commotion” of the night prior.
“Sorry ‘bout your nose, Boss. I got carried away.”
“Big time. But you know, tempers flared. I’ve given you a hard time lately, and I’m hoping there are no hard feelings.”
No hard feelings? Carried away? This guy had been out to get me from the day I showed up in the squadron.
“What gives, Danno? You’re not pressing this? A hundred people saw me clock you in the club last night.”
He flinched, his fingers instinctively caressing his damaged nose.
“Bygones, Whaler. Just tell your little minx to stick to her word, and we’re good.”
“Rachel?” I was truly lost.
He turned white, and I knew he sure as hell wasn’t talking about my ghost of a departed wife. “You mean Hannah?”
His eyes widened, like a deer in headlights. “You tell her if she keeps her end of the bargain, I’ll keep mine!”
“Ah, okayyyy….?”
“I mean it. As far as I’m concerned, this is done. But she’d better destroy that evidence like she said she would last night.”
“Evidence of…?”
He slammed his fist on the desk, immediately rubbing it like the wuss he was. “Not here!” he said in a near hiss. He glanced around the room as if it were bugged. Okay, who am I kidding? The rooms are bugged – bugged and watched constantly by OSI, or the Office of Special Investigations.
“Good doing business with ya, Boss,” I said, tossing the chair toward his desk.
As I left his office, I shook my head in disbelief. The women I loved were truly my guardian angels.
Hours later, I married Hannah in front of Elvis. There were three people in attendance, including the commander who’d brought me back to Vegas, and the organist who worked for tips.
It was one of the two happiest days of my life.
Earlier I’d asked her what she had on Danno.
“Oh that,” she’d said casually. “He’s sleeping with General Stevens’ girl.”
“The four star? That’s insane. Isn’t his wife like a million years old?”
“His daughter. She’s legal but the Stevens would murder him. We have it on video – they’d sneak in the club’s storage room all last summer. We installed cameras back there after liquor bottles started disappearing. He’s not very nice to the staff, so we accidentally forget to delete his little porn-show.”
“Wow, Danno! Who knew? That’s some messed up shit.”
“Oh it’s worse – he’s a sick puppy. This isn’t normal, if you know what I mean. I simply let that jerk-face know last night after you left that I’d hate for that to get out.”
“Jerk-face,” I repeated with a chuckle.
She smiled up at me, her hazel eyes glistening in the fake LED candlelight. “I love you so much, Jonah. I hope we do them proud.”
“We will, my darlin’ – we will.”
I walked her up the aisle that evening, and I never looked back. Our future was bright, sure, but no matter what, it would have shined for eternity with Hannah. Our love wasn’t just ours; we shared it with those we loved before.
The love symbolized by the roses brought us full circle. We would always share our love with those that we loved before. After all, they brought us together. They saved our lives that summer, and in turn, they live forever within us.
“Thank you, Levi and Rachel,” we said in our vows that night. “Thank you for leading us home.”
THE END
About Sam JD Hunt
Sam JD Hunt resides in Las Vegas with her husband and two children. When not writing, Hunt enjoys travel, community involvement, spending time with friends and family, and hiking. She spends her days writing and trying to answer the age-old question: is it too late for coffee or too early for wine?
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Web: www.samjdhunt.com
Finley and Sebastian, Wages of Sin Series
Tara Leigh
1
Sebastián
I fought hard against my legacy. Denied my heritage with every breath in my body for nearly thirty years. I believed escape was possible.
I was wrong.
Los Muertos blood runs through my veins, the expectations and obligations of the powerful cartel an invisible, inescapable prison.
And so, here I am.
Making small talk with the privileged and powerful of Manhattan. Billionaires. Bureaucrats. Blue bloods. At the exclusive club I opened just a few months ago, in the heart of New York City, luxury and elegance wrap around me like a silken cocoon.
Smooth.
Suffocating.
Membership is by invitation only. My invitation.
Sixty-six stories above Fifth Avenue, this city’s most prestigious thoroughfare, I’ve created a playground for the wealthy and well-connected. Politicians mix with criminals, nobility with the notorious.
My eyes briefly flick to the marbled gold logo on the wall. Reign.
When I finally succumbed to reality—that I could either fight a losing battle or take control of the war itself—I chose to fight … and win.
This is me, fucking winning.
Los Muertos operations are no longer based in the Bronx, our influence not limited to drugs and various illegal enterprises up and down the East Coast of the United States.
Since brokering a deal with Damon King, the unofficial ruler of Manhattan’s criminal underworld, I’ve changed the way Los Muertos conducts business. And by change, I mean: expand. Los Muertos still controls the vast majority of drugs that make their way to this city’s streets. But now we cater to a very powerful—and lucrative—segment of the market as well. Reign is the keystone of my plan.
A plan that will weave Los Muertos interests into the most fundamental elements of this city’s infrastructure. Real estate, finance, media, construction. I intend to blur the lines between vice and virtue. Between illustrious and illegal.
The woman who has been glaring daggers at the back of my neck as I work the room is part of my plan.
She is less than thrilled with the situation.
“Hello, Finley.” I finally make my way to the bar where Damion King’s second in command is perched on a stool, an untouched drink in front of her. Catching the eye of the bartender, a glass is immediately placed in front of me as well.
“Sebastián.” My name slips from her lips, a throaty purr with a flinty edge.
“Thank you for meeting me—”
“Cut the bullshit. I’m only here because Damon couldn’t be.” Her aquamarine eyes narrow. “Which is the only reason I’m here.”
True. I waited until I knew King would be unavailable to request this face to face meeting. But I keep my features impassive. “Trust me, not all obligations are unpleasant.”
