Mystery Man

Chapter Thirty-Six Commando Woman Lesson One

“Not my gig, Gwennie, but those shoes are hot,” Ginger said through a mouth full of Mustard’s Last Stand, Vienna beef, Chicago style, chili-cheese hotdog.

Mustard’s Last Stand had always been Ginger’s favorite and that was where she wanted to go after escaping her protective custody safe house when she saw my car on the street with me sitting in it having a mental collapse. So I headed to University Boulevard, bought her a chili-cheese dog and then we drove to the Target parking lot on Colorado Boulevard so she could eat it. The whole time to and from, Ginger checked for a tail and declared we didn’t have one.

I figured she would know so at least that was a relief.

She had her dog in one hand, the Polaroid of me and Hawk in the other one and she was studying it.

“Ginger, we need a plan,” I told her. “And I think the best plan we have is taking you straight to the police station. You can say you got a craving for Mustard’s and I’ll say I was just in the neighborhood having my annual nervous breakdown.”

Her eyes slid to me and, again with her mouth full, she asked, “Are you high?”

Okay, clearly that wasn’t a choice.

“How about I rent you a car, get you some money, we go to my house and get you some clothes and then you drive to Canada,” I suggested.

“Gwen, your clothes…” she trailed off and shook her head.

“Okay, then we’ll go to the nearest biker babe and stripper shops and we’ll stock you up.”

She glared at me then she stated, “It’s cold in Canada.”

“It’s cold here,” I reminded her.

“Yes, for a few months, it’s cold there all the time.”

“It is not.”

“It is too.”

“It’s not.”

“I’m not going to Canada,” she snapped, took another bite and shoved the photo in my purse.

“Don’t hurt my Polaroid!” I cried, my hand darting out to it to make sure she didn’t bend or scratch it. I pulled it out and inspected it, taking in a huge breath through my nostrils when I saw it was fine and then taking in another one when I saw the picture of Hawk laughing.

Fuck.

“Gwennie,” Ginger whispered and I carefully slid the picture safe into my purse and looked at her.

“How about we go to Dad? Dad’ll have an idea.”

“I can’t go to Mom and Dad. I shouldn’t be here with you and they’ve got your old man. This shit needs contained. It isn’t spreading any further.”

Wow. It seemed like Ginger had spent her time in protective custody reflecting.

Interesting.

“We’re going to Tack,” she announced and I stared at her.

“Ginger, honey, I hate to remind you of this but you owe the Chaos MC over two million dollars.”

“Yeah, well, my partners on that job were Fresh and Skeet and they got their stupid jackasses caught kidnapping you before they were able to move that shit. It was hot. Tack and his boys were all over it. We couldn’t move it until it got cold, not custom built cars and a bike, no way and none of his shit either. That stuff surfaced, it would lead back to them, no one knew they were in on it and they’d be fucked. Fresh and Skeet share a brain cell so neither of them could open a safe even though they told me they could. I don’t know how to do that shit so all of it is sittin’ in one of Skeet’s sister’s storage units on Evans.”

This was good news.

“This is good news,” I told her.

She shoved in the last bite of dog and then crumpled the messy wrapper and napkin, speaking again with mouth full. “I give you the location, you call it in to Tack, he sends boys out, they find that shit, I’m cool with Tack. Then we meet with him and you text Roarke. You tell them Tack is makin’ the switch.” I sucked in breath as she swallowed but before I could say anything, she kept talking. “If he can take my back after the switch is made, good. If he can’t…” she trailed off and shrugged.

I stared at her.

Then I asked, “Are you nuts?”

“No, Gwen, I’m not nuts. You aren’t gettin’ anywhere near Roarke.”

“Neither are you!” I fired back and her body jerked toward me.

“Call Tack, set up the deal,” she ordered.

“No, Ginger, I like the Canada plan,” I returned. “If you won’t do the police station plan, we should explore the Canada plan.”

“Bitch, they got your old man,” she reminded me and my throat started burning again as tears stung my eyes.

“I know,” I whispered, “and they’re not going to get you.”

“They got your old man,” she repeated.

“Stop it, Ginger, I know, okay? And they are not going to get you.”

She slipped her hand in my purse and then the Polaroid was in my face. “Gwen, for fuck’s sake, they’ve got –”

I snatched the picture from her and screamed, “I know!”

Then I closed my eyes tight and looked away.

Ginger was silent as I struggled with tears.

Then I heard her whisper, “Gwennie, call Tack.”

“No,” I whispered back.

Then she did something she hadn’t done in years. So long, I forgot she used to do it but she did it all the time when we were young. She just added a new, sweet, sister nuance.

I felt her hand curl around my neck and then I felt her forehead against the side of my hair as she sang a silly, nonsensical song she made up when she was three, “Gwennie, Gwennie, hennie, fennie, Gwennie, Gwennie, lennie, bennie, love my sissy… Gwennie.”

A sob tore up my throat.

I felt the Polaroid move gently in my hand before Ginger whispered, “You aren’t losin’ that because of me.”

My neck twisted and our eyes, an inch apart, locked.

“I love you, baby,” I whispered.

“I know you do,” she whispered back. “Call Tack.”

I sucked in breath. Then I asked, “You have to do this, don’t you?”

“I’m not supposed to look out the windows, Gwen, they’ve been watchin’ me like…” she closed her eyes then opened them but didn’t finish what she was going to say, “The shift was about to change, they got a guy, he gets sloppy around shift change so I looked. I been lookin’ awhile to find my shot and I couldn’t believe I saw you. So I took it. And I took it because they can’t…” she shook her head. “They’ll get me, Gwen. Eventually, they’ll get me. They can’t keep me safe because, obviously, they can’t keep you safe. I started this and it’s gotta be me who ends it.”

I stared at her. She was right.

Shit.

“I’ll call –” I started but both Ginger and my doors were yanked open.

We separated and my head shot around to see a very good-looking Native American man lean in front of me and nab the keys out of the ignition. He had long hair pulled back into a ponytail and I knew exactly who he was. Vance Crowe, one of Lee Nightingale’s men.

Shit!

He pulled back but his eyes came to me as I heard Ginger cry out and felt her presence leave the car.

“Lee wants a word,” Crowe stated. “You come or I drag you.”

“Okey dokey,” I whispered, slid the picture in my purse, grabbed the strap and when his body pulled out of the frame, I exited the car.

Ginger and I, escorted by Vance Crowe and Luke Stark, entered the Nightingale Investigations offices.

They were posh, all gleaming wood and bronze statues.

Nice.

“I can’t believe you ditched me!” Tracy screeched after I got two feet in the door. I turned to look at her and she was advancing on me then she skidded to a halt when she saw Ginger. “Holy crap! You busted her out!” she yelled.

“I didn’t bust her out. She escaped,” I replied.

“Shee-it,” an African American woman with a very large afro and stunning tawny brown eyes was sitting behind the reception desk and staring at Ginger. “Little thing like you caused all this ruckus? Feds, cops, badasses, commandos all in a tizzy. Denver’s underground and overground spinnin’ like tops.” She smiled huge and nodded once before she finished with, “you go, girl.”

Ginger grinned at her.

I looked toward an inside door that had opened and Lee Nightingale and Jorge were coming out of it.

“Smoke,” I whispered.

“Thinkin’ we should count ourselves lucky you don’t clue in that Hawk still watches your every move, babe,” Jorge said to me. “And that means your every move. He’s got a tracking device on your car.”

Shit.

“And in your phone,” Jorge went on.

Shit!

“And we monitor your calls and texts,” he finished.

Shit!

“Okay,” I replied. “So if you monitor my texts, does this mean you’ve been looking for him since this morning?”

“Lookin’ and findin’, Gwen,” Jorge returned. “Mighta went faster we didn’t have to keep your shit covered, you runnin’ around Denver, findin’ trouble.”

My relief was so extreme, I felt lightheaded.

“You found him?” I breathed.

“Rescue mission is imminent and would be under way, we didn’t have to lock you and your sister down in Lee’s safe room to keep your shit out of trouble.”

My relief fled as my eyes narrowed. “What did you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know, hit base and tell us Hawk was compromised?” Jorge shot back.

Sarcasm.

“I didn’t want you to go all commando and get him killed!” I yelled.

“Part of Hawk’s business is K and R, babe,” Jorge informed me.

“I don’t even know what that means,” I informed him back.

“Kidnap and ransom, or, for Hawk, the R stands for rescue,” Jorge enlightened me.

Wow. That was cool.

“Really?” I whispered.

“Jesus,” Luke Stark muttered.

“Shirleen, make our guests comfortable,” Lee, clearly done with Jorge and my exchange, moved toward the outer door.

“I’m coming with you,” Ginger announced.

“You’re goin’ back to the Feds,” Lee contradicted.

“They want me,” Ginger returned.

Lee stopped close to her. “They aren’t gettin’ what they want.”

“Her old man could get hurt,” Ginger told him.

“Woman, you know who I am, you know who Hawk is, you know his boys are trained, don’t talk stupid,” Lee warned.

“My sister’s old man can’t be –” Ginger started but Lee leaned into her

“He’s hangin’ from a hook right now, Ginger. I gotta stand here listenin’ to your mouth and your guilt, he hangs from that hook longer. You shut up, I can go get him and get him back to your sister. You got more to say?”

“I feel like taking a tour of the safe room,” I declared quickly, my eyes going to who I guessed was Shirleen, the tawny-eyed lady behind the reception desk. “Shirleen? Do you do tours?”

She shot out of her chair. “Part of my job description.”

“Yay,” I said but it came out shaky.

Shirleen rounded the desk and I looked to Ginger as the men headed toward the door. Shirleen scooped up Ginger as she passed her, hooking her arm through my sister’s and pulling her along.

My eyes went to Lee who was the last one out the door and he paused before he went through, his eyes coming to me.

“Be careful,” I whispered, he nodded and I finished, “But bring him safe back to me.”

“Less than an hour, Gwen, he’ll be close enough to touch,” Lee whispered back and the tears filled my eyes and slid down my face.

“Thank you.” Those two words were barely audible

Tracy’s arm hooked me, I had no choice but to turn away from Lee but before I did I saw his chin go up and then I saw the door close on his back.

Tracy, Ginger, Shirleen and I were in the safe room.

It wasn’t that big but we were all scrunched in there watching the movie 300 on a flat screen TV. This was a movie I suspected Shirleen watched a lot and I mostly suspected this because she quoted most of the dialogue while the actors were saying it. I also suspected this because it was already in the DVD player. And lastly I suspected this because she didn’t ask us what we wanted to watch, she just settled us in and turned it on.

The room had a double bed, a reclining chair and shelves full of DVDs. Ginger was in the chair. I was tucked into a protective ball on the bed, pressed into the corner of the wall. Tracy was close to me, holding my hand. And Shirleen was lounging on her side across the foot of the bed.

Ginger and Shirleen were watching the movie. I didn’t think Tracy was but I wasn’t sure because I was suspended in time.

Suddenly and without warning the door opened, my eyes shot to it and Hawk prowled through.

I sucked in breath and my heart stopped beating.

He was clean and bloodless, his hair still wet from a shower and he was wearing a fresh pair of black cargos and a dark blue, skintight t-shirt. There was a raw, scary-looking cut on his lip, an equally raw, scary-looking cut and swelling on his cheek and around his eye. The cut on his cheek was taped closed by three, thin, short, white bandages. He also had angry red welts around both his wrists.

Other than that, he looked fine. Standing, breathing, prowling, fine.

Except, vaguely in the recesses of my mind, it struck me he looked kind of pissed.

I didn’t care.

I shot out of my protective ball and up on my feet on the bed. I took one step, jumped over Shirleen’s body, my foot hit the edge of the bed and I launched myself through the air at my man.

He caught me with a grunt and went back on a foot.

My arms and legs went around him and I started raining kisses on every bit of skin my mouth could find.

“Babe,” he called, one of his arms curled under my ass, the other one around my back.

I ignored him and kept kissing his neck, his jaw, his throat, his cheek…

“Sweet Pea,” he called, his arm at my back becoming a hand sliding up and into my hair.

I continued to ignore him and my mouth touched his.

His head jerked back and his hand twisted gently in my hair.

“Gwen, baby, I’m okay,” he whispered and my eyes moved to his.

I stared down at him, drinking him in, feeling his power, his heat, all that was him wrapped in my limbs. Then I felt my face dissolve and I shoved it in his neck right before my breath hitched loudly and my body bucked with tears.

His head turned and his hand in my hair tightened. “Baby,” he whispered in my ear.

My head jerked up and I wailed, “I can’t believe you took a shower before you came to see me!”

“Gwen –”

“Next time I get a scary picture text where you’re bleeding from your ear and hanging from something, new rule!” I shrieked. “You come see me immediately after you’re rescued!”

“It wasn’t exactly a rescue effort,” Luke Stark put in and my head snapped to see him standing two feet from Hawk and my side. “More like a clean up one,” he finished.

“What?” I asked.

“Glad I work for Lee,” Vance Crowe muttered and my head snapped to the other side to see him standing two feet from us there. “Lee doesn’t like mess. Fuckin’ hell.” Vance leaned forward to look at Luke. “Did you see Jorge? He walked into that shit and didn’t even blink.”

“Forgot that smell,” Luke muttered and shook his head. “Fear.” Then his lip curled.

Oh boy.

I looked at Hawk. “What’d you do?”

Hawk looked at me. “Not a big fan of bein’ tasered, hung on a hook and men takin’ fists to me, babe.”

This was not an answer.

“What’d you do?” I repeated.

“Yeah, what’d you do?” Shirleen asked from behind me and she sounded more than a little curious, actually, she sounded excited.

“Thought we agreed ignorance is bliss,” Hawk said to me.

“What,” I started. “Did,” I went on. “You do?” I finished and he grinned at me, the dimples popped out and seeing them again after thinking I’d never see them again, my heart skipped a beat.

“Commando Lesson One,” Hawk answered. “You got a hostage you know is trained, you incapacitate him. They should have drugged me. They didn’t. They tied my ankles but left me hanging. Tyin’ ankles doesn’t do shit. The power, babe, is in my thighs. I get a head between my thighs, the neck is vulnerable –”

“Okay,” I said swiftly, “I’m done with Commando Lessons. That was the first and last.”

Hawk’s dimples came back. Then he set me on my feet. Then the dimples disappeared.

Uh-oh.

“All right, Sweet Pea, Commando Woman Lesson One, you get a text like you got, you call it into base and you do it immediately.”

I was right except uh-oh didn’t quite cover it.

“Hawk –”

“You do not go visit your local, friendly motorcycle club to recruit assistance.”

“Ha –”

“You do not drag your dispatch cosmo girlfriend into your man’s shit firstly, because it might get her ass fired but especially because it might get her ass hurt.”

“Cabe –”

“You do not set your banker friend on a data search that’ll get his ass hauled to the local FBI offices for an interrogation that will be really, fuckin’ uncomfortable.”

Uh-oh!

“Ca –”

“You do not,” he leaned into me, his serious face turning hard, “ever, offer yourself up for exchange.”

“Baby –”

“And you do not go on the lam with your protective custody witness sister.”

“I –”

“Confirm you get me, babe.”

“But –”

He leaned in so he was an inch from my face. “Confirm…you… get… me.”

I stared at him.

Then my day surged through my brain which sent acid through my system and I lost my mind.

“I will do,” I planted my hands on my hips and stared in his black eyes, “what I have to do first, to make sure you’re safe and second, to make sure I get to make more memories with you so, okay, I’ll call base but then I will do whatever the fuck I have to do to make that happen so, no, Hawk, I do not get you!”

“Gwen –”

“I’ve been panicked all day!” I shouted, throwing up my hands and taking a step back from him. “You didn’t give me Commando Woman Lesson One this morning. No, you kissed me good-bye and said you’d see me tonight and I went about my business of the day to make sure you’d see me tonight!”

“Gwen –”

“You were bleeding from your ear!” I shrieked.

He reached out with both hands, caught me and hauled me into his body, whispering, “Baby.”

My hands clenched in his tee as his arms slid around me. “It was you or my sister. Do you know what that kind of decision does to your head?”

“All right, Sweet Pea, I get it,” he said gently.

“Yes, Cabe,” I stared him in the eyes, “of anyone, you do. You know what I was facing today. You know.” I watched his eyes close, my hands released his shirt, slid up to wrap around the sides of his neck, his eyes opened and he showed me he not only got it, he really, really got it. So my voice was quiet when I went on. “I can get why you’re angry, honey, but cut me some slack. I was doing the best I could do so you didn’t become a picture on my fucking refrigerator.”

His neck bent and his forehead touched mine then slid to the side, his cheek hit mine and that slid down too and then his face was in my neck and his arms got tight.

In return I circled his shoulders with my arms and pressed close.

“They need a minute,” I heard Luke say in a way that was kind of a suggestion but more a get your asses out of here.

I felt people move around and I heard a door close. Then I turned my head and put my lips to Hawk’s ear.

“You think you could make a call so the Feds don’t do a cavity search on Troy?” I asked.

Hawk lifted his head and looked at me.

“Yeah,” he answered, his lips twitching.

“You think, before Ginger goes back to the Feds, Dad and Meredith can visit with her?”

His eyes warmed and he repeated, “Yeah.”

“Okay,” I nodded, relaxing into him. “Now do you think, since you’ve been close enough to touch for at least five minutes and you’re safe and healthy enough to get pissed at me, you could finally kiss me?”

His eyes got warmer and he added intense.

“Yeah.”

My hand slid up to cup his head. “Then kiss me, baby,” I whispered.

He stared into my eyes then his head slanted and, just like Hawk, he gave me what I wanted most in the world.