Flawlessly Executed (Dark Horse Guardians Book 3) (29 page)

“She’d love this,” Rupert dangled the pendant before him. “And, the price is right.”

Ben laughed, “I’ll take it. But if she comes in here, don’t tell her.”

Rupert smiled. “I’m very familiar with Lara. She’s here often, especially lately. For a while she didn’t come by, but lately she’s been a regular customer. Her design business has done well.”

Ben had Rupert wrap the gift and slid into his truck. It was cold and threatening to snow again. He already had a gift for William. It was tucked away in the top drawer of his bureau. It was unique and something he was certain his son would like.

The woodstove was roaring when Ben returned to Clearwater Farm; Lara and William had taken Einstein for a walk on the beach. Her message on the chalkboard said she’d be back by 4:00 and reminded him they’d be going to church at 5:00 PM. He slipped into a charcoal gray wool suit and found a Charlie Brown Christmas tie to wear. He’d gotten one with Snoopy for William.

~ William ~

Walking with Lara and Einstein, William peppered Lara with questions about church. He was nervous about going; this was unchartered territory for him. He accepted wearing a suit; he wore one every day at school.

“I’ve never been to a Catholic church…” William said haltingly.

“Not to worry,” Lara replied, “Just copy everything I do. I’ll be right next to you and will whisper in your ear.”

William smiled up at her and she winked. He wished his Mom had this much energy and interest in him. Lara was fun to be with. No wonder his dad couldn’t wait to marry her. For the past few days William dreamed of living at Clearwater Farm with his dad and Lara. But, then reality would sneak back. He knew his mother needed him. She had no one. He decided to call her tonight after church to see if she was okay.

As they made their way into the kitchen to warm up, William saw his father step though the doorway.

“How do I look?” his dad had a handsome smile.

William thought his father looked great in the suit. He hadn’t seen him dress up like that often. He saw Lara’s eyes light up with approval.

“You clean up very nicely, Lieutenant.” She smiled and winked.

William felt his father’s hand on his shoulder, “I have this for you.”

Dad handed him the Snoopy tie and William smiled.

“We match,” Dad said laughing. William ran upstairs to change into his suit.

The church was packed with families at 5:00 PM and William followed Lara and did everything she did. He blessed himself with holy water before entering and kneeled to genuflect before getting into the pew. Lara pointed out the scriptures on the board in the front and took the Bible out of its hiding place. A small leaflet handed to them had the words to the songs they would sing. Lara had told him that tonight’s service would be lengthy as it celebrated the birth of Jesus, and William knew some things about him.

The candles made the cathedral beautiful and William’s eyes drank in all of the architectural details. Lara explained the history of the place to him and he was fascinated. She knew so much and made everything interesting. At the end of the service, William was thankful that he experienced this part of Lara’s life. She called herself a part-time Catholic, but William could see she was a deeply spiritual person. She didn’t just talk about kindness and compassion, she practiced it every day and he admired her for it.

At home, Lara watched a few Christmas movies with him as his dad was in and out of his office. William noticed his dad was on the phone speaking a foreign language and he had all three of his computers running. He thought his dad’s office would make a super-cool gaming room, but he wasn’t allowed to hang out in there. Business is business, his father had told him.

At bedtime William realized he had never had his father tuck him into bed until he visited Clearwater Farm. And, this was the first time he saw his father on Christmas Eve.

William had so many questions for his dad, he didn’t know where to start. Every time they were alone he wanted to ask him something.

“Hey, dad,” William started, “What was the biggest thing you learned in the Navy?”

~ Ben ~

Ben was unprepared for a question this deep from a ten-year old. He smiled and scratched his head for a moment.

“Take charge of your attitude. Never let someone else choose it for you.”

He watched his young son ponder the words. Then William spoke,

“So, in other words, you learned how to become yourself and you didn’t let anyone push you around.”

“Yeah, I found out who I really was in the Navy. It sort of toughened me up, but it also made me think deeply about what I stood for. No one could make me do something I didn’t think was right. I took charge of my own feelings, thoughts, and made my own decisions. Then, lived with the consequence. And, if some guy picked a fight with me, I never let him go through with it. Unless, of course, he already started beating me. Then, I’d defend myself. But most of the time I managed to avoid conflict. It’s always best if you can.” Ben felt his explanation may have been too long.

But William nodded, “Yeah, I get it, dad.” He kissed his son’s forehead and said goodnight. William seemed to understand a hell of a lot more than he let on.

He crept downstairs and saw Lara in the living room putting gifts underneath the tree. There wasn’t a lot of gift giving, as she saw Christmas as a spiritual holiday rather than a commercial one. In an attempt to tease her, he pawed through the wrapped gifts and glanced at Lara,

“Hey, there’s not one gift here with my name on it,” he feigned disappointment.

“Well, maybe Santa knows you’ve been a naughty boy!” Lara giggled.

“Or, maybe Santa has something special for me in the bedroom…” Ben laughed.

“Yeah, a pillow with your name on it. I’m exhausted. I’m making some cocoa. Want some?” Lara glanced at him.

“Sure.” He was relieved. He longed to sleep for a full eight hours for once. Maybe it would happen, but he doubted it.

He was right. Christmas morning he was up before the sun and on the computer with Moshe and the Dark Horse Guardian team. Chatter. That’s what they were talking about. Gossip. Bullshit. Who could believe some of this stuff? But if what he was hearing was
real
, then there would be another mission coming up very soon.

Lara startled him in the doorway. “Hey, it’s time to open gifts!”

Ben sat on the living room floor with William and Einstein and Lara handed him a cup of coffee.

“Okay, Lara. You open your gifts first.” Ben announced.

He watched as she opened the antique pendant and she squealed with delight. Good, he made the right choice. Then he watched as she opened William’s gift. It was a diary of his days with them during Christmas break. She opened the book and read the first few passages.

“Oh, Will, this is beautiful. I
love
it!” Lara embraced the young boy.

William smiled, “I got the idea from a bed and breakfast where I stayed. Everyone staying there wrote in a journal on the nightstand next to the bed. It was rather interesting to read. I tried to make mine interesting and it’s sort of a thank you note for you, Lara.”

Ben wondered where this kid got such common sense and perception. He knew
exactly
how to get inside Lara’s heart. She was glowing.

William opened a large box that held a smaller box. Ben was always a master at disguising gifts. His heart nearly stopped beating when he heard his son’s voice,

“Wow, dad ~ is this YOUR trident? The one you had as a Navy SEAL?” William asked.

“Yup,” Ben smiled. “It’s yours now.”

He watched as William’s fingers touched the intricate piece of military pageantry.

“This is so
cool
…” Ben could tell it was exactly what William wanted and he felt a feeling of contentment overwhelm him.

~ Lara ~

She choked back tears when she saw William open the trident. She had no idea Ben was going to give that to him for a Christmas gift. It had great meaning for William. He was beyond excited and happy ~ he was over the top.

“Well, Santa couldn’t fit
your
gift under the tree, Ben, so I will have to take you guys to see it.”

Ben and William exchanged a quizzical look. Ben said, “Lead the way.” They slipped on their coats and boots and hopped into the Mercedes. Lara was smiling as she watched their expressions out of the corner of her eye. When she pulled into the Falmouth Yacht Club five minutes later, Ben and William started guessing.

“Hey, dad, maybe we’re having a special meal at the yacht club!” William speculated.

“No, the yacht club is closed on Christmas Day…” Ben responded. By the look on his face Lara knew he truly wondered what was up.

She parked the Mercedes and Mr. Alston met them in the parking lot. He shook Ben’s hand, then William’s. “Ready?”

Lara said, “Yes, we’re ready.”

The four of them walked to the forty-foot Hinckley shrink-wrapped, wearing a huge red bow. Lara observed Ben’s face light up and William yelled, “Hey, it’s a yacht, dad!”

They carefully boarded the vessel using a ladder and Lara let Ben and William go inside to explore. She stood in the cockpit watching Ben touch each tiny detail of the sloop, as if he was entranced.

“My God, she’s beautiful…I mean really
beautiful
.” Ben said softly, his Irish inflection made her heart skip a beat. For Ben, this was an unguarded moment; his true feelings were evident and she took great pleasure watching his features change from bewildered to excited, then happy. After touring below he scrambled into the cockpit to examine the instrumentation and rigging.

“Do you like it?” Lara asked.

“Oh, I love it….I love it, baby!” he embraced her and she could feel his heart beating wildly. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Ben so giddy with excitement.

~ Ben ~

Ben was overwhelmed with the gift. A forty-foot Hinckley sloop for a former frogman was like giving a teenager their first car. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt ecstatic. It was probably the moment he first met Lara. This was a close second. It was especially nice to have William there to share it with him.

“What are you going to name it, Dad?” William yelled to him.

“I don’t know ~ I’ll need to think of a name.” Ben replied, still taking in the details.

After spending an hour going over every inch of the vessel, Ben helped Lara down the ladder and caught her in his arms.

“How did you know?” He buried his face in her neck overcome with gratitude.

Lara giggled, “You’re a Navy man ~ this was
made
for you!”

He cupped her face in his hands, “This was made for
us
. Now I can’t wait for summer. It will be fun, alone with you. I’ll teach you how to sail.” Kissing her lips, he marveled at how well Lara could read him. Maybe she noticed how his head swiveled every time he saw a sleek boat being towed down the road or how he drooled on the vessels docked next to the Seafood Palace in Portland. But this was exactly what he wanted. He loved sailing and had only spoken of it a few times.

Lara’s mother and Rusty were coming for Christmas dinner. The ride back to the house was only five minutes.

“I put the roast beef in early, so we can have a Noon meal.” Lara informed him.

Ben cut up vegetables to toss into the roasting pan. As he was finishing up, his satellite phone chimed.

“I’ll be right back,” he kissed Lara’s cheek and walked into his office.

“Hey, here’s the plan,” Moshe was on the line speaking in hushed tones. “We’re being paid a bounty for each guy released from Guantanamo. And the dear leader is the one paying us in a roundabout way. But who gives a shit about that. We want them dead so badly we’d do it for
free
, but don’t tell
him
that. He just released five of them in a big public relations prisoner swap. But what the American public doesn’t know is he quietly released another twelve after that. Most of these guys are on the Saudi most-wanted list. They’re going to pay a bounty, too.”

Ben was enthralled with the idea of killing some of the top terrorists in the world and getting paid handsomely to do it.

“So, where are these guys now?” he whispered into the phone.

“We’re tracking them. We knew this was going to happen. So, we’ve been watching all movement there via our geo satellite along with drones. The Unit knows their whereabouts. We need your guys to team up with ours for the hit. We’ll spit the bounty. But here’s the kicker. You and the guardians would need to get over here as soon as possible.” Moshe said.

“How soon?” Ben asked.

“I can have one of our C-130J-30 Super Hercules from Nevatim at Logan by tomorrow. We promised our clients we’d have this done by January 3rd, that’s their prophet’s birthday.” Moshe finished. “You know how that can be.”

“Yes,” Ben relied in deep thought. “We must be respectful while we’re killing them.”