I'll Remember You (Hell Yeah!) (23 page)

“No, not in the normal way.” She grinned. Normal for her wasn’t normal for everyone else. “But I had a dream.”

“A prophetical dream?” Jessie was listening intently.

Cady smiled. “Well, I don’t know for sure, I guess we’ll see. But I have been known to have dreams which did come true.” She looked at Joseph McCoy. He was proof of that. “Last night, I saw a vision of Christmas Day.”

Jessie’s breath hitched in her throat. “Tell me.”

“We were all there. Joseph and I were married. You were holding little Bowie and he was dressed in a light blue outfit which looked like a small snowsuit and you had wrapped him in a white blanket with blue snowball tassels.”

“Wow.” Jessie’s eyes filled with tears. “I bought that outfit for him yesterday. No one has seen it but me.”

“There, you have it.” Cady smiled confidently. “So, now you know. Bowie is going to be just fine.”

“What else did you dream?” She wanted more.

“Well,” Cady leaned over and whispered to her, conspiratorially. “Aron was there.”

Jessie let out a little squeal. “Are you going to tell Libby?”

“I don’t know.” Cady shook her head, about to say more. But a voice from the hall drew their attention. It was Kane and Zane with their families. Jessie excused herself to go greet them.

“What were you telling Jessie?” Joseph settled down beside his angel.

“I was comforting her.” She laid her head on his shoulder.

“As only you can.” He kissed the top of her head.

Chapter Eleven

Breckenridge Hospital – Austin TX 

“Mr. McCoy.”

The doctor’s voice caused everyone in the waiting room to go quiet. Zane placed his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “It’s good news, Jacob. Look at that smile.”

He stepped toward the doctor, taking Jessie by the hand. “How is he?”

“He’s going to be just fine.” Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. “The operation was successful. I replaced the valve and it will grow with your son. A procedure to expand it when need be won’t be as invasive as what he’s endured today.”

“When can I see him?” Jessie was tingling with nerves. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”

The doctor patted her arm. “He’s being taken to recovery. Give us a few minutes to get him settled.”

“What’s next, Doc?” Jacob wanted the full picture.

“We’ll keep him in NICU for twenty-four hours and if all is well, we’ll move you all to a private room. Babies are resilient. If he progresses as well as I think he will, you can take him home before Christmas.”

“Praise be.” Jessie threw her arms around Jacob and everyone hugged everyone else. Libby and Skye took Jessie to the restroom to repair her makeup while Avery and Cady escorted Nathan out for a celebratory ice cream cone. Jacob, even though he was ecstatic about his son, pulled Bowie and the Saucier brothers to one side. “Don’t leave for a bit, I couldn’t think straight until I knew my baby was going to be all right. But I have something to tell you and I need your help.”

“You’ve got it, you know that. What’s up?” Kane took his hat off and held it in his hand. The Sheriff of Kerr County was never off-duty, it seemed, but friends and family came first.

“We’ve found Aron.”

“What? He’s here?” Zane almost shouted and Jacob shushed him up. “The girls don’t know yet. We’ve got to get a plan together before we let them know what’s going on.”

“This sounds ominous. What’s going on?” Bowie could read Jacob last a book. “Is he in danger?”

“Yes. He’s being held by a Mexican drug cartel.”

“What do they want? Money? Is that what happened? Was he kidnapped and held for ransom?” Kane had slipped into official mode.

“Let’s move.” Jacob motioned for his brothers to follow them outside. “Hold on.” He saw Jessie and went and told her they were going to grab a cup of coffee and he’d return before it was time to check on the baby. “Ring me if they call us before I finish, and I’ll run right back.”

“Okay.” She smiled at him. He could see the relief on her face. They’d been through so much—her surrogacy, a crazy man who’d tried to kill her—they deserved some happiness.

Turning, he saw his brothers and their friends waiting on him by the exit. “Let’s go to that coffee shop across the street. I need to sit down.” Jacob was amazed at the events of the last twenty-four hours. Now if this thing with Aron would end as happily as BT’s surgery, they would have much to be thankful for.        

As soon as they entered the small shop, Isaac led them to a table and ordered a round of coffee. Kane spoke first. “Answer my question. Was all of this about money? Is that what happened to him?”

“Not hardly.” Noah sighed. “Something much more dangerous, Aron was kidnapped for love.”

“Seriously?” Zane couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Leave it to Aron.”

Jacob motioned for Noah to explain. He told their friends the whole story, then finished by looking at them one by one, right in the eye. “We’re going after him. Are you with us?”

“Hell, yeah.” Kane didn’t even blink an eye. “Remember the Alamo.”

Joseph snorted. “Roscoe is waiting for our call. We’ve got to have a planning session.”

“Brock is supposed to gather as much intel as he can and give us a ring sometimes tonight. But he thinks we could be up against a hundred men, maybe more if they have any inkling they’re being threatened.” Jacob checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed any message.

“This is a big deal. Those people don’t mess around. We’re going to have to have every man we can get.”

“I agree,” Noah said. “You should have seen these apes. Mercenaries. AK47’s. We’ll be going up against an armed battalion.”

“Have you called your cousins?” Bowie asked. “They’ll help.”

“Not yet,” Jacob stated. “I had to get through today before I could concentrate. But I plan to. Harley and Beau will come and they’re going to be a major asset.”

“Sure will,” Joseph agreed. “Beau can get us any weapon we need and Harley can blow shit up if we need her to.”

“I thought she defused bombs for a living.” Zane laughed.

“I figure if she can take them apart, she’ll know how to make one.” Joseph was as serious as a heart attack.

“You’re right,” Kane agreed. “I have a couple of contacts down on the border. I’ll give them a call and see what they know.”

“Good.” Jacob was relieved. “We’ve done some wild things in our time, but declaring war on a drug cartel has got to take the cake.”

“Kyle Chancellor is bringing his Equalizer’s. They’re a former SEAL team. He can fly us in and out, plus they’ll be invaluable in the execution of our plan.”

“You know who else would be good?” All eyes turned to Isaac. “Patrick O’Rourke and his buddies. Do you remember? We met them at Beau and Harley’s wedding.”

“How many is that?” Joseph paused to count.  

“Twenty-four.”

“Sounds about right,” Isaac drawled. “A hundred of them, twenty-four of us, we’d never want to be accused of not fighting fair.”

***

Graywolf Ranch – near Johnson City, TX

Jacob made calls. Roscoe made calls. They gathered information from Kane on El Duro’s habits and Brock furnished them blue prints courtesy of old man Delgado himself. Noah was relieved to hear Tomas and Alessandra had decided to go to Europe for a week or two. It would get them out of danger. Kyle Chancellor brought all of the Equalizers to Hardbodies to introduce them and Isaac and Jet hit it off instantly. Jet was just another Badass. It amazed everyone to find out he held an MMA title and spent his spare time hunting treasure in the Caribbean. All of the Equalizers had specialties: Jet was a bomb expert and was recruited to help Harley, Micah was former intelligence, Saxon was their computer genius, and Tyson was a helicopter pilot and Destry was a sniper. It turned out Tyson had known Patrick O’Rourke in Afghanistan. Destry, a former clerk for the Supreme Court held the longest sniper kill at 3079 yards, or one and three-quarter miles, with a .50 cal. Barrett M82.

Patrick O’Rourke and his team were on standby. Noah was surprised to find out that Revel Lee Jones, the man who’d come to see him about Harper was Revel’s best friend and team member. He also was bringing Jayco Johnson and Philip Hawke. Jacob was acting as top gun, but he was relying heavily on Kyle and Beau to coordinate everything.

As much as they wanted to just fly down and carry out the rescue mission, all of them realized they needed to train, plan and re-plan. So as not to alarm the women, they made Micah’s ranch out of Johnson City their headquarters. Beau flew in targets, weaponry, flash grenades, everything they would need to conduct an all-out assault against an armed fortress.

The McCoy cousins joined forces with them, and they decided to split into three teams. Kyle had studied the blueprints and recommended to Jacob that they attack on two fronts. “If we storm the front gate and take out as many as we can, Harley can blow the side wall as a distraction, then I can get Tyson to come in by helicopter and get a team as close to the house as possible. They can enter, occupy the house and rescue Aron.”

“Can we do this?” Jacob asked as he looked at the charts Kyle had drawn. “It’s going to take at least two weeks to get ready.” 

“Do we have a choice?” Kyle fired back. “We can’t go down unprepared.”

“No, we don’t have a choice. Bringing Aron home is nonnegotiable.”

***

Galveston, TX

Harper’s heart was breaking. This was so hard. Sometimes you had to put the welfare of another person ahead of your own. “I’m sorry, Revel. I can’t go back to Louisiana. That part of my life is over.” This wasn’t the first time he’d asked. Over the past few days he had relentlessly made his case. Her answer had not changed. “Please don’t ask me again.”

She tried to shut the door.

He wouldn’t have it. Putting his foot inside the door, he forced it open. She stepped back, her mouth gaping open.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” He assured her. “That’s one thing you can always be certain of.”

She chose to twist his words. Harper knew exactly what he meant. “And therein lies the problem. You know what I need. You’ve always known what I needed. But you can’t give it to me.”

Revel searched her face. He’d never understand why some people needed the bite of erotic pain. He just wasn’t wired that way. Harper was. His mind raced back to the first time she’d confided this deep-seated craving to him. They had been young and he’d been idealistic. Looking back now, he hadn’t handled it well. He was a man. It was his job to give his woman what she needed, to protect her, yes, but to fulfil her desires.

He had failed. And in his failure, he had pushed her away. It had not been his intention. Revel Lee Jones had never rejected Harper Summers. He would just as soon reject himself. But he had been surprised, he had shown that surprise and she had ran.

Her running had proved to be her downfall. Harper had fled his protection and sought out the affections of strangers, seeking for what she needed.

He took a deep breath and made his offer. “I can give you what need. I can be what you want.”

A bitter laugh rose in Harper’s throat. If only. “Don’t make me laugh. This is what I asked you for before and you turned me away.”

“I did not turn you away. I told you I didn’t understand, that I didn’t know how, that I was surprised, but I did not push you away.” He was emphatic. “If you had given me time, I would have learned.”

“My lifestyle is not something you learn, it’s something you’re born into. It’s something you crave.” Her voice rose, she was glad no one could hear their discussion. She’d been judged enough in her life, she didn’t want to invite more.

She had backed herself into a corner. Revel took advantage, going to her and bracketing her in with his big body. “Give me a chance. I can’t stand the thought of you being alone. You know I love you, I always have.”

Words, beautiful words. Words she’d give the sun and the moon and the stars to hear and believe. And he meant them, she knew he did. But he didn’t understand. “You think you do.”

He crashed his lips against hers, not giving her time to say anything else. For a few precious moments, they kissed. He wordlessly offered her everything he had—his life, his body and his soul.

As much as Harper wanted to take what was offered, she couldn’t. “No.” She pushed on his chest. “I can’t.”

Revel bowed his head. “Why?”

“It’s not right.” I love you, she thought. “We’re not right. We’ll only end up hurting each other. I would disappoint you. I can’t change.”

With one powerful move, he hit the wall above her head, splintering the wood. She jumped. “Don’t you understand?” he bellowed in his pain. “I don’t want you to change.” He face contorted with pain. “I will change. I will be what you want. I will be what you need.”

“I can’t ask that of you.” She looked at his beloved face. “I want you to go.”

“Ask me anything. I’ll give you all that I have, all that I am. But please don’t ask me to walk away from you.” He’d just found her again. Leaving her would kill him.

Harper forced herself to say the words which would take him away from her. Pain unlike anything she’d ever known ripped through her. And it wasn’t the sensual pain she enjoyed. This was a soul-ripping agony and she never wanted to feel it again. “I don’t want you, Revel. You do nothing for me. I need a man who’ll give me what I need and you will never be able to do that.”

Bowing his head, Revel felt her words slice through his heart like the sharp edge of a sword. “I see.”

With a sinking heart, he turned from her. He walked away. Giving her what she asked for. To be parted from him.

***

El Duro Headquarters – Cantanea, Sonora, Mexico – Two weeks later

Esteban and Martina stood at the two way mirror watching Aron McCoy. He hadn’t broken under the pressure. “You’ve tried everything from starving him to seducing him. I say we end his suffering.”

“No.” Martina offered no further explanation. She’d said everything she had to say days ago.