Learning to Stand (57 page)

“
The last heat and infrared
to your pocket computer fifteen minutes prior to destination,” Raz
said. “You’ve said...”

“
Seven times,” Troy said.
“Plus your Sergeant just IMed us not to fuck up.”

“
No fuck ups,” Alex said.
“We have to do this right.”

“
Yes sir,” Heath, Matthew,
Troy and Raz said.

“
Is Peaches still working?”
Alex asked.

“
She checked in an hour
ago,” Matthew said. “She says she will have a report for you when
we return.”

“
Great.”

“
I want to protest again.
You should not be on this assignment,” Matthew said. “Your hip is
less than two months old and you’re still wearing a cast on your
arm.”

“
So noted,” Alex said. “I
have a black cast specifically for this assignment. I’m supposed to
be swimming and walking.”

“
So noted,” Matthew
said.

“
Ok, I need ten minutes to
get my head straight,” Alex said. “We’ll talk when we’re
done.”

“
Yes sir,” Heath
said.

“
Be safe,” Raz
said.

“
Love you, missy,” Troy
said.

“
I can’t top that,” Matthew
said. “We’ll talk in a few. You’ll take pictures?”

“
Larry has the video
camera,” Alex said. “He’s practiced on Helene, so I think he knows
how to use it. Bye, Bye.”

Alex took out her ear communicator. Leaning
into her seat, she closed her eyes. Three years ago, missions were
easy. Even with the Boy Scout to slow them down, they completed
more missions that year than any year before. She looked up when
Joseph sat down next to her. He held out his hand. They sat hand in
hand the rest of the way to Mérida Air Force Base. Once there, all
loss, pain, and uncertainty slipped away. They were trained
professionals.

There was work to be done.

FFFFF

One hour later

Thursday night

May 15 – 10:30 P.M. CDT
Outside of Cancun, Mexico

“
Ready?” Alex pulled up the
hood to her wetsuit.

Joseph went down the line checking
parachutes. Trece checked body armor and White Boy checked
everyone’s weapons. Alex and Vince were parachuting into the Gulf
of Mexico where they would meet a CIA-operated fishing trawler.
Trece, White Boy and Joseph would parachute onto land.

“
Alex, I have your target,”
Zack said over the intercom. “They’ve signaled.”

“
Anything else from base?”
Alex asked.

“
Nothing new,” Zack said.
“Catch you on the flip side.”

“
Go!” Joseph
said.

Vince jumped from the helicopter. Alex gave
Joseph a quick hug.

“
Go!”

Alex dropped in a military free fall to
catch up with Vince. He pointed to the fishing trawler. They fell
together toward the ocean. Pulling her chute, she followed Vince
into the water. Vince swam to Alex. Bobbing in the open water, she
laughed. They swam a few feet to the fishing trawler. The agents on
board pulled them into the boat.

They were on board the ship when Trece and
White Boy took off from the helicopter. Five miles off shore,
Joseph and Larry jumped from the helicopter. The boat slowed at a
rock formation two miles from shore. Alex and Vince slipped into
the water.

Even with two weeks of open water swimming
practice, Alex lagged behind the Navy SEAL, Vince. He was undressed
by the time she arrived. He helped her with her wet suit. They
stashed their wetsuits and made their way toward the residence. She
saw a flash of light indicating Trece and White Boy were in
position. Falling back, Alex nodded to Vince.

The men would secure the location before she
entered. That’s how the Fey Special Forces Team had worked. The new
Fey Team would do the same. It made sense.

She hated the long minutes of waiting. Every
sound could mean disaster. She let out an anxious breath. Looking
at her watch, she saw it had only been two minutes. Jesse appeared
beside her.

“
Wish I was here,” Jesse
said in Spanish. “We had fun waiting for the guys. You never know
what will happen!”

Alex nodded.

“
Nervous?”

Looking at him, Alex nodded.

“
You usually are. I’ll be
right here,” he said. “Me and my arsenal of scary ghostie
weapons.”

Alex chuckled at his exaggerated horror
movie voice.

“
Maria finally told me what
was going on,” Jesse said. “You were right. I was
wrong.”

Alex furrowed her brow. She signed, “What
are you talking about?”

Jesse’s head dropped back and laughed. She
smiled at his glee.

“
Maria is adopting my
mother’s youngest children. I have a sister who is six months old
and a brother who is two years old,” Jesse said. “My darling mother
is incarcerated… three time loser… for life this time. She lost
custody. No one knows who the father is. Maria is very excited.
And...”

Alex heard a low whistle indicating her team
was entering the residence.

“
So am I,” Jesse said. “I
was angry at first, but... Maria loves babies and...”

Alex pointed to Jesse.

“
Me!” Jesse
smiled.

Alex chuckled.

“
Five minutes,” Jesse
said.

Alex pushed her digital fatigue pants low on
her hips. She stripped to her tank top and cinched down her
exercise bra. Jesse pointed to her head. Using her fingers, she
spiked up the blond tips to her military haircut. The back lights
to the residence flickered on then off.

“
Time to go!” Jesse
said.

It was time for the Fey to make her first
appearance in almost three years. Alex jogged to the sliding glass
door of the residence. With a nod to Jesse, Alex pulled her handgun
from its sacrum holster. She pressed the sliding door open.

She crept across what appeared to be a
living room. Near the kitchen, she picked up Larry and his video
camera. She nodded to him then continued her silent journey across
the house.

Turning left, she passed Trece. He pointed
toward the two unconscious men he’d piled into corner of the
hallway. Alex smiled. Trece beamed back at her. As agreed, he
hadn’t killed the men. Continuing down the hall, she found White
Boy with his own stack of unconscious men. White Boy was so pleased
with himself he bowed to Alex’s silent clapping.

Using her breath to control her nerves, Alex
shifted to cold intelligence officer. Show time.

Joseph waited for her at the door. She
nodded to him and he followed her through the door.

“
Who are you? What are you
doing here?” the young woman screamed.

While Alex continued forward to the bed,
Joseph detained the young woman. Alex went to the bed. Under a blue
cotton blanket, a slim figure lay curled up in the fetal position.
When she touched his shoulder, he rolled onto his back. His eyes
opened, puzzled then flooded with tears.

“
Mr. Joiner? We’re here to
free you.”

“
Águeda! You have to save
her! She’s shackled in the basement.”

“
Papa, I’m here!”

Leaning on Vince, the woman, they’d thought
was a cook, made her painful journey across the room. Vince helped
her sit on the bed next to the man.

“
Papa, we’re
free!”

Cecil Joiner Sr. wept in earnest.

F

CHAPTER FORTY-eight

One day later

Friday Night

May 16
–
6:14 P.M. PDT

Sav-UR-Buks Hotel, Barstow, CA

Alex arrived at their hotel room to find
that John had already been there. Tonight was the first night they
were medically approved to be together. It was even a month since
she had her belly button re-pierced.

And he was at this car auction.

He said he would make it up to her. Looking
around the room, she had to admit that he’d tried.

The floor was covered with red rose petals
and white rose petals covered the bed. Her favorite champagne was
chilling with an extra bottle in the refrigerator. He set out a new
silk chemise for her to wear. There were a dozen white roses next
to the bed. Candles littered every surface.

The bathroom was adorned with a dozen red
roses. The cheap motel soap had been replaced with her favorite
soap as well as lavender and Epsom salts for her favorite bath. He
had even switched out the towels from standard hotel towel to
fluffy lavender colored towels. Alex pressed her face against the
towels. They smelled like lavender.

She smiled. Picking up a red rose, she
wandered back into the room for a glass of champagne. A note and a
ring box sat next to the chilling wine. Tearing open the envelope,
Alex found a white card engraved with: John Kelly Drayson, MD.

In John’s fluid handwriting, he wrote:

Don’t put it on until I get there.
Please.

Desperately in love with you,

John

Alex closed her eyes. Hoping it wasn’t some
big diamond thing, she flipped the top of the box open. Shocked,
she dropped the box. She fell to her knees to pick up the box.
Tucked inside the box was an identical ring to her wedding band and
a note that read: ’With this ring, I thee wed.’ Stamped into the
top of the box was the name of the tiny jewelry store where they
bought their original rings.

She’d never in her wildest dreams believed
she could have her wedding ring back. Like so many precious things,
the ring was lost. Until now. She held the box to her chest as if
to welcome it back into her heart.

Not willing to let it go, Alex carried it
and her champagne into the bathroom. Using Jesse’s lighter, she lit
the candles and took a long soak in the tub. When she was almost a
prune, she got out of the tub. She carried her glass and the ring
box back into the bedroom then dressed in the new chemise. Pulling
back the covers, she laughed. John had put rose petals in the
sheets too.

She dusted the petals onto the floor.
Smiling, she slipped under the warm covers. He had replaced the
cheap hotel comforter with a down comforter. She nestled into the
feather bed he had placed on the sagging queen bed. Pulling the
comforter up to her nose, she smelled lavender again.

She fell into a sound sleep knowing he would
return soon.

She woke to his lips on her nose.

“
Hi,” she said. Sitting up,
she turned on the side lamp. “Thank you for all of
this.”

“
Shhh,” John said. Taking
the ring, he kissed her left hand and slipped the ring on. “With
this ring, I thee wed.”

He kissed her lips and her tear drenched
face.

“
He remade the ring,” John
said. “I sent him the old ring and he reformed it. ‘Not a problem.’
That’s what he said. He remembered us. He asked me if you were
still so skinny. Remember how skinny you were?”

She kissed him.

“
I was really skinny after
Special Forces training and much less scarred. Did you like that
better?”

He kissed her lips with a fervor that took
her breath away.

“
Every moment is different.
Every moment is wonderful. This moment is so much more perfect than
the last. Every day that passes, I have only loved you more, wanted
you more, and you’re so beautiful.”

He stood to get the bottle of champagne. He
smiled as he poured two glasses.

“
You wore it,” he said. He
slipped his fingers through the tiny silk strap of the
chemise.

“
Of course,” she said. “Did
you buy some cars?”

John blushed.

“
What?”

“
We are the proud owners of
a gorgeous Audi R8.”

“
For two-hundred and fifty
thousand dollars?”

“
We’re supporting the DEA’s
efforts in the war on drugs.”

“
Two-hundred thousand
dollars?”

“
Mmmm. It’s owned by JAM
property as well as a Lexus SUV and a Cadillac STS. As we agreed :
one sedan, one SUV, and one fun car.”

“
How can a two-hundred
thousand dollar car be fun? I’d be so worried about dinging
it.”

“
I’ll have you know, we used
great restraint.”

“
We?”

“
Raz, Max and I. We bought
the cars together.”

“
I’m supposed to believe that the three of
you,
together
, used
restraint? That’s not likely.”

“
We didn’t buy the 1959 El
Dorado or the sweet red Spitfire convertible or the perfect 1960
convertible black Thunderbird for that matter. For the record, we
didn’t put even one bid in on the Indian motorcycle or the Russian
fighter plane either.”

“
But you know who
did?”

“
Mmmm.”

“
You realize you will fight
over who drives the Audi,” she said.

“
You’re going to fight over
a car?”

“
Very funny. I’m driving my
CJ. It’s the only car I know how to drive!”

He laughed. “I have some other news.”

Alex smiled her crooked smile. The very core
of him ignited with heat and passion. He pressed her back to the
bed. His mouth took her lips for his own. His mouth pulled at her
chin then her ear. His hands cupped her breasts.

“
You have news?” she
asked.