Here With Me (22 page)

“Where the hell did they go?”

He shrugs and empties his beer. “I don’t know, Archer, but I don’t like it. Whatever we were told to do, we contributed to a crime.”

I stand there in disbelief, questioning my commitment to the Navy. Maybe it’s not the Navy I should be questioning, but our CO. Where the hell is he? I turn and look over my shoulder at Ryley; she’s sitting in a chair talking to Frannie.

“How’s that going?” River tips his head toward Ry.

“It’s… difficult. I have fucking blue balls as in I really think they’re starting to turn fucking blue. I feel like I’m looking at a damn skin mag every time she walks in a room and we just had a serious make-out session in the car. It’s fucking high school all over again.”

River laughs, earning a stink-eye look from me. “Is she shutting you down?”

I nod and tip back my bottle. “It’s that damn ring. If it wasn’t there I wouldn’t hesitate, but I know if she goes that far she’ll have regrets and that’ll be bad for me. I’ve already pushed my luck with her, and she’s cheated on him. At least in my eyes she has.”

“Do you think Nate’s not coming home because he’s waiting for her to screw up? That would give him an easy out.”

I tip my bottle back and empty its contents. “He’s going to come home acting like he had no idea I was alive and be hurt. Shit thing is, my mom is on his side and kept reminding me that Ryley’s his. I beg to differ. That woman up there with your wife was made for me. It’s just a matter of time before I have her again.”

“Frannie likes her. She was there for her and EJ. She said it helped her cope with my death.”

“Man, this shit is so fucked up,” I say as I slam my empty beer bottle into the sand. “We’ve missed so much and for what? Nothing, that’s what, and no one is going to pay for the shit we’ve missed.”

River pats me on the shoulder. “Rask and McCoy are here. Let’s head back up there and start the bonfire.”

We walk back up the beach and as soon as Ryley sees me, her eyes light up. I don’t care what people think of me right now, this girl is mine. I either need to be patient or take that damn ring off her finger myself.

I sit down next to her and place my arm around her. She leans into me, warming me instantly. I kiss the top of her head, letting my lips linger there for longer than necessary but not long enough to satisfy me.

WATCHING THE SUNSET OVER
the Pacific Ocean can only be summed up with one word: breathtaking. It could be the company I’m in, or simply the view. Either way, the pure beauty that is enveloping my friends and me tonight gives me peace and a lot to think about. The more time I spend with Evan, the more I know I’m meant to be with him. He’s been home for almost two weeks, and it seems like it was just yesterday. We have so much to re-learn about each other, and he about EJ, but each day is like Christmas and we’re unwrapping presents one at a time.

The fire crackles in front of me as the guys and Frannie sit around and tell stories from years that have gone by. We don’t talk about the past six years. Most of us are trying to pretend they don’t exist. We all want answers but none of us have them. Evan told me earlier that my mom has been looking into why this happened, but is afraid of snooping too deep without proper evidence. I don’t blame her. I have a feeling this is bigger than any of us combined and if someone can make four men from a SEAL commando disappear, they can do anything to the rest of us.

“What if they come after us?” I blurt out before I realize what I’m saying. All eyes are on me instantly, and even though it’s dark I can see almost everyone’s eyes piercing through me. I swallow hard and look at Evan who’s staring at the fire with a scowl on his face.

“Don’t think like that, Ry,” Evan says firmly, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. McCoy opens a new beer and downs it without stopping. Frannie is looking at me, and River is staring at the fire. Rask is rubbing his head, and Evan’s leg is bouncing.

“I can’t help it and by the looks on everyone’s faces, you’ve all thought it too. Someone made you guys disappear for six years. You just don’t come back from the dead without there being repercussions.” I angrily wipe away a tear that’s falling down my cheek. I’m trying to be strong here, not weak and emotional. I’ve never feared for my life, but this situation is giving me a lot of concern. If my mom is investigating, someone is going to find out. That someone could want to remain anonymous and the easiest way to keep a secret is to eliminate the person or people who know. They’d have a lot of blood on their hands, but their secret would be kept.

“I think about it,” Frannie says. “I see lights shining through our bedroom window at night and wonder if someone is going to knock on the door.” River reaches for her hand to comfort her. “During the day, I’m constantly looking over my shoulder and brushing off people who ask questions about your return. I don’t trust them.”

“Neither do my parents,” Rask adds.

“How’d your meeting go?” Evan asks him, reminding me that Rask met with his parents while Evan and I were at his mom’s. I should’ve waited to take Evan home so we could stay and support Rask. That was a very selfish move on my part.

Rask shrugs and kicks some sand around. “My mom…” he shakes his head before covering his face. “She doesn’t believe. Says I’m an imposter, a clone. She’s convinced that I’m not her son and that hers was buried a long time ago. It didn’t matter what I said to her, or how many memories I recounted, she wouldn’t budge. I tried to hug her, but she recoiled and hid behind my dad.

“He didn’t say anything either. I finally gave up and left. I couldn’t sit there and watch them shun me over something I had no control over.”

I cover my mouth and hold back a sob for Rask. “I’m so sorry, Justin.” Frannie reaches over and grabs his hand, but he lets go quickly.

“Today’s Claire’s birthday. She’s nine and I’m not there to celebrate with her,” McCoy says somberly.

“Do you have any leads?” River asks, but McCoy shakes his head.

“I have nothing. Claire isn’t enrolled in school anywhere under her name. Penni isn’t working and if she is, it’s under a different social security number. I’m starting to think they’re dead, and I just don’t want to believe that they don’t exist. Why would Penni need to hide? None of it makes sense.”

The mood quickly turns somber after McCoy’s declaration. He stares at the fire, his eyes glazed over. I can’t help but feel sorry for starting this conversation, but it’s been weighing on my mind.

“Penni never came around after the funeral. I went over a couple of times, just like I did to check on Ryley, but no one answered. About a week after, people were there cleaning out the house and there was no sign of her or Claire. I asked, but was told they didn’t know anything. I wish I remember the name on the side of the truck.”

McCoy’s head pops up. “Do you think you can remember if you saw pictures?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Frannie and River answer at the same time. She looks at him questioningly, but his eyes are focused on McCoy.

“Ryley has brought up what we’ve all been thinking. We were dropped on an airfield and our CO is conveniently missing. Her mom has been snooping around, but isn’t ready to break into anything, and your wife and daughter are missing, McCoy. I think it’s all related, and I don’t want Frannie involved until she has to be. She and Ryley, they need to stay as far away from this as possible.”

“But if I can help,” Frannie pleads with River. He shakes his head firmly.

“No, Fran. I don’t want you involved. When you finally fall asleep at night, I’m awake and sitting in the chair watching for shadows with my gun locked and loaded and my knife hidden underneath the chair cushion. Ryley is the only one brave enough to mention what she’s thinking, but the truth is, I’ve been thinking it too.”

Evan stiffens beside me and I try to ease the tension in his arm to no avail.

“We need to check in with each other daily, no excuses,” River says and the guys all agree.

“Ryley and I need to leave,” Evan says abruptly and I know better to question his decision. I get up and hug Frannie, promising to call her in the morning and she says the same thing. We’re going to follow what River says because we know it’ll give him and Evan peace of mind. Plus, we’ll leave a trace.

Evan grabs my hand and pulls me through the sand and into the parking lot. I have to jog to keep up and once we’re in the car, I lock us in. He’s speeds out of the parking lot, and heads toward home. After five minutes of silence I can’t take it anymore.

“Talk to me, Archer.” I use his last name to get a rise out of him. I’ve never really called him that except when we’re fooling around. I know he likes it, but right now I just want his attention on me.

“I’m concerned, Ry. River and I… we were discussing this earlier and the fact that you brought it up, means others are likely thinking the same thing. I don’t like it.”

I run my hand up and down his arm until he links his fingers with mine. “I don’t either. I want to get home to EJ,” I say, getting the reaction I’m looking for as Evan pushes down on the accelerator, breaking the speed limit.

The usual fifteen-minute drive takes us about eight. We’re both out of the car and by each other’s sides as quickly as we can be. When we get inside, relief washes over me as I find EJ snuggled up to my dad’s side. Both of them are sound asleep. My dad is snoring so loudly I don’t know how EJ is sleeping.

“Take EJ upstairs. I need to talk to your dad.” I know better than to argue, and I carefully remove EJ from under my dad’s arm. He grumbles, but wakes quickly and helps me lift EJ into my arms. I’m halfway upstairs when I hear the quiet whispers of Evan and my dad.

I could stay on the stairs and listen, but the truth of the matter is that I’m scared of what I brought up this evening. I wish I were the only one who felt this way. I’d feel more secure knowing it’s just me being paranoid. But the fact that Frannie has been having these feelings scares me. Not to mention the fact that Penni and Claire seem to have disappeared and the way Rask’s parents reacted.

If they’re trying to scare us into compliance, it’s working.

Whoever they are.

The next two things I hear are the front door shutting and the telltale sign of a gun being loaded. My SEAL is back.

AS SOON AS JENSEN’S
in his car and driving down the street, I call for Deefur, step back into the house and lock the door. Blinds are pulled and windows checked. I open the closet door, pull out my black case and carry it to the couch. Ryley’s upstairs putting EJ to bed and as soon as she’s done I’ll be doing a sweep of the house. Deefur follows me, keeping on my heels. I wish I hadn’t missed the time he was growing up. I wanted to train him to protect Ryley. That’s why I bought him. I wanted her to feel safe and never have to worry. It’s in a dog’s nature to protect his master, and I want to make sure he knows just how valuable her life is to me.

I look over my gun and make sure everything checks out before I load the bullets. I know Ryley can hear the gun when I move a bullet into the chamber. I’m okay with that as long as she knows she’s safe. I told Jensen about our suspicions, and he’s going to see if he can get Carole to back off a bit before anyone catches wind of what she’s doing. The last thing I want is for her to be in the middle of a hot bed of issues that she can’t escape. We need to find the pilot from the C-130 we traveled on and see if we can get him to talk. If we can, I think we’ll start uncovering a lot.

Ryley comes down the stairs in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. My eyes immediately fall onto her breasts, and I wish they hadn’t. I swallow hard and set my gun down, hoping she’ll grace me with her presence.

“Do you remember how to shoot?” I ask her, thinking back to the many hours we spent at the shooting range.

“I do,” she says as she sits next to me. “My gun is upstairs. It’s sitting on my bed.”

I nod and kiss her briefly before getting up and taking the steps two at a time. She knows where I’m going and knows what to expect. Ryley knows I’m going to keep her and EJ safe. They’ll have to shoot me in the head before they get to my family.

After I check her gun over, making sure it’s loaded and ready, I click the safety on and set it in her beside drawer. I notice that there are two pictures on her table. One is of her, Nate and me. The other is of her and EJ. It gives me hope that she has either put the photos of Nate away or she never had any. It’s the small things that are allowing me to look forward to the next day.