Jobe: Alvarez Security Series (2 page)

Before Jobe could blink, she pulled the trigger. The image burned into his memory. Forever.

*

Three weeks later,
Jobe walked into Captain Alvarez’s make-shift office. Tony looked up as one of his best soldiers moved into the room and stood at attention. Tony considered him carefully. The body was the same. The steely-eyed determination was the same. But the man was different. Hard. Closed. Jobe resisted having to take time off for a psychological evaluation, but he had been too good a soldier to not follow a command.

Tony thought back to the days after they returned from the ill-fated mission. Jobe’s anger had turned inward and he had begun a path of self-destruction. He had gone on a rampage, trashing his bunk after getting stinking drunk. The squad members quickly circled around, offering him support but knowing when he needed help. He was too much a vital part of their team for them to give up on and whatever it took, they were going to see that he had what he needed. The three weeks that he was given leave of duty and been forced to meet with the base psychologist had been the right thing to do. But as Tony stared at one of his best, he wondered if it had been enough.

Jobe stood in front of his Captain, determined to hold on to his control. He assured him he was fit and mentally ready to continue as part of the squad and had the backing of the psych eval to prove it.
Nothing matters but the mission. Get in, get ’er done, get everyone out. That’s it. Anything else could get my squad killed.
Refusing to allow anything else to crowd into his mind, he strove to regain control. After the meeting he made his way back to his bunk, but changed his course of direction at the last minute. Heading to the communications building, he sat down at the computer and began typing.

First, was a note to his mom letting her know he was allright. Second, was a Dear John letter to his fiancé. Short, simple, to the point.
We’re over. Too much to deal with without having to worry about you back home. I don’t need the distraction, nor the concern. You’ll be better off without me.

Walking into his bunk, he knelt at the locker and pulled out her letters. The whole stack. Slowly, methodically, without any emotion he began tearing them up. Vinny walked in halfway through the destruction, took one look, and tried to grab them from his hands.

“What the fuck, man? Don’t do this,” he shouted, bringing Gabe rushing in to see what was going on.

The look in Jobe’s eyes stopped them. Cold. Hard.

“Talk to us, bro,” Gabe demanded. “What’re you doing here?”

Jobe shook his head for a moment not saying a word. It became apparent Vinny and Gabe were not going anywhere when they both sat down on the bed opposite of his. The tension flowed off of all three.

Hold on. Just say what you need to say and wait until they leave.
Shaking his head, he thought of what the base shrink said.
Control. You feel a loss of control. Well, this is me getting rid of what I can’t control.

“I just gotta do this,” he replied. Their silence spoke volumes so he continued. Staring intently into the eyes of two men he trusted more than life, he admitted, “I almost crawled through that window. I wanted to kill that son-of-a-bitch. But if I had?” Holding their attention, he said, “I’da blown the mission. I’da blown our cover and some of us could have died.”

“You’re human, Jobe,” Vinny said carefully. “We all are. We’re stuck in a fuckin’ war doing things most people back home have got no fuckin’ clue about.”

“Yeah, and that’s the job we’re trained for,” he argued back. “We’re fucking Special Forces. We don’t make fucked up mistakes because we look into the eyes of some woman being raped and see our own sister.”

“Vinny said it right. We’re still human, Jobe. But you turning away had nothing to do with that man raping her or her killing herself. That’s on them, man, not you,” Gabe retorted.

“I’m the oldest,” he said. The silence once again settled around the trio. “I was on my first fucking tour when I found out my sister was assaulted at a college party. I felt so fuckin’ impotent.”

Gabe and Vinny continued to sit quietly, letting Jobe have time to gather his thoughts.

“But mama said she was doing okay, getting counseling, and the last time I saw her, she looked good. So I squared it away.” He looked down at his hands, pieces of paper still clutched in them. “Seeing that bastard just brought it all back and then seeing that woman blow her brains out…Jesus,” he exclaimed, rubbing his hand over his face.

Sucking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly, as he continued to shake his head. “I can’t do this,” he said, indicating the torn letters in his hand. “I can’t be what she needs. What she deserves. I can’t be over here taking care of business, wondering what the fuck is going on back home. So I cut her loose. Fuckin’ shrink told me I had control issues. PTSD. Control issues? What the fuck does he know? Of course I have control issues,” he bit out. “We’re trained to take control of every situation, so you know what? I am. Cutting her loose so she can have a life without worrying about some nut-job returning from the war.”

“Bro,” Vinny said gently. “You don’t have to do this. Or at least not now. Give yourself some time. Maybe you’ll feel differently.”

Jobe’s hand continued to shred the letters one by one. The handwritten missives she had carefully written claiming they were so much more personal than emails. Looking back up at the twins’ hard faces, he said, “I’ve got my job to do. My squad to protect. My family to deal with, even from a distance. That’s all, guys. That’s all I can handle.”

With the last letter shredded, he stood, tossing the remnants into the trash can. Just then Jack Bryant came around the corner. “Tony’s calling a tactical meeting. Looks like a new mission, boys.”

The three men followed him into the briefing room. Tony glanced at the twins entering first and then his eyes found Jobe’s. Clear. Steady. Calm. Hard. The three nodded at him and he began the meeting.

Five Years Later

T
he pounding of
his feet on the path beat a steady rhythm as Jobe listened to his Ipod for his early morning run. The late spring was giving over to summer and it felt like a hot one again. It was only five a.m., but the air was humid with the promise of an afternoon thunderstorm. Sweat soaked his t-shirt and he whipped it over his head while not breaking stride, nor tangling the wire to his earpiece.

Early morning runs were productive for him, starting the day with a chance to exercise his body and exorcise the demons from his mind. Years earlier, after trying unsuccessfully to deal with some of the stress of the war himself, he finally sought counseling.

Understanding how the loss of control could affect someone like him, who believed in the ultimate power of control, was a difficult and long journey. He worked to fill his time with good friends and family, and his thoughts with the positive of what they were doing.

Rounding the corner from the park, he jogged into his apartment building, nodding to the concierge as he headed toward the elevator. Instead of going up to his place, he went down a floor to the gym and pool area. After a quick shower to wash off the sweat, he dove into the pool, swimming a few laps. He loved the feel of the water after a run.

With an easy heave upward, he pulled his body out of the pool and took the back elevator up to his apartment.

Walking into work, Jobe arrived early, as was his habit, and moved through the halls of Alvarez Security. His former Captain, Tony Alvarez, began his company when he left the Special Forces and had filled it with some of his former squad members. The twins, Gabe and Vinny, worked there and the four of them made the core group.

Lily Dixon, one of their computer experts and married to their friend, Detective Matt Dixon, was on maternity leave for several more weeks. BJ, another computer expert, was pulling double duty trying to take care of the software needs while Lily was out. As he walked into the command center of the business, he saw that BJ was already there.

“What the hell are you doing here so early?” he asked, noting BJ’s tired expression.

“My twins were up so I took care of them and got them back to sleep so Suzy could stay in bed a little longer. Then she got up, but I couldn’t go back to sleep so I just came in.”

Jobe shook his head in wonder at how his friend handled having twins. But then life was definitely changing around Alvarez Security. Tony had lost his wife and baby girl in an accident while they were still overseas and now had met Sherrie whom he had just married. Vinny and Gabe, the quintessential hound dogs, had also settled down. They had gone from leaving bar nights with at least one woman on their arms to now being in committed relationships as well. Gabe married Jennifer, a beautiful social worker who had guardianship of her young brother, and he had taken on the role of surrogate father as well as a husband. And Vinny? Hell, Vinny could close down the rowdiest bar with the best of them, but now spent his evenings with his beautiful fiancé, Annalissa, a concert harpist who played for the local symphony.

Yeah, things are certainly different around here.
Pushing the morose thoughts out of his mind, he chastised himself.
Those thoughts aren’t morose. They’re good changes. Good for my friends.
As he walked toward Tony’s office, knowing that his boss was probably at work by now, he pushed back the reflections of how life could have been different.

Rounding the corner, he saw Tony just walking into his office. Jobe could not help but grin—there was a time when Tony would beat them all in. But now? With a pregnant Sherrie at home, he noticed his boss was a bit later getting to work.

“Captain,” he greeted, sometimes referring back to Tony’s military title.

Tony chuckled, knowing that of all of them, Jobe had the hardest time breaking the habit. “Morning,” he replied, noting the time on the clock. “You don’t think for one day you could sleep in?”

Jobe laughed and said, “Old habits, sir. I just rise early, work out and then head on in.”

Tony eyed him carefully, seeing the straightforward, clear-eyed expression that he wanted to see. All of his squad had experienced the horrors of war, himself included. And each of them reacted differently. Some, like Vinny and Gabe, turned their anger outward, drinking and fucking their way through bars and women for several years. Jobe turned it inward, refusing to think that he could have what he wanted and be a good soldier at the same time. And nothing any of them said made a difference. It simply took time and some good counseling before they could finally see glimpses of the laid-back Jobe again. But by then, the girl he had loved was gone.

The hall began to hum, the two men able to hear others coming in. Doug, who had manned the security cameras overnight, was leaving as Terrance came to relieve him. Other employees came in, checked the orders board and then headed out, usually to install or check the high-end security systems that had been placed in many of the city’s richest neighborhoods.

It was apparent when Gabe and Vinny made their way in as the noise in the main room became louder with the twins’ banter. Tony saw the grin on Jobe’s face and clapped him on the back as they followed the noise to the main conference area.

Tony stood at the head of the table and said, “Shane and Matt will be here in about fifteen minutes. They said the Police Chief wanted to offer us a contract for some cameras and installations. Don’t know anything other than that, so we can just start our agenda until they get here.”

The men around the table talked until the receptionist ushered Detectives Shane Douglass and Matt Dixon into the room. Old friends, they greeted each other enthusiastically and Matt began showing pictures of Lily and their new baby. He glanced over at BJ and said, “Hell, you don’t look much better than I do.”

“Yeah, well take your one baby and multiply it by two and that’s what I’ve got,” he yawned. “Don’t mind saying that I’ll be glad when Lily gets back but I sure as hell don’t resent her taking all the time she needs.”

Jobe sat listening to his friends discuss wives, babies, toddlers, sleepless nights and dirty diapers. It did not escape his notice that he could have had that. And threw it all away. That was the one thing that no matter how many times he talked to his counselor or pounded out the frustration in a long, hard run he could not reconcile—he could not turn back the clock.

Pleasantries aside, Tony asked Shane to start their part of the meeting.

“Ya’ll know I spent a couple of years undercover in a drug gang, so the Chief has put us on a gang task force along with our vice duties. The gang activity is on the rise in Richland,” he paused, then continued. “Hell, it’s on the rise everywhere. Especially among teens, and that’s where the Chief is asking for some help.”

Matt took over explaining, “There are some places that we know are hangouts and no matter how diligent the street cops are, they just can’t be everywhere. The city would like to partner with you to provide installed security cameras in a few areas that would help the police monitor the worst of the activity.”