Rescuing Emily (Delta Force Heroes Book 2) (6 page)

“I didn’t like him.”

Out of the mouths of babes, was Emily’s first thought. She didn’t like him either. But she didn’t want to worry Annie. She was sensitive enough already. Emily needed to make sure Annie was cautious, but not scared out of her skull. She pulled back and put her hands on Annie’s small shoulders. Emily tried to find the right words to explain what the hell had just happened.

“He wanted to talk about adult stuff with me, baby. I was proud of you for instantly obeying me when I told you to come up to our house. Thank you.”

Annie bit her lip, and still looked worried. Emily spoke quickly. “You remember our old landlord, right?” When Annie nodded and got a disgusted look on her face, Emily explained, “I want you to do what you did when you saw
him
, if you ever see the man who was here today again.”

“Run away and hide?”

“Exactly.”

“Is he bad?”

Emily shook her head, not wanting Annie to share that with anyone. She loved her daughter, but she was notoriously bad at keeping secrets. The last thing she wanted was for her to tell Fletch about the “bad man” who was hanging around. He’d want to know more, and anything she told him would probably get back to the man who’d threatened Annie.

Emily didn’t like her blackmailer, but she knew how it felt to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Fletch had done her a favor by letting her live here for such a low rent. She felt positive he hadn’t done it with the intent of having her pay the money to someone else. Sometimes shit just happened and you had to deal with it. She wasn’t happy with the way Fletch had decided to deal with
his
problem, but she’d help him, and in return, would make sure Annie was kept safe. While she paid some of his debt—and looked for another place to live—maybe she’d suggest he find some help for his addiction.

Resigned to doing what she had to do for the moment, Emily resolved to talk to Fletch and get him to own up to his problem, and hopefully deal with his friend
without
involving her and Annie. If she could convince him to take over his debt sooner rather than later, she’d be off the hook and they could each move on with their lives.

“He’s not bad,” Emily told her daughter, “he’s just
my
friend, and you shouldn’t be around him. Okay? So if you see him, you get up here to our place. And if for some reason you can’t get up here, go to Fletch’s.”

“And get the key hidden in the fake piece of grass hidden under the bush next to the door and then put in the code. Right, Mommy?”

“Right. You remember the code?”

“A-N-I-E-S.”

“Yes, two-six-four-three-seven.”

“I’m allowed to go into Fletch’s house when he’s not here?”

“If you see that man, and I’m not around, then yes. Otherwise no. Only with me. Okay, baby?”

“Okay, Mommy. I’m hungry.”

Emily hugged her daughter to her once again, holding on tight and vowing to herself that no one would ever hurt Annie as long as she was around.

Finally, when Annie wriggled in her grasp, she pulled back. “Why don’t you check out the soup I bought today and pick out which one you’d like tonight,” Emily told her.

“Yay! I love soup!”

Emily smiled and stood up. Annie did love soup. They didn’t have it a lot, and it looked like once the six cans she’d bought today ran out, it would be a while before she had it again. It was expensive compared to other things she could buy.

Hearing her own stomach growl, Emily put a hand on her belly and took a deep breath. She had a feeling that the man knew she didn’t have an extra two hundred dollars a week to give him, but didn’t give a damn.

She’d been through tough times before. She could do this. She made just enough money each week to pay the man and cover their few monthly expenses. She’d be okay for a little while, because she
did
have some money saved up, he was right about that. But before too long, she would reach the end of her savings and it’d be a whole different ballgame. But she’d cut off her own arm before Annie went hungry.

Emily looked around the apartment with new eyes, mentally calculating what she could and couldn’t do without. She had some things she could sell, nothing of Fletch’s, but the small microwave she’d bought, the little end tables and the frames she’d gotten from Goodwill and spruced up with some doodads from the craft store. She could sell them.

They’d be all right. They had to be.

F
letch scowled
down at his phone as he watched the tapes from his security system. The cameras were set to record when they detected movement. Their mission had only taken a week, as he’d told Emily, and he was sitting on the plane at Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood waiting for them to be cleared so they could go inside, debrief, shower, and head home.

“What are you frowning about so fiercely?” Keane “Ghost” Bryson, his friend and teammate, asked.

“My security tapes,” Fletch told him shortly.

“You have a break-in?”

“No.” Fletch had watched the first couple of days, where Emily and Annie had pulled out of the garage in the morning and arrived back each day around the same time. He’d smiled in amusement because he could see Annie’s mouth moving nonstop as she chattered to her mom. He could only guess what she was telling Emily.

The duo had gathered his mail and brought it up to the apartment. Fletch figured Emily had probably collected it and would bring it over when he returned, or maybe drop it off in chunks rather than entering his house each day. She really
did
have an aversion to alarms.

But the third day he was gone was different. She’d pulled into the garage as usual—and then suddenly there was a man with her.

The cameras hadn’t recorded any other vehicles entering the property, so he’d obviously walked up to the garage, and managed to avoid being recorded while doing so. He didn’t like the fact that someone could get onto his property and avoid the cameras, and Fletch made a mental note to adjust them so they’d record every angle of his driveway.

As soon as she saw the man, Emily had sent Annie up to their apartment while she’d stayed and talked with him. He’d held her hands, kneeled down while they’d spoken, and had even put his forehead against hers before he’d said goodbye.

She hadn’t seemed overjoyed to see him, but she hadn’t seemed too alarmed, either. They’d held hands while they talked and while he couldn’t see either of their faces, she hadn’t pulled away or run from him, making him assume she knew the man.

The kiss the man had bestowed on Emily’s forehead had made Fletch’s stomach lurch, and he swallowed hard just thinking about it. He’d had no idea Emily had a boyfriend. She hadn’t mentioned him before. Not once.

“It’s nothing,” Fletch said, waving his hand in dismissal.

“Sure looked like something to me,” Ghost insisted.

“It’s not. I just realized while watching the tapes that there was something I should’ve done before I left, but it’s too late now.” Fletch wasn’t trying to be coy, but he hadn’t talked about his attraction to his sexy renter with any of the guys on the team, or anyone else. He’d talked about how he had a new renter, and even about little Annie, but not how much he admired and liked her and how he wanted to get to know her better. He’d been respecting her privacy, but also enjoying what he’d thought had been flirtatious looks she’d been sending his way. Obviously he’d been way off with that one.

Ghost frowned, suspecting something was up with his friend, but not wanting to push. He shrugged, dismissing the topic since Fletch had inferred it wasn’t a big deal. “We’ve got the next two days off, then we’re slated to play the bad-guys-in-the-desert scenario.”

“Again?” Coach griped from next to them, obviously listening to the conversation.

“Yup,” Ghost affirmed.

“Damn. I hate always being the bad guys,” Beatle commented, saying what all of them were thinking.

The Army had decided that every base around the country would go through training exercises, much like the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, offered. The Army spent a lot of money building “cities” on bases, and platoons would rotate through training exercises, learning the best ways to navigate and fight. Since Fort Hood was a base that had deployments to the Middle East frequently, training situations were held regularly.

The Delta Force teams had some of the best firsthand knowledge about enemy tactics, so they were often tasked to play the bad guys. The fact they were Delta was a highly kept secret, and not many on the base were privy to that information, but those who did know liked to use them in training, since they were the best of the best. If the regular troops could hold their own against the Deltas, they would be in good shape to be deployed overseas.

While it was good training, for both sides, it
did
get old for the team to always play the role of the enemy.

“The last time we did this, that infantry squad got really pissed. It was as if they didn’t realize it was just an exercise,” Truck commented unnecessarily.

They all knew the other soldiers were upset that they’d been taken out within minutes of entering the “city” because, that night, after the Deltas had gone out for a beer to celebrate, ten of the infantrymen had ambushed them in the parking lot. The soldiers had lost as badly in the dim light of the bar parking lot as they had in the exercise—and hadn’t taken it any better. No matter how many times Ghost had told the men, “It was only a training drill, chill out,” they hadn’t listened.

The incident hadn’t been reported by either side, but Ghost’s team hoped the feelings of animosity had lessened since they’d been gone. While it had been just another day on the job for the Deltas, the other soldiers obviously didn’t feel the same way. They’d taken it personally, instead of treating it as a learning experience.

“We don’t have a choice,” Ghost said, obviously frustrated. “I told the colonel that it wasn’t a good idea to always use us, that they needed to rotate the troops in and out of the scenarios, on both sides, but so far he hasn’t been able to convince his superiors.”

“Shit. Well, keep your heads up. The last thing we need is to be fucking shot by one of our own because of this shit,” Blade groused.

“I’m gonna be pissed if someone shoots me on US soil,” Beatle agreed. “It’d be a bitch to survive the shit we go through only to be killed by a namby-pamby infantryman.”

Fletch nodded in agreement as his teammates griped about the upcoming training scenarios. They were a good diversion from their everyday jobs and from planning real life-or-death missions, and the laser weapons were fun to use, but with the increasing tensions between the regular troops and the “bad guys,” it wasn’t worth it. It was well past time for the Army to use the regular platoons and squads as the bad guys. They could learn just as much, if not more, from the exercise.

Outwardly, Fletch looked as if he was paying close attention to his friends, but in reality he was bemoaning the fact that Emily appeared to have a boyfriend. He’d waited too long to make his move. He hated the fact that she and the mystery man appeared so close on his tapes, how the other man had held her hands, and how he’d felt comfortable enough with her to not only rest his forehead on hers, but to kiss her as well.

It had to be a fairly new relationship, though, because if Emily was his woman, he wouldn’t be content with a chaste kiss on her forehead. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together. Damn. He’d dreamed about her lips on his, and even though he’d thought she was clearly indicating interest, he’d obviously misread her signals.

Fletch couldn’t see the man clearly in the tapes because of the hat he’d worn pulled low over his face, so he had just his general build and height, but he and Emily looked close. Closer than
he’d
ever been to her, that was for sure.

His finger hovered over the delete button of the video on the app on his phone. There was no reason to keep the recording…but something stopped him. Maybe it was how the man had just appeared without having triggered any of the cameras on the property. Maybe it was something about the way Annie tore up the stairs. Maybe he was just a glutton for punishment.

If nothing else, Fletch would keep the recording so he could remind himself Emily was taken when he had a moment of weakness around her. He closed the app and, hearing they were finally cleared to deplane, reached for his bag.

Well shit. You snooze, you lose. He should’ve remembered that statement earlier. He hadn’t thought Emily was dating anyone, especially with her schedule being exactly the same, day in and day out. But she was pretty, and worked on base. She had to come in contact with hundreds of other soldiers. It was no wonder one had finally caught her eye.

Her boyfriend was tall, in shape, and although Fletch couldn’t see him all that clearly, he supposed he could see the appeal. He just hated it.

He mentally shrugged. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He’d just have to wait things out and see if they lasted. Maybe they wouldn’t be compatible and he’d have his chance later.

“
M
ommeeeeeeeeeee
! Fletch is back!” Annie screeched as she heard the garage door going up below them.

“I hear, baby. Can you please try to use your indoor voice?” Emily was nervous to see Fletch. She’d stressed all week about the mysterious man and what he’d said about Fletch. She knew she needed to clear the air and talk to him about what was going on. But it was easier said than done. Not only did she have to worry about the man going through with his threats to call CPS if she brought it up with Fletch, she hated conflict and didn’t want to embarrass the man. But surely he didn’t want her to have to pay his debts? He just didn’t seem the type of man to rely on a woman for any kind of monetary support, whether that was paying for a dinner when they went on a date or paying his gambling debts. He was just too…manly.

“Can we go down and see him? Please, please, please?” Annie was in full whine mode and Emily knew nothing would shake it out of her except allowing her to get her way.

“Okay, but be careful on the steps,” Emily told her daughter as she raced to the door and got to work on the security chains, straining on her tiptoes to reach the upper one.

Annie tore down the stairs, not even waiting for her mom to turn on the light so she wouldn’t trip on her way down. “Fletch! Fletch! You’re back! I missed you!”

Her daughter disappeared around the corner of the garage and by the time Emily got to the bottom of the stairs, Annie was engulfed in Fletch’s embrace.

“Hey, sprite. Look at you. I think you grew an inch while I was gone!”

“You’re silly,” Annie told him seriously. “Humans don’t grow that fast!”

“You got me there. Were you a good girl this past week?”

“Yes.”

Fletch leaned over and put the child on the ground and smiled down at her.

“Did you get me a present?”

“Ann Elizabeth,” Emily scolded. “You know that’s not how you behave.”

Annie scuffed her shoe in the dirt on the ground. “Sorry, Fletch. Love is the best present I could ever get. I’m glad you’re home safe and sound.” She was obviously repeating what her mom had told her often.

Fletch got down on one knee and looked into Annie’s eyes. “I was traveling for work, not for pleasure, sprite. There wasn’t any good place to shop where I was.”

She nodded at him solemnly. “It’s okay. I have my Army men you gave me. You want to come up and look at them with me? They’re still safe inside their boxes.”

Emily felt a lump in her throat. She’d never been able to give her daughter new toys. Birthday and Christmas presents all came from the thrift store or yard sales. She cleaned them up so that they looked as new as possible, but they both knew they weren’t. Every night, Annie talked to her Army men, safe inside their plastic packaging. She refused to take them out, wanting them to stay in perfect condition. Having a new toy was an anomaly, one that Emily knew she’d forever be somewhat jealous of Fletch for giving to Annie.

“I can’t, sorry. Another time, yeah?”

“Okay.” Annie was rarely disappointed. If Fletch said he’d come up another time, she’d hold him to it.

“Welcome home, Fletch. Bye!”

Emily and Fletch watched as Annie raced back up the stairs. She almost never walked, always in a hurry to go somewhere.

“Did you have a good trip?”

Fletch nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“I brought your mail.” Emily held out the bundle she’d grabbed before heading down the stairs. “If you weren’t back in a day or so, I would’ve brought it over and made sure all was well in your house, but I didn’t think I needed to yet since it’s only been six days.”

“Thanks.” Fletch reached out and took the stack of mail from her. “Everything go okay here?”

Emily nodded, sensing something was different with Fletch, but not able to put her finger on it. Maybe he was worried about his gambling debts—or maybe he felt guilty about her paying them. She opened her mouth to bring it up, but he beat her to it.

“I saw you had a visitor this week,” Fletch said in a monotone voice.

“What?”

“A visitor. I told you this place is wired; I have cameras set up.”

“Oh,” Emily breathed out in relief. Fletch had seen the man come by. He’d bring up the money and make it right. Annie would be safe.

“I might not have made it clear before, but of course you’re welcome to have guests. The apartment is your home; I don’t want you to feel bad about having people over.”

Emily looked at Fletch in confusion. “What?”

“Emily, this is your home now. I wouldn’t appreciate any wild parties, but you can certainly invite your friends, or boyfriends, up to your apartment.”

Still confused, she opened her mouth to ask Fletch to please talk to his friend, to take care of his own gambling debts—and to make sure he knew about how the man had threatened to have Annie taken away from her—when he continued.

“There are things about me, about my life, that I can’t share with you. But you being here makes my life easier, and I appreciate it. It’s nice that you can help me out.”

Emily bit her lip and stared up at Fletch in disbelief. Not only did it sound like he knew about the man and his demands, but that he
expected
her to pay the other soldier.

“I want my friends to be
your
friends too. They’re important to me, and they know everything about me. Eventually you’ll meet them all. But I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about bringing your own friends around either. All right?”