Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (21 page)

“Whatever my dear,
sticks and stones. The facts speak for themselves, she’s living the high life, while you on the other hand...” Tom had found it paid to stick as close to the truth as possible when swaying a jury, it was the little manipulations of that truth that swung the vote. Leaving her to mull over what he’d told her, he stepped out onto the small front porch to make his call.

“I’ve found her. We leave in the morning. G
et four of your best men together and meet me at the airport, and Sam…come prepared.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Frank
pulled up in front of Nick’s and gazed across the road to Ms. Sheridan’s house. He hoped they’d managed to patch over their differences. He liked Sara, and had never seen Nick looking so happy or relaxed, even with all this crap hanging like a dark cloud over their heads.

They’d been
blessed with silence from Jared for the last half hour, he was still slouched in the corner brooding. The two in the back were all chummy, leaning close, sharing notes on their mobile devices. He couldn’t wait to see the surprise on Nick’s face when he found out Adam was still in the land of the living, fully aware his reappearance was going to stir a hornet’s nest. There was bound to be some anger mixed in with the joy and relief, much as he himself had gone through. The two men had been the best of mates. He doubted Nick ever fully recovered from watching his friend get shot. It wasn’t something a man could forget.

“So this is it? Nick gave up th
e big city for small town U.S.A? That doesn’t seem like him.” Adam slid his cell into his suit pocket as his gaze searched the neighborhood.

“How would you know what he likes? None of us ar
e the same as we were back then. Things change, people change,” Jared said, sliding out of the front seat.

Frank shook hi
s head at Jared’s attitude and hoisted his own bulk out of the car, pausing to open the back door for Maggie. He appreciated the view of her long, suit clad legs stepping out followed by a quick tantalizing peek down the front of her loosely buttoned shirt when she twisted her frame out of the car to stand eye to chin with him. Gazing into her knowing brown eyes, he acknowledged with a quirk of his lips, that yes, he had been looking.

“You think I don’t know
that?” Adam told Jared as he exited the car, jolting Frank and Maggie apart.

They circled
the car, intent on keeping the combatants apart. “In case you were wondering, I’ve changed too. I even had a real, grown up relationship, which I screwed up, by the way.” The sidelong look he sent to Mags, wasn’t missed by any of them. “Look, let’s get this over with and then you don’t have to see my ugly face for another five years if you want, okay?”

Adam started across the street, grabbing onto Maggie’s hand. Jared’s voice
stopped him. “Fuck, I’m sorry, man. I don’t know what the hell’s the matter with me. I’m no better, actually, I’m fucking worse. At least you had a solid reason for disappearing, I quit. I couldn’t deal, so I walked. If not for Frank dragging my sorry ass back from the edge, who knows, maybe we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Adam turned and looked his
old friend straight in the eye. “I’m really fucking glad that’s the case. Who else would I get to fix my satellite T.V.?” There was a hushed silence.

“Screw you, dude,
get with the times. It’s all about Netflix these days.” Jared grinned, and then all four broke out in laughter, slapping each other on the back in companionship.

It was then that the door opened
. Nick stepped out onto the porch closely followed by a curious Sara.

“
Frank, is there a problem?” he asked, obviously not noticing who was standing beside Jared.

“Depends on how you want to look at
, bro,” Adam answered as he stepped forward. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

***

It’s a damn good thing Sara’s palm supported the small of his back because otherwise Nick would have folded like a wet blanket. He rubbed hard at his eyes, sure they were misleading him. Slowly, almost like an old man, he worked his way down the stairs through the afternoon shadows caused by the stirred up clouds streaking across the sky, until he stood sneaker to Ferragamo loafer with his past.

It looked solid and real but…
heart pounding, praying his hand didn’t slide right through, Nick stretched out to push the apparition, shocked to meet up with flesh and bone.

“Hey
, man, don’t mess with the threads. You know how fussy I am about my clothes.” The spirit grinned. “It’s me, Nick. No one else could look this good, right?”

Holy shit.
It’s him. Adam’s alive!

Foregoing explanations,
he grabbed on and squeezed the living shit out of him, so fricken glad to see his friend alive unashamed tears rolled down his face.

“Nick, are you okay? What’
s going on? Who is this?” Sara’s worried voice coming from right behind him finally allowed him to loosen his constrictor hold and take a step back. He swiped his cheeks with the palm of one hand while keeping a tight grip on his friend’s elbow, just in case.

Sending
her a reassuring look, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to draw her forward. “You’re not going to believe this, I hardly believe it myself, but this sorry looking son-of-a-bitch is someone I used to call my best friend. Mind you that was before he went and got himself shot, and supposedly
killed
, right, buddy?”

Now that he’d had a moment to digest
the mind-boggling turn of events, Nick took note of some of the changes the years had wrought. Adam had always been the quieter, more reflective of the two of them, but now Nick could see a new maturity to his face. A hardness which had not been apparent in the young idealistic man who was sure they were going over there to make a difference. Yeah, right. Staring into his brown eyes, Nick could see whatever Adam had been through in the past years, had not been easy on his friend.

“You look great
, Nick. I’ve missed you, pal. I can’t tell you how many times I started to call before realizing I couldn’t. And before you get all bent out of shape, how about introducing me to your friend?” Adam smiled, and it was the charismatic quirk of the lips Nick remembered so well. He really was alive.

How ironic
that Sheridan, of all people, would bring first Sara, and then all of his team, together. Even though he’d been deployed with other units, including the one he’d lost, these guys were the ones he’d connected with. His
brothers
. A couple of months ago he’d been getting by, day by day. Now he knew exactly what he’d been missing and vowed never to go back to that empty existence again.

Sara stepped forward
, holding out her hand in greeting. “I’m Sara Reed. Nick’s been a little remiss in telling me about his friends. I know Frank and Jared were his teammates. I assume from this reunion you were also?” He dipped his head in acknowledgement so she continued, “I’m guessing you would be the DEA we are expecting?”

Adam shook her hand.
“That would be correct. I’m Adam O’Connor, and this is my partner, Magdalena Holt. We are very familiar with your husband, ma’am. Maggie and I have been actively involved in this case for close to six years now.”

“
And why is that, Mr. O’Connor? Is my
Ex
-husband that smart, or are you just that inept?”

Jared
let out a whoop of laughter. “You go, girl.”

“Sara…
” Nick couldn’t believe that his guarded, inhibited, beautiful love had soundly criticized a Special Forces operative as if he were a naughty child.

“No
, it’s okay,” This from the stunning Ms. Holt as she stepped forward. “We understand your frustration, and you’re absolutely right. This case should have been wrapped up long ago, and it would have been, except your ex has some high-powered friends. Every time we’d get anywhere close to an arrest, bad Intel would come through to block us. Believe me, we’re every bit as frustrated as you.”

Nick
noticed the neighbors eyeing their little entourage and decided to move things indoors. “The file Sara has can change all that, let’s go in and she can show you what she has.”

Nearing the front gate he saw Tess staring
out her kitchen window, her brow pinched with worry. He lifted his hand in a reassuring wave and Sara, catching the motion, looked over. “I don’t want her upset, I’m just going to run over and let her know what’s happening. I’ll be right back.” She reached up and gave him a too swift peck on the lips before angling off toward Tess’s front door.

Nick caught up to Adam who’d
stopped to watch her enter the neighbor’s home. “Never mind, get your own, she’s mine.”

Adam t
urned with a quick smile. “Where have I heard that before? You never could hold onto your women once I showed up.”

They both grinned at the blatant falsehood. Nick snapped his arm around Adam’s thickened shoulders and placed him in a headlock, before letting go with a light shove.
“Whatever you need to think to help you sleep at night, buddy. As I remember it, you took the ones I left behind.”

Man
, it was good to have him back. He’d talked to Adam after he died. Little day to day things, had he noticed the babe in the mess tent? Or why the hell couldn’t they have been deployed to Siberia instead of all this sand and heat? And after they’d told him what Adam had done to die—why did the asshole have to go and be a hero?

His chest tightened, “I can’t believe you’re here. T
hat was the worst night of my life.”

Adam’s throat bobbed in response.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a real highlight for me either, pal. If I’d known they were going to tell you guys I
died
, I sure as hell wouldn’t have let them. By the time I found out what they’d done it was too late, it was a done deal. My family had been informed already. Shit, I even had a funeral service, how weird is that? They already had new identification for me, a new life.”

He looked to where Frank and Jared were conversing with Maggie in the shadows of the old tree in Sara’s yard. “I only agreed to help the DEA out in the first place because Sheridan was rubbing me the wrong way. They’d already tagged him, but at that time, he was low man on the totem pole. They were after the leader. We still are.”

“And what about those
caught in the middle? It pisses me off to think both you and the fricken DEA let that fucker get away while you went hunting the big fish. Sara shouldn’t have had to pay the price for some asshole’s decision to let Sheridan walk.” Nick growled.

“Frank mentioned
things were bad between Sheridan and his wife. If we’d known we would have stepped in, man, you need to believe that. We want the head of the syndicate but not at the cost of women and children. Never.”

While Nick was angry they hadn’
t done something to protect Jessica and Sara long ago, he did understand. What went on behind closed doors often stayed behind closed doors. “I get it. I wish you had let us know what you were involved in though. Maybe we could have helped catch the S.O.B instead of watching you go down. You should have trusted us to have your back. Instead you had to go and play the super-hero. Worked out well for you, didn’t it?”

“Wow, not pulling any punches hey
, buddy? I fucked up, I admit it, but I’ve also paid the price for five long years, so cut me a break.”

They stood silent for a couple of moments, each lost in painful reflection,
then Adam grinned and changed the subject. “She’s feisty.” He nodded to where Sara had disappeared.

Nick’s chest swelled with pride.
“She’s getting stronger every day. It’s not been an easy road, as you can imagine. I can’t conceive what she must have gone through with that prick, all I know is he’s not going to get anywhere near her ever again. That’s a heads up to you. I know you want him, and the rest of the ring, but Sara is not your pawn, understand?”

Adam stared hard at Nick be
fore breaking into a slow smile. “You’re hooked. I never thought to see the day when a woman brought the great Nickolaus Kelley low, damn. Guess you owe me fifty, hey pal?”

Nick’s lips twisted at the reminder. F
unny, he’d thought that very same thing not so many hours ago. It was the easiest cash he would ever part with. Both because it was true, he was hooked, and because Adam was standing right fricken here asking for it. Who would have thought? Slapping him on the back, he guided his friend into Sara’s home.

***

Sara wasn’t sure how to explain the men, and woman, Tess had watched enter her house. After only Jessica and herself for the last eighteen months, it was hard enough for her to reconcile the fact they weren’t alone in this anymore, much less trying to explain it to her new friends. She’d hoped when they moved here her previous life would be behind them, that they could shed it like an old skin, instead Tom continued to be an albatross around her neck.

Which was the main reason she’
d come over to Tess’s house. If Nick knew what she planned, he’d step in, endangering himself and his friends. She couldn’t allow that. Tom was her problem. When he’d taken Fiona and hurt her, he had broken the final straw. Years of oppression and manipulation fought to free themselves from her body like live entities.

Nick wasn’t aware of it, but she’
d made copies of the infamous file. She was going to use that to trap Tom and get Fiona back, without risk to Nick. If she failed, he would still have the original copies and could then turn them over to the authorities. She’d also filled in the necessary paperwork so that if, God forbid, something happened to her, there would be a record of why and her wishes that Jessica stay with Annie. Though she prayed it wouldn’t come to that.