Chapter
2
Bobby
Grabbing my duffle bag out of the back of the truck, I turned to follow behind my teammates, boarding the plane only to be stopped short by Jaxon’s hand on my shoulder.
“Bobby, I need to know… are you going to be alright on this mission? You’re not going to let personal issues get in the way, right?”
Staring back at Jaxon’s composed face I did my best not to lose control of my temper and give in to the urge to punch him in the face. Jaxon had every right to question me about this. I thought I’d done a good job hiding my emotions, but after some curious glances from the guys, my guess was it had been a piss poor cover-up after all.
“I will not let my personal issues get in the way of completing this mission, Sir. However, I cannot promise you that I will not pursue my own agenda on my free time. Sound fair to you?”
Jaxon watched me like I was a ticking time bomb for a few minutes before responding, “Fair enough, Baker. Don’t let any of this become a problem, understand me?”
“Yes Sir, understood.”
“Good. Let’s load up.”
Upon entering the cabin of the private plane the CIA used to shuttle the EX Ops unit around the world, I found my team members in various stages of getting settled. The seats were grouped in fours so two people faced the other two. Looking up and around the cabin of the plane, I snorted when I caught Belle’s position. She and her partner Boyd were seated in the back of the plane facing Declan and Riley. The only seat available was at the front of the plane, but at least it was facing her direction.
Her avoidance tactics towards me were ridiculous. First, her little show back at headquarters, where she’d verbally flogged me for calling her ‘Belle’ rather than her given name of ‘Annabelle’. Now she was taking every opportunity to put as much distance between us as possible.
That was okay. I had every intention of making it difficult for her to pretend I wasn’t there. Eventually, she would break down and talk to me. All I needed was half an hour to explain I was sorry. I’d looked everywhere for her. Gone as far as hiring five different private investigators in an effort to locate her over the years. She’d done one hell of a disappearing act. She hadn’t just left her dad’s tiny trailer. Nor had she just left our small town. Apparently, she’d left the state of Georgia completely. Not to mention she changed her fucking name. No wonder her trail had gone up like a puff of smoke for the P.I.’s. Why would she have gone through the hassle of changing her name, though? I didn’t understand. Was she that desperate to shake me after what I’d done to her?
Belle had always been as wild as the wind, but I would have never thought she would have run as far and as fast as she had. That struck me as kind of funny. Why the hell had she left like that anyways? Sure, I’d been stupid enough to send the damn letter telling her that I needed time.
Perhaps Belle hadn’t had much there in Sylvania. Her dad was a worthless drunk. Her mom dead in the ground. Most of the town thought she was trouble with her bad attitude and quick temper. Her best friend, Teagan, had taken her GED on her eighteenth birthday so she could get out of town and join the Marine Corps to escape her own abusive father, but did that mean Belle had to leave? My parents had worried about her like crazy. Not to mention, Mom never failed to tell me what a complete idiot I was for letting her get away. This was something I didn’t need to be told. I was perfectly aware of it all on my own.
Belle’s loud laughter cut through my thoughts; I lifted my head to see her smiling brightly at Declan. Go fucking figure. Smooth bastard was a chick magnet. Women in every shape and size would flock to him, practically begging for a second of his attention. It was disgusting. A hard knot of jealousy curled in my stomach, watching the love of my life laugh it up with another man when she wouldn’t even look at me, burned like acid in my gut.
It didn’t matter. Belle could be as stubborn as a mule all she wanted. It was not going to keep me from getting her back. I didn’t give a shit who the hell this ‘Seth’ was and, if my girl thought she could push me away when I’d finally found her after all these years, she had another thing coming. Somehow, some way, I was going to seduce my girl back into my arms. Right where she belonged. All I had to do was get her to soften a little. Talk her into listening to me. Remind her how it felt when we held each other, kissed each other, that sparks flew like the fourth of July. It would still be like that between us even after all this time. Nothing would ever be as sweet, as explosive, to me as Belle was.
No matter what my wild girl said, I refused to call her Annabelle. She would always be my Belle. My wild, beautiful and perfect Belle.
~~~
Annabelle
Two and a half hours on a plane from Washington D.C. back to a small airfield right outside of San Antonio, Texas was spent laughing at Declan Sullivan’s crazy ass stories. The man had charming down to a science while his brother Riley sat next to him quietly. The brothers might look alike, but personality wise, they were yin and yang. Riley seemed thoughtful and gave me occasional small smiles that gave me the overwhelming urge to get him a little drunk and see if it would make him open up and have some fun. Declan seemed like he could have fun sober in a room all by himself. He was the definition of the word fun. He was more than the party boy, though. It was a good thing I’d paid attention to all of those psychology classes in college.
Declan might be a laugh a minute, but it was because he was trying to get me to relax and open up. One minute he would be telling Boyd and me a funny story about growing up with his brother and Irish grandparents, the next he would be slipping in a question about my own childhood. What a sneaky, little, interrogation specialist. I may not have official confirmation from Commander Wall what each of the men’s specialties were, but I’d bet my last chocolate chip cookie Declan Sullivan was the go-to guy on this team for getting information out of somebody; and I never risked my cookies because they were the most important food group in my diet.
Shifting my eyes to his brother, Riley, I scrutinized the man from head to toe. Had he always been this quiet? Letting his younger brother be the life of the party? Or had something happened in his life that caused him to be subdued? I’d never been the quiet type, hence why my small hometown had labeled me trouble of the worst variety. I had a temper a mile wide, a hard fist to back it up, and a mouth that was never afraid to speak my mind. Why not speak my mind? What or who in that small town could hurt me more than my father did? The only thing I’d ever truly feared was giving my heart away and ending up with a jackass like my mother had. It was why pushing everybody, except Teagan, away had always been easier than letting down those emotional walls and allowing people in. Besides my best friend, there had been one exception. Bobby. He had convinced me that my heart would be safe with him. What a joke that had been and look how it had turned out. Badly. No, the word badly didn’t do that heap of mess enough justice. A more accurate description would be emotional homicide. I’d handed him my heart on a silver platter and, instead of keeping it safe like he’d promised to, he’d chopped my vulnerable heart into a million, tiny pieces before throwing it in the trash. See what happened when you gave your faith to something as here-today-gone-tomorrow as love? Lesson learned.
That kind of pain was a hard thing to bounce back from. Unfortunately, given what my position was at the time, which was homeless, I didn’t have much choice except to get over it. You couldn’t find a warm place to sleep or put food in your belly if you allowed yourself to curl up into a ball and cry your eyes out. There had been plenty of tears, but they were shed with my chin up, my shoulders back, and me facing the world head-on. Some might say I still had trust issues to this day, but I’d learned to open up a little. I had friends now. Occasional lovers even. Although, no man had taken Bobby’s place and no man ever would.
I loved three people in this world. Teagan, and she’d earned that love with loyalty, understanding, and bruises meant for me; Seth, because he was my first example of true, unconditional love and, therefore, meant everything to me. He was also a giant walking, talking secret I was sure was about to come back and bite me in the ass. Then there was Bobby, whom I loved and would always love, but would never trust again.
So, since there was no more Bobby in my life, I’d spent the last few years with infrequent dates to scratch my itch, making sure messy things like emotions were never involved. Life was busy. I’d gone to school, gotten my degree in Criminal Justice, and worked hard in my spare time to pay the bills all so I could build a career that would ensure I’d never be without money again. Never again would someone describe me as trailer trash. Not to mention I had Seth to keep me busy. There was no room for another man in my life. Seth was all I truly needed.
Pushing thoughts away as the plane touched down, I put myself back into agent mode. There was an investigation to crack, firearms to find then confiscate, and dirt wads to arrest and put behind bars. When the plane came to a stop, I looked out the window to see Charlie in his beige uniform, leaning against his SUV, arms crossed over his chest, and a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. A plain black van with ‘Sheriff’ emblazed down the side of it was parked behind it with a mischievous looking Deputy Walters standing in front of it.
Charlie and Walters were both tall, incredibly good looking, imposing men that many women fell into lust at first sight with. Thankfully, I had the pleasure of calling them friends.
After obtaining my job with the ATF and moving outside of San Antonio, I’d run into Charlie at the local stop-n-shop next to a gas station I often filled up at. It was close to ten at night, I was in the shop grabbing a gallon of overpriced milk on my way home and, while I stood in the back by the freezer doors, a man in a ski mask burst in. His pistol was pointed at the woman behind the counter who was visibly pregnant and obviously scared shitless. Whoever the moron in the mask was couldn’t have been all that bright, though. He didn’t turn his head and look around to see if they were alone. He didn’t keep his back towards a wall so he could monitor the store and its entrance for activity, either. All he did was wave that shiny, black pistol around in the poor woman’s face, demanding the money in the cash register and that just downright pissed me off.
Here this woman was, working a late night, more than likely simply trying to pay her bills and save up some desperately needed money before her baby came, and this idiot was in here scaring the bejesus out of her. I was tired myself, after a long day of work, short on patience, and in a hurry to get home to Seth. Instead of doing the relatively smart thing, which would have been to whip out my cell phone and call the local authorities since I was alone, I chose to sneak down the aisle until I stood right behind the masked robber. He still had not detected my presence and the clerk behind the counter was smart enough not to make any sudden movements or noises to announce my arrival, which allowed me to put my law enforcement training to use. I slammed my knee into the outside of the robber’s thigh, right above the knee, where there was a nerve point to cause him pain. Simultaneously, I grabbed his gun hand, which was in his right hand, with my own right hand while placing my left arm on the upper portion of his back, forcing his body to bend and turn to where I wanted it. Using the momentum to twist his right arm behind him to an unmovable angle, I twisted his wrist up to a debilitating point that caused him to cry out in pain and drop the gun. As I pushed the robber to the floor, first to his knees, then to his belly, and handcuffed him, the clerk was already on the phone with 911 dispatch. Charlie and Deputy Walters arrived moments later while I stood there with my foot in the middle of the whining robber’s back, my gun aimed at him.
At first, Charlie and Walters felt entitled to give me a rash of shit for taking on an armed suspect all by my little ol’ self. I was a woman, he was a man twice my size. What in the world had I been thinking? About a minute into their lecture, I got bored, lost my patience, flashed them my ATF badge, told them they could shove their lecture where the sun didn’t shine, grabbed my gallon of milk, and walked out of the shop. I made it as far as my truck before Charlie chased me down to apologize. That night led to a friendship between me and Charlie. Eventually, it led to a drunken night between the sheets, which then led to a particularly awkward moment when Charlie caught me sneaking out of those sheets in the middle of the night. Our friendship had been strained for a while, but eventually, Charlie accepted I didn’t have it in me to give more than a physical release. He wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he was still here.
My first thoughts at seeing Charlie standing there, waiting for me, were happy ones. The past 24 hours had cracked open a vault of emotions I’d never thought to experience again, so the sight of him standing there as the plane came to a stop was like a fresh breath of air.
The next thought was pure unadulterated panic. He could blab explosive personal information out in front of a particular person who needed to be left in the dark as much as possible. Grabbing my bag, I made a beeline for the door to be the first one out, then practically ran down the stairs to throw myself into Charlie’s waiting arms. His bear hug spun me in a circle before setting me on my feet.
Pulling his head down, I placed my mouth next to his ear and whispered, “Charlie, I need a favor. I need you to not mention Seth and tell Walters to do the same. Can you do that for me, please?”
Pulling back I saw the confusion on his face, but shook my head when he started to ask why. Glancing behind, to the men disembarking from the plane, he looked back down to me, still confused, yet he ultimately only shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, darlin’. It’s not a problem.” Giving him a grateful smile, I let go of him to turn around and face Boyd and the EX Ops team. Deputy Walters sidled up next to me and threw an arm over my shoulders to squeeze.
“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to my good friends, Sheriff Jenkins and Deputy Walters. Deputy Walters here is kind enough to drive you to the hotel I’ve reserved for you. By the time you get there you should have two rental SUV’s waiting with the keys at the front desk. Boyd and I have some errands to run, but we’ll meet you back at the hotel in a few hours to prep for tonight. We’ll be doing undercover surveillance at the Big Bull Bar to see if we can find any further activity. Commander Wall, you have our numbers if you need to reach us. If you need anything at all give us a ring.” Charlie leaned behind my back to whisper briefly in Deputy Walter’s ear while I was telling everyone to pile in the vehicles.
Boyd piled in with me into Charlie’s SUV while the EX Ops team piled into the back of Deputy Walter’s black van. The two vehicles took off in different directions, which made me feel more than just a tad relieved to be putting a little distance between myself and the man that caused too many memories to creep up after I thought they’d been long since buried.
There had been a number of times I’d seen Bobby out of the corner of my eye, staring at me from across the plane. Desire, mixed with determination, written plain as day on his face for the world to see. The shadows of regret that were visible in those beautiful eyes of his were what had gotten to me the most. Did he actually regret leaving me? The thought made my heart skip a beat, but my brain quickly reminded me it didn’t matter. Life had moved on in big ways. There was no safe place in it for Bobby Baker.
~~~
Bobby
Close to nine o’clock that night I sat with the other men in Jaxon’s hotel suite, waiting for Belle and her partner to show up. Everyone was dressed in their civilian clothes as if they were headed out to have a good time, instead of getting ready to do reconnaissance work at a busy bar. Though, every man in the room was armed in one way or another; guns or knives carefully concealed in their boots or around their waist and underneath their shirts. We all sat calmly, waiting, like the steady soldiers we were, until a few minutes later a firm knock sounded on the door. Jaxon crossed the floor from where he’d been sitting in a chair, bouncing his leg, and peeped through the hole before he opened the door to admit first Boyd, then Belle, with Sheriff Jenkins right behind her.
I had to tell my lungs to keep breathing as the sight of Belle reached me. My eyes were probably glazed with desire because the way she looked right now felt like a hit of a wonder drug on a detoxing body. Gone was the professional demeanor of her ATF attire and in its place stood someone reminiscent of the wild girl I’d fallen in love with all those years ago. Her jeans—that were so low rise they barely covered her private areas—were settled perfectly over her black cowboy boots and were paired with a mid-sleeve, fitted, western shirt with the buttons halfway undone to show the black, lace tank top underneath. Her hair was long and loose, cascading down her back in gentle curls, topped by a sexy, black cowgirl hat on her head.
Flashing a dazzling smile she addressed the room. “Hey y’all! Who’s ready to have some fun tonight?”
Shell shocked men sat in silence staring back at her. It took everything I had not to run up and tackle her so my unit would stop ogling what I obviously still considered mine. Charlie let loose an amused chuckle. “Darlin,’ I do believe you’ve made an impression.”
With a roll of her eyes and a soft snort, she crossed her arms over her ample chest. “Anyways! Moving on now. I’ve talked Charlie here into accompanying us tonight with his Deputy since he’s the one who spotted the suspicious activity. They’ll be on the lookout for the two men to help us along. I thought we could break up into four groups so we can all arrive at separate intervals to avoid suspicion. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes apart? We all arrived in our own vehicles, but Boyd will ride in one of your SUV’s if you have go bags already in them. I take it you guys are going to be wearing some sort of communication devices tonight?”
Jaxon nodded. “We’re all equipped with comm. links that can be activated by pushing a button on the actual device in their ear or by a button on their watch. Either way, everyone in the unit will be able to hear what’s being said when one of the comm. links are activated. It might be a good idea to use two of those four teams and position them outside the bar. With groups in the front and back, we can be on the lookout around the perimeter.”
Belle angled her body to face Jaxon. “Perhaps then, Commander Wall, it might be best if we split Boyd, Charlie, Deputy Miles and myself up with your men so we have a link to the rest of the team tonight through you all.”
“That works.” Jaxon faces us to start rattling off teams. “Logan and Wyatt team up with Agent Boyd. You’ll go by ‘Group Four’ and position yourselves outside the front. Chase and Arturo team up with Deputy Miles to make ‘Group Three’. Situate yourselves outside the back. Declan and Riley can team up with Agent Roberts for ‘Group Two’. Bobby, Lucas and myself will team up with Sheriff Jenkins to form ‘Group One’.”
Jaxon started handing out a printout of information to Belle, Boyd and Jenkins. “We were able to obtain a little information on the bar. The picture shows the man who owns it. His name is Travis Henderson. Mr. Henderson seems to have a clean rap sheet and little else is known about the bar or its employees. Anyone got any questions?” Silence enveloped the room. “Then if everyone is ready, let’s roll out.”
Belle headed out of the room first to disappear in the parking lot while the guys proceeded to file out a few minutes later. Being at the back of the group I missed what made the guys catcall and laugh until I came into full view of Belle leaned up against a black jacked up Ford F350 decked out with a ram air hood, brush guard, monster-sized tires and a banner on the top of the windshield that read ‘G.R.I.T.S.’.
Lucas’s slightly New York accented voice sounded confused as he asked, “G.R.I.T.S.? Isn’t that like a food or something?”
Logan clapped him on the shoulder as barks of laughter echoed in the parking lot. “Naw, buddy. Stands for ‘Girls Raised In The South’. You could say Agent Roberts is showing off her southern pride a bit, that’s all. It’s a damn good thing to be proud of, too.”
Belle climbed up into the cab of the truck. Still hanging out of the door a bit she yelled, “Come on Sullivan brothers. We’re gonna have some fun before we head to the bar!”
Declan and Riley Sullivan looked wary. “What kind of fun exactly?”
“Muddin’ and Jason Aldean. Let’s go, baby!” The heavy rumble of her engine came to life as ‘She’s Country’ blasted out of its open windows.
The Sullivan brothers looked at each other nervously. Riley spoke in a low voice to Declan, “You think she’s alright upstairs or should I be worried?” Declan clapped his brother on the back before hopping up into the passenger side of the truck.
I was insanely jealous as the truck tore out of the parking lot to head down the highway while the rest of us piled into our respective vehicles to leave. It almost felt as if she was trying to rub my nose in one of our best memories. When you lived in a small southern town, out in the middle of nowhere, muddin’ with your buddies, your girl, and pilfered beer where you could cut loose and be free was one of the few options for entertainment. There went my buddies. There went my girl. Here I still stood, looking like a jackass.
Jaxon watched the retreating vehicle with a mix of amusement and trepidation. Turning to Sheriff Jenkins he asked, “Should I be worried about any of that?” His finger pointing in the direction of where Belle’s truck had already disappeared.
The Sheriff’s easy smile didn’t seem to convince Jaxon. “Not at all, Commander Wall. Annabelle is harmless. Swear.”
I snorted. “Tell that to the guy she knocked unconscious her senior year. He was twice her size.”
Sheriff Jenkins’s eyebrows shot to his hairline as he turned to face me in the back seat. “You knew Annabelle in high school?”
My mouth kicked up in a half smile. “Yeah, you could say that. We grew up in the same small town. Belle and I were as close as you could get until I left for the Army just after graduation.”
The Sheriff’s eyebrows pulled down into an intense expression as something flashed over his face before he could cover it up. He quickly turned around to start the car. “I’m going to turn on the radio. Hope you don’t mind.”
The radio kicked on and a local country station came on. All conversation in the car stopped. The last look the Sheriff had made bothered me. There was something there that made my instincts flare up. The Sheriff knew something. What in the hell could it possibly be?