Ball & Chain

“You don’t need to pronounce it,” Ty said. “Apparently the Stantons own the entire fucking island.”



Zane shook his head. “Private jet, private island, private security force. I’m starting to think Deuce is in way over his head.”



Ty grunted, and a sense of unease fluttered through him again. “I wish I’d been able to talk to him a little more before he left Philly. Nick’s going to be pissed that I don’t know more about what’s going on.”



Zane hummed.



“No, seriously. Nick’s going to kill me.”



Zane began to chuckle. “Maybe this date he’s bringing will make him behave.”



“Or at least keep him distracted,” Ty mumbled.



A few minutes later, Ty caught sight of Nick making his way through the crowd. He stood to go meet him, but stopped short when he recognized the man walking with Nick.



“Doc!” he cried, and wrapped Kelly up in a hug when they got closer. “What the hell are you doing here?”



“You said to bring a date and a gun,” Nick said with a crooked smile. “So I brought a date with a gun.”



Ty laughed and stepped in to give Nick a hug as well. Zane shook both their hands. “How was your flight?”



“Flight was good. Security was rough,” Kelly said.



Ty frowned. If Nick and Kelly hadn’t been able to bring their weapons along, their trip had been for naught. “They give you shit about your gear?”



Nick shook his head.



“No, no, no,” Kelly said before Nick could answer. “The guns and knives and fucking night vision goggles or whatever he has in there, those permits went through fine. It was him they wouldn’t let go through.”



Zane began to laugh despite obviously trying not to. “Why not?”



“The way the new machines are? They take a picture when you stand there, right?” Nick said, raising his arms above his head. “The fucking shrapnel in my thigh makes it look like I have something sharp in my pocket. They kept telling me to empty my pockets, and I was like, ‘I can’t!’”



Kelly began to laugh. “They made him drop his pants. He got whistled at.”



“By you!” Nick shouted.



Kelly laughed harder. Nick rolled his eyes as Ty and Zane snickered.



“Anyway,” Nick said. “How long a drive do we have to this place?”



Ty slung his arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Couple hours. You feel like driving it?”



“I’d rather me do it than you.”



Ty snickered, and Kelly jabbed his elbow into Zane’s ribs. “Never let him drive in a country with left-hand driving.”



“Okay?” Zane said with a raised eyebrow at Ty.



Ty shrugged and winked at him. Nick and Kelly headed for the luggage conveyors to retrieve their suitcases, and Ty slid closer to Zane. “They’re right, never let me drive here.”



“Noted.” Zane’s grin was a warm one. “I can’t believe O’Flaherty brought Doc instead of a real date.”



“The thought of a week at a wedding with a real date probably flat gave him a panic attack.” Ty gave Zane a spontaneous squeeze around the waist.



They gathered their luggage, and Nick and Kelly joined them to head for the rental car counters. Ty told Nick to go to the counter and handle the rental because he knew Nick’s luck. The man was fucking blessed when it came to traveling. He’d been Sidewinder’s “acquisitions specialist,” and he’d been damn good at it. But even beyond skill came luck, and Nick had that in spades.



They’d booked a compact car, but sure enough, Nick came back with a “free upgrade” to a brand new Audi A4 and the counter girl’s phone number. He handed the number to Kelly and the receipt to Ty, then waved the keys as he headed for the door to the parking lot.



“How the hell does he do that?” Zane asked. Kelly merely laughed as they trailed after Nick with their luggage.



Ty and Kelly both fell asleep in the back of the sedan as Nick made the three-hour drive to the little town where they were to catch a very private boat to the Stantons’ very private island. Ty woke whenever they took an especially sharp curve or slowed for a trekking biker, and each time he did, Nick and Zane were talking companionably. Several times their laughter roused him.



Halfway through their deployment, Nick had been sent home for forty-eight hours. Ty knew he’d been sent to Maryland to deliver a message to Naval Intelligence because Ty had specifically chosen him for the mission. When he’d returned, Nick had told him that he’d dropped in on Zane and brought a letter back with him, the only communication Ty and Zane had been able to have during those six months.



From what Ty had observed since landing in Scotland, Zane and Nick had come to an understanding during that visit. He might even call them friends. The level of relief he felt at that was astronomical, given their rocky start.



The next time Ty woke, Kelly was using his lap as a pillow, and they were making their way through a tiny, crowded coastal town. Ty stretched and patted Kelly’s chest as he peered out the window. The quaint shops seemed to lean toward them as they drove past, and the cars on the wrong side of the road came way too close to the car for his comfort. He was glad Nick was driving because the roads in the UK made him twitchy.



They could see sailboats in the harbor and a great expanse of deep blue water beyond. In the far distance, the tops of gently rolling mountains were visible.



The Stantons’ private island was somewhere out there in the wilds of the Inner Hebrides, two hours away. It didn’t have a name on the map.



Ty shook Kelly awake as Nick found a tiny parking spot and turned the car off. They all climbed out, stretching and groaning. Nick rolled his neck and Kelly took hold of his shoulders, massaging them to loosen him up. It made Ty smile. It had been odd being deployed without Sanchez, without Kelly. Seeing Kelly and Nick together was like a balm on an open wound he hadn’t realized was there.



They gathered their luggage and began making their way to the private dock tucked into the picturesque seaside near the larger ferry landing. Kelly and Nick pulled ahead of them, heads bowed as they talked.



Zane took Ty’s arm and slowed him. “Is there something going on with them?”



“What do you mean?”



“They’re kind of . . . touchy-feely.”



Ty laughed. “Nick and Kelly have always been like that. Either one of them would cuddle you if they had the chance.”



Ty picked up the pace again to catch up with their companions. Zane trailed behind for a few steps.



“Huh,” Zane finally said.



When Zane climbed out of the craft, the sun was trying desperately to shine through the afternoon cloud cover. The dock seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, with a winding dirt pathway that supposedly led up to the mansion that inhabited the small island. There were patches of snow in the shade, and the wind was frigid. The crew began to unload mail and packages from the boat, and two men piled them into a small electric vehicle.



“You’re the brother, then?” a man asked him.



Zane turned to him, eyebrows raised. The man was short and stocky, with a wild gray beard and even wilder eyebrows. He was wearing a wool skullcap and small, round glasses. His cardigan was torn and tattered, and so were his fingers, which were wrapped around a wooden oar he was leaning on like a cane.



“You’re the brother?” he said again.



“Oh! No, I’m . . . I’m the brother’s partner.” Zane took a step closer and offered his hand. “Zane.”



“Call me Mackie,” the man said. His Scottish brogue was so thick, Zane had a hard time deciphering what he’d said. “In charge of the docks. You need something to float, you come calling.”



Zane grinned and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”



Mackie left him to go supervise the loading of the packages. Zane glanced over the island, whistling under his breath. Talk about getting away from it all. This tiny island on the brittle northwestern coast of Scotland was about as far away as you could get. He shook his head and looked behind him. Ty was straddling the boat and the concrete steps that were built down into the sea off the dock. Nick was handing suitcases up to him, and Kelly was standing on the boat, giving them cheeky directions, no doubt to annoy them both.



Zane grinned at them.



Ty glanced up as he balanced on the edge of the boat, several wardrobe bags over his shoulder. “Give me a hand, huh?” he grunted. He raised up one of the bulky bags that carried the tuxedos they’d brought from Baltimore.



Zane took the garment bag and laid it over one arm before accepting the next satchel Ty shoved at him. “You make a good pack mule.”



“Shut up,” Ty grunted. He tossed Zane’s luggage unceremoniously onto the dock. Kelly laughed and held onto his side, using Nick’s shoulder and Ty’s hand to get onto the steps.



Ty helped Nick with the last two suitcases, then gave his surroundings a once-over, taking in the crimson ribbons tied to the dock and the hint of ancient ruins in the distance. “Poor Deacon.”



Zane stifled a laugh. “It’s not that bad.”



Ty was scowling, obviously not in agreement.



Nick found his feet and gave the island his own once-over, looking grim. “I’m going to die in Scotland,” he muttered.



Kelly barked a laugh. Nick reached out and grasped his forearm to pull him onto the dock.



“Let’s get this over with then,” Ty said as he bent to pick up his bags.



Zane chose the better part of valor and stayed quiet. Ty and Nick both had gotten crankier and crankier as the trip went on, but then, hours of layovers, car rides, and a choppy boat trip to an island that may or may not have power would have tried the biggest of travel lovers, especially since they were mere weeks off six months of deployment.



Zane slung a satchel over both shoulders, being careful of the tuxedo bag. When they made it to the dirt path, a golf cart broke the rise ahead and trundled their way, three familiar figures riding in it.



Ty grinned widely at the sight of his brother. He dropped the heavy bags he was lugging and jogged toward the golf cart, which stopped several yards off. Livi put Amelia on the ground, and she bounded toward Ty, who knelt and held his arms out for a hug. Amelia bypassed him, though, running right under his outstretched hand to leap into Zane’s arms. She giggled as Zane twirled her around. Ty’s shoulders drooped, and he trudged back over to them.



“That was the most epic rejection I’ve ever seen,” Kelly said, snickering behind his hand.



Amelia was only fifteen months old, but between the auburn hair and eyes the same unusual hazel green as Ty’s, she was going to be one killer little lady when she grew up. She wore nothing but dresses, the frillier the better, and she insisted that her shoes match her ribbons. And she was apparently the only child Ty had ever met who would have none of his charms.



Her parents had spent most of her life showing her pictures of Ty, telling her he was her uncle who loved her very much, and Zane had taught her several tricks under Ty’s strict instructions. But none of it had convinced her to give Ty the time of day yet.



Zane squeezed her close, and nodded at Livi, who gave them a wave and smiled brilliantly. She was quite lovely in a robin’s egg sheath dress that matched her eyes and a wool coat that matched her dress, even though the wind plucked at her silvery blonde hair and gave her a disheveled appearance. Zane was amused to see that she was wearing galoshes. No unwieldy heels for this one, fashion be damned.



Nick whistled when he stopped next to Zane. “Damn. Hate to say it Zane, but Deacon won this round.”



Zane gave that a hearty laugh.



“That’s not very nice,” Kelly muttered. “Zane could pull off that dress.”



“Not really my color.”



Nick and Kelly both chuckled.



Deuce gave Ty a long, tight hug, squeezing him until he started to struggle for freedom. When Deuce finally released Ty, he offered his hand to Zane. “Agent Garrett,” he said, mockingly formal.



Zane rolled his eyes as he propped Amelia on one hip. “Dr. Grady,” he drawled, shaking his hand heartily.



Deuce turned to Nick, shaking his hand as well and smirking. “Snakebite, been a while. Good to see you back on your feet.”



Nick sighed heavily. “Never going to live it down, am I?”



Deuce practically giggled.



“Snakebite?” Kelly asked.



Nick shook his head, but Zane cackled when he realized what Deuce was talking about. “Oh my God, you’re the one who went hiking and got bit by the snake?”



Nick turned a glare on him.



“Dad told you not to poke it,” Deuce said.



“I had to poke it, it was in my sleeping bag!”



Kelly chuckled. “When was this?”



“When we were young and stupid,” Nick told him.



“Some of us more so than others,” Deuce added. He turned to Kelly, offering his hand. “I recognize you.”



“Kelly Abbott, I was the Navy doc for Sidewinder.”



“I’m sure we’ve met before, but it’s nice to meet you again.”



“Likewise.”



“Thank you both for coming on such short notice. I know you’re probably wanting some answers about why Ty asked you to come. I figured we’d let you rest a little and then sit down and talk tonight, if that’s okay.”



“Sounds good,” Nick said. Zane was a little more ready to demand answers faster, but Nick and Kelly were both the epitome of hassle-free.



Ty was gallantly helping Livi out of the golf cart, and he offered her his arm as they rejoined Zane and the others. She introduced herself to Nick and Kelly, thanking them for coming just as Deacon had. She seemed sedate for a bride-to-be. She gave Zane a hug and kissed him on the cheek, and then Ty put an arm around her and kept it there as Zane introduced Amelia to the others.