Chapter Ten
Etta paced the floor, checking the time every time she passed by the fireplace. There was an old-fashioned wooden clock on the mantel that ticked the seconds. It was half past eight. She’d assumed JJ would show up a bit earlier.
A tap on her door had her hurrying to open it. Deacon stood on the porch and his expression was one she recognized and hated seeing. “What’s happened?”
“Intel from Angel. ISIL.”
“Come in.” Etta stepped aside and closed the door behind Deacon. “You want to elaborate?”
“The family that turned Gabe. Intel suggests that one of the brothers has entered the country.”
Etta turned her back on him, so he couldn’t see how hard that news hit her. She took a seat on the couch before speaking. “Impossible. We killed all four brothers.”
“There were five.”
“No.”
“Yes. And he’s gunning for the people who killed his brothers.”
“Us, you mean.”
“Yes.”
“And? What does Angel say?”
“Be cautious, keep our eyes open, and he’ll pass along any further intel.”
“And what do you think?
“I think you need a gun.”
Etta stood to face him. “No.”
“Etta, should the need arise—”
“I told you then. No more guns. I can’t, Deac.”
“You can and you’re going to.” He reached behind him and pulled a handgun from his belt. “Take it.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Dammit, Etta, I didn’t ask if you wanted it, I said take it, so take the damn thing.”
“Fine!” She snatched it from his hand and at that moment, the front door opened and JJ walked in.
“Ever hear of knocking?” Deacon barked.
JJ looked from Deacon to Etta. “What’s going on?”
Etta shook her head, but Deacon spoke up. “I say we tell him. We might need him.”
“No. This isn’t—”
“This isn’t up for a vote, girl. I’ve already told Grady and Mason. But they’re not on site 24-7. JJ is, so we bring him in.”
“Into what?” JJ asked.
Deacon looked at him, then turned his attention to Etta. “I’ll let her tell you. I have some calls to make.”
“You’ll tell me if there are further developments?” Etta asked.
“You know I will.”
She nodded and watched him leave. Once he had, she put the gun on the coffee table and looked at JJ.
“What the hell’s going on, Etta?”
“Have a seat.”
“That sounds like your doctor's voice.” He took a seat in a chair adjacent to the couch.
“I guess it does.” She closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts.
“Okay.” She opened her eyes. “I’m ex-military. Naval Intelligence attached to Navy Special Warfare Command. I worked with Deacon on several missions. I was also married. To Gabriel Angel.”
It was easy to see that JJ had heard of Gabe by the expression on his face. “Gabriel Angel,” she said softly. What an unlikely name. Gabe was most often described as the Ice Man—a stone cold killer.
“His SEAL commander was Deacon Johns.”
JJ leaned forward a bit in his chair. “He was the son of Rear Admiral Angel, right?”
“Yes. Gabe and two others of his team were taken in Mosul. His teammates were tortured to death. Gabe survived, but was barely alive when he escaped. I was called in once his physical injuries had been attended to.”
“Were you married to him then?”
“No, we hadn’t met until then. I worked with Gabe for three months before he spoke a word. I’ve never seen a person so—so broken. Deacon and even his own father didn’t believe I’d ever been able to get any useful intel out of him.
“But I was determined.” She stared across the room as she talked, trying to keep her emotions in check. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Gabe in a long time and even now, after him being gone for so long, the pain tore free from some hidden depth and twisted inside her like a blade.
“I wouldn’t give up. I was with him 24-7 and he became attached to me. He could barely function physically if I wasn’t with him. I knew it was a mistake. I propped him up and didn’t demand too much of him. And even more of a mistake was the way I let my emotions get the best of me. I knew I was falling for the wrong reasons, but I fell for him, anyway.
“Deacon told me I was making a huge mistake. It was bad medicine and I needed to break it off and have Gabe assigned to another doctor.”
Etta looked directly at JJ. “I knew he was right, but I was stubborn and wouldn’t agree.
“I spent thirteen months with Gabe and when I certified him fit for duty I honestly believed he was. He asked me to marry him and I said yes. We honeymooned in Greece and then he was deployed back to Mosul.
“His unit had been gone for three weeks when I received orders to report to Deacon at their post. He was concerned. Gabe was staying out all night on patrols, barely eating, and his temper was hair trigger.
“When I got there, Gabe acted like I was pissing on his parade, or invading his territory. He was surly, insulting, and when he looked at me, it was like I was seeing a stranger. Even more troubling, I saw a man hiding something.
“I reported my observations to Deacon and he ordered Gabe on the next transport back to the States.”
The strain of remembering had tears streaming down her face and her voice breaking. She didn’t want to remember and sure as hell didn’t want to tell the story. There was no way she could continue looking at JJ, watching his eyes search hers and feeling his anxiety. She could barely manage her own.
Etta jumped at the knock on the door, got up, and opened it. Deacon walked in. “Angel said you weren’t to be left alone. At all. Either you’ll stay at my place or I’ll stay here.”
“Here.” She agreed and brushed away tears. “I can’t tell him this, Deac. I—”
He pulled her into his arms. After a tight hug, he steered her to the couch, keeping his arm around her as they sat.
“What have you told him?”
“She got to the point where she’d reported her suspicions about Gabe to you and you ordered him on the next transport stateside.”
Deacon nodded. “What Etta—what none of us realized was that Gabe hadn’t been tortured for information. He’d been turned. Maybe he was afraid she’d find that out so he changed his attitude, put on a good show, and tried to make us all believe that he was just having a bad spell and could pull it together.
“For the next three weeks it appeared that he had. He and his team went out for five days and when they returned, he reported that they knew where a high-level ISIL operative was holed up.
“I sent his team out and he was the only one to return. But not alone…”
As Deacon talked, Etta closed her eyes and saw it unfold all over again in her mind, as vivid and clear as if it was happening now.
The command center was little more than the bottom floor of a house owned by a longtime informant. Etta was in the kitchen, starting a fresh pot of coffee and Deacon was leaning against the doorframe where he could see into the kitchen and through to the front door. She’d grown accustomed to being around men whose eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings and who always watched the exits.
In the living area of the apartment were four support personnel. Etta could hear an occasional noise from the radio, but thus far, there’d been no contact from Gabe’s team today and everyone was starting to get anxious.
“You don’t think he—cracked?” Etta couldn’t get that thought out of her mind. What if she’d made a mistake and Gabe wasn’t ready at all? What if she’d put him and his team in danger by signing his release?
“Speculation is useless. We’ll wait.”
“Until?” She turned to face him.
“Until I say otherwise.”
“Don’t you—”
At that moment, Deacon turned into the room, plastered his back against the wall beside the door, and gestured to her to be silent. It was less than a second later when she heard the first shot. Her eyes went to the opened door and then to Deacon.
He shook his head and motioned for her to move. Etta quietly moved closer to the inside wall, beside the refrigerator. Just as she reached the position, a man entered, his rifle already swinging from side to side as he scanned the room.
All Etta could think was how had their enemy known where they were? It didn’t make any sense. Why were they being attacked? The enemy spotted Etta and before she had time to do more than flinch, Deacon grabbed the man and with one vicious twist, broke his neck. He dragged the man out of the doorway as gunfire pelted the area. Etta watched with growing terror as Deacon took the man’s gun and returned fire.
It took all her will to keep her mouth closed and not scream. Etta had never been so afraid. At least until a few seconds later when she saw Deacon turn abruptly to one side and lurch back. Almost immediately, his body jerked three times in rapid succession.
Nothing could have stopped the scream that tore out of her when she realized what was happening. Deacon had been shot. He managed to stagger to one side and she could see the bloodstains on his clothes. The upper right side of his chest, near his waist on his left side, and two patches on his left leg were growing steadily.
He slumped against the wall, breathing hard. Gunfire and the sounds of fighting came from the front room, accompanied by screams of pain and furniture being knocked over. Etta eased over to the door and then bolted across the doorway to Deacon.
“I’m here.” She whispered. “What do you want me to do?”
Deacon pressed the rifle into her hands and pulled his own sidearm. “Kill the bastards.”
Reality suddenly shifted. The noise was one big cacophony, blended to create something indecipherable and horrifying. Etta screamed, in fear and defiance, stepped into the doorway and opened fire. She saw one man go down and then another.
Deacon hung onto the doorframe and fired. Another of the enemy fell. Etta kept shooting, aiming at anything that looked like an enemy until suddenly there he was. Gabe. He moved out of the hallway with his weapon drawn and she lowered her rifle.
At that moment, Deacon fell. Etta dropped the rifle and knelt beside him. “Gabe, help! It’s Deacon.”
She pressed one hand on the wound on his chest and the other on his leg, where the greatest amount of blood seemed to be welling.
“Etta.” Deacon’s voice was weak, but he pushed Etta away.
“Deacon, stop.” Etta tried to stop him from moving and yelled out, “Gabe!”
She saw Deacon look behind her. She looked over her shoulder, screamed and jumped up. “Gabe no. It’s Deacon! Put down that gun.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
That’s when Etta really looked at him and what she saw scared the life out of her. She’d never seen such hatred or malice burning in a man’s eyes. Gabe had his gun pointed at Deacon’s head.
“Gabe, it’s me. Etta. You’re safe and you need to put the gun down. You don’t want to—”
“Shut your mouth, you stupid cunt.” Gabe backhanded her, and she fell. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance,” he said to Deacon and pointed his gun again.
That’s when her hold on what was real started to slip. This wasn’t Gabe. It wasn’t the man she loved, the one she’d married and vowed to love forever. This? This was someone she didn’t know. She barely realized what she was doing when she took Deacon’s handgun and rolled over, raising it to fire.
The bullet hit its mark. A spot of red appeared on Gabe’s forehead and a spray of blood and brains splattered behind him. His body toppled over, causing her to scream and scramble away.
Deacon squeezed Etta’s shoulder and she opened her eyes.
“She radioed for help and kept me alive until help arrived. She never left my side. Not on the trip to Germany. Not through my surgery or recovery. She stayed with me 24-7 until I was safe on home soil. She saved me.”
Etta leaned in closer to Deacon. “And then Deacon saved me. He pulled me from a hell so dark I didn’t think I could escape. But I did. And we became family.
“We’ve been together ever since.”
She looked fully at JJ. “So that’s my shit, Mr. Jacks. I told you, we all have some. Only mine is trying to come back and get me because those people don’t know anything but hatred and blood and death. I can have you assigned to another center and have you out of here tomorrow. You’re not bound here, and this isn’t your fight.”
“Like hell it’s not. Something evil is coming and I know how bad it is. I can’t run from this. I’ll stay and if we have to fight, we’ll fight together.”
Etta looked at Deacon. He nodded and turned his attention to JJ. “One thing. She’s your doctor, you hear me? Your doctor. Nothing else. You’ll not get her killed.”
He then looked at Etta. “And you’ll not make the same mistake again. Am I clear?”
“You are,” she agreed.
“Yes, sir,” JJ answered without hesitation.
“Then let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a plan and decide what to do about the rest of the people here. We don’t want anyone in harm’s way. Now, you head back to the main house and I’ll bunk down here on the couch.”
JJ nodded and looked at Etta. “I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Nothing.” She replied. “There’s nothing to say.”
“Yeah, there is, but it can wait. Good night.”
Once he’d gone, Etta turned to Deacon. “You don’t have to stay.”
“You know I do.”
She nodded and stood to hug him. “I love you, Deac.”
“And I love you. Now get some sleep.”
“I’ll try.”
Etta went into her room, but didn’t shut the door. She lay down on the bed, fully dressed, turned to face the door.
Dawn found her still in that position.