Chapter Fifteen
JJ was out of the bed before she was, sliding into his jeans. “Do you have a gun?”
“Yes.” She hurried to get out of the bed and start dressing.
“Where is it?”
“In the nightstand.”
“Then get it, call Deacon, and do not leave this room.”
“JJ, no!” Etta hurried to him as he started out of the room. “You’re not even armed.”
“I’ll be fine. Do what I say, Etta. Lock the door behind me and don’t open it unless it’s me or Deacon. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—” She gave him a quick kiss. “Be careful.”
“Always.”
Etta locked the door, raced to the nightstand to get the gun and her phone. She sat on the bed, placed the gun beside her, and called Deacon.
He answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s someone in the house.”
“You have the gun?”
“I do. I’m in the bedroom with the door locked.”
“Then stay there. I’m on my way.”
“Wait! JJ’s here. He’s out there now.”
There was a moment of silence and Etta knew that she’d not escape a dressing down from Deacon about breaking her promise. She didn’t care about that, just about JJ being safe.
“On my way.”
The line went dead and Etta set the phone aside. Just then, the sounds of a struggle could be heard. She could make out grunts and what she thought must be furniture being shoved around, or lamps falling.
Then a garbled noise brought a cold sweat to her skin. She lifted the gun, thumbed the safety to the Off position, and waited.
“Etta.” JJ’s voice sounded outside the door.
She flew across the room, unlocked and opened the door. “Oh thank God.” She threw her arms around his neck. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”
“I am.” He pushed her back to arm’s length and that’s when it hit her. He was okay. Cool as a cucumber, in fact. She couldn’t sense any unease at all from him.
“Etta!” Deacon’s bellow had them both looking down the hall. JJ released Etta and headed for the front of the house.
“I’m guessing this is your doing.” Deacon gestured to the body on the floor as JJ entered the room.
“It is.”
“It might have been helpful to question him.”
“Why? You already know who sent him.”
Deacon shrugged. “True.” He looked down at the body again. “He wasn’t armed?”
“He was.” JJ looked around and pointed to where he’d tossed the attacker’s gun.
Deacon nodded and pulled out his phone. “Admiral. Pardon the lateness of the hour. We’re going to need a clean-up crew. Yes, sir. One body. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
He ended the call and for the first time looked at Etta. “You and I need to speak. Alone.”
“I’ll call Grady and bring him up to speed,” JJ volunteered.
“Do that.” Deacon gestured toward the hallway. Etta turned and walked back to her bedroom.
Deacon entered the closed the door behind him. “I’ve never known you to intentionally break your word before.”
“I know.”
“And yet, you did.”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to explain?”
“Actually, no. Look, I know what I said, and I did mean it, but—but the truth is, JJ shouldn’t be under my care any longer. You saw what he did. He wasn’t in the least hesitant and when it was over, he was totally composed. It didn’t rattle him. He’s ready, Deacon.”
“You didn’t know that when you took him into your bed.”
“You’re right, I didn’t.”
“So you broke your word.”
Etta considered her words carefully before speaking, considered several ways of tailoring her argument, but in the end decided to just be straightforward and honest.
“I love him, Deac. I know that might not be wise, and yeah, he may end up breaking my heart into a thousand pieces, but I love him, and I don’t regret it. I’ll sign his discharge immediately. Please don’t let this come between us. I love you and you know I respect you more than anyone I’ve ever known, but I do love him.”
“You’re aware, of course, that once you discharge him, he’ll be reassigned to his unit.”
“Yes.”
“And there’s no guarantee you’ll ever hear from him again.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I knew the risks before I allowed this to happen and I accept them. Again, I don’t regret it.” Etta stepped closer and took Deacon’s hand in both of hers. “Like I said, I know he can hurt me. But that’s always a risk in any relationship and I have to stop running at some point, Deac. Stop turning off my emotions and refusing to allow myself to care for fear I could get hurt.
“I’ve already been hurt. I’ve seen things people shouldn’t see and I know what it means to have your heart not just broken, but so damaged you feel that you can’t live with the pain. I’ve spent way too long in that place and it’s time I walked away from it.”
“Can you put it behind you? Not just Gabe, but your family?”
“I don’t know. I may never truly do that and maybe that’s the way it should be. I told JJ the truth.”
“And?”
“And he ran toward me, not away.”
“That says something.”
“It does, but more importantly, when I told him I felt something…it’s hard to explain, it’s like there was a big shell inside me, holding in all of my emotions. When I told JJ and he didn’t run, it was like that shell started to crack and I felt like wholeness was within my grasp.
“It feels good, Deac, and I want to batter down the rest of that shell and breathe in life, feel all of it, the good and the bad, the horrible and the beautiful. I want to take chances on caring and be able to take it if things don’t go the way I hope, but I want to try.”
Deacon pulled her into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. “I think you just may finally be starting to really heal, little one.”
“I think so too.” She pulled back to look up at him. “Due largely to you. Don’t think I’m not aware that you’ve been propping me up for all these years. I would have died without you, Deac.”
“I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
“Because you’re my guardian angel?”
“Or because you’re mine. We’re bound to one another, Etta. In a way we might not ever be bound to others, but our bonds are stronger than any I’ve known. We’re a family and I’ll never stop looking out for you or being there for you.”
“That goes both ways, you know.”
“I do.”
“So, will you forgive me for breaking my word?”
He finally smiled. “I guess I don’t have much choice if I’m going to keep my word.”
“Sorry?”
“I told you a long time ago that more than anything, I want you to be happy. If you think you can find it with Jasper Jacks, then I’d be a sorry friend to deny you the chance.”
“Thank you, Deacon.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s tend to business, shall we?”
“Absolutely.”
For the next three hours, Sanctuary was a hub of activity. Admiral Angel had the body flown to Coronado Beach for an autopsy and identification. Every second of surveillance footage was viewed. Deacon made a point of telling her the decision to turn off the cameras in her house might have been a mistake. She didn’t disagree, but since they had a body, she didn’t see what good the footage would have done.
Finally, after hours of studying the videos and going over the event with her and JJ, Deacon made the decision to wait until morning for everyone to meet.
JJ stayed with Etta. They snuggled until dawn, but neither slept. Etta kept going over things in her mind, and by the time the sun rose, she was convinced she knew what had happened and how someone knew where to find her.
Everyone convened at the main house for breakfast. It was a somber group and there was little talk until after the breakfast dishes had been cleared away. Then Deacon spoke up. “The Admiral called an hour ago. The body was identified.”
He looked straight at Etta. “He was a member of the cabal who turned Gabe. This was a hit.”
“But how did they find her?” Mason asked.
“Finding me is easy.” Etta decided now was the time to tell everyone her theory. “Think about it. We have bank accounts here, our vehicles are registered in this county, and Deacon’s pension comes to—” She looked at Deacon who picked up the narrative.
“A post office box in town.”
“Not to mention the obvious. If my phone was hacked, the GPS would tell someone exactly where I am.”
“Okay, so there are ways to find you. But they chose last night to make a move,” JJ said. “Why?”
“Damn.” Grady pounded the table with one fist. “She just said it. We’re bugged.” He looked at Etta. “We need your phone and tablet.”
“Of course.”
He then looked around the table. “Check every computer, cell phone, tablet, smart tv, and landline. Then check to see if our cameras have been hacked. Meet back here at noon with answers.”
A chorus of “Sir, yes sir,” sounded from everyone but Etta, Mason, and Grady. They all remained seated as the rest of the SEALs got up and left the house. Etta looked around the table. “You know what it means if they find a bug.”
“We have a traitor.” Grady’s face wore an expression Etta had never before seen and it was chilling. He turned his gaze to Mason. “We vetted everyone.”
“Yes, we did. But—”
“But what?” Deacon asked.
“I could beat a background check.”
Deacon looked at Etta and she nodded. “He’s right. If there is a mole, it could be anyone.”
“How do we find out?” Grady asked.
“We start with the personnel records. Mason, can you print everything we have on the employees and their families?”
“I can and will.” He rose from his chair.
“I’ll help.” Etta volunteered. She couldn’t just sit and wait. She needed to be busy.
Once inside Mason’s office, she and he worked in silence. He sat at the computer selecting the files for printing while she stapled the copies together and arranged them in stacks so that everyone had a copy for review.
“Why did you demand the cameras turned off?” Mason asked quietly.
Etta felt her back stiffen and her first reaction was to tell him it was none of his business. But it was. This was his center and he was her employer. “Because I wanted to be with Jasper in private.”
“With Jasper. Etta, look at me.”
She turned, expecting to see anger or perhaps disgust on his face. Instead, she saw understanding. “There’s no point in my saying what you did broke every rule. We both know that. But we both also know that without you, JJ wouldn’t have healed, and his behavior tonight demonstrates that he has done just that.”
“I love him.” There was nothing else she could say. It wasn’t an excuse, just a statement of fact. If she lost her job, so be it, but she didn’t regret it.
“Then we’ll keep this between us.”
“Thank you.”
Mason got up and walked over to her. “I don’t want to lose you, Etta. I want to make sure you’re safe. We’ll do whatever we have to. We won’t let anything happen—”
It hit her right then. “I know what we have to do.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s finish this and join the others.”
“Okay.”
They turned their attention to the task and in minutes, they were finished. Etta stacked up the copies and they returned to the dining room.
“We need to figure out who the traitor is, obviously,” Etta announced as she passed out the copies. “And we need to use what happened tonight as part of a trap.”
“What kind of trap?” Grady asked.
Etta took her seat. “The enemy needs to think that I was alone and that it was me who shot the intruder. That will anger them. I killed one of theirs—me, a woman and an infidel. They’ll be even more determined to exact revenge.
“When they hear that everyone here thinks the danger has been neutralized, they’ll feel safe to send more, and next time, it will be more than one man.”
She looked at Deacon and he nodded. “I agree.”
“Then let’s figure out who our mole is and make sure everyone is on the same page. Etta killed the intruder,” Grady said. “Agreed?”
“Yes.” Mason replied and then added. “No one knows the truth but the SEALs.”
“Agreed.”
“One thing.” Everyone looked at Deacon when he spoke. His gaze was on Etta. “You do realize you’re setting yourself up as a target, right?”
“I do.”
“We’re going to have to have eyes on you 24-7, so you’re not going to have much privacy.”
“Could I make a suggestion?” Mason asked. “First, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. When we finish here, Etta and I will file the discharge order for Jasper Jacks. Deacon, I’d like to request that you and Grady ask your Admiral to allow Jasper to stay until this matter is resolved.
“We all know that Etta is involved with Jasper, so we might as well use that to our advantage. He can stay with her. We’ll leave the cameras as they are to cover all the windows and exits, but he can be the man on watch inside the home. He’s already proven himself capable.”
Deacon looked at Grady, who nodded, so Deacon agreed. “Fine.”
“Good.” Mason looked at Etta.
She nodded and turned her attention to the employee file on the table in front of her, reminding herself that she owed Mason a debt of gratitude. Along with Deacon and Grady. Any of them could have had her booted right off Sanctuary for becoming involved with JJ. Instead, they were banding together to keep her safe and alive.
There was no other way to feel about that but grateful. Along with being determined to make it up to every one of them, no matter how long it took.
She owed them and she never forgot a debt.