Learning to Stand (2 page)

“
Only the brave
survive.”

She blinked, and the statue’s face became
bronze again.

At the street, Dominic signaled his driver.
A small limousine pulled in front of them. When they settled in
back seat, the driver gave them warm dry towels. Dominic requested
her hotel, and the car shot into a snarl of Paris traffic.

“
Why didn’t you tell me I
was your niece?” she asked. She rubbed her hair with the
towel.

“
I enjoy being your friend,”
Dominique said.

“
You knew when we met,” she
said.

“
Yes. I knew the moment you
walked across the bridge carrying your fly fishing rod and bright
smile,” he said. “You and Max look very much like our
mother.”

“
Is that a good
thing?”

“
Our mother was beautiful
person – inside and out,” Dominique said. “Just as you
are.”

In the warm car and compassionate company,
she felt herself relax. Fly fishing on the Seine was wicked fun.
Her husband, Dr. John Kelly Drayson, and her identical twin, Max
Hargreaves, would arrive tomorrow morning. If she was lucky, maybe
Raz would take her dancing tonight.

“
Are you asleep?” Dominic
asked.

“
Thinking. Planning,” she
said.

He looked over at her. She caught his brown
eyes.

“
Thank you,
Uncle.”

“
I prefer to be your
friend.”

“
Thank you,
friend.”

Resting against the leather seats, Major
Alexandra “The Fey” Hargreaves smiled for the first time since she
entered the vault on Monday. Today was going to be a good day.

F

CHAPTER
TWO

Two months later

Monday early-morning

March
24
–
4:30 A.M. MDT

Denver, Colorado

“
It’s weird, isn’t
it?”

Alex lifted her head from the pillow to kiss
her husband, John. Like most mornings, they started the day in each
other’s embrace.

“
What’s weird?” she
asked.

“
How everything can be the
same.” His British accented words were punctuated with quick
thrusts of his hips. “And still so different.”

She bit his ear. Even after thirteen years
of marriage, she never understood why he started conversations in
the middle of sex. He laughed at her ear nip reprimand.

“
You mean the new bedroom?
New house? New clothing? New...”

“
Yes,” he said.

They moved into their new bedroom last
night. She rolled on top of him.

“
You mean everything,” she
said.

“
Yes,” he said. He kissed
her lips. “Yet some things are deliciously the same.”

“
Delicious?”

Her rhythmic movements caught his full
attention. Sitting up to look at him, their eyes locked. His hands
held her hips. They rose in intensity. She was very close when he
said:

“
I don’t want you to go
today.”

She ignored him.

Pulling on his arms, he rose from the bed to
wrap himself around her. She dropped her head back and let herself
slip away to bliss. With a sigh, he followed her. Wrapped in each
other’s tight embrace, they slipped through the waves of sensation.
He kissed her neck and throat. She shifted to catch his lips. He
moved on top of her again when the alarm went off.

Alex reached over to hit the snooze
button.

“
Warning bell?” he
asked.

“
It’s the
finish-what-you-were-saying bell,” she said. She kissed his neck.
“What’s going on, John?”

“
God Alex, what do you
think?”

“
Vell,” she said in her best
imitation of Dr. Freud. “I think your home vas destroyed by
terrorists; you vere exposed as a member of the illustrious Kelly’s
of the IRA; your vife vas held hostage, and...”

“
Fuck’s sake Alex! This
isn’t a joke! I don’t to be away from you again,” he said. “I spent
an agonizing month in Scotland vhile my vife vas held
hostage.”

She smiled at his imitation of her.

“
And
.…”
Attempting to control his strong emotions, he blew out a breath. “I
was awful while you were in Paris in January.”

“
I was awful while I was in
Paris in January,” Alex said.

“
I have my General Surgery
certificate already. I can work as a General Surgeon,” he said.
“I’ll quit the vascular surgery program and go with
you.”

She shifted so he could disengage. She lay
on her side to look at him. Her eyes reviewed his dark curly hair
and large cobalt blue eyes. Her thumb ran over his cheekbone. She
leaned forward to kiss his lips. Her mouth less than an inch from
his, she whispered what she had said thousands of times before:

“
Your dreams are important
to me.”

“
I don’t care anymore, Alex.
I only want you. That’s all. I don’t care about anything
else.”

She pressed her fingertips to his mouth.

“
We have five months left in
your eight year program,” she said. “By August, you’ll be done.
Let’s finish.”

They nestled together in each other’s arms
until the alarm went off again. Moving off the bed, she held a hand
out to him. She guided him to the spacious bathroom adjacent to
their new master suite. Pulling him into the shower, she took them
through shampoo and soap ending with blue fluffy towels. She left
him in the bathroom to finish shaving.

Wandering into her barren walk-in closet,
she put on the only thing hanging there: a solitary pair of jeans.
She grabbed a T-shirt from the stack. He was tying his tie when she
reentered the bedroom. Sitting on the bed, she watched him finish
dressing.

This week he was stuck in a week-long class
on the effects of advanced diabetes on the vascular system. Their
drama of last fall forced him to miss this class. If he didn’t
finish this class now, he wouldn’t finish his program. Period.

And she had orders to leave Denver in an
hour.

She brushed his lips with hers in a quick
kiss then adjusted his tie. Reaching for his hand, they went down a
flight of stairs through the remodeling of their dilapidated
hundred-year-old rooming house. The second floor walls were
stripped down to the studs and the brick exterior. They turned the
corner then continued down another flight of stairs to the kitchen,
dining and living areas they shared with Alex’s identical twin
brother Max and the rest of their family – Raz and John’s brother
Cian.

The kitchen was the first room completed in
their remodel. Alex checked to make sure the electric kettle was
plugged in for John’s morning tea then poured herself a cup of
coffee.

“
Hallo brother!” Cian Kelly
walked through the kitchen. “You’re here tonight, right? I
understand there’s something called ‘March Madness.’ Thought we
might get a pint at the Hound.”

Cian was now a part of their family after
having appeared in the middle of last fall’s drama. He and his
friend Eoin Mac Kinney opened a bakery near the end of last year.
Thanks to good looks, thick Irish accents and great baked goods,
the bakery was a success. Alex hugged Cian good-morning.

“
I think that’s American
football,” John said.

“
Basketball.” Alex’s
identical twin Max corrected. He and Alex pressed their foreheads
together in their usual greeting. “You’re sport-free since
Manchester United is out.”

“
Don’t remind me,” John
said.

“
Manchester United! Where’s
your loyalty to the Boys in Green?” Cian protested before moving
toward the front door.

“
Lost somewhere in the
past,” John replied.

Cian opened his mouth to say something, and
then laughed.

“
Then a pint with me and the
boys tonight? You in, Max?”

“
Of course.”

“
Wait! What boys?” John
asked.

Laughing, Cian went out the door.

“
See,” Alex said. “You
already have fun plans.”

John gave her a curt nod.

“
You’ll watch some b-ball
and hang with the boys and…” Walking to the top of the basement
stairs, she yelled, “RAZ, WE HAVE TO GO!”

“
Ten minutes,” came from
downstairs.

Raz and a woman’s muffled conversation moved
closer to the stairs. Alex was closing the basement door when a
woman dressed in crumpled clothing appeared on the basement
landing. She wagged her eyebrows at Alex then turned to kiss a
mostly naked Raz. His broad, caramel-colored muscular shoulders
engulfed the woman in a hug. Stepping back, the woman stroked his
taut abdomen then ran her hand along the waist band of his Levi
jeans.

“
Ten minutes,” Alex
said.

Raz raised an eyebrow to Alex then opened
the side door. He followed the woman out the basement door.

“
I think …” Max
started.

Alex looked at Max. Seeing she needed a
moment, he stopped talking. She walked John to the front door.

“
You’re late for class,” she
said.

“
Not quite. I love you
Alexandra. Will you...” He looked away from her. “Please, say
it.”

“
I love you, John Kelly
Drayson.” Alex touched his cheek. “Today and every other day for
the rest of this life and any other I’m blessed with. Now
you.”

“
I love you, Alexandra
Hargreaves Drayson, today and every other day for the rest of this
life and every other I’m blessed with.”

He held her tight, kissed her cheek, and he
walked out the door to his rental car. She went out onto the porch
to wave goodbye. Feeling movement, she reached for Max’s hand when
he stood beside her. He took her hand.

“
Leaving?”

“
I’m in court all week.
Messy contract stuff.” Max held up his briefcase as if all the mess
was locked inside. “I have to get in early to meet with the client.
You’ll be home Wednesday?”

She nodded.

Max’s eyes scanned her face. He nodded then
set off down the street to catch the bus downtown.

Turning into the house, she watched the
construction workers stream into the house from the back. To escape
the noise and chaos, she took the stairs two at a time to their
bedroom. She belly flopped onto the bed.

For most of their marriage, Alex traveled
with the Fey Special Forces Team rescuing hostages around the
world. She was home at least once every five weeks and six weeks in
the summer. Even when she was home, there were times when John was
busy with school or surgery. They spent most of their time away
from each other.

Everything changed when her team was
slaughtered in the storage vault under Paris and Alex was gravely
wounded. After six months at Walter Reed Hospital, Alex came home
to Denver. Limping, crutching until finally walking erect on a new
hip, Alex and John lived together for the first time in their
twelve years of marriage. Then everything fell apart last fall
and...

Alex rubbed her face and sighed. She moved
to sit on the edge of the bed. They would be together in a few
days.

A few days.

Maybe she’d figure out how to tell him about
the baby.

FFFFF

Twenty-two hours later

Tuesday early-morning

March
25
–
2:40 A.M. MDT

Somewhere over Central Colorado

“
Alex, we’re almost
there.”

Alex was sleeping with her head on Raz’s
shoulder. Shifting to upright, she shook her head in an attempt to
wake up.

“
Sorry. Green Beret habit.”
She smiled at him. “I sit down in a helicopter and bam, I’m
out.”

“
I know,” He
smiled.

Standing to stretch his back, Raz’s Homeland
Security identification badge fell from his waist band. When Alex
leaned forward to get it for him, he snatched it off the floor.

“
I know, I know, I’ll get it
for the old man,” Raz said. “I’m only nine years older than you
are.”

“
It’s not my issue. I was
encouraged to ass-ist you in those classes we had the pleasure of
taking last month.” She cleared her throat. “A Homeland Security
partner ass-ists his partner in tasks.”

“
Very funny.”

“
How is your
back?”

“
I’ll live. Would you like
to go over your questions for the Weasel again?” Raz scowled then
looked away. Turning back, his face softened at her smile. He
winked. “Par’ner.”

“
I think I’m ready. Thanks,
Duke,” she replied.

He laughed.

They were flying in a Black Hawk helicopter
over a remote region of Colorado. Alex was meeting with the Secret
Service agent who shot Max, John and teammate Captain Joseph Walter
at the two year memorial ceremony for the Fey Special Forces Team.
The ex-agent agreed to share what he knew in exchange for a
reduction in his sentence.

So far, the little weasel refused to speak
to anyone except the Fey.

The male Fey, that is.

Like most
people, the ex-agent believed the Fey was a male Special Forces
Intelligence officer. The Fey could only be identified by a bright
blue fairy tattoo under
his
left arm and the
cursive green F’s that formed the tattoo band around
his
right arm.