Raising a Cowgirl (7 page)

Jolie sat on the floor with tears in her eyes. Marie said if she didn’t return that
something
had gone
wrong. She had to wait another few days before she was supposed to call the
number
given to her.

Sammi was an angel.
Jolie
smile and laughed
, she
met Marie at the VA Center right after her husband died.
Jolie
was a Social Worker who handled the cases of men with PTSD. They met by chance in
the small dining room of the main VA
facility
in La Hoya.
Marie
came
for grief counseling and was having a bad day.

She was s
itting and
staring
at the wall by herself, and
Jolie
had
come
through to get a can of soda, she
had
needed the
caffeine
. When her boss came into the room and
whispered
into her ear that Marie was the wife of a Team T
EN
member
. Everyone knew about
what
had happened.

Jolie had walked over and sat down with the woman who was obviously deep in her grief.
It had started f
r
om there. The two woman seemed to click.
Marie
talked
to
her about he
r
bad days and her good. Jolie had come to love the little girl that belonged to her
best friend.

When
she called and asked
her
to watch Sammi, she had never questioned the reason
—u
ntil her friend came over. Her face was tear rav
ag
e
d
and she had been tense. Claiming she was not sure what was going on, only that she
had been contacted by someone who was threatening her daughter. Jolie wanted to call
the police, but Marie had
insisted
on letting her go to the initial meeting. She
would
turn her phone onto record hoping she would get enough answers to go to the authorities.

Marie wasn
’
t stupid
. S
he knew if she called the Commander, he would have taken care of it all. The only
problem was the threat was delivered along with a picture of little Sammi in the daycare
center on the base. She felt like r
unning but had no one to run to, except Jolie. Who gladly helped and they worked
out a plan together.

Marie was going to a meeting in a public place, she would keep her phone turned on
to recording, and activate the GPS tracker in her phone, and she had even grabbed
her late
husband’s
phone and done the same thing, just in case. One
was
for back up. She would leave one of them in the car.

Jolie
was to take Sammi to a hotel and check in. She couldn’t tell
Marie
which one,
that way
she wouldn’t know. Jolie had her cell turned off just in case someone got a hold
of Marie’s phone. Her friend had brought her a brand new pay
-
as
-
you
-
go phone they activated right before Marie left.

It had been silent all night and all day.
Jolie’s
nerves were getting ready to break as she stared at the phone, and listened for Sammi
to wake f
r
om the nap she had laid her
down
for an hour ago.

They stayed in the room ordering room service. She wasn’t sure what to do
now. The
room was paid for through tomorrow. Should she go home, call the base, call anyone.
Tears began to threaten again as the fear began to build
once more
. Something bad had happened to her friend, there was no way in hell Marie would
not
have
called unless she
was
unable to do so. That thought in itself scared the crap out of her. She wouldn’t
allow her mind to go any further.

Jolie pulled out the letter
that
Marie had gone over
and
over with her. The phone number belonged to Gage Loman, Sammi’s godfather
,
and her late husband
'
s teammate and best friend
.
He was not in the state, she
knew
that f
r
om the area code, maybe she should call him and see if he could come here. Then at
le
a
st she wouldn’t feel so helpless. Of course, Marie said only in case of emergency
was she to call
the
number.

Damn, she was twisting herself into knots just thinking about this.
She needed a distraction. Jolie pulled her computer out and turned it on. She
couldn’t check emails or anything yet.
A
ccording to their plan, Jolie was out of state at a funeral right now. It didn’t
stop her from
looking at what was going on in the world.

Gage could feel the anger rising in him. This is when he felt the effects of his
tours
.
S
hit, he already knew Marie was dead
. He knew it, so
did
the rest of them. To think Sammi was in danger as well was enough to send him over
the deep
end
.

“What was she trying to say?” David asked.

“When?” Alex asked.

“The message to the Commander
. W
hat was she try
ing
to say?” David pressed, the guys needed to think. They were going to their
house. The place Gage had crashed most of the time. Hell, he practically had his
own room. The guest bedroom had some of his clothes in the dresser.

They were all silent,
finally
Thane admitted
,
“Sorry
,
man, all I heard was she called in to take time off and no one knew where she was.”

David nodded and pulled out his little pad of paper he carried and took notes on all
the time. When they got back into the car, he
told them
exactly what the Commander said. “She said to the commander, ‘She had to go and
pick up an impounded dog name Diego that was sent from overseas. She didn’t know
how the baby would react so she had someone watching her.’”

“It is some kinda code. I have never heard the name before. I think we need to find
the baby, and Marie
. We head back to the ranch and regroup. It is safe
there. N
othing is in any of our names
,
” Thane said.

“Agreed
,
” Gage
said
his leg bouncing
,
anxious
to get to the house and find Marie. Maybe this had all been a mistake and she was
unconscious
. His mind still had a hard time thinking of the
sweet
woman who had taken them all under her wing, and made sure they stayed on the straight
and narrow.

They pulled up to the base house and Gage grimaced a little before
opening
the door.
It looked the same. The small house painted pale yellow. Marie planted flowers in
her garden again making it look che
e
ry and welcoming. No matter what else she was doing
, she
had insisted on making sure her home was neat as a pin. They walked up the drive
and Gage pulled out his keys
.

He had already attached the key he found in Raiders things, he already had a key to
the house, in case he needed a place to crash. He opened the door silently and frowned.
The living room was torn up. The couches torn and stuffing all around. As they walked
from room to room, they swore
at the sight of th
e
destruction
.

“How the fuck did this happen on base housing?” Thane ground out.

The MPs finally showed up and began to call and process information immediately.
Gage and David walked into the small nursery and Gage felt his anger build and explode.
They had trashed the place. Gage grabbed a bag, without words he
began
to pull out clothes that were undamaged, and packing anything the child would need
when the
y
found her. There was no other acceptable outcome.

“Help me,” Gage asked briskly.

“Sure, uh
,
what the hell do I pack for a baby
,
” David said
,
standing and looking at all of the pink. It looked a little like Pepto Bismol had
exploded
in the room
. The walls were white and pink
,
checked with flowers all over the
m
.

“Uh,” Gage said and paused
,
holding a bunch of tiny little clothes in his arms. “All the clothes,
then
anything that looks useful.”

“Okay, so the entire room
—
correct?” David said.

“Yeah, we should probably have one of the guys come back and help us. There is this
chair thing, the bed, this thing with wheels, and
probably
some crackers or something.”

“Crackers? She is only like eight months old, right?” David asked confused.

“Yeah, but I remember Marie saying she ate constantly when she was born. She will
need
snack
s
when we travel
,
” Gage said.

“I believe that will be a bottle with formula
,
” David drawled.

“Suuurrrreee, j
ust grab it all. Marie will need everything from here
,
” Gage said absently
,
David froze and looked at his
friend
. He was still in denial.
Damn, this was going to fucking suck
. David was sure she was already dead, but until they were faced with it, Gage had
to hold onto the hope
that
she was still alive.

Alex and Slone came into the room and began helping them. They
turned
the house over
to
the investigators and began to gather things they needed to take. They worked
silently
together, but David could feel the tension in the room.
This was going to be a sucky ass day.

LC
was leaning over
Boyscout
as he typed the password they all knew into the desktop in the office. One of the
investigators was right there, and the
Commander
had given them all
access
to help with finding Marie.

“Checking her em
ail and
browsing
history
,
” Boyscout
muttered and his hands froze when the background picture came up. It was the team
just before their last mission, with a very pregnant Marie laughing in the camera
while they all held her off the ground and posed like idiots.

“Shit,” Boyscout
muttered
and
then
began
to type on the
computer
. He
was
an amazing hacker, had been since he was a kid.

LC leaned back as Boyscout’
s hands flew over the keys bringing up different windows and programs until his head
was about ready to pop off. There had to be something here.

“
Nothing, no emails, nothing. It looks like her last time signed on she
was shopping for Sammi
,
” Boyscout
said.

The MP’s radio began to go off, so many people
interrupting
they couldn’t understand
w
hat was going on. He held up his hand when Thane went to demand to know what the
hell was going on.

The rest of the men yelled f
r
om the living room and the two men stalked out to where they were standing and waiting.
“The local law enforcement is reporting they found a body matching Marie
'
s general description. She was uh… beaten and tortured
, then
tossed in an alley
,
”
Voodoo stated and looked at Master
Chief
who was barely
holding
it together. His neck was red from anger.

“Where is she?”
Master
Chief
gritted out.

“
Commander
is meeting you at th
e morgue
,
”
t
he MP said and Master
Chief
nodded
and
walked to the door, the rest of them following
solemnly
as they watch
ed
the Master Chief
storm
to the driver
'
s side of the car and get in.
B
efore they were even in the
car,
he
had
started it and had it in gear.

“Someone needs to get this stuff shipped home. When we find
Sammi,
we need to get her out
of here to somewhere safe. Boyscout
,
call your dads and brothers, tell them to get to the ranch and increase the security
system. We need to have the whole place wired. Sable and Lou need to stay on
the
ranch
until we get back, no one leaves them unprotected. Voodoo
,
call
Dillon
and Slade, let them know until we get back we need some help protecting the ranch
,
”
h
e ordered firmly and they all nodded and began to reach for their phones. “LC
,
can you call the Commander
'
s office, we need some
info
about what is going on. David
,
alert the locals we are coming in and need to have patrols
until
we get there. Slone
,
arrange transport for when we find Sammi, we need to be ready to go the minute we
find her.”

He was in the zone
—
he
h
ad to be
—a
mission needed completed and right now
,
he could not allow his emotions to take over. This
was
gonna suck, but Sammi had to be the priority now, if they had tortured Marie, they
were going to die, he kept his rage in check
as
they made their way to the city morgue.

By the time they arrived things were being done. All the guys were on the phone and
had arranged for everything. The Commander and his staff stood on the sidewalk waiting
f
o
r them. When they pulled up all of the guys hung up
their
phone
s
and
stoically
got out of the car and followed the
Commander
.

It took a while for them to get things cleared
and
ready, especially when all of the men insisted on going into the room, they all needed
to see her and be there for each other.
B
y
the time they were in the room, Gage felt like he was going to puk
e
. The dread that filled him was something he was unable to control.

He had seen her with Raider, he knew she was gone but this didn’t make it any less
painful as they waited. The smells of the cold room were enough to make a person
gag. The
antiseptic
and foul stench of death reminded him too much
of the days he had to identify
terrorists
to make sure they had achieved their target. This was so not the same feeling
—far worse
.

David put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed in support, the rest of them were doing
the same to each other. And when the technician walked in all of the sucked in a
breath.

“
Gentlemen
, we need an ID, and if it is her, the detectives are right outside, they have a few
questions
,
”
t
he man said and waited for their acknowledgement.

Master
Chief
stood by the head of the victim while the others were spread out. The
technician
put his hands on the sheet
and
paused looking up for the nod to let him know they were ready. Never tak
ing his eyes off the sheet, Master
Chief
nodded and waited.

When he pulled the sheet down the first thing
Gage
saw was her curly brown hair and
he
knew. Marie
'
s battered face looked abnormal because
of wh
at
she had endured
.
Master
Chief
could see the cuts and
cigarette
burns on her
neck
and shoulder
,
and he struggled to
keep
it together.

The men shuffled, he could feel the anger
radiating
and bouncing off the walls, even though
everyone remained silent. Master
Chief
said
,
“It is Marie Diane Farat.”

Th
e
technician
nodded and went to place the
sheet back over her face. Master Chief
reached up and grasped his arm holding him in place, preventing him from covering
her again. “No, we need a minute.”

“Of course
,
”
t
he
technician
said
.
“If someone could come with me to the lobby where the detectives are waiting
?
”

The Commander
nodded and followed the
technician
. The men gathered around the table as they tried to come to terms w
h
i
le
staring at the woman they had last see
n alive, and the woman that lay before them
.

“We need to get our hands on the reports
,
” Master
Chief
said briskly and LC
put a hand on his shoulder.

“It is Marie
,
”
h
is friend whispered.

“Is everything else set, do we have transport and security
arranged
,
” Master
Chief
said and choked down the emotion threatening to erupt.

“It is Marie,” Voodoo whispered.

“David
,
we need to go to the bank,
get
the
documents
Raider
left
,
” Master Chief
said grimly.

“It is Marie,” Ice repeated.

“Goddamn it
!
I know it is
Marie
!
”
Master
Chief
roared. “How could I not know, I see her. Do you? Her happy face was beaten, her
neck and shoulders show where she was cut and burned.
DO YOU THINK I DON’T SEE THAT
?
!”

Everyone was silent as he had his meltdown. His best friend
'
s sweet and charming wife was dead,
tortured
. Who could deal with something like that? The tears he thought he was holding at
bay were running
down
his cheeks, his breath getting shallower and shallower until he was in danger of
hyperventilating as he screamed loudly his anger and frustration in a voice that sounded
like a tortured animal.

Master
Chief
felt him,
h
e turned and saw his
friend
standing there looking at his
wife’s
body with a flash of anger in his eyes. The
n
Marie was next to him and she was crying softly, shaking her head.

“
Sammi
?” Raider whispered.

“I will find her
,
” Master
Chief
vowed.

“
I know, don’t let this ruin you
,” Marie said. “
You know, at the end
—
all I thought about was Sammi and Ted, it was a comfort. But I didn’t tell them anything.
Sammi is where she is supposed to be. You will be contacted
.”

“What the
fuck does that mean
,
Rie?
!
” Master Chief
yelled
,
using her
nickname
and running a hand through his hair in frustration. The others stood by and waited
,
they
knew who he was talking to, Boyscout
was trying to whisper what they were talking about.

“
It means Sammi will find you
.”
Marie
smiled and put a hand to his face. “
I know you will be the best father for her
.”

“
Father
! S
he has a father
!
” Master Chief
roared.

“
Yes
,
she does, but one she will not know unless you tell her. And I know you will, but
she will still call
you
daddy
,
you know. Sh
e will need
the
connection
,
” Raider
said and looked at him sadly.

“
Soon, you have to be ready
,
” Marie said and looked at something beyond him. “
They are looking as well
.”

“Shit,” LC said when Boyscout
repeated what was
said
. “We need to get control of this now.”

“
They have a list
,
” Raider said.

“A list of what?” Ice demanded.

“
People whose life they want revenge on
,
” Raider whispered.

“Fuck a duck,” LC said. “Who is on
there?”

“
Everyone
—an
d
anyone
who will effect
—
you. You need to look
,
” Raider said.

“Change of plans, it has to have something to do with the team, we need all of our
old mission reports. Someone somewhere has found out who we are
,
” LC snapped
, then
paused next to Marie
’s
body
, touched her face,
and smiled. “Goodbye
,
d
arlin
'
, will be seeing you in my dreams
,
” LC said and stormed out of the room.