Rev (Jack 'Em Up #4) (9 page)

“Uh . . .”

I could hear Blake in the background and knew Micah was afraid to say too much. “Ten minutes away?”

“Less.”

“Five?”

“Maybe.”

Shit. “Can you stall somehow? Give us maybe another half hour? Delilah’s about to have a coronary because things aren’t perfect yet. Bad kid day.”

“Right. No problem.”

I gave the girls a thumbs up. “You’re the best. See you soon.”

We hung up and the three of us got busy while the kids played quietly and Delilah showered. By the time she joined us in fresh clothes and clean hair, she looked like a whole new person. I handed her a soda. “It’s all good. We have twenty more minutes.”

“How did you manage that?” She popped a chip in her mouth. I was glad to see her relaxed again.

“I asked a little birdie to divert for a few minutes. No big deal.”

“Perfect. Thanks so much.” She plucked up a now crying Declan. “That gives me time to feed my son before my boobs explode.”

“We wouldn’t want that to happen,” Rachel said with a giggle.

We got back to work and had everything perfect just as Delilah and Declan reappeared and the rumble of an engine hit the driveway.

Micah

N
o sooner had I hung up with Jewel, then my cell rang again with an unknown number. I mumbled excuses to the guys that I needed to grab something from my apartment then answered the phone and diverted in the opposite direction.

“Hello?”

“Corporal?”

The gritty voice had me sitting taller as grating memories rushed my brain, stealing my breath. I’d know that voice anywhere. “Sarg?”

“That’s Gunnery Sergeant Dempsey to you, Corporal.” There was a smile in his voice, but even I knew it was tempered by the nightmare we shared. “How the hell are ya?”

“I’m fine. You?” As nice as it was to hear from my old sergeant, it left my skin tingling, my senses on heightened alert. Just like the last time I’d seen him.

“Good. Thanks.”

I stopped at a red light and glanced at Blake. He was busy texting away. Probably telling his wife we were on our way so he could shower. Little did he know our ‘boys night out’ was about to become his own birthday party.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m heading down to your neck of the woods to go deep sea fishing with my dad. I was hoping to stop by and see you. Got something I want to talk to you about if you have time.”

“Of course I have time. When?” I didn’t really have any friends besides Blake, Jesse, and Trace. It was simply too painful to keep up with anyone from my military days other than Sarg and Asher Creed, an Army guy I met at basecamp who shared my love of martial arts. Soldiers and Marines don’t usually mix well, but he was pretty fucking cool. He and Dempsey were the only two I made exceptions for in my non-military life.

“Tomorrow?”

I shook my head with a half-smile. Last minute on everything . . . that was so like Sarg. “I’ll be around.”

“Awesome.”

“I’ll shoot you a text with my address.”

“Okay.” His silence felt deliberate. “How are you, Micah? Seriously.”

I blinked hard and turned into my apartment parking lot. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah. You and me both. See ya tomorrow.”

We hung up as I parked and I killed the engine and let my head drop.

“Everything okay, man?” Jesse asked from the backseat.

“Yeah. It’s all good.” I met his concerned face in the rearview mirror. “Just an old friend. Be right back.” I loped from the Jeep before they could question me further and made motions of doing something in my apartment to kill time.

I hadn’t seen Gunnery Sergeant Wyatt Dempsey since Afghanistan. All I could conjure now was the image of his face, torn up with anguish like I’d never seen, smeared with blood that wasn’t his own, as he knelt over a mangled pile of meat. It took a moment, but I’d realized numbly that it was not an animal. It was Johnny Franks. Missing an arm, his face shredded with shrapnel, I’d never seen a body so desecrated. Even by the enemy. His flesh was so scorched, the young private was unrecognizable, his tattered nametag the only thing giving him away. He was clearly dead, and with those injuries, it was probably a blessing, but still, Sarg yelled and cursed at him to wake up, his fingers sliding through blood as he felt for a pulse.

It was the most horrifying thing I’d ever witnessed or would ever witness in this lifetime.

I bottled that night away, changed my shirt, and slapped my game face on. I think I was fairly believable by the time I made it back to the Jeep. I offered Blake a quick nod then we took off again for his house.

“Surprise!” The chorus of cheers from the partygoers had Blake stepping back in shock, nearly into my chest. I shoved him forward into the melee.

“Holy shit.” He spun around. “You guys knew about this?”

I mimed zipping my lips as Delilah grabbed her husband and tugged him into the waiting crowd of family and friends. Jesse closed the door behind us then made a beeline to his wife and daughter by the dessert table.

I shook my head and began to slowly make my way around the mass of bodies to find a quiet corner. I stopped short when I found Jewel had beat me to it.

She peered up from her perch on Blake’s leather recliner. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I slid in front of her and sat on the ottoman at her knees. “You look nice.” I tipped my head to indicate her sunshine yellow dress that did amazing things for her curves.

“Oh.” She smoothed a hand down her thigh. “Thanks.”

I glanced back at Blake, who was sporting a huge grin with his daughter wrapped up in his arms as she fed him a chip. “Looks like we surprised him.”

“Yup.”

I tilted my head and studied her. Were we back to the not being cute thing? Time to divert back to the easiness we had last night. “So, I got a call from an old friend today.”

Her bright eyes focused on me. “Yeah? Who?”

“Wyatt Dempsey.” She looked blank. “My direct commander in Afghanistan.”

“Oh. Were you guys close?”

“Yeah.” As close as two men in that bloody position could be.

Her genuine smile was like the sun breaking through the storm clouds. “It was nice of him to call. What did he say?”

I cleared my throat and peered down to where her hand rested on mine. I don’t think she even realized she was touching me. I lifted my eyes to hers. “I’ll find out tomorrow. He’s coming to see me.”

“That’s . . .” She must’ve realized what she was doing and shifted to sit back, but I flipped our hands so I was gripping hers tightly. She paused, her breath shallow. “. . . Nice.”

I linked our fingers, studying the difference in size and color. She was so fragile and pale. “It is.” I was not talking about seeing Dempsey.

I’d never given myself permission to touch her before and I wasn’t sure how I’d stop myself now. She was so soft and perfect. So wounded. I longed to care for her. To find the ugly things that hurt her and rip them apart. The shattered pieces of me were drawn to the shattered pieces of her, as if we’d somehow find answers in each other. Or healing.

Maybe she sensed this too, because she didn’t pull away, instead tightening her hold with a squeeze.

“Micah, I—”

A loud pop rang out behind us. I automatically flinched, my eyes wide, my heart pounding in my throat with a violence I hadn’t felt in ages.

Jewel’s gaze was alarmed, then she scooted closer, as if sensing my turmoil. “Are you okay?”

My adrenalin was rushing so furiously, I couldn’t find words. I was fighting my body’s natural instinct to duck for cover as my brain scrambled to process what was happening. Not war. No gunfire. Just fireworks on the fourth of July.

I bowed my head, swallowed the bile back down my throat. When would this go away? “I’m fine.”

“Hey, guys, it’s cake time,” Delilah called from the dining room, oblivious to my private nightmare.

Jewel said something I couldn’t hear, placing herself directly between me and everyone else. She crouched down and caught my eye. “You sure?”

I nodded, coming back to myself in tiny bits and pieces. I reached out and brushed her jaw with my thumb. Our gazes locked and color rose to her cheeks.

It suddenly occurred to me that with one look at her, one touch, and the horror was that much further away. She was somehow chasing my monsters away. Whatever this was that pulsed between us was drawing her in, too. I could see it. Feel it.

It was too much.

I stood and tugged her hand. “Shall we?”

She was all innocence as she rose and tried to step away from me. I held firm and gave a gentle yank. She turned back. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay.”

I let her go ahead of me, waiting a beat to get my head together. What the hell had come over me?

We joined the party with hardly a hint that anything had happened between us, though I was sure my thundering heart would give me away every time she glanced my way. What the fuck was I supposed to do with all these . . . feelings? The warm press of emotion against my ribs was not altogether a pleasant sensation, and I found myself longing to run and hide back in the hole of my apartment to nurse what was left of my nightmares. At least I knew what to do with them, knew how they defined me.

When the party began to die down and people started trickling out for home, I walked Jewel out to her truck. We paused under the streetlight and I was struck by the nearly iridescent white of her hair in the night. She looked like an angel.

“That was fun.”

“It was,” I agreed, not taking my eyes off of her.

She fumbled in her purse for her keys then shot me a timid smile. “I’ll see you next week at class?”

I nodded and waited while she slid into her truck. I stepped up on the curb as she stuck the key in the ignition.

Click, click, click.

Nothing.

Click, cliiiiiiick, click.

She frowned at me.

I twisted my wrist in the air so she’d roll down the window. When she did, I poked my head inside and squinted at her gauges. “It’s dead, huh?”

“I guess so.”

“Pop the hood. I’ll take a look.”

I checked her battery and wires. Her battery was a little corroded, but nothing else seemed out of place. “Try it again.”

I watched the engine when she cranked then slammed the hood with a stop motion. “I don’t think it’s any use. Looks like it’s probably your battery or your starter.”

She poked her head out the window. “Is that expensive?”

“A couple hundred bucks, maybe.”

“Oh.” Her frown deepened as she glanced back at Blake’s place.

I opened the door. “Let me take you home. I’ll tow it to the shop tomorrow with the shop truck and see what I can do to save you some money.”

“Really?” Her eyes were so full of unexpected gratitude, I was immediately taken aback. “You’d do that? On a weekend?”

“Well, sure. The shop’s open.” I tipped my head toward the Jeep. “Come on.”

She grinned and followed me. Having her so close was intoxicating. Her scent filled the Jeep and I suddenly recognized it. Honeysuckle. Memories of collecting those delicate flowers in spring with my brothers filled me with a pleasant warmth.

We drove to her place with minimal conversation, just the gentle hum of the radio to fill the air, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable for once. It felt like she not only accepted me for who I was, but embraced it.

In her darkened parking lot, we sat in silence. She took her truck key off her keyring and handed it to me, but made no move to get out.

I shoved the key in my pocket then toyed with the steering wheel. “I’m really glad you signed up for my class, Jewel.”

She faced me. “You are?”

“Yes.” I bowed my head, trying to force out words that had long been clogged in my chest. I’d almost forgotten they were there, long buried beneath the rubble of my past. “I like knowing you can protect yourself.” I met her gaze. “Every time I hear about that rapist and his victims, I see your face, Jewel, and it honestly freaks me out. I want you safe. More than anything.”