Hawk (The Quiet Professionals, Book 2) (9 page)

And nothing—and no one—would ruin her escape from this city. From her parents.

I
want to ride the Superman!”

Mitchell Black glanced down at his sandy-haired daughter. At six years old, she was more ready for life and adventure than most teens. He grinned as he met the blue eyes, so like her mother’s. She wasn’t tall enough for the ride, and he knew telling her that would fire up that cauldron in her belly. “Ella, we already talked about this.”

Her lower lip protruded.

Mitch felt his heart coil into a thousand knots. He wanted to give her everything. Let her have her way. Walk on the moon, if she wanted. But that wouldn’t develop character. That wouldn’t teach her anything but that she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. But they were here. On vacation, something he hadn’t managed to pull off since Ellery’s death.

“We could ask—”

“Dad,” eight-year-old Noah dragged out the vowel in the name, pleading. “You promised. Just you and me.”

“He’s my daddy, too!” Ella stamped her foot. “I want to ride Superman!”

Long, delicate fingers coiled around Ella’s. Tanned legs bent as Sienna Leitner squatted beside his daughter. “Guess what?” Eyes alive, she surreptitiously turned Ella to face her. “I just saw Tweety heading toward the Looney Toons area.”

Ella’s eyes and mouth widened with a gasp. “Really?”

Breathing a sigh of relief at the save executed by the kids’ aunt, Mitch felt the knots loosen. Ella had been waiting to see Tweety since they’d arrived two hours ago.

“Daddy, can I go with Aunt Sienna, please?
Please!
” Ardent and redirected, Ella would not be dissuaded.

“I don’t know…” he teased.

“Oh come on,” Sienna said, her long auburn hair tied back and the tennis visor shading her pretty brown eyes. “You guys can’t be the only ones to have fun. We girls need our own time.” She turned to Ella. “Right?”

Ella thrust a fist in the air. “Right!”

“Fine, fine.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I give up. Go.”

Squealing, Ella danced a jig.

Mitch caught Sienna’s arm as they turned to leave. “Thanks.”

She smiled, promised to meet him later, then headed off.

He watched them go, Ella and her aunt—the woman who had covered for him more times than he could count. She’d been a better friend to him and the kids than their own mother. Ellery hadn’t been a bad person, but she’d been more concerned with her friends and parties. Mitch had struggled to strike a solid balance between being a father and being a soldier. Since Ellery hadn’t held a job for long, he had to maintain an income. That meant time away from the kids. Too often. And her parents had given him no small amount of grief over it.

But then there was Sienna. Smart, funny, invested in her niece and nephew.

“Dad!”

Mitch turned to his son, embarrassed at the minutes he’d spent pondering their aunt. His sister-in-law. “Ready?”

“Yeah!” Noah raced ahead of him, forcing Mitch to jog to catch up. The thirty-minute line for the roller coaster would’ve been worse if they’d come on a weekend, but he’d managed to swing this time off for the kids.

As with any amusement park ride, the thrill lasted a few minutes—too short compared to the lengthy time spent in line.

“Can we do it again?” Noah asked.

Mitch glanced at his watch. “If the line’s short.”

With less than fifty people ahead of them, they climbed back into the queue. Adrenaline high and feeling good, Mitch couldn’t believe his son would head into fourth grade this year.

“You excited about school starting back up?”

“Am I an alien?” Noah shot back, rolling his eyes.

Mitch could only smile. He remembered hating school—mostly out of boredom. “I sure hope not, or someone pulled a fast one on me when you were born.”

As they snaked through the line, Mitch savored every second with his son. The sparkle of the eyes that were his own. The sandy-blond hair that hung loose and swept to the side. He’d wanted Noah to cut his hair, but he left the decision up to Noah. Unfortunately. “I might sneak into your room tonight with a razor.”

Noah cocked his head. “You promised I could grow it out.”

“Yes, but I didn’t mean you should look like a girl.”

Anger flashed through his son’s face, warning Mitch to veer off. “I don’t look like a girl.”

Ruffling Noah’s hair, he laughed. “You’re right. You don’t. You’re growing into a fine young man.”

A bell intoned from his phone. Mitch glanced down, expecting a “Where are you?” text from Sienna. Instead, his heart stopped at the message he saw. “AHOD.”

Mitch wanted to curse. Not now. Not today.

Anger churned through him. He wanted to punch someone. Throw his phone away. But then he saw the faces of his team. His friends. The buddies who would rely on him, the team medic. “We have to go.”

“What?”

Mitch bent under the cordoned-off rope and moved to the side.

“There’s only ten people ahead of us.”

“Sorry, bud.”

“Dad, no!”

Mitch was tempted to reprimand his son’s outburst, but something in the kid’s panicked tone concerned him. “We’ll come back another—”

“Dad, please—You can’t do this.”

“Son, I have to.” They navigated through the park to meet up with Sienna, Mitch texting as they moved. “You know that.”

Noah swung around in front of him. “No. You can’t.” Ferocity struck like lightning. “I heard him, Dad. I heard him say they’d take us away if you left us again.”

The world powered down as if caught in the vacuum of an explosion. “Who? Who said that?” But Mitch knew.

“Pawpaw.” Noah’s eyes were a mixture of panic and grief. “He told Meemaw that you didn’t spend enough time with us, that your job in the Army was hurting us.”

The boom of that explosion detonated in Mitch’s chest. He ran a hand along the back of his neck and let out a painful breath. No, no. Will and Carol wouldn’t do that to him. “They were probably just upset about something. I’m sure they didn’t mean it.” He wrapped an arm around Noah’s shoulder. “C’mon. We need to find Ella and Aunt Sienna.” She could tell them if this threat was real.

When they met up by a snack cart, Mitch’s mind raced.

“Hey.” Her smile faded into concern. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to leave.”

She deflated. And at first, he read it that she wanted to be with him, but in light of Noah’s announcement, he wondered…“You got paged.”

He held up his phone, watching her eyes. Her body language. Arms folded. She looked away and sighed before turning back and giving him a faint smile. “You go. I’ll stay with the kids.”

“Can I talk to you?” He stepped to the side, motioning for Noah to stay with Ella. Sienna joined him, frowning as she glanced back at the kids. “Noah told me something. Are your parents planning to take the kids from me?”

Sienna’s eyebrows rose and she drew back. “Why would they do that?”

“Noah said he heard your dad say if I left the kids again, he’d take them away.”

Covering her mouth, Sienna shook her head. “He hasn’t told me that…”

“But?” There was a but at the end of that, wasn’t there?

“He seems particularly critical of you,” Sienna said softly, her eyes lowering. “I’m sorry. I think they just want what’s best for Ella and Noah.”

“
I
want what’s best for my kids!” Mitch slapped a hand to his forehead. “Unbelievable.” His phone buzzed again, prompting him to reply to the AHOD.

Sienna touched his arm. “Go, Mitch. I’ll stay with the kids. They’ll have a good time.”

He shook his head. A good time with their aunt, but not with their dad. What kind of father abandoned his kids at an amusement park? Will Leitner would have a field day with this. He’d use this against Mitch.

“You were reporting back in five days anyway, right?”

He nodded, gauging her confidence. Her assuredness. He’d entrusted his most prized possessions—Ella and Noah—into her hands over the last few years. Why would now be any different?

Because of her parents.

She squeezed his arm. “My parents won’t know. I’ll keep Ella and Noah with me this week, then drop them off at school, and they’ll go home with my parents just like usual.”

It was deceitful. But he was desperate. “You’re sure?”

“Completely.”

D
on’t
preach at me, man.” Brian spun away and paced in the small barred cell he’d spent the last few days in.

Eagle held his ground—in fact, he gained some when he took a step closer. “Get mad, if you want.”

“Done.” Brian shot him a challenging look.

With a throaty laugh—that wasn’t a laugh—Eagle gave a shake of his head. “Hawk, you have a weapon inside you. But you’re choosing to drink poison.”

“Weapon? Poison?” Brian touched his fingertips to his temples and held out his hands. “Dude, have you lost it?”

“No, but you have. Brian, you need help.”

“What I need is for my friends to treat me like a friend, not a therapy subject.” The roar in his skull made it hard to think. To tame the flames of fury devouring him.

“All I’m saying is you can’t do it on your own. You said you had gone to youth group.”

“Girlfriend’s church,” Brian snapped. “Never met a more hypocritical bunch of people.”

“Is that how you see Christians?”

“Yes.”

“Even me?”

Brian shoved his gaze to the ground. “Just leave, Pops.” Would he ever get used to calling the oldest member of Raptor by his designated call sign, Eagle? “I’m not… I’m no good.” Man. Wasn’t that the truth. “I’m not good—tonight.”

“Here.” Eagle slid a small book between the bars. “Might find some
good
in there.”

“Tss.” Brian shook his head. “You gotta be kidding me.” But he took the pocket Bible. And pocketed it. Anything to get Eagle to leave.

Movement to the side turned them both in that direction.

A woman in a hijab and a facial veil stood there, only her eyes—wide green eyes—visible.

“Son of a biscuit.” Brian closed his eyes and groaned. “I think God is punishing me.”

Eagle grinned. “More like calling your number. Finally.”

“Then why are you smiling?”

A bigger smile. “I can’t wait to see this. If I know you, you aren’t going down without a fight. I know what happened to a man who wrestled God.” He nodded and pointed to the camo-clad Bible. “Read that. Find some answers. I’ll be back.”

With a heaving sigh, Brian pinched the bridge of his nose—and cringed at the prick of pain. A swirl of cinnamon and something else hit his nose—and he knew by his growling stomach that she stood before him. Could he just keep his eyes shut and she’d go away?

“I…I heard.”

Guess not. “Kind of hard to hear when you aren’t there.” Brian finally looked at her, glaring.

She ducked. “I—I know. I… When the fight started, I got scared.”

Those wide eyes. She shifted on her feet—nervous. Guilty.

I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care
. A million more times and he might get it into his head. “And you rabbited.”

Confusion skidded across her face for a second.

“You made like a chicken. Left. Skedaddled. Fled.” Though he tried to put disgust in his words, he couldn’t. Not with the puppy eyes she was working on him. Ya know—the way a puppy does when he knows he’s messed up and eaten your autographed Nolan Ryan baseball. Yeah. That look.

“I could not let anyone know I was there.”

“And yet, here you are. If the captain or Falcon sees you—poof! Game over.” He cocked his head, ignoring the way that blue satiny hijab made her skin look smooth and soft. This would be a good time for her to say she just couldn’t stand for him to take the fall for her. Because she cares about him too much. It’d be all romantic and stuff. Right?

“Did you tell them?”

Brian snorted. He should’ve known better. Shook his head. He started to turn away but faced her again. “You do realize coming here risks your little secret?”

She lowered her head more. “It’s why I wore the veil. And I…I didn’t use my name on the register.” Left shoulder pressed against her ear, she briefly met his gaze. “I just wanted—”

“I know what you wanted.” Why had he ever promised he’d keep her secret? Now—now his career was flushed down the latrine with a hefty dose of antibacterial cleanser.

“Did you tell them? You can’t tell them! You don’t understand what I risk—”

Brian’s blood boiled. “I gave my word,” he bit out as he angled closer, ignoring the burn in his side.

“Yes, but your career—if you don’t tell them—”

“I. Gave. My. Word.” Brian’s nostrils flared. “To you. Do you understand? I don’t go back on that.”

“No. Of course not.” She tilted her head, shielding her face as an officer walked past them. “I am sorry…but I’m just worried. If you tell them—”

“Look. Maybe in your country a man’s word doesn’t mean anything—heck, we’ve got ANA shooting their friends, trainers, and allies in the back or blowing them to Kingdom Come. But me? I gave my word.”

“You Americans are not all good.” Defiance lifted her chin again. “I’ve seen what you have promised and what you have done. They are not the same thing.”