Operation Date With Destiny (16 page)

She needed to make sure Jackson was alright.
What if he still hadn
’
t come out of it? How long could he stay like that? Surely not long? How long had he already been like it? Hours? Days? who knew.

She opened the door and walked out into a hallway that led to an open area at the end which she assumed would be a living area. The house was huge; everything was open and spacious and…perfect. It felt like something out of a glossy magazine and yet it also felt like someone
’
s home…although she had no idea who owned it or how she got here.

When she reached the end of the hall, she found it opened into a large well-appointed family room, complete with a massive TV screen and pool table.
Two small children sat on the floor watching a children
’
s program quietly
.

A state of the art kitchen took pride of place in the center of the house overlooking the family room and Destiny noticed a
woman
just as she lo
oked up and broke out in a wide, friendly smile.

“
Hi there. I
’
m Summer.
”
She
walked around the island bench and took Destiny
’
s hand, holding it between her own.
“
I
’
m so glad you
’
re up and about.
”

“
Ahh, hi,
”
Destiny said, and
recognized
the woman
’
s name immediately.
Another one of her father
’
s victims
.
H
er mind rac
ed
frantically to try and figure out what was going on.

“
I guess this is all a bit strange…and you must be really worried about your brother,
”
Summer said eyeing her sympathetically.
“
How about I show you where he is and put your mind at ease? Come on in and see him—he
’
s awake now.
”

Destiny was grateful there wasn
’
t any drawn out awkward greetings—right now all she cared about was Jackson and thankfully this woman
realized
it.

Summer led her past the kitchen and towards the rear of the massive house through a doorway to a bedroom that overlooked an enclosed courtyard. In the bed, she found her brother, his eyes open and staring out the window.

“
Hey, buddy. You
’
re awake,
”
she said
,
quietly.

Jackson turned his head slightly to look at her and she was still shocked at the bruising on his face—but he
’
d been able to shower and the swelling had begun to go down a little so it wasn
’
t quite as horrific as it
’
d  been back at the compound
.
He didn
’
t smile.

She moved across the room and came to a stop by the side of the bed, forcing a smile to her lips and
tried
not to flinch
when
her side protested
as
she sat down beside him. It was hard to summon the strength to remain calm when the very sight of him made her want to both scream in rage and sob in despair.
How could those bastards do this to him?
He was just a kid for crying out loud!
“
How you doing?
”

He simply stared at her a moment longer, before turning his head away to stare back out the window.

Destiny bit the inside of her lip to keep from showing how much his
rejection
hurt. It was understandable—he
’
d been through hell and back over the last few weeks…but it still hurt.

The sound of the ocean filled the silence and she could hear birds ch
ir
ping out in the trees beyond the courtyard.
“
Can I get you something?
”
she asked finally.

He didn
’
t even shake his head. Just kept staring out the window like she wasn
’
t even there.

Maloney came into the room a few minutes later and stood by the bed. She glanced up at him feeling helpless and wanting to ask a thousand questions
,
but the big medic just sent her a small smile and suggested they might leave Jackson to get some rest and come back later.

She sent an anxious glance across at the teenager in the bed and hesitated for a moment before
finally accepting
Jackson simply wasn
’
t in the frame of mind to talk yet and all she was doing was making thi
ngs
worse.
“
I
’
ll be outside. If you need me, just yell, okay?
”

He didn
’
t reply but her heart felt as though it literally tore in two as a small tear ran from the corner of his eye.

“
Jackson—
”
She moved to brush his hair from his face but he filched away so unexpectedly that she jumped.

“
He just needs a little time to adjust
,
that
’
s all,
”
Maloney said in his gentle reassuring voice
although
she wasn
’
t sure who he was reassuring the most—Jackson or herself.

“
Hey, she
’
s up
.
”
She turned to see Johnny
in the open doorway.
“
Come on slugger, Doc knows what he
’
s talking about. Let him rest up a bit.
”

Maloney, being the team medic would go under the nick name of Doc in their Recon unit—just as they did in the Army
,
and she was grateful he was nearby. She valued medics
. During her time in
the Army she
’
d seen some of their work first hand and knew they were
often
the difference between life and death out on a battlefield.

She sent one final glance across at her brother before reluctantly leaving the room. She could hear Maloney
’
s deep voice as he spoke to Jackson, and tried to ignore the pain of rejection that swiftly followed.

“
Where are we?
”
she asked quietly as she followed
Johnny
back towards the kitchen.

“
We really must stop meeting like this—you know, one of us waking up confused and all,
”
he said
.
“
B
ut to answer your question, we
’
re on an island and far enough away from
civilization
for you and your brother to lay low for a while until we sort out where to go from here.

“
What island?
”

“
You probably haven
’
t heard of it—it
’
s a private island, called Los Cavernas.
”

She
had
heard of it—she
’
d read about this place in the reports. This was the island Tupperoni and his unit had also laid low on while her father had hunted them down like animals. She was thankful they were walking and didn
’
t have to look at him
as
she battled the usual guilt whenever she was reminded about the cruelty of the man who had fathered her.

“
How
’
s your side?
”

“
Just a scratch,
”
she said brushing off his concern.
“
I
’
ve had worse.
”

“
Tough guy
,
huh,
”
he said as he stopped just shy of the end of the hall.

“
Nope. I just play hard. No point being in the game if you
’
re not willing to risk it all, is there?
”
she said with a shrug, holding his gaze, determined not to be the first one to look away despite the sudden volt of electricity that seemed to flare to life between them.

“
A girl after my own heart,
”
he murmured softly and a flotilla of startled butterflies exploded inside her at the intensity of the
smoldering
look in his eye.

But then all too soon, voices drifted towards them and J
ohnny
sent her a lopsided grin before moving
towards the kitchen where Tate was seated at the bench holding a mug between his hands and sent her a nod of welcome.

“
Coffee?
”
Summer asked as Destiny stopped beside an empty stool.

“
Thanks.
”
She watched as the other woman filled two mugs, handing one to Tupper and the other to Destiny.

“
Take a seat,
”
Summer smiled, turning to take something from the oven behind her and bringing it back to set it on the bench in front of Destiny.
“
You haven
’
t eaten anything—you must be starving.
”

The plate was filled with bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and cooked tomato and Destiny
’
s stomach growled in anticipation even though her encounter with Jackson a few minutes ago had robbed her of the appetite to really appreciate it
.

“
Don
’
t even think about arguing with her,
”
Johnny advised, taking a sip of his coffee and eyeing her over the top of his mug.
“
You won
’
t win.
”

“
Look, I know you must be worried about your brother—but you need to take care of yourself as well or you won
’
t be any use to him,
”
Summer said in a gentle tone, catching Destiny off guard for a moment. She hadn
’
t had anyone take care of her in a long time—no one since her mother. She stood on the breaks at the thought—there was still no way she could go there…and not here, surrounded by a bunch of strangers. There
’
d be time to go over all that later…much,
much
later.

She couldn
’
t hold Summer
’
s look—the woman seemed to be picking up on her fragile control so she dropped her gaze to the plate before her and began to eat. If she was eating—that would hopefully put an end to any further conversation.

However, there was only so long you could actually chew each bite, and having Johnny sitting beside her watching her silently was beginning to stretch her nerves to breaking point. Eventually Destiny gave up on the
pretense
of eating altogether. She pushed the plate away from her and managed a small smile of thanks.
“
I
’
m so full. I can
’
t possibly eat another bite.
”

“
Never mind—you ate something and that
’
s all that matters,
”
Summer said
,
taking the plate away
.

The door opened and Destiny turned to see Del and two very pregnant women walk in. To say this was one of the oddest looking sights she
’
d seen would be an understatement and one that she didn
’
t get a chance to fully digest
before
he greeted her.

“
How
’
s the side?
”
he
asked as he approached, helping himself to a cup and holding it out for Summer to fill. The ease and automatic responses
reinforced that
this was a group of people who were used to spending time together.
She wondered h
ow so many people
could
live like this?

She lived alone—it was somewhat of a necessity in her case. She spent the last year on the move and avoiding contact with everyone in her life
, i
ncluding the little brother laying in that bedroom down the hall…the one who didn
’
t seem to want anything to do with her.
“
It
’
s n
ot too bad
, thanks
.
”