Avenging Laura (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Laura was starting to pull her hair out. She’d been home from the hospital for four weeks now, after having been in the hospital for a week.

Her home became a rotating door between her team, Bravo Squad, Highlander’s family, and everyone else coming by to see her. She never had a spare moment alone. Not even at night. Highlander, her brother or one of his brothers were there to keep an eye on her, never leaving her alone.

She knew they were afraid that Cyrus or someone else would come back and finish what had started. She had someone with her around the clock all the time. At least she had the kids to keep her occupied.

Even though she couldn’t really do much with a broken shoulder, arms, and leg, she was glad when one of the younger ones came by with a book and asked her to read or color. She even watched movies with the kids. Something she didn’t get to do too much of when she was working.

She loved her kids, and they knew their momma loved them. She did her job because of them. She wanted to take all the evil out of the world so that it didn’t come near her children. She would not blink twice at slicing someone’s throat for her husband or her children. She would gladly rock the stripes worn by inmates for taking out someone.

“Mommy, Uncle Ash is here. He’s coming to sit with you in a minute. He’s helping Ryleigh with something in her room,” Little Willie came in and told his mother.

“Thanks, baby. Everything ok?” Laura looked over at her youngest son.

“Yeah. Oh, and this was in the mailbox. Didn’t see the mail, but this was in there.”

“Ok. What’s Cody doing?” Laura smiled, knowing what he was doing.

“He’s in his room playing the new video game that Uncle Dominick got him so he can challenge him to a new match.” Willie laughed as he shook his head.

“Why don’t you go help him so that you can help him beat Uncle Dom tonight when he gets here. He’s bringing pizza for dinner to try and bribe you two into letting him win.” Laura winked at Willie who just did his little giggle before running off to his and Cody’s room.

“Ye know they are going to torture ye brother something fierce now?” Jacob “Ash” MacLeod chuckled as he walked into the room and sat down across from Laura on the loveseat.

Laura couldn’t help but stare at the man for a few seconds. He was taller and massively larger than her husband. The man was sitting on a loveseat, and it looked like a damn oversized chair when he sat on it. Her husband wasn’t little by any means, but damn was his brother a giant.

“How the hell were you SAS again? You’re like a fucking giant compared to your brothers. I mean Mike and Joe are the only ones who even come close to your size. Was there like a Titan somewhere in the family that I need to be aware of for Willie or any other future kids we have?”

Laura watched as Ash chuckled. Shaking her head she opened the envelope that Willie had given her and felt the color drain from her face. It was photos of Highlander and his team on a mission. Her entire body froze in its place.

“What is it, lass?” Ash came over to the couch where she was.

“I-it’s nothing. Sorry. I just moved the wrong way,” Laura stammered as she tried to rush and put the photos back into the envelope.

She froze when Ash took the photos out of her hands and went over them. When she felt his eyes on her, she knew she would have to talk and talk fast.

“Lass, what are these?”

“Photos of Joe and his team while on a mission,” Laura admitted, looking down at the cast on her hand.

“Is this the first one ye have gotten?”

Laura didn’t know how to answer him. It wasn’t the first one. But she didn’t know how to tell him that they weren’t all of Joe. They were of her team out and about working their cases. Dominick on duty. Her in-laws back in Scotland. Mike and his team on missions. Marcus and his team on missions. Bryson and his team on missions. Tommy, Willie, and Jack with their teams on assignments. The kids at school or daycare. Each week the photos were of different family members.

“Lass, talk to me. Is this the first one ye have gotten?” Ash repeated his question, his voice going softer.

“No. The others are in my closet on the top shelf in a pink box,” Laura admitted, refusing to look Ash in the eyes.

When she felt Ash get up, she knew he was going to get the photos. She had no idea what she was going to do. Her first thought was to reach out to an old friend to help her disappear. But then she realized that would just make everyone more of a target because whoever was sending those photos would go after them to draw her out.

“Laura, does Joe know about these photos?” Ash asked, coming back into the room with the box.

“No, Ash. He can’t know. He would split his focus from his missions to making sure someone wasn’t following him. That would make him an easy target for whoever was doing this. Plus, I don’t know if this is even current missions. These could be photos that were taken in the past. I don’t know. I know the ones of Dom and the kids, and your parents are current, but the ones of everyone on missions, I don’t honestly know.”

Laura finally looked over at Ash with tears in her eyes. She was pleading with him not to tell Joe or anyone else about the photos. She knew he would say something to those back home because of his parents. But Joe couldn’t know. She couldn’t lose him after fighting so hard to get back to him.