Heston (In the Company of Snipers #25)

Chapter Thirty-Three

London was broken. Not just broken, but withdrawn and growing farther away from Heston each day. Worse, hopeless. There was no spark in her. The light in her eyes was gone, and she’d replaced that sassy turquoise with the mousey blonde Heston hadn’t seen in years. The zest that had once fired her soul, fervently enough that she’d stood up to her parents for what she believed in, then left for the same reason, had retreated to someplace deep within her psyche. If it was still there at all. Heston didn’t know.

He’d cajoled, pampered, and gone out of his way not to mention what happened the day she’d been rescued. All with no reaction. It was as if her insides had been hollowed out by what she’d lived through and what she’d seen. Heston worried she’d had enough, that she was on the verge of leaving him. That she didn’t want to live with the killer she now knew he was.

He took time off, then he took more time off, needing to be there for her. Whatever it took for as long as it took. Still… nothing. Physically, she’d recovered. The bruising had faded. Her ribs were still tender, but she was back to breathing without cringing with every breath. The signs of stress remained. For nightwear she’d traded her tiny tees and boxers for long flannel bottoms and long-sleeved tops. She said she needed to keep warm, but Heston knew better. She wanted distance from him and to keep him at bay. She didn’t want to look sexy, so she wore layers. She flinched when he touched her. She never stepped into his side anymore. Never bumped hips, and she retreated whenever he came too close. She hadn’t teased him once in the week they’d been home. Didn’t smile. Refused to leave the house.

Despite how much she’d needed Heston after he’d found her with Obermeyer, she didn’t seem to need him now. Wouldn’t talk about it. Refused to share. He was afraid he knew why. She must’ve been raped, but she wouldn’t admit it. She hadn’t allowed him to join her in the examination room at the ER, so he had no way to know for sure. Maybe just because he was a man? Maybe because of what she’d witnessed him do to Obermeyer?

Worse, London didn’t seem to want to live anymore. She’d lost the effervescent joy that was her trademark, her way of facing life head-on. She’d become indifferent. Numb.

Heston now knew Obermeyer, Keane, and the senior Wirth had personally beaten London in that damned container. They’d laid their hands on her. They’d hurt her. The knowledge turned him nuclear if he thought on it too long. If he could, he’d dig Obermeyer’s dead body up and kill him again. He’d gotten off easy.

Miles hadn’t touched London, though. He wasn’t behind Malloy’s murder or London’s abduction. Not like that made him any better than his old man. He’d still acted on his father’s orders. He’d been an active accomplice.

It was an interesting side note, given that his father seemed to have favored Alex over his only son. Lancaster had certainly used Miles as nothing more than an errand boy to get at Alex, then as chauffeur. While Lancaster had focused his very persuasive power on the man who could get him and his schemes inside the White House, he’d treated his only kid like a lackey. Which seemed logical. Miles had never served in the military. Had no weight training. Hadn’t worked out. Hadn’t known how to shoot or defend himself. His federal career was lackluster at best. His only value was that he was his father’s son.

The difference between Alex’s and Miles’ ambition, dedication, and drive could be measured in light years. Hell, they weren’t even in the same universe. Not to mention Alex’s love for his wife and family, his loyalty to his TEAM, and his love of country. America surely had her flaws, but with men the caliber of Alex Stewart standing guard at her moral frontiers, jackals, wolves, and snakes the likes of the Wirths, Obermeyer, and Keane, didn’t stand a chance.

The TEAM meeting Alex called this morning was an unwelcome interruption to the uneasy truce between Heston and London. She’d flat-out refused to go into TEAM HQ, like Alex requested. Said she wasn’t a TEAM employee, that she’d reconsidered and might work for Tucker Chase after all. That she needed time and distance. She’d staked out Heston’s spare bedroom as her own. They hadn’t slept together since he’d brought her home. If he gave her any more distance, she’d be out the door and gone. That worried him the most. That she’d leave again, only this time he’d never get her back.

Heston dragged a hand over his head and down the back of his aching neck. Didn’t help. There had to be a way to get through to her, but damned if he knew what it was. He’d never thought of her as fragile before, but she was now. Beyond fragile. Obermeyer had broken London’s spirit, and Heston didn’t know how to help her pick up those fragmented pieces and put herself back together again.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Caller ID showed Mother on the line. What now? He’d already called in and taken the day off, opting to spend it with London.

“Heston,” he answered.

“Alex is on his way,” she said.

“He’s coming here? Why?”

“To talk to you, why else?”

“I’m not coming in, Mother, and neither is London. I don’t care what Alex wants. I’m not going on call-outs, either. Already spoke to Murphy and told him no out-of-town missions or overnight ops for a while. I’m… I’m…” What? On hold? Afraid if he left, London would leave and he’d never find her again?

“Will you shut up and listen? Get dressed. Alex should be there by now.”

“But I—”

Sure enough, someone with a damned big opinion of himself pounded on the door with a sharp, bold knock that sounded more like, “Let me the hell in,” rather than, “Please answer your door.”

“There he is. I hear him knocking. Open the door, Hes. Alex brought someone who’d like to speak with London.”

“She doesn’t want counseling, Mother. I’ve tried. If she thinks I’ve set her up, she’ll leave me for sure. I can’t do that to her. It wouldn’t be fair. You don’t understand.”

“That’s the thing, honey. I do understand.” Suddenly, Mother’s voice was softer and sweeter than Heston had ever heard. “I know exactly where London’s head is right now. I’ve been in her shoes, and so has the woman with Alex. Trust him. Trust her. Give London a chance to talk with someone who understands. She needs this particular woman on her side. You’ll see.”

“But I—” Heston shut his mouth at the sound of London’s bare feet on the stairs behind him.

“You gonna get that, or should I?” she asked, still in her too-warm layers of winter wear.

“No, babe. Don’t open—!”

Too late. She’d answered the door in the clothes she’d slept in. And there she faltered, staring open-mouthed at Alex.

“About damned time,” he chuffed.

“Bye, Mother. I gotta go.” Heston pocketed his phone and went straight to London. Damn it, Alex had no right to do this, this—whatever he thought he was doing.

London had turned white, as if she’d seen a ghost. Heston had half a mind to slam the door in his boss’s face—until he saw who else was on his doorstep.

“Kelsey?” That changed everything. “Come, come in. Please…” He gestured his smug boss and Kelsey inside, then closed the door behind them. Speechless, Heston had no idea what to say to smooth over this fiasco before London lost it. Poor thing had taken a definite step back, and damn it. Alex had just blown the progress Heston thought he’d made. If this didn’t look like betrayal—

“Hi, London. I’m Kelsey,” Alex’s wife said, her big dark brown eyes shining. But her voice was too weak and her face too damned pale for her to be out and about like she was. “I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I’d lie and say we were in the neighborhood, but I felt I needed to see you. So here we are.”

Heston now knew one of the Wirths had planted a nurse in the Washington hospital and used her to slip Kelsey fentanyl. Again, not enough to kill her, just enough to keep her asleep and keep Alex on edge.

“She knows who you are, sweetheart. London Wilde is the woman who found us the night the trailer blew up, right, Hes?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, right. Sure. London ducked her boss that night and took me and Asher to this trailer she’d been scoping out and…” Heston shook his head, needing to shut up before he said something London didn’t like.

Her sad eyes were still fixed on the fragile-looking woman in the wheelchair. Kelsey would be in that chair until her ankle and hip healed. The helmet on her head was a sure giveaway as to her condition. She couldn’t go to London and Heston wouldn’t dare suggest anything, except… “Coffee?” he blurted. “Anyone want coffee?” Because I sure do.

Shit! This was turning out so, so bad. Alex had his nerve. He never should’ve—

“Hi,” London said quietly, shyly. Just to Kelsey. Not to Alex. Heston wasn’t sure London even knew Alex was there.

“Could we go somewhere private, maybe to another room, just to talk?” Kelsey asked, her attention focused entirely on London.

Heston opened his mouth to answer, but London beat him to it. “Umm, sure. But my bedroom’s upstairs, and you don’t look like you can walk. Is, umm, the laundry room okay? It’s just down the hall.” She gestured toward the garage. The mud slash laundry room was just inside the side entry.

Alex stood ready, his hands on Kelsey’s wheelchair grips. “Long as it’s warm, that’ll be fine. Kelsey’s body temperature is still stuck in the Arctic. Point me in the right direction and—”

“This way,” London interrupted. “It’s right here and… Here, let me move the clothes basket.”

“No problem,” Alex assured her, in his gruff, kindly way. Once he’d maneuvered the wheelchair down the short hallway and around the corner into Heston’s laundry room, he backed out, closed the door behind him, and said, “Don’t mind if I do. Make mine black.”

So Heston made coffee. By then, Alex had made himself comfortable on Heston’s front porch, which was nothing more than a four-by-four concrete pad with three steps to the walk. Heston handed over the mug of hot caffeine and took a seat beside his boss.

“She’s not going to leave you.”

Heston wasn’t going to argue. What did Alex know? Nothing, that was what. Not a damned thing about how messed-up their relationship had been and still was.

“She’ll come around. She needs a woman to talk with, that’s all.”

“You think you’ve got it all figured out, huh?”

Alex stretched one long, lean leg down the steps. “No, but Kelsey does. Once she knew what happened to London, there was no stopping her. She had to come see London.”

“This was her idea? To come here today? Not yours?”

Alex took a hit off the scalding brew in his hand. “I’d rather Kelsey was still in The TEAM’s hospital, where she should be, but, yeah. She wouldn’t have it. This is the first time she’s been outside since that day on Emmons Glacier, and she wanted to come here first. Let me rephrase, she needed to speak with London. It’s a coping thing.”

Heston stared at the fingers of vapor curling off his mug. He refused to divulge anything personal between him and London. All he said was, “Thanks.”

“The wives want to meet London. All of them.”

That was interesting. “Why? They don’t know her.”

“True, but they’re a nosy bunch of females, and a few of them have been through worse. If you ask me—”

“Worse?” Heston spat. “What worse than being beaten by grown men, then nearly gang-raped?”

Alex set his mug on the step between him and Heston. “Having your little girl stolen right out of your arms. Being buried alive and damned near freezing to death. Losing a race with a train and getting twelve inches of skin ripped off your hip and thigh. Being beaten by a Mexican drug cartel when you’re eight months pregnant. Watching the man you love get shot and nearly bleed out in your arms. Losing custody of your newborn son to your asshole father. Need I go on?”

“Some wives have gone through that? Seriously?”

“Starting with Kelsey.” Alex crooked his neck like he often did when he was tired, pissed, or stressed. “You know how I met her?”

Heston shook his head. “Sure don’t.”

“During the worst time in my life. I’d recently lost my first wife and daughter. Sara and Abby were killed in an accident with a… a delivery truck. Back then, I hated everyone. Then I got this hairbrained idea to start a business, like I knew anything about that. First damned thing, one of the guys I’d hired went rogue and I had to pay the Air Force millions for breach of contract. Decided I’d had enough shit and split. Abandoned my TEAM. Headed for a cabin I used to own east of Spanaway, Washington. Found Kelsey on the porch when I got there. She’d been beaten by her ex-husband. Worse, he’d killed her two sons. Drowned them. Only she didn’t remember any of that, and honestly…” Alex brushed a hand over his face. “I wasn’t any better than her ex back then.”

Heston set his mug aside and waited for the rest of the story.

“But things changed. The more I helped her, the more I treated her wounded fingers and knees, and God, her poor battered face... The bastard punched her before she got away from him. After he’d had the nerve to tell her he’d murdered her boys. She jumped out of his truck. Damned near got caught, and Nick would’ve killed her if he’d found her. But he didn’t, least not right away. Thing is, being with her every day, watching her cringe when I just wanted to help, and listening to her scream when nightmares got the best of her, damned near broke me. I’d dig Nick’s worthless carcass back up just so I could kill him again.”

Heston knew that feeling.

“I’m just sorry it wasn’t me who ended the bastard. But Harley sniped Nick after the bastard got hold of Kelsey and damned near killed her. Long story short, yeah, most of the wives have been through hell just as deep and ugly as what London survived. They know precisely what she needs, and Heston, she needs Kelsey. Kelsey knows what to say and what to do. Good women are like that. They get a little bossy, but they reach out to their sisters and hold them tight when they need it most.”

Heston shook his head. That might work for The TEAM’s wives, but London was independent. “She’s leaving, Boss. I screwed up. I killed Obermeyer in front of her.”

“Like hell she’s leaving. I know what a woman looks like when she’d had enough, but that woman inside looks at you like you hung the stars, damned if I know why. Right now, she’s hurting, Hes. Give her time. Talk to her. You might be surprised to know, but most women want someone to kill their would-be rapists. London might not be as upset about what you did as you think.”

“I’ve tried. I can’t get her to open up. She’s left me before and…” Shit. The story poured out. By the time Heston finished, Alex’s hand was a lump of hot iron setting on his shoulder.

“Women don’t think like men, Hes. Took me a while to understand all that encompasses. They process information differently, probably better than us guys. They look at the whole picture. They’re not task-driven. Sometimes they’re not even logical. They’re emotional and touchy-feely. We’re not. Which is why we fall in love with them. They… well, Kelsey anyway, sees right through me. Always has.”

Heston took a hit off his coffee. Mother had seemed okay when he’d ended Obermeyer. Heston had an idea there was more to her story, but he’d been too worried about London to dig into it. Not like he would. Mother was no pushover. She might take offense if he asked about the day she’d called him honey. The day he was positive she’d been crying while she worried about London.

“How about another cup of coffee?”

Alex squeezed his shoulder before he let go. “You were black ops,” he said.

Heston cranked his head around and really looked at Alex. “If I were, you know I won’t talk about it.”

That seemed to be all the confirmation Alex needed. He scraped a thumb under his chin like a prizefighter challenging an opponent.

Heston said nothing because there was nothing to tell. Yes, he’d been one of damned few Rangers selected to go undercover in the Ukraine a while back, how far back didn’t matter. He’d done his duty more times than he cared to remember. He’d taken out more HVTs than anyone would ever know. Not even Alex. And that was the end of it. Loose lips still sunk ships, damn it.

“You’ll work with Zack Lennox when you report back to duty. You okay with that?”

Heston nodded. “Zack’s a good man. I’d be honored to work with him, but nothing OCONUS until I say.”

Alex grinned a cocky grin and held out his empty mug. “Another cup would be fine.”

“But first…” Heston let that hang. There were things he needed to know, other things he needed his boss to know. “I killed Obermeyer and I’d do it again.”

“We already went over that.”

“So who ended Lancaster Wirth and his worthless son?” Heston suspected Alex had, but he needed to know for sure.

“I thought you knew,” Alex breathed.

“No, I don’t, but if they’re still out there, if they dare come after London—”

“They won’t,” Alex declared. “Rest easy, Marine. When I say no one’s coming after London, it’s because they can’t, got it?”

“Oh? Oh.” Heston swallowed hard. And here he’d been expecting his home to be breached any minute by the Irish Mafia. That Lancaster had put a hit on him, and that his men would storm over him and London with guns blazing. That he’d fall and, in the process, fail London. That they’d kill her. Or worse. “Umm, thanks, Boss. But I was Army, not USMC.”

Alex shrugged. “Too bad. You would’ve made a better Marine. Sorry, should’ve told you sooner. Please tell London they’re both dead. It’ll help her rest easy, too.”

Heston realized he and his boss weren’t much different. They’d both killed the bastards who’d dared hurt their women. There was profound comfort in that knowledge, knowing he and Alex were cut from the same hard piece of leather.

“So, umm, Mother. I mean Mom, umm, err—”

“Spit it out.”

Heston took a deep breath. “She called me honey that day at Turkey Run. I’m pretty sure she was crying when she said it, and… God, she had drones in the air over us, over me. She saw everything, and I wonder if maybe… if Mother…”

Alex hmphed. “I’m surprised she wasn’t cheering you on when you ended Obermeyer.”

“Well…” Heston had no idea what to ask. He’d just refused to share sensitive intel about his past. Alex should refuse, too, especially since this intel concerned someone who wasn’t present. “Never mind. I’ll ask Mother myself.” Someday. Not today, but some other day. Maybe.

“Mother had a little girl named Dempsey,” Alex said quietly. “She picked that name for her daughter because Dempsey was born with birth defects they both fought the rest of her life. Sadly, Dempsey died sooner than Mother expected.”

Heston stared at his empty coffee mug. “I’m sorry I asked.”

“Don’t be. Suffice it to say that Mother understands grief and loss the same as the rest of us. A person doesn’t need to go to war to have their heart crushed.”

Heston sucked in a full breath. There was more to Mother’s story, but that small insight was helpful, and one day, she might share it with him. Heston could wait.

“Another thing you might not know, Lancaster beat London because she refused to tell him where Kelsey and I were.” Lifting his free hand, Alex waved Heston’s next question off. “I know, I know. London didn’t know I’d already moved Kelsey, but the point it, she wouldn’t betray us, Hes. She refused to tell the guys who beat her anything. Just took those slaps and punches like a man. I’m damned sorry about that, but I’m also damned proud of your woman.”

Heston’s hand clenched into fists. “Gawddamn it! She’s not a man! She’s… Shit! She wasn’t trained for that crap. Why didn’t you let me kill him? I would’ve torn him—”

“Because your number one job was, and will always be, protecting London. She needed you that evening, not anyone else, certainly not another man. And Lancaster needed to meet the man whose wife he almost killed.”

Heston was still breathing fire. But yes, London had surely needed him then. Certainly, no other man should’ve held her while she’d cried. His heart rate slowed as, little by little, logic wrested control from his inner caveman—again.

“Lancaster and I had a very insightful discussion,” Alex continued conversationally, “of course, I did all of the talking. But him asking London over and over for my location told me that he had more than one person inside that Washington hospital working for him. I’ve tasked Mark and Murphy to track down everyone who had access to me or Kelsey. Also, you might as well know, I’m hiring London. Told Mark to do the paperwork. She’s got an uncanny sense for investigations, and she was willing to die for two people she’d barely met. Think she’ll accept my offer?”

Heston ran a hand over his head. “I’m not even sure she’ll stay with me.”

“She will, Hes. London’s smart. She isn’t going anywhere without you,” Alex said with more confidence than Heston felt. But Alex believing that she’d stay—helped.

Heston lifted to his feet and walked inside for another round of caffeine.