Javier (Alpha Heroes #12)

Chapter Thirty-two

Javier

“Holy fuck.” Dagger let go of the shower enclosure’s upper ledge and landed on the grass next to me. “Those snakes. Did you say a drone dropped them on top of Missy?”

“Affirmative.”

Moments before, he’d debriefed me fast and thoroughly as only Omega could. King had brought him up to speed on a lot, but Dagger wanted to hear everything from me. I reported every detail, Bekker’s original attack in Nicaragua, our arrival to the resort, Rozina’s episode, and the details of the latest attempt on Missy’s life. When I recalled the shitshow in the shower, my guts knotted all over again.

“She was in there, shivering under the water for a few long mikes,” I muttered angrily. “That piece of shit Bekker tried to kill her again.”

“Or you,” Omega pointed out. “Or both of you, I suppose.”

“I’m gonna end the fucker.”

“The turd made no effort to hide his identity.” Dagger took his cane from me.

“He wanted us to know he was behind this,” I agreed. “The snakes were his calling card.”

“How did you kill the big-ass viper?” Omega asked.

“I blew its head off. It was riled up, and it went for Missy right as she was about to step into my improvised bamboo shield. I had one second, one shot.”

“ One shot ?” Dagger was not a man who could be easily impressed, but the size of his eyes revealed that he understood how dire the threat had been to Missy’s life. “That was one hell of a shot, Guzman.”

“Training activates when needed,” I reminded Omega of his own words. “You taught us that.”

His shrewd eyes scoured my face. “So, she says she loves you. Do you care for her?”

“It’s more than that.” I held his stare. “I’ve come to a crazy conclusion. I’m in love with her.”

“Did you just say in love ?” He stared at me in disbelief.

“I swear,” I said with a huff. “No one’s more shocked than me.”

“Do you know what love means?”

“I learned fast, boss, and it’s terri-fucking-fying. When I saw Missy trapped in the shower with those snakes, I almost crapped my pants. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.”

He studied me closely, turning his cane in his hands, rolling the pewter pummel on his palm. “Have you told her you love her?”

“Not officially, no.”

“She didn’t hesitate to tell me, everyone really.”

“She’s got guts of steel.” Missy’s quiet strength never ceased to amaze me. “I should’ve told her right there and then as well, but your fist, well, it’s painfully persuasive.”

Omega shook his head and gestured for me to follow him. He stabbed the ground with his cane and stalked around the suite’s perimeter in silence, stopping occasionally to check out a footprint or look up at the roofline. I walked by his side, knowing he wasn’t done with me.

Omega’s cell vibrated. He answered with a curt, “Dagger.” After listening for a minute or so, he concluded the call. “Understood. Out.” He shifted his gaze to me. “One of Allen’s security guards has been found dead. He had a lot of cash on his pockets and shears with him, which suggests he’s the one who cut the mesh above the shower.”

“How did he die?” I asked.

“A round to the head,” Omega said. “His body was thrown into a volcanic fissure in the national park but it snagged on a crag.”

“Dead men don’t talk.” I kept my fury under control. “Bekker bought the security guard and then made sure he didn’t survive to talk to us.”

“Sounds like his MO,” Dagger agreed.

“He probably checked out every resort in Costa Rica until he homed in on us and gave Rozina the info,” I theorized. “He’s been waiting for the right time to attack.”

“That’s why we showed up,” Dagger said. “We got your message to Mina. Once you told us Bekker knew your location, we had to come.”

He took off again. He moved a lot faster than a man who’d gotten seriously wounded in the battle for Thena’s life only a few weeks ago. He was still in rehab, but he’d shown all of us that pain couldn’t stop him. His small limp didn’t affect the power of his stride or his performance in a fight, where he typically ditched the cane for his carbine as he’d done today when he single-handedly stormed the suite.

“Gotta tell you something,” I ventured. “Missy said she dreamed of water and snakes slithering on flat stones before this happened.”

Dagger glanced at me but kept ambling along the edge of the garden. “Are we talking about prescient dreams?”

“Is that what they’re called?” I asked. “I had no clue that shit like that really happened.”

“They’re also called precognitive dreams.” Omega frowned. “You might wanna look it up. Was this the first time she had one of them?”

“No,” I said. “When she first mentioned her dreams, it didn’t click, but now…”

“Now you’re not discounting the possibility that these dreams can be premonitions.”

“Yes and no,” I said as he stopped to look at a boot print which ended up being mine. “In this particular dream, she saw six snakes instead of five, but the rest of the dream was exactly as it happened. What do you make of that?”

“Let me tell you something.” He moved toward the manicured path. “Astor women defy logical explanation. When they speak, I listen. They’re also fierce, generous, and loyal. They love with all their being. Do you understand how rare that is?”

“I do.” We headed toward the suite’s front door. “Missy is…” I realized I had no words to express the emotions trapped in my chest. “She’s become the center of my world.”

“Love ain’t easy, Guzman.” Dagger paused at the bottom of the stairs and planted his cane. “A guy has to grow up fast to understand what it means.”

“No kidding,” I said as he climbed the stairs while I waited where I stood. “I really wanna be there for her, although…”

Dash tested the door to make sure it was locked then cocked his eyebrows. “Although?”

“I’m afraid I’m not good enough for her.” There. I’d said it.

“Fucking obvious.” He marched down the steps, leaving me behind. “You aren’t.”

Another punch to the face would’ve hurt less.

“Don’t take it personally.” He turned and faced me. “Or do take it as a personal challenge if it helps. In my eyes, nobody is good enough for Missy, will never be good enough for her. Hell, I’m not good enough for Thena and yet she loves me.” He shrugged. “Go figure.”

“I ain’t like you,” I said. “I don’t got loads of money or tons of class like you do. I’m not an officer and I wasn’t educated at the best schools. I’m not called Legend behind my back. My track record sucks and then there’s my history with Nix.”

Dagger’s gaze fell on me. “Have you told her?”

“She dreamed of him.” I was still mulling that one over. “She knew what went down that day between Nix and I. She knew what he said to me, even before we talked about it.”

Dash didn’t even blink. His silence was more telling than words.

“You’re not shocked as hell?”

“If I hadn’t known her brother and her mother, I wouldn’t believe you,” he offered tentatively.

“After she shared what she saw in her dreams, I told her everything I remembered. She said she ‘felt’ her brother in the dream.”

“She’s an Astor.” Dash allowed for a small shrug. “I don’t pretend to understand how they tick, but I believe her. Was she able to answer your questions or tell you anything new?”

“No.” I sighed. “I’ve got so many black holes in my memories.”

“Believe me, I get it.” Dagger’s gaze clouded, reminding me that, he, too, struggled with his recollections of that shitty day. “You were hit and out of it, but I’m glad you’ve come clean with Missy. When you’re with an Astor woman, honesty is your only hope.”

“Yeah.” I blew out a breath. “Hard to keep secrets when you’re hanging out with a woman who dreams them.”

“After hashing out what happened with Nix, does she still wanna be with you?”

“She hasn’t said she doesn’t.” I lifted my shoulders. “But what do I have to offer Missy?”

“Beats me, but feel free to tell me.” Spotting King and Ferranti on the roof, he called out. “Anything?”

“The suite is secure,” King returned.

“Nothing outside so far,” Ferranti reported.

“Keep at it,” Dagger said before he returned his attention to me. “This is your one chance to sort out your shit.” Dagger used his cane to poke at the hedges and part the branches aside. “You won’t get a second one from me.”

“Okay.” The clatter of dice began in the back of my mind. This was my only opportunity to bring Dagger to my side. I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing . “I’m really confused. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m a passing fad in Missy’s life or if she’ll want me for the long run. You know what I mean?”

“The ideal candidate, you are not.”

It was the brutal truth.

“On the other hand,” he put in, sweeping his stare over the ground as we moved across the lawn. “She could do worse.”

Strolling beside my boss, I did a double take. “Come again?”

“Given that we don’t know how this will pan out in the end, this conversation is preliminary and hypothetical.” Dagger was not about to pull any punches. “But I’ll point out that between your signing bonus, your hazard pay, and your compensation package, you’ve got enough to support her, maybe not in the uber-luxury she grew up in, but in comfort. Unless you’ve gambled it away already?”

“You’ve kept me so busy that I’ve had zero time to splurge.” I came clean. “I haven’t been to Vegas in months. I got me some BB stock. The rest of the money’s still in the bank.”

“Well, that’s something I guess,” he muttered. “I suggest you devote some attention to growing your net worth, even though the reality is that Missy’s got more money than you could ever make, a huge inheritance that Thena currently manages. I won’t have anyone mooching off Missy.”

He took his role as guardian and brother to Missy very seriously.

“What I wanna know is how you feel about that,” he continued. “Can your fragile ego and your bloated pride take the hit?”

“Fair question.” Was I threatened by knowing that Missy was an heiress to a vast fortune and would always have access to more money than I could ever dream of?

Money had never been an incentive to me. I’d never gone hungry, but I’d never had it in excess, either. I’d had enough to play around between deployments. You didn’t sign up to serve in the military to make mega bucks. Everyone knew the pay versus risk ratio stunk. Now that I thought about it, money didn’t matter much to me. Hell, not even the pigs ate it.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass if she’s rich or poor,” I answered honestly. “Like you said, if she lets me, I can take care of us. I don’t want her money. She can do with it whatever she wants.”

“Good answer, Guzman.” Dagger tossed me an approving glance. “If you don’t make her money a problem, it won’t be. You also have some things to offer.”

“Like what?” I asked, curious.

“You’re a reliable asset, a valuable team member, and a standup kind of guy,” Dagger said, shocking the hell out of me. “You’ve got your own sense of right and wrong, dicey at times, but better than none. You’ve got guts. You’ve proven this many times, including during this mission, when you risked life and limb to fish Missy out of that viper-infected shower.”

“Whoa, boss.” I stared at the man in profile and couldn’t help but grin. “For a second there, it almost sounded as if you liked me.”

“Don’t push your luck,” he snapped, but his lips twitched. “You also respect women. I like that. Thena thinks highly of you. That’s key. You’re funny and charming, when you’re not being a dick, but that’s a double-edged sword when courting a woman like Missy.”

“ Courting Missy ?” I blinked several times. “Is that what I’m doing?”

“That’s what you’ll be doing if you want me to take you seriously. You copy?”

“Copy, boss.”

This was so fucking weird. I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with my boss, of all people. I’d expected him to fire me off the bat. Instead, he was taking his valuable time to help me digest emotions I hadn’t been able to tackle until now.

“You’ve put us both in a pickle.” He climbed the hill with me in tow. “Missy’s an Astor. If she wants you, there’s nothing I can do to stop her. You’ve got only one option.”

“And that is?”

“To be the best man you can be, for her and her alone.”

Holy shit . It sounded so simple. This was the answer I’d been looking for, the only way forward that could earn me Missy’s heart.

“Then that’s what I’m gonna be,” I pledged. “I’m gonna make her happy.”

The moment I made that promise, the clatter of dice in my head stopped. The gambler in me walked away from the table. In his stead stood a man who didn’t need to wager anymore. A man vested in earning Missy’s heart and creating a new life with her by my side. A winner, if only because I had a real chance at her.

“You better make her happy,” Omega grumbled as he mounted the stairs to the back deck. He came to a stop at the top, and whirling around, settled his cane’s pommel on my chest. His stare would’ve sent chills down the spine of most men. “If you break her heart, if you hurt her in any way, you’re gonna answer to me.”

“Copy that.” Coming from Dagger, this was no idle threat. I walked a thin line, but if Missy wanted me, I was willing to balance on a high wire without a net to be with her.

Dagger removed the pommel from my chest, parked before the veranda, and took in the view. I climbed the last stair and stood next to him.

“Just so that I’m clear,” I ventured because I was me and I always pushed the envelope. “Does this conversation mean you are okay with this?”

“ This ?”

“Missy and me.”

“Okay? Ha!” His bitter chuckle echoed over the jungle. “No. I’m not okay with any of this, but Thena seems to be on board, and Missy gets to make her own choices. If it’s you, then I’ll work with that. I’m not welcoming you into the family just yet if that’s what you’re asking. The way I see it, you’re on probation. You better perform at the top of your range or else—”

“No need to elaborate, boss,” I said. “I know what I’d do if I were in your shoes and Missy was my sister. It ain’t pretty. Or survivable. But still, I’m all in.”

“Unless or until she kicks your ass out of her life.” He glanced at me. “Agreed?”

I sighed. “Agreed.”

I was gonna fight like hell so that never happened.

“Thanks for the pep talk, boss.”

“Whatever.” His lips twitched. “I should say I’m sorry for the bruises, but I’d be lying.”

“I’ll wear them with pride.”

He barked out a laugh that turned up my lips.

“You’re making it very hard for me to hate your guts, Guzman. Keep up the good work. Glad we had this talk. Don’t make me do it again. Ever.”

“Understood.” I gave him a brisk salute.

“Back to business,” he said. “You got the intel on Bekker, so let me bring you up to speed on the rest. We caught the comms intercept that allowed him to attack you in Nicaragua. That’s why we went silent. Since then, we’ve been under cyberattack day and night.”

“I figured that much.” A spark of worry flared for our team’s cyber-hunter-in-chief. “Is Mina okay?”

“She’s fighting with all she’s got and giving as good as she’s getting.” Dagger allowed for a small smile. “Trev’s fighting alongside her, and so is Max Battleson.”

“Wow.” The top hackers of the free world against the top hackers of the not-so-free-world. “That must be something to see.”

“It’s impressive,” Omega agreed. “These attacks have been a pain in the ass, but they’ve also given us an opening to get into their systems and opportunities to analyze their methods.”

“Have we made any progress figuring out why the NWO is so obsessed with killing the Astor sisters?”

“We know Richard Astor had something on Xao Li, something damning. We just don’t know what it is. We’ve searched Astor House and The Astor Group’s headquarters from top to bottom. So far, we’ve got nothing.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“It does, which reminds me…” His face set into a scowl.

Uh-oh . I knew that scowl. Incoming .

“Don’t think for a hot minute I’m gonna forget that you sidestepped my orders not to go into the compound by fudging with your radio signal.”

I should’ve known. Nothing escaped Omega. I lifted my shoulders. “Sorry?”

“You’re not fucking sorry and I fucking know it. You’re lucky that, when you went on independent study, you found Missy. You kept her alive. So, this one time, I’m gonna give you a pass on the insubordination shit. Do you read me, Guzman?”

“I read you.” I cleared my throat. “What’s the plan now?”

“Bekker is champing at the bit to get us. An ambush would make sense. We’re waiting for a BB escort to the tarmac to get out of here. ETA, tonight. Get your stuff. We’ll hunker down at the villa.”

“Yes, sir.”

Moving quickly, I unlocked my duffel, donned my tactical vest, and readied my carbine. I checked the mag before I shouldered the weapon and turned to the table where I’d been working before the incident to collect my shit. “I bet the fuckers are waiting and watching.”

“I concur.” Omega’s gaze swept over the jungle.

“I also bet you Bozeman’s toe is twitching just about now.” I tucked away my binos. “My guts are twitching too.”

“Don’t like to hear that,” Omega muttered darkly

“The roof’s clear, boss,” Ferranti reported, climbing down.

“The building’s perimeter as well.” King trotted up the stairs and motioned to Ferranti. “Let’s get working on the deck.”

I powered down my laptop, shut the lid, and reached for the case across the table. Dagger was closer, so he picked it up and unzipped it.

Let’s get working on the deck , King’s words echoed in my head.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Before I could blink, the sixth snake shot out of the case. Fangs flashed in the air as the viper flew straight as an arrow… toward Omega.