Page 57

Heather: Finding His Destiny Book 9

Heather

Present day…

Heather Anderson has her air pods in, blasting one of her favorite oldies: AC/DC’s Back In Black . She can remember the song blasting from her dad’s boombox in the garage on many occasions. It always makes her think of him when she hears it. Her father was a career Navy man. He was hard as hell on her and her brothers when they were kids, but she loves him fiercely.

She’d been daddy’s little girl until she’d fucked up in his eyes. Teenagers tend to do that. Their relationship has never been the same, but they’ve recovered and adapted to a workable, new relationship. Still, sometimes she likes to remember a time before she’d disappointed him and her mother so badly.

The beginning cords always make her strut her stuff, because the song makes her feel like the badass she’s become, despite not making special forces while on active duty. That’s a topic better left alone. Heather and five other special ladies have formed an all-female, off-the-books, black ops team.

The six of them come from various branches of the military: Marines, Air Force, Navy, and last, and certainly least Army. Heather is their team leader having achieved the highest rank during her years of service. She is wondering what job they’ve been called up for this time. Jack, their C.O. and also the man who’d come up with the idea for their team, had been a little vague on the details when he’d called about the mission.

While the team still works for the government, they are an unofficial team. If shit goes sideways they are on their own. The government will deny their existence, and there won’t be anyone coming to save them.

Heather struts into the tent Jack’s been using as their headquarters of operations since they’d arrived. “What’s shaking, bacon?” she drawls, entering the tent and swinging her hips to the song playing in her ears.

If you weren’t familiar with Heather and her team, you’d miss the moment she registers that something is amiss. Her steps never faulter, and her hips keep swaying as she strolls further into the tent, but there’s a half second of hesitation. One she recovers from well, but still, it’s there if you know what to look for.

Scanning the room, she continues on her path to the team’s seats, cataloguing the space and those who are in it. The hair on the back of her neck rises, and the feeling of unease increases ten-fold. There’s an awareness in the air she hasn’t felt in years. One she honestly never thought she’d feel again. It can’t be!

Large male Marines are standing in clusters and chatting around the edges of the large tent. Fuck! She’s dreaded this day. She’d hoped it would never come, but it seems luck is once again not on her side.

Heather’s eyes scan the tent looking for Jack to give her an explanation. She’d heard a plane landing in the wee hours of the night and had known something was up, but she hadn’t been expecting this. He hadn’t said they’d be working with any active-duty personnel.

Finally, her eyes land on Jack. He is in the middle of the tent conferring with an older Marine. They are bent over a map spread out on the table. Their heads are close together, deep in conversation, ignoring Heather’s arrival and her question. Undoubtedly, Jack heard her. He doesn’t miss much.

Suddenly, her eyes land on the source of her unease. He stands up. She swallows around the dry lump that’s formed in her throat. Their eyes lock on one another, and the years melt away. She is thrown back into a starry-eyed teenager basking in the heated gaze of her knight in shining, fucking armor.

Kannon is even more handsome than he’d been all those years ago. He’s aged and filled out even more if that’s possible. The young man who’d shattered her heart has grown into a full-fledged, heart-breaking man. Slowly, his eyes travel down her body and back up again, pausing at strategic areas along the way—her hips, her breasts, and finally her eyes again.

Her nipples harden under his scrutiny while goosebumps burst over her skin. She sucks in a startled breath, drawing the attention of her teammates, because not even her years of training could have prepared her to see him again.

She can see the recognition in his eyes and figures his expression matches her own: shock, disbelief, and confusion. Why the fuck is he here?

“It’s about time you got here,” Jack calls to her, drawing her out of the initial shock. Her disbelief is quickly replaced with rage.

“What the fuck?” she demands. Her eyes dart to Jack. His jaw tightens and his face pales slightly. This is the only indication that he has recognized his fuck up. He should have let her know about the arrival of active-duty personnel who are, by all appearances, going to be working with them on this op. He knows better.

“No! Not happening! Not. Fucking. Ever.” Her body trembles with emotion. She hates not being able to hide her reaction in front of her team and these other assholes who are witnessing her demise.

Jack jumps to his feet and hurries over to her, gripping her by her upper arm and man-handling her out of the tent. He only manages this because she allows it, of which, Jack is fully aware. There’s no way he could have done it otherwise. She let him.

“Calm down, Heather,” Jack chastises softly the moment they are out of the tent. She wonders if he thinks this provides them any measure of privacy, because it doesn’t. She’s raging pissed, and there’s no way she is going to keep her voice down.

“Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down!” she yells. “What the hell kind of ambush is this shit? You should have told me!”

Jack’s face morphs into a hard glare. One that she’s only seen a handful of times in the three years she’s been under his leadership. It’s the look he gets when things are out of his control, which means Heather is going to have to suck it up and deal with it. “Jesus Fucking Christ, Jack! You should have given us a heads up!”

“I know,” Jack concedes, keeping his voice level and calm, “but you would have been worked up all night and not gotten a second of sleep. I need you fresh for this op, and you know that.” Heather glares at him, thinking he should be damn grateful looks can’t kill, because he’d be pushing up daisies right now, otherwise.

“We won’t do it,” she declares, brooking no argument. “We’ll walk right now. Don’t push me on this. It’s a hard no, Jack.”

“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Jack questions, now raising his voice. “We’ve worked with other teams before. Why are you acting like a petulant child this time?”

Damn it all to hell! Heather can’t disclose her reasons. It would, not only, blow her badass, nothing-gets-to-Heather image but reveal a secret that very few know. Jack knows some of it, but he doesn’t know everything.

Heather stares off at nothing in particular, her mind scrambling to play catch up. Her thoughts drift to all the years she’s worked to forget him, knowing it was a losing battle, but still, she’d tried. There have been times, a few hours here and there, when she’d managed to put him out of her mind, but he has always managed to find her again. Even though it’s only been in her dreams.

She has to get her shit together. She can do this. She has to do this. Her team is depending on her, but most importantly, her whole life depends on getting this over with without blowing up her big secret.

“You have nothing to be worried about,” Jack assures her in a placating tone. “They have their own agenda. It just so happens their operation will provide a distraction while we carry out our mission.”

“Are you certain? Can you be sure we can trust them?” Heather asks, dropping her voice low to keep those inside the tent from hearing. She watches Jack closely, knowing all of his tells. Meeting her gaze steadily, he nods.

“Fine, but I call the shots, Jack.” Heather pokes her finger into his chest. “We won’t be bossed around by a group of hog-tied with red-tape Marines. They will follow our lead or it’s no dice. You feel me?” Jack nods letting out a heavy sigh. Nodding toward the open tent flap to get her moving.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Jack grumbles as they step back inside. “You know that right?” Heather gives him one of her mega-watt smiles. Not caring that her team and the tent full of Marines will see, she raises up on her tiptoes to kiss Jack’s cheek.

“I know, but you loovveee me,” Heather sing-songs then spins on her heel, giving him her back. Jack grins and swats her ass as she walks toward her seat. There’s nothing sexual in his actions. It’s like a football coach with a player reminding them to get their head in the game, but when her eyes find Kannon’s once again, he has murder in his eyes.

Is he jealous of her exchange with Jack? she wonders. Interesting, being as he’s the one who left me alone, heartbroken, and pregnant.