Letting Go of the Pain Read online

  She squeezed Pisces tighter, and his hand paused on her ass.

  “You okay?” he asked her.

  “I’m perfect, Pisces. This is perfect,” she whispered, and he squeezed her tight, and they remained that way until the heat of their bodies forced them to separate.

  “Showers, you, me, and Stack,” Rusty said and lifted her up off of Pisces, who moaned as their bodies disconnected.

  Rusty carried her out of the office and down the hallway toward the stairs. Oh yeah, she was not going to get much work done today.

  As usual.

  * * * *

  Panther gripped the phone tight. He looked out into the night as he stood on the back porch. He wasn’t believing what he was hearing.

  “It’s a fucking mess. A damn massacre, and we lost four men.

  Four,” Commander Fairchild told him.

  “How the hell could this happen? Pachessa is fucking free? These people were able to pull off a damn operation like this right outside of a high-security prison? Where were the fucking feds who were supposedly guarding him? No, I don’t think so. This was an inside job, and you need to figure out who the rats are, and there has to be more than one. There’s no way, no way, one individual pulled this off.”

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  “I don’t want to believe that it was an inside job, Panther. I don’t.

  But there isn’t any other explanation. I can’t even contact agent Focus.”

  “John? That’s strange. He was right at the top of this investigation along with Sergeant Yovan from the military. What about him or the group of federal agents assigned to the situation?”

  “The others are just as shocked as you are. Your team had everything under control. I should have just let you handle it, but then who knows where we would be right now.”

  “Pachessa would be behind bars.”

  “Panther, it was a fucking bloodbath. Agents dead, and the four who were guarding Pachessa are nowhere to be found.”

  “That wouldn’t have happened if we were there. You needed military assistance from Sons of Justice to start so it should have been us to follow through.”

  “Well, that’s something we’ll never know. Now I have this shit-show to clean up, Pachessa to find, and I got a call from the agents in Vegas. The one undercover operative who apparently believed he had eyes on Lambert showed up in a dumpster with his throat slit open.”

  “Fuck. This just keeps getting worse and worse. Now we’re in danger.”

  “I don’t know if you are or aren’t to be honest with you. I mean there are others who have been involved with this operation, and they aren’t worried. Maybe it was just the key players, the agents, and military that were right there trying to grab Pachessa and Lambert that were to be killed. I don’t know, and right now, my orders are that everyone involved stands down. No continued operating or investigating until we get a grasp on cleaning up this fucking mess.”

  “That’s just plain bullshit. If these men killed agents and soldiers, then they need to be hunted down and taken out.”

  “I understand your thinking and position, but you aren’t in charge.

  The higher-ups are, and I’m forced to relay their commands.”

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  “So what’s your plan right now, Commander Fairchild?” Panther asked, feeling the rage run through his veins.

  “Right now I’m dealing with explaining about your operation, the fact that our commanders think it never should have happened, and how they aren’t focusing on the fact that we had Pachessa in our hands and someone purposely screwed this up. Never mind the plans for the funerals and dealing with the families. It’s a goddamn nightmare.”

  “They’re trying to say that we shouldn’t have gone on that mission and captured that terrorist asshole?” he asked.

  “What?” Mink asked, walking onto the porch. Panther shook his head and continued to talk. “Have you spoken to Spartan?”

  “Not yet but I will be, and I’m sure he’ll be calling all of you in once we plan the next steps of action. There’s no telling what these men might do or where they’ve taken off into hiding. We’ll find them though.”

  “I know men that can help. We want to be part of this, especially since it’s our lives that could be on the line now that he knows what we look like and that we’re soldiers.”

  “Not just any soldiers but Sons of Justice soldiers. His brother and their operation were killed by men in the organization. You know that, and this will add fuel to his hatred and need for vengeance.”

  “We should have put a bullet in his fucking head instead of worrying about the red tape bureaucracy crap. Pachessa and Lambert need to die.”

  “Agreed, but it’s not how these things work. It isn’t your responsibility, and apparently another smaller organization within the government is planning to intercede and take over. I, for one, think it’s a better idea right now. They want and think they can find Pachessa and handle this crazy bastard’s mentality and reach, then so be it. We’ve got enough to handle, and your part in this mission is officially over. There isn’t more for you to do, Panther. You succeeded on your end, and we fucked up on ours. I’ll keep you

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  posted. Talk to Spartan and whomever you want involved to help keep me aware, and we’ll work things on this end. In the interim, you should know Gary Fevers was one of the casualties.”

  “Gary? Oh fuck.”

  “I know, and he and Sarah just had the baby six months ago. I can’t even imagine how this is going to be. I’ll send you the details.”

  “Yes, please do, and we’ll attend the services. Talk to you later.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Mink asked, and now Steve and Eddie came out onto the porch. Panther looked at Steve.

  “Need me to leave?” Steve asked, all pissed off and insulted.

  Panther hated this. Hated making Steve feel like he wasn’t good enough or lost his touch or something. That wasn’t what was going on. They wanted to give him time to heal and to recoup after what he’d gone through.

  “No need to. You’re part of this team.”

  “Not this mission, though, and perhaps not others since you don’t think I’m fucking with it,” he snapped.

  “Steve, that’s not what we think,” Eddie said before Panther could.

  “Fuck you. I know what you think, and it’s pretty fucking obvious.” He walked off the porch and into the house.

  Panther ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Fuck,” he said on an exhale.

  “He’s getting worse with that temper and being fucking snappy,”

  Mink said to them.

  “We got a situation with the mission. Let’s deal with that first.”

  Panther explained what was going on.

  “Fuck, this is insane, and Gary is dead?” Eddie asked him.

  “Yup. Commander Fairchild will send us those details so we can attend in a few days when arrangements are made. I’m sure Spartan will call us for a meeting, as well, and we’ll see how he thinks we should handle this.”

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  “Are you thinking about calling in J.T and the team?” Eddie asked.

  “It would be the smart thing to do since they have connections we may be able to use to smoke Pachessa out.” Mink said to them.

  “There’s also Rossi and his men. I’m thinking if we need to head back into Chile, that somehow Pachessa gets there, then we will need their contacts,” Panther suggested.

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this at all. I can just see the shit-show this could turn into. We didn’t know much to begin with.

  This going in blind, without enough info on the target, isn’t smart business,” Eddie said.

  They were quiet. “Spartan gave us what he had, which was pretty much enough information. Locate Pachessa, capture him, and transport him out of
Chile and don’t get dead,” Panther said to them, and they chuckled.

  “Yeah, well, we were lucky not to get dead. But this information about Gary being killed and the potential for all of us being targets because we’re part of Sons of Justice is a major concern. We all know that when someone like Pachessa wants revenge, he will do whatever it takes to get it,” Panther said to them.

  “This guy wants revenge on anyone associated with Sons of Justice. Were we played by whoever is actually pulling the strings on this puppet show?” Mink asked.

  “I guess we’re going to find out. Stay diligent in being aware of things going on around you. Spartan will call us in for a meeting, and we’ll discuss our options. Not sure how much we’ll be allowed to do,” Panther told them.

  “What about Steve? How long is it going to take him to get it together?” Mink asked with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  Panther looked toward the house. “I don’t know. Things are different. He’s going through it the way he needs to, and we have no control over it.”

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  “That’s what’s pissing me off. We can’t help him. We can’t fix it,” Eddie stated.

  Panther nodded his head. None of them were the mushy types who spoke about their feelings and shit. They were hardcore soldiers.

  Special operations, intense heavies for the military. The weak got killed. As the team leader, Panther needed to make the touchy calls, the hard decisions. “As of right now, he’s out of this. Until I know that he’s a hundred percent back on board, I can’t allow him into the danger zone. I just don’t know how he’ll react.”

  “I hate this.” Eddie walked into the house.

  Mink looked at Panther, and Panther wasn’t sure if Mink blamed him or not for this, for how he was dealing with Steve.

  “He’s a good man and one hell of a soldier. What he went through would fuck with anyone’s mind. He’ll pull through. I know he will because he’s the craziest son of a bitch any of us have ever known.

  He’s our brother, and we’ll keep being supportive.” Mink then walked inside with an expression that told Panther Mink was uncomfortable talking about his emotions.

  Panther turned and looked out toward the yard. They were soldiers taught to feel nothing. Not pain, not regrets, not heartache and loss.

  They were desensitized in a lot of ways because of the danger they faced. There was no room for emotions, for deep thinking, or questioning things. It was just the way of their positions. Maybe he pushed the team to take these new roles in Sons of Justice because it was different. Spartan, John, Hans, Brye, and Nolan had their backs.

  They researched and made certain that for any missions any men went on that they had all the full details and went over as many potential results that could happen. Of course things sometimes didn’t go as planned. But at least more was done.

  Not when they worked with the separate agency and Commander Fairchild. They’d been thrown into something deeper, unstable, and now the last mission they took with this agency could bring more problems their way. He didn’t like that they weren’t made aware of

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  the conflict between Pachessa and Sons of Justice. It seemed to him that whoever was above Fairchild had brought Sons of Justice Soldiers in as bait or to rile Pachessa. Well, look what it cost them.

  Numerous agents and other soldiers dead. Panther wasn’t going to be a casualty or allow his men to be either. He would talk to Spartan and then touch base with Rossi and J.T. as backup plans. At least of few men they truly trusted should be aware of what was going on in case things got really screwed up and Pachessa came after Panther and his team looking at them as ways to ease the vengeance he obviously wanted to achieve.

  He thought about Steve. What could he do to help him? How could he make him feel like they weren’t separating from him but trying to give him room to not feel pressured and to recover emotionally? How, when they were men, strong-willed, unemotional, and they did not do weak or vulnerable. How?

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  Chapter Two

  “Oh my God, Lauren, you just keep baking and I’ll worry about the register and Thylane will handle passing out the orders. They love all your baked goods.”

  “I can see that,” Lauren said to Brazille and then pulled out another new tray of cupcakes to frost and decorate.

  “We’re okay. I have plenty made because I anticipated the crowds of people who would come. Don’t worry.” Lauren then began to decorate the cupcakes by the glass case as people watched, smiled, and complimented her artistic abilities.

  Thylane gave Brazille a wink, and Brazille whispered to her,

  “She’s amazing and so in her element.”

  “I know. I was worried about the crowds of people, but Lauren is doing great. Now where the heck is Bo? She has to be flying high right now with happiness. There’s a line out the door, and all the spots are taken, even outside with this freak sixty-five-degree day. It isn’t even spring yet.” Thylane tried to look past the people, and that was when she spotted Bo’s men.

  “Ooh, there are Channing, Philippe, Thor, and Bubba.”

  “I thought you were looking for Bo,” Brazille stated.

  Thylane placed her hand on her hip and gave Brazille a sideways glance. “Honey, where her men are, Bo is surely there. They don’t leave her alone for very long.”

  “Says the woman who has three men in a dead stare at her right now and a fourth looking from a crowd of other men,” Brazille said, and Thylane looked to where Brazille was staring. Sure enough Stack, Pisces, and Rusty were watching her as Finlin was standing next to

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  Cole, Farrow, Luke, and J.T., who just happened to stop by but hadn’t taken their eyes off of Brazille.

  “Oh, I see who you were really checking out,” Thylane teased.

  “What? Who?” Brazille asked and then wiped down the counter and bent lower to reach something, her abundant breasts pouring from the blouse she wore. Thylane noticed J.T.’s, Cole’s, Farrow’s and Luke’s eyes landed on Brazille.

  “Oh boy, looks like you’re on their radar. Holy crap.”

  “Hey, what’s going on? Isn’t this awesome?” Talia asked as she and Merica joined them.

  “It sure is.” Brazille looked at Thylane. Thylane winked.

  “How’s it looking outside?” Thylane asked.

  “Awesome. The water fountain had a little malfunction, but Big John and Tiny fixed it,” Merica told them.

  “Oh is Sam here too? We haven’t seen her yet,” Brazille said.

  “Hey, thank you so much for the help. Can you believe how crowded it is? Oh God, if half of these people showed up on a regular business, I would be kissing the ground and thanking the Lord above.

  Jesus, is it hot in here or what?” Bo asked and fanned herself. They all chuckled.

  “What?” she asked, eyes wide.

  Thylane placed her hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing great.

  Relax and enjoy this. People love the place, the concept, and are already purchasing books and asking if spaces need to be rented in advance.”

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  “You may want to consider a sign-up list so no fights break out,”

  Brazille teased.

  “What?” Bo asked.

  “Oh yeah, I can totally see a fistfight starting over that one spot by the fountain. It’s like a cubby and so private and beautiful. I could only imagine it in the spring with the smell of flowers and the water flowing,” Sam added.

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  “Oh God. People could get mad. Then what?”

  They all laughed. “No one is going to get mad. Just make it first come, first serve and a limit of two hours in the spot. That might work,” Merica suggested.

  “Excuse me, can any of the baked items b
e ordered by the dozen or box?” a woman asked, and Lauren looked at Bo and the others.

  “Actually, yes, they can be, but it’s custom ordered and our pastry chef needs time to prepare, as everything is made fresh each day. You can fill out one of these forms, and then she’ll let you know when you can pick up the order,” Bo said, and the look on Lauren’s face was priceless. Thylane smiled. Bo was really trying to make Lauren feel special and like she was an asset to the café and bookstore.

  “Lauren, this woman would like to discuss a special order. Maybe you can help her with it?”

  “Sure, Bo,” Lauren said and gave Bo a smile.

  Thylane hugged Bo’s arm.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, and Merica, Sam, and Talia smiled.

  “For what? She’s amazing, and her baked goods are going to become so popular she’ll be opening up her own place.” Bo winked.

  “Or you could expand this place to include a bakery and maybe something else?” Sam added.

  “Ohh, I like this line of thinking. Maybe an antique store or homemade furniture, jewelry, and other items made by locals on consignment?” Merica suggested.

  “We could own this whole area out here. Maybe purchase the surrounding land?” Brazille said, and they all started talking and planning then greeting their other friends as they arrived.

  Cherokee, Mercy, Laci, and when Kendra arrived she brought several bottles of champagne and a gorgeous pineapple brass wall mount that had the name of the storefront, Happy Endings, in bold on it and today’s date as the date the store was established. Thor popped the corks and started handing out cups of champagne as they made a toast to the new store and to friendship.

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