Unconditional Love (Journey of Love 1)

I fell back against the sofa and let out a sigh. “’Cause if he found out I was eavesdropping, he would be pissed. He’s given so much of himself to me, Jess. More than I could have ever thought he would. I feel like if I push him…I’ll push him away.”

She shook her head and said, “No. I think you’re afraid he’ll tell you. You’re afraid to know the truth, honey.”

I rolled my eyes at Jessie. I wasn’t afraid of knowing the truth. Was I?

I sat up and looked at her. “Oh my God. You’re right. I am afraid of knowing the truth.” I glanced around and looked back at her and said, “I’m scared shitless, to be honest.”

“Scared your feelings for him will change?”

I shook my head and said, “Never. My love for him is too strong. There is nothing he could say or do to make me not love him.”

She smiled and said, “There you go. If it bothers you that much, talk to him.”

I leaned over and pulled her into a hug. “God I miss you. I hate that you live so far from me.”

She hugged me back and said, “I know.” She leaned back onto the sofa and said, “Man. This whole mom thing is crazy.”

I laughed and stood up and made my way into the kitchen. “Root beer?”

She sat up and gave me a wicked smile. “Ice cream?”

I pulled my head back and gave her a what-the-hell look. “Do you not know me at all?” I pulled out the Bluebell ice cream and smiled as I held it up.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for clothes for Lauren and making plans for her baptism. Scott’s parents insisted on a party to celebrate their granddaughter being baptized, and Scott wasn’t about to turn down a free party.

We sat at Starbucks and laughed our asses off as we planned the menu and decided the best place for the party was at Jessie and Scott’s house.

When my phone buzzed I pulled it out and smiled. I looked up at Jessie and said, “It’s Lark.”

Lark: Sorry, mi amor. First chance to text you. Will be leaving tomorrow.

Me: It’s okay! I’m glad you’re okay. I can’t wait to see you! Let me know when you’re home.

Lark: Will do. Gotta go, baby. I love you.

Me: Love you too!

Jessie smiled and winked as she said, “Victoria’s Secret?”

I nodded my head and said, “Hell yeah.”

I pushed my phone into my pocket and gritted my teeth as the medic cleaned out the bullet wound. I looked down and rolled my eyes when I saw the gunshot wound on my left side.

Fuck! I can’t believe I fucked up like I did.

The door flew open and Skip walked in. “Get the fuck out of here.”

The medic stood up and said, “Sir, he’s bleeding pretty bad still and I haven’t finished stitching him up.”

Skip pointed to the door and said, “You can finish in ten minutes. He’s been out for three days with the bullet wound. Another ten minutes isn’t going to kill him.”

The medic nodded and walked out. I took a deep breath and braced myself.

He turned away from me and pushed his hands through his hair. “Sergeant Philips said you tried getting information from Vazquez’s brother after he shot you, then you argued with Philips about interrogating him and the fucker got away while the two of you fought to see who had the most testosterone. Are you fucking nuts, Lark?”

I shook my head. “It was my mistake. I was tired and shot. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Skip just stood there staring at me. “You lasted three fucking days out there with a gunshot wound, you’re trained for that shit so I don’t buy that. Philips thinks you arguing with him has to do with the fact that he called you out on the girl. You had no idea your fucking informant was the target’s own brother. How in the hell did that happen, Lark? You should have felt something was off.”

I placed the cloth over my side to keep the bleeding down. I looked up at him and said, “I don’t fucking know, Skip. It was your intelligence that gave me Vazquez’s brother’s name in the first place. Didn’t they do a run on him before you threw him in with me?”

Skip began pacing back and forth. “I think it was a set up. They knew we were coming for Vazquez and somehow got his brother planted in with you. They just didn’t plan on you actually killing Vazquez. They underestimated you.”

My stomach dropped and I instantly felt sick. “What do you mean, a set up?”

He stopped walking and said, “A set up, Lark. Someone tipped off Vazquez. He planted his own brother in with us. The only problem was you stripped the brother of his gun and had another man with you. They were planning on you being alone. The brother was going to let you get close enough to where they could take you in.”

I stood up. “Wait a minute. You just said you thought it was a set up, and now you’re talking like it was a set up. Which one is it, Skip?”

He sat down and let out a deep breath. “It was a set up. Intel busted a house not far from the border. The last known place Vazquez was. It appears you’ve already taken out two of his best men. Somehow it got back to Vazquez that it was a Marine sniper. I guess one night you were in a bar and were talking Spanish and it drew attention to Vazquez’s brother. He began following you. Saw you come back to the base. Your last hit when Ricker was with you, well, I guess he got drunk in a bar and made some comment about being a sniper for the US Marine Corps. Vasquez’s brother began pumping him for information. Ricker admitted last night he mentioned your name.”

I sat down and whispered, “Motherfucker.” I looked at Skip. “Is that why you pulled him?”

He nodded his head. “When in the fuck were you planning on telling me I was compromised?”

He looked up at me and for the first time since I’d known Skip I saw regret in his eyes. “Command wasn’t sure you had been. They wanted to be sure.”

“So was this a set up on both sides?” I asked.

“No. Fuck no, Williams. I’d never do that to you. We didn’t find out about the house until after y’all humped in. Then we couldn’t get radio contact with you to warn you about the brother. The only thing we could hope for was you to do what you’re good at. I wasn’t planning on your ass getting shot though.”

I sat there staring down at the floor. “What was in the house?”

His face dropped and he stood up and turned away from me.

“Skip?”

He stood there for a few minutes before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few photos. When he handed them to me and I looked at them I would have dropped to the ground if I had been standing up.

“Oh my God. No.”

I was staring down at a picture of Azurdee and me eating dinner at a restaurant in Austin. The next photo was of Azurdee walking into her house. The next photo was of me running on Town Lake. I dropped the photos and reached for my phone.

Skip reached for my phone and pulled it out of my hands. “What are you going to do? Call her up and say, ‘Hey honey I just killed one of the most sought-after drug lords in the world, got shot by his brother who I let get away, and now you’re in danger?’ It’s not going to work that way, Lark.”

I swallowed hard. “How’s it supposed to work then, Skip?”

He sat down and put his hands on his face and then raked them down as he let out a moan. “Listen. I know you love her. I saw your discharge paperwork come across my desk as well as the decline letter for the CIA position. I get that you want out and want a normal life with this girl.”

“But…”

He shook his head. “Lark, you’ve got to make it look like she is nothing, like she isn’t an asset to them. If they think she’s just another one of your fuck buddies, they’ll most likely move on and just target you.”

“I have to tell her.”

“No. If they come after her and she knows anything, they’ll either kill her or use her to get to you.”

My heart started pounding

in my chest. I knew what he was saying was true but it didn’t make me feel any better. “Well fuck. Neither one of those are good, so why not just tell her?”

Skip stood there staring at me with his cigar hanging from his mouth. His eyes narrowed. “Does she have any idea of what you do?”

I shook my head. “No. I mean she knows I’m still in the Marines. She doesn’t know what I do.”

He nodded his head as his face tightened more. I knew he didn’t like the idea of Azurdee knowing I was still in the Marines. “Good. The less she knows the better. You need to come up with some reason you’re leaving her.”

I instantly felt sick. “I can’t hurt her, Skip. I promised her. I promised.”

“Lark, if you love this girl…you have to let her go, at least until we can track down the fuckers who are after you. Once we get them and you do your job and finish the bastards off, you can tell her the truth.”

My stomach dropped and I felt sick. I didn’t let my emotions show at all to Skip. “What if it takes too long? What if she won’t take me back?”

“If she loves you anything like how you love her…she will.” Skip stood up and walked to the door and opened it. He called for the medic to come back in and finish up.

“We leave tomorrow morning at daybreak. You have twenty-four hours to break it off with her. We’ll make sure she has a tag at all times. If anything looks suspicious…well…we’ll take care of it. The main thing you have to do is stay away from her. No contact whatsoever after the twenty-four hours is up.” He slowly turned and looked at me. “I’m sorry, Lark. I really am.”

I stood outside my door and took a deep breath in. I knew Azurdee was at my place because I sent her a text saying I was coming home tonight and wanted to see her. Plus the tag we had on her informed she arrived earlier this evening. I opened the door and made my way into the kitchen. I placed my keys and phone down and walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. I opened it and downed it in practically one drink. I grabbed another one and drank it just as fast.

I reached for my phone and sent Scott a message: