Sea of Dreams (The American Heroes Series Book 2) (44 page)

Blakesley went over and hugged her. “Don’t do anything  you’re not ready to do,” she told her. “When you feel strong enough, Beck will help you. You don’t have to do it alone.”

Gina nodded and sipped at her wine.  She seemed more interested in watching her son, who was now being tickled by Lizzie.  Blakesley let the subject go, her gaze lingering on Gina as she made her way back into the kitchen to clean up a little bit.  She didn’t hear the knock at the front door, which Lizzie went to answer, and she didn’t see Gina as she caught sight of who was at the front door.  Blakesley was scrubbing out the sink when Gina came back into the kitchen.

“Bee,” she said hesitantly. “Uh… do you have a minute?”

Blakesley looked up from the sink. “Sure. What for?”

Gina went to the sink and took the scrub brush out of Blakesley’s hand and set it on the edge of the sink.

“I need to talk to you,” Gina said softly.

Blakesley shrugged, pulled off a paper towel, and wiped off her hands as she followed Gina into the master bedroom.  Gina shut the door then went to the French doors that opened up into the back yard.  She unlocked the panel and pulled it open.

Lizzie was the first person to step through from the darkness of the back yard. She was crying.  Startled, Blakesley went to see what the matter was when another body stepped through the door.   It took Blakesley a moment to realize that it was Captain Davis. He was followed by Anthony Solis and another Navy officer that Blakesley didn’t recognize.  She kept waiting for Beck to come in the door but he never did, and she was momentarily confused. And then, it hit her.

Blindsided.  That’s all Blakesley could think as she looked at the three men standing in her bedroom.  She was stunned at the sight, but in the next breath, she knew why they were here.  God help her, she knew.  Beck wasn’t here but they were.  Gina came over to her, reaching out to put her arms around her.

“I thought it would be better if they came in through the back,” she murmured. “All of those kids are out in the living room… and the little girls….”

Blakesley suddenly felt very hot.  Her heart began to pound painfully in her chest and the room began to sway.  She looked at Davis, and Solis, and the officer she didn’t recognize… she could see crosses pinned to his collar.  Chaplains wore that insignia. 

Blakesley ripped herself from Gina’s embrace and bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door, turning on all of the water faucets and letting the water blast.  The shower was pounding, the tub, and both sinks.  Steam began to rise. She turned them on full-bore, drowning out the people pounding at the door and calling her name.  

No, she couldn’t hear them. If she couldn’t hear them, then they couldn’t give her any bad news.   She would stay right here with the water blasting out their voices so she couldn’t hear anything.  If she couldn’t hear the news, then nothing had happened.  Beck was still coming home.  Her heart was pounding so hard that she was feeling faint, terror welling up inside her and there was no way to stop it.  She couldn’t control the rising tide.  He promised he’d always come home to her, didn’t he?

I’m sorry, baby, that I have to break that promise.

Screaming Beck’s name, Blakesley passed out on the bathroom floor.

Chapter Twenty Three

“She’s not strong enough for you to tell her all of that. Can’t it wait?”

“She has to know, Gina. Delaying it isn’t going to make it go away.”

Another female voice pitched in. “I agree with Gina,” she said firmly. “Wait until she’s capable of understanding.”

Blakesley was vaguely aware of voices around her. She could hear Gina and Captain Davis, but she also heard a more familiar female voice.  Muddled, half-conscious, she began to stir.

“Sophia?” she whispered.

She could feel the bed give next to her and arms going around her. “I’m here, sweetheart,” Sophie said. “Don’t worry about anything. I’m here.”

Blakesley was very groggy. “My girls?” she breathed, trying to get up. “Where are my girls?”

“Honey, they’re fine,” Gabrielle was on the other side of the bed, helping Sophia keep Blakesley calm.  A panicked call from Lizzie six hours ago had her and Marshall rushing to Blakesley’s house where they had just broken down the bathroom door to get to Blakesley. “Marshall is with the girls. They’re all fine.”

Blakesley relaxed, collapsing back against the pillows.  It took her a few moments to orient herself but the last memory she had washed over her and she burst into tears. Painful sobs filled the room and Captain Davis pulled away from Gina, planting himself next to Sophia. He was very close to Blakesley’s head.

“Blakesley, I need for you to listen to me,” he said in his firm, even tone. “It’s important that you hear everything.  For Beck’s sake, I need you to be strong. He needs that strength.”

Blakesley’s eyes opened, great bluish-green orbs red and watery.  She struggled to calm herself. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You’re right. I’m so sorry. I… I just don’t want to hear any of this.”

Gina was suddenly beside the bed, her pretty face serious. “Bee, do you remember what you told me when Butch died?” she said. “You told me to pull myself together because Butch deserved that respect. You were right. Beck deserves that respect, too, so you need to pull yourself together.”

Blakesley’s own words were coming back at her, wise words that were true.  She knew they were right but her hormones and emotions were surging, and her control was weak.  She swallowed hard, reaching out to hold the captain’s hand.  He squeezed it tightly.

“Okay,” she took a deep breath, laboring for control. “I’ll be calm. Tell me what happened.”

The captain ended up sitting on the bed beside her. “I want to be very clear up front,” he began. “As far as we know, Beck isn’t dead.”

“Then where is he? What happened?”

Davis took a deep breath. “Our call out five months ago was to aid a fellow S.E.A.L. team in the Paktia region of Afghanistan,” he said quietly. “We received reports that a helicopter went down in a very mountainous area and that twenty-one U.S. Navy S.E.A.L.’s were being held captive.  Since Beck’s team spent two tours in Afghanistan and knew the region, the customs and the warlords intimately, it was decided that Beck’s team would deploy for the rescue mission. Are you with me so far?”

Blakesley nodded. “He wouldn’t tell me why he went but I did know that he had gone to Afghanistan.”

Davis wriggled his eyebrows, perhaps his way of saying that Beck shouldn’t have told her, and continued. “Beck spent almost six weeks negotiating with warlords for information and access to the downed team,” he said. “To make a very long story short, he was able to discover that a warlord with loyalties to the Taliban held the men.  Regional command decided that an armed rescue incursion was the best course of action, so we went in there with guns blazing.”

He suddenly stopped and waved to someone standing at the foot of the bed.  Blakesley looked over to see Anthony Solis approach, looking weary and sunburned, like he had spent a lot of time in the elements.  He was dressed in a clean utility uniform but clean clothes couldn’t erase the dark circles under his eyes or the exhausted demeanor. Davis indicated Anthony.

“Tony can tell you the rest,” he said. “He was there when it all went down.”

Blakesley stared at the young man, struggling to sit up in bed as Sophia and Gabrielle pulled her up.

“What happened?” she asked him.

Anthony seemed genuinely hesitant. He didn’t like the fact that his captain had put him in a very touchy situation, especially with Seavington’s wife. Still, he had been there.  He had seen everything.

“It was a mess,” he finally said. “We had ground forces and air forces, but the stronghold was up in the mountains near the Pakistan border and it was heavily fortified. Rockets, firearms, you name it. We were hit from all sides. We managed to get the chopper down and fought our way to within about a half mile of the compound where the S.E.A.L.’s were being held.  You know Beck; he was leading the charge all the way. He’s not afraid of anything.  When we got to the compound, he used a bullhorn to try and talk to the warlord.  The guy came out and said Beck could come in and see the captives, but only Beck.  So Beck threw down his weapons and walked in there even though we told him not to.  About an hour later, the compound gates open again and these S.E.A.L.s start coming out. Some walked out but some were carried.  All twenty one came out but no Beck.  When we asked where he was, we were told that he exchanged himself for the release of the others.”

Blakesley was listening intently.  When Anthony finished, she just stared at him as his explanation sank deep.  Then, her expression changed as realization dawned but surprisingly, she didn’t become hysterical. She hung her head and thought on Beck’s noble sacrifice, knowing how difficult it must have been for him to make it.  But she respected his choice, strangely, seeing that the man was only doing what he felt right for the American hostages.  He had done what he had set out to do. He had freed them.  He had accomplished his mission and saved lives in the process. She just couldn’t be angry about it.

“So he’s not dead?” she finally asked, still staring at her lap.

Anthony shook his head. “We saw him after the release of the hostages and he was fine,” he replied. “He was with the warlord on the walls of the compound.  He was just watching us go.”

Blakesley’s head came up and she looked at the captain. It was evident that her mind was working. “How long ago was this?”

“Two weeks ago.”

“So he’s presumably still alive.”

“I’m sure he is.  The warlord that has him wouldn’t kill him. Beck is more valuable alive.”

She cocked her head. “Why would he still hold him?”

Davis shrugged. “More than likely to see if he can ransom him for money or weapons, or something like it.  The man that has him isn’t known for being particularly cruel but he is powerful.  He controls a very large region near the Pakistani border.”

“What’s his name?”

“General Heckmytum.”

She fell silent again, very controlled and thoughtful. After a particularly lengthy silence, she looked at Davis again.

“You said money,” she said. “How much money?”

Davis shrugged. “It’s hard to say,” he replied. “You have to understand that even a few hundred American dollars is like a fortune over there.  The warlords like money but they like weapons more. It’s a power thing.”

“What is the Navy doing about negotiating for my husband?”

Davis scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. “The United States doesn’t negotiate with terrorists,” he replied quietly. “That is, unfortunately, their stance at the moment, but you can bet that our contacts and patrols are keeping tabs on the situation. We won’t give up and we won’t let this drag out, I promise. I’m heading out again in a couple of days to see to the situation.  Beck wouldn’t leave me and I won’t leave him.”

Blakesley sighed and slowly, laboriously, climbed off the bed.  So many hands were trying to help her but she shook them off, stretching and rubbing her back once she got on her feet.  She seemed very calm, almost too calm.  On the dresser was a big picture of her and Beck on their wedding day, his handsome face smiling back at her. She gazed into his face, feeling the longing, the pain and the pride. It was an odd situation.

“Richard,” she turned to Captain Davis and addressed him by his name. “If I were to offer the warlord thirty million dollars, do you think he’d take it in exchange for Beck?”

Davis’ eyebrows lifted. “Thirty million?” he repeated. “Where on earth would you get that kind of money?”

“It doesn’t matter. Do you think he would take it for Beck’s release?”

Davis was at a loss for words. He glanced at Anthony as he replied. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe. That’s a hell of a lot of money. But I’m not sure the Navy would allow that kind of negotiation.”

Blakesley’s features hardened. “I don’t give a flying fuck what the Navy would allow,” she snarled. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen. I’m going to fly to Afghanistan and I’m going to hire people to find that warlord and negotiate for Beck’s release. I have thirty million dollars at my disposal and I will give it all up, and gladly, for the release of my husband. If you try and stop me, I’m going to the media with this and I’ll make the Navy look like a bunch of assholes as they try to prevent a pregnant woman from gaining the release of her husband. Is this in any way unclear?”

Davis put his hands up to calm her. “Hold on,” he stood up from the bed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“If she’s going, I’m going,” Sophia stood next to Blakesley, firing back at her boyfriend. “I’m not going to let a pregnant woman go half way around the world alone.”

Sophia, the beautiful little Italian woman, was all fired up and Davis continued to hold his hands up as if to protect himself from the furious pair.

“You two need to calm down,” he tried to get a handle on it. “First of all, Blakesley isn’t flying to Afghanistan. She’s going to….”

He was met with a chorus of interruptions, not only from Sophia and Blakesley, but from Gabrielle and Gina.  Gabrielle was the tough mother hen as she inserted herself between Blakesley and Captain Davis.

“If she want to negotiate for the release of her husband, then you can’t stop her,” Gabrielle was in his face. “In fact, I’m going with her, too, because she’s my baby and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.  If she wants to go, she’ll go.  It’s that simple.”

Davis was in over his head.  He somehow managed to make his way to the bedroom door and open it.

“Marshall?” he called. “A little help, please.”

Marshall was in the living room after having put his granddaughters to bed.  Lizzie was sitting with him as they both watched television. But Davis’ plea had them both off the couch and heading for the bedroom. When Lizzie saw that Blakesley was up and moving, she went right for her and put her arms around her.  Blakesley held Lizzie tightly.

“You’re not going to stop me, Richard,” Blakesley said frankly. “Beck needs to come home and if I have to pay every dollar I have, I’m going to get him released. You can help me or you can stand aside. Either way, I’m going.”