Sea of Dreams (The American Heroes Series Book 2) (52 page)

Gina, who had been standing in the doorway between the pit room and the great room during most of the conversation, had abruptly vanished.  Blakesley could see the doorway but Ed could not.  In fact, the entire house seemed eerily still, as if everyone had disappeared. Increasingly curious, Blakesley was sure that Gina hadn’t gone far. She knew the woman wouldn’t desert her, and that was her last thought before chaos exploded.

Men dressed from head to toe in black suddenly burst in through every entry point.  The window next to Blakesley exploded as someone leapt in through the glass, weapon held steady.  In fact, all of the men had weapons and gear, yelling something she couldn’t quite understand because she was so startled.  As she yelped and dropped to her knees, covering her head, a shard of glass from the exploded window cut her on the arm.  Blood streamed.

Someone pulled her to her feet.  She began to realize that the men were yelling “U.S. Navy, U.S. Navy” very loudly, identifying themselves as they filled the big room.  She turned to the man who had her by the arm, startled, to see that it was Anthony Solis.  He was dressed for battle.

“Mrs. Seavington?” his young face was full of concern. “Are you okay?”

Blakesley nodded, still a little stunned. “I’m fine,” she said. “Where’s Beck?”

Anthony was looking at her bloodied arm but he pointed over to where Ed was now being surrounded by several armed men.

“He’s right there,” he said. “What happened to your arm?”

Blakesley hadn’t even realized she had been cut. Before she could open her mouth, Anthony yelled over to Beck.

“Commander,” he boomed, holding Blakesley’s bloodied arm up as evidence. “We’ve got an injury.”

Beck had been in the process of hauling a very startled Ed to his feet.  His only objective when entering the room had been Ed Masterson.  He was blinded by it.  Having arrived minutes earlier, he had been met by Gina out in the yard, who had assured him that both Blakesley and the baby were fine.  Knowing that, he could focus on the ex-husband who had unfortunately decided to show up.  Beck didn’t know how or why, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was here and Beck was going to deal with the man.

Hearing Anthony’s declaration, Beck looked over to see blood streaming down Blakesley’s arm.  She looked very frightened.  It was all Beck needed to unload on Ed.

The first blow from Beck’s huge fist caught Ed in the jaw.  The man went reeling, falling off the steps and ending up on his knees. Beck handed his weapon off to the nearest man and went after his prey with a vengeance.  Two more blows caught Ed in the head and in the belly, sending the man to the ground.  Beck pounced and began pounding him.

Blakesley should have stopped it. God knows, she should have. She watched Beck beat the crap out of Ed and felt absolutely no remorse for it at all. For everything the man did to her, to her girls, for every humiliation and hurt, she just couldn’t pull Beck off of him. It was wrong and she knew it.  Still, she was afraid that Beck might kill him and she couldn’t stomach the thought of Beck being prosecuted for the crime. She pulled away from Anthony.

“Beck, stop,” she cried. “Don’t kill him.”

Ed was a battered mess as Beck came to a grinding halt. He turned to look at his wife, standing there fearful and bleeding.  He could feel his rage all over again.

“I’m not going to kill him,” he rumbled. “But I’m going to make him understand what will happen to him again if he touches you.”

“He didn’t touch me,” Blakesley said. “I was cut from the glass when you guys busted in through the window.”

Beck’s gaze lingered on her bloodied arm before he fixed her in the eye. “Do you swear?”

A painfully disappointed expression crossed her face. “Do you really think I would lie to you, ever? For Ed, no less?”

Beck could see that he had offended her but he had been so blinded by hatred and fury that it was difficult for him to calm down.  Still, Blakesley was his priority so his focus shifted to her. He pushed himself off of Ed and moved in her direction.

“What happened?” he asked quietly. “What did he do? Did he try to hurt you?”

She shook her head as he came close and his big arms reached out for her.  But he was strapped down with a Kevlar vest, among other things, so he couldn’t pull her close without bringing her into contact with cold, dangerous things. So he cupped her head with his big hands and bloodied knuckles, kissing her cheeks and lips.  Blakesley allowed herself to feel her fear for the first time, her eyes filling with tears. His comfort was her undoing.

“He didn’t hurt me,” she whispered tightly. “He didn’t try. I don’t know how he found me, but he just showed up here and wanted to talk about the girls.  He wants to see them.”

“Bullshit,” Beck spat. “The only thing he’s going to see is my fist to his face if he shows up again.”

Blakesley, frightened, just nodded, noticing the Ed was becoming more lucid now and struggling to sit up. One of Beck’s men pulled the man into a sitting position. Beck glanced at Ed over his shoulder before returning his focus to Blakesley.  He kissed her frightened face again.

“I want you to go home,” he said softly. “I’ll deal with Mr. Masterson.”

Blakesley nodded. “Okay,” she eyed him warily. “Don’t kill him, okay? I don’t want you up on a murder charge.”

“If I kill him, they’ll never find the body and they’ll never pin it on me.  I can make him disappear like he never existed.”

She looked at him with some unease.  He meant every word and she believed him implicitly. It began to occur to her that he was in battle mode and his entire personality had changed. He was hard and calculating and deadly.  Concern filled her.

“Listen to me,” she whispered. “I hate Ed and I don’t want him around the girls, ever, but killing him… Beck, you can’t do it. What if the girls ever found out the truth? If he came at you with a knife, it would be different, but to outright murder him isn’t acceptable.”

Beck’s brow furrowed. “Don’t you think I know the difference?”

“Do you? Look at you; you’re ready to do it now because you thought he hurt me. If you kill the man, you’re no better than he was when he killed his whore.  I can’t condone anything like that, for your sake.”

Beck stared at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I can’t let you kill, not like this. I love you too much to let something like that happen. If I go home, I want you to come with me.  I won’t leave you here with him.”

Beck was coming to see what she was saying, having difficulty separating the furious husband from the trained killer.

“Baby, I love you, too,” he murmured. “I’m not going to kill him. I just want to talk to him.”

“Then let’s do it together.”

Beck grunted and gave her a long look, unhappy.  Then he turned to one of his men and snapped his fingers, indicating Blakesley’s arm.  The man was already digging in to one of the many pockets on his body, pulling forth a roll of gauze.  The young, silent man took Blakesley’s arm gently and professionally wrapped the cut, sealing it off.  Beck stood and watched silently.

“What in the hell is going on?” Ed had become lucid enough to speak even though he had three loose teeth and his mouth was swollen and bloodied. “Blakesley, who in the hell are these guys?”

Blakesley could see, just from Beck’s expression, that Ed was in for another beating if he didn’t shut his mouth. 

“Ed…,” she warned softly.

Beck cut her off. “I’m Blakesley’s husband,” he snarled, moving in Ed’s direction. “And you’re on borrowed time if you ever try to see or talk to her, or the girls, again. Do I make myself clear?”

Ed looked up at the big, blond bear of a man, blinking his muddled eyes. He was quite surprised and, truthfully, quite intimidated by the man. “You’re Beck?”

Beck nodded once. “For everything you’ve done to her, I should gut you here and now.  How in the hell did you find her?”

Ed didn’t want to give up his source but he had a feeling if he didn’t, it might end badly for him.  He was arrogant but he wasn’t stupid.  He could see very bad things for him reflecting in Beck’s green eyes. He surrendered the information without a fight.

“Nikki,” he said softly. “I called her. Don’t get mad at her; she’s not smart enough to deal with me. I got the information out of her.”

Beck looked stricken, turning to look at Blakesley, whose eyes were wide with surprise.  But in the next second, Blakesley was bolting for the front door with Beck right behind her. Racing from the front door to the driveway, Blakesley began searching frantically for her car. 

It was missing.  She screamed in terror.

“The car’s gone!” she cried. “Nikki took the baby!”

Beck was perhaps more panic-stricken than she was only he held his control a little better.  Blakesley was starting to cry hysterically and he put his arms around her, snapping orders to his men over the two-way.  Inside, the S.E.A.L.’s began to move.

“Where’s Gina?” Beck looked around anxiously. “Where did she go?”

As if on cue, Gina suddenly emerged from the front door. She had been hiding up in the gallery above the big room, watching the action. “Where did you guys go?” she demanded. “What happened?”

Blakesley was weeping with panic. She whirled to Gina. “Where’s my car?” she demanded. “Where’s the baby?”

Gina looked confused. She went to Blakesley, putting her hands on the woman’s arms. “I had Nikki move it down the driveway to the street when Beck and his men got here,” she explained patiently. “I didn’t want the car caught in any crossfire. Why? What’s wrong?”

Blakesley was weeping too hard to explain, now seized with relief.  Beck took off at a dead run down the driveway with Blakesley behind him, the two of them running down the driveway of the property until they reached the street beyond.  Beck moved much faster than Blakesley did and he reached the street first, finding the car parked down the block.  He tore down the street to the car, finding a terrified Nikki huddled with the baby inside.  

Nikki was sobbing as Beck tried the door. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it!”

The door was locked and Beck’s panic began to rise again. He struggled to stay calm. “It’s okay,” he said steadily. “I’m not mad. Please open the door.”

Weeping, Nikki moved slowly for the door and flipped the lock.  Beck yanked the door open, hit the unlock for the entire car, and then threw open the back door.  Emma was sleeping peacefully in her car carrier and Beck was driven to tears by the sight. The baby was safe.  As he reached down to pull her out of the seat, Blakesley came running up behind him.

“Is she okay?” she sobbed.

Beck lifted the baby out and handed her over to Blakesley.  “She’s fine,” he assured her, wiping at his eyes. “She was sleeping.”

Blakesley burst in to fresh tears as she cradled her daughter, who was starting to stir.  Gina and several of the S.E.A.L.’s came running up on the car.

“Bee, I’m sorry,” Gina said urgently. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought it was safer to move the car.”

Blakesley just nodded, hugging Gina to let the woman know she wasn’t mad.  Still inside the car, Nikki continued to weep. Beck was watching Blakesley reconcile herself to Emma’s safety but the nanny’s tears distracted him.  As Blakesley and Gina held each other and cuddled Emma, he turned his attention to the chunky young woman.

“Nikki,” he knelt down beside the open door so he could look at her more on her level. “I promise I won’t get angry, but why didn’t you tell me that Ed Masterson had called you?”

Nikki was a mess.  She was terrified of Beck as it was, more so now.  She huddled back against the opposite car door as if cowering.

“He… he called my mother and got my cell number,” she sobbed softly. “He wanted to know where Blakesley had taken the girls and I tried not to tell him, but it just slipped out. He thanked me and told me he was going to buy my mother a new car. She really needs one, you know.  So… so I got scared and didn’t want to tell you.  I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”

It was the most Beck had ever heard her say.  He was still angry but he let it go for the moment. There wasn’t any point. The baby was safe, Blakesley was safe and that’s all that mattered.  So he simply nodded and stood up, moving away from the car. 

Blakesley had calmed sufficiently by this point, rocking the baby gently who had fallen back asleep.  Beck put his big hand on the baby’s head, kissing her little forehead before kissing his wife.

“Put her back in the car and then you and Gina go home,” he murmured. “When I get off of work, we’re going to have a serious talk with Nikki. I can’t say that I trust her anymore and that’s a problem. I won’t have her jeopardizing my family.”

Blakesley knew he spoke the truth, nodding with some reluctance. “It will be hard on the girls,” she said softly. “They’ve known Nikki all their lives.”

“She betrayed us.”

“I know. We’ll do what needs to be done.”

“Then you and Gina go back to the house. I’ll see you there later.” He kissed her.  “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“You sure you’re okay to drive?”

“I’m fine.” Her gaze lingered on him. “What are you going to do with Ed?”

Beck’s expression was stony. “Make sure he gets the hell out of San Diego.”

Blakesley didn’t say anymore. She went back to the car, strapping Emma back into her car seat as Gina went to the front passenger side and climbed in.  Blakesley shut the car door on Emma’s side and turned to Beck to kiss him good-bye when a shot suddenly rang from the house, followed by two more in close succession.  The S.E.A.L.’s that had followed Beck out onto the street were already jabbering into their radios as all of them, including Beck, took off at a dead run back up the driveway towards the house.

Startled, Blakesley watched her husband and half his team tear back towards the house. She was torn with curiosity and apprehension.  Something, a little spark of intuition, told her to go with them.

“Stay here,” she told Gina. “I’ll be back.”

Before Gina could stop her, Blakesley was running back up the driveway after the S.E.A.L.’s.  She could hear Gina yelling behind her but she ignored the woman as she ran up the driveway, sheltered by the great oak and eucalyptus trees.  Beck and his men had already disappeared inside the public wing and she followed on their heels, running in to the great room in time to see Ed lying on the floor in a growing pool of blood. She gasped in horror.