Before Sunrise (5 page)

Alex went to his side and took his hand in
hers. Her eyes looked wet, which made Liam’s heart start to pound
again, and not in a good way. Ant, Eric for sure, but never once
had he seen Alexa Sinclair cry.

“
When they told me they
found you I didn’t believe them. I couldn’t let myself
believe.”

Eric stood at the foot of the bed with his
bald, shiny head gleaming under the fluorescent light. He gave Alex
a flippant look and smirked down at Liam.

“
How are you, bro? You look
like shit.” Eric’s eyes misted over with guarded
emotion.

Liam tried to speak once
again but couldn’t.
Well fuck yeah, it’s
good to see you too, man
.

The nurse cleared her throat as the doctor
entered. The officers saluted each other, unsure of their status in
this man’s area of operations.

“
I will need you all to step
back. I know you’ve been waiting for days. But I have to examine
him first,” the doctor said in a clearly irritated tone.

Vasquez spoke up. “Is he okay?”

The doctor turned away from Liam and spoke
quietly. “You were briefed on his condition when he arrived. Our
efforts over the past month have been touch-and-go. He was severely
dehydrated. His liver has been compromised by a parasite native to
the area. His relapse into a coma the past few days has been our
biggest concern. But he’s alert. So I’m hopeful. Now please, step
aside. I will let you know when he can be debriefed.”

“
Keeennaaadeeee,” Liam
croaked out, his gaze bouncing from one friendly face to the other.
He caught the surprise in Alex’s eyes. But other than a quick
glance at each other, Eric and Vasquez showed no reaction.
What the hell
?

Liam wanted his wife, damn
it. She should be there, or he should be in a hospital where she
could be with him. Why the fuck was he on a ship? Did the doctor
say he’d been in a coma for weeks?
No way.
No fucking way
!

Careful of the IV drip, Vasquez put a hand
to his arm. “In time, friend. First you get some rest. There’s a
lot we need to discuss.”

“
Baybiiiee?” Liam wheezed,
his eyes darting between Alex and Vasquez. How long had he been
gone? It felt like an eternity, but of course it would feel like
that in hell. He’d only been gone a few weeks, maybe a couple
months at most. Maybe he hadn’t missed the birth of the baby at all
and Kennedy waited for him to get her through delivery. Maybe all
the hell and suffering had been a hallucination. In his dreams,
he’d been there to see the birth of his kid. He needed to know
about the baby.

Eric’s voice calmed him. “You have a little
girl, bro. They call her Mac, but her name is Mackenzie.”

Liam expelled a deep sigh of relief. Before
he deployed, he’d told Kennedy he’d wanted that name.

“
Not now, Drake!” snapped
Alex.

Eric exhaled and dipped his head, averting
his gaze.

Liam frowned.
Since when does Eric take orders from
her
? And what were they not telling him? He
saw Vasquez smile and nod encouragement, and that alleviated some
of his fears. Liam wanted to shout it to the world: he had a baby
girl with Kennedy’s beauty and his kick-ass personality. It blew
his mind.

Alex rubbed his hand. She kissed his bruised
knuckles then leaned in and kissed his cheek, then lips. “Get some
rest, you. We’ll meet with you soon.”

Liam nodded, letting a tear roll down his
itchy face. He released a tear of joy to be free and able to return
to his beloved wife and baby girl.

He watched as his three friends, the men,
and the woman, he considered brothers, stepped out of the suite and
into the narrow passageway beyond. Liam held his neck up with
fading strength, keeping them in his line of sight as long as
possible. The exertion drained the last of his limited energy. He
let his head fall back against the pillow and sleep came almost
instantly.

***

Once in Vasquez’s assigned quarters, Alexa
turned on Eric, her eyes narrowed with fury. “Why did you do
that?”

Eric chose a mug, wishing he had some Scotch
to pour into it. He opted for coffee instead. Vasquez looked on in
silence. He sipped, giving himself time, then turned to address her
directly. “The man isn’t stupid. It’s not like he didn’t know
Kennedy was pregnant.”

Vasquez cleared his throat. “The important
thing is he’s awake. The doctors were right. He’s on the mend.
Later, we can tell him what’s happened to his life in the past five
years.”

“
Exactly. Later. Not now,
Eric. Not another word of Kennedy until we get him well.” Alexa
spoke as though she expected no argument.

Eric looked first to Vasquez for support.
“This is nuts. She can’t be serious!”

“
I’m deadly serious.”
Alexa’s tone sharpened. “Do I need to make it an order,
Drake?”

Eric snorted, but leveled his gaze at her
over the top of his mug as he took another sip. Alexa must have
heard the jealous desperation in her own voice. She tugged on the
bottom edge of her suit jacket and regained her composure.

“
It’ll kill him to know his
wife abandoned him. He’s suffered enough. We’re dealing with PTSD
here, gentlemen, at the very minimum. His recovery is now a matter
of national security.”

“
Do you hear her?” Eric said
this to Vasquez before stepped closer to tower over Alexa. “She did
not abandon him. Why would you choose that word?”

Alexa retrieved her cover and situated it on
her head. “I have COD flight out. I’ll be back oh-six-thirty the
latest.” The men stood silent. Her heels clicked across the
linoleum and out into the passageway.

Eric glared after her. “Ball-busting
bitch.”

“
Careful, Eric. It’s your
balls she’ll crush for sport.” Vasquez said humorlessly.

Eric dropped down into the vinyl chair. He
released the button to his suit jacket.

“
You know how she feels
about Liam and Kennedy. Some shit can never be let go, bro. We just
got to make sure Liam gets well before we lay the hard truths on
him. PTSD is real. Our boy has been down for five
years.”

“
That fucking appointment
has gone to her head,” Eric stated, not able to let it go. Vasquez
groaned his agreement. “Hell, it’s her orders he remain on this
ship, out at sea. She’s purposely keeping Kennedy from knowing the
truth. Liam isn’t going to put up with that when his strength
returns.”

Vasquez spoke up. “She’s right. It’s a
matter of national security. We got to handle this delicately. If
it gets out, where he was, what he was doing there….”

“
What we were
all
doing there.”
Commander Jones, the silent observer in the room, turned. “May I
make a suggestion?”

The men looked up at him. He raised his
coffee cup. “This is a celebration, gentlemen. The great Liam
Flanagan has risen from the dead.”

Eric let go of his attitude. “I hear you. My
boy is alive. God damn, miracles do happen.”

***

Watching his girls in the dresser mirror
behind him, Phil buttoned his starched white dress shirt, then
reached for his tie. Kennedy struggled to put Mackenzie’s hair up
in a single ponytail. Mackenzie squirmed and groaned between her
mother’s legs. Phil never understood the ritual between the two. If
Mackenzie had been smart she’d just let her mother groom her spry
locks and be free of the ordeal in a matter of minutes.

“
Mac, keep still baby. Be
patient for mama.”

“
You two look beautiful this
morning.”

With Mac’s hair bow in her mouth and her
hands full of hair, Kennedy lifted her gaze to him, curious. Phil
winked at her and Kennedy smiled.

Damn, she’s
beautiful
. He had fought hard and long to
get her, and now she was his. The first time he’d been able to coax
her into his bed had been on the night they wed, and he fucked her
until she begged him to be released. He couldn’t keep his hands off
her. Everything about her turned him on. She had eyes a tawny shade
of brown under long sweeping lashes, high cheekbones and the
sweetest, softest lips he’d ever touched. Not to mention her round
ass, slim waist and heavy bosom.

He wouldn’t wish death on any man, but
secretly, Phil had never minded Liam’s demise. He remembered the
first time he’d seen them together, the first time he’d ever seen
Kennedy. Liam belonged to a newly formed joint-forces CT team in
Virginia. It had been a ball, the night of the change-of-command
ceremony when Baldwin had retired, probably six years ago. Seven,
maybe. Liam Flanagan had paraded his arrogant ass through the
receiving line, with his hands all over Kennedy. She’d been shy
then, completely lost around the other couples. But she was by far
the single beauty in the room. Phil had watched her do everything,
from chew her food so delicately between those full lips of hers,
to sip her punch, or snuggle under Liam’s arm and touch his chest
and look up with starry eyes as he told one of his stupid
jokes.

Phil wasn’t a racist. There were plenty of
interracial couples in the military. Mostly black men hooked up
with German or Asian women. Still, he’d freely admit that it pissed
him off when he saw a white boy with a fine-ass sista. And Liam of
all people, who disobeyed every fucking rule put before him yet was
steadily promoted for it, had been the worst offender of them all.
Phil had asked around, learned how Liam had snatched her from her
family at only seventeen. Phil had been so obsessed, he’d looked
her family up. Turned out they were quite prominent in
Connecticut—dad a top investment banker with Merrill Lynch in
Manhattan. Liam married her quick and probably filled her head with
loads of his bullshit.

That night of the ball, when the opportunity
presented itself, he’d followed her to the bathroom. He timed it
perfectly to collide with her when she returned to the hall he
waited in. Gave himself a chance to touch her. She smiled brightly
up at him and he was done. That’s when he knew. She was special. Of
course the SEAL team assignment to Fort Bragg after 9/11 presented
an opportunity for Phil as well. In a matter of weeks, families
were moved and men deployed. Phil seized the opportunity to follow.
He hadn’t been aware of it consciously, of course, until later. The
nation had been thrown into a state of emergency. The enemy had
attacked them, their homeland. But all the same, deep down he
believed she would be part of his destiny. He swore he’d have her
one day.

“
You know I like your hair
this way.” He turned and smiled.

Kennedy glanced up. She had told him that
Liam was obsessed with her keeping her hair natural and free of
relaxers, which is why she’d worn stylish puffs and curly locks
back then. Black women didn’t have to wear afros to be exotic or
beautiful. In fact, Phil found it kind of fetish and racist that
her white husband wanted her to remain ethnic. He preferred the
relaxed, straight look. She was fucking drop-dead gorgeous with it
cascading down her back.

“
Thanks. I did it for you.”
She smiled sweetly.

Damn right you
did
, he thought. Phil felt his arousal
peak, but Mackenzie’s high-pitched voice sang out and threw cold
water over the moment.

“
Daddy, I want to go to the
base with you.”

Mackenzie smiled with deep longing. He knew
she loved the royal treatment she got from being his daughter. He’d
graduated West Point and gone on to Baylor, become the best defense
attorney in the Navy JAG Corps inside four years and got stationed
to Norfolk just three years prior to Kennedy’s arrival with Liam
Flanagan. Now as a civilian consultant, he’d developed a reputation
for having a swift and sure hand with complicated terrorism cases,
which only added to his prestige.

“
Not today, sweetheart. I’ll
take you Saturday morning. How’s that?”

Mackenzie nodded and Kennedy sighed as the
hair bow popped. “Oh, sweetheart. This is the second bow to snap
this morning.”

“
Sorry, mommy,” Mackenzie
said softly.

Phil smiled. He’d have to give it to Liam,
he did create one beauty in Mackenzie. Phil loved her like she was
his own. Hell, he’d been there during her delivery, and when
Kennedy felt too depressed to get out of bed to feed her, he’d come
up from sleeping on the sofa to help. She later told him that he’d
been the only person that didn’t remind her of Liam. Anytime she
saw her mother, Kennedy could only focus on the woman’s
longstanding hatred for Liam, and if she were with friends she knew
of their grief. She’d once felt community with the wives on the
base, but after Liam died, she’d only seen pity in their eyes. Phil
had been chosen to be her anchor. Liam’s friends hated his
presence. Eric had even taken a swing at him when he started coming
around shortly after the news broke. But Phil never gave up.
Kennedy had been the hardest to convince that his friendship could
turn to love.

It took him three years before she even
considered the fact that Liam was dead. During the fourth year, she
started to talk without injecting his name after every sentence,
and it was then he made his move. By then Eric, Vasquez, and that
cold bitch Alexa Sinclair were all giving him their blessing,
anything to pull Kennedy back from the brink and get her to start
living again. Damn, he could still remember the first time she
allowed him to kiss her. He rushed to Tiffany and bought a ring the
very next day.