Leap of Faith (La Flor #1) (26 page)

“He was so fuckin’ proud of you, Faith. You and Rylee were his whole world. His faith and love in you made me curious to meet you. I figured I never would since he’d never see my face, but days later all that changed.

“We went out on a mission. His team was to get me in and let me take care of my target, but our information was fucked. We walked into a fuckin’ ambush. There were so fuckin’ many of them. We were gettin’ shot at from every direction. Instead of panickin,’ Jake was calm, collected, and hard. He took control of the situation as best he could and he kept his men alive. He kept me alive. I was so busy coverin’ my front that I made a rookie mistake—I didn’t guard my back. I was fuckin’ lucky he was there because he saved my life. He took out the guy comin’ at me and we pushed forward. It was a cluster-fuck and I don’t know how the hell we made it through, but we did. Even with all the shit, I managed to get my target and we made it out of there. We were bloodied as hell but we were alive. We thought we were in the clear, but we were wrong.

“We started back to the pick-up point. Out of nowhere this little girl comes out. She looked about ten years or so; didn’t look dangerous but back then, kids were being used as soldiers and weapons. This kid, though, we didn’t see anything on her. Jake said maybe she was walkin’ home and we wanted to believe that. Jake stepped forward and that’s when the kid shot him. She had a weapon underneath her clothes. Shocked the shit out of all of us. We’d heard of kids doin’ this, but this was just a little girl! Jake reacted to save his men and took her out before she could do any more harm. When we checked her, we found more guns. She was sent to take us out and Jake neutralized her before she could kill us all.

“Jake fell back and we saw he was shot in the leg and he was bleedin’ badly. There was so much fuckin’ blood. I remember shoutin’ that we needed a medevac and for them to hurry the fuck up. I ran to Jake and tried to stop the bleedin.’ It just kept comin,’ no matter how much pressure I put on the wound. He was startin’ to black out and I kept shoutin’ at him to stay with me. I reminded him that y’all were waitin’ on him to come home. I reacted when I wasn’t supposed to. I should’ve kept goin’ but I couldn’t leave him.”

12 May 2007, Southern Afghanistan

“Fuck,” groans Jake. “I should’ve taken her out sooner but when I looked at her, she reminded me of Rylee. She was so young. I just took out a little girl,” he says through guilty tears. “I didn’t want to, but she shot first. Why?”

He looks me straight in my brown eyes, the only visible part of me to others. I look back at him, and I realize how far gone I am when it comes to taking a life. I would’ve taken the shot without question—man or child—but not this man who still has a conscious and feels remorse. I hope he never becomes like me.

“You’re a good guy, man,” he says to me, as if reading my mind and trying to make me feel better. “Shit, I haven’t even seen your face but there’s somethin’ about you. Don’t let what that bitch did to you fuck you up. Don’t give up. If I’d done that, I never would’ve had my Faith.

“Fuck, I’m bleedin’ to death—I’m bleedin’ out, man. I should’ve called her,” he tells me. “I should’ve called my Faith one last time before comin’ out.”

“You’re not dyin,’” I tell him. “It’s a leg wound and those hurt like hell, but you ain’t dyin.’ I ain’t gonna let you—I’ll even show you my face if you promise to hold on. The chopper’s almost here. Just hang on.”

“Okay,” he says and then painstakingly starts digging in his pocket. “Here”—he puts a set of dog tags in my hand—“take these. Anything ever happens to me, I want you to look after my family. It’s a strange request since we just met, but I have a feelin’ it’s the right thing to do. I need you to promise me. Take my tags. Anything ever happens, you find your way to my girls and make sure they’re taken care of. Promise me you’ll take care of my girls. You protect my treasures.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” I say to him, “but if you need me to, I promise.”

I hear the sound of the chopper getting closer and landing. Soldiers rush to him. They check him out and carefully put him on a stretcher. The medics move quickly, but with enough gentleness to not jostle him. I gather my shit and jump in. I see that he’s passed out. I can’t ask anything because no one’s supposed to acknowledge me, and this frustrated the shit outta me. I get as close as possible without hindering their work.

I stay close to him and I start praying.

I pray that he makes it because he’s right . . . he’s bleeding out.

“I remember prayin’ for a man that I’d just met,” I tell Faith, “a man that loved his wife more than anything, and his only regret was not callin’ her one last time. I prayed that he’d make it back to his wife and kid alive. He was right, he was bleedin’ out, but by some miracle he made it. I remember wishin’ I’d get to experience the kinda love he treasured more than anything in the world.”

I look at her and continue.

“Once in Landstuhl, I made a point to go see him. I broke every rule in the book with that visit, but I had to see him. I couldn’t let it go. I dressed in scrubs with mask and all. An unexplainable force was pulling me to visit him. I just had to see him, and I had a promise to keep.”

14 May 2007, Landstuhl, Germany

Hearing a voice and realizing it wasn’t his, I stand in the doorway. Jake looks at me and I can see the surprise in his eyes. To my surprise, he recognizes me immediately—it must be my body build. He probably never expected to see me again, but here I am. I shake my head and eye the other guy in the room.

“Jones, can you make sure my wife gets to me as soon as she arrives? She’s probably driven herself insane with worry, knowin’ her, and she’s had plenty of time on the plane ride here from the States,” he says with a chuckle.

“Yes, sir,” Jones replies and gets up. He walks out the door without giving me a second glance.

“I see you’re alright,” I say. “Told ya you’d make it, and it’s good to see you conscious.”

“Yeah, it’s a miracle—I’m lucky to be alive,” he replies. “It hurts like a motherfucker, but I’m alive so I ain’t complainin.’ Are you even supposed to be here, man?” He asks.

“What do you think?” I reply. “I just had to make sure you were okay. You ain’t seen my face but you had faith in me, called me on my shit, and you saved my life. Not many have done that and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

“I’m okay. Just waitin’ on my wife to get here. She’s been stateside gettin’ ready for the tournament comin’ up in September,” he tells me. “I can’t wait to see her. It’s been months seen I’ve held her, and I miss her.” I look at him. “I know I sound like a fuckin’ pussy, but I don’t give a shit. I ain’t ashamed to let people know I love an incredible woman, especially after what happened back there. I’ll never take another moment for granted and I’ll always tell her I love her before goin’ out again. I’m never gonna have the same regret I had before.”

“She sounds close to perfection, man,” I say. “You sure she’s real? I’m curious to meet this paragon of a woman.”

“She has her temper and we drive each other insane sometimes, don’t get me wrong, but we love each other and we’re in it for the long haul,” he tells me. “You still remember your promise, I hope. I made it through this time, but there’s never a guarantee. It’s crazy, but I need to know you’ll keep your promise. You’re a good person; you’ve just had shitty luck in women. One day, you’ll find a woman who will make your world complete, just don’t lose faith. And, thank you for keepin’ me together when I thought I was dyin.’ If you ever need anything, you let me know, you hear?”

“Duly noted,” I say. “And yes, I remember.”

I sit in the chair Jones just left and settle myself closer to him, but at the same time I keep my way clear to the door. Just in case I need to make a quick exit.

“Good,” he says and then continues, “My buddy and I are startin’ up a company—security and all that for the elite, and maybe some other excitin’ jobs on the side so we don’t get bored. When you decide you’ve had enough of this life, you look us up. Just say my name and you got a job with us.” He gives me the name and location of the company.

“Shit man, that’s where I’m from!” I exclaim.

“No shit,” he says, laughing. “That’s where my grandparents lived and I always liked visitin’ them. It’s probably where I’ll be buried, since my dad was military as well and we moved around a lot. Gunner, my buddy, shied away from startin’ Phoenix there, but I finally convinced him. Had a feelin’ it needed to be there—strange how I’ve been havin’ these weird feelin’s lately. Hopefully, I’ll see you there after we both get tired of all this.”

“I just want to make it through my job alive before thinkin’ of the future,” I tell him. “Eliza messed me up. She was fuckin’ my best friend and I didn’t even see it. I think it’s more his betrayal that’s fucked me up than her. I’m stayin’ in a few more years before I have to sort my shit in the outside world.”

“You will,” he tells me confidently. “Here.” He grabs a patch from his side table. “Keep this and my tags to remember me. Look me up later, even if it’s years from now, and remember your promise. Some people won’t understand, but as long as I do, that’s all that matters.”

“Alright—” but before I can go on, we hear footsteps approaching and a feminine voice.

“That’s my wife,” he says, smiling. I stand up and looking at him, I lift my mask and glasses, showing him my face and eyes clearly. It shocks the tar outta him. “Holy fuck, man! You could be a fuckin’ model with your face and your eyes . . .” he whispers the last part.

“A promise is a promise. I have to use colored contacts on the job. And, yeah,” I say casually, as if I haven’t done what could get me in deep trouble with the higher-ups, “I’ve been told that before.” I wink at him and cover my face again before stepping out the door.

As I’m leaving, I hear him whisper sadly, “The old woman was right . . . the ghost . . .”

Instead of escaping quickly, like I should, I take my time walking down the hallway towards Jake’s wife and the Jones guy. I want to see this “perfect” woman, the woman that has this man’s undying love and loyalty.

As I make my way closer, I see her. A shot of electricity moves down my body, like lightning striking.

What.

The.

Fuck!

I stumble over my feet—me. I stumble over my fucking feet after seeing the woman Jake married. He’s right, she’s fucking beautiful.

She spares me a quick glance to see if I’m okay and then continues toward the room. For the first time in my life, I envy another man. The look on her face . . . she’s determined to get to that room. She needs to see her man.

Jake is one lucky bastard, I think to myself.