Reckless Abandon (Phantom Protector Book 1) (18 page)

A tear slid down Jamie’s face. She’d only ever
had the people at the compound care about her until now when she’d needed
someone the most. Max continued to surprise her with his compassion and
support. She was falling more and more for the man each and every day.

Sarah grabbed her hand and started pulling her
toward the front of the plane. “Come on…Come on.”

Jamie glanced over her shoulder and mouthed,
“Thank you.”

Leaving Sarah was going to be one of the hardest
things she’d ever done and getting her sister to let her go was going to be an
even bigger obstacle. She could never desert the unit and knew she would return
once Sarah was out of harm’s way. Just getting the little girl to understand
was going to be a much more difficult task than she’d ever expected.

They stepped off the plane and were greeted by
the entire Bennett clan minus Lydia.
The rest of the Bennett sisters were there in the hanger along with their
bodyguard husbands. They’d each put their lives on hold to help Max and her
out. This was his family, maybe not by blood but by choice, and they cared for
him like one of their own. Jamie had liked them the moment she’d met all of
them months before, when she’d been assigned as Lydia’s bodyguard.

Emma stepped forward with her daughter. “Sarah,
I’m Emma, and this is my daughter, Lily. She’s about the same age as you are,
and she’s been looking forward to playing with you. I hope you don’t mind
sleeping in bunk beds. Lily has been planning out your entire stay.”

Lily took Sarah’s hand and led her to the SUV.
“We’re going to have so much fun. We’re going to swim and play dolls and build
forts and eat ice cream.”

Sarah glanced back over her shoulder and pulled
Lily to a stop. “Jamie, you’re coming with us, right?”

Jamie nodded and gave her a smile. “I’m right
behind you.”

Max put his hand on Jamie’s lower back and
guided her over to the SUV that Sarah had climbed into.
 

Two days passed as though it were a mere two
minutes. It was the day she was due to head back to the compound without Sarah
by her side. Over the last two days, she’d tried to explain to her sister why
it was so important she went back, but Sarah still didn’t understand. All she
knew was her sister was leaving her just like their mother had done.

Sarah and Jamie walked along the beach, letting
the sand squish between their toes. The incoming tide and gray cloud-covered
sky provided them with almost an empty beach.

Sarah reached down and scooped up a shell.

“I’m coming back for you when it’s all over. Just
think of how much fun you and Lily are going to have.”

Sarah never turned around. “I don’t want you to
go.”

“I know, sweetie, but I won’t be gone long, and
I’ll call and check in on you.”

A bird feverishly squawked in a shrieking sound
as if in distress over and over again from someplace nearby. They both jerked
their head to look over toward the sound. Lying on the top of the dunes nearby a
baby bird lied in the sand. Sarah ran to it, followed by Jamie.

They dropped to their knees. “It’s hurt. I think
it’s his wing.” Sarah leaned down closer to examine the bird.

Jamie rubbed her hands together. “I can fix it.”

Sarah sat up abruptly. “You can?”

Jamie nodded. “There are several of us back at
the compound that have special gifts from God. Mine just happens to let me heal
boo-boos.”

Jamie moved to put her hands over the bird’s
wings. Sarah reached for Jamie’s wrist and pulled her hand back. “Watch.”

Sarah cradled the bird in her palms. She closed
her eyes and whispered something that Jamie couldn’t hear. A blinding ball of
light encompassed the bird. As bright as it was, Jamie couldn’t pull her eyes
away. She watched in astonishment as Sarah opened her palms, and the bird
chirped excitedly.

“Fly away,” Sarah whispered, and the bird
shocked Jamie and did just that. It flew back up to its nest as if nothing had ever
happened.

Jamie placed her palms on her thighs. “You can
heal too?”

Sarah nodded. “That’s my good gift. I also have
a bad one.”

Jamie rubbed her sister’s back. “There’s nothing
bad about you.”

Sarah dropped her head. “Yes, there is. I must
get that from our father.”

Jamie rose and dusted off her legs. She held out
a hand to her sister and pulled her up to her feet. She threw an arm around her,
and they continued to walk. “What’s your other gift?”

“It’s not something I can show you. I might hurt
you if I do.”

Jamie bit her lip. “Okay… then just explain it
to me.”

Sarah looked out to the sea and was quiet for a
few minutes. “You saw how I healed the bird.”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, I had to concentrate to do that. If I’d
been mad when I tried, then I could have hurt it worse or even killed it.”

Jamie nodded.

“When I’m mad, my eyes turn red, and I think my
anger sparks it. I was mad at a little boy at the orphanage. He took a doll I
was playing with and tore the head off. I was sooo mad that everything in the
room turned red. I finally figured out it was because of my eyes.” She gulped.
“I chased him, and I finally caught him and grabbed his arm. It made a loud
crunching sound, and the kid started crying.” She closed her eyes. “I didn’t
mean to hurt him.”

Jamie leaned into her sister. “It was an
accident. That’s all.”

“When my eyesight returned to normal and I
realized what I’d done, I immediately fixed his arm. I used my good gift to
make things right again.”

Jamie’s heart had broken more times since
finding her sister than it had ever happened in her life. The heartache Sarah had
been through was enough to suck the life out of anyone, much less little Sarah
herself. There was no way for Jamie to fix the damage that had been done. She squeezed
Sarah’s shoulder. “The first part of being able to control it is to recognize
that it’s there. We can work with that and help you hone both of your gifts so
you won’t be scared of hurting anyone else.” Jamie silently wondered if it were
possible for her to tap into the same ability. If she’d inherited the ability.
She shrugged her shoulder lost in thought. She would know if she had the gift
and anger triggered it. She’d been angry most of her life.

Sarah’s tear-filled eyes glanced up at her
sister. “You don’t hate me?”

Jamie fell to her knees in the sand and took
Sarah by the arms. “I could never hate you. You mean more to me than anyone
else in the world. You’re my sister, and we’re family, and we’ll get through
this together as a team. You and me.”

Sarah threw her arms around Jamie’s neck and
squeezed. “And Max. Don’t forget Max.”

Jamie almost stopped breathing. She didn’t know
how to respond to Sarah’s comment. She glanced to Emma’s deck, jetting over the
dune. The man in question stood leaning against the rail, sipping out of a mug,
watching her and Sarah like he’d done since arriving. Jamie knew in that moment
that Sarah was right. Even if it scared the crap out of her, Jamie realized
that she loved Max. “And Max.”

Two hours later, after a nice lunch with the
Bennetts, Jamie had said her goodbyes and was settling into the passenger pilot
seat of the same jet that had picked them up from the compound. “Are you sure
you know what you’re doing?”

Max chuckled through the headset over the roar
of the engines. “Yep.”

Jamie clenched the seat, her knuckles turning an
almost-inhuman shade of white. “Where did you learn to fly?”

Max pushed the lever forward as the jet picked
up speed down the runway. He made quick work of flicking switches and pulling
back on the steering column as the jet rose into the sky. Jamie closed her eyes
and said a silent prayer that she’d
 
make
it back to the compound in one piece. Max’s chuckle came through the headset
once more. “Open your eyes.”

Jamie’s heart was racing. She peeked through her
semi-closed lashes and opened them fully when she noticed the clouds. She let
out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“I flew in the military, and it’s a requirement
for working for Jake.”

She glanced over at him and eased her grip on
the seat, never fully letting it go. “So you’ve done this a lot.”

“Yep.” He reached over and squeezed her leg.
“Relax, I’ll get us there in one piece.”

She pried his fingers from her leg and moved his
hand back to the steering thingy. “Both hands on the wheel at all times. I don’t
want you to get distracted.”

Max threw his head back and laughed. His
laughter eased her fears. She rubbed the knots in her neck, trying to release
the tension.

“Just lean back and close your eyes. I’ll wake
you when we land.”

Jamie tried to relax and found she couldn’t.
Being this high above the ground, with no one and nothing to catch them should
they fall, scared the crap out of her. She’d flown many times in her life but
was happy to do it from any view except the one in the cockpit. She barely muttered
a word the entire flight, too nervous that Max would become distracted and
they’d fall to their deaths. She was going to sit next to him and lift her chin
and face her fear head on. She wouldn’t show another weakness to Max…he’d
already seen enough.

They landed an hour later on the same strip of
runway they’d left on two days ago. The fact that the compound was still
standing was a good sign. She traversed the steps down two at a time until her
feet were firmly planted on the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief that they
had indeed made it in one piece.

Max placed his palm on her lower back and
started steering her to the doors of the compound. Something shone for a brief
moment from the tree line, and she hesitated. “Did you see that?”

Max turned to where she was gesturing. “I don’t
see anything. What did you see?”

“Something shiny in the trees.” She scanned the
trees. “It’s gone now. I don’t see it anymore.”

Max quickened his pace, guiding her to the door.
“Why don’t we get you inside, and I’ll go check it out.”

She grabbed his arm. “No, not you,” she insisted.
“One of the other guys can check it out.” She cleared her throat and released
his arm. “We need to meet with the general, and there are some things that I
wanted to talk to you about.”

Jamie glanced one more time around the base
grounds. “Something’s not right.”

Briggs glanced behind them. “What now?”

Jamie waved her gun toward the SUVs and the
empty field beyond. A shiver ran down her spine, either from the ghost-town atmosphere
or the chill in the air. She didn’t know which. “There’s no one here. The
guards aren’t even at the door.”

Briggs scanned his card and pushed the door
open. “Maybe they moved everyone inside because of Floyd.”

Chapter
18

Jamie stopped inside the threshold. The banks of
desks were empty of computers and the intel group that normally greeted her
were all gone. In their place stood empty partitions and scattered furniture.
Even Jonah wasn’t at his usual post.

The door to the conference room opened. Lydia stood in
the doorway. She was dressed in blue jeans and a black sweater. Jamie knew
right then that their time had been cut short. Lydia’s sweater and the empty
office had been the only clues she needed. Lydia nodded. “It’s almost time.”

She backed out of the conference room door and
held it open. “You got here just in time. We’re planning our counterattack.”

Jamie walked into the conference room and pulled
out her familiar chair. She glanced around the table, noting that all of the
men around the table were the same ones present last time she’d been in the
conference room. Her gaze connected with Ridge. She couldn’t blame him for
wanting to win the fight through any means necessary, just like he couldn’t
blame her for taking Sarah out of the equation. The corner of her mouth tilted
up. “Nice shiner.”

Ridge tenderly touched the black surrounding his
eye. “Apparently you weren’t the only one pissed at me for even suggesting that
Sarah be included.”

Brody elbowed his brother in the arm. “That’s
what brothers are for. To show you the error of your ways.”

The general stood in front of an open map. It
was an aerial of the compound. Several red dots outside their perimeter were
circled. “Focus, people. We have a lot of ground to cover and not long to do
it.”

The general glanced up at Jamie. “Nice to have
you back.”

Jamie gestured to the door. “Where is everyone?”

“Evacuated and relocated just like you
suggested. We spent the entire time you were gone moving everyone into the old
compound built into the base of the mountain.”

“The one that was boarded up a decade ago?”