The Protector (33 page)

“Jazz!” Vivi called out.

Jazz went down on his haunches, shocked at her puffy face. Blood streaked all over her hands. He pulled her into his arms, relieved that she was alive and free. He looked up again. Hawk and Dilaver were gone.

“Are you okay?” He pulled back to examine Vivi’s face again. A fierce anger replaced concern as he saw the damage. “Son of a bitch. I wish I could kill him for doing this to you,
chouchou.
”

Vivi shook her head. “I’m fine, just…a tad…swollen. Jazz, why are you here?”

Jazz stood up with Vivi in his arms. “Later. The fire engines are here.”

“Okay.” She seemed content to lay her head against his shoulder as he walked quickly toward the back of the building to join the rest of team. “Hawk’s gone, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Using a weapon on his own friend had been the toughest thing he had ever done.

“Are you okay?”

He smiled tenderly. She was worried about him even when she was injured. “Yeah. Just a bit lost. I’ve always known where Hawk was and how to contact him, but now…”

He didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling. Hawk was his best friend and they had been together in the navy for over a decade. They had grown up together, had watched each other’s back in their missions together. He was no longer able to do that.

“I know. I lost a friend tonight, too,” Vivi said softly. “I saw her, Jazz, but…she’s no longer Sia-Sia.”

The others had already returned to the agreed meeting
point. Someone brought out lanterns and flares and he could see spectators and helpers gathering in the melee. Without needing an order, the men merged into the shadows of the nearby trees and buildings.

Dirk gave a quick update. “The live prisoner is ready for transport. You should’ve seen the number of young girls who escaped through the back exits after we’d gotten the guards—I lost count, there were so many. Somebody apparently unlocked their cells before the fire reached the back. One of them said some man pointed them the way out. We made sure the weaker ones are together where the firemen will easily see them. No explosions…yet.”

“Good. Let’s get ready to go then.”

“Is Vivienne okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“No, she isn’t. Dilaver punched her or something.”

“Fucker!”

Jazz quickly did a head count. Everyone was there, except for…“Did you all see Hawk signaling our team sign?”

“Yeah,” Cucumber said. “The shot was good, sir. He’s okay.”

“I signaled back but I doubt he saw me,” Joker said.

“That was strange, how everything worked out, even though—”

“Jazz! Put me down!” Vivi, who had been quietly listening, tapped Jazz’s arm excitedly.

“Whoa, sweetheart. Wait.” She wriggled impatiently till he sat her on her feet. She took a step and stumbled. “Where are you going off to now?”

“Look! Look!”

A man was walking slowly through the gathering groups of people, making his way toward the alley where the fire engines were parked. He had a girl in his arms.

“What? Who’s he?”

“That’s Stefan. But look at the girl in his arms! That’s Rose. I’m sure that’s Rose! Let’s go over there!”

Stefan. That must be the insider T. was telling him about.

“No, sweetheart, we can’t afford to be seen right now. I’ll get Stefan to come here instead.”

It did look like Rose. They watched as Dirk sprinted over. They exchanged a few lines and Stefan nodded, changing direction.

Vivi turned and hugged Jazz. “Oh God. It
is
Rose, Jazz. I can’t believe he found her!”

Jazz smiled. There were no words to describe how much he loved this woman who cared so much about the wellbeing of others. He knew that had she been able, she wouldn’t have hesitated to risk her life to save any of those women inside. He tightened his hold on her. He owed Stefan and Hawk a big thank you for getting her out for him.

The room back at the compound wasn’t really that
small, but two attending medics, T., Armando Chang, as well as six SEALs sitting around her bed, took up a lot of space. Rose was resting in another room. Vivi wanted to be with her but no one appeared to think she could walk on her own two feet. She had never been carried around by so many men in one night.

Stefan hadn’t stayed once he deposited Rose into Cucumber’s arms. He studied them for a second, then he touched the injured side of Vivi’s face gently. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him. But your friend’s bullet should hurt like hell by now.” He nodded to Jazz. “Good shot. Tell T. I’ll call.” With that, he went back into the crowd and disappeared.

Back at the compound, Vivi had learned what had happened earlier and how the timetable had gone down the tubes the moment the team saw Dilaver scouring the place. Everyone’s adrenaline was still high from the night’s unexpected adventure; a low-key tension wove around the room as each member of the group related his or her little part. Even T. had been an important player, directing offstage, the glue that held the action together. Without her, no one from all the different groups would have any idea what was happening inside or outside the Triad den.

“We’re lucky we decided to do a little checking,” Jazz said quietly. “Dilaver had planned to bring the place down. If he had succeeded, there would have been many more casualties.”

“Yes,” T. said. “As it is, the authorities are suspecting gang war, since the dead are mainly Triad members and some unknown foreigners they will discover are part of an arms-dealing gang.”

“Courtesy of GEM?” Jazz asked, cocking a brow. T. smiled. “The governing authority here might be under the Triad thumb, Jazz, but there are still some who celebrate Triad deaths. They’ll pass news on to everyone that the second brother has suffered a serious loss. We’ve emptied all their accounts and will be sending information and coffee money to certain people concerning Triad secret drug locations.”

“Good.” Vivi found herself relaxing against the pillow. The medics had given her something for the pain, which reminded her…She shuddered at the sudden image of Rose lying in some locked room, unable to move, at the mercy of those people. How could her father do this to her? “I hope we find all those damn pills and destroy them.”

“Stefan has already taken care of the batch we used as bait,” T. reassured her.

“How? That man couldn’t have had time,” Vivi said.

“I don’t know the details, darling. I just know it from the brief status report he sent. But if he said he destroyed them, he did.”

“Who’s he, T.?” Vivi asked curiously. “Is his name really Stefan? I have never heard of him through the channels. Is he GEM?”

There were male operatives in GEM but Vivi had never heard of a Stefan. The standard operating procedure for two newly met operatives was to send or communicate to each other a gift or symbol of their GEM insignia for quick identification and later references in their own debriefing. He hadn’t done so.

“Not exactly.” T. wasn’t very forthcoming. “He’s involved in a few GEM contracts.”

“I would like to meet him some day to thank him,” Jazz said. He was looking at Vivi. “He was very quick-thinking, what with so much happening inside. And still got his job of putting Hawk and Dilaver together done.”

“The insertion was more complicated than our planned one,” T. agreed, “but Stefan always finds a way to finish his job.”

“What’s his job? I know he’s one of the COS commandos, T. He isn’t Alex Diamond, is he?” Vivi stifled a yawn. T. looked startled for an instant, then her expression turned to amusement. “No. Alex’s job is more like”—she watched Jazz readjust the cold compress Vivi had on her face—“Lieutenant Zeringue’s. A lot of strategy. He initiates the operation. Stefan usually takes over near the end of one.”

That made sense. Vivi understood Phase Two was in the final stages and that Phase Three began with Hawk. She was getting more and more interested in GEM’s new partnership with COS Command.

“I’d like to thank him for Rose.”

It was a sneaky attempt to find information and of course T. didn’t fall for it. Her chief’s eyes were filled with secret amusement as she shook her head. But hey, a girl could try.

“Since all of us, except for Armando, have been briefed about Phase Two, I’ll confirm that he’s one of the COS commandos,” T. acknowledged. “And no, his name isn’t Stefan. I think he chose it to attract Hawk’s attention at the beginning.”

“That makes sense, since there are so many Steves in Hawk’s family. Ladies, you have to tell me what COS stands for. The admiral used it and I didn’t have a chance to ask Hawk,” Jazz said. “I’d like to know what outfit my friend is working with right now.”

T. hesitated. There were, after all, quite a number of people present. “Covert Subversive commandos. They are an infiltration system that destroys organizations from within.”

“The guards inside knew and feared him,” Vivi said. “I heard the one in the red pants call him Ghost Lightning or something like that. I can see why too.”

“Why?” Jazz asked.

Vivi put down the compress and touched the side of her face. She couldn’t feel a thing there as her fingertips pressed on cold, numbed flesh. “It’s his eyes. I bet he scared the hell out of the locals with that strange color. Like lightning. I noticed those thugs didn’t dare look too long into his eyes. And he had this stillness about him. You should’ve seen him when everyone was running around inside that awful place, Jazz.” She didn’t mention how she’d found him with Alissa, that the latter had obviously been his assignment. There was no black or white in their cloak-and-dagger world, and she didn’t harbor any feelings against Stefan for using her former friend. She looked around the room with her one good eye. She realized suddenly that she had lost much but she’d also gained a lot, too. “Of course, you were all doing just as good a job as he did. Thank you, every one of you. I’ve decided you guys aren’t too shabby after all. I’m going to make you my honorary goats.”

She grinned at the sudden explosion of machismo in the room. It was also her way to distract the men from asking any more questions about COS Command or Alissa. She knew T. would take the ball and run with it. She was right.

“I think you should rest now, darling. Plenty of time tomorrow to debrief and get everything in order. Rose will be fine. I’ll check on her later. Jazz, you make sure she stays in bed. She probably has concussion. Every one of you, except Jazz, follow me. I have this strong desire for some food.”

Vivi rolled her eyes as T. winked at all the men around her. She was out of the room in seconds. The men, except for Armando, jumped to their feet.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Food! Did she mention food?”

“I can eat a whole cow.”

“Move, man, you’re such a freaking sloth. Can’t you tell Jazz wants us gone?”

“Do sloths eat? Besides jerk off?”

They filed out noisily. Vivi tilted her head, using her good eye to glare at Armando.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“I know you unlocked those doors and helped save many of those girls tonight,” Vivi told him, “but I’m still going to kick your ass for keeping Sia-Sia’s identity from me.”

Armando smiled. “Then we’ll be even.”

She gave him a solemn stare and then smiled slightly. “Then we’ll be,” she agreed. “I’m glad you found your sister. How’s she?”

Armando’s expression hardened. “Not good. They’ll pay for what they did to her. But I’ll let you rest now. Good night.”

The door closed behind him. Vivi scooted to one side of the bed. “Are you going to let me rest all alone?”

Jazz smiled and moved to join her there. “You’re going to be asleep soon after taking that medication anyway. You’re trying not to yawn already.”

“But you’ll stay?”

“Yes,
chouchou,
I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She sighed, resting her cheek against his shoulder. “Oh, wait.” She stretched one arm out, patting the night table by her. Sitting up again, she stifled another yawn as she handed over Hawk’s note. “Here, Hawk dropped this. I think it’s for you. I can’t read it anyway.”

Jazz unfolded the crumpled paper. Vivi leaned back. She could barely keep her eyes open now.

“Strange, but totally Hawk.”

“What does it say?” she asked sleepily.

“It says, ‘Remember, twin, I’ll always be GI number one.’ What the hell did he bring that up for?”

Vivi chuckled sleepily. “Jazz…?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t be mad, okay?”

“About what, sweetheart?”

She yawned again. She couldn’t even form the thoughts to explain what Hawk’s note meant as she fought to keep her eyes open. Needed…to…do this. She put a finger into her mouth pushing up inside her cheek. She used her thumb to
scrape at the tiny wire that held the disguise in place. Thank God for the painkillers or the task would have been impossible for one side of her face. Slowly pulling out the inserts that changed the upper palate of her mouth, Vivi said, in her grandma accent, “You’re my Number Ten GI. But I love you anyway.”

There was silence. She sighed as she closed her eyes. She was in so much trouble.

“You…what…don’t you fall asleep on me! You’re Grandmamasan? You’re…wait, wait…what did you say after that? Vivi!”

But Vivi could only smile as the drugs took over. Her last thought was how sweet her lover’s frustrated yelling was.

New Orleans
Four months later

It was supposed to be a happy day. Jazz looked around him. Everyone was waiting expectantly for his speech. He had it all planned, too.

He was going to tell how incredible the last four months had been, running back and forth between two continents, trying to make a relationship work out. He was going to outline all the funny things that had happened between Vivi and him. How they had first met, without some classified details, of course. How he had finally proposed while playing a melody on the Da Nhat in front of a bunch of laughing locals and had played “Oh Susannah” mournfully till she had finally agreed. How she had transferred out of her GEM assignment with Interpol. So many things to celebrate. Most of all, today he was going to talk about the love of his life in front of all his friends who had shown up for his engagement party.

Vivi, the woman he adored. And how capable and wonderful she was. He smiled, as he always did, when he thought about her.

She had finally flown home to the States and met with his
mother and sisters in Slidell. She had been nervous. His maman, bless her heart, had taken one look at Vivi and hugged her.

“You’re perfect for my Zola,” she had exclaimed. “Come and tell me everything.”

Everything had gone so well. Even his brother, Zippy, appeared to be on his best behavior around Vivi. He had actually shown up in a shirt—a rare thing for his wild and unruly brother when there was a strange woman around. Jazz had no doubt Vivi would have handled Zippy, but he was glad he didn’t have to deal with his brother’s outrageous sense of humor. She was already a little overwhelmed by all the sisters—all of whom took her out on an all-girl pow-wow—but she hadn’t run off, not even when his mother kept introducing her as the future Mrs. Zola Zeringue.

Maman had insisted on an engagement party and Jazz, as usual, let the woman steamroll over him. What began as a simple affair had bloomed into an extravaganza that would have had him hiding in the bayou in the old days. But this was his engagement party and he had seen the light in his Vivi’s eyes; she was happy and that was what he wanted. This was new to her, he realized that now, this attention to her. She had always focused on others and now she deserved this. His wise maman had known this.

Then an hour before the party, Admiral Madison called. Jazz hadn’t expected the admiral to show up anyway, so he had thought the call was just to congratulate him and Vivi. But his commander had tagged on another piece of news after a pause.

“It’s Hawk,” he’d said. “I have to tell you while the others in the team are there, Lieutenant. We lost him. Our source reported that Dilaver found out he was a plant. There’s another report of a body found with Hawk’s description but no confirmation as of yet. I’ll keep in touch.”

Hawk could be dead. Or in deep shit somewhere. Jazz felt that it wasn’t right to be celebrating his own engagement
while Hawk was missing. But everyone had arrived, including his own team. They sat in shocked silence in a corner of the huge hall as they absorbed the news.

“He would want you to continue, sir,” Cucumber finally said. “It’s your day today.”

“Nothing’s confirmed yet so I refuse to believe he’s dead anyway,” Mink said.

“We’ll take it one day at a time.” Joker gave him the microphone. “Go make the speech. Vivi’s waiting for you over there.”

Jazz took the mike and looked at Vivi, standing on the dais. She looked so beautiful, dressed in a soft green dress. She had told him she would support anything he decided, that they were in this together.

Together. This was a special day for Vivi. She had given him her trust and love, overcoming her fear of being abandoned. She had even gotten to like uniformed men now. He couldn’t go up there and put this off. She belonged to him, just as he belonged to her. He made his way to the dais. She was wearing the pendant he gave her when they’d met. Her eyes told him all he needed to know. He bent and softly kissed her. The guests cheered lustily.

“Hey! Speech first!” someone yelled.

“We want to hear this big news you wanted us to fly here for!” another person added.

Yes, the big news. Jazz looked out into the crowd, very aware that his family, his team, and Vivi’s own friends knew of his fear for Hawk, knowing that they would support him in whatever he chose to do. Friends were that way.

“It’s okay,” Vivi whispered. “I’m with you a hundred percent. I love you, my darling GI number ten, no matter if it’s now or later.”

That was now her nickname for him. In retaliation, Jazz called her Grandmamasan. All this only served to remind him of Hawk.

“Love you too,” he said.

“Speeeeeech!” one of his sisters called up.