Page 28 of Shielding Soledad

“Need to go outside, girl?” I asked her, who responded with a whine. As Frankie trotted out into the yard, I studied the landscape I’d been creating. It was on hold, like everything else in my life, but my imagination filled in the details. As soon as this was over, I was going to put my plans into action and make the yard an oasis for my family.

I grabbed a ball from a basket left on the porch and chucked it toward the back fence. Frankie pivoted in mid-stride to chase it. She was bringing the ball back when my phone chimed to indicate that someone was at the front door. I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Soledad was back sooner than I expected. The door opened and closed.

“We’re out back,” I called to her, hoping she’d come join us. I wouldn’t be able to reveal the truth to her, but maybe we could have a moment of companionship. Was that too much to ask?

A low growl from Frankie stopped that train of thought, and I went instantly on alert. A sense of dread filled me as I realized it hadn’t been Soledad at the door. Frankie growled again before barking a warning.

“Platz!” I said. She lay down at my feet, quiet and still, obeying the German command I’d used in training her.

I cautiously entered the house, leaving the door open behind me. When I reached the entryway, I stopped cold, sick fear filling my stomach. Bruce’s left arm was around Soledad’s neck, forcing her body tight to his. But that wasn’t the worst of it. In his right hand, he held a Sig Sauer P226 to her temple.

Her brown eyes, wide with fear, met mine. I kept my gaze steady on her, trying to convey reassurance. Inside, I wanted to strike, wanted to hurt Bruce so badly that he could never threaten anyone ever again. But I couldn’t lunge forward and act. Bruce was as highly trained as I was and was running scenarios in his head just like me. Bruce was expecting me to react physically, so I couldn’t.

“You don’t need her as a hostage, Bruce,” I implored, letting myself seem weak. “It’s me you’re after. Let her go, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

“You aren’t in a position to bargain with me,” Bruce said, tightening his hold on Soledad. “I’m holding all the cards.”

Not all of them, I thought. Luke wasn’t there, and Soledad was far from helpless. But that’s not what I said. “You are.”

“Don’t like it, do you?” Bruce snarled. “How does it feel to have shit happen to you? New experience, Golden Boy?”

“I’ve dealt with plenty of shit,” I said, keeping my voice steady. My youth had been pure shit until the Admiral took me in. My early experiences, though, had helped form me.

“Looks to me like you’ve been leading a fine life lately, while mine’s been fucked up.” Bruce’s expression was ugly, anger pouring out of him. “You did that to me. All while you’ve been living the good life. But that’s over. You aren’t going to have this pretty woman anymore. Hell, you won’t even have that mutt of a dog if it gets too close to me.”

Soledad gasped and opened her mouth to protest but quickly closed it. I had no doubt Bruce would shoot Frankie given the chance, since he had a cruel streak.

“You’ve tried to protect them, but I’ve watched you. I’ve seen your baby boy, too. Oh, yeah, I took some nice pictures while you were all out for a walk and at the park. I saw you looking around for me, thinking you were being careful. But you can’t hide from a telephoto lens.” Bruce grinned, his expression gleeful. “I’ve even got pictures of you kissing your woman like a randy teenager.”

Bruce planted a smacking kiss on Soledad’s cheek. He was going to pay for that, I thought, in blood.

“Let her go,” I repeated. “Your beef’s with me, not her or my son.”

“Don’t like me touching her? Does that bother you, Golden Boy? I think you’ve had the perfect life a little too long. You need to remember what it’s like for the rest of us who aren’t the Goody Two-shoes with the white picket fence. Do you even know what a lucky son of a bitch you are?”

“I know it,” I said. “I know how lucky I am to have a woman I love and a beautiful baby boy.” I saw Soledad’s eyes widen and her expression soften. The words I spoke were for her. I hoped she knew that. “The only thing that matters to me is being here for them and earning their love. I plan to spend the rest of my life doing that.”

Bruce scoffed. “That’s the sappiest shit I’ve ever heard.”

“Maybe, but it’s true. I love you, Soledad. I have for a long time.” I took my eyes off Bruce for a second to focus on her face. The tiniest smile told me she believed me.

“Christ,” Bruce spat. “I don’t want to hear your eleventh-hour declaration of love. It makes me want to puke.”

I ignored him. I’d gotten my message across, and that’s what mattered. Even if I didn’t get out of this mess alive, Soledad would know how I felt about her and our son. That counted for something, but I wasn’t giving up. While Bruce talked, my mind had been ticking through what I knew about Bruce. I needed to use that knowledge against him. The guy was a narcissist with little understanding of the word “team,” but more than that, Bruce never wanted to take responsibility for his actions. Maybe that was the right angle. All I needed was an opportunity, a moment of weakness, to attack. But I had to get Bruce to loosen his grip on Soledad first, so she had a chance to get out of the line of fire.

“You can blame me for the punishment you got if you want, but you chose a path you knew was wrong all on your own,” I said, goading Bruce. “I was doing my job, respecting the oath we both took.”

“Fuck you and your superior attitude,” Bruce growled. “You always thought you were better than the rest of us. You had to play the perfect Boy Scout, the dutiful soldier. That mission sucked. I got bored. Intelligence gathering? Shit, all we were doing was talking to the locals about farming. So I figured out a way to entertain myself and turn a tidy profit.”

“You sold drugs to your fellow SEALs,” I said. To me, that was the unforgivable part. Engaging in the opium trade was bad enough; hooking our comrades in arms on the junk proved what sort of man Bruce was.

“So? I wasn’t the only one doing it,” Bruce said, as if that were a defense.

“You were the only SEAL,” I shot back.

“Which is why you should have turned a blind eye like everyone else did, Golden Boy. But do you know what he did instead?” Bruce addressed his words to Soledad. “He gathered intelligence on me and turned me in like I was no better than the people we were fighting. Me, his SEAL brother. Me.”

Bruce tapped himself in the head with the gun as he said the word, giving me the opportunity I needed. I lunged forward and knocked the gun from Bruce’s hand. Soledad spun away as Bruce’s hold on her loosened. I gripped Bruce’s arms, taking him down to the floor in an attempt to subdue him.

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