Page 37 of Securing Samantha

Ash cleared his throat again. “I heard Whiskey coming down the corridor after hearing the gunfire. I didn't want Whiskey to die. I threw the grenade, hoping he stood far enough away from the blast it only stunned him. Instead, Whiskey launched himself over Olaf. When the dust settled, I found him unconscious. Rahimi said he’d get him medical care and negotiate a release. I knew you’d refuse to leave without your men accounted for. I yanked Whiskey's dog tags and his boot laid on the ground. I saw the burned hand and knew they couldn’t lift fingerprints. I set up the scene and waited until you found me,” Ash felt no remorse for anything he did to Leo. Ash turned his guilt filled eyes to meet Whiskey’s. “I never meant to hurt you. I thought Rahimi would hold up his deal and after a couple of weeks we’d receive word you survived. Mistakes happen all the time during missions.”

As if the revelation broke the lock holding the painful moment in his brain. The reel pushed forward. He saw Olaf jerk as the bullets pierced his body. He turned the corner and saw Ash standing next to the enemy. His brain reasoned at the time Rahimi held Ash. The shock of Ash pulling the grenade and throwing it in the direction of Olaf sent Whiskey into flight. The movie in his brain slowed as if he watched his body launch high in the air to cover his brother. He glanced down and saw Olaf’s empty eyes staring back at him and knew he was gone. Fear hit him. For the first time, adrenaline didn’t push him through a mission. Visions of his Sunshine and baby boy filled him as he commanded his body to live as his body collided with Olaf’s and rubble covered them.

“You sent me to that hell hole?” Whiskey's entire body shook. Saint crouched by his chair. He murmured something but Whiskey felt too far gone. “I lost my wife and baby boy because you’re nothing but a piece of shit.” Whiskey shouted. Saint held him back, hugging his friend to his chest.

“I think you best continue, Ash. We need the full story, but I ain't gonna lie. I don't know what happened to the man I called my brother. My friend. Your soul is blacker than the devil himself.” Saint's southern drawl went deep as he comforted his friend.

His stomach rolled, he swallowed acrid bile to keep from vomiting, but he needed to hear what else Ash did. His body shook in rage and pain.

His chest constricted as he listened to Ash gloat to Leo concerning Catherine. Ash no longer remained his friend or brother. He destroyed everything Whiskey held precious. He ripped apart their team of brothers and killed his marriage over some vendetta against Leo.

“Did you know of Whiskey’s presence in the camp? Did you hear your brother scream as he endured torture on a daily basis?”

The team turned in unison to face him. When Whiskey saw the truth in Ash's eyes, his face crumbled as a loud wail reverberated through the room.

He barely heard the rest of Ash’s story. The sounds in the room became muffled as the movie reel started again. The days of starvation, the beatings, fighting dogs for the meager amount of food while suffering the bites, the fleas. He suffered it all to get back to his Sunshine and his unborn son. Now he lost them forever.

His ears roared as Ash described to Doc how he helped James Stanton get Kassie, making Samantha and LJ collateral damage. If Leo didn’t manage to kill the bastard, he vowed to do it himself. Rage shook him. His life annihilated all because of someone he thought of as a brother. Despair filled him.

A phone call sent the team in a million directions and Whiskey walked right out the door feeling like a walking ghost among his men. Maybe he wasn’t meant to survive after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Samantha turned off the front lights and turned over the sign. She went into the back and turned on the lights. She rolled her suitcase over and began to straighten her hair. She didn’t usually wear it straight. She felt like a different person. Maybe the last six weeks changed her. Shadow called and asked to pick up LJ.

When he and Taco picked her son up, Shadow asked to speak with her. Taco took LJ down to Bryanna’s.

“Here’s a list of LJ’s bedtime routine. I know you’ve taken him on outings which didn’t require a routine, but I want Whiskey to start getting into a habit of sticking to routines if we plan to coparent.” She walked around the corner to grab LJ’s suitcase when she heard Shadow close the door.

“I need to tell you something. Whiskey asked me to pick up LJ. He’s in a bad space. Ash was killed. Kassie and Catherine were kidnapped by the men who held Ash and Whiskey hostage. We got to them. Whiskey disappeared, but we found him. He’s struggling Samantha.”

She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry he’s hurting. Shadow, I can’t be half in and half out of his life. It hurts too much. Did he tell you about the argument? He flipped out over a picture Becky took of my business partner, me, and LJ in New York. He divorced me,” she didn’t bother to hide the hurt in her voice.

“Whiskey’s done stupid shit, I get it. He’s gone dark,” Shadow stuck up for his friend.

Samantha sat on the edge of the salon chair. “Between me and you, not the team.” She gestured between herself and Shadow. Once he nodded, she knew he’d take her secret to the grave.

“The night Whiskey served the divorce papers, I found him at Sharkey’s,” she told Shadow.

Shadow turned to face her at her revelation. She texted saying she found him and to call off the search.

“I found his phone in the cabin. I searched it for any clues to where he might go. I saw a text from Sharkey,” she confessed.

Shadow’s eyes widened at her revelation. He reached out and held her hand to comfort her as if he knew what she planned to say next.

“At first, I thought I wasted my time driving to Seattle. I searched the bar and turned to leave when some annoying man kept whistling. I finally turned around to tell the jerk no one cared to hear him when I spotted Whiskey at the bar. He wasn’t alone. He picked up a very pretty woman and left with her.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“The last few months turned my world on its axis. Never in my life did I ever envision myself with someone besides Whiskey. God, I loved him. I’ll always be grateful for every moment your team and Chase lifted me up. Moving me here and helping me with LJ. Whether it meant sitting up all night with him when he became colicky or padding my paycheck, ensuring I made enough money to purchase meds for my dad. Now, Whiskey needs you guys more than I do. I’m sorry to hear about Catherine and Kassie and happy to hear you rescued them. I understand why Kassie didn’t say anything to me concerning my husband’s existence. Not to say I’m happy about it, but I understand. The day James Stanton held a knife to my son’s throat, he ordered Jameson to kill me and LJ. Kassie scooped up Emma and walked from the room. She didn’t even glance in my direction. My best friend left my son and I to die. I thank my lucky stars every day Jameson saved us. Whiskey made his choice before he even came home to me. He told me my Liam doesn’t exist. It isn’t true, ya know. I see him every day when I look into my son’s eyes. I see the man who risked his life to save someone else. I’ll always love him, and I grieve for him every day. For everything he lost, for what my son lost and what some evil man took from us. I’m trying to keep everything peaceful between us for LJ’s sake. It hurts, Shadow. It hurts so damn bad,”

Shadow pulled her into his arms and let her cry. “We made a promise to watch over you. When we found Whiskey, our focus changed, and we left you hanging in the wind. We needed to support you too. Shit got a bit crazy but I’m sorry we failed you.”

“You and the team never left my side. Maybe I loved keeping you close because you kept the memory of my husband alive. When I saw him sitting there on the chair, I naively believed it didn’t matter what he suffered. My love for him would take all those broken pieces and heal him. I prepared myself to fight the demons in my husband’s head. I went to the sessions, I read, researched, and attended therapy. I prepared my son. You don’t know what it’s like to sit in therapy and hear him say I suffocated him. He tried one time and gave up on us. They say sometimes when a person dies, you make the person immortal. Maybe I made our marriage bigger than what it was.”

“Come on, you don’t truly believe you imagined what you two created. You and Whiskey had a perfect marriage. I always envied his relationship with you,” Shadow told her.

“Our marriage carried the same trials all marriages do. But it was perfect for Liam and me. We did everything as a team and worked at it. The truth is, I don’t know the man who came home in his place. He doesn’t know us. And the Liam I saw with the woman at the bar, isn’t the man who loved me beyond measure.” Samantha moved to the cabinet and pulled out a candle to Shadow. “When he’s restless, burn this candle. I noticed he relaxes when he smells the lavender. It might settle his mind. If he wanted me there, he knows how to text me. I’m respecting the boundaries he placed, and I hope you understand.”

Shadow took the candle and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re a strong woman, Samantha O’Neil. Whiskey needs you more than either of you realize. I hope one of these days my brother will realize what’s missing and you’ll run to him with open arms or there’s no hope for the rest of us.”

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