Page 21 of Billionaire Protector

Secrets are sometimes necessary and keeping mine earns 5 stars. I cannot risk anyone discovering the truth.

But Sarah keeping secrets? One star for totally unacceptable. I will discover every last one.

The air held unspeakable danger.

It was as certain as the sky was blue, the earth round, the future uncertain. To the casual observer, the day might not seem any different, at least not of consequence. It was still a hundred degrees in the shade, smelled of rotted earth and death. His flesh felt like it was burning on a hot stove, but when hadn’t it? Yet something was different. Something dangerous, something sinister.

Something was waiting.

“This is wrong.” Cole turned to Jared, his best friend since they’d been two hotshot kids in boot camp. His youthful pal still looked like a kid, and acted like one, too, rarely without a smile.

Even now he grinned. “Everything looks normal to me, buddy, or at least as normal as it gets in this part of the world. You’re letting it get to you.”

Maybe it was his imagination. Unlike Jared, he took everything seriously, searched for every threat. He’d been rewarded with quick promotions and multiple commendations. Yet was he sensing danger where none existed?

A second later, the answer became clear.

A new scent, this one leaving no uncertainty as to its sinister role, arose. Burning chemicals intent on imminent detonation, poised to shatter the world. “It’s a trap!” Cole roared to the men under his command, yet for the dozen ahead, it was already too late. Bombs ripped through the air, devastating the deathly still with their ominous tidings, shattering soldiers, colleagues,friends. As the few men still standing retreated, Cole rushed forward, grabbed who he could, dashing between a world lit up like the Fourth of July and the precarious safety of the chopper. Jared stood in ghostly stillness, the smile still frozen on his face...

Another bomb splintered reality.

“No!” Cole roared. He had to move, had to get to Jared. Heat scorched his skin, smothering him like a thick woolen blanket. He thrashed against the suffocating thickness, as a piercing screech rocked the world once more. “Jared!” he yelled again. And that’s when the world disappeared.

Or actually reappeared. The desert, Jared and the nightmare vanished, the hellish scene replaced by a modest yet comfortable apartment, the oppressive heat by an early morning Florida sun outside cornflower blue curtains. The sand was a bed, the smothering heat, his blanket, but the sweat, that was real. The piercing sounded again, and Cole jumped before he realized its source. Threading a hand through his soaking hair, he grabbed the phone with the other. “Hello?”

“Son?” The concerned voice of his father came through, the only man who could detect the feelings Cole so ruthlessly hid. “Are you okay?”

Cole breathed out, purposely relaxing his body, forcing his adrenaline-fueled heart to calm. He took a second before answering, “I’m fine.”

A pause stretched. “Another nightmare?”

If only he could lie, but this man had taught him the importance of honesty. “It’s no big deal.”

Now that wasn’t entirely true, no matter how much he tried to convince himself. His father knew about the dreams that plagued him most nights, their exposure betrayed when he’d stayed with his parents when he first came to town. His roars could be heard from the garage to the third floor.

“Anything that terrorizes you night after night is a big deal.” His father sighed. “Son, you know what I think.”

Cole gritted his teeth. His parents had made their opinions clear. Their concern: PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition shared by many returning soldiers. Still, it was just nightmares… for the most part. He wouldn’t consider what happened when he’d frozen while clutching the precarious branches of the tree – or who had seen it.

“I’m fine, Dad.” Cole slumped back in bed, untangling himself from the mass of sheets. He threw them in the corner for their daily washing, took more from a neat stack and fitted them on the bed, smoothing every wrinkle until it was crisp and perfect. Then smoothing it again.And again.

Another pause, another thousand hidden judgements, then finally, “I won’t push, son. But if you need me…”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Dad.” Despite his gruff tone, he meant it. Somehow his father still had the power to calm him, even though he was no longer a kid who strove to live up to thetown hero, a task that still seemed unsurmountable, no matter how many deployments he completed.

“I’m sorry to call so early,” his father rumbled. “I thought you’d be up by now. I wanted to ask about your first day on the force.”

Cole tapped his cell phone.8 a.m.Typically, he awoke hours earlier, a throwback to military life. “I slept later than normal. I caught up with Donovan and Scott yesterday, and we stayed out late.”

“It must be nice to reconnect with the guys,” his father gave the expected reply, yet a catch belied the older man’s words, a tinge of displeasure. “Is Donovan still grumbling about Sarah getting promoted instead of him?”

So he hadn’t been the only one to notice. “Yeah.” Cole rubbed the back of his neck, knotted, stiff and achy from the stress. Perhaps he should get a massage. A mental picture of exactly who he wanted to give that massage popped into his head. Of course, it would only be fair that he returned the favor.

He grimaced, forced away traitorous thoughts. “Donovan seemed pretty annoyed.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s like you when it comes to breaking the rules. Once someone makes a mistake, he doesn’t forget.” Strange his dad made it sound like it was a bad thing. The man hadn’t let him get away with a single infraction when he was a kid. “Don’t get caught up in office politics, son.”

“Yes, sir.” Cole passed the mirror, grimaced at the shadows of the man reflected. Dark smudges underscored his eyes, barely hiding the nightmares within. In a word, he looked like hell. He would know – he’d been there.

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