Page 6 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

“Hopefully, if Thomas finds anything at the site, it’ll help you guys out,” Jake stated. “Wyatt knows how to get into my apartment. Take him with you and get the intel.”

Asher grunted. “Just like that, huh?”

Jake stared at his former commander. He wasn’t asking to rejoin the team. Only offering his assistance, if he could, without getting in the way. Jake was suspended until further notice. Hell, it’d been four years. All things considered, he figured Asher would have retired his ass or worse, fired him by now. “It’s been four years, Asher. I’m not assuming shit. I’ll help you anyway I can, but I also know I’ve done some fucked up shit too.”

“We reactivated you the night you came in, asshole. Your badges, biometrics, everything all work now. The two guys we told you about when you skidded into the base are in holding cells. When you feel up to it, you can have a nice long chat with them.” Asher grinned. “As for living arrangements, Ginger, Fawn, and Declan are in the family apartments. Which will change again, to a home out in the cove, where we’re living now. This place is for work. It’s no longer our home.”

Jake whistled. “I’ve missed everything, it seems.”

The door swung open seconds later and a soft sob drew his attention to Ginger before she smacked the shit out of him. Asher cleared his throat to cover his laugh. “And with that, I’m out of here for now. I’ll add your information to the evidence we’re collecting as we investigate what happened. Ginger, be good to him. He’s still recovering.” Asher closed the door behind him, leaving Jake with his ex-wife, daughter, and her little brother.

“Don’t youeverdo something that crazy or stupid ever again, Jake,” Ginger sobbed as she pressed her forehead to his chest and cried. “I could have lost you, too.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So fucking sorry I couldn’t have been there sooner.” He ripped the blood pressure cuff off his arm—Rae could chew his ass out later—and wrapped his good arm around Ginger.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she mumbled against his torso. He was an asshole for enjoying the feel of his ex-wife, the one woman he never stopped loving in his arms.The woman who’d just lost her husband, asshole.

He glanced up at the soft sniffle of his daughter and motioned for her and her baby brother to join her mother and him. “Hey, baby girl, are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, scared though.” She frowned, hoisting her little brother up in her arms. “So is Declan.” Fawn came around the bed to stand on Jake’s left side. “I lost my hearing aids.”

So, she was reading lips. Jake frowned. Her hearing aids were a lifeline to Fawn. She was learning sign language from her assistant at school, and he’d also been taking online courses to learn, so she’d never have to worry. Like his, Fawn’s world was changing. He wanted her to enjoy whatever time she had left in her hearing world with those hearing aids. They took the burden off of having to pay such close attention to everything around her. “Don’t worry, we’ll get another set. I’m sure Rae can help us out.” He hit the call button on his bed. “Why don’t you and Declan go grab some breakfast—” he glanced at Ginger, who nodded. “And then later on, if Rae says I can get out of here, you can teach me some cool new signs, because I know you have to be learning them.”

Fawn grinned and some of the shadows banking her emerald-green eyes drifted away. “Sounds like fun. We can teach Declan too.”

“We can,” he agreed before kissing Fawn’s forehead. “I love you, baby doll.”

“Love you too, Daddy,” Fawn murmured.

“You rang, grumpy?” Rae said, stepping into the room.

“Can you help Fawn out? Her hearing aids were probably destroyed in the fire, and she needs them for school.” Jake asked, hopeful, like with Mateo, Rae and Asher could work their magic and get another set ‘ears,’ for Jake’s daughter.

“I think we can do that,” Rae answered, smiling at Fawn. “If you can tell me who her specialist is, I’ll make the call and see what we can get done.”

“They also need some breakfast,” Jake hurried to add. “Is there someone who can swing that right now? Please?”

Again, Rae nodded. “Sure can.” She stepped outside for a minute and when she returned, the girl from the night Jake arrived stood beside Rae. She wore the same BDUs as the team and wore a set of dog tags like his. The young girl—woman couldn’t be over the age of nineteen, maybe twenty, but to Jake, that was pushing her age. “This is Specialist Bexley Hannover-Aquino. But we call her Bex. She’ll be helping Fawn and little Declan get settled for the next couple of days until we can leave.”

“Nice to meet you, Lt. Commander O’Malley.” Bexley held her hand out to Jake. “I’ll protect your daughter and son.”

The boy wasn’t his, but no one seemed inclined to tell her differently and for now, neither would he. Nor would he be correcting her about his title. Hell, he’d been second-in-command for so long, not having the title any more, well, he didn’t know what to call himself. “Thank you, Bexley—Bex. Excuse me for prying, but Hannover-Aquino? Are you by chance Noah’s daughter and Mateo’s?”

She grinned. “They’re my adoptive parents, yes.”

“Huh,” Jake grunted, then tried to laugh before grimacing. “Learn new shit every day.”

“Pay attention to what Bexley tells you,” Ginger said, signing and talk louder for Fawn.

“I-I’m sorry, are you d-deaf?” Bexley’s stutter surprised Jake more than the fact Noah and Mateo actually adopted a kid. “I don’t mean to be rude, b-but so is Scotty.”

Hehe—so he was. Jake completely forgot. “She’s losing her hearing gradually, Bex. Her hearing aids are gone, so we’re making do.”

“Understood, sir.” Bexley grinned, then spoke louder. “Let’s go get some food, then I’ll introduce you to Scotty.”

Once Bexley exited the room and Rae had gone back to whatever she’d been doing before he’d hit the call button, he patted the bed beside him for Ginger to sit. He couldn’t imagine the grief she was dealing with. Besides losing her home, she’d lost her husband. The terror of being chased and shot at. The notion her and the kids almost died as well... This was why he pushed her away.

The thought, even the inkling of someone from a mission who caught a whiff of his wife and kid, then trying to use them against Jake, detonated something inside of him, turning him into a feral beast. He realized early on he couldn’t concentrate on what he should be doing if he was constantly thinking about home. Now, his worst fears had come true, and he wasn’t even the person who caused the issue.

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