Page 63 of SEAL Mates

“Slowly, but surely after following in not to alarm him, we managed to track Stacey down to the woods. She was fine. She said she thought it was a game and she got to eat as much as she liked, and even better her brother wasn’t around.”

I was relieved that she was fine, but then as an ex-SEAL, I knew what it meant to be confused about life in general but it didn’t make it right.

“So, what does that mean? The guy’s arrested and is he really Stacey’s dad?”

Paula asked and while Alec was talking I was too lost in my thoughts to even think about that side of the story. Sure, Alec had said that the guy thought he was her dad.

“Yeah they’ll do a DNA test, but by the sound of things. One doesn’t need to be done. Anyway, he’s been arrested and he’ll go through the system.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t get it. The guy kidnapped a kid, but yet both of you sound sad. Did I miss something?”

Paula asked as she walked in front of Alec. I slumped back on his bed, thinking that it would be a clear cut case. We would get the monster, celebrate and then move on. But, now it made sense why Alec had sent a text, because he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone and I knew more than anyone the reason why.

“You go into the Navy feeling like a hero. Feeling as if you are going to do something so fucking special that people will be treating you like Gods. Most of us. Well, I know for me anyway, when we go in, we have nothing. Sure some have families, they’re most likely signing up cause their fathers did and their fathers before them did too. But then there’s some like Alec who just want to do good for the country. We believe in the cause and believe our lives will change as a result.”

I took a deep breath as I decided to tell her the ugly truth of it all.

“Some of us, I think most likely like that poor man. Come out feeling like a monster. He probably tried to reach out to the mom. Tell her that he wants to be a part of her life, then she rejected them.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Alec said as he turned to face me.

“And now, he’s out and has nothing and no one. He wants to be apart of her life. I was fucking lucky that I had Alec.”

I didn’t know if she understood, neither did I care. I had a feeling I knew who the poor soul was, and I decided that as both Alec and I tried to explain it to Paula, we both feel the same. We knew what he did was wrong, but we felt sorry for him. Sorry for whatever had driven him to kidnap her. Even if it was a crime.

* * *

“This is a fucking shit show!” I shouted at Alec, once Paula was out and shopping with Carol. Funny, she always wanted us out of the house when she was cooking and cleaning, but she’d hit it with Paula from the start.

“One week, you said. Get her in one week. Do these damn interviews and she will be on her way. None of it made sense at the time. We went along with it, but it was a mistake from the fucking start.”

Alec shook his head, he thought that I became this backward hillbilly whenever I did it. He’d voiced it so many times.

“Do you have to be like that?”

He asked as he headed to the fridge no doubt to get a bottle of beer. He did and motioned to me, if I wanted one. I shook my head, thinking I needed to get back to the garage and sort out a few things.

“I know. I know. I thought one week, would show us if we needed a woman. Someone in our lives, who could share and then…I suppose all of this shows that I didn’t get that far.”

I nodded in agreement. “You didn’t get further than a week did you?”

“No.”

“She has kids there’s no way we could ask her to stay longer. It’s been two weeks already and Greg said that he was coming in the next couple of days right?”

“He did.”

He sipped his beer, and seemed more interested in finishing it than this conversation. This was Alec’s weakness, he wasn’t the type of person who did confrontation. He didn’t do well with it at all. He tended to sweep it under the carpet, but he didn’t when he wanted Paula to move in. He’d grown some balls then.

“You have to do it Alec.You have to make her stay or get her to stay.”

He dropped the bottle onto the workspace. I expected him to deny it, and tell me that I was out of line.

“I know. I just don’t know how to get the words out. I have to offer her something worth staying here for.”

I went to the fridge and got out another bottle of beer. I decided that I would join him. I needed it as much as he did right now.

“I will. I just have to figure out how.”

I passed him his bottle, and as he confirmed that he would do it, I didn’t feel shit about the whole situation. My brother hadn’t lost his balls, he’d grown them and I knew if anyone could convince Paula it was him, and he would do it.

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