Retribution (Secrets & Lies #3)(43)
“So what do we do? Spend the rest of our lives here?” Melissa asks, and I shake my head. “What?”
“We can’t stay here the rest of our lives, no matter how wonderful a retreat this is,” I tell her gently. “I'm sure people in town are already wondering about us, and with Andrea's baby coming, we can’t just stay up here the whole time. MCS needs us, and more. So we take the fight to Peter, but with help.”
“Who do you know?” Jackson asks, seeing where I'm going.
“I know some men, good men I used to work with in the Special Forces and some less than good men during my time afterward that might be willing to take a contract on Peter. But to go against him or Isis is going to be expensive,” I say, thinking. “I’ll be honest, I don't know if I have the money immediately available to guarantee loyalty. I mean, I have it, but it's tied up offshore.”
“How much are we talking?” Carson asks, and I tap the hood of the truck, calculating in my head.
“At a minimum? Even my closest contacts would not take on Isis for less than a million. For Peter, too? Two million in cash possibly, plus expenses. Whoever takes a contract on Peter knows they will be pissing off a lot of very heavy hitters in the Gulf Coast area. A group like the people I am thinking of has to know they are getting enough to pay for the futures of their widows and children.”
Everyone looks around, knowing the full gravity of what I'm saying. The men and women I want to hire aren't criminal scum, I can't trust that sort of operator. That sort of person would turn on us as soon as the going got tough, or Peter offered them a better cut to turn on us. The people I need to hire are professionals, as professional as Isis, as unfortunate as it sounds to call that psycho a professional.
“Can someone do it without dying?” Katrina asks, and I shrug.
“If they get lucky, and they have time, maybe. I'll need to make some phone calls to see what Major Munchak can assemble for me. He works with some of the best in the country.”
I look around at everyone, and can see it in everyone's face. Once we cross this line, there's no going back. Ironically it's Melissa who nods first, followed by Jackson, then the others. “Okay. I'll make the phone calls this afternoon.”
“Good,” Andrea says, then forces a smile. “So, now that we've gotten that nasty bit out of the way, the good news?”
I look at Melissa, who blushes and takes my hand. “Do you want to tell them or should I?” I ask, and Melissa looks up, smiling. “Okay, you do it.”
“Well, I asked Nathan something,” Melissa continues, moving close enough that I wrap her in a hug. “I asked Nathan to marry me. Uh, Andrea, Carson, do you guys mind if maybe your little ceremony becomes a double wedding?”
“Mind?” Carson asks with a smile and a laugh after the shock of Melissa asking me to marry her wears off. “Of course not. In fact, that sounds like the best idea ever.”
“Well y’all don’t waste any time, do you?” Andrea asks smiling. “But seriously, of course we don’t mind. At this pace we're going to have to rename ourselves to the Brady Bunch by spring.”
I'm watching the sunset while the girls are all inside preparing dinner. I don't really think it’s needed, but Katrina insisted. “Besides,” she told me as she shooed me out the door, “we already bought the steaks. So if not tonight, when?”
Her logic was pretty much inarguable, so I'm out here now, watching the sun go down in the west over the last of the hills. I'm thinking of the bloody road ahead of us, and how much I wish it didn't have to happen. Jackson and Carson are in the chapel getting some exercise in, and I think I'd rather take a day to just finish healing up. Besides, I got engaged today, doesn't that grant a man a day off from exercise?
Just as the sun dips below the horizon, Carson comes out, tugging his sweatshirt straight as he comes over while Jackson goes inside. “Hey Nathan, how's the sunset?”
“Dramatic. How was your workout?” I ask, and he chuckles. “What?”
“I thought I could fight before getting to know you people,” he says with a discouraged shake of his head. “I mean, I scrapped all the time when I was younger, usually starting shit with guys who'd harass Melissa until the word got around, but you guys hand me my ass every time I try to do anything.”
I hum, and watch the sky some more. Carson stays totally still, patient in the way that I can appreciate, waiting for me to reply. “You know, the thing that makes American Special Forces so damn good isn't that each person in the team is a superman?”
“Really? Then what does?”
“Teamwork,” I reply, choosing my words carefully. “We all acknowledged and coordinated with each other. In that team, I knew the strengths and weaknesses of each of my brothers, and I trusted my leaders to put us in the right places at the right time. Carson, each person in this family has their strengths and weaknesses. Jackson's our heavy hitter, Katrina's our hacker, and if I go down I expect her to be the leader. Andrea's smart, even if she isn't a fighter, although she could be. You... you're our patience, and our sniper. If Isis ever comes here, you're the one I'd want to counter her with a rifle.”
“I've never fired a rifle in my life though,” Carson says, squatting down. “And playing with pistols doesn't exactly make me a great sniper.”