Chapter 3

GABRIEL

^FIFTEEN YEARS AGO…^

^Helmand Valley, Afghanistan^

“Trouble is waiting, mavericks. Let’s do what we do best,” Corporal Seth Marshall commanded. Lance Corporal Mason Hamman stopped the Hummer, and Seth, PFC Tia Morales, and Gabe slipped out the door. The other members of their unit climbed out the other door. The six of them climbed the desert dune with easy steps, staying close to the ground so they weren’t noticed by the group of insurgents that Seth spotted.

Gabe could feel his heart pounding as he dropped to his stomach and shimmied to the top of the dune. He took a deep breath, blinked the sweat out of his eyes, and lifted the scope of his rifle to follow the insurgents moving around their camp.

“They're dropping mines in the road, Corporal,” Gabriel mumbled into his mike.

“That confirms their friendliness,” Seth murmured back.

“There are about fifteen of them, plus the two at the road,” Kenzie Roundtree said as she dropped onto the sand beside Seth. “They are all heavily armed with M-16 rifles, but I saw a stack of crates, so I suspect they have more firepower. I also saw an RPG launcher standing against the crates.”

“Great. It sounds like they want to take an offensive stand for our main route.” Seth radioed the new information to the base and listened to the response. Gabe admired his friend’s coolness and often took his cues from Seth. No matter what was happening around them, he could count on Seth to remain calm. They had all graduated basic training together and had been in several tight spots over the last few months and had proven themselves in battle. They had become Gabe’s family, and he trusted them with his life.

“Morales, can you disarm the mine from here?” Gabe bit back a smile as she arched her brow at Seth before turning to assess the distance.

“I’d need a bit of a lift. I can’t see it without elevation.”

“How much elevation?” Gabriel asked.

She rocked her head from side to side as she did the math. “Five feet?”

He nodded and then tapped Seth on the shoulder. “She can use our shoulders as leverage.”

“Um, mavericks…we’re coming to the mine. Time is short here.”

The three of them looked at each other as Mason’s voice came over the radio. Seth made sure everyone was in place before focusing on Finn, who was signing that the crates he was shielded by had some serious firepower, and Gabriel whistled softly. Kenzie grew up in a hearing-impaired home, and she had taught them all to sign, something Gabe enjoyed immensely. It was an aid when they were in tight situations, especially in Gabe’s personal life.

“Listen up, mavericks. We need to take them out without touching those crates. The one who does, cleans the bathrooms for a week. Hear me?” Seth demanded.

“Yes, sir,” the team affirmed. With a nod, Seth and Gabriel stood up shoulder-to-shoulder, both equally tall at six-three, and Tia scrambled up their backpacks till she was perched on the top, each of them holding her knees to keep her steady. She was so tiny; they barely felt her weight on their packs. She lifted her rifle to her shoulder, made a tiny adjustment on the telescope, and pulled the trigger. Her body rocked slightly at the recoil of the heavy rifle, but she kept her balance as she aimed at her next target.

The sand puffed up where she had hit her target before the explosion reached them, and seconds later, the insurgents ran out of the tents and fired at their Hummer as it plowed through the flying grains of sand. Tia fired four more times, each time hitting her target with precision, and Gabe knew he was going to hear about her marksmanship for months to come. The competition was friendly but fierce between the three of them.

“Your turn,” she said, tapping Gabriel on his head, and then fell back from her six-foot-three perch, her eyes staring up at the wide blue sky, a perfectly round hole between them.

^PRESENT DAY…^

“Tia!”

Gabe’s blood pounded loudly in his ears as he sat up in bed, the sheet sticking to his sweat-soaked body as he struggled to breathe. He inhaled deeply through his nose, counted to five, and slowly exhaled through his mouth. He glanced at the huge clock on the wall across from his bed as he practiced the breathing exercises. Three-fifteen.

With a sigh, he got to his feet, pulling on track pants and a T-shirt before tying the laces to his running shoes. He strapped the pouch holding his phone to his left arm and placed the buds into his ears, Bon Jovi’s “Have A Nice Day” setting his rhythm as he left the house and started a slow run. Gabe’s pace increased as he tried to shake the nightmare from his mind.

Tia had been the first casualty from his unit. He could still feel the heaviness of the silence that had surrounded their unit on their return to base camp, the dramatic beauty of the Helmand Valley in Afghanistan lost in their grief. The day they lost Tia was also when Seth was told his daughter died, and Gabriel was sure he had lost one of his best friends. He would never forget the devastation in Seth’s eyes or the mechanical soldier he became when he returned to the unit, earning the nickname ~Terminator~. Gabe hated the name. He had feared the man Seth became, making a silent oath never to leave Seth’s side. Seth had accused Gabe of being his ~Jiminy Cricket~, making the name stick in the unit. It was a relief when Seth told him he was leaving active duty to take up a training position in San Diego. That was the first time in five years he had seen his friend look…~human~.

Part of the reason why Gabriel had not been to see Seth since he returned home was that he didn’t want to remind Seth of his dark days. They had stayed in contact, and Gabe had been happy that Seth had found someone who gave his soul some peace. Gabe didn’t want to disturb that.

A movement down one of the alleys caught his attention, and he slowed his pace. In the faint glow of the streetlight, he saw a figure running toward him, the flash of a knife in his hand. Without breaking his pace, Gabe lifted his knee, knocking the runner on his chest. In the same motion, Gabriel took hold of the hand holding the knife and twisted the wrist, making the guy drop the knife. Before the youth—Gabriel saw the young face when the boy fell under the glare of the light—could react, Gabe had him pinned to the sidewalk, his wrists held firmly between his shoulders, with a knee placed in the small of the boy’s back.

“Wow, thanks,” a tall deputy said as she crouched next to Gabe and searched the boy before cuffing him. “You’ve got some moves, civilian.”

“I had to learn them somewhere,” he responded, as another deputy pulled up at the curb.

“Well, well, well… Blow my socks off, Felicity! If it isn’t Jiminy in the flesh!”

Gabe’s head reared up at the familiar voice, joy, and anxiety mixing wildly as he looked at his old friend. But the welcome he found when he looked at Seth let him know that he had nothing to fear. Without hesitation, Seth embraced Gabriel, and the years melted away. Gabe was an only child, and Seth had been a brother to him since their boot camp days. He never thought they would be this close again.

“Jiminy, huh?” Felicity said after she closed the door, the perpetrator firmly secured in the patrol vehicle. Her blue eyes gave a flash of humor as she sized him up. “Aren’t you a bit big to be a ~Jiminy~?”

“Aren’t you a bit pretty to be a deputy?” he retorted.

She gasped in shock, closed her mouth as she tilted her head, and then glanced at Seth before giving a casual shrug. “Someone has to be the reason why the guys are signing up.”

Gabe laughed. “You’ll have me sign up even if I was still fourteen.”

“You’re not though, are you?” she asked skeptically.

“Before this shit becomes real and you’re naming your grandkids, Gabe, this is Felicity Rhodes,” Seth intervened. “Felice, Gabriel Von Ashner.”

She looked at Seth during the introduction and was about to shake his hand when she twisted around to Seth again. “~That~ Gabe?”

“Yip, ~that~ Gabe.” Seth nodded.

“Wait! ~What Gabe~?” Gabe asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“The ~Gabe~ who is back in town and didn't come and greet an old friend.”

Gabe narrowed his eyes at Seth’s diversion.

“Are you on leave? How long are you back for?” Seth asked.

Gabe shook his head. “Not on leave. I’m officially retired.”

“No, shit! Welcome to hours of not knowing what to do with yourself,” Seth teased.

“You obviously haven’t met my grandma,” Gabe retorted, thinking of the long list of chores she handed him after his date with Tracy.

“Would she give you an hour free to have breakfast with Indie and me tomorrow—later?” Seth corrected himself when he checked his watch.

“Tell me where,” Gabe said as Seth indicated that he handed over his phone. “Hey! I retired at a higher rank than you!”

“I beat you by ten years and was ranked higher when I finished, so I’ll always be your CO.”

“Sure…,” Gabe drawled as he replaced the device in its pouch after Seth added his number.

“Marshall, we need to go.” Felicity walked to the passenger-side door of Seth's vehicle. Seth nodded as he clasped Gabriel’s hand and pulled him in for another embrace. She tilted her head as she looked at the two men. “Wait…how did you know his password?”

Seth laughed. “There are only four other people who know Gabe’s weakness, and Gabe doesn’t change all that much.”

“Geez, thanks for calling me a stickler.”

“Nope,” Seth disagreed as he opened his door, looking Gabe straight in the eye. “It makes you dependable.”