Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Rescuing Pandora (Kindle Worlds Novella) (4 page)

C
am woke with a start
.
What the hell was that?
Grabbing his gun from the nightstand, he crept through the unfamiliar house. His body ached, but he didn’t take the pain pills any longer and he didn’t bother with a shirt, preferring to let the still healing wounds on his shoulder and hip get some air. He hadn’t even bothered with shoes, which didn’t help when his little toe found the edge of some ancient piece of furniture left in the house.

“Son of a—”

“Careful, you’re in the presence of ladies,” she whispered.

Her voice stroked over him like a healing balm, taking the edge off his caution. Lowering the gun, he turned toward the laundry room at the back of the house, to where he heard Pandora and some kind of godawful noise.

“What is that?” He stopped at the door but couldn’t see anything except her. Pandora wore a big gauzy nightgown that looked like something a Victorian lady might wear. It covered her down to her knees, which peeked out at him from where she sat on the floor. “And why are you in the laundry room sitting on the floor?”

He squatted down as the caterwauling started again. Now that his eyes had adjusted, he could see an enormous cat sitting in his laundry basket. He’d seen that cat out in the barn a couple times, but she always ran when he got close.

“She’s about to give birth,” Pandora said, reaching over to pet the kitty. “She came and got me.”

“What do you mean, she came and got you? And those are my pants she’s about to give birth on.”

Pandora chuckled softly. “She and I have been friends since I got here, so she sat by my bedroom window until I woke up and followed her over here. Mama cats will do that sometimes.”

Cam watched as she circled his clothes, mewing and sitting, only to get up and pace again. “I don’t know that my pants are up for the miracle of birth. Can we move her?”

“I don’t think so.” She looked at the gun he still held in one hand. “Unless you plan on shooting her, why don’t you put that away and grab a couple of towels.”

He looked down at the gun. It was just an extension of his hand after so many years in danger. “Be right back.”

It really didn’t matter that his favorite jeans were about to be destroyed; what mattered was that Pandora was in his home. Hopefully, her home too, at some point. It was dark in the room, but the harsh bare bulb seemed too much, so he lit some candles and grabbed a couple of towels out of the bathroom and headed back.

“I found some light,” he said, proud of himself for not kicking anything on the way back.

“Jesus, Cam. Look at you.”

She’d seen the ugly red wounds that actually felt better than they looked. He didn’t even bother to look. He didn’t dwell on it. “I’m a mess, but they missed all the vital spots.”

Reaching out, she almost touched him, but the cat let out a sound that was like an elongated grunt/growl, and they both turned to the basket in time to see a tiny kitten make its way into the world. Mama kitty was a big orange, white, and black Calico, but kitten number one was black as night. Taking a towel, Pandora picked up the gooey baby and rubbed it until it let out a little high pitched yowl.

“How do you know what to do?” Cam asked, amazed. He felt like a nervous father, sitting next to the women and having no idea what to do.

“I sometimes forget what a city boy you are. While you were in Delta, you always seemed to know everything,” she laughed. “I grew up on a farm and have helped Dad deliver just about every kind of animal. You want to catch the next one?”

“Are you sure?”

She smiled, a beautiful tilt of her lips, and nodded. “If you plan on being a farmer or rancher, then you need to learn. Might as well start small.”

The next one out was a grey and white striped baby. Cam picked it up and rubbed it gently, the way he’d seen Pandora do, until the little guy started wiggling and making noise. He let out the breath he’d been holding and placed him down by the mama’s head, so she could inspect the newest one. And when she was done, the new mama had six little babies searching for a nipple. Pandora moved the family to an empty moving box with clean towels.

“I would have loved seeing my son born,” he whispered. It was more to himself, but he saw Pandora sigh and get to her feet.

“I think I need a beer,” she said.

“You read my mind.”

Cam led the way into the kitchen, where they stood side by side, washing their hands. It was companionable and not the least bit sexy, but the smell of roses lifted from her hair and Cam could feel his body tense and react. It wasn’t something he was about to act on, however, because they needed to talk.

Taking their beer into the front room, they sat on the leather couch and Cam held his bottle up. “To the new mama.”

“Hear, hear,” Pandora said solemnly.

“Tell me about Mohammed.” It was something he wanted to know about, not that he begrudged the man, but he could see the pain in Pan’s eyes, and not all of it was because of the way he’d left her, twice. She sucked in a breath and took a long swallow.

“I want to hear about that last mission. Technically, you died first, so I want to know what happened.”

Cam nodded. She was right, he owed it to her to explain. “We were ambushed because our guide sold us out. We’d been working with this guy for a couple of years, and no one guessed he was playing us all. We got too close to one of the secret bases they have and he led us right into a damned trap.”

He could feel his throat close up and his heart thudded hard, making his chest hurt. Taking his own long drink of the cold beer, he let it slide down his constricted throat and tried to relax. But he could still hear the screams of his men as they took bullets and shrapnel from the damn IEDs that were thrown at them. The smell of the gun powder and smoke was as real for him today as it had been then.

Cam felt her cool hand on his clenched fist that lay in his lap. When he looked up, Pandora had moved closer, setting her drink on the table, and holding his hand in hers. “Remember Flea?”

She nodded and smiled. “He always bounced around, just excited to be an Operator. He was the youngest member of the team.”

“He threw himself in front of me when one of the insurgents hit us with explosives. I took part of the blast in the hip and it slammed us both back into a brick wall. When I woke up, Hawk was scraping him off of me.”

Tears rolled down her face as she whispered, “Oh, God.”

“He was so young,” Cam’s voice broke. “Hawk and I found Blue barely alive. Hell, we were all shot to shit and bleeding everywhere. But we managed to hole up in the next village until back-up arrived. We hid in one of the cellars for two days, thinking we were going to die, and all I could think about was getting home to you.”

He didn’t tell her about the rescue or waking up in the hospital only to find out that Pandora had died in a car bombing. He didn’t tell her about the wild impulse he had of staying drugged into a stupor so he didn’t have to deal with it. Instead, he let himself be recruited by the CIA and he set about making sure that ISIS was wiped off the planet. Hawk and Blue had signed up as well, but he wasn’t sure where they were now.

When he was quiet for so long, Pandora started talking. Still squeezing his hand, she began, “I just remember getting into the car with the ambassador. I was numb because I’d been told that you were never coming home to me just the day before, but the meeting we had was too important to cancel. There was a terror threat for the Embassy and we were all being watched. I’d received several threats already, but it was part of the job and the meeting that day was about the threats and where they were coming from.” She stopped and sucked in a deep breath. “We hadn’t even gone ten feet when the bomb went off.”

Cam listened quietly, feeling their pain stretch between them like a rubber band, contracting and expanding. It was an infection that needed to be cleansed, ripped open and checked to make sure it didn’t spread. “Did you know you were pregnant?”

She shook her head. “Imagine my surprise. I was so confused. I’d been bent over picking up a pen from the floorboard when the blast happened. I wasn’t belted in, so the ambassador took most of the shrapnel. They said he died instantly. I was thrown free of the car. I pieced together what must have happened from what little memory I had.”

Letting out a big sigh, she continued. “Mohammed was there.” She took another long drink. “I’d known him for a long time, and he’d helped me understand the customs so that I wouldn’t offend anyone. He saw the explosion and ran to the car. I was the only one alive, so he picked me up and drove me to a private hospital before emergency personnel could even respond.”

“Thank God he didn’t wait.”

She nodded. “He told me that if I did everything that the doctors told me, they might be able to save my baby.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and Cam freed his hand to catch a couple, using his thumb to wipe the moisture away. “I didn’t care then; I just wanted to die,” she whispered. “There was no memory of the bomb, but when I first woke up I remembered you were dead.”

“I went through the same thing,” he said, hearing the shame in her voice. “Never be ashamed of having those thoughts. You overcame it, and it made you stronger.”

She shrugged, “It wasn’t until months later that I came out of that dark place. Sammy kicked me and it jolted me so hard that it was like the blindfold had been ripped off.” She smiled and put a hand over her flat stomach. “I looked down and realized I was really pregnant and that it was your baby inside me—that I hadn’t lost you after all.”

Cam couldn’t stand it; he gathered Pandora into his arms and pulled her close, pillowing her head against his good shoulder. “I’m so sorry, honey. Sorry you went through all of that because of me.”

He could feel her shake her head against him, “I knew who I married, and I was fully aware of what it meant to be the wife of a Special Forces soldier. Besides, my job wasn’t exactly safe either. We both knew that.”

“Tell me the rest,” he said, as she pulled away slightly.

“I owed Mohammed my life and the life of my son. Initially, he told the staff he was my husband so that he could protect me. The ambassador and I were the specific targets of that attack. Several other bombs had gone off that day, and I was lost in the shuffle. I was written off as deceased.” She shook her head and turned away, staring at something only she could see. “And then, as time went on, he said he loved me and wanted to take care of me and my child. He paid for it all—the bills, the physical therapy. Everything. I can’t even imagine what it cost and he would never tell me.” Her eyebrows knitted. “I’d known him a long time and I never realized that he felt that way about me.”

“I looked for documentation of your marriage, but I couldn’t find anything.”

Pandora turned back and stared at him for a moment before she cocked her head to the side. “You wouldn’t because I couldn’t go through with a ceremony, and I was legally dead, according to the world. So Mohammed had documentation forged in case he was ever questioned.”

“And he accepted that?” Cam couldn’t fathom the man not wanting to tie Pandora to him in any way possible.

“He knew I didn’t love him, not like that. I grew to care for him very much, but I didn’t have the ability to love him like I—”

“Loved me.”

She fluttered her fingers lightly over the puckered wound on his shoulder. The frown that turned her mouth down in worry caused his stomach to tighten. Jesus, even frowning she was beautiful. Pandora was as perfect to him today, having gone through all she had, as the first day he’d seen her—still in college and excited about everything.

“What about your parents?” he asked. “Why didn’t you ever let them know you were alive?”

“Mohammed had contacts with the American Embassy and found out that not only the ambassadors and liaisons were in danger, but that threats had been made against our families. I wouldn’t let him contact my parents in case they were being watched.” Her voice stopped and stuttered, “So much time had passed by then and I couldn’t face my old life.” She pulled back and looked at him. “I was a coward, but I couldn’t even think of the possibility that some sleeper ISIS cell would kill my parents. I just couldn’t. Some days I held onto my sanity by my fingertips, and that would have pushed me over the edge. It was safer if I stayed dead, hiding away as Mohammed Al’Hadir’s quiet wife.”

“Your parents seem to have taken your resurrection in stride.”

“It almost gave my mother a heart attack. I would’ve never understood it before Sammy, but if he were to come home the way I did, I wouldn’t have blinked either. I would have been so thankful that he was alive that I wouldn’t have cared about the how or the whys. They still haven’t asked too many details about the missing five years.”

“Was he good to you?”

She reached out and stroked his hair, and he leaned into her palm, loving the feel of her hands on him. “Does it bother you?”

“That another man held you, loved you?” When she nodded, he said, “Yes. It should have been me. But does it eat me up?” He shook his head. “No. He took care of you and my son when I couldn’t.”

Pulling her hand away, Pandora looked toward the back door. “I should get back.”

Cam wanted her to stay, wanted to hold her close for the rest of the night. He wanted more, but that might take some time, and he was patient. He wanted his wife back. And he wanted his son to know who his father was. Cam had already missed so much of his life.

But he had a plan.

And neither Delta nor the CIA had taught him anything about failure. It wasn’t an option.

“
T
hese are just beautiful
,” her mother said, sighing over the long stemmed yellow roses that had been delivered an hour before. “Your father hasn’t brought home flowers for me in,” she paused, “well, I can’t even remember when.”

Pandora smiled and touched a velvet soft petal. “They are pretty.”

“Read the note.”

Her mom fussed with the vase, moving the roses around to make them look full and rearranging the small Baby’s Breath flowers that completed the bouquet. Pandora wondered if Cam bought them because they matched her mother’s cheery butter yellow kitchen or if it was because she was a Texas girl and he was calling her his “yellow rose.”

“He wants to have a picnic by the falls with me.”

“Sounds romantic. He’s wooing you, sweetheart. And if you ask me, he’s doing it right.”

Pandora shook her head, but a glance around the house showed her the truth of the statement. Each room had a bouquet of fresh flowers in it. Her mom kept threatening to kill them off just to avoid using another vase, but secretly she loved it, because some of them were for her. Cam wasn’t just wooing her—he was dating her whole family. He’d taken her dad and Sammy to a football game. He took her mom out shopping and then treated her to a spa day. He spent hours in the barn with her dad, asking questions about everything. They’d gone to dinner, movie and ice cream with Sammy on several occasions.

Where on earth was he getting the money?

Her mother came around the table and took Pandora by the shoulders. They were eye level with each other and it was like looking in the mirror, but twenty years ahead. “I know you’re scared, and from what little you’ve told us, you’ve gone through more than a body ever needs to in one lifetime. But he’s your husband and you love him. I see it on your face every time you look at him. He loves you too, and he’s showing it.”

“I don’t know what to do.” And she didn’t, not really. On the surface, it looked easy enough. Move in with him, make sure Sammy knew that Cam was his father. Everyone had danced around that subject for a couple of weeks as they built a relationship, but they all knew that Sammy would have to be told. Although, Pandora thought he already knew, but like her, he was taking his time.

“You’ll figure it out.” Pulling her in for a hug, her mom squeezed her tight. “I’m just so happy to have ya’ll here.”

When she went back to fussing with the flowers, Pandora wandered out to the front porch. It was her thinking place, staring out over the green pastures, safe in this little world. She needed a job, Sammy needed to go to school after the summer was over, and she needed to figure out what to do with the sexy neighbor.

Who happened to be her husband.

As if it were magnetized, the house next door pulled her gaze. And that’s when she happened to see her son slip over the fence and march with a purpose toward the barn. Cam had moved the Mama and her kittens to the barn after the first week, and this was the time of day he was usually out there, repairing stalls and getting it ready for the horses he eventually wanted to have.

Pandora decided to follow. Sammy hadn’t made the first move to visit Cam before and she was curious about what was going on. When she rounded the house to head for the same piece of fence Sammy had climbed, she saw her father watching from the back yard. He smiled and turned away. It made her even more curious as she followed her son.

She stayed back and moved from tree to tree, watching Sammy. He looked so different already. Gone was the shaggy hair and linen clothing of Iraq. Now he had a buzz cut, blue jeans, a graphic T-shirt, and boots. He looked like he’d grown up in Texas and she’d even heard him practicing her Dad’s southern drawl. She still spoke to him in Arabic, so they could both stay fluent, but he was settling in well to Americana.

When he was swallowed up by the interior of the barn, Pandora crept closer. With her back to the door, she could hear a hammer beating against something, and then it was abruptly quiet. Crossing her arms and settling back, she had no remorse about eavesdropping.

“Hey, buddy, how are you?”

“Alright.”

“Are you over to check out the kitties?”

“I guess.”

“I put her into this stall. I didn’t want the babies able to run off until they’re a little older. Come on over and you can sit with them for a bit.”

Pandora peeked around the corner and saw Cam squatted down at eye level with Sammy. He was in snug blue jeans and no shirt and oh, Lord was he hot. Dark chestnut hair that had turned shaggy hung down over his forehead and the muscles in his biceps bulged from the recent work he’d been doing.

Her body woke up with a vengeance.

Not that she hadn’t noticed before, but grief had a way of dampening everything. Colors were muted, noises softer—it was like a veil had been placed between her and world while she dealt with getting her fragmented life back together. And it wasn’t just
her
grief she’d been dealing with. Sammy had nightmares that were finally lessoning, and he was almost back to being a chatterbox again. He’d been shut down for a couple of weeks after Mohammed died, as he grieved for the only father he’d known.

“Did you let someone know where you were going? I don’t want your mama or grandparents worried about you being lost.”

“Grandpa knows.”

“You look like you’ve got something on your mind, kiddo. And I think you have some questions for me.”

Pandora snuck another look. Cam was now sitting on a straw bale with his back to her and she couldn’t see Sammy, so she guessed he was inside the stall with the kittens. It was muffled, but she could hear the meowing going on.

“You’re my daddy, aren’t you? My real daddy.”

“Did you figure it out all on your own?” He sounded impressed.

“You are though, right?”

“I am, and I think you figured it out a long time ago. So, what do you want to know?”

There was a long pause, and Pandora waited. She was so glad that he finally asked, and she was oddly relieved that he was asking Cam. The right time hadn’t come up, or maybe she had delayed because answering that question would make her have to come to a decision sooner than she’d been ready.

“Why didn’t anyone just tell me?”

“Well, let me tell you something kinda secret.” Another long pause, so she peeked again. Cam leaned forward as if to whisper, but she heard him clearly enough. “Grownups don’t always know what to do. I’ll bet your mama didn’t want you to know yet because you miss your Baba. And you needed time to just miss him. He was a good man and your mama tells me that he loved you more than anything.”

She couldn’t hear the reply, and her throat worked with the effort to keep the emotion at bay. After everything he’d been through, and the things he’d told her he’d done in the five years they were apart, Cam had managed to keep that soft side she’d fallen for.

“Can I call you my daddy?”

“You can call me whatever you like, son. When you’re ready to call me Dad, then I will love to hear it. And if you’re not ready yet, you can still call me Cam, okay?”

“Okay. I better get back before Mom has a cow.”

Pandora bit her palm to keep the tears and the laughter from spilling out and ruining the moment her boys were having. She left the open door and slid around the side of the barn so Sammy didn’t see her. A moment later, her son ran back the way he’d come and climbed the fence again, where her father waited for him. It was too far away to see much of the interaction, but those two were very close, and Pandora guessed that her father knew exactly what Sammy had been up to.

“He’s a smart kid,” Cam said.

Startled, her head jerked toward his voice. Leaning against the corner of the barn, Cam smiled at her and gave her a slow wink. Then his eyes swept up from her sneakers to her short jean shorts and white tank top, to the messy bun she had her hair in. And that look left no doubt in her mind that he wanted her.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I’ll always know when you’re near, honey. I have a built in Pandora radar.”

“So I guess he knows,” she said. It was a lame statement, but she felt raw and open in a way that she hadn’t in a while. Suddenly, she could smell the alfalfa hay and the fresh scent of newly cut wood. And him. She could smell Cam, sweaty, dusty, and all man.

“He’s been on the verge of asking for a while. I could see it in his face. I’m glad it’s out and that he knows for sure now.”

She nodded. “I’m proud of him.”

“He’s a great kid, Pan. You did an amazing job.”

Her heart swelled at the compliment. This is what happiness felt like. Joy was creeping into the cracks where grief and fear were receding. And she wanted to let it. And she wanted Cam. Maybe she’d been waiting for this final moment, this final healing. Sammy had been smiling when he ran from the barn. He was happy and that made her happy—and freed her.

Freed her to take what she wanted to.

“Yes.”

He cocked his head to the side and one eyebrow shot up. “Did the subject just change?”

Pandora nodded and smiled. “I’m saying yes to the picnic at the falls.”

The grin that lifted his lips hit his eyes and lit up his whole face. It was everything she could do not to run into his arms and give him a giant hug and kiss. But if she did that, then it wouldn’t end there, and she wanted this to be special. He’d been waiting so patiently for her, and he deserved a medal for it.

“I’ll be over at seven,” she said. Then she took off back to her parent’s home.

She tossed a look over her shoulder, catching him ogling her butt. Giving her hips an extra little swing, she laughed when he swallowed hard and took a step forward. Laughing, she ran the rest of the way. She had some plans to make and a little over three hours to get some shopping done.

“Mom, I need to borrow the car,” she yelled, as she danced up the front steps and into the house.

Tonight she was going to claim her husband.