Encountering Evil: Dark Horse Guardians Book Two (32 page)

~Ben~

Toweling off with Lara, Ben promised to shave off the beard. He knew she hated it. He smiled as he tackled the chore, first hacking it with scissors, then an electric razor, and finally using a razor blade to shave the stubble off. The top half of his face was tanned and the lower half was now pale, but the beard was gone, half of it in the waste basket and the other half in the sink. He wiped the fog from the mirror and studied his reflection for a moment. He felt like he had aged several years on this mission.

Anxious to see Lara, her mother, and Rusty, Ben hastily dressed and met them in the kitchen. Lillian hugged him tightly and kissed his freshly shaved cheek. “Wow, what a transformation!” she giggled. Rusty hugged him, too, adding, “We are so happy to see you, Chief.” Lara slipped a plateful of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him as he sat in the breakfast nook. “Eat this! You look like you’ve been in a prison camp without any food. You must have lost twenty pounds.” Ben laughed, but he knew she was right. He planned to eat and get back to his daily exercise routine immediately.

After a few moments, Ben had inhaled the bacon and eggs. Lillian and Rusty left for a walk on the beach with Einstein and Ben was thankful to be alone with Lara. He had so much he wanted to say, but uppermost in his mind was the attack she suffered in his absence. Wrapping his arms around her as she sat next to him on the bench of the breakfast nook, he spoke softly, “Tell me about it, Lara, please. I’m so
sorry
I wasn’t here, darlin’ – I hate myself.”

~Lara~

She knew the subject would come up and she had already done her own paranoid assessment of the whole thing. Looking into Ben’s blue eyes, Lara recounted everything meth
odically, in a detached manner exactly as it occurred. She felt parched and took a sip of water. “Bettencourt said the guy was one of the furniture delivery guys. He must have been hanging around here watching me toss the tennis ball into the water for Einstein on the beach. God, Ben, I felt so creepy thinking about that. I had no curtains on the windows until yesterday. I wonder if the guy was watching me. Bettencourt said it was obvious that the whole thing was planned. The guy brought chloroform with him.”

Ben’s blue eyes met hers and she sensed a strange sense of calmness about him. She had expected him to slam his fist down onto the table, promising to get the bastard. She spoke before he could react, “Ben, we have to let Bettencourt handle this. He will take care of it.” She watched as Ben held his head with both hands as if he had a headache. “I’m sorry, darlin’—it’s my fault. I never should have left you alone for so long and in a new house with no security system.” Embracing him she softly spoke, “No, Ben…it’s
not
your fault. I opened the door. I made a mistake. It was a random act. It could have happened to anyone. But everything is okay. I got lucky. Hawk came by. He beat the shit out of the guy that attacked me. Dillon Varney is going to jail.” Ben’s eyes met hers, “No. He
was
in jail, but his drug lord bailed him out with the best lawyer money could buy. He
won’t
be going to jail. He’s in the morgue where he belongs. And that’s the end of it.” Lara closed her eyes for a moment as she grasped the solemn tone of Ben’s words.

~Ben~

As soon as she said his name, Ben wanted to know everything about his wife’s relationship with Hawk. As difficult as it was to admit, Ben knew Hawk saved Lara’s life, and he felt a deep sense of gratitude for his act of courage. Ben whispered, “I need to thank him, Lara. He saved you. I need to
tell Hawk personally how much this means to me.” Lara touched his face. “You’ll get a chance to thank him. He will be landscaping our yard. Hawk designed a beautiful low-maintenance garden for us…you’ll love it.”

The secure satellite phone rang and Ben quickly answered it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the women and children from the compound had been extracted and were in the safe house. They were being fed and given clean clothes. Their paperwork was being prepared for their travel abroad. Elvis told Ben that everything was going according to plan.
Ben added, “There’s one important thing I want you to handle.  There’s a young woman, her name is Rashida.  She was badly burned by Salim. I want you to get her to the best plastic surgeon in Boston.  Payment will be made in cash, by me courtesy of Ali Farouz.” Ben hung up the phone satisfied and relieved.

Islam
-berg was being dismantled by the local authorities. The bodies of the terrorists were being taken to the morgue. Television coverage was extensive, but no mention was made of Ben or the Dark Horse Guardians. The secure line rang again and it was Kip Larson, Special Activities Director for the CIA. Larson’s voice was as enthusiastic as it got for him, “Great job, Chief. I’ll see you at the designated drop tomorrow morning, the usual time.” Ben simply said, “Yes, see you there.” Before he hung up, Larson added one more thing, “By the way, there will be a substantial bonus for eliminating all fifty of them. I think you’ll be pleased.” The phone call ended as Larson hung up.

Ben had one more call to make to Moshe and he dialed his Israeli friend and heard his sleepy voice, “Sorry to wake you. I gave you the target, let me know when he’s eliminated.
The bastard did something horrific to a young woman here.  Also, there’s a bonus for my helper, it will be coming your way. God bless.” Ben looked at Lara and smiled, “Business wrap up.”

~
Grant Hawkins~

Today he was meeting with Lara to map out a schedule for the landscaping design to be installed at Clearwater Farm. Hawk was dressed in his work clothes, but they were clean and pressed. He knew that Lara had been a positive influence on him. She made him want to care about himself once again. For the first time in two years, he wanted to get out of bed in the morning and found himself whistling. He was eating better and actually went out with a few guys to a sports bar a couple of times, but he didn’t drink alcohol. Even his crew noticed a change in him.

As he drove down the long driveway the first thing Hawk noticed was the rental vehicle with a Massachusetts license plate. He pulled his Chevy pick-up next to it and walked to the back porch. Hawk took a deep breath as he knocked on the kitchen door, the one he had breached the day of Lara’s attack. Lara met him wearing white cotton shorts and a faded green T-shirt, looking as beautiful as ever. Her long dark hair was loose and she pushed it away from her face as she opened the door for him. “Hawk, come in…would you like a coffee?”

His eyes immediately moved beyond Lara to her husband sitting in the breakfast nook. But, he maintained his reserved exterior as he answered Lara, “No thanks on the coffee. I just had one in the truck on the way here. I’m ready to go over the plans and set the date for starting.” Lara waved Hawk toward the breakfast table, “Hawk, this is my husband, Ben. I don’t think you’ve ever met.” Ben stood and met Hawk in the middle of the kitchen. “Great to meet you, Hawk.” Hawk noticed Ben’s grip was strong and the rugged dark-haired man pulled him toward him with his handshake and slapped him on the back. “I want to thank you for stopping here in the nick of time. You saved Lara’s life. And, I’m thankful for that. Actually, I’m
more
than thankful – I don’t have words to tell you how much I appreciate what you did.” Hawk was overwhelmed and felt a sudden attack of shyness overtake him. But he finally spoke, “I’m thankful, too. I didn’t do much thinking – just reacted really.” A mysterious silence seemed to bond the three of them as they all entered the terrible memory of Lara’s close call.

Lara took Hawk by the hand and grabbed Ben at the same time. “Let’s go outside and look at the landscape design.” The three of them walked the property as Hawk explained the installation in great detail. Lillian and Rusty returned from their walk on the beach with Einstein and joined Hawk’s presentation. As Lara’s husband stared at him with intense blue eyes, Hawk felt a bit nervous. It was as if her husband could see inside his brain and read the thoughts he had about his beautiful wife. Sweat began to form on his upper lip, but he continued with the explanation of the landscape design.

~Ben~

Ben felt he had perhaps judged Hawk too harshly when he first laid eyes on him. He seemed to have a good heart and Ben had no doubt he was a talented designer. The plan he laid before them was impressive. As they sat on the porch Ben turned directly to Hawk, “I think the design is perfect. Let’s do it. What do you need to start? I’ll write you a check.” Ben insisted on cooking dinner for him as a gesture of gratitude. Hawk seemed shy and reserved. “You really don’t have to do that for me…” Ben put his hand on Hawk’s shoulder, “No, I
insist.
What’s your favorite? Lobster? Steak?” Hawk smiled and said, “Who
doesn’t
like lobster?” The tension broke and Ben agreed to make a lobster pie for Hawk the next week.

As he walked to the truck alone with Hawk, Ben embraced him with a SEAL-worthy hug. “Look, man, I just want you to know…I’m
truly
grateful. She means the world to me. I don’t know what I’d do without Lara in my life. I couldn’t carry on, you know?” Hawk had a somber look on his face and said something that surprised Ben, “You’d carry on. It wouldn’t be easy but you would. I’m speaking from experience.” Ben suddenly remembered that Hawk had lost his wife to cancer just two years ago. Ben apologized, “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know…” But Hawk was beyond the insensitive comment. He looked Ben squarely in the eye, “You’re a lucky man – she’s a wonderful person.” Ben sensed that Hawk was a perceptive man of observation, much like himself. He watched Hawk drive away and the simple words resonated with him,
you’re a lucky man --
she’s a wonderful person
.

With the landscaping plan agreed upon, Ben began setting up his office on the main floor of the house. There was a small study off the master bedroom area that would be perfect for his computers and satellite link. His computers were currently sitting in bubble wrap on the floor. Ben was itching to get everything up and running. He felt completely disconnected from Moshe and his network while away on the lengthy mission. The uplink to the satellite system was live within ten minutes. He drank another cup of coffee and ate a muffin while he synched his devices with the satellite connection.

Einstein bounded into his office and found a place to sleep. Ben called out to Lara and she appeared in the doorway. “I just wanted to see you, and touch you…come…” Ben motioned for her to sit on his lap and she did. She kissed him tenderly and as he closed his eyes, he still couldn’t believe he was home and Lara was on his lap kissing him. For the past seven weeks while stuck in the squalid trailer he dreamed of moments like this. She started to kiss his face lightly and he felt her hot breath in his ear as she whispered softly. “I love you, Ben. I love you.” He held her face in his hands and searched her eyes with his, “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to talk about what happened?” Lara grimaced, “No. It’s over. I already cried about it and thanked God for saving me from my own stupidity. It’s best to put it behind me and live my life – carefully -- but live it as a happy person. I don’t want to be paranoid and afraid for the rest of my life.”

Ben was relieved that Lara was coping better than he imagined. His eyes held hers and he whispered, “I’m so proud of you. You’re resilient and so very beautiful.” He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her. He could no longer think of work or anything to do with computers. Every cell in his body was consumed with her wonderful feminine scent and Lara’s long silky hair spilling onto his face and chest. She whispered in his ear, “We have a brand new bed and you’ve not even been on it yet…would you like to try it out?” Ben scrambled so quickly he almost tipped the chair over. He carried Lara with his powerful arms to the new bed in the master bedroom a few steps away.

Although he made love to her in the shower hours earlier, his body suddenly responded to her with reckless abandon. This would not be a quickie like the shower. His mouth touched hers and he felt her lips part ever so slightly. French kissing her, he slipped off his clothes and worked on tugging her shirt and shorts off. Even though they were both naked, he took his time kissing her neck, inhaling her wonderful feminine smell and touching her in all the right places to bring her to a maddening pitch of desire. He had waited seven long weeks for this and he savored every moment. Surprising Ben, she playfully changed places with him and now was above him. Kissing him passionately she ran her hands over his muscled chest touching the ancient pendant. Then she kissed his chest and his abs, nearly driving him crazy. Showering him with light kisses, she moved down and Ben inhaled sharply. She had learned very quickly how to tantalize him. He was immersed in pure pleasure with Lara for the better part of an hour.

Ben’s first thought was,
she missed me as much as I missed her
. Then later, when he was alone, he allowed his mind to run wild. He wondered who might have filled his spot while he was gone. Men he despised, like Eliot Stone and that worm, Eric Henderson. He wondered about the contractors on her jobs staying late to talk with her. He even worried about Hawk, although he knew it was a bit improbable that he’d make a move on Lara. It was so difficult for him to overcome the fears he had regarding other men pursuing his gorgeous wife. He wrestled with the fear of losing her and realized he should enjoy every minute he had with her.
Be grateful, man.
Habib’s words stayed with him.