Her Vigilant Seal (23 page)

Sophia turned her head and caught his thumb and sucked it into her mouth at the same time she tightened her inner muscles. She heard him gasp. She pushed up and kept up a rhythm.

“Oh…My…God.” Apparently he liked it. She fluttered her tongue up and down his thick thumb, he surged deep and hard, and she moaned in pleasure. She turned her head wanting to look into his beautiful blue eyes. So much fun, so much pleasure, so much love, and she was so happy knowing he would see the same reflected in hers.

Just like that they went over into bliss together.

****

Mason wasn’t all that surprised to find all the members of his team in his kitchen the next morning. He’d slept in. He’d known Clint was going to be there to discuss the findings from the night before last, but he wasn’t surprised he called in the rest.

“I’m going to go kill the motherfuckers and be done with it,” Drake said as he pulled out a coffee mug for Mason.

“It’s a throwaway cell phone, we don’t know for sure that it’s the guys who tried to rape her,” Mason growled.

“Doesn’t matter. If the phone calls stop, it’s a win. If the phone calls don’t stop, it’s still a win. It means we have to find the real caller is all.” Damned if Drake didn’t make it sound reasonable.

Darius slapped Drake in the back of the head…hard. Drake pulled out creamer from the fridge for him.

“How does Sophia want to handle her father?” Clint asked.

“What do you mean her father? I thought you said it was a throwaway cell phone?” Finn asked, clearly confused.

“It’s worse than that. It could be an asshole from the diner,” Mason said.

“Time-the-fuck-out. I need a fucking score card. We have ‘would-be rapists’, her father, and now some asshole from the diner. Someone better fucking tell me who I get to kill and tell me right quickly,” Drake shouted.

“Keep you goddamn voice down,” Mason damn near shouted back. “Sophia’s still sleeping.”

“Okay children, gather round and I shall explain using itty bitty little words so even Drake can understand,” Clint said.

“Much appreciated.” Drake nodded.

“All in all, Sophia has gotten over thirty-five calls from unidentified numbers. Twenty-one have come in mostly at night from a throw-away cell phone. This includes the call where the asshole talked to her and scared her. Eight have come in from various pay phones. The other six calls came from the unlisted number of her father’s house in Mission Hills. Those six calls all came in during the work day. Sophia is thinking those came from her father’s new wife.”

“Okay, now I understand the father. Now breakdown who could be using the throwaway cell beside the fuckers from the alley,” Drake demanded.

“Drake, you remember the other waitress who works at the diner?” Mason asked.

“The lazy one who hit on you?”

“That’s her. Well her boyfriend tried to kiss Sophia and cop a feel and she kneed him in the nuts. So it could be him,” Mason explained.

“What an asshole, it sounds like he and the assholes from the alley all need to be visited,” Finn said.

“That’s my thinking,” Mason agreed. “Sophia wants to go over to her father’s house today. I called the commander to get the next couple of days off, so we could get this shit figured out.”

Finn coughed. Darius was grinning. Clint was looking into his coffee like it held the secrets of the universe and Drake started to laugh.

“What?” Mason frowned.

“We know,” Drake said.

“What do you know?” Mason demanded.

“We know you took off time. We did too. Hell, except for Finn, nobody’s taken off in a coon’s age. The commander damn near kicked us off base.”

Mason was overwhelmed as he looked at his friends.

“Oh Jesus, you’re not going to cry, are you?” Drake demanded.

“Fuck you,” Mason said without heat.

“So we divide and conquer?” Finn asked as he started to drink his coffee instead of just stare at it.

“Damn right,” Drake said. “I want to conquer the fuck wads who are out on bail.”

“Which is exactly why your ass is stuck with me and Sophia.” Drake stopped laughing.

“Well don’t be thinking you should put Clint in charge of the other team, he has his head up his ass about the girl from the jungle and…” Whatever else Drake was going to say was cut off as Clint’s big hand wrapped around his throat. Drake stood there accepting the abuse, and realized he’d crossed a line.

“Easy Clint, you know his mouth engages before his brain does,” Darius said. All the men watched as Clint slowly released Drake from his grip.

“I’m sorry dude, I should have known better.” Clint gave a short nod. “So how is she doing? How is her family?”

“They’re struggling. Some of the feds want to prosecute the dad, some want to put him in witness protection. In the meantime they’re in a holding pattern and Lydia’s still in the hospital.”

“That doesn’t make any sense she should be fine by now,” Darius said.

Mason watched Clint. He was seeing signs of the frantic man in the jungle who thought the woman in his arms had died.

“She came in with a bad infection and then she ended up with pneumonia.”

“They’ve actually let you see her? Where is she?” Drake asked.

“Texas. And no I’m not supposed to see her, and yes I have seen her.” How had Mason not known about Clint taking a trip to Texas?

“And Drake, just to be clear, any day of the week I’m the better choice to lead the second team. Your ass would have us in jail, whereas I will definitely keep things under the radar.”

“Yeah, like any of us can’t pull off covert.” Finn laughed, but then he immediately sobered. “Seriously Mase, what do you want us to do? I’m with Drake on this one. I want to plant them in the ground.”

“First let’s get some proof, okay? I want to know exactly what’s been going on,” Mason said.

“What about the asshat from the diner? Can I lead the team to go after him? We also need to make sure she stays safe. I know, going forward, you need to put a leash on her,” Drake proclaimed.

“I beg your pardon?” And didn’t that just figure? The worst possible thing coming out of Drake’s mouth is when Sophia made her appearance.

“We were just talking about ways to keep you safe, after he explained about the asshole boyfriend at the diner. And before you give me shit Sophia, I didn’t say he needed to spank you, because I figure this shit isn’t your fault.” All of the men groaned.

“Do you ever get laid?” Sophia asked as she headed towards the coffee maker. There was dead silence in the room. Mason looked around. Every man worked as hard as he was trying to keep their laughter inside and wait for Drake’s reply. They didn’t have to wait long.

“Yes, I get laid. I just have to keep to the flavors with the lower IQ’s.”

“How sad for you.”

“It is.” Drake said as he added creamer to the coffee he normally took black.

“How about some breakfast, guys?” Sophia asked after she took her first sip of coffee and eyed the men in the kitchen.

“That’d be great, but we’ll help.” Finn opened the refrigerator and started pulling out food. By the time breakfast was over, they had the outline of a plan. At least the basics of one they were willing to say in front of a civilian.

After they were done, Sophia looked around at each of them.

“I can’t thank you enough. Knowing you are in my corner, means the world to me.” His girl was learning.

“I hate that I’m so nervous.”

Mason ran a soothing hand down her back as they stood outside the door of her father’s house. Drake was lounging against the side of the truck, trying to look relaxed and nonchalant. He looked like a guard dog ready to attack. It actually made Sophia feel a little better having these two men at her back as she had to confront the man who belittled her throughout her life.

Mason rang the doorbell of the beautiful home. It was another thing that really bothered Sophia. He was living in such a nice house and he left his son in foster care? What kind of man was he?

They waited for what seemed like forever, and then finally they heard someone open the ornate peephole. The front door was quickly opened to reveal a young woman holding a toddler.

“Sophia, what are you doing here?” the woman asked.

Sophia stared. The woman looked almost identical to her mother when she had been young. It was beyond creepy. Sophia and Billy looked like their dad, their mom had been a brunette with blue eyes.

“Do I know you?” Sophia finally asked.

“I’m Ashley, your dad’s wife. I saw you when you came here last year.” The woman seemed really nervous. “Why are you here?” Ashley asked.

Sophia couldn’t come up with a reply. The child started wiggling to be let down.

“Your dad’s at work. Who is this?” she asked nodding to Mason.

“I’m Mason Gault, a friend of Sophia’s.”

“He’s my boyfriend.” What an innocuous term for the role Mason held in her life.

“Do you want to come in?”

“Sure, thanks.”

They followed Ashley into the large sunlit living room and sat down on the couch she indicated.

“I don’t understand. Why are you here?”

“Why have you been calling my phone?”

Ashley put down her daughter, who immediately tried to stand on her own, and then landed on her bottom. She giggled up at all of the adults in the room.

“This is Louisa,” Ashley smiled down at the giggling baby, who was now crawling towards the coffee table. “She’s the reason I wanted to talk to you. And I did mean to talk to you, but whenever I heard your voice, I lost my nerve and hung up.” Ashley looked at Sophia with sad eyes.
Immediately Sophia knew what was wrong.

“He’s being mean to you, isn’t he?”

Ashley twisted the large diamond ring on her finger around and around. She finally nodded. “He’s been a bastard. For a while he actually had me believing it was me, until he started yelling at Louisa. She just turned two. When he comes into the room she starts to cry and it makes him yell even more.”

“Oh Ashley.” Sophia stared down at the beautiful brown haired little girl and just couldn’t imagine anyone being mean to her. “What can I do for you? Do you need a place to stay? My apartment isn’t big, but we can figure out something.”

Ashley clapped a hand over her mouth and shook her head. Louisa crawled over to her, and lifted her arms clearly wanting up. Ashley picked her up and cuddled her.

“I’m all right, sweetheart,” she assured the little girl. She looked at Sophia. “My God, he’s been lying for years, hasn’t he?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know about you. I know you work at the diner and live in the apartment over it. Here you are offering me a place to stay. Carl’s been saying for years how Pam took him for everything and he had to start over. What selfish, ungrateful shits you and your brother were and that’s why he cut you off. What kind of sociopath have I managed to marry?”

“Ashley, you and Louisa can come and stay with me for a bit until you get your bearings.”

“I just needed confirmation it wasn’t just me. That what I thought was real. He did this to you and your family too, right?”

“Oh yeah, he left when mom was in the middle of her cancer treatments. I was fifteen and Billy was five.”

“That bastard,” Ashley growled. Mason reached out and grabbed her hand. Ashley’s tears dried up and she had a determined look on her face. “Sophia you offering to have me stay at your place has to be the sweetest thing ever. But my mom and dad have been trying to get me to come home for the last year, so I’m moving back in with them. Then I’m hiring the best divorce attorney in Southern California and taking him for everything he has.”

“I don’t get it. Why were you calling Sophia from the house line?” Mason asked.

“I knew it was unlisted, and my phone has my name pop up. How did you find out the calls were coming from this number?” Ashley looked from Sophia to Mason.

“Mason is a SEAL, his team members seem to have a lot of skills.” Sophia laughed. Ashley joined in.

“A SEAL, huh. Well, as long as he’s nothing like your dad, that’s all that really matters.” Sophia looked at the man beside her, then back at Ashley.

“He’s the exact opposite. I couldn’t have found anyone better.”

Mason’s grip on her hand tightened.

“Ashley, do you need any help packing?” Mason asked. Sophia watched as the other woman bit her lip.

“Would you mind waiting until my dad shows up? I’m going to call him, and I know he’ll be here within the hour. I don’t think Carl will come home until after work, but just in case, I don’t want to be alone if he does, because I will probably lose my shit, ya know. I don’t want to do that in front of Louisa”

“That’s not a problem. Why don’t you give him a call, and Sophia, why don’t you get a ride back to your place with Drake?” Sophia looked at Mason and felt a sense of relief. She really didn’t want any confrontations with the man who fathered her. Everyone stood up and Ashley came over and gave her a hug.

“Thank you so much for coming here. You gave me the information I needed to leave. We are so going to be keeping in touch. After all, you have a baby sister who is going to need you.” Sophia looked at the girl on the floor and reeled at the thought. She hadn’t even considered the fact until that very moment.

“I have a baby sister.” She turned to Mason. “I have a baby sister! Isn’t that great.”

“And another thing, I’m going to make sure the rat bastard starts paying child support for Billy.” Sophia just stared at Ashley, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“Can you do that?”

“Oh sweetie, with the right lawyer, you can do anything. Trust me, my daddy will make sure I have the best,” she said with a grin.

“Are you sure you’re the same woman who answered the door an hour ago?” Sophia asked.

“I’m not. But I remember who I was before I met and married Carl Anderson. I think with some time and distance I can get back to the girl I once was.” Ashley turned to Mason. “I’m going to call my dad.”