Learning to Stand (19 page)

Samantha took a step back. Her face was a
mask of pain. Samantha shook her head.

“
What happened with the
Senator?” Alex asked.

Samantha started to sob and Alex held onto
her sister. The gorgeous and brilliant Samantha Hargreaves had been
having an affair with a married Senator for the last four years.
Samantha had tried to end the relationship last year. Somehow, her
sister always ended up sleeping with the jerk. Again.

Through her tears, Samantha said into Alex’s
shoulder, “Did you really have a hysterectomy?”

“
I was pregnant. Between the
baby and the predator, they had to...”

“
Oh Alex, I’m so sorry,”
Samantha said. “I know how much you guys wanted kids. I had no
idea. I’ve been selfish…I’m sorry. I’m not myself these
days.”

“
Sami, Raz has a broken
vertebrae. He hasn’t even been working out.”

Samantha nodded.

“
I know you aren’t in love
with him or…”

Samantha bounced on her Jimmy Choo heels,
“That does not mean I want…”

“
To be rejected,” the
sisters said together.

Maggie barked in agreement. The sisters
laughed at the puppy.

“
I think Raz is taking a
bath. They turned on the hot water about an hour ago,” Alex said.
“He thought a bath would loosen his back before we have a meeting.
What time is it?”

“
After six,” Samantha
said.

Alex opened the bathroom door. Raz was lying
in the Jacuzzi tub with the jets on. He winked at her and she
smiled.

“
Yep.” Alex closed the door.
“He’s in the bath. He can’t hear us over the Jacuzzi jets. Why
don’t you go in and say ‘Hi’? See how rejecting he is? There’s a
huge shower and lots of hot water. I bet he’ll find a way to cheer
you up.”

Samantha rubbed her matte red lips together
then nodded. Alex held a box of tissues while Samantha fixed her
tear smudged make up in the mirror. Samantha turned to Alex for
approval. Alex nodded.

Samantha tapped on the bathroom door then
went in.

“
Samantha, I was just
thinking about you,” Raz said over the noise of the tub.

“
That’s for me?”

“
Why don’t you come in and
find out?”

Samantha giggled. There was a splash of
water.

“
ALEX! Can you…?”

With her hand over her eyes, Alex tossed a
few condoms into the bathroom. She wrinkled her nose when Samantha
squealed. Backing out of the bathroom with her eyes covered, Alex
closed the door then laughed.

F

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Forty minutes later

Thursday evening
March 27 – 7:00 P.M. MDT
Denver, Colorado

Standing in the doorway, Alex looked around
the basement room where the men had assembled. She smiled when Ben
touched her back on his way into the room. She chose to sit alone
in a chair near the wall. Alex didn’t trust them. She would rather
sit alone with her pad of paper, a yellow pencil and her cup of
coffee than even be near any of them.

Reading her decision, the men shifted in
their seats. Joseph smiled at Alex then nodded when she didn’t
return his smile.

“
Would you like to call the
meeting to order?” Joseph asked.

“
I’m no longer active
military, Major Walter,” Alex said. “But I’m happy to assist you in
your endeavors.”

Alex felt Joseph’s eyes on her face. Rather
than look at him, she kept her eyes on the mug in her hands.

She had thought she was all right.

She had even thought she was over it.

But looking at the men assembled, her heart
ached. The men had worked harder in the last twenty-four hours than
they ever had for her. Tapping her pencil on her pad, she knew her
decision to leave the military was justified.

“
You’re making up stories to
hurt yourself,” Jesse said. “These men worked hard for you. They
want to prove themselves to you, not Joseph.”

Alex glanced in Jessie’s direction. Matthew
came into the room. Moving slowly to minimize his pain, he came to
the corner where Alex was sitting. Leaning down, he whispered in
her ear.

“
Jesse’s right, you
know.”

Matthew kissed her cheek then pulled a chair
over to sit near her.

“
We are meeting tonight to
discuss Cee Cee Joiner,” Joseph said. “In the next hour, we’ll
share everything you have uncovered in your search. This is the
time to share everything. The smallest detail can make the biggest
difference in the final analysis. I believe Captain Olivas should
begin. Second only to the Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves, Captain
Olivas is an expert on Cee Cee Joiner. Lieutenant Colonel? You may
interrupt when you feel necessary.”

“
I spent the last twelve
years in Central and South America,” Troy said. “Most of what I
will tell you is hearsay, rumor and will not stand up in a court of
law.”

“
But true?” Trece
asked.

“
Probably,” Troy said. “I
think the most important aspect to understand about Joiner is his
appetite for women. It’s almost a defining characteristic. Anyone
know what wife he’s on?”

“
He’s currently married to
wife number five,” Raz said. “His divorce from wife number four was
final only three months ago. Wife number five is seven or so months
pregnant.”

“
Do you know the gender of
the child?” Alex asked.

“
Male,” Raz said. “Would you
like to see the latest imaging?”

Alex shook her head.

“
A second defining
characteristic is that Joiner has a lot of children,” Troy said.
“Do you know how many legitimate children?”

“
Eight. Four boys and four
girls,” Raz said. “All Texas named: Mitzi, Cody, Candy,
Tristan...”

“
Eight legitimate children
with one on the way,” Troy said. “I know of at least six
illegitimate children spread all over the Americas. A few in the
US, a couple in Central America and at least two in South America.
Any in the Middle East, Matthew?”

“
There’s a whisper of a
couple children but no one is quite sure,” Matthew said. “He’s not
popular in the Middle East.”

“
Not popular is an
understatement,” Alex said. “He’s been kicked out of almost every
Arab speaking country. Even OPEC won’t negotiate with
him.”

“
Cee Cee Joiner is the
father of sixteen children?” Larry’s voice echoed with
shock.

“
At least sixteen children,”
Troy said. “He may have children no one knows about.”

“
Troy used this term:
‘appetite for women,’” Alex said. “I don’t think he likes women.
He’s no ladies man.”

“
He uses women as a means to
an end,” Joseph said. “That’s why the Fey Special Forces Team was
involved with him. Joiner sees the Lieutenant Colonel as a tool for
his use. If he gets in trouble, he wants the Fey.”

“
The President said the Fey
fixes Joiner’s problems,” Raz said.

“
Joiner demands my help,”
she said. “I’m his personal extraction agent or so he tells anyone
who will listen.”

“
What does he get by having
so many children?” Vince asked. “He can’t interact with them or
even see all of those children.”

“
Good question, Vince. I
don’t know,” Alex said. “Anyone?”

The men shook their heads. Alex looked at
Ben. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to say something.

“
Ben?” she asked.

“
I’ve heard it’s about
money,” Ben said. “Raz and I went to visit Joiner Sr. He has an
ocean-side home outside of Cancun.”

As if to pull the information out of his
head, Ben tugged his shoulder length salt and pepper hair.

“
I don’t remember who said
it, sorry. I get the impression it was… dinero para los
niños.”

“
Money for children?” Troy
translated.

“
Those were the words, I
don’t remember the context. I don’t think the person realized what
she was saying. Who was she?”

“
Ágeuda?” Raz asked. “Joiner
Sr. has Alzheimer’s. He has a full time nurse named
Ágeuda.”

“
No, it was the cook,” Ben
said. “Remember she mumbled to herself.”

“
Almost all the time,” Raz
said. “You listened?”

“
I make it a practice to
listen to that kind of thing,” Ben said. “Mostly it doesn’t make
sense, but sometimes it’s vital.”

“
We need to find out why
Joiner has so many children,” Alex said.

The words left her mouth before she realized
she had given up her neutral position. Shit. She made her face go
blank.

“
Sergeant Flagg? Are you
keeping the list?” Joseph asked.

“
Yes sir,” Larry
said.

“
Add to your list: why does
Joiner have so many children?” Joseph asked.

“
Yes sir.”

Alex could hardly believe the interaction.
Larry did what he was told without a word of back talk. Looking at
Joseph, he winked at her. She gave him a soft smile.

“
Lieutenant Colonel
Hargreaves, will you share your information with the
group?”

“
Yes Major,” Alex said.
“Where should I start?”

“
Joiner was all over South
and Central America,” Troy said. “I ran into him a couple of times,
but he doesn’t know who I am. He says he’s exploring for oil
reserves, but don’t they do that by satellite now?”

“
They determine regions of
interest by satellite,” Alex said. “Usually they will send an
engineering team or a field team. For example, you were supposed to
work out the transportation details for a specific region of
Afghanistan the Corps of Engineers asked me to re-map.”

Troy blinked. He opened his mouth then
nodded. He had not even looked at what had been assigned to
him.

“
Do we need to add the
re-mapping to our list, Lieutenant Colonel?” Joseph
asked.

“
You’ll have to ask your
superior officer, Major,” Alex said. “I’m not certain what your
team’s priorities are at this time.”

Joseph squinted at Alex in response. The
room became very still. At that moment, there was a small bark. Max
stood in the doorway holding Maggie.

“
Excuse me,” Alex
said.

She felt every eye on her as she went to
speak with Max. Max pressed his forehead against hers in
support.

“
I’m going to take her out
for a little walk,” Max said. “John called. His attending figures
if he’s not in a class, he can do a few surgeries. He thinks he’ll
be home by nine. Cian’s making dinner.”

Alex nodded.

“
Go easy,” Max said. “You’re
not yourself.”

Alex closed her eyes and leaned forward. She
felt the familiar comfort of Max’s forehead on hers. Wishing she
could go with him, she watched him leave the basement.

Turning in place, she heard Joseph’s raised
voice. Looking across at her former Fey teammate, she saw he was
furious.

“
And exactly what did you
expect? Olivas, did you do the work your commanding officer asked
you to do? Did you even look at it?”

“
No sir,” Troy
said.

“
Then what do you expect?
You are the laziest, bunch of babies I have ever seen in ANY team,
let alone elite soldiers. The President of the United States has
asked for our assistance and you can’t even keep your egos in check
to get the information you need.”

Nodding to Joseph, Ben stood to walk over to
Alex. He hugged her to him then, as if she was a small child, he
took her hand and led her to an empty loveseat. He helped her
settle in then sat with his arm around her. His body language was
clear. He was protecting his fragile child.

“
Before we continue, we must
make a decision. Are we willing to do what it takes to become a
team?” Ben said in French. “If not, we will not waste any more time
here.”

“
I can only speak for White
Boy and myself,” Trece replied in French. “We’ll do whatever it
takes.”

“
I will do whatever it
takes, even if it costs me my life,” Vince replied in French. “I
owe Alex my life. It’s hers to do with what she’d like.”

“
I’m willing to go as far as
it takes to regain the trust and friendship lost,” Matthew replied
in French. “Alex owns my life, as well.”

“
What did Ben say?” Larry
asked. “He spoke so fast. I didn’t get it.”

Joseph raised his eyebrows to Larry.

“
Anyone like to translate
for Sergeant Flagg?” Joseph asked.

“
Ben wants to know if we are
willing to do what it takes to become a team. You need to put
‘learn French’ on your list, Flagg,” Troy said in English.
Switching to French, he said, “I’m even willing to translate for
the jerk off. I will do what it takes.”

“
I will do anything,
anything, really just ask me,” Larry said in English.

“
To hear you ask if I shall
love always, and myself answer: Till the end of days.” Speaking in
his mother’s tongue of Patois, Raz quoted a line from Jamaican poet
Claude McKay poem. “My allegiance is yours, my queen.”

“
What language was that?”
Larry asked. “What did he say?”