Operation Date With Destiny (27 page)

This was not the way things were supposed to be. She should have listened to her brain and not her…whatever the equivalent of a man
’
s penis-brain was!

He was bad news—she
’
d known it before she
’
d even met him…she
’
d seen him in action for goodness sake
.
She knew he avoided relationships like the plague—and for good reason
,
his job was not one that had set hours and being away on a mission would make it hard to maintain any form of normal relationship…and here she was making a fool of herself over him. Doing the one thing she would never do—
fall for a military jerk!

The last thing she needed was a man to complicate her life. She was struggling to come to terms with the fact she was now responsible for a teenager…how on earth would she juggle a relationship on top of that?
But he had a point…there is nothing holding you in Nebraska once all this ends…you could have your life back again…
her voice of reason piped up hesitantly.

It had to end first—and there was no guarantee that was going to happen.

The lights were on when
she
arrived and
heading inside she saw that everyone was calm and organized. I
mmediately the men broke the search area up into sections.

“
He said he was going for a walk—but I assumed he was going down to the beach,
”
Summer said, a concerned frown on her face.
“
Tate searched down around the rock pools and he hasn
’
t been down there.
”

“
I
’
m sure he
’
s not far away. We
’
ll find him,
”
Destiny reassured the small blonde haired woman and summoned a confident smile. She didn
’
t want to think about him falling off a cliff somewhere or exploring the rock pools and falling into the ocean.

Destiny found herself following Tupper—she had no choice. She didn
’
t know the island either and would only end up lost herself
.
They called out every few minutes and hoped that he
’
d soon see their torch light and yell back. She wasn
’
t beside herself yet—but it was definitely not a comforting thought that he could be out there in the dark somewhere, injured.

“
I think I know where he might be,
”
Johnny said ahead of her.

“
Where?
”

“
I brought him out here the other day. Showed him where we used to live in the old bunk house. I should have thought about it before.
”

Hope filled her and she prayed they
’
d find him there…otherwise she was sincerely doubtful they
’
d manage to find him in the dark if he were lost in the amongst the islands lush vegetation which made up the center of the island. She really didn
’
t like the thought of him being out there in the dark all alone
overnight
.

As they approached the dark shadow of the old wooden structure, they saw a faint glow of a light from inside and Destiny almo
st wept with relief.
“
Thank God,
”
she whispered.

Johnny stopped at the bottom of the steps and called out. The door opened a small crack and Jackson stared out at them somewhat fearfully.

“
What the hell did you think you were doing staying out here this late?
”
Destiny demanded, glaring up at her brother now that her
panic
had
begun
to subside.

“
I
’
ve run away.
”

“
You
’
ve what?
”
S
he stressed incredulously.

“
I
’
m sick of being everyone
’
s problem, so I
’
ll just live here and keep out of the way.
”

“
What the hell are you talking about
,
Jackson?
”

“
I know the truth! Just go away!
”
he shouted and slammed the door in her face.

“
What the hell is going on?
”
she demanded turning her confused gaze upon an equally stunned Johnny.

“
You want me to go in and talk to him?
”
he offered.

“
No…thanks. I think I better deal with it. I guess it
’
s time he and I got to the bottom of all this and out here might be a good place to do it. Can you let the others we found him?
”

“
I
’
ll wait for you out here.
”

“
Why don
’
t you just go on home? There
’
s no need for both of us to lose sleep tonight.
”

“
Lady you don
’
t know me very well at all if you think I
’
m leavin
’
you out here alone. I
’
ll be waiting out here—you go and deal with your brother and take as long as you need.
”
He turned and walked away and destiny was left to stare at his back, feeling a rush of both frustration and something else…something else very much like…no, she couldn
’
t deal with that right now—she could only deal with one crisis at a time.

Opening the door, she found Jackson sitting at a table, his shoulders hunched and staring down miserably at the table top.

“
So why don
’
t you start from the beginning and tell me exactly what you think you know and why you thought you had to run away?
”
she said, calmly taking a seat across from him.

“
I know that you
’
re leaving,
”
he spat the words with so much venom that it momentarily stunned her
.

“
Yeah
,
but not for good!
”

“
Sure. That
’
s what you say now
.
I know you don
’
t want to be lumped with me—I heard you talking to
Mercy
earlier. I
heard
you say you didn
’
t need this now!
That y
ou don
’
t want me—well
good cause,
I don
’
t want you either!
”

Crap!
“
You obviously didn
’
t hear all of that conversation though did you?
”
she said a lot calmer than she was feeling.

“
Why? Did it get worse?
”
he said sarcastically and the thought crossed her mind that the kid had definitely been hanging around Johnny too long
be
cause he was beginning to sound like him.

“
You would have heard me telling her I was scared of somehow messing everything up. Jackson—I love you so much. You
’
re my little brother. I would never just leave you. We
’
ve got to stick together
;
I
’
m just so scared of all this responsibility. I don
’
t have any clue what to do with a teenage boy! I can never do the kind of job Mum and
D
ad would have done and I feel so damn bad that you
’
re stuck with me.
”

She saw his shoulders lose some of their indignant anger of a few minutes before and the thought gave a small measure of courage to continue. They needed to address this thing—all of it.

“
I also feel so guilty. I
’
m so, so sorry I wasn
’
t there when you needed me…that you had to go through all that—
”
she stopped as tears threatened to clog her throat. God how terrified must he have been when they kidnapped him and held him in that Godforsaken place.
“
I
’
m so sorry buddy. I
’
m so sorry I left you all the way I did. I should have told Mum and Dad why I was leaving. I should have made sure you knew I still loved you all.
”

“
I know why you did it. You were trying to protect us. Tupper also told me what you did and how you wouldn
’
t let anything stop you from coming to save me. That was pretty cool,
”
he mumbled, his gaze on the table.

She saw him run his finger nail over a splinter of wood from the table top and forced herself to remain quiet. He obviously had more on his mind and would say it in his own time, but it was hard when she wasn
’
t sure she could hold herself together for much longer.

“
You can
’
t be Mom an
d Dad—cause
’
you
’
re not,
”
he said bitterly and her heart sank.
He was confirming everything she
’
d been
thinking
herself
.
“
But you could be my sister. You
’
re pretty awesome at that.
I guess we
’
ll just have to
figure out how to make it work.
”

Destiny couldn
’
t blink back the tears that welled at his simple words and
she closed her eyes to try and hold them back in vain but t
he pain of grief and heartache and anger poured forth like a tsunami and there seemed little she could do to stop them.
She opened them quickly though at the light touch on her shoulder and looked up to find
Jackson
at her side and more tears fell when he
awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her in a way that belied his years, offering her comfort when she should have been the one doing that for him.

They stayed that way for a long time, holding each other and crying for the parents that had been ripped so brutally from their lives.

****

“
Y
ou know Jackson will be fine here with us
,
don
’
t you?
”
Summer said the next day.

“
Yeah, I know…I just hate leaving him so soon after everything he
’
s been through already,
”
she fiddled with the handle of her coffee cup trying to form the next words she wanted to say.
“
Look I know you guys have enough to handle with your own kids and all this to take care of…but if anything happens…to me…you know—if something goes wrong—
”
God it even hurt to imagine how painful that would be, leaving her kid brother all alone in the world…for a moment she wavered. Maybe she should just stay here and let Tupper handle it…but then she remembered all those months when she
’
d lived in fear of her life before her parents were killed and she knew she had to face this thing…she couldn
’
t expose Jackson to a life of looking over his shoulder every day…she needed to make sure it was fixed and she needed to be there to see it for herself.

“
It
’
s not going to
,
but if it did
—
,
”
Summer said quietly
“
—
Jackson would always have a place here with us.

Destiny blinked hard to hold back her grateful tears. These people didn
’
t owe her anything—especially since her father had caused them all so much grief over the years—and yet they had accepted both her and Jackson into their fold as though they
’
d been born into it.
“
Thank you.
”