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“Apparently, one of them got a little out of hand at the Perfect Kitty last night on Bourbon. Maybe in North Korea you can touch the merchandise. He learned pretty quickly that he couldn’t in America, but I’d say that the bouncer is lucky he was drunk.”
“Why?”
“Because even with a blood alcohol twice the allowed limit, he nearly beat the bouncer to death. It was the bartender that smashed him in the back of the head with a whiskey bottle.”
“How are we sure it’s him?” asked Moose quietly.
“He had a photo of Erica on him. It was an older photo of her as a teenager, but it was her. She hasn’t changed at all. Sheriff was smart enough to have someone break into his phone and found an old map route to the café.”
“I’ll head down there now,” said Moose.
“I thought you would. Christopher and Patrick are waiting for you, along with Cowboy.”
Moose quietly dressed in shorts and a tee shirt, wearing the stealth vest for protection beneath, just in case. When he slipped on his running shoes, Erica rolled over.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered. “I’m headed into town to check on something with Christopher and a few others. I’ll be back by lunch.” She nodded as he kissed her sweetly. When he tried to pull back, she held him, pulling him closer.
“I love you, Moose. Come back to me.” Frowning, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her tight.
“What would make you think I wouldn’t come back? I will always come back to you,” he smiled.
“I-I guess I just thought maybe you were going into town to see Ece.”
“Honey, I would never do that without telling you, and I damn sure wouldn’t do that without having the boys with me. You have nothing to worry about.” He stared at her and realized he needed to tell her. “The sheriff believes he has one of the assassins. We’re going to speak to him.”
“Oh,” she mouthed.
“Yep, oh,” he smirked. “I won’t ever cheat on you, Erica. Not ever. I love and respect you too much to do that to you. We are solid, baby.”
“I’m sorry. It was just that I remembered him, Gordon, leaving very early so he could get back to San Diego and meet his other women. I didn’t care, not really. But it did affect me. I guess I didn’t realize how much.”
“I understand, but that’s not what’s happening here. Okay?”
“Okay. I trust you,” she smiled.
“Good. Now, you get back to sleep, and I’ll be back with the others soon.” He kissed her once again, leaving her to get a few more hours of rest. When he stepped out of the cottage, the other three men were waiting for him.
“Everything okay?” asked Cowboy.
“Yeah. I think she’s just feeling some PTSD from that asshole, William. He often left her to rush back to other women in San Diego and apparently never made much of an effort to hide it.”
“He was a dick,” frowned Patrick as they got into the truck and drove off. “None of the women were listed on his records, which meant that no one, not his kids, not a woman, no one got his military benefits.”
“I hate to hear that,” said Moose. “I don’t know the situation with the women, but the kids damn sure don’t deserve that shit.”
“Well, no surprise that Matthew set up an anonymous trust for the kids. The women will get a small stipend that supplements their current incomes, but not enough to live off of fully. The kids will get the money when they graduate from high school.”
“Damn, that’s awful generous of him,” said Cowboy.
“It seems that he and Irene specialize in generosity,” said Moose. “Most special people I know. Did y’all know that an hour after everything went down with Ece in London, Mama Irene called me to check up on me?” The men laughed, shaking their heads.
“Well, you never know, maybe she was listening in on comms,” laughed Patrick.
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” said Christopher. “Nor would I blame her. She seems to be where we need her to be when we need her to be there. Not sure how, she just is.”
“Amen, brother.”
By the time they hit the outskirts of New Orleans, it was raining cats and dogs. Lightning and thunder rattled the windows of the truck, the men careful of which streets they would choose based on the already flooding roads.
