CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

JazzLight, a nightclub in Montreal, was rocking with VIPs and well-connected partiers all over the massive space as Hammer Reese, the owner, sat upstairs in the private skybox watching it all. His plan had been to fly home from Baltimore and get his tired ass some sleep, but he made a quick stop to his club when his manager informed him that Evelyn "E.T." Thurston, the biggest movie star in America and a particular favorite of Hammer's, was dropping by and wanted to meet him. Just her presence brought in big names, too, and Hammer was a businessman who never let a good opportunity pass him by.

But her ass was late. If she didn't show up in the next few minutes he was going to leave.

"You're the only man in the world who wouldn't wait for E.T. to show up. And she personally requested to meet with you?" Ozzie, his longtime friend and bodyguard, laughed and shook his head. "You got balls, Boss. You got balls!"

"I've got to deal with a shitshow in Madrid tomorrow," said Hammer as the two men sat in the skybox together. "You think I'm thinking about some actress?"

"Madrid is always a shitshow. I don't know why they keep Fletcher there when they know he's incompetent as incompetent can get."

"The President loves him. He's not going anywhere."

"But they use you to keep cleaning up his messes."

Hammer nodded. "Yes, that's the way it works." Then he exhaled. "I've got to fly out in a few hours when it was my intention to sleep in my own bed for a change."

"Why are you worrying about that? I'm sure when Miss Beautiful gets here she'll be more than willing to sleep with you in whatever bed you're in tonight. I've heard of chicks having the hots for you, but from what I'm hearing they ain't got nothing on E.T. She wants you, man. Bad. I'd give my right arm to be in that position." Then he smiled. "But talk is over. There she is. There's the queen."

Hammer looked where Ozzie was looking and saw the gorgeous black actress as she entered the first floor of his club.

"Damn, she looks even better in person," Ozzie said as the two men stared at her.

And Hammer would agree with Ozzie. She was damn impressive. But her breasts weren't as full as Amelia's, and her body, though nice, didn't have those nice curves he craved like Amelia's had. And although she had big, beautiful brown eyes, Amelia's startling green eyes dazzled him. She'd make for a good fuck, he figured. That was for damn certain. But she wasn't Millie.

"Want me to give the word to bring her up?" Ozzie asked him.

But Hammer didn't respond. He kept looking at the actress as her bodyguards could barely control the mob that suddenly surrounded her as they tried to get her to her VIP booth.

Ozzie looked at his old friend. "You still want her, don't you?"

"Everybody wants the great E.T. That's not news."

"I'm not talking about her. You know who I'm talking about."

Ozzie could see Hammer's facial expression change when he realized who he meant. But that didn't mean Hammer was going to share his innermost thoughts with him. He wasn't that kind of man. "That's over," he said.

"Is it?"

Hammer looked angrily at his friend and employee. "Why would you ask me something like that? You think I'm taking time out of my busy-ass schedule to go to Divorce court for the hell of it? Yes, it's over! You need to get over it!"

Hammer knew in that instant that he was jumping on the wrong guy. He was angry at himself, not Ozzie, for letting it get to this. Amelia gave him more than enough chances to get his act together, and he never did. He always had too much to do. Always had to bail the government out of yet another shitshow overseas when it was his ass that needed to bail out. And bail out for good.

If he loved Amelia the way she deserved to be loved, he would have done so a long time ago. But the security of the American homeland was no joke to him. Those threats were real. And there had been times that, had he not been there, there would not have still been a homeland to secure. Add that kind of pressure to Amelia and her craziness and it was a brew no man could stir. He had to let one of them go. When he didn't want to let either go.

"Do you or do you not want her up here?" a pissed Ozzie asked just as Hammer's phone began ringing. "She asked for a meeting, you agreed, now what's all this double talk about? You don't just stand up Evelyn Thurston. She'll go to town on you on social media."

"You think I give a fuck about her social media?" Hammer looked at his Caller ID. When he saw that it was Big Daddy Sinatra, he knew something had to be up with Amelia. He answered quickly. "Hello Charles."

There was a pause. And then that voice that still haunted his dreams. "It's me."

Hammer let out a harsh exhale. Just hearing her voice again made his heart squeeze. "Hello Amelia."

Ozzie looked at him.

Amelia hesitated again. "Hey."

Then nothing.

Was she just phoning? Did she miss him too? "What's up?"

"I've got a . . . a situation."

Hammer was concerned now. "What kind of situation?"

"A guy broke into my house."

Hammer sat upright. "They broke in?" Ozzie sat upright too. "Were you harmed?"

"No. I mean, there was a fight. I fought him. But I won."

It was times like these that Hammer was glad she was tough. He could use less of her toughness when she was battling him. But he was pleased she could defend herself. "Was he arrested? Where is he now?"

"No. No, I didn't call the Police."

"What's that supposed to mean? Somebody breaks into your house and you what? Call Charles?"

"And Mick, yes."

Hammer knew there was more to the story if that rascal Mick was involved. "What aren't you telling me, Millie?"

"The man I took out, the man that broke into my house, is, or was, a United States Senator."

Hammer was floored. "What? Which one?"

"Darby Reiner."

"Damn!" Hammer could not believe it.

"You knew him?"

"Yes." He knew Reiner well. "Where is he now?"

"He's still upstairs here at the house. They don't wanna move him until you weigh in."

Hammer could not fathom how Amelia could have gotten hooked up with a senator. "Were you dating him?"

"Dating him?" He could hear in her voice how pissed she was. "I said he broke into my house and tried to kill me, motherfucker!" She was now screaming it out. "What part of tried to kill me don't you fucking understand?!" Then he heard what sounded like her throwing the phone across the room.

That was the Amelia he knew and sometimes despised. He rubbed his forehead. He wondered why he didn't just tell her to kiss his ass and move on with his life. He didn't have to put up with this crap. She had no idea the amount of women he had to beat back just to try and keep something going with her ass. He didn't have to put himself through all this bullshit for her!

But who was he kidding?

Then Charles apparently picked up the phone. "Still there, Ham?"

"I'm here."

"Are you coming?"

Hammer wanted to scream hell no. But he kept it inside. She was the mother of his son. She was still his wife. He'd do anything for her. "I'm on my way," he said, and ended the call. Then he and Ozzie stood up.

"What this time?" Ozzie asked Hammer. It was always something with Amelia.

"A guy broke into her house. A senator."

Ozzie frowned. "A state senator?"

"Nope. One of the big boys. A U.S. Senator."

"A member of the DC elites broke into her house?"

"If you think that's remarkable, guess which elite it was."

Ozzie looked at him. "Who?"

"Darby Reiner."

"Gotdamn, Boss! Is he . . . Am I going to hear on the news that he's . . . Did she handled that shit?"

Hammer rubbed his forehead again. Millie was in trouble. "Put our Baltimore team on alert," he said as he began walking out of the skybox.

"Do I tell them why?"

"No. You will supervise the cleanup with no questions asked or answered. I want our most trusted only."

"Understood," Ozzie said.

Then Hammer's second phone began ringing. The one with the direct line to the White House. He closed his eyes. He did not want to take that call. But he knew he had to. "This is Reese."

It was the Secretary of Defense. "Change of plans."

"No Madrid?"

"No Madrid. We need you in the Situation Room tomorrow morning seven sharp. The Commander in Chief will be in attendance." And then the call ended. They never asked Hammer if he could make it. They never asked if he wanted to make it. They needed him. That was all, in their twisted minds anyway, he needed to know.

And it was the last thing Hammer needed to hear. Another gotdamn situation-room level meeting could only mean that there was another impending attack that had to be thwarted. An attack that would make Madrid look like kid's play. And Hammer, they would tell him in that briefing, was the only man for the job. Which would be, as it always was, bullshit. But that was how it always went. And if something blew up in their faces, it would be all Hammer's fault. He went rogue, they would say. They never sanctioned any of it. Lock him up and throw away the key.

He leaned his head back. Then shook it. Then he began walking toward the exit.

Ozzie looked at Hammer. He felt sorry for the man that seemed to carry the weight of the country's entire security apparatus on his shoulders. But Hammer never went there with him. Never complained. Never discussed it. He just kept on walking.

It didn't take rocket science for Ozzie to also know that the reason Hammer didn't answer the question he posed about whether Amelia "handled" the Reiner situation was because the answer was yes. Senator Reiner was no longer on the face of this earth, and the wife of the head of Special Operations for the entire U.S. government was the reason. Which just confounded Ozzie. Women like Evelyn Thurston were all but begging to be with him, but the only woman he seemed to want was the very one that kept him on edge and forced him to compromise everything he stood for. But a senator breaking into her house and that senator was now dead? A senator like Darby Reiner with everything to live for? Why would he break in? What did she do to him? Even Amelia never went this far!

And look who was waiting in the wings, Ozzie thought, as he glanced over at the mesmerizing E.T. as he hurried out of the skybox.

When Evelyn Thurston was finally able to get through the crowd that had mobbed her, and she sat down in her own VIP booth, she looked up at the skybox where she knew Hammer Reese would be. Ready to give him her best high-wattage smile.

But nobody was there.