Chapter 7

Rory had no idea meeting Harry’s friends and their wives would be so intense. She’d told Ava and the other two women that she’d met Harry at a store, and they’d gone for a bite to eat. She’d had to say twice that they really were just friends and felt like if she said it a third time, it would be obvious that she was interested in more.

“So you two have been running together?” Ingrid asked.

“We’ve only gone twice. We just like each other’s company.”

“I liked Bear’s company so much I married him,” Ingrid laughed.

Rory had no idea how to respond and was thankful she didn’t have to. Harry and his buddies were right there, and she was glad they were interrupting the conversation.

“So you’re Rory, who Harry hasn’t talked at all about, and I’m Wild,” the man who’d come out to her car introduced himself. “I’m married to Ava, and the two girls in pink are mine. Emma and Lila.

“I’m Bear, and this is Ingrid,” the big guy hugged his woman from behind. “Our two kids are playing with the girls in pink. Their names are Mia and Ethan.”

“I’m Andy, and I’m currently unattached.”

“I’m Jax and with Jessica.”

“And I’m Peach.” A very young guy came up to her. He looked like a model with his nearly perfect skin. He took her hand and bent to kiss it.

“Watch it,” Harry said.

Peach brushed his lips over her knuckles and then raised one eyebrow at Harry. “What? You said you two were just friends. I’m just being a nice guy.”

“Doubtful,” Harry said. “Watch out for him. He may be the best-looking one of us, but he just wants to play the field.”

“I’m good at field sports,” Peach said as he thumped Harry on his back. “Speaking of playing. Did anyone bring a soccer ball?”

“Oh, soccer, I like that,” Rory said.

“Do you play?” Peach asked.

“A little in college.” She didn’t want to say that she had been good enough to make tryouts for Team USA. It had been around the time she was deciding if she wanted to go into the Marines or stay a civilian. Playing soccer didn’t seem like a realistic career path, and she’d picked Marines, thinking it would be a more stable job. Worry over the file she’d found popped into her mind, and she pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to think about troubles at work.

“Come on,” Peach said. “You can be on my team.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve played.” She’d been on an advanced recreational team in Virginia but hadn’t found a team in California that she wanted to join.

“It’s all good,” Peach said. “Just stretch before you get out there.”

She wanted to laugh but said nothing as she set down her bag and moved to the field where they played. Since none of the other women wanted to play, they’d arranged it where it was four against three, giving her team the advantage.

“You guys don’t really have to do that,” Rory said, still not wanting to reveal that she was a good soccer player. It had been a while since she’d played on a mixed team, and she thought that perhaps the guys would show her up. It was a reasonable thought since they were SEALs.

“Just let them do it,” Harry said. “They think you need help.”

“Okay. Let’s go then,” Rory said.

One of the guys, she thought it was Andy, made the mistake of letting her take the ball from him. She turned on her action and speed, faking out the opposing team, spinning to her left, picking up the ball, and scoring about twenty seconds after gaining control.

“Wait,” Jax said as he came up beside her. “You said you played in college. I thought you meant you played like intramural.”

She shrugged. “I was on scholarship, full ride. That was the only way I was going to college.”

“Damn, Harry. Your girlfriend knows how to play,” Jax said.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Harry said as he took the ball from Jax’s hand.

Jax took off jogging the other way. “Whatever you say.”

They played two more plays, and she went easy on them. Then the kids came over and wanted to play, so they toned it down and did soft kicks. The girls were really interested in watching her, and she taught them a few tricks. Of course they were young, so they weren’t really getting it, but she encouraged them and told them they were doing great.

After about forty minutes, they broke to eat burgers and hotdogs. Harry grabbed her a soda, and she patted him on the back to thank him as she stared up at him.

“You still owe me a back rub,” she said in a low voice.

“Hmm, that would mean you’d have to come to my condo.”

“That could be arranged.”

His lips tipped up on one side, and she couldn’t help but smile. The kids came over and asked her questions, wanting to know how she knew so much about soccer. She told them she’d been playing street soccer since their age.

“But I lived in a very small town, and there were very few cars that drove down the streets. It would be too dangerous around here. But there were no parks close to where I lived, so we didn’t have too many options.”

“I bet your parents were proud of you,” Ava said.

She shook her head. “Nah, they dipped when I was five. Haven’t seen them since.”

Silence descended over the group. She glanced up and saw the shocked look on everyone’s face. She hated being a mood killer.

“But by the time I was in high school, I’d found a decent family. I’m still friends with the girl who I shared a room with. She’s my sister. I mean, not on paper, but we both keep up with each other, and she’s the closest thing I have to a sister, so that’s what we are.”

“Wow, that’s great that you have someone in your corner,” Jessica said.

“Can we go play on the slides?” one of the kids asked. She thought it was Mia, but she wasn’t sure.

“I ate everything,” Ethan said .

“Sure, go ahead,” Ava said, watching the kids run off to the play equipment.

Everyone else stared at her like they wanted her to say more. “She’s great. I’ll bring her around sometime. When I moved here last year, I was thrilled because she lives here. She visited me a few times, but we’ve not seen each other as much as we wanted. She’s a good person, though.”

“That’s great that you two can see each other often,” Ava said.

“We get together about once a month. She sleeps over, and we catch up and talk about life.”

“That sounds like us,” Ava said.

“Yeah. When I moved here last year, I didn’t have any friends,” Ingrid said. “But it was impossible with my ex hunting me.”

“Oh, is he out of the picture now?” Rory asked.

“Yeah, he’s serving two life sentences,” Ingrid said. “On his drive down, he ended up killing two women he stayed with. He took their money and thought he would get away with it.”

“That’s scary.” Rory hadn’t had any serious boyfriend ever. She always kept guys at a distance because she didn’t want to get close to any of them for fear they would take over her life. Her eyes strayed to Harry, knowing he wouldn’t be like that.

“Did you move here for work?” Jessica asked.

She glanced at Harry, and he shrugged. “Yeah, I did.” She screwed her lips up to the side and noticed Wild and Jax narrow their gaze.

“She’s military,” Wild said.

“An officer,” Jax added.

“Marine,” Rory said.

“Oh, Harry,” Peach said .

“What’s wrong with that?” Ava asked.

“No fraternization between enlisted and officers,” Peach said. “It’s one of the big rules they spout.”

“We’re just friends,” Rory said.

“Sure. We believe you,” Wild said. “But not everyone will.”

“I’m not in her chain of command. She’s an instructor over at the Center.”

“Is this going to be a problem?” Ingrid asked.

Rory shook her head. “No, because we really are just friends.”

“Trust us, none of us will say anything,” Wild said. “But you two need to figure this out.”

Rory turned to Wild. “We haven’t taken it past friendship and don’t plan on doing that. We’re staying friends. I have to decide to stay in or leave in about four months.”

“You’re not planning on retirement?” Andy asked.

She shrugged. Not only was the offer from the private sector sitting out there, but the file she’d seen weighed heavy on her mind. If she left the military, she couldn’t investigate further. If she stayed, the file would bug her to no end, and she would eventually be in a position to look at more files. If she looked again, she would have to say something. There was no way she would escape unscathed.

Rory pushed away thoughts of the file and answered the question. “I have some options I’m exploring. But we’ll see.”

She had a lot of decisions to make in the next few months. Some of those decisions could put her behind bars. She didn’t want that. If anything ever came out about government officials trafficking people and anyone tied it back to her, she would be in trouble. She was damned if she took the file to the media or told someone in the chain of command above her, and she was damned if she didn’t bring it up to anyone. She needed a plan that didn’t put her in the crosshairs, but she wasn’t sure any path forward would keep her out of trouble.