Chapter 7

The knock on Emily's door startled her out of a restless sleep. Since her discussion with Fletch a couple months ago, she wasn't sleeping more than four hours a night. She was stressed out, hungry, and had lost around fifteen pounds.

Breakfast and dinner were meals she usually skipped to make sure that Annie was getting enough to eat, but she was failing even with that. Too many times, Annie asked for more after she'd finished whatever it was Emily had made for her.

Occasionally one of her coworkers would take pity on Emily and get her something for lunch, but most of the time she raided the bargain bin in the PX and got whatever was cheapest. It wasn't good for her health, Emily knew that, but she didn't know how else to fix her situation.

Fletch's friend continued to show up weekly, like clockwork. He never said much, only more threats to either her or Annie, and he made a point of telling her how pleased Fletch was with her cooperation.

Emily had sold as much of their stuff as she could…at least what she could make a couple bucks on. Annie wasn't dumb, she knew something was up, but Emily refused to talk to her about it. She was the mother, she had to protect Annie as much as possible, just like she always had and always would.

That night, when Emily told her daughter that she just wasn't hungry and the ramen noodles were all hers, Annie had looked at her with eyes at least twenty years older than her six years. She'd scooted her chair out from the table and went to her room. She reappeared with her beloved Army men in her hands. They were still in their packages, pristine.

"Sell my Army men, Mommy. They're brand new, so you can get a lot of money for them."

Emily's heart officially broke. Annie loved those toys, and not just because they were new. Her idol, Fletch, had given them to her, and she loved the man as much as Emily loathed him for putting her in this position in the first place.

Putting her hand on the top of Annie's head, she desperately tried to hold back the tears and looked her daughter in the eyes. "I'm not selling your toys, baby. They're yours."

"But you aren't eating. I can feel your backbone when I hug you."

"I'm eating. Promise. I'm just not hungry. We're fine. We have this wonderful apartment to live in where we're safe. You're the smartest girl in your class. We're fine , baby."

It was obvious Annie didn't believe her, but she was also relieved she didn't have to give up her precious toys. "Okay, but maybe Fletch has a sandwich you could eat?"

Lord. That was the last thing she needed. Emily had curbed the amount of time Annie spent with Fletch as much as possible, but it was obvious when he got home since they lived over the garage. Emily had watched him carefully, and he was always gentle with Annie. Not once had he said anything to her that was out of line or threatening. Annie didn't have a lot of friends, and Emily couldn't bear to take away the man who obviously meant a lot to the little girl.

"I'll talk to him. Okay?"

"Okay!" Annie declared happily, deciding the problem was fixed, and digging into her noodles as if they were the best thing she'd ever eaten, rather than the same thing she'd had for dinner every day that week.

Emily crawled off the couch where she'd been sleeping for the last month and staggered to the door. "Who is it?"

"Fletch."

The last person Emily wanted to see was her landlord, but she couldn't exactly not open the door to him either. She unlocked the locks and slipped out, making sure to close the door tightly behind her. "Hey."

"Hey, Em, I wanted to come over and let you know that I'll be out of town for a while."

"Yeah?"

"Um hum, we got called on a mission fifteen minutes ago. I have thirty minutes before I'm supposed to report to base."

Hating that she cared, but worried nonetheless, Emily asked, "Everything all right?"

Fletch shrugged. "Duty calls. Can you get my mail and watch the place for me again?"

"Yes."

His eyes narrowed at her terse response. "If it's too much to ask, you don't have to."

"It's fine. It was part of the deal."

"Fuck the deal. If you've got other things to do, I'll understand."

"I said it's fine," Emily snapped.

"No guests."

"What?"

"I don't want anyone over there but you and Annie. Don't bring your boyfriend into my house."

"My boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Think you can handle that?"

His voice had gotten hard, and Emily wasn't sure what he was talking about. She didn't have a boyfriend; why would he think that?

"Of course. Fletch, I don't—"

"And I hope you're feeding your daughter more than yourself. Kids shouldn't be on a diet."

"I'm not—"

"I'll leave the key on the seat of your car in the garage. I don't know how long I'll be away, but I hope I can trust you to take care of things around here while I'm gone?"

Emily could only nod. Her coworkers had noticed her weight loss, but Fletch hadn't said anything about it until now.

"I'll see you when I see you then."

"Bye."

Fletch didn't say anything else, simply turned and headed down the stairs and into the darkness.

Emily looked at her watch: four-fifteen. Whatever he was getting called off to do, it must be serious if he had to leave at this time of the morning. She opened the door and headed back inside the small apartment, wondering if his friend would be going with him, or if he'd be around to pick up the payment for the week.

Ghost lay on the ground, keeping his binoculars trained on the building in front of them. They were in Egypt, trying to figure out how many hostages were being held in the government building in Cairo, and where. The flight out had been busy, the Deltas and a team of SEALs had spent the hours coming up with best- and worst-case scenarios for getting the Americans and other hostages out alive.

Even though they didn't have a lot of time to chit-chat, Fletch wanted to talk to Ghost. He'd been acting weird for a few months, and it was obvious the man was head over heels for a woman. His own life might be screwed up, but he'd do anything for his team leader and friend.

"What's up with you, Ghost?"

Ghost sighed, but remained silent.

"Does it have anything to do with that new tattoo on your leg?" Fletch pushed.

"I told you before, I'm not talking about it," Ghost ground out between clenched teeth.

Fletch smiled sadly, reading between the lines to what his friend wasn't saying. He recalled the conversation they'd had about the one-night stand Ghost had many months ago. Typically, Ghost didn't have a problem sharing details about his love life, but for some reason, had been reluctant to talk much about this woman.

Fletch ignored his friend's snarled words and kept pushing, knowing he needed to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him. Especially if it involved a woman. He'd never seen Ghost be close-lipped about someone he'd slept with before. That alone told him Ghost had feelings for her.

"I might not be the smartest man on the block, but if I had a sweet, feisty woman who left me with the memories you obviously have until the next time I could get home, I'd do anything in my power to do something about it."

Ghost nodded, but didn't answer.

Before Fletch could delve any deeper into Ghost's non-relationship with his mystery girl, the shit hit the fan. A bomb detonated in the building they were watching and there was no more time for talk. They had a job to do.

Hours later, when they were all on their way home, and Ghost's mystery woman was miraculously lying injured, but alive, on a pallet at the back of the bird they were flying in, Fletch felt the need to reach out. He'd seen the love and care Ghost had for Rayne, the woman who'd surprisingly been in the middle of the Egyptian coup they'd just foiled. Fate seemed to have had a hand in bringing them together again.

They settled in and shot the shit about Rayne, how she had a tattoo that looked remarkably similar to the one Ghost had inked on his leg a few months ago. Not liking to see his friend so uncertain, Fletch tried to bring things into perspective for him.

"I've met someone," he said quietly. "She's funny and amazing and is more stubborn than anyone I've ever met. She's got secrets, and won't let me in. But the worst thing is that she seems to already have a man."

They'd talked a bit about Emily and her boyfriend before, but in the quiet and dark of the plane, his words seemed more stark and sad.

Ghost looked up at him. Fletch was standing with one shoulder against the wall, seemingly relaxed, but every muscle in his body was tense.

"Every time I see them together I want to pound something. She's got an amazing little girl who's scared of this guy."

"Fletch—"

He didn't let Ghost continue. "I heard what that SEAL said when you went off about wanting to keep your distance from Rayne to keep her safe, and he's right. We aren't even dating, but the thought of someone doing anything to hurt Emily or her daughter makes me crazy. If Emily looked at me with a tenth of the love Rayne looks at you with, I'd move her and her daughter into my house so quickly their heads would spin. Don't give her up, Ghost."

Fletch wandered back to his seat, leaving his friend to think about his words and to be alone with the woman who'd turned his life around. Seeing how Ghost was with her was eye-opening for Fletch.

Something was up with Emily, and he didn't like not knowing what. She'd pulled back from him, and he hated it. He'd thought that after their conversation at the PX, she understood she could be in danger because of his job…and maybe she did. Maybe that's why they hadn't really talked since. Maybe she was nervous because of what he'd said.

She continued to see her mysterious boyfriend, but Fletch never saw the man go up to her apartment. So she was either seeing him at work, or somehow spending time with him without Fletch realizing it.

But it wasn't only Emily. Annie was being affected too. When they'd first met, the little girl was always happy and bubbly and would come clomping down the stairs every time she heard him come home. She didn't do it very often anymore. If he was paranoid—which he was, it came with the job—he'd think Emily was keeping Annie from seeing him. And that hurt.

Didn't she know that he'd protect them from any harm? That he'd never let anything happen to them?

Probably not. They were still essentially strangers.

Emily was a perfect tenant. She paid her rent on time every month; an envelope with a check for the five hundred dollars showed up in his mailbox on the first each month. She was quiet, didn't hold crazy parties, and didn't throw herself at him, which was a welcome break from the last tenant he'd had.

Except…a big part of him wanted her to throw herself at him.

Fletch knew he should be happy, but he wasn't. He wanted the old Emily back. The old Annie. The females who smiled at him, who seemed happy to see him.

Fletch sighed. He was as much of a mess as Ghost. He needed to talk to Emily again, but first he wanted to make sure Ghost was good. It looked like Rayne, the woman his friend had found after not thinking he'd ever see her again, was back. And he hoped like hell Ghost wouldn't be stupid enough to let her go a second time.

Once Ghost and Rayne were settled, he'd have that talk with Emily and find out what was going on once and for all.