Holding his Hostage - Amy Gamet Page 0,6

of the elite.”

He blew out air. “I’m a fucking liability.”

“Bullshit. You go looking for reasons, you can find one every man on my team doesn’t belong there. But you stop looking, and all you see are good, strong, capable men.”

“Is that good enough? We’re protecting lives every day out there, shooting firearms that could blast a hole through a man in a fraction of a second, then do it again.”

“What are you saying? You want out?”

Sloan cocked his head. “Yeah, man. I am.”

“No.”

“Come on. You know I’ve got a point. You know I’m telling you the truth when I say we came this close to losing that battle down in Mexico, and it would have been my goddamn fault. Me, Razorback, Jackie, her kid… all of us would have been dead.”

“Listen to me, kid. You take what you’re given in life and you make the best of it that you can. Are you the same soldier you were when you worked for Uncle Sam? Hell no. You’re wiser. You’re smarter. You’re seasoned, for God’s sake.”

Sloan laughed without humor. “Seasoned. I’m a fucking gimp.”

“So what? You gonna lock yourself up in your mama’s house and bake for the rest of your life? You have a gift. You have a responsibility to use it for the greater good, Dvorak.”

“Yeah, well, I think the greater good would be better served if I retired.”

There was a knock at the door, and Gus launched himself toward it, barking. One of the guys must have forgotten something. The old husky never appeared younger than when he was defending his turf, his bark sounding far more fierce than he’d actually been in years.

“All right, boy, calm down.” He rounded the corner toward the front door just as Gus stopped barking, his ferocity replaced by excited dancing and an eager whine. Sloan cocked his head. The dog would never react that way for the HERO Force guys. Was his mother back early from her trip? Why hadn’t she called him for a ride home from the airport?

He approached the door, the melodic sounds of a woman’s voice audible through the thick wood panels, and froze. That wasn’t his mother’s voice, though it was one he knew well. He stared at the dog for a long beat, watching him jump and dance as he listened to the woman.

It couldn’t be.

The doorbell rang a second time and he stood rooted to the spot as the dog went crazy. “Okay, okay,” he whispered to the animal. “Calm down.” Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, and just as Gus had indicated, there stood the woman who’d broken his heart.

4

“All right, boy, calm down.”

Joanne’s eyes went wide. She stood on the porch of the old Victorian house, suddenly wishing the boards would open beneath her feet and swallow her deep into the earth. Anyplace would be better than here, any moment far better than this one. That wasn’t Evelyn, that sounded like Sloan!

She looked longingly back at the Porsche idling in the driveway, a big plume of exhaust glowing behind it in the light of a streetlamp. She wished she could run back to it and drive far away from this house, this town, and the memories that lived here.

Heavy footsteps approached the door, but it was that voice that lit her anxiety like a fuse. She was positive it was him, and the dog sounded like Gus. She’d been seventeen when she left Hyde Park, the furry white Husky mix just a puppy who liked to sleep between her feet. That was what, thirteen years ago? “Gus, is that you, baby?”

The dog whined and she smiled wide, needing to focus on the dog instead of the human being on the other side of that door. “Oh, sweetie, I missed you so much!”

The footsteps had stopped, but no one answered the door. She closed her eyes tightly and pressed the doorbell a second time. This time it opened, a rectangle of light from the kitchen door putting the figure in silhouette. Still, she recognized him as she would from any angle, and a visceral ache stabbed her abdomen. “Hi, Sloan,” she squeaked.

For long moments, he didn’t move or respond. Then the storm door opened and the dog pushed out, jumping up onto her thighs and licking her face. Joanne laughed, petting the animal she’d once considered her own and wiping away his kisses. The light came on over her head and she squinted against it.

“Okay, that’s enough, get down,” he said.

She