Operation Endurance

CHAPTER 9

Chris stepped into the hangar juggling the bags of food and carrier full of drinks. “Lunch is here,” he called out. Mick, their mechanic, stepped from behind the fuselage of the De Havilland. Colton came down from the cockpit and Jake leaned his head out the door of the supply room.

“Take it into the conference room and we can eat in there,” Colton instructed.

Jake ambled across the length of the hangar and started grabbing for bags. “Does this grease mean Mesquite’s barbeque?”

Chris lifted one of the bags to look at the grease spots on the brown paper. “Should I be worried you knew that just from the fat showing up on the bag?”

Jake smiled. “Probably. We’ve got to stop eating junk like this or else we’re going to lose our girlish figures.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere around any girls that look like you three,” Mick groused in his age-roughened gruff voice.

They all laughed as they headed toward the office door.

Colton turned and surveyed the large hangar space behind them. “You do make a good point, though. Maybe we should find someplace in here to set up a weight bench. Now that we aren’t in the military anymore, it would be too easy to relax our workout routines, especially with how busy it looks like things might get.”

“Oh, God. You’re not going to start making us do PT in the mornings before we report in for work, are you?” Chris asked Colton with a smirk.

Colton smiled right back. “Only if you pansies start getting fat. Then I’ll put you on the Mad Rob weight management program.”

Both Chris and Jake groaned, while Colt just laughed at them evilly.

They crowded into the conference room, sat down at the table, and dug into the greasy barbeque sandwiches. Regardless of any of their kidding around, Chris knew none of these guys were in danger of getting out of shape anytime soon.

Even Mick who had to be pushing sixty years or older was in prime physical shape. A former Special Forces guy during Vietnam, he’d since become an airplane mechanic. They were lucky to have him and his experience working on Mad Rob’s planes. He had a couple of guys who would come in weekly to help him out, depending on the flying schedule for the company, but he was the guy in charge of the day to day maintenance on their three planes.

Mick glanced around the room. “This place is starting to shape up. You almost look like a legitimate company.”

Colton quirked an eyebrow at him. “Almost, huh? I guess we’ll have to try harder, but it does look pretty good.” He gave Chris an approving smile. “You got a lot done here last night.”

“It wasn’t just me. Julie helped.” It was nice to have Colton’s approval for once. It had been a while since he’d done anything worth earning it.

“We need to do something nice to thank her,” Jake said. “First, working here on the office and then with the extra defense training she’s giving the girls. No wonder she isn’t sleeping. She doesn’t have time.”

“What extra training is she giving the girls?” Chris asked.

Jake and Colton frowned, and Colton said, “Didn’t she tell you about the attacks?”

Immediately Chris’s heart rate sped up in panic. “Attacks? What attacks? Did something happen to Julie? One of the other girls?” Both the others had been attacked in the last year. They were all way too familiar with the terror of having one of their women in danger.

Colton immediately set to calming him down. “No, no, relax, Chris. It’s nothing like that. No one’s supposed to know, but there’s a serial rapist loose in Lubbock. Julie felt like it would be a good time for both the girls to brush up on their self-defense skills so she’s giving them some lessons this weekend.”

Jake scowled. “I don’t like the idea of this guy out there.”

“Honestly, who does?” Colton added. “I really don’t like that the cops aren’t warning the public. I should call Brian and see what he has to say about it. Penelope is always coming home after dark from the fitness center or the bookstore. I tried to talk her into letting me pick her up, but she threw a fit.”

Chris couldn’t help but chuckle at the confused look on Colton’s face. The poor guy just couldn’t understand why the rest of them didn’t like him bossing them around. “Um, Colt, you might have more success with that if you ask her, rather than just tell her.”

Colton looked thoughtful about that statement for a moment, and then a slow smile spread across his face. “Oh, it’s all right. I have other ways of convincing her.”

“Oh, man,” Jake moaned. “New rule for the office, you are not allowed to share things that could be construed as too much information.”

“You’re about to be a married man. In a few months, you’re gonna be begging for juicy tidbits.” Colton smirked at him.

“Like you aren’t whipped and headed that direction yourself?”

Colton smiled wide. “As a matter of fact, I am. I know that we aren’t quite to the point of scheduling yet, but everyone should note this on their schedules. Mad Rob is closed for business June 19th-21st.”

They all watched him expectantly, but Colton just stacked the papers in front of him and didn’t add anything about why they were shutting down.

Jake looked at Chris and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, Colton, you can’t just say something like that and not tell us more. So why exactly are we shutting down that weekend?”

“Because,” Colton continued to shuffle the papers in front of him, “we’re all headed to Vegas so everyone is there for my wedding. Penelope and I are eloping.” He looked up with a blinding smile that radiated his happiness.

Jake let out a loud whoop but immediately quieted and quirked an eyebrow in question. “Hmm, is there a reason for the rush?”

Colton crossed his arms across his chest and gave a huge shit-eating grin. “Oh yeah, but you’re not allowed to say anything to anyone yet, especially the girls. We’re gonna have a baby.”

Chris smiled, even though the news hit him like a blow to his solar plexus. It’s not like he hadn’t known this was coming, but wow, things were happening fast. Both of his siblings were about to get married and Colt was going to have a baby, a niece or nephew for him. Was it wrong that he wanted the same thing? His thoughts immediately flew to Julie. Once upon a time, he’d thought they would probably head toward this destination themselves. Some days, he really did wonder if Fate was a bitch who hated his guts.



* * *



Chris knocked softly on Julie’s door, light filtered through her blinds so he hoped it wasn’t too late. It had been another late night at Mad Rob working to get everything done in the office, and then the four of them had gone out for a celebratory beer to toast Colton’s news.

If Julie was already asleep, he didn’t want to interrupt that. He understood how frustrating it was to be awoken just after finally falling asleep. But she’d left her sweatshirt at Mad Rob the night before and he thought she might need it on these cool nights. He was about to step away from the door when he heard the chain lock disengage.

The door swung open to reveal a soft, sexy Julie that took his breath away. She was in sleep shorts and a tank top. Her face had been scrubbed clean and her hair had a rumpled look like she’d been running her hands through it or sleeping. Damn, he’d woken her up. But it didn’t seem to bother her as her eyes lit up with a smile.

“I’m sorry, Julie. I should have waited until morning. I’m so sorry I woke you up.”

“Oh, Chris, you didn’t. I was just lying in bed reading. I wasn’t asleep yet. Come on in.” She held the door open for him and stepped back so he could come in. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thanks. I just came from having a beer with the guys so I’m good.” He thrust her sweatshirt out to her. “I don’t want to keep you, but you left this at the office last night and I thought you might be missing it. By the way, the guys told me to tell you thanks. They were happy to see how much work we got done last night.”

“Thanks, but it was no problem. You know me. I love to do that kind of stuff. Oh, and speaking of Mad Rob. You all haven’t hired someone for the office yet have you?”

He shook his head ruefully. “No, I think we’re supposed to put out an ad over the weekend and start interviews next week. Why? Are you applying for the job? I could put a good word in for you with the bosses.”

She laughed. “No, I think I’ll stay at the hospital, but I do know someone who might be perfect for you all. She’s one of my self-defense students who lost her job at a law firm when one of the partner’s sons became too hands-on. From what she tells me, they’re working the business community to keep her from getting hired anywhere else. I have no idea how good she is at her job, but she’s fun and smart. I could see her fitting in with you guys at Mad Rob.”

“She sounds great. Do you have her name and number? I’ll pass it on to the guys and see what they think.”

Julie led him to her breakfast counter in the kitchen. She dug out her cell phone and transferred Toni’s contact information onto a sticky note.

“Why didn’t you mention anything about the attacks in Lubbock last night?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. It just didn’t seem that important for you to know. I don’t think you’re in any danger from this guy.” She smirked at him.

“Haha, very funny. You didn’t think I would want to know that you could be in danger?”

She tucked her short hair behind her ear. “That’s very sweet, but there are hundreds of thousands of women in Lubbock. I think I’ll probably be okay. Besides, I don’t know if you remember or not, but I can hold my own.”

Suddenly the flash of Julie throwing him down into the snow that fateful Valentine’s Day flashed through his mind. His heart torqued at the thought of her body pressed up against his as he brought her to orgasm later that same evening. “Yeah, I remember,” he said, his voice hoarse. He needed to get out of there. He looked up to meet her eyes which had widened like she knew exactly what he was remembering. Yeah, it was definitely time for him to leave.

He reached across the counter and plucked the stick-it note out of Julie’s hand. “Thanks for this. I’ll get out of your hair now. G’night, Julie.”

He stepped out the door and as it shut behind him, he paused for a moment and closed his eyes. He had to stop torturing himself with this. Resolved, he stepped forward to his door. Just as he grabbed the handle, the lightbulb exploded above him, sending a shower of sparks and shattered glass onto his head.

He dove to the ground, searching the surrounding area for the cause, but nothing moved. There wasn’t even the normal neighborhood dog barking. Everything appeared to be perfectly calm, besides the frantic beating that echoed up from his heart.

He glanced back up at the darkened light. Was it possible that a defective bulb had somehow exploded, taking the shade with it? The permeating quiet told him that had to be the case. With another glance back toward the quiet street, he shrugged, a bit embarrassed. Talk about over-reacting. Thank goodness Julie had already closed her door. He’d have to get an electrician out to look at the fixture tomorrow after work.