Healing Hearts 10: The Scars That Bind Us Read online

  “Not sure if you remember our good friends Knight and Flynn Fordom. I think you met them at the hospital,” he said, and she reached her hand out to Flynn first.

  “Of course I remember you guys,” she said and smiled, then gave his hand a hard, confident shake. She shook Knight’s hand next. Knight kept a straight face but damn, Flynn wondered if his brother felt the spark of interest that hit his hand when she shook it. She pulled back and then Paulie offered her a drink.

  “Oh, I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Not drinking tonight?” Rocky asked.

  “I’m in training for the next week. This is it, then I won’t have to be as strict.”

  “Oh that’s right, Faith mentioned a competition. It’s in the open dome on Saturday,” Paulie added.

  “What kind of competition?” Knight asked.

  “Martial arts expo.”

  “They do a weight requirement?” Knight asked, looking her over just as Flynn was. Jesus, she couldn’t get much hotter. The woman was gorgeous close up.

  “There usually isn’t, but this is more competitive, and people compete from across the country,” she told them.

  “Don’t be so modest, Joanna. You have competed at six different events, taking first place to win a spot in the semifinals,” Avery said, joining the conversation.

  “Really?” Flynn asked, completely interested in this event.

  “It sounds pretty awesome,” Knight added.

  “It gets intense, too. They go into various forms and even grapple. It’s the best of the best, and Mercy’s own Joanna Flemming is one of the top contenders,” Rocky teased.

  “Oh brother,” she said and shook her head.

  “Jo, come see this,” Afina called to her.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen. Enjoy your beers,” she said and smiled.

  “We’ll keep some cold ones on ice for after the competition so you can enjoy one,” Paulie told her. “That would be awesome. Thanks, Paulie.” She walked away. Of course, Flynn and Knight were staring at her body and her ass as she headed toward her friends.

  “Someone caught your interest, guys?” Beck asked them.

  He took a slug of beer and turned to face the bar.

  “What?”

  “Oh boy, you should get Cavanaugh and Leif to come join us. Maybe four of you could get to know Joanna better,” Rocky said.

  “What are you talking about?” Flynn asked.

  “You couldn’t take your eyes off of her at the hospital, and definitely couldn’t tonight. She’s single,” Avery said to them, and then took a slug from his beer. Then the others started in on them.

  “We don’t date,” Knight said.

  “We didn’t either,” Saber mumbled, and they chuckled.

  “She has a great personality. She’s a personal trainer,” Paulie told them.

  “Oh yeah? Where?” Flynn asked.

  “Well I know she trains at Donny York’s dojo, but I heard some of the guys talking about her at Gordon’s, and supposedly she does personal training for wealthy clients. They have to have their own gyms in their homes or dojos,” Rocky said, and then Brook arrived with Kernan, Conan, and Kinchley.

  “Hey, we thought you weren’t going to show up,” Avery teased.

  “Are you kidding? We bumped into Ice, he said he would be late, but Casey, Ranger, Frankie, and Roman are coming, too,” Kernan said. They all shook hands hello, started passing out more beers, and kissed Brook hello before she headed to where the ladies sat inside the cabana. Flynn looked at Knight and wanted to ask him what he thought about Joanna, but he knew the response. Not interested, and why? Because Leif and Cavanaugh were dealing with PTSD, they both sustained injuries that left them with scars. Leif had one on his cheek, one by his eye and neck, and Cavanaugh had a huge scar along his thigh and had a slight limp. Both brothers nearly died because of missions with their teams. Flynn and Knight had their battle wounds, but they were internal scars, emotional ones, not physical, and perhaps that made it a little bit easier than what their brothers had. They wouldn’t even come out here tonight to enjoy a few beers with their buddies. They hated social settings, and Flynn got that. He understood they hated their obvious scars, and didn’t want attention toward them. So pursuing a woman, at least together, wouldn’t be an option.

  “Hey, Flynn, heard you and Knight had a little adventure a couple of days ago? How did that pan out?” Kinchley asked as he slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and then tapped his beer bottle to Kinchley’s.

  Flynn smirked and shook his head. “It worked out just fine. We were being good Samaritans, that’s all.”

  “Looked like that car full of young women were pretty impressed with your tire changing abilities.” Flynn chuckled and didn’t add any other comments. Truth was, Knight and him were driving back from a training session at a private facility when they noticed a car suddenly swerve and then pull off to the shoulder on the side of the highway. It was a busy night with traffic and they pulled up behind and saw the flat tire. Those young women were in their twenties, dressed like they were on the prowl for some fun and already got started. He smirked as he remembered Knight telling them they needed to slow down on the cocktails, and to be sure no one drove drunk. It made those women drool more over the two of them and they were invited to the party they were going to. They declined of course. Those women were too young and they weren’t in the mood for games.

  Flynn’s eyes went back toward the direction of the cabana, and he spotted Joanna holding a phone to her ear and walking away from her friends to the other patio. He wondered how old she was. There seemed to be a sophistication about her, a worldliness, yet she had to be close to Afina and Faith’s ages. Maybe twenty-five. A bit young in years, but in presentation she was all woman. He looked away, certain no one saw him checking her out again. She was off limits. At least for a fling. Knowing his brothers, there was no such thing as commitment to a woman, and they believed there wasn’t a woman out there who could accept them scars and all. He downed the rest of the beer hoping to destroy the bitter taste in his mouth, but it didn’t work. Some guys have all the luck in the world, others live a life picking up pieces.

  Chapter 2

  “What’s going on?” Morris Flemming asked, holding the cell phone to his ear while he lifted the large duffle bag into the back of the SUV.

  “I went by to see Jo. She wasn’t happy to see me, as usual,” Danny told him.

  “Well, what do you expect, Danny? She doesn’t trust anyone. You should know better. What the hell were you doing in town? I thought that case was done weeks ago,” he asked as he got into the passenger side of the SUV. His brother Trek was driving, and his other brothers, Blade and Vetter, were in the backseat with him.

  “There’s been a bit of an update in the case.”

  “What kind of update?” he asked, then looked at Blade and Vetter. He could see their fierce, concerned faces. They were very protective of their sister Jo.

  “Looks like a couple of those business associates of Porcini and Topaz turned up dead.”

  “Good. Who gives a fuck? They were all dirt bags,” Morris replied.

  “Well, under normal circumstances I would agree, but it was the way they were murdered and what went down prior that has me concerned, and my brothers, as well.”

  “What went down?”

  “Crime scene shows Topaz’s signature killing method. Unless we’re talking MS-13 gang, you don’t see that too often. A machete to the throat.”

  “Oh fuck.”

  “Exactly. Both men were left at their desks in their home offices with printouts and information about illegal activities they were engaging in through their businesses.”

  “Four years, Danny. Four fucking years and we haven’t come up with shit on a location for these assholes. Now they want to play fucking games? Where did this take place?”

  “New York, two days ago. Corona got a call from a friend of his in the police department there.”

  “Did you tel
l Jo?”

  “She didn’t want to hear it. Said she rather believe that her father was dead, and so were Topaz and Porcini.”

  “We’ll talk to her when we get home. We just got out of the airport now so it’s going to be a while before we get there.”

  “She’s out at the Armos brothers’ home.”

  “You know this how, Danny?” he asked with a bit of attitude.

  “You know I watch out for her whenever I can, and when I was working in the area I made sure she was okay.”

  “I’m sure she appreciated that.”

  “She couldn’t tell me because I didn’t let on that I was watching over her. She might deck me, and the woman is fierce.”

  “She shouldn’t have to be fierce,” he said, and rubbed his unshaven face. He needed a hot shower, food, and sleep. He was looking forward to seeing Jo and also being back in time to see her compete on Saturday.

  “I’ll keep you abreast of any updates. Corona will call Leif and connect with him on this. Also, so you know, it looks like the CIA has a team pursuing these murders as suspicious for reasons they are not divulging as of yet. Corona will find out.”

  “Thanks, Danny. We’ll wait to hear from you.”

  Morris ended the call and exhaled.

  “A hit job, you know that, right?” Trek said.

  “For shit sure. Those sons of bitches have been holding out for four years. Why start shit up now? I would think they would have moved on with their money and the blood on their hands all satisfied,” Vetter said to them.

  “I don’t like it. There was plenty of time to kill those businessmen sooner for ratting them out. Why now?” Blade asked.

  “Exactly? I’m sure Corona is looking into that. We’ll do the same. Use our resources and contacts and see if we get anything more to work with. The good thing is that we’re home for a good amount of time. Got nothing coming up and we can always cancel if need be. I got a bad feeling about this happening right now. It doesn’t make sense,” Morris said to them.

  “It doesn’t. We all know that Porcini and Topaz are not the types of men to give up. They have a plan. Patience was always their strong suit. They held Joanna for twelve weeks. The feds were giving up hope of finding her alive. Porcini knew that and he held steady. What has him coming out now and issuing hits?” Trek asked.

  “Better question, will he come looking for Joanna?” Vetter asked.

  “If he’s grown his resources again, then he already knows where she is. She needs to be ready and take the necessary precautions. We’ll talk to her about it tomorrow,” Morris told them, and then he looked out the window and couldn’t help but to think about the past. To remember the horror in learning that their twenty-one-year-old sister was abducted, and that their father, Ortley, had something to do with it. He and his brothers were off doing their own thing as Special Forces soldiers. Their mom seemed fine the month before the incident happened. She didn’t seem like anything was bothering her or that there was anything to fear. Morris missed something. He had to have. He would rack his brain for hours trying to figure what went wrong. What had his father gotten involved in that would make him give up his own daughter? Those men were going to sell her off or something. They never got the answers from Joanna. She had been so scared she couldn’t even speak about what they did to her there.

  Morris rubbed his jaw and clenched his teeth. Those fucks were going to die for what they did to her. With this update, Morris and his brothers would need to be smart. To not let their guards down. Something was brewing, and this time if those men came this way, he would eliminate them personally.

  * * * *

  Joanna felt emotional the moment she heard the alarm disarm. She grabbed her cell phone and saw that Morris had disarmed it. They were home. Her brothers were back. She looked at the clock. 4:00 a.m. She had to be up in an hour anyway for work. A regular client at 5:30, and then a new one at 7:00. She had a full schedule today.

  She got out of bed, quickly put a bra on under her tank top, and then hurried to the door and the staircase. Before she even reached the bottom, Morris was there. She smiled wide, so did he, but then there was an expression of relief. She didn’t think twice about it. Whenever they returned, they quickly made sure that she was okay. Safe and sound where they left her. It made her feel a little more uneasy than usual because of Danny’s visit and the new information. She hugged him and he hugged her back.

  “Sorry we woke you up,” he said, and then lowered her feet to the floor. She held onto his shoulders and gave them a squeeze.

  “Are you kidding me? I have to be up in an hour anyway, and you know I can’t wait to see you guys and know that you’re all okay,” she said, and Trek hugged her next. She caressed his cheek and felt the gruff. “You look exhausted,” she said, and he stepped back.

  “We’re good,” he replied, which was typical.

  “You know you left the garage side window open,” Blade said to her, squinting as he reprimanded her.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “It needed some air in there. I just opened it yesterday for a little while.”

  He eyed her over, shook his head, and she gave his shoulder a slap.

  “Okay, I’ll be more careful now hug me so I know you’re okay and in one piece.” He still looked angry, but he hugged her. When he squeezed her tight, she knew it was because he worried about her safety. Perhaps Danny spoke to them. As he released her, Vetter smiled.

  “Did you make those little organic chocolate chip banana muffins? It’s Saturday?” Vetter asked, and she laughed as he hugged her next.

  “I made some yesterday. Although someone failed to tell me you were coming home this weekend,” she said, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. They went toward the kitchen.

  “We weren’t sure if we would get a lift out of there, but snagged a ride from some friends,” Trek told her, and they started washing their hands one by one at the sink.

  “Are you guys hungry? Want to make some food?” she asked.

  “You have work you said.” Vetter sat down in the chair and looked at her.

  “I do, but I don’t need to be at Benson’s until 5:30 a.m. I can scrounge up some grub for my four big brothers.” She smiled and walked over to the refrigerator and began to take out some eggs and bacon.

  “If you don’t mind. I’m pretty damn hungry,” Blade said.

  “Sit down. You guys look so tired. I guess it was a rough one besides a long one,” she said, and immediately started to get the bacon started before she cracked the eggs. Morris started to put bread in the toaster, helping her anyway. She loved her brothers so much. They meant the world to her and she worried about them constantly. They were all good-looking men, seasoned, and they were affected by the tragedies in the family like she was. She wondered if they would ever meet a woman and share her like friends of hers and theirs did, or if they would stick to one night stands and sneaking off for the weekend. She wouldn’t ask them though, or they would start in on her, and the idea of dating.

  Why when she started thinking about that did Flynn and Knight pop into her head? That was just crazy. She didn’t know them. She knew they were Special Forces soldiers and they aided in rescuing Afina, but that was about it. Well as far as looks, they were hot, and bodies? Jesus, they were built like Greek gods, all those hard muscles, chiseled faces, and expressions of hardcore, take-no-shit attitudes. Jesus, she would bash heads with them. They were like her brothers or maybe even worse. She shook the thoughts from her head. She thought about this. About dating, and she was twenty-five, a virgin, and for good reason. She came way too close to being raped. Was sexually abused while held prisoner, and exposed to things that haunted her dreams at night. Dating was really the last thing on her mind. Well, until she laid eyes on Flynn and Knight.

  “How is everything with the house? Any issues while we were gone?” Morris asked.

  “Oh, not really. There was a leak in the bathroom downstairs, but I got under there and fixed it. A washer
needed to be replaced and a sealant put on. It’s been fine, so I think that was all it needed.”

  “Shit, I’ll look at it later today,” Vetter said.

  She looked at him after turning the bacon. “Vetter, it’s fine, really. You work on getting some rest. I’ll also hit the supermarket and buy some more food now that I know you all are back. You are back, right? Not leaving soon?” It was obvious by her tone that she hated when they left her alone here. As independent as she was, she felt more relaxed and at ease when her brothers were around. Hell, they were Special Forces, of course she felt safer. When they weren’t home, she was uptight. Especially at night.

  “We’re back for a while. We’ll start working on information with Corona starting later today or tomorrow,” Morris said.

  She swallowed hard. “So he spoke to you?” She took out the finished bacon, then added new bacon to cook.

  “He said you were resistant to the information he gave you. The warning,” Morris said, and she looked at him. He was at the counter waiting for more toast to pop up out of the toaster.

  “It’s stuff I don’t need to know. I don’t care to know about.”

  “Well you should and you need to,” Blade said in a snappy tone.

  She looked at the bacon. “I’m living my life. It’s only in the past year or so that things have become routine and I feel comfortable. I don’t care what Topaz, Porcini, or Ortley are up to, or what games they are playing with business. It has nothing to do with me.”

  “You should care, and you need to take precautions and be on guard,” Trek said firmly.

  “I’m always on guard,” she whispered, and took out the cooked bacon and then turned off the stove. She started to crack eggs. She was always on guard because that was the way life had to be. She would fight being a victim in any way, ever again. She wasn’t normal. She no longer thought like a normal person, but as a trained weapon, a person with the abilities to kill, yet never killed before. It was all in preparation of just in case.