Jacob watched Frank cut off the animal and head it back down the hill. Well, what in the hell do you do with that King? The old man hit the mark though. Victoria didn’t belong here. She belonged with him in D.C. He did need a plan on how to take care of her. He wanted a lifetime commitment, but his longevity wasn’t a guaranteed thing. Frank was a smart old fart. Jacob chuckled. He would set up everything for Tori. She’d never want again.
Tori rode back across the ridge to him and pulled up with a smile. “Chief will take the pack horse up to the line cabin. He should be able to make it back by just after dark.” Jacob nodded and glanced again at the old man who was working the herd. That man knew and cared about his daughter. Jacob spent the rest of the trip to the ranch working out details for Tori’s care in his mind.
It was full dark when Jacob, Drake, and Dixon finished feeding and grooming the horses after settling the cattle. Jacob looked up as Chief rode in out of the dark. “Doc okay?”
Chief grunted. “Yeah, he’s worried about his woman.”
Jacob chuckled. “Did he say that?”
“Didn’t have to.”
Jacob nodded. “Put up your horse then head on to the house for dinner. Aunt Betty saved you some fried chicken. I need you to set up secure comms in one of the small rooms downstairs off the library. I want complete privacy and encrypted channels back to HQ. Three days away from the operations center is killing me. I need to know what is going on no matter what Gabriel says.”
Chief nodded and led his horse to the barn. Drake and Jacob hung over the stall watching Chief take care of his animal. “Guess you get to see the new art.”
Chief looked up from his work and scowled at Drake before he looked questioningly at Jacob.
Dixon assumed a position next to his twin and chuckled. “Yeah, great analogy Drake. Pretty as a picture.”
“Analogy? Damn it Dixon what is with you and these four dollar words? You’ve been reading that damned thesaurus again, haven’t you?”
Chief finished putting out the feed and sighed. “What the fuck are you two babbling about now?”
Dixon closed the stall door as they exited. “It seems Aunt Betty has daughters and one of them is here.”
Chief shook his head and growled. “What is this? Fucking mating season?”
Drake laughed and thumped Dixon on the back. “If only! This ranch is the twilight zone and if we don’t watch it, we’ll all get sucked into an alternate cowboy reality or maybe down a wormhole into a geosynchronous universe.”
Dixon agreed. “Yep. Before you know it, we all will be pushing cows for a living married to gorgeous country girls. Hey wait! Geosynchronous universe? Really? Geo-fucking-synchronous? What the hell is wrong with plain ol’ parallel? Where do you come up with these words? I swear Drake you’re just trying to dog me. I’ve the same education you have and you don’t hear me talking like some butt-clenched, bow-tied asshole.”
Jacob tuned the twins out. God knew he had enough practice. Those two never shut up.
Chapter Twelve
Per Frank’s instructions, Jacob took over the library instead of using one of the smaller rooms downstairs. When he worked late into the night, Tori stayed with him; usually falling asleep on the couch. Jacob looked over his monitor at the woman who slept on the sofa. It was 2:30 in the morning and he still had’n’t finished the paperwork waiting for him.
The intelligence reports and mission briefs he dealt with were second nature. Running the damn business, fielding the reports from finance, human resources, intelligence, IT, and security were almost enough to make him walk away from it all. He hated it. He and Gabriel held a nightly teleconference and video meetings going over countless issues. Once Tori’s security clearance had been vetted, updated, and transferred, she helped by organizing his efforts.
In his opinion, stepping up from Alpha team leader to COO had turned into a punishment rather than a promotion. A field agent by nature, the administrative nightmare associated with his promotion prompted Jacob to take every possible mission in order to avoid death by paper cuts. Now he had no way to escape the paperwork, and he anguished over the decision on whether or not to walk away. Astonishingly, Tori had helped him bridge the gap from operative to management.
Several weeks ago, he’d had an enlightening conversation with Tori. “Look, basically, you moved from working one small operation to a large one. Same problems, just on a different scale.”
Jacob leaned back in the plush leather chair and scowled at her as she sat on the edge of his desk. The headache from staring at the stacks of paper tightened like a vice. “Yeah? How so?”
“Security issues for example. If you were on an op and you had a breach in security what would you do?”
“Find the vulnerability, seal it¸ work the ramifications, report the damage, and ensure it couldn’t happen again.”
She smiled at him. “Exactly. Now if your security department informs you of an issue involving an unauthorized disclosure of classified information what would you do?”
Jacob’s eyebrow’s rose. “Find the vulnerability, seal it, work the ramifications, report the damage, and ensure it couldn’t happen again.”
Tori shrugged. “Same with finance right? If funding is not available, you work alternatives or secure obtain other funding. Human Resources, if you need more people you hire and train them. If your team has issues because of…” she used her hands to put up air quotes, “…‘bad actors’, you either retrain them or get rid of them.”
That conversation became a turning point for him. During the last month, he had actually put effort into being the COO Gabriel wanted him to become and used his talents on a scale he never dreamed possible. A month ago he couldn’t imagine not being Alpha team’s leader. In reality, the thought of not leading his men still shot a wave of ice through his veins. Yet he knew without a doubt when the missions eventually ended, he would be satisfied running the company.
A soft mewl from the couch captured his attention immediately. Her nightmares weren’t frequent, but when they hit they messed her up. Her eyes flicked rapidly behind her eyelids and her breathing came in the now familiar shallow, short pants. Small muscle contractions jerked her arms and legs convulsively. Jacob left his computer and walked over to the couch. Carefully, he picked her up and lifted her into his lap. His lips found her forehead and his hands smoothed her hair away from her face where perspiration had allowed it to cling.
“You’re safe, baby. I got you. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.” Jacob closed his eyes and waited for her to wake up. Her body trembled and jerked with fear as she came around. He paused for a moment to make sure she knew it was him and pulled her tightly against his chest. “Same dream?”
Her head moved side to side against his chest slowly. A sense of helplessness gripped him once again. Something new tormented her tonight. Phenomenal, just what she needed. Jacob knew she would always have these memories, but it shredded his self-worth knowing he couldn’t help her. The terror of what had been inflicted on her was something she rarely allowed anyone, even him, to see.
“You didn’t sleep last night either. What’s triggering the dreams, baby?” His hand traveled up and down her arm trying to still the trembling of her body.
“I don’t know. The doctor I was seeing said there didn’t have to be a trigger. It’s the same with the anxiety attacks. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, different, and the next thing you know I’m spinning out of control. I can’t breathe. The fear paralyzes me. It’s not a rational response, no rhyme or reason.”
“When was the last time you had a session with your doctor?” He felt her tense in his arms. “Baby, you went through hell. It’s alright to need someone to guide you through your recovery.”
Jacob felt moisture on his shirt and pulled her away from him. Tears. God, he hated all female tears, but hers in particular killed him. “Ah baby…don’t cry. You’re home. You’re safe, and I’ll never allow anything to happen to you again.” He kissed her softly before he continued. “In the morning, make an appointment to go see the doc. I’ll go with you if it makes it easier. Besides, I would like to meet the person who has been helping you.”
Tori actually chuckled. “He isn’t typical for a doctor. Dr. Wheeler looks more like he belongs in a motorcycle gang than a shrink’s office.”
“Yeah? Maybe I’ll go just to protect my claim on you.” Realizing he was only half teasing he tipped her chin and smiled at her. “Can’t have you falling in love with anyone else.” His lips lowered and softly kissed her nose.
Tori smiled, wiped away the tears from her cheek, and put her head on his shoulder. “I’d like you to come with me. Thank you.”
Jacob leaned back in the huge leather couch and sighed. She was everything to him.
“Are you done with work for tonight?” Tori’s finger played with a button on his shirt.
“Hmmm…yeah, I can be. I was waiting on a response from Jason. He’s in California working a massive fraud case some defense contractor found and hasn’t checked in. There’s a mission that may require me to tap his expertise.”