Survive

Chapter 6

As soon as they were finished the game started and it was neck in neck for the most part. Sam's team needs the win for the championship, this is their year and they've worked very damn hard for it.

"They got this." Luke would mutter while shouting out suggestions to the girls.

"Alright, let's go girls!" I shouted when the game was almost over.

"Let's go! Let's go! Final five minutes." Luke said.

Neither one of us noticed the man walking up to us.

"Quite the cheering section." the guy said, sticking out like a sore thumb in his suit.

"Oh yeah, that's the moms. They come out to support the kids." Luke told him, shooting me a smile.

"Except there seems to be more moms than kids. Way more moms."

"You realize his wife is standing here, right?" I asked the guy, glaring at him.

"Right." he said softly.

"Yeah, it's a big soccer town. Let's go girls!" Luke said, quickly trying to diffuse the situation.

"So your intel was spot on." the guy told Luke.

"Can you talk about this another time?" I asked, not appreciating his just appearing at my daughter's game.

"Can we talk somewhere? This is . . ."

"Are you insinuating that I can't be trusted?" I asked.

"Babe . . . Allen, she's my wife. Say whatever you came to say, you can say it in front of her, I'll just tell her later on anyway." Luke told him.

"That damaclie 70 EMP weapon that went missing in the gulf, arms dealers from the Liberation Front have it in Berlin." Allen said.

"Shit." Luke complained.

"Is this what you've been working on?" I asked, thinking about all the late nights in his home office.

"This thing can wipe out an entire electrical grid in a major city. No lights, no power . . . instant stone age." Allen told Luke.

"Chloe, Maya, you can't let her run by you like that. Let's go, let's go!" he shouted.

"Hey, Hobbs. This is a class 4 WMD. Do you have any idea what's at stake here?" Allen asked my husband.

"Yes! I know exactly what is at stake here, okay? If Pink Butterflies beat my Red Dragons that means we lose the championship. Which means I'll have 20 little girls who are crying and that's not a good thing. Which then means I have to spend a lot of time in ice cream shops and a lot of time in Tay-Tay concerts." Luke argued and I just nodded in agreement.

"Tay-Tay?" Allen asked.

"Yep? Taylor Swift. Don't you have a daughter?" I asked him.

"You gotta be shitting me. Get it together. Let's go girls." Luke said, rolling his eyes at Allen.

"We need you to do this, lots of lives are at stake. I need to be clear here. The US Government can not sanction this operation in any way. You're on your own. This thing goes sideways you don't just get burned, you go to prison. And there's nothing we can do to get you out." Allen said, making my anger come back tenfold.

"You want him to save your asses because the government can't assist but you won't protect him? Who the hell do you think you are?" I demanded, scaring my daughter.

"It's okay lo'u alofa, let me tell you something. The only thing that I love more than saving lives are my wife and daughters. So if you don't shut up with this government bullshit right now and start showing some team spirit and respect for the Red Dragons, I'm gonna have all 20 of them line up and kick you right in the Tay-Tay." Luke told Allen, making him gulp.

"Go Dragons." he whispered.

"Say it again, a little louder this time." I said.

"Yeah, say gain." Lani told him squirming around until I put her down.

"Go, Dragons!" he shouted.

"Good boy, go Dragons. Go Dragons . . . go, she's open. Go, yup! Yes!" he shouted when Sam made the winning goal.

"That's my daughter right there! Yes! Yes, come here!" I shouted when she ran over and hugged both of us.

"How'd I do?" Sam asked us.

"Awesome baby." we told her.

"You do great, Sammy!" Lani said, hugging her sister's waist.

"Nice job." Allen said, wiping the smile off of Sam's face.

"Daddy's gotta go to work?" She asked.

"Yeah, daddy's gotta go to work." he replied softly.

"You too, mom?" she asked.

I looked over at Luke, he shrugged leaving the option up to me.

"Now, you're gonna need a team that you can trust." Allen told Luke.

"We already got one." I told him, lacing my fingers with his and making my decision on the spot.

I was distracted, I won't lie. Luke fulfilled his promise of taking the girls for mani-pedis but I'm not here at all. I've never been away from Lani for more than a few hours so this is terrifying for me. She knows that something is up because she won't let go of me, ever since we left the soccer field she's stuck to my side like glue.

There's also the fact that he's been working again and he didn't tell me. I'm angry but at the same time, I'm not, if that makes any sense. Working for law enforcement is deeply embedded in who he was and to think that he would give it all up, yeah that wasn't gonna happen.

"Penny, you don't have to go with me." Luke said.

Sam had Lani on her lap getting a foot massage, for that, she let go of me.

"I'm not leaving this alone, we will talk about this when we get home." I muttered.

"I didn't want to tell you okay, I was helping him from home and in the field once or twice. I didn't want to worry you because I didn't think they'd need me to come back for it. It's only been on a few things." he said, cupping my face in his large hands.

"You shouldn't have kept this from me. This is a big one and we have to go, there's no denying it."

"I know and I'm sorry but I didn't want to involve you in any of this. You're not a part of this life anymore, I wanted you to enjoy our daughters and write. You've been dedicating so much time to your book and that's all I wanted you to do. He called me and I couldn't say no." he said, pleading with me to understand his motivation and I do.

"I know, that's why you're going. It's why we're going, we're gonna make the world a safe place for our babies. It's who we are and it's what we do, no matter what the problem is." I replied.

"God, I love you woman." he said.

"I'm gonna get a smoothie, I'll be back." I smiled.

"Alright, be careful."

"I always am."

Walking across from the nail salon I walked into my favorite smoothie place. As I walked out I bumped into a woman, making her drop a cup and some bags she was carrying.

"I'm so sorry, are you . . ."

"I'm good, it's okay." she said.

A pretty woman with blonde, thin dreads that suited her thin and tall frame. Something about the way she was looking at me was just a little off. I couldn't put my finger on it though.

"I'm so sorry, can I get you another drink? A smoothie maybe?" I asked.

"No, it's okay Penelope." she said with a slick smile and I automatically had my guard up, especially when I realized I wasn't armed.