The next morning Joanna woke up alone again and slipping from bed, she looked out the window and saw that Alex wasn't exercising her nightshirt shifting. Starting to feel a little worried, he had left and went to the door. Opening it, she saw Alex in a Marine Blues uniform without the jacket, which was hanging over a chair.
He turned as she gocked at him from the door. "What are you doing?" she demanded, and he turned showing the frying pan with eggs bacon already cooling on a plate.
"You cooked breakfast for me yesterday it seemed only right that I return the favor," he said, putting the food on the table.
She chuckled as she sat down. "Where'd you go you didn't come to bed last night," she said.
"I caught a flight out to DC and back got back around six this morning," he said, and she froze in mid bite.
"Six that was two hours ago, when did you sleep?" she said.
"On the flights, and don't worry nobody saw me when I came back," he said.
"How did you get back?"
"Through the forest,"
At this, she frowned. "There wasn't a speck on those shoes," she said, and he smiled.
"You do have a good eye I told you I was good," he said, and she eyed him.
"So why did you have to go to DC? And what was it like being a Major in the Devil Dogs?" she asked.
"I had to pick up some personal files there and the silver clover means Lieutenant Colonel, now I have to change as you know with us leading the overnight ride later," he said, then walked into the bedroom.
"What too difficult to hack the DOD?" Joanna asked.
"No to dame dull," Alex said, from inside the room.
"You know I was thinking of who might have done this last night and what about Hopkins he keeps boasting about how he was in the Marines," she said, put the dishes in the sink.
"He wasn't in the Marines, tried to get in when he was seventeen failed the psych eval five times, he's a bladder full of hot air. An asshole but a bladder full hot air," he said, as he came out and folded the uniform over the jacket taking care not to crease it.
"Then do you know who did it?" she asked, looking at him as he slipped the uniform into a suit bag.
"I will by tomorrow," he said, slipping in his hat.
Down at the ring Alex was looking over a couple of the guests with their horses some dressed so outlandishly it almost made him laugh. He was taking some stuff down he paused and turned around and saw Megan standing there holding a mug in both hands the contents issuing a light trail of steam into the air.
"Can I help you little lady," he said, squatting down.
"My mom said, that you are here to help us," she said, and I frowned looking at her after glancing around.
Slowly his eyes narrowed. "Your mother didn't say that to you, or your sister," he said, after a moment and she blinked eyes widening.
"I hope you don't make it a habit of eavesdropping on your parents," he said, and she lowered her gaze.
"What's that you got there?" he asked, nodded down at the mug in her hands.
"I made it for you," she said, holding out the mug for me.
Frowning he took it and stared at the dark liquid inside with turned lighter and darker as Alex swirled it around the mug. Hesitant he brought it close and sniffed it a pleasant smell met his nose, which brought a small smile to his face. Tentatively after a moment, he took a sip.
At once, his eyes went wide as an explosion of pleasure raced through his body right to the tips of his fingers and toes. As he greedily downed the drink and Megan watched wide eyed as a small amount of the liquid spilled lightly on his shirt. When he lowered the mug, he had a little mustache.
"This is delicious what is it?" he said, a wide smile on his face and Megan frowned at him.
"Its hot chocolate," she said, and then turned as Joanna came in.
After arching eyebrows at me, she looked down at Megan. "Honey your mother is coming why don't go help her," she said, squatting down.
Megan nodded and after glancing back at Alex darted out of the tack room leaving Joanna and Alex alone. "You never had hot chocolate before?" she asked, walked forward as he ran his finger along the inside and began to suck them off.
"I never had ice cream until I escaped," he said, then licked up his little mustache and she blinked taken aback.
"Then what the hell did they feed you?" she demanded, taking down a couple saddles.
"A dietary supplement that one guy said, he wouldn't feed to his dog, in fact it actually scared a dog once," Alex said, and she snorted then saw how serious he was.
"The more you tell me about those people and that place the more it sounds like something out of Nazi Germany," she said, as they walked out of the tack room.
"In a lot of ways it was plus one of my watchers was a Concentration Camp survivor," Alex said.
"That's kind of ironic," she said, as they spotted Adam walk up to them in his hands were Winchester rifles in sheaths.
"Everything set?" Alex asked, walking up to him and Adam nodded.
"Yeah just as you asked, now you'll defiantly need these," Adam said, and held out the rifles.
Nervously after glancing at the rifles Joanna looked at Alex as he slowly reached out and slowly took them from Adam and Joanna saw his knuckles turn white. "Well I'd better give the guests the usual safety brief," Adam said, clapping his hands and walking away.
When he was out of sight Alec fell to one knee his head falling into his hand knocking his hat to the ground. "Alex are you alright?" she demanded, dropping down beside him cringing at the look of agony on his face.
"Yeah… it's just… never failed to happen," he said, after a few seconds when he was able to regain his composure.
"Are sure you're ok?" she asked, keeping a worried eye on him.
Nodding he said, "Yeah after that attempt I spent time at a couple Shaolin and Buddhist temples. Great mental discipline," before he continued forward.
"Ok ladies and gentleman welcome to the overnight ride…," he said, when he faced the mounted guests.
A few hours earlier… Denver Colorado
That morning Miss Parker woke in her luxury suit and rolling out of bed walked to open her blinds and looked out at the mountains. Smiling at the sight, her mind drifted. At knock at her door, she lost the smile and frowning faced the door.
"What!" she snapped as Sydney came in.
"Any news?" she snapped taking out a cigarette and lighting it her hands shielding the flame of her lighter.
"I thought you quit," he said.
"Old habits… now is there anything new!" she said, holding her smoking cigarette between two fingers.
Back at the ranch…
As we rode higher into the mountains, Alex kept an eye on the guest. Some clambered away with each other, others took pictures of the scenery, some of the kids listened to music on iPods. When they reached the overnight camping spot which was a meadow reaching to a cliff that over looked it and a waterfall feeding the river the flowed through the meadow and the guests gaped.
"That's what they all say," Joanna said, smiling and nodded.
"I can imagine, by the way who is that always hanging out with Damon?" he said, pointing.
Looking over she smiled. "That's Robert, according to them they go back along way, all the way to high… why?" she asked, suddenly looking at him.
"Just curious, you know like George, though I'm still trying to figure out who The Man in the Yellow hat is," he said, urging his horse forward and a second later he smiled as she started laughing.
Later after Alex helped a guest set up his tent, he joined Damon and the other wrangler around the fire. "Ok folks, this trip we have a real treat for you. We are going to give you a meal right out of the old west," he said, lifting one foot onto a log and laying the butt of one of the on his knee.
A short while later Alex grimaced as the headache he was having grew worse with each minute he held the rifle. He was following Damon and Joanna through the thicket following the game trail. Coming to a clearing we spied a small heard of deer was grazing.
Looking at us Damon looked at us and signaled for us to take point before disappearing into the bush. Before he left me, Joanna glanced my way and sighed if I was ok. Nodding I slipped into the bush.
Utterly silent he slipped in behind the heard before he quietly took off his hat and slowly took aim at what he deemed the oldest of the group. Slowly he lined the sights up with the doe as she grazed with the herd. Slowly he felt his finger slid onto the trigger…
Jerking the rifle away he let out a held breath and breathing hard he picked up a good-sized dry stick. Then broke it with a snap. Like they had been struck by lightning, the herd bolted.
He watched the herd run through the meadow away from him and how the doe he had targeted mingled in with the main herd. Suddenly a shot sounded and despite the amount of deer in front of the one of the stags, it dropped like a stone no other deer injured. Slowly he stood slinging the rifle over his shoulder as people came out cheering.
Walking out he watched as they converged on the dead stag. "Sorry to take the shot from you Wayne," a voice from the edge of the clearing said.
Turning he faced Damon. "It's quite alright, I don't really like what these can do to living thing," he said, and nodding Damon nodded smiling.
Smiling Damon walked forward and patted Alex on his shoulder and Alex eyed the tattoo on his forearm. It was a of a skull with wings on either side, lightning bolts under either side of the jaw with knives butts aligning with them at the top of the head which had three bullet holes in it. Slowly Alex looked at Damon again.
"Don't worry it's not for everybody," he said, walking over to the deer and Alex watched him go.
Alex remained where he was as Joanna came close. "It's him isn't it?" she asked, in an undertone and he glanced at her.
"Was he…?" she started to ask.
Lowering the rifle into his other hand, he faced her. "The tattoo says it all," he said, as they turned away from the sight of the men dressing the stag.
"What about it?" she asked.
"It's a Marine Force Recon Sniper tattoo," he said.
"Then bust him," Joanna said, starting to turn around and he grabbed her stopping her.
"Listen to me he's fifth generation Marine. He knows about be a soldier not mining," he said, and he watched as it dawned at her.
"He has an accomplice…," she muttered.
"Or he is the accomplice…," he said, and she frowned.
"I pulled his record when I was in DC and it was spotless up until his last mission. One of the female operatives under his command was raped. He beat the man bloody for it, and he was discharged," he said.
Her eyes narrowed at that. "That doesn't sound like the guy we're hunting," she muttered, looking at Damon.
Shaking his head Alex followed her gaze. "No the guy pulling the strings is cold, unfeeling. Especially to target a mother and child," he said.
"So why did you set this up if you looked at his file?" she asked, as they walked away.
"I wanted to know if he still had the edge, what kind of a man he was after a kill," he said.
Nodding in understanding Joanna glanced at him. "Well it's nice that you handled yourself well with the rifle," she said.
Stopping he looked at her holding the rifle in both hands. "It helps…," he started as he cocked rifle by the level action under the rifle.
Her mouth opened slightly when no bullets were ejected. "…when you don't take any chances," he finished before he walked away leaving her.
Later that night Damon sat alone away from the guest who were around the campfire laughing and talking. Lowering his gaze, he turned back when a glint of light caught his attention on the ground. Standing he walked over and bending over he picked up a foggy stone that seemed to shine.
"What was it Damon?"
Whipping around he watched as Alex stepped out of the darkness. "Does somebody have something on you or was it simple greed?" he asked.
"I don't know what you talking about," Damon said, and turning walked right into Joanna.
"Don't you play us Damon, we know you about the mine, where do you think that came from," she said, nodding at the stone in his hand.
"And you know what's been bothering me? Is how can an ex decorated Marine sink so low as to do something like this," Alex said, walking forward.
Slowly Damon looked at him. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
"Someone who believes that what happened to Kara and her son isn't right, and someone who believes that anyone who wears this…" he said, seizing Damon's arm and raised it to show his tattoo.
"… is a better man then that…," he finished and Damon lowered his gaze.
After a few seconds silence Alex asked, "do you remember what Semper Fi means?"
Damon looked up and nodded. "It was burned into my memory by my grandfather and father, 'Always Faithful'," he said.
"Then reclaim your honor, and do the right thing," Alex said.
A short while later the three were walking through the darkness Alex and Joanna listening to Damon. "…simple thing to do check the old mine see if the Ranch could use it as another attraction. Robert was asked, to go to look around to see if it was safe because McCoy knew his father manages a mine up north and he knows the business not to mention his worked at mine as a geologist before he was fired for harassment of a female employee.
When we got there it was so run down I was willing to pack it up then and there. But Robert insisted… and so… we went in," he said, as they came to a stop.
"And that's how you found the diamonds?" Joanna asked, and Damon nodded.
"He was just picking at the rocks with a little hammer when a small section of the wall fell at his feet. I can still see how those stones shined by our flashlights. I've never seen him so happy until I pointed out we were still on McCoy's land.
Well he told me let's not go telling them until we knew for sure what we had there and he took some stones to test. A few weeks later I overheard McCoy talking about threatening E-mails he was getting…," Damon continued.
"So you confronted him," Alex said, and he nodded.
"I found him hammering at the rocks in the mine. I almost whopped him then and there but then he showed me this," he said, then reached into the breast pocket of his shirt pulling out a set of pictures.
Taking them Alex ruffled through them as they depicted two women in their late twenties early thirties and an old man in his early sixties going about a daily routine. "Who are they?" he asked.
"This one is my sister and dad up in Minnesota, the other my fiancé," he said, pointing to each in turn and Alex and Joanna looked at him.
"He said, that if I said anything or didn't help him they'd be killed, god forgive me so I did, to keep my family safe," Damon said, looking away.
Alex was silent for a moment before he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll keep them safe, but I may need your help later," he said, and Damon frowned.
"Why? What are you going to do?" he demanded.
Alex smiled. "Well hopefully in short order get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow the fun begins," he said.
As the other wranglers and guests were turning in for the night after song were sung and stories told Joanna found Alex sitting alone under a tree looking up at the stars. "What are you doing?" she asked, and he looked at her.
When he didn't answer, she sat down next to him. "Trying to think of a way to keep those girls safe," she said, and he nodded.
"Do you know his fiancé?" he asked.
Nodding she followed his gaze. "Yeah she's a local girl, a little high strung, but a heart of gold," she said.
"When we get back I want you to stick to her like glue," he said, and she nodded.
"And the sister and father,"
"I'll make arrangements,"
The two were silent for a moment before she slapped his knee and got up. "Come on I want to show you something," she said, walking away and he followed.
She led him through the forest until they came to a bend in the river where rock formations created a set of natural pools beneath them. Surrounded by the mountain forest and the waterfall in the distance. Looking down at the flowing water, he saw the moon reflected there as well as some of the surrounding trees.
The natural beauty of the sight dazzled Alex as it was bathed in moonlight. Looking at Joanna, he saw the same look of wonderment that had to be a mirror image of what had to be on his.
"This is my favorite spot on the ranch," she said, before he could ask.
"I can see why," he said, looking back at it and he heard her move beside him.
The next thing he knew he felt her boot on his backside as she kicked him over the edge of the rock. Landing with a loud splash in the water, he swam to the surface and breaking through he looked up at her smiling face.
"What are you doing?" he demanded, and instead of answering, she took a step back and leapt after him.
Shielding himself from the splash, he laughed as she surfaced beside him. "I figured out your problem is its that you focus too much on the deaths that The Centere caused, its time for you to think more on the living people that you've touched, and helped," she said, treading water beside him before she slipped close and he encircled his arms around her as their lips met.
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