Hardwired (The Brotherhood Series) Read online

  “Make it one,” Luke said, disconnecting the call, as Beryl launched into another lecture.

  “He’s going to kill you, you know that right?”

  “As long as Jen and Bella are safe, he’s more than welcome to try.”

  Dean texted Beryl their coordinates as security guards approached them.

  “Excuse me, we’re going to have to ask you all to leave. This is a private strip.”

  “That’s not happening,” Luke threatened.

  “Sir, we’re going to ask you one more time, nicely, to leave.”

  “They did ask nicely, didn’t they Dean?” Luke said, sarcastically.

  Dean smiled back at Luke, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

  “They sure did,” Dean said, laying on his southern accent extra thick.

  Just as the one moved for his gun on his hip, Luke moved, too. He quickly disarmed the man and then yanked his head down, as his brought his knee up. The man fell back, blood gushing from his nose. The other man stared in disbelief but then recovered and tried to get to his own gun. Dean stepped in grabbing the man’s arm and snapping it back at a weird angle as he twirled the man around.

  The man screamed in pain, but Dean didn’t seem to care.

  “How many security people are here?” Dean asked.

  “Just me and my buddy. Look man, I’m not trying to die. I don’t make enough to die.” The guy blubbered on.

  “No one has to die. When’s your relief get here?” Luke asked.

  “Not for another six hours.”

  “Perfect. Then you and your buddy are going to let us hang out here, while we wait for our ride. Do you have any other plane is coming in today?”

  “No sir.”

  “Perfect. Is it safe to say that you won’t be documenting us or our flight?”

  The man nodded his head as Dean released his arm. The man dropped to his knees cradling his arm against his chest. The other man groaned from where he laid on the ground.

  “You still got it,” Luke said to Dean.

  “I never lost it.”

  “Cocky asshole.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Jen

  Jen

  “Dad, I need you guys to watch Bella for me today.”

  “You’re going to that job interview, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, it’s just a face to face thing; we talked on the phone already,” Jen said.

  She hated lying to her parents, but she knew if she told them about the psychologist who had called her about Luke, they’d ply her with a hundred questions. Maybe their questions would have merit, and maybe what Jen was doing was crazy, but she had to try. She couldn’t just continue with her life as if Luke wasn’t out there. It was her turn to fight for him.

  Jen kissed Bella on the forehead and ran out the door. They were still driving the car that Dean had rented to take her to the house they were all living in for the time being. No one had shown up to take the car yet, so she just assumed Dean was paying for it somehow.

  She looked at the house, really looked at it for the first time since she had been there as she backed down the long driveway. It looked like something she had seen on those shows where people relocate to their dream homes on the island. It had giant glass windows that accounted for almost the entire front of it, giving them a breath-taking view of the Maui ocean front. They weren’t on the ocean, but where the house sat a few blocks back, they were up on a hillside that still allowed them the view. It had clean crisp lines, giving it a modern design, concrete slate colored walls were laid out in abstract ways to give the one-story home its layout.

  The inside was completely open aside from the hallway that led back to the bedrooms. There was one bathroom off the living area, and then one bathroom that sat in between two of the bedrooms with an entrance to it from the hallway as well. Even with all four of them in the house, it didn’t feel crowded at all. She spent most of her time on the rooftop deck. Looking at the ocean was where she felt closest to Luke. Bella played up there with her a lot, but Bella preferred the downstairs deck because the ceiling fans kept her cooler.

  Jen hoped her conversation with the psychologist went well, and that one day soon Luke would get to see the beautiful home. Maybe he would want to make Maui their home. Jen didn’t care where she lived as long as he was with them. As much as she hated the snow, if he could be with them, she’d move to Alaska in a minute. Her GPS chimed in the car, tearing her from her thoughts and reminding her she had to make it through the sit down with the psychologist first, which meant she had to get there alive.

  Jen focused on the traffic and followed the GPS to the address the woman had given her on the phone earlier that day. An hour later, she pulled into a small coffee shop that was set up in what looked like a tiki shack. There was only one other car in the parking lot, which put Jen on edge. Even if the woman hadn’t arrived yet, they would surely need more than one person to man the small café? It was also practically lunchtime, which she could only assume would typically mean more customers. Jen took a few steps toward the front door, but the fear kept creeping up the back of her neck screaming at her to turn around.

  Her decision made, she turned around to get back in her car when a hand came over her mouth, stifling the scream she tried to release. The cold metal she felt against her neck couldn’t be mistaken either.

  “Just do what I say, and you’ll live to go home to your daughter,” the woman seethed in her ear.

  Jen nodded against the woman’s grip.

  “Get in the car and follow my directions. If you try to do anything stupid, I will go to that fancy house Dean put you in, and I will murder everyone inside.”

  Rage tore through Jen like a cancer. She wanted to grab the woman by her throat for daring to threaten her family. Jen had to play it cool for the time being, but she was biding her time. It was her turn to fight for Luke, and Jen was prepared to do anything for her family. This woman had no idea who she was about to tango with.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Jen

  The woman had Jen drive them to a small shack. Jen had taken note that they had passed several other shacks down the road. If she could manage to get away, she at least had a shot at one of them having someone inside. Once she parked, she waited for the woman to tell her to get out of the car. Jen held her hands up the entire time, hoping to seem cooperative and maybe a bit scared. She was neither.

  “Get inside, we have a phone call to make,” the woman sneered once they got to the door.

  Jen pushed the door open and went inside. It was small, and musty, which told her the woman hadn’t been on the island long.

  “Are you really a psychologist?” Jen asked.

  “Yes, I am, and before you ask, yes, I was Luke’s psychologist.”

  “If you’re his psychologist, then why are you kidnapping me?”

  “Because you’ve become a royal pain in my ass.”

  Jen didn’t know how to respond to the woman, so she decided to stay silent. The woman looked like she was itching for Jen to ask more questions, though.

  “Do you know how hard it is to be a woman in a man’s world? I am a top psychologist, specializing in military affairs. I handle men who have seen and done horrendous acts for our country, and I nurse them back to health. I’ve heard unimaginable things. One thing that all those men seemed to have in common was that they hated the fear that they felt.”

  Jen remained silent, waiting for the woman to continue.

  “I married a man shortly after my first stint at a veteran’s clinic. He was one of the world’s top neurologists. The man was a total nerd, completely unattractive and a dud in the sack, but he was intelligent; remarkably so. I knew with my knowledge of the soldier’s mind, and his knowledge of the general human body and nervous system that we could create something that would change the world.”

  “You’re the wife of the doctor who saved Luke?” Jen asked, unable to hide the shock from her face.

  “I was. I s
hot the man in the head this morning. It’s a pity really because he was so easily manipulated. That was one of his greatest traits for me, but it was also his death warrant. Your husband was about to pay him a visit, and I had no doubt in my mind that my husband would have caved and told Luke the whole thing.”

  “If you’re telling me now, I assume you don’t mean to let me live?”

  “Clever girl. No, I don’t. It’s really not about what you know at this point because Luke’s figured it all out anyway. No, it’s who you are. You are the reason Luke can’t fulfill his part in all of this. He was doing fine; on his way to bigger and better things. The president was about to grant me the money and the space I needed to heal more wounded soldiers the same way Luke was. I would have had unlimited resources at my disposal, but you had to ruin it.”

  “I have to disagree with you there. I was under the belief Luke was dead until he found me.”

  “You wouldn’t just stay gone!” The woman yelled.

  “Listen, lady. I get it that you’re all kinds of delusional and probably a bit psychotic seeing as how you killed your own husband, but Luke’s hardwiring or whatever you want to call it was wearing off. He was remembering on his own. There is one thing I know about soldiers, and that is they do it because they want to. You don’t have to hardwire them to forget their friends and families, so they’ll be mindless killing machines. They fight harder because of their friends and families. If you would find an emotional attachment to someone else, you might have realized that. The only thing Luke is hardwired to, is me!”

  The woman was seething mad by the time Jen had finished her tantrum. It probably wasn’t her smartest move yet, but there was no turning back. Jen waited for the woman to retaliate, but she didn’t do anything.

  Jen used the time to catch the woman off guard. She grabbed for the gun, catching the woman’s wrist. Jen leveraged the woman’s wrist up and away from her, the gun went off sending a bullet into the ceiling. She tightened her grip on the woman’s wrist, twisting it as much as she could, until the gun fell to the ground.

  “Let’s see how tough you are without that gun pointed to my head, bitch.”

  “You’re going to regret this.”

  Jen was sick of talking; she landed a punch to the woman’s jaw. Keeping her momentum moving forward, she kicked the woman in the gut. When she doubled forward from the kick Jen caught her head in her hands and slammed it down to meet her knee as she thrust it upwards. The woman crumpled on the ground, but Jen wasn’t done. The woman had caused too much pain. Jen straddled the woman, landing hit after hit on her.

  Strong arms grabbed her and lifted her off the woman’s lifeless body. Jen still thrashed trying to get back there to inflict more pain, but her struggle was useless.

  “Jen, it’s me; it’s Kip. Are you hurt?”

  Jen tried to focus on what he was saying, but her adrenaline was starting to wear off and the shock was setting in. Not just shock from what had just happened but shock from everything that had happened to her over the course of the last several months. Luke killing two men in her home while Bella witnessed. Them being on the run and shot at. The feeling of helplessness as she watched Luke get dragged into the helicopter. All of it crashed down on her.

  “Kip,” she said, trying to focus on him instead of the chaos inside of her.

  “Take a deep breath. You’re going into shock, and I need you to stay with me. I’m going to take you to Luke, but only if you can stay with me.”

  Kip’s voice was deep and soothing. He was younger, his voice lacked that graveness that Luke had. Luke’s voice had a callousness to it, that comforted her. It matched the callouses on his hands. She desperately wanted to hear his voice and feel his hands on her. Mostly she just wanted the nightmare to be over.

  “Luke?” She asked, struggling.

  A phone rang from somewhere in the house. Jen looked around even though everything she saw looked blurry. Kip reached down on the ground and picked up a small burner phone, answering it.

  “Here, it’s for you,” he said, handing it to her.

  “Hello?”

  “Dammit Jen, you weren’t supposed to speak to anyone who mentioned your actual name, let alone my name,” Luke’s voice berated her through the phone.

  “You remember me?” She sobbed, everything in her world suddenly becoming clear and focused.

  “Of course I do, baby. Although, I’m going to kill Dean and Kip.”

  “You can’t kill them. I like them,” she said with a small laugh.

  “Fine, ruin all the fun why don’t you. Now, tell me where you are, baby. I’m coming for you.”

  Epilogue

  Luke

  He was up before Jen and Bella, which wasn’t unusual. His daughter was an early riser just like him, but occasionally he beat her out of bed. Jen had never been and would more than likely never be an early riser. He fixed himself a cup of coffee and headed out onto the deck. The sun was coming up over the ocean, a sight he had seen a thousand times, but not one he would ever take for granted. Especially not now. He was no longer alone, imprisoned within his own mind.

  Luke not only had his wife and daughter back, he had also been able to keep soldiering. It was a bit different than what he was used to, but it was better. The President had granted him his freedom, but he had also given him the choice to stay on as the head of the new research and development unit he was starting up. It was something Dr. Connelly had been striving toward but would no longer get to see through to its fulfilment.

  The unit was set up to help wounded soldiers become active duty soldiers again, just like Luke had. He rolled his shoulders at the thought of his hard drive. He would never be able to live without it, but it no longer controlled his mind. Luke didn’t have many soldiers under his wing yet, but as they saw promising results, he hoped there would be more he could help.

  He heard the pitter patter of Bella’s little feet before he saw her. She raced out onto the deck to join him, ready to tackle the day.

  “Mamma’s up, and she doesn’t feel good.”

  “Uh oh,” Luke said, already heading back inside to check on Jen.

  He found her in their bathroom throwing up.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked, kneeling beside her.

  “Bella, honey, why don’t you go over to Mam and Pap’s and stay for a bit. Just until we know if Mamma’s contagious or not,” Jen said in between dry heaves.

  Bella looked concerned, but Luke nudged her along, promising her he would come get her the second he could. She walked out of the bathroom and down into the hallway. Jen’s parents lived in the house next door, and Luke had already seen the lights flick on for the day, so he knew they were awake.

  “What’s hurting?” He asked Jen, once Bella was out of sight.

  “Open under the sink and hand me the container in there,” Jen said, ignoring his question.

  Luke did as she asked and handed her the box. She opened it but then paused, looking up at him. He could tell she wanted him to leave, which he did reluctantly, but he didn’t go far. Luke sat on the floor outside of the bathroom door as he waited for Jen. She threw up a couple more times while he waited rather impatiently outside, then he heard the sink running. The minutes were ticking by painfully slow as he sat their helpless.

  “Jen, baby, can I please come back in?” He pleaded, as the door opened.

  Her face was filled with a bright smile as tears welled up in her beautiful eyes. Just as he was about to ask her what was going on for the millionth time, she held up a pregnancy test. Luke’s eyes scanned over the test several times before it finally registered.

  “We’re pregnant,” he whispered.

  Jen nodded, her hands going to her belly.

  “We’re pregnant!” He yelled!

  Jen burst into laughter. Luke scooped her up and spun her around and then dragged her into his chest. He never wanted to let her go.

  “We gotta go get Bella and tell her,” he said, dragging Jen along
behind him.

  “First things first, Navy,” Jen said tugging on his arm so that he would turn to face her.

  “Anything you want, woman.”

  “What I really want is for you to…”

  “Jen, honey?” Her mother’s voice echoed down the hallway.

  Jen’s eyes narrowed in her mom’s direction. Luke shot her a wink and kissed her on the forehead. He knew what she wanted.

  “Later, my Ahava,” he said with a wink.

  “I’m holding you to that.”

  “Jen, Bella said you weren’t feeling well,” her mother said, when she reached them in the hallway.

  Her mom’s eyes darted back and forth between Luke and Jen, and then a large smile spread onto her face.

  “Well, it’s about damn time.”

  Luke could hear Bella and Jen’s father out in the living room along with Dean and Kip’s voices. He had planned a training day with them and forgot all about having them meet him. It was just as well that they were there to hear the news as well. They were family after all. Jen rushed in front of him and greeted everyone in the living room. By the time Luke got out there, everyone was congratulating her, and Bella was jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Congratulations, man,” Kip said, giving Luke a hard pounding on the back.

  “Thanks.”

  “I’m glad you two are here. I haven’t spoken to Jen on this yet, but I know she would agree. We would like for you two to be our children’s God fathers.”

  “I don’t know if people usually have two,” Dean smirked.

  “Most people don’t have a hard drive on their back either. Yet here I am.”

  “I’d be honored,” Kip said.

  “Me, too,” Dean chimed in.

  Luke shook their hands and then embraced his in laws before scooping up Bella in his arms. His days of loneliness were over. His family was safe and all together, even better: it was growing. There were other soldiers out there who needed his help, and it felt good to know he could offer it to them. Luke rolled his shoulders, he was finally home.