Apocalyptic Pirates 5, page 17
Okay, I definitely needed sleep. But there was one thing I had to do first.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Dia’s number.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Oh, my god, Drew, are you alive?” Her familiar voice sounded in my ear, and I was too tired to hold back the laugh that spilled out of me.
“Yep,” I said. “I’m still alive.”
“Drew!” This was Ally, and her voice was shrill with relief. “Oh, we were so worried, I was so sure that something bad had happened to you.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Shannon said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I knew you could handle yourself just fine.”
“Well, I was worried,” Letty said. “Shannon’s just too cool to admit that she was anxious about you.”
“Babe, you think I’m cool?” Shannon chuckled, and then gave a squeak which implied that Letty had thrown something at her.
It was so good to hear their voices again. We’d only been apart for a short stretch of time, but it felt so much longer than a couple of hours. I felt like I’d been to the fucking moon and back with how much my world had changed since now and then.
“So what happened?” Ally demanded.
“Yeah, what do they want with you?” Dia added.
“Well…” I tried to think about how best to shortly explain everything and ended up shaking my head. “Okay, well, a lot has happened. It’s kind of too much to explain it all over the phone, and I’d like to tell you all about it in person. But the important thing is that I’m safe, I’m in a hotel in Panama City, and there’s a boat coming to get you guys in a few hours that will bring you here to me.”
“A hotel?” Letty pushed. “I thought those guys were military.”
“They are, kinda, but I guess this is their base,” I explained. “Anyway, I’ve been put up in a very nice private suite, and I guess you guys will get your own suites as well.”
“A private suite?” Ally gasped. “Okay, say no more, I’m on my way.”
“You’ll do anything for a pillow chocolate, won’t you?” Shannon teased her.
“I’ll do anything to sleep in a bed away from your snoring,” Ally retorted.
“Oh, my god, that is so unfair,” Shannon sighed. “That was one time, and my sinuses were blocked, okay?”
“Drew, you’ll tell us everything when we get there, right?” Dia asked.
“Of course,” I replied. “In the meantime, I’m going to get some sleep, and I suggest you guys do the same. The boat will come and get you in the morning, and the Commissioner said something about attending a debriefing this evening, so we all need to catch up on some rest while we still can.”
“Okay, Drew,” Ally said. “We’ll take it in turns to sleep and keep watch.”
“Good plan,” I replied. “So I guess I’ll see you guys soon, then.”
“See you soon!” they all chorused.
“Sleep well,” Letty added.
“You, too,” I said with a smile.
“Don’t eat Ally’s pillow chocolate,” Dia added just in time before I hung up.
The huge, grand room seemed very empty and silent in the moments after the phone call had ended. But the women would be with me very soon, and in the meantime I needed to shower before I fell asleep on my feet.
I pushed open the door that Cadet Abrego had pointed out. The bathroom boasted a shower cubicle with a shower bristling with futuristic-looking attachments and devices, a bidet, and a gleaming white bath with golden taps. The floor was done out in black-and-white tiles like a checkerboard, and the walls were tiled in dark blue marble. A long narrow window ran along the far wall, but it was covered in a shuttered blind.
I looked longingly at the bath for a moment, but I was too fucking tired for the whole process of running a bath and soaking in it. I just needed to get clean enough so I could fall into bed and finally go to sleep.
I propped my gun against the door, stripped off my clothes, and stepped into the shower. The water pressure was fantastic, and the hot droplets pummeled me in a way that I hadn’t experienced in what felt like forever. The shower gel was subtly scented with a complex perfume of cedarwood and orange, and there was a matching shampoo as well. I lathered up and scrubbed off, and stepped out of the shower feeling one hundred percent reset and refreshed.
There was a fluffy robe hanging on the back of the door, and I pulled it on and picked up my gun.
I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror hanging over the bathroom counter, and the ridiculousness of holding a rifle while swaddled in a fluffy bathrobe made me snort with laughter.
I padded across the lounge to the bedroom door on the other side of the room.
The bedroom was decorated in the same color scheme as the lounge, and there was a similar kind of rug spread on the floor with complementary curtains covering the huge floor-to-ceiling windows. The room held a massive bed made of some dark, expensive-looking wood. It was piled high with velvet pillows and cushions in shades of red and blue, and the crisp white sheets rustled as I pulled them back so I could collapse onto the mattress.
The soft bedding welcomed me in, and I barely remembered pulling up the sheets over myself and propping my gun beside the bed before I dropped down like a stone into oblivious slumber.
I awoke hours later out of a deep, dreamless sleep.
I stretched my arms above my head and blinked peacefully up at the creamy white ceiling. There was an ornate chandelier hanging in the center of the ceiling, and it was switched on at the very lowest setting so a calm, warm, white glow filled the bedroom. It must be on an automatic timer.
I looked around the room and took in the sights of the cut flowers on the side, the paintings on the wall, and the gold and glass ornaments lining a shelf above the door. Normally I slept in the cabin bed with the other women, and it was a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes. If it started to feel too crowded, one of us might make a bed from spare pillows and blankets and sleep on the floor. But even then, the cabin bed was pretty cozy, and there was no space to stretch out.
I made myself into a starfish shape and reached as far as I could with my fingers and toes, and even then I couldn’t quite touch the corners of the mattress.
“I could get used to this,” I murmured quietly into the stillness of the room.
But even as I said the words, I could feel myself instinctively reaching out to try and find the women in the bed. Normally I barely had to stretch before I encountered an arm or leg or tangle of hair. But now I was all alone in bed. It was weird, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
I couldn’t tell what time it was or how long I’d slept for, but I felt pretty rested, so I decided to get up and get dressed.
I’d left my dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, but when I went back into the bathroom, someone had come and taken them away. That was a bit of a predicament as I didn’t really want to walk around the hotel in my robe, fluffy and comfortable as it was.
I went back into the lounge and noticed that someone, presumably the same person who had taken away my dirty clothes, had also left a couple of suit carrier bags on the couch. I unzipped the first one, and my eyes widened as I saw the very nice black suit that it contained. I took it out and held it up against myself, and when I checked the labels I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was very close to my measurements. I opened the second bag and found another suit exactly the same as the first but with slightly different measurements.
I decided to do a mix and match job, and take the shirt and jacket from one suit, and the trousers from the other.
I was just doing up the last of the buttons on the shirt when someone knocked on the door.
The sound made me jump, and I almost ran to the door and pulled it open.
“Drew!” Letty threw herself into my arms.
I caught her and spun her around laughing while Ally, Shannon, and Dia all crowded into the room. I put Letty down, wrapped my arms around them all, and dropped hungry kisses on each one of their smiling faces.
“Aw, Drew, we missed you,” Ally cried.
“Yeah, Drew,” Dia chimed in. “We’re really glad you’re not dead.”
“Thanks,” I laughed. “It’s always good to know how much you care.”
“My love is boundless,” Dia said dramatically and threw her arms wide open to indicate just how boundless her emotions really were.
“Ooh, this looks fancy.” Ally tugged on the collar of the new suit I was wearing.
“We’ve got nice dresses,” Dia explained. “When we arrived here, they put us in the rest of the suites on this floor. We all had a nap, and then when we woke up, we all had dresses laid out for us. I rang down to room service, and they said we were to wear them for lunch with the Director General.”
“Am I the only one who finds that weird?” Letty shook her head quizzically. “I mean, come on, it’s so Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
“I don’t remember Harrison Ford wearing a dress in that one,” Dia deadpanned.
“No.” Letty rolled her eyes. “Marion wears a nice dress because the bad guy makes her wear it.”
“Oh, like in Pirates of the Caribbean!” Ally said brightly. “When Barbossa makes Elizabeth wear that dress to eat dinner with him.”
“See!” Letty announced in triumph. “It’s a trope, it’s a thing.”
“Well, I did meet the Director General,” I said. “And I don’t think it’s anything creepy. He seemed like a good guy.”
“Of course.” Shannon sounded scandalized. “He’s a General.”
“Well, of course you’re going to love him.” Letty exchanged a grin with Ally. “An older military man. Shannon’s favorite type.”
“Hey,” I exclaimed.
“You’re her second favorite type,” Ally assured me.
“Um, excuse me.” Shannon folded her arms. “I do not have a type. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be old military men.”
“Well…” I raised my eyebrows.
“Drew!” she exclaimed in scandalized tones.
“I’m just saying!” I held up my hands defensively. “All your critical judgment seems to go out the window once there’s a military man involved.”
“Yeah, but that’s just because I respect our troops.” Shannon frowned huffily.
“He’s not our troops, though,” Letty pointed out with a grin.
“And technically, he’s not military, either,” I added. “Apparently Panama doesn’t have an army, it has different branches of the Panamanian Public Forces. These guys are part of the National Police.”
“I feel like I probably should have known that.” Dia furrowed her brow in concentration. “Yeah, I’m like ninety percent sure I had a quiz on that at some point.”
“But what does he want with you?” Ally asked. “Why are we here, and why are we getting nice rooms and nice clothes?”
“The nice rooms and the nice clothes are because he’s trying to schmooze us,” I replied. “Or if he’s not schmoozing, he’s giving us a sign of gratitude.”
“Gratitude?” Letty’s brow furrowed. “Gratitude for what?”
This was it.
I took a deep breath.
“Okay,” I began. “Bear with me, because this gets crazy real fast.”
Chapter 12
The women listened with wide eyes as I repeated everything that Commissioner Hernandez had told me.
“No way,” Ally breathed when I’d finally come to the end of it all. “That’s impossible.”
“I believe it,” Letty said with an air of grim finality.
“I mean, we knew the Coast Guard was shady, but this is on a whole other level.” Shannon looked furious. “I can’t believe that all of this is being done in the name of the American government. This isn’t what being American is all about.”
“Papi would be so furious if he knew what was going on.” Dia shook her head. “This isn’t what the military is meant to be used for.”
“It’s a headfuck, alright.” I looked around at them. “So what do we think? Do we go on this mission?”
“Yes.” Shannon’s reply was instant. “If we can help to clear up this mess, we can help reverse some of the damage that’s been done under the military.”
“Yep.” Dia was nodding furiously. “Same here.”
“I don’t see how we can not do this,” Ally said in an earnest voice. “This is way bigger than any of us.”
“It’s more dangerous than anything we’ve done before.” Letty looked at me, and her voice was very soft. “What about Sam, Drew?”
“I’ve thought about that,” I admitted with my throat tight. “I don’t want her to have a heroic story about how her father helped a country of strangers but couldn’t make it to Hawaii to be with her. She needs to have at least one parent by her side.”
The women waited.
“But…” I sighed. “I also know that I want to be a man that Sam can be proud of. And I couldn’t be that man if I walked away from this.”
Letty smiled and cupped my face in her hands.
“I thought you’d say that,” she murmured, and she kissed me tenderly on the lips.
Her mouth tasted of bitter coffee and sweet creamer. I kissed her back hungrily, and for a moment I forgot everything except the delicious, burning warmth of her mouth on mine.
Then Shannon cleared her throat, and we broke apart.
“Come on, Letty.” Shannon waggled her eyebrows. “Save some for the rest of us.”
“I can’t promise anything,” Letty joked, and she pushed back my hair with a smile.
“So we’re all agreed?” I looked around at them all.
They all nodded.
“Welcome to the jungle,” I said with a smile.
“We got fun and games,” Dia sang.
“Oh, no.” Ally shook her head. “First it was the Beach Boys, now it’s Guns N’ Roses. I do not want another song stuck in my head for days on end.”
“But we’ve got everything you want, honey,” Dia protested. “We know the names.”
“Oh, no,” Ally groaned.
“We are the people that can find whatever you may need,” Shannon joined in.
“If you got the money, honey, we got your diseeeaaaase,” Letty sang.
“Oh, my god, no.” Ally covered her face with her hands. “Absolutely not.”
The others cackled with laughter, and I chuckled at the pained look on Ally’s face.
“You’ve got to deal with it,” Shannon told the redhead with a smirk. “This is our theme song now.”
“We don’t need a theme song,” Ally snorted.
“Okay, first off, everyone needs a theme song,” Letty began, but she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
I went to open it and saw Cadet Abrego waiting outside.
“Oh, you’re awake,” he said. “Very good, sir. The Commissioner would like to ask you and your crew if you would like to join him for dinner.”
“No, we’re not dressed yet!” Letty squealed.
The cadet’s eyebrows shot up as he heard Letty’s voice, and then his eyes almost popped out of his head as looked past me and saw the four gorgeous women lounging about in the room.
“We might need a few minutes,” I told him with a wink.
“Uh, yeah, sure.” He swallowed hard. “I’ll, uh, be waiting just outside here. Uh, yeah. Um. Okay.”
“Poor kid,” I chuckled to myself as I closed the door.
I couldn’t blame him. I’d been starstruck by each of the women’s unique beauty when I’d first seen them, and that had been seeing each one of them separately. If I’d seen them all together in a room, I’d probably have forgotten how to form coherent sentences, too.
“Okay, guys,” Shannon announced. “Let’s go and get dressed in our rooms.”
“In our suites,” Dia corrected her. “It’s very important that everyone knows we’re in a suite, not just a room. I don’t want anyone to doubt how bougie we are now.”
“Why don’t we bring them all into one suite, and then we can get dressed together?” Ally suggested.
“Ooh, good idea,” Letty enthused.
“Don’t be too long,” I warned. “The Commissioner is waiting for us.”
“Well, he must have known what would happen when he gave us nice dresses and told us to get ready for dinner.” Ally tossed her head. “You can’t have the nice dresses without the preening.”
“I did not know that rule,” I told her with a grin.
“It’s a very important rule,” she replied with a serene air.
I watched them all go, and then went into the bathroom and spent some time adjusting my shirt cuffs so that precisely the right amount of shirt showed underneath the jacket sleeve. I felt sure that there was a right and a wrong cuff to sleeve ratio, but I couldn’t remember what it was, so I just played around with it until I thought it looked right.
There was a small cabinet on the bathroom wall, and when I opened it, I found several jars of hair styling products. Back home, I would occasionally use hair gel when the occasion called for it, and this seemed like an occasion when slicking back my bushy hair seemed appropriate.
My hair was getting long enough now that I could slick it down behind my ears, and I quite liked the effect of it. It made my features stand out more to have my hair away from my face, and I liked that the product gave a shine to my hair that implied I took a lot better care of it than I actually did.
There was an electric razor in the cabinet as well. Given how much time it would take the women to get ready, I figured that I would probably have more than enough time for a quick shave, and so I plugged the razor in and set to tidying up the scruff that was on my face.
If I left it alone, I would soon be on my way to a full beard, but right now it was in the messy, in-between stage, and this seemed like a good opportunity to take it down a notch. I didn’t go all the way down to the skin, and I kept an eighth inch or so of stubble. It was enough that I wasn’t totally clean-shaven, but my jawline was still visible.
