Lt. Dax Murphy had served in the military since he was eighteen years old, a snot-nosed kid who thought he was going to save the world because he enlisted in the Navy. Standing 6ft 5inches, Dax towered over most of his team, but he was also in very good shape, with dark hair cut in a high and tight and his chiseled face that rarely smiled, looking at him you could see he was military because he was lean and fit from training. He moved up the chain of command slower than what he would have liked, but he insisted on remaining the leader of a SEAL team, which only allowed for him to progress so far. He was retired from the military on a disability discharge, but after getting a call from his old friend Loki when the shit hit the fan on the Furies' last mission. Dax offered to help, and it wasn’t the first time he had helped them more than once and glad to do so. Dax believed in what the Furies were and what they were doing. He wasn’t quite ready to be retired at twenty-eight due to injuries he had sustained on his last mission. Hell, he had lost half his team and some of the rescuers as well. The first person to reach their hand out was Doc.
Dax knew about the Furies, and what they were doing now to help the government, hell anyone who was a SEAL knew and wanted to help any way they could. Dax also knew what was going on inside the military with regard to this threat that had emerged with the hacker who they thought was Victor Burns but was not. Instead, they had information about some Senator, General Monroe, Bus and Kasey’s father, just none one knew how yet.
Dax was supposed to be getting a specially formatted thumb drive from some chick with pink hair, whom he had tried to see when she arrived. However, he had missed her since he was still trying to make sure the assholes who tried to kill him were not following him still.
He was supposed to give the drive to the contact, and he was done. The drive was special because of the formatting on it. But he had to call Fling because two days ago, three men came to his house and busted in and began to shoot. Thank goodness he had his weapon close. He returned fire and escaped and came to London. Now he was taking the drive with the pink-haired chick in order to get them into a secure server for information without no one being killed. Once he got the information, he was to take it and stay with this chick all the way back to the Furies compound, and from there, he could leave, stay, do whatever he wanted with the money he was making from doing this.
Dax knew most of the guys, and some from the Ops Warriors as well, who he heard was right next door to where the Furies were. At least he would have someone who knew what he had been through, with no parents or siblings, he had no family. Dax was thinking about staying, he knew not only the Sister’s but most of the Furies, some of their missions had crossed over, and though he would be one of the youngest on the team. His thoughts went to the man he met ten years ago and had been friends with him ever since. The old man had never had kids and latched onto Dax from the first time they met. Dax was eighteen when he was shipped over here to continue his training. On his time off, he went exploring and met a lot of interesting people, including Roger.
He turned and looked behind him slowly, he had a tail, he knew he did, but Dax didn’t know if it was a friendly or not. He was assuming not since most of the people Doc would use were not in London right now. He looked into the window of the store he was standing in front of and pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Taking a long pull, he tilted his head to the side and blew out the smoke. It gave him a reason to look without looking like he was looking, and he was looking into a fucking baby store with some stylish clothes in it. Dax frowned in the window when the fuck had he began to sound so confusing like a woman? Hell, he needed to get stateside before he started crying at fucking commercials too.
Turning and walking down the street slowly and smoking his cigarette like he didn’t have a care in the world, he finally got a brief look of who was shadowing him. God damn it, he thought and then stopped and whistled loudly and waved his hand and just waited as he looked down to the ground.
The older man walked slowly with his normal limp to where Dax was standing and sighed loudly. “You can’t do this on your own.”
Roger was American and had live in Germany for many years, working alongside the military base as a construction contractor. His name was Roger Plank, and since retiring, he had remained in the country because he loved the place and because he said Dax needed him. Dax met him one day in the pub in town; the two men had been the only people in the place. Dax had sat down with him, and they had become fast friends. So, when Dax was injured, Roger had been the one who encouraged him during physical therapy. And when the decision was made that Dax was going to retire, Roger was the one he got drunk with. Dax had planned on going back to the US right away, and Roger had contemplated following him. Dax had been surprised; when he got the call from Loki, then he had decided to stay until what they needed was done. Roger had declared himself his partner mostly because he thought of Dax like a son, and also, he was bored. Life in the small town for the older man had become stagnant.
Of course, when he was out of the military instead of staying in a hotel while he out processed, Roger offered his spare bedroom, then Loki had called. Dax hadn’t explained why he was leaving for a little while, but it was probably obvious since his house was shot to shit. When he discovered his assignment was blown by way of a bullet, almost slamming into his head when he was eating breakfast, Dax had left a note and walked out the door. That was a mistake, he should have known the old dog would find him, but he had been protecting him. Whoever wanted Dax not to get the information for the Furies had access to details, like who and where he was, and what he was doing. It should have been impossible.
He had called Loki immediately and told him he had a leak somewhere. Dax was off the radar and should have remained that way, not too many people knew about the relationship with Doc and the Sisters, he had only been with them a handful of times on missions. But he wasn’t going to chance something happening to the old man.
“Roger, what are you doing here?” Dax said with a sigh when the short older man reached him. He was only about five feet six and had bright white hair, which was always disheveled and looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He wore the same colored pants, black, every day, and various tees that were humorous about old people.
“Well,” Roger said. “I had a taste for some fish and chips, and everyone knows the place to get the best fish and chips is in London since my place is being repaired, I figured I had some time travel. Imagine my surprise when I saw you in front of the same hotel I am staying at. I figured I should make sure you were okay, you know, since you left without saying goodbye, and the note you left didn’t really tell me too much.”
Dax shook his head, “That is why I left the note, so you would not be involved with this shit. How do you know you were not followed? I have some very bad men looking for me, and I am not sure you get what kind of danger you just put yourself in.”
Roger laughed loudly, for such a small man, he had a booming voice. Dax growled a little; the old man really didn’t understand what he was dealing with.
“Roger,” Dax snapped and leaned down to make his point. “Seriously, I left you the note that said I would be back when it was safe, and instead of waiting, you followed me. When I said the word safe, that would mean there is something going on, and you needed to keep your head down.”
Roger shook his head, “Boy, you know me, and you know I would not just read the note and let shit lay, there was zero possibility that was going to happen. Now, what the fuck is going on, and how can I help?”
Dax sighed and said, “Nothing, you can go back to your house and wait for me to let you know what the hell is going on.”
Roger frowned and said, “I don’t think that is going to work for me.”
“Why?” Dax said, throwing up his hands.
Roger glared at him and said, “Because we are a team.”
“No, we are not,” Dax snapped. This had been the ongoing discussion ever since Dax had agreed to help Loki out. Dax had been stupid enough to tell the older man during a weak moment what was going on. He shouldn’t have had that last pint at the pub damn it. The old man had been suspicious and got Dax at a weak moment.
“Yes, we are,” Roger said calmly and then stared him in the eyes and continued. “Listen, I know what you are and what you can do, but I also know that for the last year, you have been itching to get back into some kind of action. Looks like you found it. But like I told you when you were in recovery, we are a team now.”
“That was then, and it didn’t involve a bunch of assholes following me around trying to kill my ass because of a choice I made. You are not involved; you have nothing to do with this. You need to get your ass back in your car and get the fuck home so I can do what I gotta do without worrying about you getting in trouble,” Dax said quietly.
Roger pursed his lips and stared up at the sky for a few moments, then looked back at Dax in the eyes and said, “Welp, I don’t think that is wise. Because you need someone to have your back, and you know that someone is me.”
“If I needed someone at my back,” Dax gritted out. “I would certainly find someone who is trained to watch my back. But in this instance, I don’t need someone watching my back.”
“Yes, you do,” Roger said with a grin. “Because that little beauty I was scoping out this morning at the hotel is gonna be a handful. I am pretty sure you need someone to help you out there.”
“Excuse me?” Dax said quietly, how had the old man known where exactly he had been this morning? How had he spotted the chick, and Dax hadn’t?
“You are not the only ones with friends, bubba.” Roger smiled and shook his head. “I have worked in this business for a shit ton longer than you have and made more friends in the military than you can imagine. So, it was truly a surprise when one of my old friends called me and asked me to watch your back.”
“Old friend? Who? And why the hell would they ask a military construction contractor to watch my back?” Dax snapped.
Roger shook his head, “Bubba, for someone so smart you are not real bright sometimes. I gave you all the hints, and you ignored them. Of course, I am not an old man who retired and remained in Germany for the last ten years, think about it. How the hell would I have pulled that shit off unless I had some pretty big contacts and I was not a construction worker.”
Dax stared at the old man as he had never seen him before. “Explain.”
Roger sighed and then said, “I am retired alright but not from construction, I worked as an asset here in Germany for the CIA, and when I retired, I had someone ask for a few favors, including watching a few nasty little men who were making noises about doing something big to make their mark.”
“For what?” Dax said with a growl, and Roger smiled.
“Well, you may be friends with Loki, but I am friends with his mom. I know you have been helping them on their little missions, and so does the asshole who started this shit. So, Bubba, I got your back, and I got the little hotties back as well. Because apparently, the girl has a mama who could gouge out yours and my eyeballs with a dull knife and not blink twice about it.”
Dax frowned, “Then why the hell did Loki send her over here?”
Roger shrugged and said, “Don’t know, don’t care; I know my mission.”
Dax looked up to the sky and then back down after he took a deep breath. “Our cover is a married couple; I don’t quite see how you are going to fit in this cover.”
“Oh, I am not going to,” Roger laughed. “Just think of me as your friendly little tourist who you met at the bike shop. We can say I am leading you around as a guide. I will get you updates, as well as making sure that you are not going to get your asses in a sling without someone to help out. You can do your thing, and together we can put the puzzle pieces together.”
“This is ridicules,” Dax said calmly, which is not what he was feeling at all. Fuck no, right about now, he felt like Alice tripping down the rabbit hole without a fucking clue what was going on.
“This is life and the facts. Sorry, I didn’t tell you sooner bubba, but honestly, you and the other men who have helped the Sisters and Furies all have someone watching their back, and it has been going on for months.” Roger smiled. “There is more at stake here than you realize, the shit going on is looking like it is coming from someone high up in the government. Fling and Doc don’t want anyone to know where they are getting their information until it is time.”
“How high up?” Dax asked.
“High enough that their asses are puckering right about now since they don’t know what the Furies and Sisters know. The Furies are the ones who hold the cards in this, and they know something that has put a target on them. The problem is, they are not sure why the fuck they are being singled out, and since they don’t know what it is, but it has to be something big for someone to try and take out their entire club, women and children included. It is all hands-on deck until this shit gets locked down,” Roger said slowly.
Dax stared at the old man for what seemed like an hour, and then she shook his head and looked in the direction he needed to go. “Well old man, it seems we are at an impasse because I already have someone I am going to need to look after, I don’t need another person. You need to make the call and go home, if you want to see what the fuck is going on, make your way to San Diego.”
Roger smiled and nodded. But Dax knew he was not going to shake the old man, damn it all to hell, he thought and then looked at Roger again, “You aren’t gonna listen to me, are you?”
“Nope, ‘cause I can’t wait to see the fireworks when you meet the woman at the café,” Roger said and then moved around him down the street towards the hotel he was to be meeting the pink-haired chick at.