Ammo and Mary Read online

  “I don’t have a hobby, per se. My work and my hobby are very tied together. So, you could say I love what I do.” He seemed reluctant to share. He sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t share things easily, but I feel like I can with you. I work for Forces Security. I’m an equipment manager and tactical trainer. I keep the armory we have stocked and in perfect working order. I keep all of our operators in perfect working order too.”

  “I’m glad you enjoy your work, Ben. I feel like what you told me is something you don’t like to put out there, so I will keep it to myself. Ben, you can talk to me about anything. It’s important in my own business because sharing gossip about my clients could forfeit my business. My reputation is built on my closed mouth.” I was happy he felt he could trust me.

  He blew out a breath. “That’s really good to know. So, what do you like to eat besides Mexican?” he asked.

  “Just about anything as long as it looks good.” I laughed at my statement. I loved to eat. I really was not picky.

  “I’m the same way. Though I like home-cooked comfort foods the best. What do you like to do for fun?”

  “Sew?” We laughed. “I like exploring what the city has to offer. Museums, the zoo, the architecture, the history. I have gone on quite a few types of tours around the city and find them fascinating each time,” I explained. “What about you? Wait, let me guess, workout?” I was being a brat, but I wanted to laugh with him. He had such a sexy laugh.

  He laughed. “While that’s true, I also like going to the gun range, hiking in the forest preserves, and volunteering with the veterans and the park district here,” he said.

  “What do you do with the park district?”

  “Help give the kids in the area somewhere to be. A couple of the guys I work with coach the team sports; the one woman I work with teaches some classes there.”

  “That’s really great. Do you like to travel?” I was enjoying talking to him and finding out about him.

  “I traveled a lot in the Navy after I had my medical discharge. I lived in Thailand for six months before coming home. There aren’t many places I haven’t been and not many places I want to go back to.”

  “What got you discharged?” I hoped he was not in pain.

  “My ankle is nothing but screws and plates. One wrong move and it’s gone. What about you? Do you want to travel?”

  “I really don’t like or do well with flying. I tend to panic about the whole thing. So, I find things in the city to explore instead.” I thought about the last time I flew to see my parents. I had felt like I was running a marathon, but I had just been sitting in the terminal waiting for the plane.

  “Good to know. I hate to let you go, but you should get your rest,” he pointed out.

  I looked at the time. It was after 10 p.m. I normally fell asleep around 11. I didn’t want to stop talking, but it was time for bed. “I didn’t realize how late it had gotten. I have enjoyed talking to you so much,” I said.

  “I’ve enjoyed it too. How about we do this tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I would like that. I want to hear about Thailand and living in another country.” I smiled. I had something to look forward to.

  “Sure.”

  “Good night, Ben.”

  “Good night, Mary.” And he was gone.

  I hung up. I shut down all my machines and lights. I got ready for bed and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  Chapter 7

  Ammo

  “There have been no real developments with Moses. He’s out there somewhere, biding his time. We have reports of four more girls taken,” Gena said.

  “It’s sick how these gangbangers all protect him. They never reveal who he is and just call him Moses. So many of these guys start out in small Mexican street gangs throughout the city and then they get mixed in Moses’ gangs. They have such a fierce loyalty to him. They make money hand over fist with girls, guns, and drugs. Money they could only dream about. He leads them to a better life,” Phoenix said.

  We had been working on the Moses case for three weeks. We had gotten nowhere. It was not good. I was frustrated at our lack of progress. But I had known that would be the case; I had been dealing with it for years. Eventually he would mess up, and I would be there to pounce.

  “Does anyone else have any new business?” Domino asked.

  We were having our weekly meeting. We went over all the jobs everyone was working on—the new jobs coming in and ones that were wrapping up.

  “I got something. Ammo has been talking to a woman for over three weeks and hasn’t asked her out yet,” Tarzan announced to everyone. The operators in the room and the ones on the conference lines—Lach the Doc, Gena, Hack, Binary, and Domino—turned to look at me.

  I sat there. I wanted to kill Tarzan. I was contemplating his death when Domino spoke.

  “Thank you, Tarzan. I had noticed he was losing his grouchiness. I couldn’t figure out why. Ammo, you like this woman? Ask her out. It’s not hard. Say, ‘Hey, you want to get coffee sometime?’”

  I snapped my head towards Domino. Like he was one to talk, given how hot and cold things were going with Charlotte. I had seen her storm out the other night, telling him to go to hell.

  “You know, he may be trying to get to know her without sex getting in the way. Did you knuckleheads ever think of that?” Gena asked.

  The room all turned back to look at me. I rubbed the back of my neck. I might as well come clean. I trusted these people with my life, they trusted me with thiers. I could trust them with this. If not, well, I could just kill them all. “Her name is Mary. She’s the Mary who helped us get Eve back. I haven’t asked her yet because of a few reasons. I have been enjoying getting to know her.” I paused. “I really do like her. I don’t want to screw up.” I paused again.

  “Then what is the problem, Ammo?” Binary asked.

  “I have never asked a woman out before. Never dated—not even in high school.” The whole room gasped. “By the time I was starting to think about girls, I lost my parents. I had to take care of my sister. Yes, my gramps was there, but she was my little sister. Then I left for Boot camp and she was taken not long after. All my free time had been consumed with her for a long time. Having my sister taken put a spin on how I felt about dating and sleeping with women. I didn’t want to get into a relationship and lose them. I had enough loss in my life. So, I never took the time to date,” I explained. I looked around the room and at the screens that displayed the faces of the rest of the team who were not there. They were speechless.

  “Ammo, it’s time you lived again. Just say, ‘Hey, let’s do something,’” Tarzan said. He was married to the love of his life, so it was not hard for him.

  “Tarzan is right—just ask. Be honest about everything. She’ll understand,” Gena said.

  “Ammo, don’t second-guess yourself. You have been talking to her for three weeks. If she didn’t like you so far, you wouldn’t still be talking. Unless she thinks you’re gay. She doesn’t think that, does she?” Sarah asked. She had conferenced in.

  I glared at her. She glared right back. “No, Sarah. We’ve talked about what we find attractive in a partner. Not just personality, but physical aspects too.”

  “How does the baddest ass kicker out of all of us not date? How do you not pick up women to fu—” Joey said.

  “Women aren’t pieces of meat, nor are they holes for your dick, Joey!” I yelled at him. Sometimes the young kid could be so disrespectful. I was not going to let him go there.

  “So, are you going to call her or what?” Domino said.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. I didn’t want to keep discussing this with them.

  “Okay, so if we have discussed Ammo’s lack of a love life enough, what are we doing about Moses?” Ninja asked. “I understand nothing has really changed, but what can we do to make it change?”

  I thought about what Ninja said. “Moses has many ways he takes girls. From clubs, bars, sporting events, movies, even schools
. That was how he got my sister, I believe. She and a friend were studying at the community college library. Her friend went to the bathroom, came back, and my sister was gone,” I stated.

  “CPD has put together a few stings and baits. Nothing. It’s like he knows. I’m not willing to risk my operators that way. Plus, except for Gena, none of you look young enough.” Domino wiped his hand down his face. “I know we all want this over with and we want this guy, but unfortunately, we just have to wait and let more intel come in. Any other new business?” Domino asked. He looked around the room. No one answered him.

  “Everyone, you have your assignments. Let’s get to work. Ammo, go make your phone call. Meeting adjourned,” Domino said.

  The operators signed off. The operators in the room started to leave. Some headed out to their tasks. Some down to the gym. I got up to leave.

  “Ammo?” Domino said.

  I turned to him, giving him a chin lift.

  “Ammo, you do know Hack can help me in the mornings if you need to be somewhere else.” He had a cheesy grin on his face.

  “Yeah, I know. I also know that you’re all a bunch of assholes.” I turned and walked out of the large conference room.

  “I gave you an order, you know,” he called out.

  I flipped him off, though he couldn’t see me. Ugh, these guys were the greatest assholes. I was thankful for them. Well, I might as well give her a call. Who knows, she might be around.

  Chapter 8

  Mary

  “Mary, I want to ask you something.” Ben sounded shy and unsure. Nervous.

  “Sure. Go ahead,” I said. I loved how honest he was.

  “Mary. Ugh ... here I go. Mary, I want to take you out on a date. But I have never done this, so I don’t know what to do.”

  “Oh, Ben, I would love to. I think I know what we should do. Have you ever had lunch with the seals?” I smiled. I knew he would think I was nuts.

  “Um, seals? As in the animals? In Chicago?” He was puzzled.

  “Yup. So, you game?” I was giggling at his confusion.

  “Sure.” He chuckled. “What day is good for you?”

  “Let’s go tomorrow?” Tomorrow was Thursday. I set my own hours and he did at times too. It would be a good day for the Lincoln Park Zoo. Not too busy since Thursday was a workday and it was going to be a nice November day. We would not get many more of those this year.

  “Okay. Should I pick you up?” he asked. He was nervous again.

  “I would like that. You don’t mind driving into the city? Lincoln Park, Park West area specifically?” I figured he would not care, but I wanted to ask just in case he did. To be considerate.

  “No, it’s no problem. I’ll pick you up around 9? Is that okay?”

  “Yeah, that works. I’m looking forward to it.” I smiled.

  “Me too.”

  “Ben, do you need my address?” I never had given it to him.

  “I know where you live. I’ll be in a black sedan.”

  “Oh right. I forgot. You know all kinds of things.” I laughed. In some ways, he was all man. In other ways, he was like a teenage boy. I loved it. It made me smile. He was so endearing. I loved talking to him. It was time to meet though. He said he knew what I looked like—from when I helped with Eve—but I had no idea about him except what he had described. Not tall, dark hair, blue eyes, athletically fit. He really wasn’t good at this. I suggested exchanging pictures, but he clammed up and I never brought it up again. But he was a great person so far and I liked everything about him.

  “Sure do. Is there anything I need to bring?” he asked.

  “No, just a jacket if you get cold easy. We will be on the lake.” Lincoln Park Zoo was yards from Lake Michigan. The winds off the lake could be chilly.

  “Okay. I will call you a little later tonight. I have to get back to work,” he said.

  “Sounds good. I look forward to it,” I said.

  He hung up. I set my phone down. I was smiling. Then it dawned on me—what should I wear?

  I went into my bedroom to lay out my clothes for tomorrow. The one really awesome perk about my job was some of my clients would give me their unwanted clothes. Some of these women loved to shop and they didn’t care what they bought, just if they bought it. I got great gently used clothes most of the time, though they were new with tags still attached.

  I laid out a teal long-sleeved shirt with a brown leather jacket and dark jeans. I dug around in the bottom of my closet and found my booties that matched the jacket. I remembered then that I didn’t have any lunchmeat to make sandwiches. I had better call Rosa and get that put together.

  I went back out to my phone and called up Rosa.

  “Hello, Mary? What’s wrong?”

  “Rosa, I need help. We’re going to go have lunch with the seals tomorrow and I have nothing in the house to make sandwiches,” I explained.

  “Who is going where?” she asked. I then realized she would never have had lunch with the seals either. I was going to have to take her sometime.

  “Ben asked me out and I said we should to Lincoln Park Zoo. We will eat lunch at the seal pool. I need to bring lunch. But I don’t have anything to make sandwiches. So, I called you,” I explained.

  “You need a packed lunch with sandwiches. Okay, I can do that. Is there anything that he doesn’t like, do you know?” she asked.

  “No, but no onions and no garlic.” I blushed when I said that. I hoped she would ignore it.

  “Oh! Are you planning on making out later?” she asked, laughing. She didn’t ignore it.

  “A girl can hope. Thank you, Rosa. You’re the best. I don’t know what I would do without you,” I said.

  “I know and don’t you forget it. What time are you leaving tomorrow?” Rosa asked.

  “He’s picking me up at 9 in the morning,” I said.

  “Okay, I will have it over to you by then. Lita will drop off your dinner tonight. Talk to you later,” she said, barely waiting for my response.

  I giggled to myself. I was excited about tomorrow. I looked at the clock. I had enough time to go get a manicure. I tried to keep my hands and nails well cared for so I could handle delicate fabrics without snagging them. I wanted to look nice for him. After my manicure, I would pamper myself a bit with a bath and be ready for Lita to drop off my dinner and then my chat with Ben.

  “Mary! Here’s your dinner!” Lita called.

  I walked out of my bedroom in my robe with a towel still around my hair. “Hey, Lita!” I called, walking up to her for a hug and to grab my plate.

  “Well, look at you. Mom said you had a date tomorrow. It looks like you’re getting all dolled up for it,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes.

  I smiled at her.

  “Yup, you’re glowing. So, this is the guy you’ve been talking to on the phone? And you’re taking him to the zoo, huh?”

  “I think it will be a special first date.” I made my way to the kitchen and started to eat. It was a chicken and rice dish today.

  “Well, what does he do? You didn’t say when we grilled you on Sunday.” Lita liked knowing everything.

  “He told me he is the equipment manager and tactical trainer for his company. He works out a lot. Helps his coworkers stay fit as well.” I didn’t want to break his confidence as to what he did. I could tell he had a hard time sharing some things. I didn’t want him to lose the trust I had worked so hard for.

  “What company does he work for?” she asked. She was watching my answers. I hated when she interrogated.

  “Forces Security,” I said.

  “So, he’s a rent-a-cop?” Lita asked skeptically.

  “No. I get the impression they’re ex-military and take on rescues, investigations, and bodyguard jobs. Not like a security guard you’d find at the mall. You remember when the news reported about Mr. Durando? And we saw the guys in black, but they did not have SWAT on their bulletproof vests?” I had been at Rosa’s when the rescue happened. I didn’t want to be alone
that night. She knew my involvement, but we did not talk about it.

  “Yeah, we figured they were undercover,” she said with a shrug.

  “I think those guys were his coworkers,” I said. I had finished my dinner, rinsed the plate, and placed it in the dishwasher.

  “Really? Those guys were huge and deadly.” Lita’s eyes had gotten big.

  “Yeah, I don’t think he’s a rent-a-cop,” I said, smirking at her.

  “He’s nothing like Dennis, is he?” Lita asked.

  Ugh, I had gone out on two dates with Dennis, but he was like a bad penny and kept coming around.