Born to Fight

Chapter 4

Jamie

By the time Josh and I arrived at Celeste’s house, the place was crawling with police.

We’d barely stepped out of the car before officers began questioning us.

Who were we?

How did we know Celeste?

Why were two Navy SEALs showing up at a crime scene in the middle of the night?

I answered their questions as patiently as I could, but my attention kept drifting toward the house.

I needed to see her.

I needed to know she was okay.

Then I heard my name.

“Jamie!”

I turned.

Celeste stood in the doorway.

My heart clenched.

She looked broken.

There was no other word for it.

The girl I’d come to know through late-night emails and sarcastic jokes was gone. In her place stood a seventeen-year-old who had just watched her mother die.

But she was alive.

And she was standing.

That was enough.

The moment she ran toward me, I opened my arms.

She crashed into me and held on like I was the only thing keeping her upright.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered.

She didn’t say anything.

She didn’t have to.

I could feel the tremors running through her body.

Right then, something inside me changed.

I wasn’t just here because she’d called me.

I wasn’t just her pen pal.

From this moment forward, Celeste Avery was under my protection.

Whether she knew it or not.

And so was Freeze.

No one was ever going to hurt her again.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

I glanced toward Josh.

He’d protect her too.

I’d known that without having to ask.

She wasn’t alone anymore.

She just didn’t know it yet.

⸻

Celeste

The moment Josh ran out of the house, I was completely confused.

I’d seen some strange things in my life, but that was right up there with the strangest.

He was a Navy SEAL.

So was Jamie.

Surely they’d seen things far worse than a crime scene.

So why had Josh looked like he’d seen a ghost?

And why had he practically sprinted out of the house?

Before I could ask, Jamie was already on his feet and heading after him.

I was left sitting at the kitchen table alone.

Again.

I stared toward the living room.

Toward Mum.

My chest tightened.

I couldn’t stay here.

I knew that much.

Even if the police allowed me to remain in the house, I couldn’t imagine waking up here tomorrow.

Or the day after.

Or any day after that.

Every room would remind me of Mum.

Her laugh.

Her voice.

Her perfume.

Her things.

And then there would always be that one memory I could never escape.

Her lying on the floor.

Blood everywhere.

A gunshot.

Gone.

I couldn’t live here.

And I couldn’t go back to school either.

I could already imagine the whispers.

That’s her.

Her mother was murdered.

Did you hear what happened?

The pity would be worse.

I didn’t want anyone looking at me like I was some tragic little orphan.

I was seventeen.

I’d lost my mother.

And as far as I knew, I had no one.

My father’s name had suddenly become part of my life, but I didn’t even know where he was.

Billy.

The man my mother had spent seventeen years refusing to talk about.

The man a group of armed strangers had apparently been willing to kill her to find.

I rubbed my temples.

Thinking about it was giving me a headache.

I needed air.

I pushed my chair back and walked outside.

The cool night air hit my face.

I looked around and immediately spotted Jamie and Josh standing on the lawn, several metres away from the police.

They were talking quietly.

The moment Josh noticed me, he stopped.

He said something to Jamie and pointed toward the house.

Jamie turned.

Our eyes met.

He immediately started walking toward me.

I met him halfway.

“Is everything okay?”

I directed the question at Jamie, but I couldn’t stop watching Josh.

Something was definitely off with him.

“Yeah,” Jamie said. “Everything’s fine.”

I wasn’t convinced.

Jamie glanced back toward the house.

“We were talking about what happens next.”

“What happens next?”

“You can’t stay here.”

I looked toward my house.

My home.

Mum’s home.

“No,” I whispered. “I can’t.”

My voice cracked.

“Everything feels wrong without her.”

Jamie stepped closer.

“You don’t have to stay here.”

I looked at him.

“You can stay with us.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“Josh and I have a place. You can stay there for as long as you need.”

I stared at him.

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.”

My gaze shifted toward Josh.

He nodded.

“We wouldn’t offer if we didn’t mean it.”

I swallowed.

“What about Loki?”

“Loki comes too.”

For the first time all night, I almost smiled.

“Are you sure?”

Jamie smiled.

“Freeze will probably appreciate having someone to terrorize.”

I gave a small laugh.

Then the guilt hit me.

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re not.”

His answer came so quickly that I looked up at him.

“You’ve been through enough tonight, Celeste. You don’t need to worry about being a burden.”

I looked between the two men.

Something was being left unsaid.

I could feel it.

Josh especially.

He kept looking at me like there was something he desperately wanted to tell me.

But neither man said anything.

Finally, I nodded.

“Okay.”

Jamie held out his hand.

“Let’s get you packed.”

I slipped my hand into his.

And for some reason, holding his hand made me feel a little less afraid.

⸻

Jamie

I found Josh near the edge of the property.

He was pacing.

I’d never seen him like this.

Not during training.

Not in combat.

Not even when things had gone seriously wrong.

Josh didn’t run.

He faced problems head-on.

But tonight?

He’d run like his life depended on it.

“Josh.”

He stopped.

I walked toward him.

“What the hell is going on?”

He turned toward me.

His face was pale.

“Talk to me, man.”

Nothing.

“Josh.”

He swallowed hard.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I paused.

“Or you’re about to throw up. Which one?”

He didn’t laugh.

That worried me more than anything.

“It’s her.”

I frowned.

“Who’s her?”

“Celeste.”

My eyebrows pulled together.

“What about her?”

Josh looked back toward the house.

“She’s his.”

I stared at him.

“His what?”

Josh dragged a hand over his face.

“I don’t know how else to say this.”

“Then start making sense.”

He looked at me.

“Celeste looks exactly like my father.”

For a moment, I thought I’d misheard him.

“What?”

“My father.”

He stepped closer.

“Jamie, I told you about the affair, remember?”

I nodded slowly.

His father had cheated on his mother years ago.

It hadn’t been a subject Josh liked talking about.

“My mum told me something before she died,” he continued.

I waited.

“She told me there was a child.”

My stomach tightened.

“A child?”

“A daughter.”

He looked toward the house again.

“She said my father had an affair with another woman. When he found out she was pregnant, he walked away.”

I felt a chill crawl up my spine.

“Josh…”

“She said she’d always wondered what happened to them. The woman and the baby.”

His voice cracked.

“She felt sorry for them. She said my father should have stayed. He should have taken responsibility for his child.”

He looked at me.

“Celeste is that child.”

I stared at him.

“Josh, you can’t know that.”

“I know what my father looks like.”

“You said she looks like him.”

“Not just a little.”

He shook his head.

“It’s like looking at a younger version of him.”

He looked genuinely haunted.

“The eyes. The shape of her face. Her expressions.”

He swallowed.

“Everything.”

I didn’t know what to say.

The pieces were beginning to fall into place.

Billy.

The mysterious military man Celeste had never known.

The men who’d broken into her home demanding to know where he was.

And now Josh was telling me that Celeste could be the secret daughter of a man he’d grown up calling Dad.

“You’re saying Billy Avery is your father?”

Josh nodded.

“I don’t know for certain.”

“But?”

“I’d bet everything I own on it.”

I looked toward the house.

Celeste was standing inside.

A seventeen-year-old girl who had just lost her mother.

A girl who had spent her entire life believing her father simply didn’t want her.

And now there was a possibility that her father was the same man a group of armed men had been hunting tonight.

This was bigger than either of us.

“Okay,” I said.

Josh looked at me.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“When?”

“Not tonight.”

He opened his mouth.

“Josh, look at her.”

He glanced toward the house.

“She’s just lost her mother.”

His expression softened.

“Right now, she needs us. Whatever the truth is, we can deal with it later.”

Josh nodded.

Then his expression suddenly changed.

His eyes fixed on something behind me.

I turned.

Celeste was standing in the doorway.

Watching us.

Josh’s face went pale again.

“Come on,” I said quietly.

I picked up Freeze’s leash.

“We’ve got a girl to look after.”

Josh followed.

Neither of us said another word.

But as we walked toward Celeste, one thought wouldn’t leave my mind.

If Josh was right, then Celeste hadn’t just lost her mother tonight.

She had just stumbled into a family secret that had been buried for seventeen years.

And judging by the men who had come looking for Billy Avery…

Someone was willing to kill to keep that secret buried.