Page 41 of Corey
“I’m happy for you, buddy.” He squeezed Corey’s shoulder then dropped his hand. “When you find the right woman, it changes your world.”
“I barely know her, but…” He sighed. “Seeing what you and Ellie have…Brand and Julia…hell, now even Chaz… Youguys fucking glow, Murph. I never thought I deserved to find someone, especially after failing Cassidy.”
“Cassidy wasn’t a relationship, Cor,” Wes said in a quiet voice.
“No, but I made a promise I didn’t keep.”
“It was a bad situation, but you can’t keep punishing yourself over it. You deserve to be happy.”
“I know, but it’s so goddamn hard. She’d still be alive if—”
“Corey,” Wes interrupted, voice stern, “I know better than anyone how fragile life is, and losing people reminds us it’s also fleeting. A life can be taken in an instant, and that’s fucking terrifying. But that’s also what makes it so precious. Each breath is a gift, man. You can’t let loss steal the beauty of living away from you.”
Although he’d heard these words before, this time they hit differently. And they filled him with something he thought he’d lost a long time ago—beautiful, simple, quiet hope.
“You’re a wise, old man, Murph, you know that?”
Wes shook his head and grinned. “Get in the car, loverboy.”
They bumped knuckles, and as Corey opened the back door, Wes added, “You’re not that far behind me, Emerson.”
“Yeah, maybe, but you’ll always be older than me.”
Wes groaned at the reminder, and Corey chuckled. It felt good to joke around and release some of the guilt that had been trying to suffocate him for the longest time. He had one very lovely woman to thank for that. And he planned to show his gratitude with multiple orgasms the moment he got back home.
???
At exactly midnight, the Motley Crew went into action. Wes stayed in the SUV, monitoring the situation from his laptop and staying alert for a quick exfil. Once he scrambled the security cams, Corey released his drone which Wes would run to keep an extra eye in the sky for tangos. Inserting comms into their ears, they split up. Corey, Lex and Xander headed down to the water, while Brand, Jayson and Chaz infiltrated the warehouse.
They were there for proof, and Corey wasn’t leaving until they found it. After terrorizing Sera, murdering his associate and possibly working with the Lazaro Cartel, Joel Largemont was going down. Corey would make sure of it.
Creeping down to the waterfront, but staying out of sight, Corey, Lex and Xander hunkered down behind a boulder a good distance away from the action. Through their night vision goggles, they watched the workers loading and unloading cartons and pallets. There was more hustle and bustle than he would’ve expected at this late hour, making getting closer more of a challenge.
“Well, shit,” Lex finally grumbled. “Any idea how we’re supposed to get over there without being seen?”
Xander looked at Corey. “Frogman?”
Looks like he was about to get wet. “I’ve got my fins,” Corey said. “It was sort of a last resort. I don’t suppose you two want to join me?”
“Hell no,” Xander said, eyeing the black ocean. “Sharks are in there.”
“You are correct. Sharks do live in the ocean, Hawke.” Corey chuckled, not at all concerned about running, orswimming, into one. He pulled off his NVGs and unclipped the fins from his gear bag.
“I might’ve been in the Navy,” Lex said, “but I avoided the water. My job is to fly, yours is to swim. Go get ‘em, Cor. We’ll hold down the fort here.”
Corey rolled his eyes, but he was prepared to be the only one possibly going for a swim tonight. Of course, Wes could, too, and he usually jumped at any opportunity to don his prosthetic fin which helped him navigate through the water. But since he was currently monitoring the tech, the honor of swimming in the deep, cold, pitch-black Pacific Ocean belonged to Corey.
Pushing up from his crouched position, knees creaking in protest, Corey reached back and pulled his shirt off. He was already wearing his swimming trunks, and he shucked his boots and cargo pants.
“Ouch,” Lex commented. “Might need some Glucosamine for those old joints.”
“Is there a button on you somewhere?” Xander asked. “To turn off the commentary?”
Lex sent him a big, pearly-white smile. “No, but I’m glad to hear you appreciate my natural wit and charm.”
Xander stifled a groan, and Corey grabbed his small, waterproof backpack, pulling it on. Reaching for his fins, he quickly calculated the best way over to the docks.
“Behave, boys,” Corey said, checking his large watch. “If I’m not back in thirty minutes, a shark probably ate me.”
