“Yeah,” Sawyer seconded Sage’s question. “A pile would be good.”
“Sure.” Castello rolled out of the bunk. “Flick the light switch and make sure the floor is clean, then yeah, puppy pile.” He suppressed a smile as he watched his guys moving with quiet efficiency, moving bunks out of the way to clear a space for them to make one massive camp bed. On trips like this they were so used to close, cramped quarters that it made it impossible for them to sleep alone. Stupid maybe, but they had all learned the hard way that there was safety in numbers. Castello turned to look at Axel, who sat on the bunk under the one which had been Castello’s, a sleepy confused look, that for the record was sexy as fuck, on his face. “You want to sleep in the pile with us, or are you good on the bunk?”
“Uh,” Axel rubbed one eye with his thumb, “I’m good here, thanks.”
Castello nodded in response. He’d expected that answer. People outside of teams or special forces didn’t normally get the ‘puppy pile.’ Within minutes his guys had settled in, curled up around each other like a bunch of puppies to sleep. Castello moved to a chair near the door, at the foot of Axel’s bunk. Even though he knew that Balas would alert them to any intruder before the idiot got through the door, he would take the watch.
Quietly, he started stripping down his weapons, using the familiar rhythms and hand movements to settle his mind. A rustling noise made him look at the bunk. “Shhh.”
“Sorry,” Axel whispered, he’d moved his pillow to the foot of the bed and tugged at the covers until the corners pulled out from under the narrow mattress. “I didn’t want to shout and wake them.”
“They aren’t fully asleep yet.” Castello scooted his ass down to slouch on the chair, putting his head closer to Axel, so he could whisper in response.
“Are they always like this?”
“Pretty much,” Castello smiled softly, “They remind me of my son when he was a kid.”
“You have a kid?” Axel turned over to lie on his side, his head propped up on one hand.
Castello could clearly see him in the light provided by the floodlights outside. “Yeah, Rourke. He’s twenty-two.”
“You’re married?”
Shoulda seen that coming.“No,” Castello blew out a breath, he could see why Axel was confused. Castello had planted a kiss on him only a couple of days ago. “Divorced, she took off when Rourke was a kid.”
“You loved her?”
“No.” Ugh, this was not the place Castello wanted to talk about this shit.
While he was close to his guys, not all of them knew the sordid tale that lay behind his marriage.
“If y’all have sweet nothin’s to whisper to each other can ya do it faster?” Zack grumbled from somewhere near Castello’s feet. “We’re trying to sleep.
Thank you, Zack. Castello was going to wipe a couple of the infractions his second had been racking up off the tab for that save. He’d tried to keep from shifting uncomfortably when Axel was asking the questions, but he figured by Zack’s question that the man had felt his tension. “Better get some
sleep,” he whispered to Axel, “We go Stateside tomorrow, and it’s gonna be an ass-numbing trip.”
“Night, Cas.” Axel whispered, snuggling down into the pillows.
“Night.” Castello bit down on the corner of his lip and rubbed his chest with his left hand, why the hell did it ache? But he figured it didn’t feel like a heart attack. Not that he knew what one of them felt like either. But as long as he wasn’t dead, he could figure it out. Castello went back to cleaning weapons. It would be time for chow soon. If the guys got to sleep an hour before morning reveille, it would help make them less cranky as they traveled to the US tomorrow. Thank fuck for transport planes willing to take them outta here.
Chapter 6
A full two days of travelling and Axel now knew why Castello had called it ‘an ass-numbing trip.’ Military planes had the most uncomfortable seats ever. Hard as rocks, narrow as fuck. It still amazed him that they had managed to squeeze themselves into those plastic jump seats on the leg from Djibouti to Sigonella. They had been back a full day and he still didn’t know how the hell he had managed to get Castello, his team, a dog, and himself into his house without alerting the gossiping householders association in the neighborhood. If those ladies had gotten a glimpse of the muscles and testosterone he was currently living with, there would be a queue of ladies with pies and baked goods lining the street to his front door.
For the first time since they had arrived home, the house was quiet. The guys had taken over the upper floor of his house. He was still shaking his head at that. All that was up there was a bathroom and a huge open space, although considering how they had slept in Africa, he guessed that they would puppy pile.
Sipping from his beer he stood staring out the window at the street.
Would he ever find her? Was Mexico just another freaking lead that would lead to nowhere.Argh,he was her big brother, was meant to be her protector.
Both Castello and Grif had chewed him out and questioned him, Castello most of the freaking flight times home and Grif on the freaking phone for hours since they landed. What the hell else was he meant to do? The cops didn’t give a shit about anyone they saw as a runaway. They didn’t get it; Krystal wasn’t like that. She would never have left without telling him. Never have taken off with a baby in tow. Nope, something fucking happened, and he wanted them back. He would find them even if he had to go to freaking Mexico himself.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Jesus,” Axel coughed to clear the beer that went down the wrong pipe at the sound of Castello’s voice. Funny how he could tell it was Castello when he wasn’t entirely sure which of the others was who and kept mixing up Sawyer and Connor. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” Castello quirked up an eyebrow in query, “I made noise.”
