“There are spare bedrooms in the house I just renovated for my daughters. Their security system is already slaved to mine.” David’s eyebrows went up, and Ben’s expression became defensive. “They’re my daughters! If someone tries to break into their home, I’m going to know so I can be there to protect them!” David smiled, and Ben shrugged. “Anyway, I have a line of site antenna between the homes set up to transmit and receive. I can adjust the transmitter on my home to send as well as receive. Then it would just be a matter of setting up a terminal at that end to see the feed from my home for all external cameras and motion detectors plus the window and door sensors. There are no internal cameras in either home.”
Ben rolled his stiff neck muscles. He was seriously contemplating yet another intrusion into his life only to keep the relationship going with David and his team. He paused to think about that.
“Something wrong?” David asked when he saw Ben’s forehead wrinkle.
Ben looked to him and sighed. “No, I’m just thinking of the extra complexity I’d be adding to my life if I went ahead with this. It seems to be a trend with me. I love working with you and your engineers. No offense intended towards you Sergeant, but I don’t appreciate the Brass forcing these conditions on me.” He saw a look of desperation surface in her eyes. He held up his hand before she could say anything. “If you don’t mind, I need a little time to think about this. In the interim, why don’t we walk over to 12 Ashburn Court to determine if that’s even a workable solution.”
They nodded so Ben locked up his office, brought them back upstairs, and he poked his head into the living room.
“We’re just going over to check out Karen and Penny’s place for a moment,” he said to Tina and Lucy who smiled and nodded to him.
He slipped his boots on, and the others removed the booties.
“You’ll want to hang onto those for the other house,” Ben suggested, so they tucked them into their pockets.
They walked down the driveway to the personnel carrier where David stowed the Colonel’s briefcase. Then they walked over to 12 Ashburn Court.
“You own this house too?” David asked.
Ben nodded to him. “Yeah. I bought it from the Walkers, the previous owner. Tore off the top level, extended the basement and augmented the framing with I-beams to support the cantilevered balconies on the two south bedrooms upstairs. Over-engineered according to my builder friend but that’s the way I like it!”
The Captain chuckled as the Sergeant smiled at him in admiration. Ben felt a little uneasy with her attention, so he turned back to the front door and rang the doorbell. He heard the thump of running feet then the door pulled open to display his daughters in their nighties and open dressing gowns. The two women squealed their happiness and leaped up against his chest. They kissed his cheeks before he gave them hugs and managed to push them back to look at them. He closed Karen’s dressing gown and tied the belt as Penny did her own with a grin.
“Now, what was that for?” he asked.
“We heard you were in a shootout with Russian mobsters!” Karen blurted.
He shook his head. “It’s done. Trish and I are home safe and sound. Ok?” They nodded. “Now, Karen, Penny, I’d like to introduce you two to Captain David Kendricks and Sergeant Evelyn Killcade.”
His daughters blushed as they hadn’t seen the two people behind Ben’s broad chest until he stepped further into the hall and moved aside for them to enter as well. The girls nodded to and shook hands with the new arrivals.
“Is that Ben?” a voice cried out from the back of the house.
“And guests!” Ben called out to prevent another embarrassing display.
Rain trotted around the corner into the entrance hall to grin up at Ben. She looked over at the two people standing next to him. “Hello, I’m Rain Palomo.”
David shook Rain’s hand and introduced himself and the Sergeant.
When Rain shook Evelyn’s hand, she grinned at the soldier. “That’s quite the grip you have. You must be hella fit!”
Evelyn returned the smile. “Job requirement.”
David and Evelyn put the booties back on as Ben kicked off his boots. Ben gestured for them to precede him into the next room. The moment they moved forward, Rain pressed herself against Ben’s chest and tilted her face up for a kiss. He huffed in exasperation then bent down to kiss the woman. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick but passionate kiss before she released him. She smiled up at him as he gave her a heated look, his passions stirred up.
Ben moved to join his guests in the living room. David was pretending he hadn’t witnessed the kiss, but Evelyn made no such effort. Her eyes were wide with surprise and confusion. Ben wasn’t in the mood to start explaining his relationships, so he just ignored her reaction.
He pushed through his embarrassment as Rain moved into the living room with a cute little wiggle in her hips. He struggled to get back to the subject at hand. “As you can see we went for an open concept for the main floor. This is the living room, leading into the dining area and finally the kitchen. The sliding doors back there lead out to a large deck, hot tub and outdoor kitchen with a large barbeque. Upstairs there are five bedrooms, three of which are in use by these lovely ladies, so two remain free and unfurnished. Downstairs, there are two additional bedrooms, also unfurnished.
“Could we see the ones downstairs?” the Sergeant asked.
Ben nodded and led his guests downstairs where they admired the large playroom and huge, wall-mounted televisions.
There were two bright bedrooms at the front of the house, with large egress windows facing lovely tiered flower boxes which doubled as steps. Both were sizable rooms which seemed larger due to the lack of furniture. Between the two rooms was a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower.
Evelyn pictured where she would put a cot and a workstation with a bank of monitors. She could use the exit window to exit the building rapidly. This was ideal. She looked at the Captain excitedly.
David acknowledged her enthusiasm with a nod as he could see this location had excellent potential as well. He looked to Ben. It was all up to him. “This would be suitable accommodations if the security system configuration you mentioned was included. I could sell this solution to the Brass, but it’s up to you.”
“Let me sleep on it. I need to consider how this extra complication is going to affect my family. I’ll talk it over with them tonight. As much as I enjoy working with you, I can’t let my desires overshadow their happiness,” Ben sighed.
David reached out and touched Evelyn’s arm as she appeared to be about to argue her case. “We understand completely, Ben. Give me a call when you come to a decision. I’ll let my bosses know we’re on hold until then.”
Ben nodded his thanks and led them upstairs once more. He said his goodbyes at the door as he needed to speak to his daughters and Rain. He saw the Sergeant was not happy with how things concluded, but he couldn’t be worried about her desires either.
He looked out at the lovely homes nestled into the surrounding forest, and a shiver ran down his spine as he contemplated the violence that crept close through those woods such a short time ago. An evil that would have killed his family, his friends, and destroyed everything he’d worked so hard to build.
David was right about one thing; even if he disassociated himself from the US Military now, the Russian military might still see him as a threat and come after him again. It didn’t help his case that he’d visited Russia and left with the Colonel dead and his secret files, taken. Damn it! Ben hoped the Colonel hadn’t shared any news about his visit.
He needed to speak with the ladies. They always offered a fresh perspective on issues that he struggled with. He’d be asking them to accept a weapon into their midst. Sergeant Killcade would be a new element in the dynamic of his household. He wasn’t the only one who this decision would affect.
Ben also needed to speak with Walter and Jerry to arrange what to do with the assets he picked up in Berlin on the return trip.
Ben sighed. Why couldn’t his life get simpler?
Small hands slid around his hips and down into the front pockets of his pants. They only stopped once they were cupping his heavy balls. He glanced down and was relieved to recognize Rain’s tattoos.
He couldn’t stop a grin from reaching his lips. If his love life was this complicated, how could he hope for simplicity in any other aspect of his life?