Remember Me Always Read online

  Remember Me Always (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

  Air Force Fire Protection Specialists Book 7

  Jen Talty

  Contents

  Foreword

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Jen Talty

  More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books

  Books by Susan Stoker

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © 2019 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!

  If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.

  This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.

  I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!

  READ ON!

  Xoxo

  Susan Stoker

  About the book

  Gunner Davidson walked away from the love of his life after tragedy stuck and he never looked back. Not even when his ex-girlfriend sent him letter after letter. He didn’t open a single one. Just tucked them away in a box and pretended to have a satisfying life as a paramedic with the Air Force Fire Protection Specialists. While dispatched on a 9-1-1 suicide call, Gunner is forced to relieve the worst day of his life…and his past collides with a future he didn’t know he had.

  While he wasn’t prepared to see Arcadia Bloomingdale, he’s in total shock to meet his ten-year-old son. He vows to make it up to his son…as well as Arcadia.

  However, when an investigation of rape and murder put his son and Arcadia in danger, Gunner will do whatever it takes to protect them and ensure they have a second chance at being a family.

  Prologue

  Ten years ago…

  “Have you heard from her?”

  Gunner Davidson tossed his cell phone on the bed. He’d read the email his ex-girlfriend had sent him a dozen times. Each time he said a little prayer to the man upstairs that his gut reaction was false.

  But he knew better.

  “No,” Arcadia Bloomingdale, his current girlfriend, said.

  He’d broken up with Courtney more than once based on these types of antics. Her high drama and need for attention had become too much.

  And not just for him.

  “Why don’t you try texting her?” he asked Arcadia, who just happened to be Courtney’s ex-best friend.

  “Trust me, I have.” Arcadia paced in a circle in his tiny one-bedroom apartment as she gnawed on her nails. “I’ve called her parents and everyone else I can think of. No one has heard from her since last night.”

  “You called her parents?” Gunner’s voice rose an octave higher than normal. “Why worry them until we know more?”

  “Are you kidding?” Arcadia raised her palms toward the ceiling. She’d always been a strong, independent woman. With her upbringing, she’d been forced to grow up too fast. There were some people who thought her life experiences had hardened her, making her cold and detached.

  Gunner knew that wasn’t true. Arcadia had a heart of gold and compassion and empathy for those who suffered, especially with mental illness. She understood Courtney better than anyone. Arcadia had told Gunner a hundred times that Courtney was never going to stop until he stopped enabling her and allowing her to keep her unhealthy attachment to him alive.

  “Besides, the fact that Courtney could have been at her parents all this time, they have the right to know.” Arcadia shook her head. “And I told them about the email.”

  Gunner opened his mouth but snapped it shut right quick when Arcadia shot her hand up a few inches from his face. “Courtney’s sick. She needs professional help, and we ain’t it.”

  “All we’ve done is hurt her,” he said with a sarcastic tone that matched his fake smile.

  Arcadia narrowed her stare, bringing her big, beautiful aqua eyes into tiny snake-like slits. “You broke up with her a long time before we ever got together. It’s not our fault that Courtney is unbalanced.” A couple of quick tears dribbled down Arcadia’s face. She swiped at them with her fingers. “I tried to help her get over you. Help her move on. I spent hours trying to talk her into therapy, and our friendship died when I broke her confidence and went to her parents with my concerns. Not when we got together.”

  “That was just icing on the cake.” They’d had this argument so many times it made Gunner’s head spin right along with the never-ending disagreement about how Gunner needed to ignore Courtney. Even file a restraining order, if necessary. But it always felt like he was just compounding the issue, and he didn’t want to be the reason she jumped off the bridge.

  “We both know she would have gone batshit over any girl you went out with. It was just one more thing she could use to keep herself living in the delusions she created. And we don’t know she’s done anything to herself. Gunner, she pulls this shit all the time on you, and you fall for it hook, line, and sinker. It’s got to stop.”

  Gunner let out a long breath, doing his best to keep his heart from racing in panic. He leaned against the counter and rubbed his temples. At one time, Courtney seemed like the most put together person he’d ever known and way out of his league, even though he’d known her his entire life. It had always shocked him that she agreed to go to the junior prom with him, marking their first official date. That entire summer between their junior and senior years of high school had been some of the best times of his life. But the moment they went back to school, things got weird. She’d become wildly possessive and insanely jealous. It got so bad near the end that she started following him.

  “I know that,” he said softly. In the beginning, he thought it all had to do with her parents getting a divorce. He still figured that had been the catalyst. But she’d changed. She wasn’t the same bubbly person he’d fallen hard for.

  She’d been his first love, and he knew there would always be a special place in his heart for her, but he didn’t love her.

  He loved Arcadia.

  He ran a hand over his face as he sucked in a gulp of air. Guilt tore through his gut. Courtney cried wolf a million times over since their final breakup a year ago. She would show up at his community college, at work, even once when he’d been on a date, begging him to take her back. When he wouldn’t, he’d get phone calls, text messages, and emails, all with
her threatening to kill herself. The first few times, he did what he thought was right, and he’d go back to her, hoping that he’d be able to show her just how bad they’d become for each other.

  Lifting his gaze, he stared at Arcadia. She’d swooped in and stolen his heart. He knew if he lost her, it would crush him, so he understood a little about how Courtney might have felt.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Arcadia said as tears ran down her cheeks, taking a small trail of mascara with them.

  He nodded.

  “I know. We should have been the ones to tell her about us, but what is done is done.” Arcadia closed the gap. She rested her hands on his chest. Her long, dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and her bright-blue eyes had captivated him for months before he’d even allowed himself to ask her out.

  She’d been Courtney’s best friend since grade school, and he was the asshole who ruined their friendship.

  “It was going to come out sometime, and we can’t constantly be responsible for Courtney’s well-being. She’s been holding you hostage for a long time,” Arcadia said.

  Gunner didn’t know exactly when he’d fallen for Arcadia. It was weird because he’d known her since middle school but hadn’t ever noticed her in that way. One day, after one of Courtney’s many attempts to force Gunner into taking her back, Arcadia had been there for him to talk to. Courtney had often pulled the same kind of stunts with her best friend. If Arcadia did anything with her other friends and Courtney wasn’t included, Courtney would drum up some drama, making Arcadia feel bad, forcing her to cancel her plans. But she stopped doing that at the end of high school and told Gunner he should do the same. Something about a little tough love might be enough to give her the wake-up call she needed.

  “The last time we ignored her, she actually tried to kill herself.” Gunner took Arcadia’s hands, kissed her palms, and then pushed her away. He knew deep down he had no reason to feel guilty. He and Courtney had been done for a year before anything had happened with Arcadia, but the second Courtney found out, she went nuts by taking a sledgehammer to his pickup, then writing cheater all over it in spray paint.

  She also slit Arcadia’s tires and spray-painted her car with slut, whore, bitch.

  “No, she didn’t,” Arcadia said. “If she’d been taken to the hospital, as she claimed, they would have held her in the psych ward. It’s standard procedure.”

  “I hate it when you sound like a fucking therapist.” Gunner knew Arcadia was right. On all accounts, but he couldn’t shake the guilt.

  Or the bad feeling in the pit of his gut.

  Arcadia laughed. “Don’t be a dick.” She reached across the counter and snagged her clutch purse. “Call me when you’re ready to—”

  The sound of an old-fashioned telephone rang out, filling the room with tension so thick it was palpable.

  Gunner lunged for his cell. “It’s Courtney’s mom.” He swallowed the thick lump of vile that crept into his throat. He quickly tapped to accept the call, hit the speaker button, and coughed. “Hello? Mrs. Baker?”

  The sound of sniffling echoed in the kitchen. His heartbeat burst in his head. He gripped the counter for support.

  “They found her,” Mrs. Baker said. “She hung herself at the school playground.”

  One week later…

  Arcadia leaned against the tree in the cemetery, her eyes dry and itchy from days of crying. The sun beat on her face, making her hairline bead in perspiration, reminding her that she was alive, and her former best friend was not.

  The therapist in training knew this was not her fault, even though Courtney had all but blamed Arcadia and her relationship with Gunner as one of the many reasons she killed herself.

  Only a few people milled about the dreary cemetery as a long line of cars followed the dark limo toward the exit.

  Gunner stood in front of the casket, his hands in his pockets and his head bowed.

  She pushed from the tree and headed down the path toward Courtney’s resting place. “Hey, you,” Arcadia said, slipping her hand under his sport coat.

  His muscles tensed and twitched as if she poked him with a fire stick. “What are you still doing here?” He jerked away.

  A sharp pain like a knife stabbing her in the chest caught a hold of her gut. “Waiting for you. We haven’t talked in a couple of days, and I’ve been worried about you.” She had started to feel stalkerish herself as she left him one text message and voice message after the other. She knew he had to have gotten them; the only question was why had he shut her out completely?

  “I’m fine,” he said. “I was going to call you later. We need to talk.”

  “Okay.” She reached for his hand, but once again, he pulled away. She dug her heel into the grass. “What’s going on? Why are you pushing me away? I love you, and I’m hurting too.”

  He took one step back and folded his arms over his chest. “I’ve joined the Air Force.”

  “You did what?” She dropped her purse to the ground. Her ankles wobbled in her high heels.

  Gunner’s sarcastic laugh made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. His normally relaxed facial expressions turned to stone. The man glaring at her was not the same man she’d fallen in love with.

  “Why? Why would you do that without talking to me first? I can’t just up and move. I’ve got classes and—”

  “I’m not asking you to,” he said.

  The knife turned and twisted, ripping her entire soul apart. “But…but…what about all our plans? Our future.”

  “Our future died with Courtney.”

  “Now you’re talking crazy.” The mist falling from the skies rubbed against her eyes like sandpaper.

  “Do you want to know what’s really crazy?” He pointed his finger between them, back and forth, shaking his head. “This. Us. And the fact you still think there could be an us after reading Courtney’s suicide note.”

  “We didn’t kill her,” she said behind a clenched jaw. “No one here blames us.”

  “I blame us. Besides, I can’t look at you and not think about her lifeless body hanging in the playground we once all hung out at.” He pounded his chest. “If you had let me take her call then—”

  “Right. Maybe she would still be alive, but then she’d just go and do it another day. As long as you kept running to her side, she would be doing that to you. Guilting you into taking care of her or taking her back. But you know damn well we couldn’t fix her.” Arcadia couldn’t believe they were having the same argument. She blinked.

  “Remind me then not to recommend you to my friends when you do become a shrink, because isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Fix people? Not break them?”

  Quickly, she took two steps forward and raised her hand, striking his cheek with her palm in a loud smack. Her skin stung, and his face immediately turned bright red. “That was uncalled for.”

  “I’m going to stay with my brother until I have to show up for boot camp,” he continued in a monotone voice.

  “That’s five hours away.” She shook out her hand, unsure if she should slap him again or shake him until he came to his senses.

  “I’m well aware. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drive up, call, or try to reach me for any reason.”

  “Just like that, we’re done? Over. All our hopes and dreams buried with your ex-girlfriend?”

  He nodded.

  She covered her mouth, hoping to stifle the guttural sob exploding in her belly. “You can’t be serious,” she managed with a croak.

  “Standing here, looking at you, only reminds me that Courtney killed herself, and whether we like it or not, we both played a role in her suicide.”

  “Gunner, don’t—”

  “It’s done.” He glanced over his shoulder. “My truck is packed. I’m leaving now. Take care, Arcadia.” He turned on his heels and marched off as if he had been in the military for years.

  “Gunner. Wait!” she cried, but he didn’t even pause. If anything, he picked up his pa
ce. “How will I get a hold of you?”

  “You won’t.” He raised his hand over his head and waved, still not turning. “I’m dead to you.”

  Chapter 1

  Senior Paramedic Gunner Davidson rarely took a day off. If he wasn’t on duty at the fire station at the Patrick Air Force Base, he was volunteering for the local fire department. His brother, Colt, always told him if he really wanted to burn the candle on both ends, then he should have joined Delta Force where they could work side by side. The thought was often appealing, especially when he’d go visit and hang out with Colt’s friends.

  What a motley crew they were.

  Gunner especially enjoyed Hollywood and Coach, but Ghost had a special place in Gunner’s heart, having grown up down the street from him. Gunner especially liked his tattoo which said:

  I will defend my brothers & their women,

  and remember that freedom isn’t free.

  Quiet professionalism rules the day.

  Colt and Ghost were six years older than Gunner. He’d looked up to the two of them his entire life and ended up having these words tattooed across his back:

  I will defend my brothers & their women,

  With honor and duty, I will defend my country,

  I will remember that freedom isn’t free.

  Quiet professionalism rules the day.

  He stood in front of the microwave at the Patrick Air Force Base only a few miles from his home in Indian Head Acres. It had been a busy day of calls. As a paramedic, he only went out when the ambulance did, and today, it had gone out five times. He checked the blinking digital clock flashing in front of him while his dinner heated.