Second Chance

By C. L. Jones

A contented Pops is enjoying retirement from the service and the organization, living comfortably on the money he and the Crew recovered while on their last mission. His personal life couldn’t be better but he knows he is overdue in proposing to Kelly who lives with him and is the only person he has allowed into his life since the death of his first wife. Then out of nowhere he receives a call from Cowboy, one of his closest Crewmates, who tells him the Crew is working a job that isn’t going well. They need his help.
Against Kelly’s wishes, he agrees to lend a hand and finds himself entangled in a kidnapping case on a jungle island off the coast of Central America. A sadistic and vicious rebel army on the island, led by a renegade general, is holding a rich American who they say will be released once they receive a ransom of several million dollars. The Crew has been hired by the man’s wife to find and return her kidnapped husband before he is murdered, and maybe dish out some of their own payback along the way.
Pops finds that things are never as simple as they initially appear when a seemingly straight forward kidnapping case takes some weird twists and turns. As fate would have it, he has some life changing events which Kelly had prophetically pronounced before he left, “Something will go wrong this time. I have a feeling about this one . . .”
Pops finds himself pitted against the rebel army, struggling to stay alive while still trying to free the kidnapped man. As he dances with the grim reaper he finds himself longing for a second chance at life to make up for his mistakes. A second chance to be a better friend to his Crewmates and foremost, a second chance with Kelly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. L. Jones
• Release date: Sep 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370721887

C. L. Jones

C.L. Jones grew up in a large Midwestern family, a military family who served for many generations, where he learned the art of storytelling. Back in his early days he would sit around the fire pit and share his tales with friends and family. C.L. Jones experienced the depth of brotherhood through out his military career, having received the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, 2 Purple Hearts, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Humanitarian Service medal. The first three books that he's published are part of a series that he fondly calls "Brotherhood Holds the Line". Brothers of Different Mothers, the first book, is a story about how Pops and the Crew grew to become brothers while trying to survive the organization's efforts to thin the ranks. Book #2, Home Front, shows how the strong bonds that formed in Brothers of Different Mothers continued to grow as the Crew helped Surfer through trying times. Book #3, Second Chance, takes the close knit team on a mission to Central America to find a CEO of a large company who was kidnapped by a rebel faction to extort money for their cause. These three stories are good examples of the kinds of stories that he would share.Jones has completed work on the Farm Boy Series. You will recognize some characters from Pops and his crew but the squad is the younger generation of agents working through modern technology with the same bad elements that survive time. Good against evil with some twists. Book #1, Farm Boy, book #2 Farm Boy's Wisdom and book #3 Enough is Enough is now available. An early release has shown that Enough is Enough is an exciting read and was well received. What is coming next, we now look forward to the saga wrapping up with a final conclusion for the Pop's Team and Farm Boy's squad, just wait till you read what happens next!!

Book preview

SECOND CHANCE

By

C. L. JONES

COPYRIGHT 2003 C. L. Jones

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

A Second Chance

Chapter 1: Leaving

Chapter 2: Old Friends

Chapter 3: Kooky

Chapter 4: The Client

Chapter 5: The Conflict

Chapter 6: The Seduction

Chapter 7: The Darkness

Chapter 8: The Thrashing

Chapter 9: Jessie

Chapter 10: Escape Planning

Chapter 11: Better a Warrior than a Ward

Chapter 12: Getting Rodriguez’ Attention

Chapter 13: Sugar Girl

Chapter 14: Ricardo

Chapter 15: A Bunch of Screw Ups

Chapter 16: X Marks the Spot

Chapter 17: The Deal

Chapter 18: Second Chance

Note from the Author

A SECOND CHANCE

Sometimes in life we see our mistakes only after it is too late to

change course and too late to change our pace.

Sometimes no matter how hard we try we cannot erase the things

we’ve done and the path we’ve chosen to run.

Sometimes we see the wrongs as we are about to commit them but we

seem to lack the power to stop ourselves once we have begun.

Sometimes we stand looking in the face of grace and we know that

we’ve been given a chance to rerun our race.

Sometimes in life a chosen few get to look into an angel’s face and

get a second chance to start a new life and run a new race.

CHAPTER ONE:

LEAVING

The house was just outside of Santa Barbara, California in a small bedroom community suburb on the side of a hill. The back yard was just high enough to offer a view of the beach from his bedroom, which was positioned so that it would protrude out from the back of the house. The view was one of his morning pleasures. Three sides of the room had double sets of French doors for a maximum panorama.. The early morning sun had just peeked above the ridge to the east of the community and was starting to softly glisten off the waters of the Pacific like countless morning stars. Soon the direct sunlight would slip over the top of the patio rail and into the bedroom.

The French doors had been propped open the night before so a light breeze was blowing off the ocean through the open lace of the shear curtain towards the bed. They had arranged the bed right in the middle of the bedroom. It had no head or footboard, so it was just a matter of pushing the remote and the head of the bed would rise. Then he would do a little positioning of some of the pillows to get the best view of the Pacific Ocean. He peeked out from under the heavy quilted comforter and found himself noticing every little place in the room; the ceiling, the walls and even the lighting fixtures. It never stopped being magical to him how the ocean’s morning stars seemed to dance through the curtains and shimmer around the room.

He always found it amazing that he could smell everything at this time in the morning; the salt air, the flowering ground cover on the slope of the hill and a breakfast someone was cooking not far away. He could smell the bacon, the toast and coffee. With one hand he gently reached out from under the comforter and picked up a remote. Aiming it across the room he pushed a button and waited, listening. He smiled slightly when he heard the coffee maker starting to brew. He put the remote back on the bed’s built in night stand and picked up a second remote, not pointing in any direction. He just held it up and clicked it in the air. It was almost too soft to hear when the music came on, but then it seemed to adjust itself. Very gently he laid the remote down and slowly pulled back the comforter, smiling as each inch of the overstuffed comforter was removed. His smile grew as he continued to slowly inch the comforter toward the foot of the bed with his foot. Finally, he saw the whole picture. She was all snuggled up on his left shoulder, her angel-like face was slightly covered by her hair and her hand was tucked so closed to her mouth that she almost appeared as a small child sucking a thumb. When he lifted the comforter away from her body and let it slide to the floor, his smile was now playfully beaming as he examined her soft beautiful body, naked and halfway wrapped around his.

After a couple attempts he managed to get a hold of the comforter and pull it back up. As the comforter came up over her beautiful body, she moved in closer to him and whispered, Like what you see you sneaky boy? He’d been fooled before into thinking she was asleep when she wasn’t. In their short time together she’d fooled him more than once.

He pulled her in as tight as he could without hurting her and replied, Hey did you know you’re naked under those covers?

She rolled over and slipped out of the bed. He got up and walked to the French doors where he stood back far enough not to be seen. Hearing her in the bathroom, he walked across the room to the small coffee stand and poured two cups, setting one cup on the nightstand. Picking up the remote he pushed a button and the head of the bed started to rise a little more. When it was just where he wanted it he put the remote back and readjusted the pillows. He was back in bed when she walked back in and climbed back under the covers. He could smell the toothpaste and a light smell of her body soap.

They watched a small mono-hull sailboat with a large white main sail and a thin bright red jib glide by their open doors. As she curled up on his chest again he thought about the years he’d spent alone after Mary, his first wife, had died. This thought led to more memories of the nights when he’d wondered if he’d ever be home again, the wasted parts of his life, the times away from his family and the things he’d had to do, particularly when he did clandestine work for the organization. He looked down at this woman who’d shown him nothing but love since they’d finished helping Surfer. It amazed him that every day she started the day loving him and every night she ended it loving him no matter what was happening around them. He didn’t always let her know it but he noticed. She went out of her way to do little things, like the morning when he returned to the bedroom after his shower and there on the freshly made bed was one red rose, propped up so that it was standing between two of the pillows. On his pillow was a note that read Second Chance. He didn’t know if the note meant that he was getting a second chance or she was getting her second chance, and he never asked.

Then there was the day that he’d gotten up in somewhat of a foul mood and stumbled his way into the shower. Not paying any attention in the bedroom, he hadn’t seen Kelly getting undressed.. He was pretty surprised when the shower door opened behind him and there she stood naked except for a snorkel, swimming goggles and frogman fins. He looked at her from head to toe and asked, What’s up?

She’d smiled and said, No, I’m going down.

While he traveled down memory lane she’d fallen back asleep so he reached for the bed remote and started to readjust her side of the bed. Kelly started to move around in her sleep as the bed moved, getting a little more restless with each inch of height adjustment. When the bed stopped moving she opened her eyes and saw that her feet were higher than her head. Grabbing onto him she wrapped herself completely around his body and yelled, What gives? She barely got her question out when she saw Pops smiling and trying not to laugh which only caused her to break out in uncontrolled laughter. She reached to grab the remote from Pops but only managed to hit the down button with her thumb as she held one end of the remote while Pops held the other. As the bed started down, she jumped on him, playfully grabbed his neck and yelled with laughter still ringing in her voice, You rascal! Then looking down she took a hold of his face with both hands. Bending down like she was going to kiss him, she asked him, Want to wash my back? Then she smiled and gave a little peck and added, Or maybe my front? She slid off the side of the bed and headed to the shower. Playfully she stated, I’m not in the mood to do our run today. Swishing her hips back and forth in a teasing manner she looked over her shoulder at him still lying in bed and winked and said, Why don’t you get up and join me sometime big boy.

He was down in the kitchen cooking breakfast when she walked in wearing skin tight shorts and a Jamaican tie blouse showing her navel. She looked great and it hit him all over again as he thought how lucky he was that this little angel was now in his life. She sat down and looked over the plate full of food and remarked, I get it, don’t run just eat. If I get big enough no other man will look at me.

After the two of them had gotten together she’d started to run with him. She didn’t ask, she just did. The first morning she saw him getting dressed, she just got up, found something to wear and took off with him. At first he’d cut down his run distance and pace for her but now the two of them had been running two to three miles almost every day. She was doing push-ups, sit-ups and crunches with him. He’d started to teach her some tai-chi and a little kickboxing and she’d qualified on the range for her handgun permit to carry. She’d done so well that he had gone along with her when she bought her own firearm.

After they finished eating he went to take his shower while she started to clean up. She’d just put her hands into the dishwater when the phone rang. Drying her hands, she picked up the phone and listened for a few seconds as her smile grew. By the time there was a pause on the other end she was grinning from ear to ear and she said, Hi, how are you? It’s sure good to hear from you.

Her smile gradually faded as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone. After a few minutes she pulled out one of the kitchen chairs, melted into it and leaned forward on the table, looking depressed.

Pops walked down the stairs in a happy mood and saw Kelly at the sink finishing the dishes. He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and immediately knew something was wrong. He didn’t want the good feeling to end and didn’t want to ask, but decided that not knowing was worse. Delaying the inevitable just meant that Kelly would have to keep whatever was bothering her to herself; even crueler than letting her get it off her chest. Slowly and carefully he let go of her and turned her around. She dropped her head and wouldn’t look at him, so he lifted her head and looked into her eyes. Tell me.

She tried to pull away but Pops wouldn’t let her as he repeated the question. Her expression was grim when she looked at him and said, I don’t want you to go.

Go where? he asked.

Cowboy asked that you call him.

He stood, holding her for the longest time, not knowing what to say. He knew something was up because even though they were as close as brothers, Cowboy rarely called unless he needed help. When Pops worked for the organization there had been a pattern of him being absent from home for long periods while on missions. That seemed long ago and he wasn’t interested in restarting the pattern at this point in his life. He certainly did not want to leave Kelly. The money he and his friends in the Crew had recovered when they’d helped Surfer was still holding out. He’d worked a few PI and bodyguard jobs, but he knew that a little extra money would let them keep the relaxing life they had been living so far.

After calling Cowboy, he came back into the room, took her hand and walked with her onto the deck that was just off the large formal dining room. She sat on one of the large redwood deckchairs and he pulled up a second chair, placed it so that it was facing hers and sat down. He reached out and took a hold of both of her hands that were laced together and clinched. He looked into her eyes as he softly spoke, Baby you know I’ve enjoyed every moment we’ve spent together and you know we both take a lot of pleasure in this good life we have. Kelly started to reply but he stopped her, I want us to keep what we have but this is the way I live, this is all I have ever done. I don’t know any other ways for a man with my unusual skill set to continue living. This is how I make my money and this is how we have the life we have. It’s my job.

She pulled her hands free from his then she reached out and put one of her hands over his mouth to stop him from talking. She stood up. Again, putting one hand softly on his shoulder she stopped him from getting up. Reaching down she ran her hand down the side of his face and with tears in her eyes she said, Wait here. She walked back into the house. He waited for what seemed forever before she returned and stood in front of him. She bent down, looked him in his eyes and knelt on one knee. Tears were streaming down her cheeks but she still managed to smile lovingly at him. She slid one hand up his thigh nervously rubbing it back and forth. She was up to something because her other hand was out of sight behind her back. Looking at him with a radiantly lovely face she said, I love you more than anything I have ever known. I know that the age difference still troubles you but, please don’t laugh, I love you and I want to know. Then she pulled her other hand out from behind her back and in it was a small velvety black ring box. She opened it and he saw a solid, wide gold band with one diamond held in place with prongs that looked like eagle claws. She took the ring out and held it in front of him, I want to ask you if you would marry me.

He was so shocked that he didn’t know what to say. He sat still as his eyes moved from hers to the ring and back up at her more than a few times. After waiting for some time, she patted his leg and asked, Well? Damn it?

He finally shook his head, trying to clear it and organize his thoughts. Reaching out and touching her face he said, Girl I love you. I love you very much, but we both know that we haven’t had any time away from each other since we finished the mission. She started to speak but he stopped her by saying, Just let me talk. I’m nineteen years older than you, hell, it’s closer to twenty then nineteen, and I don’t want you to make a choice that you’ll regret a year or five years from now. I don’t want to be sitting in a rocking chair in some old folk’s home looking out a window at the cars in the parking lot while you spoon feed me and change my diapers. Not when you can be living a normal life.

She cut him off, I want to love you as long as I can love you. What’s wrong with that? You, more than most people, should know that neither of us can predict the future like that. What is it you always say? Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow may never be, but right now we have only this moment and it is ours to seize.

He sat there for a few seconds and then said, It’s beautiful that you remember it and that’s what I want also. With all my heart I want to say yes right now, but because this is my job . . . well, we’ll talk again after I come back. We’ll see how this affects our relationship.

She was a little upset and responded, You’re testing me?

Hearing that, he got a little defensive and said with some attitude, Yeah it’s a test, it’s a test to see if you can take me being gone. A test to see how you deal with not knowing, this is a test to see what happens when I’m gone longer than what we thought I might be, a test of you wondering if I might be lying dead someplace and you will never know for sure.

She looked into his eyes and then wrapped her arms around his neck and lightly kissed him. As she pulled away she took a hold of his lower lip with her teeth and gently pulled it as she left the memories of that kiss imprinted on his mind. Then she put the ring back in the box and closed it. She rested her arms on his thighs and laid her head down to one side. She looked up with her pale blue eyes and acted as if none of this had happened. She gave him a big smile and said, Okay then that’s that, when you get back I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting here, and we’ll talk again. I don’t want you to go but I’ll be waiting here in our home, do you hear me? Our home.

Holding her hand, he swung his leg up and stretched out over the other side of the lounge, where he lightly pulled her hand towards him. She looked down her nose at first as if she was still a little put off but then slowly smiled and in one motion turned, threw one leg out and came to rest half way beside him and partly on top of him. Softly she asked, I know you won’t tell me where or what, but can you tell me how long will you be gone? Or when you’re leaving?

His only reply was, Day after tomorrow.

Then she added, When you get back I’m going to ask you to marry me, so while you’re gone and in the times you have nothing better to do, you may want to think about that. You know, no pressure.

As the day progressed Kelly was very clingy, wanting to be in the same room as Pops. Trying to take her mind off his leaving, he asked her if she wanted to go to a movie. They’d agreed and Kelly was getting ready while he waited in the living room. He sat down to browse through the newspaper when the phone rang. He pushed a small button on the phone’s screen that activated a jamming device that cut off the use of all other phones in the house and to some degree, other phones in nearby areas outside the house. Looking at the code on the caller ID, he picked up the phone and answered, Yeah, we’re clean, go ahead.

Hey, it’s me, were jumping. I’ll pick you up at the same place we used to go to in the mountains, okay?

He was sitting back on the sofa with his feet on the coffee table and answered, Okay. Then he asked, How about the call or the number showing on the monthly bill?

The answer came back, Override, cut out, it won’t show anywhere, clean on both ends.

He started to hang up when he yanked the phone back to his ear and said, Cowboy, are you still there?

Then he heard, Yep

He said, Man, I was going to hang up without asking, do I need to bring anything, supplies or anything else?

Again the reply was brief, Your black and green cams, j-boots, your choice of light tools and your black bag.

He grinned, reflecting on the lingo that all agents used. Yes it was English. Your black and green cams were jungle or forest camouflaged field uniforms, j-boots were jungle boots, light tools were any small arms that could be carried, and black bag was all the little things he’d gathered over the years and had used successfully in the past. They were meeting at the same little airstrip where they had flown out the night they’d traveled to the mountain compound on the mission where Pops had first met up with Cowboy. Pops said just before he hung up, I’ll be there.

Before Kelly came down, Pops found the movie section in the newspaper. Running his finger down the selection, he stopped and there it was, a chick flick. He heard Kelly coming down the steps. Walking to the base of the staircase and holding the paper down at his side he started to say that he’d found a movie, but he never got any of the words out of his mouth. He saw how beautiful she looked and how her petite frame seemed to hesitate for just a split second with each step. He saw a tear run down her face so he immediately walked up several steps to meet her halfway, reached out his hand and asked, What’s wrong kitten? She was two steps above him and still not eye to eye. Now facing each other, she reached out with both hands. Clasping her fingers together behind his neck she said in a voice so soft that he had to strain a little to hear her, Hey tough guy, I know this is what you do but I’m afraid. You see I’ve never been in love with anyone like this before. I mean I have never been in love with anyone else before. I’ve put my whole heart into you, into us.

He started to reply but she stopped him by placing her hand completely over his mouth, then going on, I have a feeling in here. pointing her finger to the middle of her chest. Something will go wrong this time, and you won’t come back to me. I’d be lost without you. Promise you’ll come home to me. Promise.

He remembered how many times he’d heard those same words before. Sometimes in life things have a way of repeating themselves. His first wife used to say the same thing. It was like an echo in his ears. He pulled her in close to him and put his mouth next to her ear and whispered the words he had said so many times before in a different life, I promise. They ain’t made anyone bad enough to keep me from coming home to you. He said them with all his heart, but he thought to himself that he’d said them so many times that maybe they were just becoming a habit.

He stood silently as she walked back up the stairs. It was clear that there would be no movie tonight, no trying to lose themselves in the big screen. He heard the water running upstairs and knew that Kelly decided to soak in her large Jacuzzi bathtub to deal with his looming departure. He went back to the bedroom and walked out on the deck, looking out at the Pacific Ocean as the sun dropped closer to the horizon. Those waters had always given him a feeling of belonging and serenity. He watched a small sailboat cruise by and thought how it looked like it was sliding on a sparkling wavy surface of glass. After taking in a couple of deep chest-filling breaths of salty air, he walked