“Something is wrong, but she won’t talk to us,” said Christopher. “She’s been like this since she got home. We’re as tight as siblings can be. I mean, shit, we tell one another everything, but she refuses to talk to us.”
“I’m not an expert on women, but my experience is that they’ll talk when they’re ready,” said Ham.
As the men moved out of the auditorium and toward the cafeteria, Ham caught a flash of blonde hair pacing through the gardens. Whatever was bothering Sadie Jordan, it was eating her alive.
CHAPTER TWO
Sadie Allison Jordan was squished between her brothers Patrick and Christopher in the womb. She was squished between them on the pews at church. She was squished between them in the car. And she was squished between them today on the bus to school, just like she was squished between them wherever they went.
When her father and grandfather, both former SEALs, gave the boys a lecture about watching over their sister, they took it quite literally. You always took Angel and Wes Jordan’s words literally. Sadie couldn’t take a step without one of the boys following her or standing right by her side. Squishing her.
“Move over!” she said, shoving Patrick.
“I can’t. There’s not enough room.” He smiled at her attempt to move him. He was five inches taller and at least a hundred pounds heavier.
“Then go sit over there,” she said, pointing to another seat.
“No way. We stay right here, Sadie,” said Christopher.
Sadie pushed them aside and took the seat next to Jak Robicheaux. They were all about the same age, and Jak was one of their best friends. He would understand how she felt.
“They’re just trying to protect you, Sadie.”
“I don’t need protecting, Jak. I’m sixteen. I know right from wrong and good from bad. I’m not a little girl.” She stomped her foot as if to prove her point, and Jak just stared at her.
“Then stop acting like one.”
The bus pulled up to the school and let them all out. Sadie mindlessly moved toward her locker, hurt by Jak’s statement. Was she acting like a child?
Having grown up around RP and all the heroes, she understood that they were different men. Her father and grandfather were two of them, as well as her father’s triplet siblings, her Aunt Georgie and Uncle Marc.
When her brothers opened their own lockers on either side of Sadie, she wanted to scream again but knew that they were doing what they were told to do. Watch out for her. Well, thought Sadie, three can play at that game. I can watch out for them.
Changing her mindset made Sadie’s life far more fun. When all the girls were drooling over her brothers, she’d warn them to stop, and they listened. It wasn’t just Sadie’s viper-like attitude. She was tall with lean muscles. An all-state volleyball player, she was athletic, smart, liked by students and teachers alike.
The only people who didn’t like her were the girls going after her brothers. Waiting for her brothers to finish their run, she watched as Patrick and Christopher jogged alongside Ian Dougall. As they ran past the bleachers, several girls whistled in a very un-lady-like manner. Then they heard Sadie’s loud voice.
“Hey! Those are my brothers,” she said, stomping her foot on the metal bleacher. “Act like a lady, not a tramp.”
The boys just shook their heads, seeing her wicked temper flare. Sadie had taken to her role of watching her brothers more than they liked. She knew that the girls wanted a taste of what they had available, and she wasn’t about to make it easy.
Sadie also knew that her time with Patrick and Christopher up her ass was limited. They would be leaving for the Navy soon, then most likely SEALs. While they were off saving the world, she would be attending multiple universities, following the path of her own choice.
In record time, she received a master’s degree in global security and then a PhD in international studies.
The team back home immediately offered her a job, but Sadie wanted to strike out on her own. Offered a job with the United Nations, she took a role as a peace negotiator for the U.N.’s security team.
Going into war-torn countries, conflicts happening around her, she never expected that her brothers would follow her there as well. The first time, it seemed possible that it was a coincidence. She thought to herself, they’re SEALs; they’re all over the world; this is possible. But by the fifth time, Sadie knew that something else was at work.
“This is enough!” she said, giving her trademark foot stomp to prove her point. “I don’t follow your SEAL team around. Stop following me around.”
“Sadie, we were in the area. Can you blame your brothers for wanting to see you?”
“That’s bullshit, Patrick, and you know it!” She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Look, I know that you think you’re protecting me, but you’re not. You being here could put me in more danger than I’m already in. Think about what would happen to me if the enemy found out I have two Navy SEAL brothers. I have a security team here. I carry a weapon. I know what I’m doing.”
They didn’t like it, but the brothers realized that she was right. They couldn’t always be where she was, and they couldn’t always protect her. She was a grown woman with a mind, and temper, of her own.
Sadie loved her work, and for the most part, she was successful. But when she was asked to go into Micronesia because of something an ambassador had done, she wasn’t prepared for what she found at all.
