The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

Take the men back to Kabul. Get them
checked through medical. No fucking around this time. Get back to
Kabul. That’s an order.”
    Matthew laughed. “The boys want to say, ‘Hi’
to the Fey.”
    He pressed the laptop to show the soldiers
they had just picked up.
    “ That’s the
Fey?”
    Alex waved.
    “ That hot chick is the
Fey?”
    Trece made a face and stood to block the
computer.
    “ We have some important
drinking to do, then we’ll be back stateside,” he said. “Anyone
have anything interesting to say?”
    “ Is she available? Have
you…”
    “ That’s a ‘No’,” Trece
said. “See ya.”
    The screen went dark and Alex leaned back in
her chair.
    “ Thirty minutes,” Ben
said. “It’s just twelve now.”
    “ Let’s send him a
message,” Alex said.
    Ben smiled. “I’ve got just the thing. Close
up and we’ll buy lunch.”
    Alex nodded.
    A half hour later, a large bouquet of
flowers was delivered to a small residence in Jerusalem. The card
read simply: “Congratulations on the new baby. With Love, the Fey.”
No tricks, no games, just congratulations. Eleazar screamed and
ripped the flowers from their stems.
    In Denver, the day dissolved into lunch and
paperwork. With kisses all around, Ben and Raz left in their
government vehicle and Alex retired to the hundred-year-old claw
foot tub in the upstairs bathroom. Turning the water on, she put a
little bubble bath, lavender oil and Epsom salts in the tub. She
wandered, lost in thought, into her walk-in closet to undress.
Naked, she startled to see John leaning against the doorway.
    “ I wondered when you’d
notice me,” he said.
    “ What are you doing here?”
she asked.
    “ I thought we could
celebrate,” he said. He stepped forward to hold her. “I assume
you’ve saved the universe again.”
    “ The universe?”
    His hands stroked her naked body. “You
always inspire and impress me.”
    Her face broke into a wide smile. She helped
him take his clothing off. They walked into the bathroom where they
stepped into the fragrant water. Tucked into his shoulder, she
relaxed against him in the claw foot tub.
    “ Oh, I forgot to tell
you,” John said.
    “ Yes.”
    “ We’re booked to Mexico in
a couple hours. Colonel Gordon said ‘get the hell out of town’ or
something like that.”
    Alex laughed. He kissed her head then pushed
her back to his shoulder.
    “ Max, too?”
    “ He’s meeting us there. I
have you to myself for a day and a half,” John said.
    “ Nice. What’s the
occasion?”
    John shifted so he could look in her
eyes.
    “ We are celebrating that
you’re alive.”
    “ Hmm,” she
said.
    “ Hmm?”
    “ I’m just wondering if I
can wait that long.”
    He stepped out of the tub. Laughing, she
joined him in bed to begin the celebration.
    FFF
    They spent four days in the sun around March
eighth. Four days of great food followed by great sex and great
conversation. For the first time in almost two years, Alex was
laughing, available and present.
    She hadn’t realized how much she missed her
gorgeous husband. Like a famine victim, she gorged on the very
sight of him. She watched him move his hands when he talked, his
intense cobalt blue eyes flashing as the generous curve of his
mouth formed around words.
    In the candlelight, their final night in
Cabo San Lucas, John unwound his experience of the assault. He
described waking to Max singing “When you wish upon a star” at the
top of his lungs. John’s eyes clouded, his brow furrowed and his
breath stopped.
    She was dead. He just knew it.
    He sang with Max because he didn’t know what
else to do. When the phone rang a few minutes later, they let the
answering machine pick it up. They couldn’t bear to hear the words:
“Alex is dead.” John will never forget Ben’s words on the answering
machine: “She’s alive. Get to Washington.”
    Blowing out a breath, his blue eyes held her
eyes. He pulled out the dog tag bearing her name from under his
shirt. Running his