Chapter Twenty
Candy opened her office door with her naked entourage and their mates filing out of the elevator. The room was freezing. What the hell? She flipped the light on and the curtains fluttered at the open window on the far side of the room. This confirmed the ALFA guys had jumped from the window earlier. That seemed like a day ago, but it’d only been hours.
As she crossed to the window, the others followed her in, Josh between two of his guys helping him along.
“It’s cold in here,” one of the women said. “Does this fireplace work?”
“It’s gas,” Candy said.
“Put him down here on the rug, Parish,” the woman continued. “The fire will keep him warm.” Another lady grabbed the flag blanket from the sofa and draped it over Josh, sticking a toss pillow under his head. A streak of jealous anger raced through Candy. These women had their own men to fret over. Josh was hers. She swallowed hard. Where had that thought come from? Never had “jealous” been used to described her. Or overly caring for that matter.
She could thank her father for that. “Thank” wasn’t the word either.
Director Pommer walked in. He looked broken after three hours of intense strain and the murder of his wife in front of him. “Director Tumbel,” Josh started to sit up, but the NIA leader put up a hand. “No, don’t get up. Please, rest. I came in here to thank all of you for an excellent job saving everyone you could tonight.”
“I’m sorry about your wife, sir,” Candy said.
“Thank you, Sergeant Obermier. She was a wonderful woman.” The man paused, dropping his chin to his chest. Candy thought about what he must be feeling. For the past decade, she’d been surrounded by death. They’d walked together, hand in hand, on the battlefield, scooping up those still breathing and flying them to MASH units, and eventually, CSH facilities, to be patched up and either sent home or back into the field.
But of all those gone, she had not mourned one of them. She was sad for every soldier who no longer walked the earth, but she was never overcome with grief. She’d not let anyone into her heart to cause her pain if they were suddenly not there. In combat, tomorrow was not promised. She didn’t know any other way.
The director cleared his throat and continued. “As I was saying, thank you, men and Sergeant, for your working in taking out the terrorists while keeping your profile low. We really need you out of the media, especially since y’all are . . .” the director’s eyes glanced around then looked at his hands “naked.”
“Thank you, Director. We appreciate your trust in us,” a weak Josh said from his prone position in front of the fireplace.
“Of course, Tumbel. Of all our teams, you guys are the most amazing, for obvious reasons.” He turned to her. “Sergeant Major, excellent job. I knew you were the one for this position when I submitted your name for the vacancy. Your record is spotless.”
“Sir, thank you for the acknowledgement, sir.”
“Now, don’t worry about anything downstairs,” the director added. “I want you out of the spotlight as well as you, men.” He looked around. “Feel free to . . . get dressed and leave through a back door anytime you’re ready.” The tension in the room grew. Words unspoken hung heavy.
Sheldon, bare-bottomed, came through the door, holding a couple of trays loaded with finger food from downstairs. “Let’s get the party started.” When he saw the director of the NIA standing, staring at him and the food, he said, “Someone’s got to eat it all.”
Candy smiled at this newcomer’s boldness.
Pommer slapped the naked guy on the back. “And you, Sheldon, are the perfect wolf for that. Congrats on your engagement, by the way.” The director walked into the hallway. “And put some pants on, boy.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” Sheldon’s smile was contagious. He pushed the door closed with his foot and put the trays on the desk. “Hey, guys, my wonderful mate and I are here. What did we miss?”
Everybody groaned and the guys gathered their clothes and redressed. Sheldon’s new mate, Elna, handed black and white garments to him. A pair of boxers covered in cartoon wolves sat on top.
On the floor, Josh said, “Yeah, you guys go on home. You did a great job tonight.”
“What about you?” Sheldon asked. “You can’t even stand up yet.” Hamel leaned closer to Sheldon and whispered in his ear. Mr. Wolfy Boxers looked at Candy and smiled.
“Got it. Nice job, boss man. I met my mate on a plane in a little-known country.” He pulled a pretty, dark-haired lady with stunning eyes to him and kissed her. On the lips. And was still kissing her.
Josh sighed. “Loper, you’re making it hard for the rest of us in here to not tell you to get a room.”
Sheldon pulled away and smiled. “I bet I’m making you all hard—”
“That’s not what I said,” Josh huffed. The comment made Candy blush.
She never even had the sex talk with her parents. Her mom died before a young Candy was old enough for the discussion and her father she hid from every night.
One of the ladies carried the food trays and set them next to Josh then pulled a paper cup of water from the dispenser in the corner. Damn, she should’ve thought about that. Why hadn’t she?
The woman placed the cup on the tray since he lay on a thick fuzzy rug. “There. You need to eat and drink a lot to get your strength back. Your body can’t heal without extra substance to fix it all.”
That was good to know, she thought. Wait a minute. Why would she care about knowing information on a shifter? The strong emotions she felt when the wolf was shot and close to death came to mind. Terror of him dying. Fear of never seeing him again. And other emotions she didn’t understand. Feelings she’d never felt before. All centered in her heart and stomach.
Hamel looked at her as he tucked his shirt it. “Sergeant, why were we called up here in the first place. Did you want to tell us something?” Her eyes flashed to Josh. She hated eating crow, but it was called for, and she would do the right thing.
“It can wait. We’ll see you all on Monday.”
“Sheldon,” Josh called out, “how the hell did you know to be in the helicopter on the roof?”
“Elna and I were a little late. When we saw the news van parked out front, we veered to the side so we wouldn’t be caught on TV. That’s when I smelled the blood of the killed security guards. After I got Elna in a safe place, I called 911. Figured you could use a little distraction out front.”
“That doesn’t tell me how you knew about the helicopter,” Josh said, uncharacteristic impatience plaguing him after his injuries.
“Hold the phone, boss man,” Sheldon responded. “I’m getting there.” He picked up a piece of sausage and tossed it to Josh. “Here, eat this. You’re grouchy and I don’t have a Snickers bar.” Josh scowled at him, but caught the meat and ate it.
“Now, if I may continue,” Sheldon said with a British accent, trying to be funny. “When the cops showed up, we hung out with them. The news reporter lady relayed a message from the hostage takers. They were going to take off in the helicopter with the director in tow. If anyone followed or attempted anything, they would kill him like they killed his wife.” Sheldon shrugged. “I took the garage up to roof.”
Josh nodded and fell back on the rug. “For once, I can say I’m glad you were late. Now, everyone, get out.” He winked at Candy. “See y’all Monday.”
All the couples said their good-byes and began leaving the room.
“Wait, guys. What about him?” She pointed to Josh. They weren’t leaving her alone with him, were they? No, no, no. Not good.
Sheldon nodded. “Oh, yeah.” She followed the agent to his boss on the floor. He knelt and put a hand on his shoulder. “Boss, just remember that women are not equal to men.” Instant anger rose in her. She’d dealt with this problem her entire life. She would so kick his ass—“No,” Sheldon continued, “they are far better us. Smarter than us. And always right.” He patted Josh’s shoulder. “You get that and you two will be happily mated forever.” He stood and walked out, then before the door closed, his arm slipped in and flipped off the light switch.