“Are you okay, Sammie?” Raleigh looked at Samantha as they got up from behind the wall. Sam hurriedly grabbed her shirt and slipped it over her head before the police arrived.
“Yeah, I’m good, just shook up a bit, but I’m okay,” she replied, the sounds of sirens getting louder as the police moved closer to the hotel.
“Pull yourself together. The police will be here any minute. They know me around here so before you ask, they won’t say anything. We are safe for now, but I think we need to tell command sooner rather than later. At least if I tell General Andrews before he finds out from someone else, he’ll just counsel us and make sure we are not in the same unit. We’ll talk about it later. Right now, I wanna make sure you are okay. You’re bleeding.”
“I am?” she replied, then finally felt the sting of pain on her right arm. “Ouch! That hurts!”
“Looks like a flesh wound.” Grabbing the bed sheet, he tore a piece off and wrapped it around Samantha’s arm. “I will kiss it and make it better later, darlin’.” Raleigh leaned in to kiss Samantha right as the police screamed, “Freeze! Drop your weapons!”
As the officers approached, one of them paused and stood a few feet away when he said, “Fitz, is that you, brother?”
Raleigh stood and stared back at the officer. A look of recognition and a smile swept over his face. “Roberts? Holy shit, brother. Where ya been keepin’ yourself? Big time cop now, I see.” The men exchanged handshakes and Roberts ordered the other officers to holster their weapons.
“Guys, this is Fitz! You know, the crazy motherfucker that decided one night he’d parachute naked into downtown Fayetteville on a dare. Y’all remember me tellin’ that story? This is the man, the legend.”
“Rob, man, that was years ago. So, hey, can we get a paramedic to come look at this?” He motioned to Samantha’s arm, still bleeding even after Raleigh had wrapped it.
“Yeah, I will have one of the guys call one up.” Roberts called one of the officers over then turned to Raleigh. “Okay, you wanna tell me what happened here?” Roberts asked.
“Isn’t it a little obvious?” Raleigh replied. “The room got tore the fuck up.”
“Did you see who did it?”
“Nope, couldn’t see a fuckin’ thing. The lights on the chopper shined right in our faces. All I know is one minute we were eating, and the next we were low crawlin’ on the floor of the hotel room, glass flying everywhere. I gotta guess who it could be.”
Raleigh explained to Roberts the whole string of events—the murders of Jared and Semeana, the stolen equipment, the sting operations in New Orleans, and the death of the terrorist organization’s leader, Saheed Al Bashera. He told Roberts how Jared had joined the terrorists, how Al-Balshera’s death had catapulted his younger brother Jahan to the leadership role, and that the letter Jared left when he died led Raleigh to suspect Jahan.
Roberts paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, and Raleigh could tell by the look on his old friend’s face that the whole thing came as a surprise to him. “So…wait…Tommy is dead? And a traitor?”
“Yup. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.” Raleigh’s voice seemed to crack as he told his friend of the betrayal and that he still had to fly home to Alabama to tell Jared’s father of the death of his only son.
***
Samantha
Samantha watched as the two men reminisced about the old days and the stories of their time serving together. She had to figure out their relationship, but since they knew a lot about each other, she concluded that Roberts must have been in the 9th Special Forces.
“Ha, hard to believe is a fucking understatement of the year, brother.” As they discussed more about the case, a paramedic arrived to look at Samantha’s arm. He helped her up and told the two men he was taking her downstairs to the waiting ambulance for transport to the hospital for stitches. Samantha started to argue, but Raleigh stopped her mid-sentence. “No arguments, Sammie. I will be right down to ride with you. I am just going to grab our stuff from the room first.”
“But I…” she tried to argue.
“No…now go. I will be right down. I promise. I am not gonna let anything happen to you or me.” He tried to reassure her, but he could tell she wasn’t happy being separated from him. Their partnership had gone from a working one to intimate very quickly, but it didn’t feel fast to her at all. It felt like they were meant to be together. Fate had intervened once, and Samantha decided she would not allow fate to interfere again, unless that fate was that they would spend the rest of their lives loving each other.
***
Raleigh
“Ah, Fitz, man, I’m sorry, but I can’t let ya remove anything from the scene until we process it,” Roberts said as he walked Raleigh from the room. “You go down and help out your friend, and as soon as we process the scene, I will call ya. But it’s gonna be a few days, though.”
“Well fuck, that’s gonna put us in a bad spot. I have evidence in there that concerns my investigation, as well as no clothes to change into. I gotta at least get my evidence bag and papers. Can ya call your chief and see if you can process it now then release it into my custody? We can do a chain of custody form so we can both keep track. Give ‘im a call would ya, for old time’s sake?” Raleigh almost begged, and Roberts finally gave in and called his chief who ordered the crime scene technicians to process what Raleigh needed quickly so he could proceed with his own investigation.
“I appreciate you callin’, brother. I’m gonna go catch up with Samantha and ask the hotel to set us up in a new room. Looks like I gotta do some shopping tomorrow. Thanks for everything, Rob. I appreciate ya,” Raleigh said as he got into the elevator.
“Hey, no problem, brother. I will call ya in the morning so you can come by and pick up your evidence,” Roberts said as he shook Raleigh’s hand just as the door to the elevator started to close.
When Raleigh reached the lobby and stepped out of the elevator, the foyer was full of hotel guests standing around as the police checked each one—taking statements and answering questions. As he passed the officers interviewing witnesses and hotel guests, he overheard one of them tell another they had found a body that the hotel manager had identified as one of the maids.
When Raleigh approached the reception desk, he was greeted by the hotel manager who, despite being clearly shaken and upset, had already made the arrangements for another room and to have some clothing delivered to them in the morning. Raleigh thanked the manager then quickly made his way outside to the waiting ambulance to accompany Samantha to the hospital. A paramedic stopped him.
“Sir, are you family?” the paramedic asked as he held Raleigh back from the vehicle.
“No, but I am her…” Before he could finish, Samantha interjected.
“He’s my fiancé, and I am not going anywhere unless he is with me.” Samantha started to get up from the gurney, but the other attendant placed his hand on her chest as a way of keeping her in place.
“I don’t think it will hurt anything,” the attendant inside the ambulance said to the one holding Raleigh at bay.
Finally relenting, the paramedic allowed Raleigh inside, then jumped into the driver’s seat and proceeded to the hospital. Raleigh got comfortable as the other paramedic took Samantha’s vitals. “Sammie, you know this is the second time I’ve had to watch you be wheeled away on a gurney. I really don’t like watching that happen. Let’s not make it a habit, okay?” He couldn’t help but laugh because again they were in an ambulance and again he was watching Samantha give the paramedics a run for their money.
“Ya, Ya, I know,” she said as she pushed the paramedics away and tried to reach for Raleigh, swinging her fist, attempting to punch him in the arm.
“Ma’am, please stay still so I can get your vitals,” the paramedic ordered.
“I got shot in the arm, I’m not having a heart attack. Why don’t you try stopping the bleeding instead of checking my pulse?” she spat.
“Ma’am, I’m just trying to do my job.” He pushed her back down. “Now stay still,” the paramedic ordered, “or I am going to strap you down completely so you can’t move.”
Pouting, Samantha relented and lay on the gurney so the paramedic could help her. She looked as Raleigh as he sat next to her and pouted his bottom lip to tease her.
“Oh, stop it, Raleigh,” she said with a laugh. “I have been injured more in the few months I’ve known you than any time in my entire life. What’s that say about you?” she teased.
Feeling the ambulance stop, Raleigh looked out the window. “Looks like we are here,” he said just as the driver made his way around, opening the door, letting them all out, and wheeling Samantha into the emergency room.
One of the nurses stopped Raleigh as he started to follow Sam. “Sir, she won’t take too long. Just wait right here, please.” She motioned to the seats in the waiting area.
Raleigh sat down and leaned back into his seat. He had closed his eyes only for a moment when his phone rang. It was Matty, who quickly told Raleigh he was on his way. He had seen the hotel on the news, and when he saw Raleigh get into the ambulance, he figured one of them was injured. So instead of getting a quick nap, Raleigh was going to have to explain to Matty not only what happened, but also why Samantha was in his room. Eventually, he would have to tell command about their relationship, but for now, he would confide in Matty.
When Matt Chambers walked into the emergency room, the two friends immediately saw each other and shook hands as Raleigh stood up to greet Matt.
“So how’s your sergeant doing?” Matty asked.
“She’s good. Looks like a flesh wound. Nothing to worry about,” Raleigh replied.
“Good. Now what the fuck happened, dude?”
“Well, we were in the living room at the table eating some burgers when bullets started flying through the window. Glass and debris was flying everywhere. We hit the floor, low crawled to the wall for cover. I had my weapon in my waistband. I tried to get off a few shots at the chopper, but I couldn’t see shit—the light blinded us. It was over before we even knew what the hell happened,” Raleigh explained as Matt settled down in the seat next to Raleigh.
“You think this is all connected?” Matt questioned.
“I’d bet my fucking life on it, man.”
“Could you see what kind of helicopter it was?”
“Fuck yeah, I did. It was a Blackhawk.”
Matt was stunned. “Are you sure?”
“Damn right I’m sure,” Raleigh replied. “Can’t mistake that engine. I hear it in my dreams.”
“I hear ya, man. Okay, I am gonna call the airfield and see if any of ours were out on night mission. I’ll be right back. The service sucks in here. Gonna go outside,” Matt said as he got up and walked out the door.
As Raleigh waited for Matt, he could hear Samantha in the back raising hell, screaming, “Damn it, that hurts!” as the doctor stitched her arm closed. He smiled and thought to himself, That woman is one hell of a handful, and it’s sexy as hell. He felt guilty that she had once again gotten hurt. In a way, he felt like it was his fault and he vowed he would protect her better through anything else that was to come.
As he turned around to sit back down, he came face to face with Kristen.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you, darlin’,” Kristen said as she wrapped her arms around Raleigh.
“Seriously, Kristen, you need to leave,” Raleigh said as he wiggled out of her embrace and turned her toward the ER doors.
“I don’t wanna leave, baby. I wanna be here with you. When I saw you on the news, I just knew something terrible had happened to you,” she begged.
“As you can see, I am fine. You need to leave.” As Raleigh was trying to get her out the door, Matt walked up and greeted them.
“Kristen, how are you?” Matty said as he pulled her in for a hug then wrapped his arm around her and walked her out the door. “Why don’t I drive you home?” Matty said to her as he tossed Raleigh the keys to his truck.
Raleigh mouthed the words, “Thanks, I owe you one.” Matty nodded his head in agreement as he walked Kristen to her car and drove her home.
Just as Matty drove away with Kristen, Samantha came through the double doors of the ER. “Who was that I just saw you with?” She seemed to almost interrogate him.
“That was Matty and Kristen.”
“Matt brought her here? Why would he do that?”
“No, he didn’t. She just showed up; the whole thing is all over the news. I guess she saw me get into the ambulance and decided she would check on me.”
“And she just left without trying to beg you to come back?” She continued to grill him.
“Oh no, she didn’t get the chance. Matty showed up and pulled her away, offering to drive her home, and threw me his keys. So we have wheels now,” he said, smiling. “You ready to get outta here?” he asked, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her in close.
“Ya, let’s get outta here.”