Thank goodness Logan had leased a chopper for a week, since he had a meeting and the Deep Six bird wouldn’t be ready until the end of the week. In the state Maddie was in, flying commercial would’ve been a nightmare for her, not to mention it would’ve probably cost just as much to buy last minute tickets for them to get to Kentucky. How could the military only give her three days to appear in Kentucky for this interview?

“Why do you think they’d offer me an attorney if this is just an interview? I called him to be safe, but that made me even more nervous,” Maddie said, chewing her bottom lip as they got out of the cab and Hawk paid the driver.

Because an interview in a criminal investigation, which this must be since the letter you received came from the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, isn’t just an interview.

Hawk had been there once himself after witnessing an event, and those lawyers grilled him like a porterhouse steak. By the time they turned him loose, he was well done and never wanted to go through that again. His heart was breaking that Maddie would have to go through it now.

He had called Max to try to get answers as to what this might be about, but even he couldn’t find out. He said not to be worried, because they were probably just finalizing details about what happened to get her discharge in order. Bringing someone back from the dead to discharge them required a lot of answers and paperwork.

Hawk was sure that was true, but this didn’t feel right. That answer didn’t fit with a criminal investigation either, but he hoped that was the case.

“Better safe than sorry,” he replied, dragging out one of his mother’s favorite platitudes. “If this is part of an investigation, you should have someone to kick you under the table if he thinks you’re about to say something stupid.”

She stopped walking and turned to plaster herself to his body. Hawk wrapped his arms around her and felt her shaking. “Please, don’t let me say anything stupid. I don’t need more trouble. I just want my discharge and benefits, but I have this feeling something is very wrong.”

Again, Hawk had the same feeling of impending doom. Usually when he got that feeling a goat fuck was waiting for him in the wings. He hoped like hell in the five years since his separation from the military that feeling had come to portend something else.

“They may not let me come in with you, sweet thang. I might just have to support you from out in the hall. You’ll have to rely on your attorney,” he warned, because she needed to be prepared. She whimpered and hugged him tighter, then released him and sucked in a shuddering breath. He was glad to see her roll her glassy eyes and stiffen her shoulders.

“I got this,” Maddie said, forcing a laugh.

Hawk didn’t smile, he just put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward the building that had been designated for this meeting. He tried to comfort himself by mentally reviewing the possibilities he’d come up with for this summons.

Maybe it was related to the cartel was all he could surmise. But if it was about the drug runners, it wouldn’t be investigated by the military. They could be cooperating with Homeland Security or the DEA in their investigation was his second theory, and it held more water. Because Maddie was presumed dead, she hadn’t been interviewed yet, so maybe that was what this was about. To see if she could give them more information about the cartel.

At the top of the steps, Hawk opened the door for her, waited for her to walk inside, then followed. They stopped at security, showed their identification and he noticed one of the MPs pick up the phone. A minute later, two more MPs showed up on the other side of the x-ray machine and Hawk’s gut clenched.

They hand scanned Maddie, since she told them she had a prosthesis and as soon as they finished, one of the men grabbed her purse from the belt, and the other took her arm to lead her away. She looked back at him with stark terror in her eyes and mouthed, I love you.

Definitely not good, Hawk thought, walking through the scanner. The alarm went off and he cursed when he was motioned to the side for a frisk. His sunglasses, which he’d forgotten to put on the belt, were the culprit. He ground his teeth as he waited while they used a hand wand on him too. When they finished, he walked to the end of the entry to the hall and looked left, where they’d taken Maddie, but there was no sign of them.

He slapped his forehead, closed his eyes and tried to remember the room number from the letter. When he couldn’t, he cursed again and walked back to the security area.

“Can you tell me which room Captain Maddie Carter is being interviewed in, please?”

“She the one they’re bringing up on charges for desertion?” the private manning the scanner asked, and the corporal who frisked Hawk glared at him.

The word desertion rang in his skull like a death knell. His blood ran cold, and his knees buckled. He grabbed the wall for support, before he fell down.

“She’s been taken to a secured area, so no civilians allowed. That’s why the MPs came to escort her back there,” the corporal responded, his tone terse. “You can wait for her in the break room down the hall.”

He pointed right, and Maddie had gone left. There was no way Hawk was taking the chance of her coming out and not seeing him.

“Is there somewhere I can wait down the hall to the left?” he croaked, his voice constricted by the knot in his throat.

“Fraid not,” the corporal replied.

Then Hawk would wait on the steps for her. He knew by the time they finished with her, she was going to need him.

How in the ever-loving hell could they award her a medal of honor for valor in combat and then bring her up on the most serious military charges possible? Especially after all she’d endured, because they had only put a goddamn half-assed effort into finding her! Anger surged through him so violent he wanted to punch something, or someone.

A wave of sickness rushed up to his throat to choke him. Hawk clamped a hand over his mouth, pushed off the wall and ran for the front door. After tossing his breakfast in the hedge beside the steps, he wiped his mouth and sat on the last tread. He would wait there so he could pick up the pieces that were left of her when they released her.

If they released her.

Hawk pulled out his phone to call her brother and inform him how wrong his theory had been and tell him he’d better try harder to get answers, or the lion to which Hawk had just delivered her might very well eat her alive.

God, how stupid could he have been?