Chapter 18
Sasha grabbed her phone while she searched the refrigerator for food.
“Hello.”
“Sasha?” She closed her eyes. Shit. Why hadn’t she checked the number first? She didn’t want to talk to him again.
“Hello, Greg.” She rubbed her temple. “Oh, sorry really bad timing,” she lied. “I’m on my way out.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
She frowned. “None of your business. Why?”
“No reason, just curious,” and that voice was back to being warm and friendly. “I was thinking we could have coffee somewhere.”
She narrowed her gaze, trying to figure out what was behind the suggestion.
“I doubt it’s going to work out,” she said smoothly. “I have a lot on my list.”
“You still need to take a break, don’t you? I’d love to see you.” His voice deepened. “I missed you.”
“Oh, do you miss Maureen, too?”
“What I had with her was nothing like what I had with you.” He took a deep breath. “I’d hoped to do this in person but if you won’t give me a chance to see you…” There was an odd silence then he continued with, “Look, I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I don’t have an excuse other than to say I was lonely as you were working so much.”
“So it’s my fault?” She’d heard this all before. “And your excuse is still as poor as it was the first time I heard it. Obviously, you tired of our marriage and no longer cared about me.”
“I do care. I don’t have a good excuse. I can only tell you over and over again that I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”
“Except you never said that while you were happily playing house with my best friend,” she snapped. “You’re only saying it now that you’re alone again. I’m not interested in filling Maureen’s shoes. I’m happy to be friends, but that does not include benefits.”
She hit the end call on her phone. And realized Cooper was leaning against the doorframe. He’d probably heard the entire conversation.
And damn it – her fingers were trembling. “How long does it take for someone to get the message? We’ve been split for over a year.”
“But like you said, he’s lost his current partner and is alone now,” Cooper said quietly.
She nodded. “His problem. Not mine.” And not Cooper’s. She shouldn’t be dumping all this on him. She stood up. “I need to eat then I need to do something.”
“As in excess energy and you need to go for another run to de-stress?”
“As in my life has been out of control for too long, and I need to grab ahold again.”
“Shall we go see Ron?”
She spun, her face lighting up like a light bulb. “Yes. Can we?”
“Yes.” He smiled and held up his phone. “Just got permission. He’s been asking about you.”
She grinned. “Now that is a man to have your back. He’s been huge for getting help for those in need.”
“Then let’s get something to eat and go see him.”
And he was true to his word as he quickly scrambled up eggs. She made toast and within a few minutes they were sitting down and eating.
A half hour later they pulled into the naval hospital parking lot.
She shook her head. “I forgot he’d spent so many years in the service.”
“And been awarded many medals.”
“Is he the reason we warranted the rescue?” she asked. “I’d been holding off asking why we got such attention. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so damn grateful for it, but I’m curious.”
He laughed. “He’s one of the reason’s your plight was brought to our attention, but not the only one. We were already in Turkey doing training exercises.”
“Ah, makes sense.” She smiled and walked ahead of him slightly. At the reception she stood off to one side as he talked to the woman. The hospital was huge, but she’d worked here before.
“He’s down this way.” Cooper held out his hand. “Follow me,” he said.
She laughed and reached out for his hand. “It is visiting hours, right?”
“It is,” Cooper said cheerfully. “He’s on the second floor.”
And he led her right to Ron’s room.
She stepped inside and saw him. He saw her at the same time and opened his arms. She raced into them. “Oh my. I was so afraid we’d lost you.” She hugged him gently.
“I’m fine.” He grinned. “Now, at least. I wasn’t so sure a week ago. Figured I’d pushed my luck for the last time.”
“I hated to leave you in that damn cabin…” she cried, settling back on the edge of his bed to study his face critically. But the twinkle in his eye and returning color to his skin reassured her.
“And I hated to see you go.” He smiled up at her, his face crinkling with wrinkles. “But I was out of it at that point, so the timeline of events are a blur.”
“It wasn’t long after Sasha and the others were hustled onto the boat that you were rescued and the shack was torched,” Cooper said from the side of the room. Ron’s face lit up when he saw Cooper. The men shook hands.
“Thanks for the rescue.” Ron sighed. “I’d wondered at the time if the driver had been a part of it.”
“Really? I’d considered that someone on the inside must have known where to find us.” She studied his pale face. “We weren’t even all on the same side of the camp.”
“I know.” He coughed, his face rippling in pain. “But I can’t say I’m too surprised to hear what he was up to. Terrible circumstances bring out terrible actions. Most of those people are still in survivor mode.”
Cooper said, “We think someone hired the driver. It’s that man we want.”
She understood what he meant but that didn’t mean it was an easy concept to accept.
“And does it do any good to find the person now? We are free.”
“As long as it’s not followed us home,” Ron said quietly.
She was silent until they walked out of the naval hospital toward Cooper’s Jeep. “Is there any chance it followed me…us home?”
“I can’t answer that, but considering your situation, we have to look at it.” Cooper opened the passenger door to the Jeep. “It’s possible, but why?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “There are doctors everywhere. There’s no reason for them to want to find us now. It’s not like we heard or saw anything useful. They didn’t discuss bigger plans with us.” She smiled at him as he got inside the driver’s side and closed the door. “I really can’t see it.”
“Good, then that’s one less thing to worry about.”
She smiled. “Besides, I should be safe. I’m on the base with the big bad SEAL.”
He snickered. “There are dozens of us here.”
“And except for a random shooting by a naval discontent, I should be safe.”
He glanced over at her. “Got to love how everyone hears about the bad shit.”
“We also hear about the good shit.” She grinned. “And the very good shit. Like rescuing me and mine.”
“Happy it was a rescue and not a recovery.”
“Where to now?” she asked.
“Sasha?”
She froze and turned in her seat.
Of course. Her ex-husband.
“Hello, Greg.”
Cooper placed an arm around the seat back and her shoulder in silent support, his warm breath hot on her neck as he whispered, “Easy.”
She nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
“What a surprise,” Greg said with a bright smile.
“It is. Sorry I can’t talk now, we’re late.” She glanced at Cooper. “Shall we go?”
“No wait.” Greg leaned in to see her. “It’s a nice surprise to see you.”
Cooper wasn’t going to let this asshole get any closer to Sasha. He turned on the engine and shifted the Jeep into gear.
“Bye, Greg,” she called out.
As Cooper drove the vehicle through the parking lot toward the exit and away from Greg, she let out a shaky breath. “I should have spoken with him.”
“Do you still care for him?”
“No.” She shook her head. “There is nothing more deadly than a dead love.”
“And are you sure the love is dead.”
“Oh yes,” she said. “I’m sure.”
He fell quiet. “Then it shouldn’t bother you to see him.” He turned the Jeep out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
“It’s not the fear of seeing him because I loved him and I’m afraid to lose him, it’s the betrayal that hurts. The fear that inside I’m really as he sees me.”
“And that is?”
“Not enough,” she whispered. “That I’m the one to blame for everything. That I wasn’t a good enough wife, a good enough woman to keep him. No one likes to see themselves in a harsh light.”
“You know that’s garbage, right?” His voice was harsh, his tone piercing.
“In my head I do. But my heart says I’m equally at fault for what happened. I can see he might have needed more time with me. That he couldn’t handle the demands my job required of me. Still, he didn’t have to do what he did.”
“I’d forget about him completely if I were you.” Cooper pulled the Jeep into the mainstream traffic. “He’s a child in a man’s body. Men don’t sit there and whine. They do something about the problem.”
She laughed. “How true.” She watched the traffic meander through town. “Why is the traffic so light?”
“No idea but it’s nice. Then again it is Sunday.” He turned down a second corner and pulled into one of the large hanger looking buildings.
“Why are we here?”
“We’re going to meet the rest of my team.”
“Are you sure I should? I’m a mess.”
“And that’s why you aren’t making any decisions today or tomorrow,” he said firmly. “Too much is going on.”
“And then what,” she said softly. “Stay with you?”
“That’s hardly an imposition,” he said quietly, reaching across and holding her hand. “You’re special, Doc, we all want to keep you safe.”
She slowly turned her head. “Do you think I’m not safe?”
He glanced at her and shook his head. “No,” he said seriously. “I don’t.”
Hell.
*
He was never one to deal in lies and innuendos, and given the strange circumstances surrounding her, he’d really like to keep a close eye on her. He needed to keep her safe.
“Up ahead.” He pointed out a huge flock of birds rising from the sands on the left.
“Wow. That’s a lot of birds,” she said, studying them. “I don’t remember seeing them in such a large group.”
“Just another day in paradise.” He grinned as he turned off the Jeep and hopped out.
He came around to her side and helped her down. “Let’s go see the gang.”
She smiled and walked into where a dozen men pretended to be busy doing something and yet nothing at the same time. They stopped and watched as Cooper slipped Sasha’s hand into the crook of his arm and brought her over to them.
Her footsteps slowed as she studied the faces of the team. She recognized a few faces. But only a few.
She gasped when she saw Markus in front of them. She slipped her arm free and ran to him.
Cooper could only watch as she threw herself in Markus’s waiting arms. He swung her around before placing her back down on her feet again.
She laughed in delight. “Looks like you ended up all right after all,” she teased.
“Hey, I was never the one in trouble,” Markus protested. “It was you who caused us the grief all the time.”
“And you who kept scaring those poor people,” she cried out, a big smile on her face. “What did they do to you?”
“Ha, they wouldn’t show us where you’d gotten too fast enough,” he growled but there was no heat in his voice.
Good thing or Cooper would have to step in but instead he watched her easy camaraderie as she went to the others she greeted one by one and gave each a big hug and a thank you. When she reached Swede she shook her head and held up her arms waiting like a two-year-old. He chuckled and picked her up so she could reach around his neck.
Markus murmured at his side, “If you are letting her walk through your fingers…”
“Hell, no I’m not,” he snapped.
Markus held up his hands in surrender and added, “Just saying…”
“Just saying what?” Cooper dared him to continue.
And he did, but it wasn’t quite the angle Cooper expected.
“I guess I’m saying that I’m feeling a whole lot better about my future after all.”
“Meaning…” Cooper wasn’t going to let this drop until he knew exactly how Markus felt. Especially in regards to Sasha.
“That I think I’m ready to look around for someone again.”
Cooper was silent for a long moment as he watched Sasha greet Mason.
“And no,” Markus said. “I won’t trespass. But if you and she don’t work out…”
“There is no her and me,” Cooper snapped but his voice was low, tinged with regret. “At least not yet.”
“Bullshit. It’s there. You just don’t believe she’d want someone like you.”
Cooper frowned. He hadn’t considered that as a reason. He wasn’t lacking self-confidence and his ego was extremely healthy. Did he think he wasn’t worthy of her? No, it was more a case of him putting her so high up that there was almost a bit of star power there. Something he’d never have thought to see as a problem before. She wasn’t a celebrity. But she was highly regarded in her profession and well-loved everywhere. Look at the easy way she’d just worked into the guys’ hearts. He knew what they were all thinking.
The guys stared at him, speculation in their gazes as Sasha went to Chase and Brett and introduced herself. He didn’t think she knew them but that wouldn’t stop her from reaching out. She checked to see if she’d missed anyone and walked to Hawk.
Cooper didn’t know what she said to him, but he was grinning like a fool.
Then in a surprise move she reached up and kissed big silent Shadow on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. He smiled down at her so gently Cooper knew he wasn’t the only who wanted to know what she said.
She threw out her arms and turned in a big circle. “I am so damn glad to be home.”
They smiled at her, but the air had changed to a sense of waitingness. Cooper knew she’d picked it up.
He waited for her to turn that steady gaze his way.
She studied the men one at a time then narrowed her gaze and looked at him. “Cooper – what don’t I know?”
He didn’t want to tell her. But she needed to know.
“David went overseas again.”
She nodded. “We knew that. He’d planned to turn around as soon as he was allowed.”
“And he’s gone missing – again.”