Chapter 10
Back at camp, in the opposite direction she wanted to go, Summer was ushered into a small office. Easton and Devlin accompanied her.
Two men stood behind the man seated at a desk. He motioned at a chair in front of her to sit down. She took the seat and waited, Easton and Devlin standing right behind her. Fatigue hit her like she’d never seen or felt before. And she knew shock was leaving its mark. If that soldier died …
Before the seated man could speak, she leaned forward and asked, “Is my driver going to make it?”
The leader nodded. “We hope so. He’s been stabilized and is on his way to the closest hospital.”
Relieved, she sat back but only a little. “There was a lot of blood,” she said softly.
“Can you tell us what happened?”
No way to avoid it. She took a deep breath and quietly, calmly—maybe too calmly, considering what she’d been through—related the turn of events.
When she fell silent, no one said a word for a long moment, then the questions started. She answered as best as she could. No, she didn’t see the shooter. No, she couldn’t tell if there was one or more than one. No, she never saw any of the weapons. No, she didn’t think anybody approached the jeep. Yes, she did hear some branches crackling but didn’t have any idea what caused that.
As she went through the last of the questions, she felt nauseated. Finally she shook her head and said, “I don’t know if I’m staying here or if you’re finding me another plane, but I need to lie down.”
She looked at Easton and reached out a hand. He reached back. God, she loved that about him. Using his strength, she slowly got to her feet, feeling the room sway.
He wrapped his arm around her. “Easy.”
She gave him a wan smile. “I’m fine. I just need to lie down for a bit.”
The three men behind the desk discussed something to do with the room assignments, but she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, she hadn’t left. Her same bed was still here.
With Devlin on one side, Easton on the other, they turned and led her back out. After taking a series of turns she didn’t recognize and hoped she wouldn’t have to repeat on her own, she entered the tent that appeared to be the same as the one she’d left. She walked over to the bed she’d slept in and sat down. She let herself fall sideways, her head hitting the pillow. Just before she let sleep claim her, she mumbled, “Where are my bags?”
There was a thunk as they landed beside her. She opened her eyes to find Easton standing there. Of course he carried her bags the whole time.
She smiled. “Thank you.”
Her eyes drifted closed, and sleep followed. She desperately needed a rejuvenating rest, but instead nameless men chased her. Instead of bright blue skies in happy dreams, she had nightmares with nothing but terror and fear following her. She heard a soft whimper once or twice, and then a strong hand stroked her shoulder and squeezed gently.
“You’re fine. Just go to sleep. You’re safe here.”
She recognized Easton’s voice. So very comforting, his words even working their magic on her insides. Finally she relaxed and fell into a peaceful, healing sleep.
When she woke, she found herself alone. She propped herself up on one arm, looking around the tent. She had no idea if anybody was even close by, but she couldn’t imagine them leaving her. Not after all that had happened so far. “Hello?”
A head popped through the tent flap. Easton.
She smiled at him and lay back down again. “So you didn’t leave me,” she teased.
“I won’t be leaving you at all.”
She bit her lip to hold back a retort. Because of course he would leave her at some point. She had to return to California, and he was stationed here for however long. Even if he went to California with her, he still had a life, and so did she.
He sat down beside her, and she let her eyes drift closed again. “I’m fine, you know.”
“You’re looking better than you did.”
Her eyes popped open. “Any update on the soldier?”
He nodded. “He’s in critical condition in the hospital, but they think he’ll pull through.”
She smiled. “Now that’s good to hear.”
“He owes you his life.”
She shook her head. “That’s a terrible thought. He wouldn’t have been shot if it wasn’t for me. I’m just glad the odds are that he’ll survive.” When he didn’t say anything, she opened her eyes again to find him staring at her as if she was from Mars. “What’s the matter?” She self-consciously brushed her hair off her face. “I must look a mess.” She saw her hand and froze. A grimace whispered across her face. Because, of course, her hands were covered in blood and so was her shirt. “I need a shower.”
“That you can have. We’re still waiting for the brass to give us a time frame for when you leave.”
She smiled. “Well, it wasn’t exactly my plan, but, if I have to, I’ll stay another day.” Not that she had a choice. Her phone rang just then. Her boss. Shit, she hadn’t called him back.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.
“I am. Thanks for calling in the rescue.”
“What the hell happened?”
Silently groaning, she went through the events for him. “I don’t know when I’m leaving now. I’m back in my same quarters, only now with a couple bodyguards.”
“Do you think the shooter was after you?”
And she realized he didn’t know about the other incidences. She didn’t want to tell him either. “No, not likely,” she murmured. “Let me know if you hear an update on anything, will you?”
“I will,” he promised.
When she rang off, Easton studied her carefully. “Why didn’t you tell him the rest?”
She shrugged and sat up. “He can’t help us here, so why worry him?” She glanced from one man to the other. “We should look at the images I took and figure out what is worth killing for.”
The men nodded. “We were waiting for you to wake up, then to suggest that exact same thing.”
She smiled. “Grab your laptops then, and let’s do this. I have a few thousand to look at. And that’s after I deleted a bunch.”
*
If Easton had understood ahead of time how many photos they had to go through, he’d have asked for half a dozen friends to join them. He knew security and trust were an issue for her, particularly after the attacks, but she might’ve been willing to allow a few more men into their group. As it was, he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for.
“I wonder if I saw something when I followed you guys in the race. I felt like somebody was watching me then.”
Easton looked at her. “That was when you were shot at the first time.”
She shrugged. “I never saw anyone. I did take pictures as I turned around in that area, just in case. So those are in here somewhere too. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Swearing to himself, Easton went backward to a couple dozen scenic photos and took a long moment studying each one. He couldn’t see anything or anyone hiding in the bushes though. Although his laptop was a decent one, it didn’t have the best graphics program to see details like that.
After a couple hours, all the pictures were starting to blur. She’d taken some of the strangest combinations of photos ever, and then he’d seen some that made complete sense, as if there was a theme to them. He didn’t know from one picture to the next what he would be looking at. He knew the others felt the same way. They were all being as diligent as they could be, but this wasn’t their wheelhouse. Yet it made sense that these photographs were the one thing she had that somebody wanted to get. Or at least to stop her from seeing or using them.
But, so far, he hadn’t seen anything important.
He viewed several more photos of people standing in the distance, talking. He studied them but didn’t recognize the people. He perused another and then another. People were in the foreground, with people in the background. But he didn’t really see anything odd.
Just as he went to look at the next photo, he stopped to consider the people in the background and then moved a couple images earlier to the ones he’d just looked at. He studied the photos intently.
Devlin leaned over. “Find something?”
He tapped the screen gently and said, “Isn’t that the man we have in custody who attacked Summer and tried to grab her cameras?”
Devlin leaned in, then nodded. “It is, indeed. But who’s he talking to?”
“And look at their hands.”
The image wasn’t clear enough to see, but their hands were close together, as if handing something off.
Very quickly the rest of the group gathered around. Suggestions were tossed back and forth, but nobody had any answers, and nobody recognized any of the other faces on the screen.
“What’s the number on that picture?” Summer asked. “Let’s see if I can find out more about them. I have better programs on my laptop. But my lab at home is much better for processing, and my desktop there has several really good programs.”
He stood and read off the number for her and watched as she made a search.
An image popped up, and she said, “Come here and see if this helps.”
The four men formed a half circle around her as she made several adjustments to the image, sharpening its features. They all stared for a long moment, then Easton said, “I just might know who that is.”
“Who?” Corey asked.
“He was here a couple days ago. Remember when we had the visiting brass? It was fairly quiet, but we had several people arrive that day. Then they left again.”
“And what would the visiting brass have to do with a guy working the galley?” Ryder asked. “That makes no sense.”
“And was it US brass or Canadian brass?” Summer asked. All the men turned to look at her. She shrugged. “It’s kind of important to know. We’re on Canadian soil, but this is a joint effort.”
The men nodded, but Easton answered, “He’s American.”
With the picture number written down on a notepad beside her, she went to the series of photos she’d taken at that time. “I remember using the men as a point of reference to make some camera adjustments. I know I have several of those images.”
Easton waited.
She found five. And then another set. When she brought those up, everybody leaned forward to see them.
The men in the photos had their faces turned ever-so-slightly away. Then she clicked on the last one. And the man who attacked her was glaring at her.
“Summer,” Devlin said, “can you send that image to my phone? I need to talk to some people.” He stood, nodding. “For safety sake, send it to all our phones and make sure you have it in storage somewhere safe.”
“Good point,” Easton said.
“It’s hardly incriminating,” she protested. “The men are just talking.”
Easton continued. “We need all the pictures from this time frame, from the one before you started clicking on them right through to the images you took after this.” He faced her. “Did you ever see these men again later?”
She tilted her head to the side, studying the image. “No. The man who attacked me was from the kitchen. But the other men, I don’t know.”
“Do you have any other photos of the man in the kitchen?”
She shrugged. “Potentially. I took pictures inside the mess hall, but I don’t know for sure. I’ll have to look through the rest.”
Easton gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Would you mind searching for those right now? Mark down the picture number where you are right now as well as the corresponding numbers from where we all were looking at these images, so we don’t duplicate our efforts. Then let’s check to make sure we don’t have another photo of this guy.”
Devlin looked at Easton. “I suggest we both speak to our commander.”
Easton nodded. He glanced over at Ryder and Corey. He hated to leave her even for a moment.
Pointing to Corey, Ryder said, “We’re staying here.”
“Go. I’m fine here,” she said, waving her hand at Easton to go away. “Do what you’ve got to do.” As they turned to exit the tent, she called out, “Maybe double check to see when I’m actually flying out. Somebody should know something by now.”
“Will do,” Easton said, stepping out. He glanced at Devlin. “Isn’t that General Morgan on the left in that photo?”
“I think so. I can’t make out this other guy’s features. And someone is hidden behind him too. But why would the general have been here? And why would he have such a suspicious-looking conversation?”
“Then again it could be completely innocent. For all we know the kitchen guy could be the son of his best friend’s daughter or something.” Easton shrugged.
He hated to think something dark and wrong was going on here, but the events leading up to this point were suspicious. And anything suspicious needed to be checked out.
They were given admittance to the commander’s office right away, but they had to wait another ten minutes to get into his private office. Once inside, Easton lost no time in explaining what they’d seen. Devlin and Easton brought up the images on their phones and handed them over for their commander to see. He steepled his fingers under his chin and stared at them. But the absolute absence of emotion on his face was telling.
Easton studied him, wondering what kind of position they’d put him in. Not that it mattered, because somebody had attacked a civilian. On a military base. The person had links to someone very high up.
“Send me a copy of these photos, please. I presume you have copies safely stored that can’t be retrieved?”
“Absolutely.”
He sighed and leaned back. “I’ll see what I can find out. Are you sure it’s related to his attack on her?”
“Nobody’s talking yet, I presume,” Easton said, “yet this shows a connection we hadn’t seen before.”
Their commander nodded. “But it’s extremely circumstantial. And, for something like this,” he cautioned, “we must be very sure of our facts, and we’ll need proof to back them up.”
“That goes without saying,” Easton said, picking up his phone. “The photographer has a half dozen, maybe even eight, photos of the two of them together,” Easton said.
“Of course she does.” The commander sighed. “I’ll make some inquiries.”
“She’s also asking when she can leave and if any plans have been made for her to fly her out of here.”
“Not yet. She’ll stay overnight. Maybe we’ll put her in a different tent for the night. That way she won’t be alone.”
Easton and Devlin exchanged glances.
“What is it I don’t know?” the commander barked.
“We’ve been assigned to watch over her. We’ve moved into her tent to stand guard.”
The commander glared at Easton. “Is your interest personal or professional?”
Easton could feel the heat climbing up his face. “Both,” he admitted. “I have been watching over her for the last few nights. It bothers me that anybody would target a woman alone. And then today they escalated, as if they were out of time, so she was attacked publicly.”
“Good. Stay with her until she gets on the goddamn plane. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be looking to you for answers.”
“We must find out who is after her, or she won’t be safe when she gets home again,” Easton reminded the commander.
“It’s not that bad, is it? What were the four attacks again?” he asked with a frown as if just seeing the problem was as big as it was.
The two men ran through what they knew had happened so far.
“Why is it I haven’t heard about this before?”
Devlin said, “You weren’t available yesterday when I came to speak with you, so I spoke with Halverson.”
“Halverson.” The commander grabbed his phone. “In my office now,” he snapped.
Halverson arrived quickly. Easton didn’t know the man very well himself but hadn’t heard much that he liked.
Halverson took one look at the two men and rolled his eyes. “You two again?”
Easton stared at him. “I haven’t met or spoken with you yet,” he said calmly.
“Sure, but it’s about your latest ladylove.”
“Well, she isn’t my ladylove, but she is a woman alone and in need of our protection,” Easton snapped, his temper getting the better of him. “Yes, it is about Summer.”
The commander turned to Halverson. “Devlin was here yesterday with information about attacks on her. He told you about them. Is that correct?”
Halverson shrugged. “He did also say it was Easton’s friend. We don’t deal with friends here.”
“Of course we deal with friends here,” the commander said with exaggerated calm. “What we also deal with is any attack against anyone. We are visitors on Canadian soil. Any undue action on the part of any of our men is unacceptable at any time. Now tell me exactly what it is that Easton and Devlin told you.”
“I spoke with Devlin,” Halverson said, losing some of this cocky tone. He relayed the information that he had been given.
The commander turned to look at Devlin. “Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Then today she was attacked at the mess tent during lunch and afterward shot at in the vehicle on the way to the airport.”
Halverson’s face turned to one of shock. “What? She was the one in the vehicle when our man got shot? How is it I didn’t know about that part?” he demanded.
“Because you didn’t want to know about the rest of it, I presumed,” Devlin said with a hard edge. “It wasn’t my job to keep you informed of Easton’s friend, was it?”
Halverson had the grace to look ashamed. “I didn’t realize it was serious.”
“You think putting a rattlesnake in a woman’s tent in the dark isn’t serious?” Easton asked. “Or how about some stranger standing inside her tent, threatening her, or how about the bullet that grazed her head today? These are all escalations. It should take nothing more to understand that this woman is under attack. And from somebody on the base.”
Halverson outranked him and was about to open his mouth and remind him of that fact when the commander spoke again. “Halverson, I need to speak with you.”
At the rebuke, Halverson’s mouth shut, and he nodded.
The commander waved to the door. “Give us five.”
The men were alone again with the commander when he faced Devlin. “Stay with her at all times.” He looked to the door, then back to the men, adding, “Is she alone right now?”
“Ryder and Corey are both with her, going through more photos, looking to see if they’ve seen the man we have in custody at any other point in time.”
On that note, the commander nodded. He pointed at the images on the cell phone still on his desk and said, “Don’t tell anyone about this and don’t share the images with anyone else. Let me know if you see any other photos of General Morgan.”