Read Save Me Online

Authors: Heidi McLaughlin

Tags: #General Fiction

Save Me (10 page)

BOOK: Save Me
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“Thanks, Archer, that means a lot.”

“Don’t fucking thank me. You know I hate that shit.”

We sit in silence, watching the ships move in and out of the Sound. The activity at the Naval yard seems normal—no nondescript cars or people moving around stealthily—although tonight might be a different story.

“I don’t know where they’re holding him,” I break the silence, admitting that my plan to see Lawson is flawed. I’m assuming he’s in DC or maybe San Diego, but I don’t know.

“Cara will make sure we get in to see Lawson. She’ll know where he is,” Evan says, confidently. “Maybe Nate can scope out the area and find us a good vantage point.”

“To kill him?”

Evan shakes his head. “No, to scare the shit out of him and bring that fucking bitch Frannie out of hiding.”

I nod in agreement. I’d never hit a woman, but I’d welcome a few rounds with her. Hell, I’d love to see Ryley take her on. I’d pay good money to watch her take that bitch down.

 

 

AS I SUSPECTED, THE arrival of Nate seems to have Evan on edge. It’s either that or what I told him yesterday about Penny is really messing with his mind. He’s trying to protect Ryley and EJ; all while trying to figure out who set us up and help me find my family. He’s pacing more now than on a regular day.

The last I knew he and Nate were “okay” and Evan was wanting to work with his brother in the security business, but Nate stayed in the Navy to finish his enlistment … or as Ryley likes to say, he stayed to keep an eye on her mom and to be the eyes and ears that we need on the inside. Either way, Nate is pulling into the driveway and Evan looks like he’s about to have a full-blown panic attack.

Ryley, on the other hand, is excited for Cara’s arrival. She says with her here they can talk wedding stuff, and it’s something us men wouldn’t understand. She’s right, especially where I’m concerned. Penny and I were married in front of a justice of the peace with no witnesses other than the people who were there to get married after us. I promised her a real wedding, but she got pregnant with Claire and we decided to delay it until our fifth anniversary, which happened while I was deployed.

Giving her the wedding of her dreams is something I still plan to do, assuming she wants to be with me. I can understand if she’s moved on. I probably would’ve. It’s just hard to think of life being like that since this situation is no fault of ours. I now know she didn’t leave me, or choose someone else. I think she ran to protect our daughter. The question I have is did she know of the danger she was facing, or did she figure it out? There are so many unanswered questions that loom and pop up every day, and I’m afraid I’ll never have all the answers.

The loud knock on the door sends EJ screaming down the hall until he’s crashed into it. He swings it open and jumps into Nate’s arms. I glance at Evan and see the torment on his face. He has to know EJ loves him, but he isn’t going to forget that Nate was there when he should’ve been. I know he’s thankful, but the pain is still fresh. I pray that I’m not in the same situation as him when I see Claire. To find out your child loves another man as their father has to be the worst heartache ever—that and losing your wife.

“Rask?” Our teammate’s name falls from Ryley’s lips coupled with a gasp. My eyes land on Justin Rask, standing in the doorway with his bag slung over his shoulder and Ryley’s arms wrapped around him. Nate glances over his shoulder, smiling.

“I thought this guy looked a little lonely on base so I brought him with me,” Nate says, making Rask smile as Ryley disengages herself from his hold.

While we’ve all dealt with our own personal tragedies, his has been just as difficult and completely different. Rask was a year out of BUD/s when we deployed. He joined our team six-months before we left and was immediately brought into the fold. The bar-be-cues, bonfires on the beach, and birthday parties, he was a part of them from day one. He’s an only child, born later in life to his parents who were retired by the time he graduated from high school, so he chose the Navy to help pay his way through college and found the SEALs instead. All he has is us. In fact, we’re all each other has because our story is so outlandish no one wants to believe it can happen. Hell, half the time I’m pinching myself to wake up from this fucking nightmare.

“Rask, it’s good to see you.” Stepping forward, I pull him into a hug. He stalls before wrapping his arms around me. He did most of his growing up in Cuba while we were deployed and really needs a family. I’m happy that Nate thought to bring him here.

“You too,” he replies, patting me on the back. Even when we’d meet at Ryley’s backyard in San Diego, he never said much, but now that he’s had time to digest everything that’s been going on maybe he’ll open up more.

“Rask, you son of a bitch, it’s about time you left Coronado,” Evan says, pulling him into a quick hug.

“Yeah well this ugly mug finally told me to get my sorry ass off base and start exploring.” He nods toward Nate who shrugs and is still holding EJ.

“Well I’m happy you’re here,” Ryley says with a wink. “I didn’t really want Evan to hear the wedding talk with Cara, so with all of you here, you’ll be able to keep him busy.” She pushes Evan, who smiles.

“Where’s Cara?” Evan asks.

“Later flight, but she’ll be here. She has a lot to tell us.” Nate puts EJ back on the ground.

When Evan cocks his head toward the stairs, Nate and Rask both nod.

“We’ll be downstairs, babe,” he says to Ryley as he kisses her on the cheek.

We follow Evan down and into the back of the house. I haven’t seen this room yet, but knew there was something he was hiding. He punches the code on the door and waits for it to click. The lights come on as soon as the door opens, and when I step in I feel like I’m in the belly of a submarine.

“Ready for war?” Nate asks, as he looks around the room. There are monitors along one wall, all hooked up to surveillance cameras outside. One in particular faces the shipyard, showing us exactly what’s going on. Maps line one wall while the other wall is covered in pictures and notes of the people responsible for our deployment and the aftermath.

“It’s reinforced,” Evan explains. “If someone shows up, Ryley knows to bring EJ down here and lock herself in. This monitor here,” he points to one on the far left, “shows her who is at the door, so if someone is telling her it’s clear, she can see them. If the power is cut to the house, the authorities are alerted and come out regardless of being called or not.”

“Jesus, Evan, you’re planning for an apocalypse or for a nuclear bomb by the looks of it.” Nate seems worried, maybe even confused.

Evan nods and points to the monitor that’s trained on the shipyard.

“Chesley is across the Sound. Now, you tell me why someone like him is suddenly worried about the shipyard. You and I both know from growing up around here, no one pays much attention to this base. They send ships in, get repaired, and move them back out.”

Nate moves over to the monitor and takes a closer look.

“What’s going on?” Rask asks, taking a seat at the small table.

Evan shuts the door, motioning for us to take a seat. “I’m not sure where to start, but I have a feeling we’re being watched. Who knows you’re here?” The question is aimed at Nate and Rask.

Nate speaks first, “Carole, Cara, and Master Chief York. I had to tell him, plus Poole. He drove us to the airport.”

“My parents,” Rask says, quietly. “I still call them and tell them stuff.”

“Do you think Rask’s parents are in Chesley’s back pocket?” I ask Evan, who nods.

“It makes sense in my head, but right now the craziest things make sense to me.” He shakes his head and looks over at Rask, who has his eyes focused on the table. Evan bumps his shoulder into Rask. “I don’t mean anything bad, but shit, they don’t give you the time of day. Why would they keep your secrets?”

“They wouldn’t,” Rask admits regretfully, making me feel even worse about his situation. “They never take my calls. Hell, I’m not even sure why I call anymore. I guess I feel like one day my mom will answer and even if she doesn’t say anything I’ll know she’s listening.”

The room grows uncomfortably quiet as Rask’s words set in. I feel sorry for him, as I’m sure he feels for me, but I don’t need to tell him that. We’re lost right now. Hell, even Evan is and he has his family back.

“Can someone please start from the beginning?” Nate all but begs by throwing his hands up in the air.

“Within days of buying this house, I’m sitting outside minding my own business when a helo shows up and drops off Chesley. Now, I’m thinking it’s not a coincidence, but I’m trying to give the Navy the benefit of the doubt. Except days are going by and Chesley’s not leaving … hell, he’s not even moving.”

“How do you know?” Nate interjects

Evan points to the monitor. “I watch there and upstairs on my deck. Plus, the video records so I can watch when I’m bored.”

“That’s really creepy, Evan.” Clearly Nate isn’t as impressed as I am.

“Call it what you want, Nate. All I know is that Chesley isn’t leaving that hangar except for the other night when McCoy and I were screwing around with a suspicious trawler. After we scared them into leaving, Chesley and Abigail left in a black car, returning around six a.m.”

“Isn’t that who we saved?” Rask questions, earning nods from Evan and me.

“Yeah it is.” I clear my throat and take my turn telling the guys what I learned yesterday from Marley. Between the holy shits and motherfuckers, I think I have them convinced we’re in danger, even if neither Evan nor I can prove it.

“Who the hell did we piss off?” Nate asks while all of us shake our heads.

“Wrong CO in O’Keefe? I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t us and someone else,” Rask remarks, throwing out another theory.

“I can’t think of anyone I’ve pissed off,” I add.

“It wasn’t us,” Evan states. “It was River. We’ve never had a dirty mission until he married Frannie, or whatever her real name is, and all of a sudden we’re being sent out to rescue the daughter of the vice president because she was kidnapped by the senator she was having an affair with?”

“Plus, the vice president dies weeks before you guys return, and I’m sent out on a bogus training mission before you come home,” Nate says, adding to the conspiracy.

“Holy shit, this is worse than one of those books my mother used to read,” Rask says, with a shrug.

Evan opens a notebook and pulls out a stack of papers, handing each of us one.

“Here’s what we know. When we left, River had just married Frannie, who happens to be Ingram’s daughter and Lawson’s sister. As far as I can tell, Lawson and Frannie have different mothers, neither of which are or were married to Ingram. River hadn’t known her long from what I remember, and days after they married we’re sent to Cuba on what O’Keefe called a snatch and grab. River tells us a few days, tops. We find the Chesley girl and kill Renato, setting off a chain reaction.

“At this point, O’Keefe should’ve brought another team in to assist, but doesn’t. We stay and uncover a child sex ring funded by a US man, who we can assume is Lawson since he’s currently in jail for raping Abigail Chesley. And again O’Keefe needed to bring in another team, but doesn’t, telling me now that there was a reason for us to stay.”

“Because Lawson was trying to rape or kidnap my daughter,” I continue, as I put in my two cents. “We know he kidnapped Abigail from the emails NCIS found, and my PI was able to locate the police report. By this time, we should’ve been home, but my wife files a police report and now we’re dead.”

BOOK: Save Me
9.65Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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