Breaking Free (37 page)

“I have to go, Marjorie’s coming out.”

“Call me on my cell and keep me posted. Try and convince her to come here and do the paperwork for the MPO.”

“I’ll call if there’s a problem. We’ll be there to get Brett in a little while.”

When they got to the base, he’d insist they stay until he could leave.

I love you
was right there on the tip of his tongue when she said bye and hung up. Hawk swore. Why was that so fucking hard for him? Because every time he said it, it made him more and more vulnerable. Why was it he could deal with people shooting at him, trying to kill him, with a sort of controlled distance, and Zoe could twist him up inside with just a word or a look?

His finger was poised over the button to call her back when someone tapped on the door.

Langley poked his head in. “Captain Jackson wants us in his office ASAP.”

Hawk rose to his feet and strode around the desk. “He’s just the man I need to speak to. We have a problem.”

****

Hawk paced the outer office as he waited for Zoe and Marjorie to arrive. He turned as Brett entered the office, a gym bag slung over his shoulder. “That was a short ride, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, there and back in twenty-four hours.”

“Good. Zoe’s been driving me crazy pacing the floors waiting for you to call. You did call?”

The big brother protective vibe Cutter was putting off brought the first smile in days to Hawk’s lips. “I’ve spoken to her, but not about being back. I’ve been tied up here dealing with this thing about Flash.”

Hawk scrubbed a hand over his face. He wasn’t about to air team business in front of the office staff. “Come into my office.” He turned and led the way and closed the door behind them.

“Marjorie called her, Derrick beat her up,” he said.

“Jesus.” Brett shook his head.

“They haven’t found him, yet. I have men out checking all the bars and any other hangouts where they might find him. No luck so far.”

Brett’s frown deepened.

“You don’t know of any place he might go, do you?”

“No. Is he in his car or on his motorcycle?”

“His bike is in the garage at the apartment complex. He’s in his car.”

“You’ve alerted the civilian police?”

“Marjorie has.”

Brett nodded. “Good. Enough is enough. I tried to talk to him, convince him to see someone the whole time we were ‘in the real world’.” Brett’s eyes narrowed in thought. He rubbed his forehead, the gesture at odds with the frozen stillness of the rest of him.

“What is it?” Hawk asked. Was he remembering something?

“There was something---”Pain flickered across his face. “I can’t get it to come. It’s like chasing shadows. I get a glimpse of something, it’s like an impression or a feeling, then it dissolves.”

Hawk hid his disappointment and slapped him on the back. “It’ll come, Brett.”

Brett shook his head. “Fuck! I hope so. It’s fucking driving me crazy.” He drew a deep breath. “What about Flash?”

“They haven’t found him. Either he’s in the wind or something’s happened to him.”

Brett slumped into a seat in front of Hawk’s desk.

“Well, with me out on medical, and Flash and Derrick gone, it may take a few weeks for them to transfer in replacements,” Brett said.

“Yeah, I’ve thought of that, too.” Hawk’s smile was grim. It might give him time to get things squared away with Zoe. Which was the one positive thing he had to hold on to in an otherwise fucked up situation.

But how many months would it take of evaluating his command skills before they dumped him into some shit detail? The men in a team were only as good as the commanding officer they followed. If he set the bar high enough. It had been his responsibility to keep these guys in line. To make sure they were the best they could be in every way. What did it say about his command skills that he’d been in the dark about so many things?

“Well this is a real cluster fuck,” Brett said after a long silence.

“Pretty well sums it up from my perspective, too.”

CHAPTER 27

Zoe eyed the front of the building housing Hawk’s office. She had bats in her belly just as Bowie had described, but not because she was going to jump out of a plane. Hawk was here instead of off somewhere getting shot at. Thank God.

Marjorie moved restlessly beside her. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“Yes, I am, Marjorie. Derrick is here on post more than he’s out in the civilian world. They have as good a chance of finding him as the police. Hawk said they’d look for him if you file an MPO.”

Marjorie nodded.

“Let’s get this done and go home. Okay?” Zoe urged.

With another nod Marjorie reached for the door handle.

Zoe followed suit. The woman needed her support but the anxiety she experienced just driving around with her had kept her nerves stretched taut as an exercise band. She’d been looking in her rearview mirror expecting to see Derrick behind them all day. She’d even thought she’d caught a glimpse of his vehicle two or three times.

As they got out of the car, Hawk and Brett exited the building with several other men and strode their way.

Hawk strode toward her, his normal fluid movements quick and purposeful. Zoe noticed the lines of tiredness around his eyes and mouth. Concern had her clenching her hands, but she held off touching him. Would he want her to show any open affection in front of the men?

“I have to leave,” Hawk said as he reached them. “Something’s come up.”

Zoe’s rapid build toward joy at seeing him snapped back to disappointment with the velocity of a bungee cord. Were they going wheels up again?

“Marjorie, Brett will escort you to Ensign James. He’ll help you fill out the MPO.” His gaze shifted to Zoe. “Zoe---”Hawk’s voice sounded husky. His hand brushed down the back of her arm to her elbow. Her pulse leapt at her throat and wrists as he snagged her arm and pulled her aside. “It’s just for a few hours,” he said. “Brett will fill you in on everything. He’ll stay at the house with you both until I get there. I emptied the refrigerator before I left, but there’s stuff in the freezer to eat.”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry, babe. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The look of genuine caring in his eyes, being close to him, eased her anxiety and loosened the knot of tension in her stomach. “It’s all right. As long as you’re safe that’s all that matters.”

Hawk brushed her lips with a quick kiss. “This isn’t anything dangerous.”

She offered him a smile.

He climbed into a Humvee with four other men and they drove off.

“What happened?” she asked Brett as the vehicle turned a curve and was lost from sight.

“They found Flash’s car. The one he reported stolen. The front seat was covered in blood.”

Zoe bit her lip. “Are you sure it was his?”

“Yeah. He may have found the guys who took it.” Brett caught her arm and offered his other to Marjorie.

She slipped a tentative hand through his elbow.

He continued as he ushered them down the sidewalk to the front door. “Either way they’re going to do DNA and see if it matches his.”

“So he might not have gone AWOL,” Zoe said.

“Maybe not. He may have run into some trouble instead.”

Zoe drew a deep breath her thoughts spinning with possibilities. Would they ever know anything for certain?

****

In the restaurant parking lot, Zoe pulled next to Marjorie’s car.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right to drive, Brett?” she asked as she turned to look over her shoulder at her brother. He wasn’t supposed to be behind the wheel, for at least another five weeks, if then. Marjorie, sitting silently beside her, was in no shape to drive. Short of making another trip to pick up the car later, to keep it from being towed, Zoe didn’t know what else to do.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. There’s no sense in Marjorie worrying about her car and it’ll save time if we go ahead and pick it up right now.”

“Be careful,” Zoe warned as he got out of the car. He waved her off, and with Marjorie’s keys in hand, walked to her vehicle.

Sometime later as Zoe turned onto the street to Hawk’s house, Marjorie broke the lengthy silence. “I appreciate your helping me.” Even with the sunglasses obscuring part of her face, Zoe could see the bruises growing more pronounced by the hour. The woman looked exhausted.

“You’re welcome.” Zoe sought something encouraging to add. “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but things will get better. Once you feel better physically you’ll be able to deal with the emotional things, too. Just take it moment to moment right now.”

Marjorie nodded.

Brett pulled up behind them in the driveway. He held up a hand to stop them at the porch and took the key Hawk had given her. “Let me go in first, Zoe.”

He opened the front door and slipped inside to disarm the alarm. She paused there with Marjorie at the threshold and looked around the living room. It appeared the same but harbored an empty air, as though no one lived there. Brett made a motion with his hand, meaning stay here. He disappeared down the hall.

He returned after only a moment. “Everything looks secure up here. I’ll check Hawk’s weight room under the sun room.”

Zoe followed him through the kitchen. “I’ll fix us something to eat.” Perhaps food would distract Marjorie while they waited. She’d had nothing to eat all afternoon. Zoe’s stomach growled. Neither of them had. “Would you like to lie down until it’s ready?” she asked.

Marjorie took off her sunglasses and tentatively touched the bruised area along her cheekbone. “Yeah, I think I would. I’m a little tired.” Her eyelid and the tissue around it was purple, the eye itself nearly swollen shut.

Zoe suppressed the urge to flinch and put an arm around Marjorie’s waist. “I’ll get you some ice. It will help with the swelling.”

Brett returned from the sunroom and Marjorie held a hand up to shield that side of her face from him.

His gaze skimmed over her, then away, his mouth tightening. “All clear.”

“Come on. I’ll show you to a room,” Zoe said.

She got Marjorie settled on the bed in her old room and went to the kitchen to get some ice.

Brett leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “You know, what we do--who we are, is about saving as many lives as we can. It has nothing to do with senseless violence against innocent people.”

“I know.” Zoe plucked a quart sized plastic bag from a box in one of the cabinets and filled it with ice. She wrapped it in a lightweight dishtowel. “Derrick has had some issues since your unit came back from Iraq.”

“Derrick had issues before we left for Iraq. If he tries to use what happened over there as an excuse---”

Zoe glanced up as he trailed off.

“Did you know he was abusive, Brett?” she asked.

“I suspected something with his last girlfriend. I tried to talk him into some counseling. Then there was something---”His gaze shifted away from Zoe and he grew silent. A familiar look of concentration settled on his face as he grappled with a memory. “Something happened over there I was going to talk to Hawk about. It’ll come back to me.” He swore, a frustrated scowl marring his features.

He straightened and reached for the makeshift icepack. “I’ll take this to Marjorie for you. She needs to know not all of us are like that.”

It was going to take more than a few acts of kindness for Marjorie to regain what Derrick Armstrong had taken from her. But she’d have to start somewhere. “Take her some Ibuprofen too, it will take down some of the swelling.” He filled a glass of water, found the tablets and left the room.

Zoe opened the freezer door and rummaged through for something to thaw in the microwave and fix. A package of chicken breasts lay on top of a bag of rice. She took both out and placed them on the counter.

A puddle of water on the floor had her frowning. Had the line for the icemaker sprung a leak? Or had something tipped over and spilled as she opened the door? She closed the freezer door to peer closer. She caught a whiff of chlorine as the toe of a man’s shoe came into sight next to her own. Shock like an electric jolt flashed through her. She grabbed the package of chicken breasts from the counter and swung them. Derrick blocked the blow with his forearm and the package went flying.

Zoe’s startled squeak cut off as he covered her mouth with a hand that easily obscured the lower half of her face. Something hard dug into her side and she glimpsed the grip of a gun he thrust into her. Her insides turned to liquid. She bent away from him bowing her back against the counter.

The hot tub. He’d hidden in the hot tub. Had he been there all the time?

His wet clothes pressed against hers. Her blouse and pants absorbed the clammy moisture and she shivered. He raised a gun that looked like a cannon and rested the barrel against her temple. His body pushed against hers, hard and unyielding, pinning her to the counter.

“You know that little surprise I left for you in the living room a couple of weeks ago?”