Protecting Melody (5 page)

“Do you think I can give you a hug now or is she gonna go for my jugular?” Caroline joked.
 

“Come here, woman,” Tex told her in response and reached out and pulled Caroline to him.
 

When Baby didn’t growl or in any other way show aggression, Caroline relaxed in his arms.
 

“It’s so fucking good to see you, Ice. It’s been way too long. You keeping Wolf in line?”
 

“Hell, Tex. You know that’s an impossible task,” Caroline joked back. “Come on, let’s go inside and get you settled. I’m sure you’re tired and want to crash for a few hours. We’ve got the basement all ready for you.”
 

Tex pulled back and smiled at Caroline. She was always wanting to take care of people. He snapped his fingers at Baby as he started walking. Even though he had the leash in his hand, he was trying to teach her to respond to his nonverbal commands. So far, Baby was doing a hell of a good job at it too. The dog was smart. Very smart.
 

As they walked, Wolf clasped Tex on the shoulder. “Good to see you, man. Drive out okay?”
 

“Yeah, long, but good.”
 

The two men looked at each other and Wolf recognized Tex’s sign of “later.” Tex didn’t want to worry Caroline about how he was really feeling or about Melody either. Tex had told Wolf a little bit about what he was doing in California, but not the entire story.
 

They entered the small house and Baby trotted alongside Tex as if she’d known him her entire life. He unclipped the leash as soon as the front door closed behind them. Baby continued to stick close to Tex, not exploring the house or otherwise even looking like she was curious about where they were. She had eyes only for Tex.
 

After sitting at the kitchen table for about thirty minutes, and some general conversation, Caroline called it a night. She kissed Tex on the forehead and lovingly ran her hand over her husband’s head before she left the room. Baby lifted her head and watched Caroline leave the room, but she didn’t otherwise move from her spot at Tex’s feet.
 

The men watched as Caroline disappeared from view, and they waited another couple of minutes. Finally Wolf spoke.
 

“Talk to me. What’s going on? I know you. You wouldn’t drive across the country on a whim. What’s this girl to you?”
 

“Wolf, I’ve never met her, but she’s in trouble.”
 

“Don’t get me wrong. I hate to see women hurting or in trouble myself, but it sounds like you’re in deep with this woman you don’t even know. It’s odd.”
 

“I said I’ve never met her,” Tex repeated, “not that I don’t know her. I’ve been talking to this woman for the last six months. She’s in trouble and I have to help her.”
 

“Okay, tell me what the team can do.”
 

Tex smiled. He missed being a part of the teams. He remembered the instant loyalty and how no one ever questioned another when it was obvious they knew something was off or that it felt right.
 

“Honestly? I don’t know. I’m operating on a hunch at this point. I don’t even know if Melody is even
in
Anaheim.”
 

“You know it’s only a short trip up there if you need us. I’ll let the Commander know that we might need to bug out for a few days if you need us.”
 

“Thanks, Wolf, I appreciate it.”
 

“Speaking of the Commander, he wasn’t thrilled you sicced Julie Lytle on him.”
 

Tex grinned. “Hey, I heard she wanted to talk to Cookie. I figured it’d be good for both of them if she was able to move on from what happened in Mexico.”
 

“You know the Commander and her are together now don’t you?” Wolf asked.
 

Tex simply raised his eyebrows at Wolf.
 

“Of course you do. Jesus, Tex. I shouldn’t be surprised at who you know and how you have an uncanny ability to know what people need before they know they need it, but I still always am.”
 

“Seriously,” Tex commented, “I didn’t know they’d end up together, but if anyone needed some luck in their life, it was Julie. And if Hurt is happy, more power to him. And I fully intend to call in my marker from the Commander if Melody needs it.”
 

“Of course. I know he won’t hesitate to do whatever it is to help you out. You know every one of us on the team owes you. Big.” Knowing if he continued along that vein, Tex wouldn’t appreciate it, Wolf changed the subject. “You taking the dog with you? You can leave her here if you want to.”
 

“Thanks, but I’ll keep her with me.”
 

Baby looked up as if she could tell the men were talking about her and whined. Tex put his hand down and placed it on Baby’s head.
 

“Okay, go on and get some sleep then. Just to give you a head’s up, Caroline’s invited the entire clan over for breakfast tomorrow. I know you’re anxious to get on the road, but I’d appreciate it if you stuck around for a bit. They all want to meet you face-to-face.”
 

Tex sighed in mock aggravation. Truth of the matter was, he was looking forward to meeting all the women as well. “I guess I can spare a few hours.”
 

Wolf laughed as he stood up. “See you in the morning then. I think Ice bought enough food for you to live in the basement for months, but if there’s something you need that’s not down there, help yourself up here. I’ll go out and get your bag.”
 

“Appreciate it.” And Tex did. His leg hurt and he needed to get off it for a while. “There’s a bag of dog food out there too. Baby’ll need it in the morning.”
 

Wolf lifted a hand as he went out the door, not stopping, but acknowledging Tex’s words.
 

“Need to go out once more, Baby?” Tex asked the dog at his feet. When Baby didn’t move, but instead lay down with a sigh, Tex took that as a negative on the trip outside. “Then let’s go catch some sleep. It’s gonna be insane around here in the morning. Those women are crazy.” His words were mocking, but the tone was affectionate.
 

Tex painfully pushed up from the chair at the table and made his way to the basement door. As he started down the stairs, Baby was right by his side. Tex stumbled once, but because Baby was there, pushing all her weight into his good leg, she righted his balance and he didn’t fall. “Thanks, girl.”
 

After Wolf brought his bag down the stairs, and Tex had visited the bathroom, he removed his prosthetic and massaged his stump with the lotion he always carried. It hurt more than usual because of the time spent immobile on the trip cross country.
 

Baby jumped up into the bed next to him. She turned in what seemed like ten circles before she finally deemed her “nest” complete. She sighed once and put her head on Tex’s leg. He leaned down and patted her on the head. “Good girl.”
 

Hoping against hope, Tex leaned over and grabbed his laptop off the bedside table where he’d placed it before taking off his prosthetic. He flipped it open and turned it on, waiting for Wolf’s Wi-Fi to connect.
 

Tex logged into the chat room he and Melody had been using and waited, hoping she’d logged back on. He’d been checking every night, just in case. After a few minutes he sighed, disappointed. She hadn’t . . . at least she hadn’t joined back up with the same username she’d used in the past. If she was on with a different name, Tex had no idea what it was and no one sent him a private message either. Tex turned off the laptop and put it back on the table. He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
 

He had no idea where Melody was or what she was going through, but he hoped wherever it was, she was safe. She needed to stay that way until Tex could get to her. There was no doubt in his mind that he
would
get to her. He had to. There was no other option.
 

Tex smiled as he drove away from Wolf’s house. The last three hours had been crazy, but he wouldn’t have missed it for the world. He hadn’t forgotten Melody or why he was in California, but meeting the women had been better than he could have imagined.
 

As soon as he stepped foot in the kitchen he had to get through the women crying all over him. Fiona had grabbed onto him first and simply sobbed. Tex felt as if he had the most connection with her. He’d talked to her for three days in a row, every four hours, while Cookie and the team had done their best to get back into the country from a mission. Even though Fiona had been hallucinating, she remembered every word of every conversation they’d had.
 

She whispered in his ear as Tex held her, “Thank you for holding on to me when Hunter wasn’t here to do it.”
 

Tex had given her a big squeeze and whispered back, “Anytime you need me, I’m here.”
 

The other women had all taken their turn and hugged him tightly. Tex had a hand in their men being able to find them all and rescue them from horrible situations. Jessyka had even whispered to him before letting him pull away, “Thank you for convincing the guys they needed those tracker thingies too.”
 

After Jess had been lured away by an ex who’d kidnapped Benny, she’d railed at the SEALs for not protecting themselves, and she’d been right. The only reason she’d been taken by her ex was because she’d been protecting Benny. While the SEALs had Tex make tracking devices for their women, they hadn’t bothered with the same for themselves.
 

The men had just shook their heads at the women’s emotional reactions to meeting Tex. Breakfast had been full of laughter and reminiscing of the good times in their lives. Baby had been slipped way too many pieces of bacon and sausage, but never left Tex’s side for more than a moment.
 

Finally, Tex knew it was time to go. As much as he wanted to soak in the happiness that oozed from every pore of his friends’ bodies, he couldn’t get Melody out of his mind. She was out there . . . somewhere. She had no one. No friends like this to have her back. No military buddies to help her out. She was scared, she’d said it herself. And Tex hated that.
 

So as much as he loved being around Caroline and the other women, he had to go. Baby stood up as soon as he had and pranced to the door. It looked like she was just as ready to go as he was.
 

Now Tex’s mind was going a mile a minute. He didn’t really have a plan, except to head to Anaheim and see what he could find. He’d check the hotels and see if Melody had checked in. Of course that would assume she used her real name, Melody Grace, but that was unlikely. He had a photo of her Amy had given him that he could show hotel clerks, but again, they saw so many tourists that they’d probably not be able to recognize Melody from a photo. Tex would probably have to keep relying on his computer skills to narrow down her location, but he felt better knowing he was at least hopefully in the same city as she was.
 

After a couple of hours of driving through the city traffic, Tex pulled into a hotel only blocks from the large amusement park. Everywhere he looked he was reminded where he was. There were Disney characters everywhere. It verified his belief that when Melody had asked him about his favorite character, it was because it was an easy topic of conversation.
 

Tex checked in, making sure to get a room on the bottom floor so it’d be easier to walk Baby. He brought his bag in, as well as Baby’s food and toys. He didn’t bother with the dog bed, knowing Baby would just jump up on the mattress next to him to sleep. Tex put a bowl of water on the floor and smiled as Baby helped herself.
 

He sat at the table in the corner of the room by the window and plugged in his laptop. Tex was going to start with the closed caption companies and see what he could narrow down.
 

After thirty minutes of research and searching, he sat back in the chair. He was close. Very close. He felt it in his bones. It was easy enough to find the company Melody worked for. Just that day Melody had translated a graduation back in Indiana. Apparently the way it worked was whoever hired the service would hook up via Skype. Melody would watch the event, in this case, a graduation, and she would type out whatever was being said. Then whomever was at the graduation who needed the service would use an app and watch her typed words scroll across their smartphone screen as they sat in the audience.
 

It really was amazing, and it was something Tex had never really thought about before. No wonder Mel could type so fast when they were talking. He’d always wondered, but never thought to ask.
 

Since Melody had been online that day translating the graduation ceremony back in Indiana, Tex could trace the Wi-Fi signal back to one of two places in Anaheim. Goosebumps broke out over his skin. He was close. He absently rubbed his left thigh, trying to rub out the phantom pain that was always present. With this bit of news, it looked like a good time to head out for a cup of coffee. If Melody felt safe enough to use the internet once today, he hoped she would again.
 

* * *
 

Melody sat against the wall of her hotel room, behind the bed, with her knees drawn up in front of her. She held her cell phone clenched in one hand and had her head resting on her knees. It was time to move on, but she’d been in California for so long now that she really didn’t want to go. If Melody was honest with herself, all she wanted to do was go home.
 

But whoever was stalking her had found her again, and was even more relentless than before. Melody thought she was being smart by switching hotel rooms every week and using a
different hot-spot for her Internet connection, but whoever was stalking her was apparently smarter than she’d given him credit for. Melody had no idea how he was finding her, but she was tired of it all. She missed Amy. She missed Baby. She missed her parents. She missed Pennsylvania.