But as soon as Mike stepped through the doors, he knew that something was wrong. Lexie rushed over to him, her eyes wide and she opened her mouth, ready to tell him their discovery. But Mike had been without Lexie for almost a week. So instead of letting her speak, he took her into his arms and kissed her. Thoroughly. When he was finally satisfied, he looked down at her, silently warning her that the kiss wasn’t the end, only the beginning.
“We need to talk,” she whispered, flustered as always whenever Mike kissed her like that. Or touched her. Or looked at her. He was that powerful!
“What’s wrong?” Derick demanded, standing off to one side as he watched Lexie, still in Mike’s arms, and Abby who was clenching her hands together.
Zeke came through the door next and dropped his pack at his feet, rushing over to his wife. “What’s wrong, honey? Tell me! Is it the baby?”
She covered his hand where they rested on her belly. “The baby and I are perfectly fine,” she told him, lifting up onto her toes to kiss him, to reassure him. He was just over six feet, five inches tall and built like a linebacker. But he was also one of the kindest, gentlest, most seductive men she’d ever known.
“Then tell me what’s wrong. I can see the worry in your eyes.”
She reached up, touching his rough jawline. The guys didn’t normally have time to shave during their missions, and she loved the scruff. It suited him, she thought. “Wait for Derick. He needs to…”
Derick appeared at Zeke’s side, his eyes narrowed as he took in the scene. “What do I need to know? Jolene? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine!” Abby reassured him, reaching out to squeeze his hand comfortingly. “We’ve talked with her several times and we stopped by one night and ate all of Zeke’s caramel apple cookies.”
“And wine!” Lexie added with a grin towards Abby, who glowered at her friend. “Yes. And wine.”
Zeke growled and Abby rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I had lemonade. I’m a doctor, big guy. Do you seriously think I’d endanger our child by drinking wine?”
“No,” he replied, looking appeased and slightly ashamed. He moved behind her and kissed her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist with both hands on her belly. “Sorry about that.”
She huffed, but turned back to Derick. Joe, their friend and the other officer in their group, plus General Kelly, the leader of the teams, came into their circle.
“It’s about Jolene though.”
Derick moved closer. “What’s wrong?”
Abby glanced at Lexie who nodded. “Tell him,” she coaxed. “He needs to know.”
“What do I need to know?”
“She’s fine,” Abby soothed again. “But she’s been hurt in the past, Derick. I suspect that someone abused her. A lot. The signs are all there.”
Derick’s body tightened at the thought of his precious Jolene being hurt by anyone. “How so?”
Abby stepped closer. “I suspect she’s been beaten by her husband.”
“She’s not married!” he snapped, furious at the thought of anyone having a claim on Jolene.
Lexie nodded. “I agree. But I went ahead and did some research. I hope you don’t mind, but there was just something…I don’t know. Something wounded about her.”
Abby nodded. “We like her, Derick. We want to help.”
Derick looked at both women, trying to understand. “What did you do?”
“We just dug into her background a little. We didn’t find anything,” Abby explained. “But you should know that the name Jolene Bickerson doesn’t exist. Or rather…she used to exist. She’s a hundred and four years old.”
Lexie nodded. “At least, that’s the only Jolene Bickerson I could find. There are some variations on that name, but no other woman by that name. And no one in her twenties.”
Derick took it in, sifting through the other details he knew.
General Kelly, shorter than his other officers, but no less authoritative, stepped forward. “What is this woman to you, Major Matlock?” he asked of Derick.
Derick paused. “She’s mine,” he admitted.
General Kelly stared at Derick for a moment, then nodded his head. “Good. Then she’s part of our family.” He turned to the others, including several of the enlisted men who had also gathered, curious about the conversation. “She’s one of us. We protect our family!” Everyone nodded their agreement and all plans for heading to the local bars disappeared. A member of their military family was in trouble and they would stop the threat.
General Kelly turned to Lexie. “Okay, use whatever resources you need in order to discover who this woman is.” He turned to Derick. “Talk to her. Find out what happened to her.”
Derick nodded as well, and turned to leave. His commanding officer was issuing orders to some of the others, but Derick’s only focus was getting to Jolene and finding out what he could.
Chapter 13
Carrie stared at the flowers, not daring to touch them. Daisies. Yellow daisies!
How? How could he have found her again? She’d been so careful! So damned careful! And how in the world had the damned flowers gotten here? She’d been working in the upstairs bedroom all day. Painting! Not even using power tools! So, she should have heard the sound of a delivery person coming down the street and she definitely would have noticed if one had stopped at her house!
So how? How had the daisies appeared on her doorstep?
She didn’t bother to ask why. Carrie knew why! It was John’s way of letting her know that he’d found her again. That he was spying on her. Even as she thought it, the hairs on the back of her neck tightened and she looked around. But she didn’t see anything. There was no movement in the trees or bushes to the right or left of her house.
No birds singing either.
That should have been a hint. But she’d been humming as she painted, eager to see Derick. She’d grown complacent.
And foolish!
The car engine roaring down the street made her flinch, terrified that John was coming.
It took her several moments to realize that the car wasn’t a green SUV, but a big, black pickup truck. Derick!
He was out of his truck and heading towards her before she could process his return. But when it clicked, she ran to him and threw herself into his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, holding her close. She could barely breathe, let alone speak, but Derick seemed to realize her fear.
He didn’t say another word. Instead, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to his truck. Then, he drove away. Away from the danger and those damned flowers!
She stayed in his lap as he drove a few miles down the road. When he pulled over and shut off the engine, Carrie still had her arms wrapped around his neck. Since she still had a death grip on him, he didn’t say anything. He simply held her, sharing his strength with her.
When the trembling finally subsided, she pulled back and wiped her cheeks. Carrie hadn’t realized that she’d started crying, but the evidence was there.
“Talk to me, honey. What happened? Did he come back? Did he find you?”
“He?” she asked, eyes wide.