“Old, huh? We can’t be having that. Do you need anything brought in?”
I shake my head. “No, just you.”
Clay stands up from the bed and picks up his jacket. He’s hardly left my side since I woke up. His brother brought him in clothes and toiletries and he’s just used my shower room.
“Okay then. Call if you need me.” He leans into me and kisses me gently on the lips. “I love you,” he mouths so only I can see.
“Ditto,” I say.
“Look after her.” Clay points from Carrick to me before he turns on his heels.
“Clay,” I call out as he reaches the door. He looks over his shoulder and smiles at me. “I love you.”
I saw the look of disappointment when I didn’t say the words a moment ago. He might think he’s good at hiding emotions from me, but I can read him like a book.
“I love you too, short stuff.”
“Hallelujah,” Carrick sings.
Clay leaves my room laughing, but I pick up the straw from my table and launch it at my brother. “You never grow up.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
And as much as it pains me to agree with my brother, he has a point. We only have one life. We need to live it, have fun, and enjoy every moment, because today is here but tomorrow is never guaranteed. I know only too well how quickly things can change the path we’re walking on.
Chapter 19
Clay
Leaving Shay in the hospital was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Even harder than when I left her in the army without me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to settle now unless I know where she is every moment of every day.
Today is the first day I’ve driven my truck in a while. I’ve taken up residence at the hospital by Shay’s side. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
I climb out of my truck and everything looks the same. It’s quiet, peaceful, and somewhere I’ve come to call home.
“Hey, stranger,” shouts Aria as she walks toward me, pushing Sharlynn’s stroller.
“Hey, how is my favorite girl doing?” I peek inside at my niece all cozy.
“I’m good, but I’m guessing you’re not talking about me.” She winks at me. “I didn’t expect to see you out here.”
“I’ve been summoned home. You wouldn’t know what that’s all about, would you?”
“I haven’t heard a thing.”
“You not coming in?” I point over to the office building.
She shakes her head. “Good luck in there. It was crazy when I popped in yesterday.” She raises her eyebrow and keeps walking.
Okay then. Curiosity gets the better of me and I walk, or rather jog, over to the office door. I pause on opening the door, but no one is shouting, screaming, or throwing things. I shrug and carry on in. The minute I walk into the main room, everyone looks up at me. There is paper scattered, white boards propped up everywhere. It’s chaos.
“What’s going on?” I ask no one in particular.
Caleb comes out of his office, shaking his head. “Oh, hey. You’re back. How’s Shay?”
“Getting better. She wants to go home. What’s going on here? Why the summons?”
“Because all the digging we’ve done, hacking into systems, breaking the goddamn law, there is nothing from the army that ordered the transport to get Shay home. Nothing. Nada. I’ve spoken with three top guys; a sergeant major, a first sergeant, and a command sergeant, and they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. They only heard about Shay’s retrieval when it went viral on social media and the press picked it up. And, before you ask, I have no idea how they got wind of the news.”
“So, how did she get home? Who was with her?” I throw down my keys and sit on the edge of a desk.
“No one knows, and I doubt Shay will be able to tell us much considering she was out of it the night she was taken to the hospital.”
I sigh. Just when we think we’re getting somewhere; more pieces seem missing from this puzzle.
“I don’t think we’ll get much from Shay.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“What? Why?” asks Caleb.
“She won’t admit it, but I think she has been threatened into silence. A couple of times we’ve got into conversations about her time over there, and every time she tells me that she can’t talk about it because she needs to keep her loved ones safe.”
“This is getting more and more complicated by the second. Did she give you anything?”
“Keir somebody…” A few of my team stop what they’re doing and pay attention, because digging into people is what they’re good at. “He’s a doctor or medical person, captured in similar circumstances to Shay. He helped her the best he could, but she doesn’t know where he’s from. No military info about him either.”
“Millions of people are medically trained and called Keir, but I’ll start with army staff that have gone MIA, or like Shay, pronounced dead,” says Amber.
“What are we looking at here?” asks Chris as he joins us.
Caleb blows out a breath and throws down a folder. “Honestly, I have no idea. Someone or something is corrupt. Something illegal is going down somewhere. We just need to figure it out.”
“Without Shay talking, we have nothing.” I pace back and forth. “I don’t understand it, because she’s never been the type to be bullied before.”
“You have no idea what she’s faced, bro.” Chris shrugs and folds his frame into a chair.
“Do I badger her for info? Do I leave it? Someone tell me, because I’m out of my depth here.”
Caleb shrugs. “I don’t think any of us can leave it, not now. Not when we know American soldiers are out there against their will. Aria once told me that the best feeling out of her whole ordeal was knowing that her kidnapper was charged and proven guilty. Shay might need that closure, bro. Just because she’s keeping quiet to keep her loved ones safe doesn’t mean she wants to be quiet.”
I twirl on my heels and run my hands through my hair. “That’s it. We keep her family here; we protect them until this is all taken care of. Then Shay can talk.”
“Do we have enough staff to cover security at the hospital and here?” Chris sits forward.
“I’ll do the hospital detail. I just need you guys to keep Carrick and Shay’s parents safe.”
“That we can do.” Chris and Caleb bump their fists together.
“I’m going to go home and get my laptop; I can keep up with you all via that. I can also do some digging myself.”
Caleb nods. “We’ll check in with each other every evening at six p.m., unless we have something major to share before that point.”
“Can you guys follow me to the hospital? That way Shay’s parents have a security detail coming back.”
“Sure,” Caleb agrees.
“I might also need the backup when I break our plan to Shay.”
I can hear her already. She didn’t get nicknamed the spitfire in our squad for no reason.
“And that’s why I’m single.” Chris stands and walks away into his office.