Chapter Twenty Eight
Michael gave Carol a report on Lizzy before glancing back at his sleeping wife. Dr. Safder called and checked on her after lunch and he kept giving her nausea meds around the clock to avoid another night like the last one. Carol agreed with him and hurried him out the door.
A chill still permeated the air as if nature refused to make its mind up to turn from winter into spring. He rolled down his window letting the cold air hit him in the face as he went back over the events of the evening before.
The sound of the toilet flushing twice in a row woke him up. Now, accustomed to the house and Lizzy’s habits, she never got up in the middle of the night. He rolled over in bed and listened. When he didn’t hear any footsteps on the wooden floor, he crept out of bed and headed to her room. He slowly opened the door a crack to check if she’d climbed back into bed. When he noticed the sheet on the floor, he guessed what happened.
His heart jumped in his throat as she clung to the toilet bowl to stay upright. He rushed to the sink, wet a cloth, and filled her cup with water. Lizzy barely held her head up as she attempted to take the liquid to wash out her mouth. He steadied her hand and she spit it out. When he carried her to bed, she trembled in his arms as she silently cried. Once he settled her, he climbed into bed lending her his warmth. She drifted off as she warmed up. Michael laid his head next to hers, inhaling the vanilla scent of her shampoo and listening to her breathe in and out.
The moment her breathing eased, and her body relaxed, he knew she had fallen asleep. He nodded off, getting a bit of rest in case she experienced another episode.
Her voice woke him up. She sang sweetly in her sleep, and he listened as she dreamed of holding their son, Conner. The song, a silly nursery rhyme, he told her about that his mother sang to him. She cried and called out for him. Telling him of the sorrow at losing their son. She did everything right and couldn’t save him. Her brow wrinkled as she whispered the fear of finding out he was killed by his captives. He whispered into her ear, promising her he’d never leave her.
Then she said something and broke his heart. She ran because she doubted he could handle her breast cancer. He listened and shamefully pressed her for more details. She didn’t want him to see her and considered leaving him again. What did it take for him to break down the walls his wife had built? Years of foster homes and never staying anywhere for a long length of time played havoc on his wife’s self-esteem. To the outside world, she portrayed a woman of confidence, intelligence, and organization. For him, she sometimes let the wall down, and he saw the scared, hurt, woman within who craved to belong and be loved. If only she knew how much he loved her.
His frustration grew in his chest. Anger rolled in his gut as he drove to Chase’s hospital. His instructor planned to meet him in the PT room with patients needing massage.
As he made the last turn around the bend, his phone rang, and Kassie’s name popped up on the screen.
“Hello, beautiful. I didn’t miss the instructor, did I?” he answered his phone.
“No. He changed his plans. You’ll meet at the team building.” Kassie’s voice sounded a bit strange.
“We’ve never met there,” he told her.
“Don’t mind me, I’m only the messenger,” she offered as an excuse. “I gotta run, a patient needs help. I’ll check on Lizzy later, don’t worry.” Kassie hung up the phone.
He frowned as he turned down the road toward the new building. Chase mentioned the facility to him, yet he never went to see it. Over the last few months, the team had their hands full with the return of Whiskey and Ash, not to mention Leo and Catherine’s situation. Because they only used him as a backup, he didn’t have a reason to enter the building.
He parked his car and walked to the front door as Leo walked out.
“Damn glad to see you, Michael,” Leo grasped his shoulder.
“I’m supposed to meet my instructor here. Did one of the team members get injured?” He followed Leo through the hallways and into the kitchen.
The team sat around the table as if they were waiting for him. A solemn hush descended upon them as he approached.
Chase stood up and made his way to Michael. He extended his hand and shook it as he greeted him.
“Hey man, I’m glad you made it. Kassie will check on Lizzy when she finishes her shift. Carol and Victoria will stay with her until then.”
Micheal seemed confused. “Didn’t Kassie tell you my instructor planned to meet me here?”
Taco grinned, Shadow lowered the brim of his ball cap, Saint crossed his arms and everyone’s attention focused on Leo and Chase.
“Class got cancelled,” Leo ordered. “Follow me.”
The team stood and followed Michael and Chase as Leo led the way to one of the lower floors. Leo placed his palm on the side of the door and Chase stepped inside. Michael followed. Leo nodded to the two men and walked away.
Michael scanned the room. The inside resembled his granny’s parlor. A hutch lined the wall full of dishes. The dining table appeared as if it was set for company. A chandelier hung from a hook in the ceiling. A sideboard contained platters and steel warmers. Pictures hung on the wall. A mirror hung on the opposite one. A large window covered the other side.
“What are we doing here?” Michael moved further into the room wondering why the team building contained such a room.
“We felt you needed to blow off some steam.” Chase handed him a bat. “Tear it down, brother. The team set it up for you with the help of Ivan’s men. We can’t imagine how hard this must be for you to stay strong while watching Lizzy fight. This is your chance to let it go.” Chase closed the door behind him leaving Michael all alone.
He tapped the wood into the palm of his left hand as he walked around the pristine room, noticing the cracks in the dishes, the chips on the rims of the glasses and the peeled off paint on the chairs surrounding the table. Each of them resembling pieces of his marriage, cracked, chipped, peeled and broken. Swinging, he swiped dishes off the table. A temporary rush filled him as they crashed to the floor.
He surveyed the room catching his image on the glass of the China hutch. “I missed Conner’s birth.” He slung his weapon into the glass watching it explode before him. He twisted and slammed it down on one of the chairs knocking the back completely off. He swung the handle down, down, down, beating the wood into submission. “This is for the damn mission which kept me from meeting my son.”
Michael spun and hit the sideboard sending the platters flying. “Why can’t she accept how much I love her?” He whirled the bat into the wood and continued pummeling the sideboard until it lay shredded on the floor. His heart raced; his blood pounded in his veins as he sent the bat flying into the chandelier. Shards of crystals sprayed the room. “For the year I spent searching for her.” He knocked the leg off the table making it sit lopsided. “This one for keeping me from comforting my wife while she buried him.” Another leg shot out. “I missed caring for my wife while she fought cancer alone.” The third leg went down, and the table teetered as if trying to balance itself before finally tipping. The crushed dishes slid across the surface to the floor. One by one they piled on top of each other. He smashed the end of the bat into the dishes, grinding them into splinters.
His chest heaved up and down as he gave one final swing to the table. “You can’t take my wife. We deserve a happily ever after. I refuse to let you have her.” The table cracked in half, and he pounded it to the ground. He let out a guttural cry as he fell to his knees and dropped the bat. Michael felt helpless to save his marriage, and most importantly, his wife. She appeared unbearably weak and fragile after one chemo session, he doubted she’d make it through five more.
The room fell silent as he breathed deeply. The door opened as Chase extended an arm to help him up. Leo stood on his other side with his hand out. He gripped them as he stood.
Saint handed him a wet towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. Shadow offered him a beer while they made their way to the upper floor. Taco worked in the kitchen pulling out baked potatoes from the oven. Matthew nodded to him as he set the table.
The men took their seats and glanced up expectantly at Michael as they waited for him to join them. He walked to the remaining empty chair and pulled it out. The conversation at the table began.
“Taco, the task force wants to meet with you and Matthew on Tuesday. Since you oversaw the last operation with Saint, I want you to represent the team. Saint and Shadow will pay another visit to our friend, Jameson. Chase took in two of the teens rescued from the last trafficking bust. Kassie and Claire will continue working with them. The young woman, we call Stacey, thinks she can identify some of men we detained. Saint and Shadow will take her with Claire to identify them in the morning. She’s obviously terrified and Kassie indicated she’s a runaway. They’re working on figuring out her living situation.” Leo paused as the platter of steaks passed to him. He stabbed one with his fork and Taco scooped out salad from a big bowl into smaller ones. The team began to pass it down the line until everyone received one.
“On the home front, Catherine’s test returned and she’s free from bedrest. On Friday morning, Kassie will give us a demonstration on infant CPR.” The team groaned in unison earning a dirty glance from their leader. Leo turned his attention to Chase. “How’s the egg hatching situation going? Did you do your part yet?”
He wiped his mouth on a napkin before he began, “Yes, smart ass. It’s turned into an emotional week.”
“For her or you?” Leo interjected.
“Both. No, all three of us. Emma lost her favorite lunch box at school. It’s the one I made her with the picture of Rollo on it so she can take him to school with her.”
Taco and Shadow awed at the same time. “Next thing you know, he’ll be recording Martha Stewart.”
Chase sent them the finger. “Shut up. Wait till you have kids. Then Kassie forgot she signed up for room mom for the month and sat up until oh four hundred making crafts for the kids, and gluten free, peanut free and sugar free treats. She cried the entire time saying what kind of mother forgets and we needed to rethink the IVF thing,” he sighed.
The guys all leaned in, “Did you talk her out of it?” asked Taco.
“I said the worst thing you can tell a woman,” he admitted.
“You told her she was fat?” Taco glared at him.
Shadow popped him upside the back of the head.
Chase shook his head. “Thanks, Shadow. No. I asked her to calm down.”
The men around the table let out a collective grunt.
“What happened then?” Leo inquired.
“She informed me if I didn’t plan to help, cart my happy ass to bed. I already stuffed a thousand goodie bags with stickers, treats and a craft. Then I asked what else she needed to complete it and what the other parents in Em’s class brought. She started crying, insisting she missed something for each kid. It turned out she forgot to add name tags to each bag because there are a thousand different ways to spell a kid’s name and if you get it wrong the kid doesn’t feel special. I asked her what happened to the rule we say in our house.”
“Which one?” Shadow sipped his beer.
“You get what you get, and you don’t mind a bit,” Chase answered. “If they all have the same thing, why do they need a name tag? Apparently, it’s the thought and it sent my wife into another crying jag.”
Taco rubbed his hand over his face, “Oh man, I don’t know if I want kids after listening to you guys.”
“If Kassie’s office door is closed, don’t go in. I’m begging you,” Chase pleaded. The group chuckled yet Michael saw the feelings in each of the team’s faces over the woman who they cared for deeply.
Saint leaned forward as he cut up his steak. “Mama’s staying a few weeks and then making her last trip back home. She left Theo the house, against my wishes. She worries he’ll be out on the streets and refuses to sell.”
Michael frowned, “Your brother acts like the polar opposite of you. He tried taking Kassie for money and insinuated he knew all about her.”
Saint shook his head and turned to Chase. “Remind me to apologize to Miss Kassie. I wish mama saw him for what he turned into.”
“From what I heard, PITA and Michael handled him. Maybe next time she’ll do you a favor and shoot him in the ass,” Leo quipped, making the team laugh.
Shadow held his fork in one hand and a knife in the other. “I’m flying home in two weeks. My parents stay on my ass about visiting after my fun funeral with Michael, Kassie, and their entourage. Sure, let’s pretend my brother didn’t sleep with my ex.”
“You need to take some hot chick with you and make them eat their words,” Taco suggested.
“I don’t think I have time to find a woman and ask her to meet my parents.” Shadow sat back in his chair.
“You can pay someone,” he suggested.
“Dude, I’m not paying for a woman, there’s a name for that. That’s called prostitution. I’m not trying to impress any of them.”
Taco took a swig of his beer. “I still haven’t found the taco lady and her truck. I spread out my search within a ten-mile radius of Seattle. She’s disappeared.” Saint and Shadow’s napkins flew in Taco’s direction as the entire team groaned.
“Man, you need to find a new taco stand to stalk. Maybe it’s not her hiding, I think she’s running from you,” Shadow laughed.
“Why do you stay focused on this woman? Surely her tacos aren’t that good,” Saint winked as he drew a swig of beer.
“You got it all wrong. The new guy she’s working with, I can’t put my finger on it, there’s something about him. Maybe she got mixed up in something. You don’t voluntarily leave a prime location for a food truck,” Taco insisted. “Hey Matt, dude, can you see if we can find a traffic cam with her truck on some stored footage? Then we can use the plates to track her down.”
“First of all, my name’s Matthew, not Matt. Second, have you heard of a word called stalking? It’s illegal, you know.”
“What if she’s in some kind of trouble? We might be saving her,” he insisted.
Saint chuckled, “She’s probably suffering from a financial loss without your business keeping her entire food truck afloat.”
Leo shook his head. “You can work on the taco truck departure on your own time. Matthew, any news on José or Ragu?”
“Ragu spent the night in a cheap motel room in Portland two weeks ago. Then he disappeared. We’ll have the latest photo ID of him tomorrow by the team meeting. José’s mother died from cirrhosis of the liver six months ago. The kid attempted to apply for state help and social services. They didn’t receive any assistance until the last couple of months before her death. They lost their house, and the state buried his mom. The neighbors said he came home after the funeral, changed, and left the residence and no one’s seen him since. A month before his mother died, the bank records show they closed the account. The last balance in the account showed one hundred and three dollars and fifty-two cents.”
The team remained silent, all of them worried about the teen who saved Kassie at the hospital. Leo paused, “Let’s keep this info from Kassie for now. I don’t want her stressed with everything else going on.”
The team turned expectantly to Michael. Chase took the lead and broke the ice.
“We usually meet around lunch once a week and go over any updates for our families since we watch over one another. It’s a time to shoot the shit without our women and kids around. Now that you and Lizzy live here, it’ll make it easier for you to join us. I doubt you’ll carry the same caseload here as you did in Seattle. I’ll give you the schedule and you can plan your day around your patients at the hospital and the ones in town. You aren’t expected to give your life story, however, the guys asked about an update on Lizzy.”
Michael cleared his throat. Completely unprepared to talk about the woman he loved after he decimated the demolition room. “Ugh, Lizzy experienced a rough night last night. She slept most of the day.”
Shadow placed his elbows on the table and dangled his bottle of beer between his fingers. “Can we help you in any way? We’re available for grocery runs, meal drop offs, or if you want a break. Caregiving is tough and you gotta find your own outlet. You really tore our set up to shit and we’re happy it helped. You’ll need another way to handle things. You can join us for PT.”
“I appreciate it. It felt good to hit something. When can I help you clean up the mess?” Michael relaxed and sipped his beer.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Ivan’s punishing a group of his slackers. He ordered them to find the furniture and dishes. We set it up and now he’ll make them clean up. We came up with the idea and discussed it amongst ourselves when he visited. He insisted on us allowing him to punish his men.” Leo chewed a bite of his steak.
“Do you ever wonder what they do or not do to get punished?”
The team chuckled good naturedly.
Leo stood from the table once his men finished their meals. “We don’t ask. It works for both teams. Matthew did an extensive deep dive and can’t find anything showing Victoria or Ivan affiliated with anything illegal. Their businesses appear on the up and up. They’ve saved our asses more than once and we prefer to keep things the way they are.”
Chase stood and yanked his head in the direction Leo started to walk, indicating for Michael to follow. The rest of the men stood and began to clear the items from the table. He stood and walked alongside his friend. They went through the team’s training room and into the locker room. Leo stopped in front of the lockers. “It occurred to us you’ve never set foot in the facility, and we wanted you to know you have a place here with us.” He tapped on the locker behind him, and Michael noticed the plaque on the door with his name in bold letters.
“You only use me as a backup. You didn’t need to give me a locker,” he told the two men in surprise.
Leo’s jaw tightened as he stared at Michael. “I understand your reasoning, and I apologize for the last few months. When we rescued Ash and Whiskey, things started getting crazy here. Then Catherine’s pregnancy took me by surprise. When the sledding accident occurred, you wasted no time getting to our kids and even helping with Whiskey while Chase comforted Em and made the calls. You even helped with Melody while I dealt with Catherine and her bleeding. Now, you’re settled, and we want you to know you’re a part of our family. We’ve got your back. Welcome home, brother.” He lightly punched his arm and took his leave.