Protecting Tex (SEAL of Protection #12)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Tex had no idea what time it was. Sometime in the afternoon, he thought. He’d been kept in the emergency room for hours. The doctors discussed surgery on his calf, but after cleaning it up and pumping him full of antibiotics for hours, they’d agreed to discharge him with the promise that if his leg got worse, he’d come back immediately.

His face hurt from all the beatings, a couple of his ribs were thankfully only cracked, not broken. His nose was broken. His hearing had mostly returned to normal, and while one eye was still swollen, he could see out of it. All in all, he’d been lucky. He hurt, there was no doubt about that, but he could be dead. He’d take the injuries over the alternative any day.

Tex was more than happy to agree to come back to the hospital if his leg got worse or if the pain got too bad. He knew better than anyone how important the health of his remaining leg was. He wasn’t going to take any chances on losing it too. But he needed to be home. With his wife. In his own bed.

His entire world had been rocked in the last week, and as much as he loved and appreciated his friends, he needed some time with just Melody.

His daughters had both come to the hospital and cried when they’d seen him. Tex had even teared up a bit himself. Melody had held herself together, but he had a feeling when she was away from their daughters and friends, she’d let her true emotions show. And he was more than ready for that. He felt the same.

The painkillers coursing through his veins were making Tex feel a little floaty. Disconnected from what happened. But not so disconnected that he didn’t want to hear everything that had happened since he and Melody had been snatched. How his friends found out what happened, what everyone had done to find him, how they’d found him, about Rook’s accomplices, and what was happening with the police.

He didn’t want to get into it in the hospital, because there simply wasn’t any length of time when he wasn’t constantly being interrupted by nurses and doctors coming and going as they took blood, ran tests, and generally did their best to bring him back to his normal self.

There had been no sign of his prosthetic in the abandoned house, which sucked, because the one he’d been wearing when he was kidnapped was one of his favorites. But he had a few extra legs at home that he could use until he replaced his best one.

He and Melody were quiet as they sat in the back of Wolf’s rental car, as he drove them back to his house. Tex gazed out the window while he held his wife’s hand and marveled at how the places he saw on a daily basis seemed…new somehow. As if he was seeing them again for the first time.

The fact that Tex now had an idea of the feelings the people he helped experienced was both a blessing and a curse. He felt as if he could be more empathetic now toward both whoever he was looking for, as well as their loved ones. But knowing what they might be going through would also make his job a little bit harder, because it would put that much more pressure on him.

Tex sighed.

“You okay?” Melody asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“I am now that I’m back with you,” he told her honestly.

Melody leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his biceps as she snuggled into him.

Tex had been able to get a sponge bath while in the hospital, but he longed for a proper shower. To rinse off the filth of that damn box once and for all. But first, he needed answers.

Wolf pulled into Tex’s driveway and stopped.

Immediately, the car was surrounded by his friends. Everyone hovered, wanting to help in some way.

“Everyone back up,” Melody ordered, as she exited and went around to Tex’s side of the vehicle. Caroline got the wheelchair they’d rented at the hospital out of the back of the car and brought it around to Tex’s side.

Expertly, as if he’d done the same thing thousands of times before, Tex transferred himself into the chair. It brought back memories of right after he’d lost his leg, when he’d been wheelchair bound before getting his prosthetic.

Melody got behind him to push the chair, the only person Tex would now allow to do that for him, and they entered the house like a damn parade…everyone following behind Tex as if he was the leader of the band or something. It irritated him beyond measure, which was how he knew he had to find out the information he needed, then close himself in his bedroom with his wife for a few hours. He’d be better able to deal with everyone’s concern after taking a nap while holding Melody.

She seemed to make everything better. Always had, even though Tex hadn’t realized quite how much until right this moment.

He wheeled himself into the living room and transferred himself onto the couch. He’d be damned if he sat in the stupid wheelchair while he learned all the details about his kidnapping. Melody fussed a bit as she got a pillow to put under his leg, which he propped up on the coffee table in front of him.

“Where are Hope and Akilah?” he asked Melody, as everyone hovered around, getting settled.

“Amy has them. She took them from the hospital back to her house. She’ll feed them, pack up their stuff, then bring them back here…giving you time to talk to everyone and get answers.”

Again, his wife knew him so well. She was well aware he needed to talk about what happened, get all the details, without his kids being traumatized by overhearing any of it. He kissed her, letting his lips linger on hers. How he’d hit the jackpot with this woman, Tex had no idea, but he was even more thankful right this moment than he’d ever been.

Tex looked around the room. At Wolf sitting in the oversized chair with Caroline on his lap. At Baker leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, while his wife Jodelle worked with Annie to hand out bottles of water and soft drinks for those who wanted them. At Beth and Cade, who were next to Melody on the couch. It made for a tight fit with the four of them sitting there, but Tex wasn’t complaining that his wife was plastered against his side.

Wolf’s former teammates were scattered around the room. Mostly standing, as if too antsy to sit on the floor or the hearth of the fireplace.

The urge to say thank you again was on the tip of his tongue, but remembering Mozart’s warning, he kept the words to himself. He’d find a way to thank everyone in this room one way or another. As well as everyone who wasn’t physically there who’d also worked to find him…like Ryleigh and Rex. As well as those who’d donated money toward his ransom. If it took him the rest of his life, Tex would backtrack every donation and personally make sure the person who sent it knew how appreciated the gesture had been.

He’d have to be sneaky about it, because if he suddenly became the “thank you” man, people would freak.

That thought made him smile a little. Then he sobered.

“All right, lay it on me. Don’t leave out a damn thing either. The good, bad, and ugly, I want it all,” he ordered firmly. Turning to Melody, he said, “You first, Mel. What happened after you were pushed out of that fucking van?”

Seeing the cast on Melody’s arm and the fading bruises had been difficult enough, but hearing firsthand what she’d gone through made Tex want to hurl. How she’d suffered abrasions all along her side. How terrified she’d been for those seconds before she got her hood off, pushed onto a busy road and thinking she was about to get run over. The moment she’d spotted that brick with the note wrapped around it, but was then forced to leave it as she walked to get help.

Tex told the group how he’d been beaten when he’d arrived at the house, but no one had taken his hood off until after they’d cut away his clothes and ordered him to remove his prosthetic. How he’d been made to hop into the box while his captors laughed.

“We’re going to find them. All of them,” Baker said, hatred in his tone.

“The cops are already on it,” Truck said. “Rook sang like a canary, and I got most of the names before he…passed away.”

Tex gazed at the large man and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t need to know the details of what Truck had done to get the information about the other men who’d helped Rook. But he did need to know one thing. “Did he suffer?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. The asshole suffered.”

“I should feel bad about that, knowing what he dealt with,” Melody said quietly from Tex’s side. “That he’d been going through the anguish of never knowing what happened to his wife…but that didn’t give him the right to do what he did to you.”

“And you,” Tex insisted.

Melody shrugged. “A broken arm is nothing compared to what happened to you.”

“We aren’t going to compare horror stories,” Tex said firmly. “You were traumatized just as I was.”

She nodded in acquiescence.

“Tell me more about Asher Rook,” Tex said, looking at Beth. “What did you and Ryleigh find out about him?”

“Apparently, he tracked you down and asked for your help finding his wife, around the same time you were knee-deep looking for Kalee,” Beth said.

Tex nodded. He remembered that time. He’d become almost as obsessed as Phantom with finding the woman who’d grabbed hold of his friend’s heart and wouldn’t let go. “I vaguely remember Rook now,” he mused. “He didn’t have much information, other than she disappeared while at a football game. I did contact the detective on the case up in Pittsburgh, and he told me he had a team of four men looking into videos from the stadium, and he had high hopes they’d be able to find something. It was his opinion that she’d disappeared on purpose. I guess Rook was abusive…something he didn’t tell me, of course. The detective guessed she’d just had enough. I suspected going to the game was a ruse, and she got on a bus or something and got the hell out of town and away from him. Finding Kalee Solberg was much more important than tracking down an abused wife who had every right to get away from a man who was hurting her.”

“I’d say you more than vaguely remember him,” Benny said with a chuckle.

Tex shrugged. As he’d begun speaking about the missing woman, more and more of the details came back to him. “So… Rook took me hostage because he was pissed at me?” Tex asked the room in general.

“Pretty much,” Truck said with a nod. “I asked him why he took Melody too, and he said because he wanted you to suffer, knowing your wife was hurt and you couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”

“He succeeded in that, damn him,” Tex muttered.

“He learned enough from the video games he loved to play to make it seem like he was a professional hit man or something,” Wolf said. “He hired people he’d made friends with online. Others like him, who spent hours playing those real-life simulation war games. It’s scary how well they were able to execute their plan.”

“Yeah, it was,” Tex agreed, remembering how they’d beat on him every time he was dragged out of that box. “Where are these men now?”

“They’ll be dealt with,” Truck said, his voice hard.

That was enough for Tex. For once, he was going to let others deal with the people who’d kidnapped him and Melody. He needed to put this behind him. But he was going to find the SEAL who participated in his beating. That man was his to find and punish. No one tarnished the SEAL name. No one. “How’d you find me?” he asked, aiming the question at Beth.

She explained how Ryleigh had come up with the possible locations where he could be held, and how his friends had split up to search them.

“We were stretched a little thin, but I didn’t want to wait for anyone else to fly out here,” Wolf explained. “You should know that there were at least half a dozen teams that offered to do just that. The rest of Truck’s team, Rocco and his SEALs, Trigger and his Deltas. Rex offered to send his Mountain Mercenaries, and I even had a call from Bull over in Indianapolis, who was about to get on a plane with his Silverstone team. Not only that, but I think every single person you’ve ever helped was more than willing to come out here as well. But I thought the last thing we needed—Melody needed—was dozens of people to play hostess for. Not that anyone would expect that, but we all know your wife, and she’d want to personally make sure each and every person who came was fed and aware of her gratitude.”

Tex looked down at Melody. One of the many reasons he loved her was because of her huge heart. And he could totally see her trying to make sure everyone’s belly was full and they were taken care of, instead of looking after herself.

“Anyway, as I was saying, we were running a little thin, but we all knew to immediately contact the others if we found something,” Wolf told Tex. “And I put the rest of my guys on Melody.”

“Wait— on her?” Tex asked, confused. “She wasn’t here at home, waiting to see if you found me?”

An uneasy silence greeted his question.

Tex turned to his wife. “Mel?”

“It wasn’t a huge deal. We were told that the money drop was supposed to take place at The Sugar Shack. You know, that abandoned factory? And I was the one who was supposed to take the money.”

Tex felt as if his head was about to explode. He pinned an irate gaze on Wolf. “You let her go to a money drop? Are you insane ?”

“It was obvious he wasn’t going to be there,” Beth piped in. “It’s not as if she could actually get her hands on a billion dollars, much less lug it to a drop in cash. It wouldn’t even fit in the SUV.”

“We came back to the house as soon as we realized The Sugar Shack was deserted,” Melody told him calmly.

Tex felt anything but calm, but he reminded himself that everything turned out all right in the end. Melody was fine, and he would be soon. He’d still never wanted to pace so much in his entire life. “I can’t believe he asked for a billion dollars,” he said, shaking his head. “He had to know getting that much money was impossible.”

“Actually…” Abe started. “Last I heard, there was a billion and some change in the account Ryleigh set up to take donations.”

Tex’s eyes widened. “Say again?” He was aware people had donated money toward the ransom, but he hadn’t known how much was raised.

“When people heard that you were in trouble, that the kidnapper demanded money, they were more than happy to donate. And to contact people who have more money than they can ever spend in one lifetime. You’ve touched so many people, Tex, they all wanted to give back in some way,” Caroline explained. “And those you haven’t helped, apparently wanted to make a donation in case they might need you and your skills in the future.”

Tex couldn’t believe what he was hearing. First that Rook had the balls to demand a billion dollars as a ransom, and second that it had actually been raised. It was going to take a hell of a long time to thank each and every person who’d donated. Longer than he’d anticipated.

“Anyway, I went to The Sugar Shack with some duffel bags packed with towels, just in case he was there, but as we thought, the area was completely deserted. No sign of anyone,” Melody explained. “Abe, Cookie, Benny, and Mozart were all with me. Checking the area out, making sure I was safe.”

That was something. Tex trusted those men with his life. More importantly, with Melody’s life.

He turned his gaze to Annie. “And you and Truck were tasked with checking out the house.”

She nodded. “Truck went to the front and I went around back. I looked in the windows. One room was trashed, but the other had those blackout curtains over it. It was suspicious as hell. I thought the window being unlocked meant it was a trap, but then I saw that chair in the middle of the room and…that box.” Her voice trembled slightly on the last two words.

Tex didn’t like to think about the box he’d been kept in, but he was free. Wasn’t in there anymore.

Annie went on to explain to everyone in the room how she’d texted Wolf, then gone in, picked the locks on the box, and gotten him out.

She sounded so matter-of-fact about how she’d picked him up as if he weighed no more than a child and gotten them both as far away from the house as possible.

“I know becoming a green beret wasn’t easy,” Tex said quietly. “I know you’ve been harassed and you’ve had to work twice as hard as everyone else to be able to take your place amongst the best of the best. But from where I’m sitting, there’s no one else I would’ve wanted to free me from that hell. You did everything right, Annie, without hesitation. And don’t think I missed how you protected me when we heard those shots fired. You’re going to be an asset to any platoon you’re in, and I have no doubt you’ll rise up the ranks and be in charge of your own unit sooner rather than later.”

Annie’s eyes filled with tears, but she controlled them. “Thanks, Tex.”

He looked around the room at his friends and felt extremely blessed. There had been many times in the past when he’d felt as if he was alone in what he did. Sitting in his basement, clicking away at his keyboard, no one to float ideas off of, running on his instincts and pure adrenaline when he found the evidence he needed to find whoever was missing.

But he wasn’t alone. Not even close. The bank account with a billion freaking dollars in it, and the men and women in this room, proved just that, as did everyone sitting and standing in his living room.

He was sure he’d have more questions later, but for the moment, Tex was done. It was suddenly difficult to keep his eyes open, and he needed to lie down, hold his wife, and count his blessings.

Looking around, he spoke slowly and clearly, wanting everyone in the room to truly hear what he was about to say. “Thank you. For being here. For protecting Melody, my kids, for doing what needed to be done to find me, for protecting me. It means the world to me.”

“Oh shit, the world is ending, isn’t it?” Cookie said under his breath. “Tex thanking people…who would’ve thought?”

Everyone chuckled. Even Tex’s lips quirked upward in a grin.

“On that note, I’m going to go to my room and sleep. Don’t interrupt me under any circumstances. Got it?”

“Yup.”

“Of course.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“You got it, boss.”

“And when I wake up, I’m gonna go down to my basement and make sure you and Ryleigh didn’t mess up my files,” Tex grumbled, glancing at Beth.

She laughed.

“No one messed up anything,” Cade said with a roll of his eyes.

“I’ll text the names of the men who helped Rook,” Truck told him. “They’ll be dealt with, but I know you’ll want their names anyway.”

Damn straight he did. He nodded at Truck.

“I know you said you wanted to shower, but I think you should probably wait and do that in the morning,” Melody said quietly.

“I feel fine,” he insisted. Which was a lie. He felt like shit. His calf hurt—hell, his missing leg hurt—he had a headache, and he was exhausted. But no one needed to know that shit. Though, now that he thought about showering, he was relieved there was a built-in bench in the shower since he wouldn’t be able to stand up to get himself clean. Which sucked.

“Come on, Iron Man,” Melody said with a chuckle. “I could use a nap myself.”

He figured as much. He doubted Mel had slept much while he’d been missing. He was more than happy to go straight to bed as long as she was joining him.

It was a damn ordeal to get back into the wheelchair and into his bedroom. Tex would be very glad when he had his leg back on and his calf healed so he could be more mobile.

“I’ll entertain Hope and Akilah when they get back with Amy,” Caroline said.

“And I’ll make dinner,” Benny volunteered.

Tex nodded at them, already looking forward to seeing what Benny came up with for everyone to eat. The man was a genius in the kitchen.

He was about to close the door to his bedroom when Annie spoke loudly from the living area. “I’m thinking you might be a little more open to wearing that fancy new tracker you’ve been pushing on me now, huh?”

The little shit.

She wasn’t wrong. Tex had no doubt if he’d been wearing the prototype he’d invented, the one that was injected under the skin much like a dog or cat’s microchip, he would’ve been found much sooner. Probably almost immediately.

“I will if you will!” he called back.

He heard Annie let out a whoop of delight before Melody shut the door. She also had a grin on her face. Without fuss, she helped Tex get into bed and immediately climbed in next to him. The second he had his arms around her, Tex felt himself relax completely for the first time.

He hadn’t been embarrassed for Annie to see him without a stitch of clothing on. He hadn’t been upset that he wasn’t able to rescue himself. And he wasn’t ashamed of the way he’d cried when he’d first laid eyes on Melody, and seen for himself that she was all right. A little banged up, but alive.

But here, in his home, his bed, his wife in his arms, Tex let himself feel all the emotions he’d bottled up for the last week. The fear, the uncertainty, the worry, the anger, the disbelief that he’d been fucking kidnapped . He cried as his wife held him as tightly as she could with her uninjured arm, crying right along with him.

Afterward, he felt better, but completely drained.

“Gonna sleep now,” he warned her.

“Shhhhh. I’ve got you.”

“I love you,” Tex told her. “I’m proud of you for how strong you’ve been.”

“I love you too. We have some pretty amazing friends.”

“Yes, we do,” Tex agreed.

The last thing he was fully aware of was how nice it was, the absolute silence of the room. He’d never take that kind of thing for granted again. Would never take any of his blessings for granted. His health, his family, his friends. He was a lucky man.

I hope you all loved this story that hit me hard and wouldn’t let go. It was actually partially based on a true story I saw on TV once. A man was kidnapped south of the US border and kept for MONTHS while his family tried to work with the kidnappers to bring him home safe and sound. He was kept in a situation much like Tex was in this story, in a box, loud music playing, alone week after week. He was held for months, and then one day his kidnappers simply let him go. And he walked home. Battered, beaten, but alive. It inspired me and I thought…what if that happened to our Tex? Too bad the man in the real-live story didn’t have a tracker. Or special forces friends. Or Annie.

There were so many characters in this story I can’t really list them all, but if you’re unfamiliar with them all, they came from, in no particular order, the following series:

SEAL of Protection, The Refuge, Badge of Honor, SEAL Team Hawaii, and Delta Force Heroes.

If you haven’t read the story of how Tex and Melody met, you can find it here: Protecting Melody .