Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“If you tell me to lie back one more fucking time, Shaw, I’m going to strangle you with my IV line.”
Zenko stopped halfway through pushing himself higher against the pillows when pain pulled hard beneath the dressing on his neck. He caught Shaun reaching for the bed controls and slapped his hand away before the bastard could touch them.
“I moved three inches. I didn’t attempt to fast-rope out the fucking window.”
“You almost died less than a week ago, asshole. You don’t get to decide what constitutes acceptable movement yet.
” Shaun grabbed the control again and held it out of reach when Zenko went after it.
“Your nurse said you stay propped up, you don’t fuck with the dressing, and you call somebody before you get out of bed.
Since apparently, you’ve decided none of those rules apply to you, I’m somebody. ”
“You’re also a fucking patient.” Zenko looked pointedly at the band around Shaun’s wrist before reaching for the cup of water on the bedside table.
He took a careful sip, swallowing through the pain because the last thing he needed was Shaun deciding that required fucking supervision too.
“When was the last time you went back to your own room?”
“When was the last time you minded your own fucking business?” Shaun dropped into the chair beside the bed and stretched his legs out in front of him, but Zenko caught the glance he gave the bed controls before he settled back.
Three inches of movement apparently still required fucking surveillance.
“Besides, my doctor knows where I am. Your nurses know where I am. Half this fucking hospital knows where I am because one of them keeps hunting me down every four hours to take my blood pressure. Nobody gives a shit anymore except you.”
“It’s a good thing I love your stubborn ass, or I’d throw you out the fucking window.” Zenko held out his hand, and Shaun stared at it for half a second before getting out of the chair and coming closer.
“Get over here.” Zenko caught the front of his sweatshirt and drew him down, watching Shaun maneuver around the IV before his gaze dropped to the dressing on Zenko’s neck. “You’ve spent three fucking days since I woke up telling me what I can’t do. Pretty sure nobody put this on the list.”
“Depends what you’re planning.” Shaun’s mouth curved against his before he kissed him, holding back enough that Zenko knew exactly what the bastard was doing.
Zenko kissed him harder, refusing to be treated like he might fucking break until Shaun finally gave him what he wanted, his palm sliding along Zenko’s jaw as the kiss deepened.
Pain pulled beneath the dressing and dragged a wince from him, and Shaun immediately lifted his head.
“Fuck. Did I hurt you?”
“No, and if you stop kissing me every time I make a fucking noise, we’re going to have serious problems.” Zenko leaned back against the pillows when another pull beneath the dressing warned him to ease off. “I nearly died. I’m allowed to make noises.”
A knock against the partially open door had Shaun turning toward it as Noble stepped into the room with Max behind him, and the slow grin spreading across Noble’s face told Zenko exactly what was coming.
“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Noble closed the door behind him, his grin widening as he looked between Zenko and Shaun. “I was only wondering if Shaw knows he’s a hell of a lot quieter telling you he loves you when you’re conscious. Pretty sure half the fucking ICU heard him when you weren’t.”
“Fuck you, Bauer.” Shaun dropped back into the chair beside the bed without a trace of embarrassment and looked at Zenko. “My man nearly died. I had some shit to say.”
“Oh, we know.” Max pulled the second chair away from the wall and turned it around before sitting astride it.
“We heard all about the next fifty years, grocery shopping, coffee, old joints, and whatever other disgustingly domestic shit you promised him while the rest of us were standing outside wondering whether we needed to give you privacy or start taking fucking notes.”
Zenko looked from Noble to Max and wondered how the two of them had managed to become such monumental pains in his ass.
Noble had been in his life since BUD/S, while Max had been beside him long enough with Red Squadron to know exactly how far he could push before Zenko pushed back.
“Are you two finished discussing my fucking love life, or did you come all the way over here because you needed somewhere private to compare notes on Shaw’s declaration? ”
“I’ve got more.” Noble took the chair Max hadn’t claimed and settled into it, looking entirely too fucking pleased with himself. “Pretty sure there was something about wanting you when you’re old, gray, and bitching about your joints. It was touching. I may have shed a tear.”
“You can kiss my ass.” Shaun looked toward Max instead, his expression settling into something far more serious.
“Open the fucking folder before your commander decides to recite the whole thing, because I was running on no sleep and terror, and I’m reasonably certain some of what came out of my mouth should be protected under doctor-patient confidentiality. ”
“That’s not how doctor-patient confidentiality works, Shaw.
” Max’s grin faded as he brought the folder onto his lap and opened it.
“And since I’m not your doctor, I’m not covered by whatever bullshit privilege you’re trying to claim.
Now, before Noble starts reciting the rest of your bedside declaration, let’s get to why we’re actually here. ”
Zenko’s attention went to the folder, the last of the laughter draining out of the room as the reason for their visit settled back over him. He’d been waiting for these answers since he woke up, and he wasn’t interested in another fucking minute of speculation.
“Sheridan first. I want confirmation. No assumptions, no intelligence assessment, and no possibility that fucker crawled away after we left. Is Sheridan in the ground?”
“Dead.” Noble didn’t hesitate. “Sheridan was KIA at the site. Drax confirmed it before they brought his body out, and his identity was verified afterward.” He looked at Shaun. “Your round hit him high in the chest. He was dead before Horizon lifted off.”
“Good.” Shaun’s voice hardened. “Because the bastard put a round through Zen’s fucking neck.
If you were expecting me to lose sleep over killing him, you’re going to be waiting a long damn time.
What I want to know is how the fuck he knew we were coming.
We walked into an empty compound, Sheridan was sitting out there with a sniper rifle waiting for us, and those vehicles arrived right when he needed them.
That wasn’t some asshole getting lucky.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Max leaned forward against the back of the chair and opened the folder across his lap.
“Sheridan had advance warning. We recovered enough from the electronics at the site to prove he knew Red Squadron had been tasked with finding him before you ever reached that compound. He knew roughly when you were coming in, and he knew enough about the insertion to prepare for you.” Max turned a page and looked directly at Zenko. “Which brings us to the air rig.”
The fucking pipe came back the second Shaun went still beside him, the memory of him disappearing beneath the filthy water hitting hard enough to tighten Zenko’s chest.
“Tell me somebody finally proved what happened to it.” He eased his jaw when pain pulled beneath the dressing on his neck, then looked at Max. “Because we checked those rigs before we went into that pipe. Both of us. There was nothing wrong with them when we finished those checks.”
“You checked them before they were staged for loading,” Max corrected, turning another page in the folder.
“Ground Branch recovered both rigs from the pipe and put them through examination. Yours was clean, Zen. Shaun’s wasn’t.
The failure wasn’t mechanical, and neither of you missed anything during your checks.
Somebody deliberately fucked with the air delivery after you signed off on the equipment. ”
“What did they do?” Shaun’s voice had gone flat. “Because I had air when we started. It didn’t fail until we were well inside the pipe.”
“Exactly how it was designed to happen.” Max tapped the report with one finger.
“You had enough air to get committed inside the pipe, then the system failed when turning around wasn’t an option.
Whoever fucked with it knew the equipment and knew exactly what would happen once one of you lost air down there.
” He looked between Zenko and Shaun. “Sheridan gets an aborted insertion if you both make it out. If you don’t, he gets one operator dead and the other trying to save him instead of coming after him. ”
“Motherfucker.” Zenko’s stomach twisted as the memory of Shaun fighting for every breath in that pipe came rushing back, the knowledge that somebody had deliberately put him in that position turning the fear he’d felt then into something far more vicious.
“Someone fucked with that rig knowing one of us could die down there. Tell me you know who fucked with it.”
“We do.” Max turned another page in the folder.
“Keating. The CIA operations officer you met before the insertion. That fucker had access to the staging area after you finished your checks, and we have him on security footage entering the equipment room eleven minutes after you and Shaun walked out.”
“Keating.” Shaun’s voice sharpened. “That fucker knew how we were getting in. He was there while we were gearing up, but footage of him going into the equipment room only puts him near the rig. It doesn’t prove he fucked with it. What else have you got?”