Chapter 3 Paul #2
“I need you back on solid feet, Paul, so if you need a few days, take them.”
“Don’t need ’em.” I didn’t miss a beat.
“Good.” He eyed me hard through his glasses. “I have something in the works that I’m going to run by you when I have all the details. Copy?”
“Copy.” I couldn’t remember when Frank took any time off for himself or his family.
He was a workhorse who never slept. There was a time I admired that, but over the years, I started to see the toll it took on him and wondered if it was worth sacrificing everything for the greater good.
I knew he was about to be forced into retirement, and he had nothing to look forward to.
I sure regretted having no real family of my own.
I hated that I’d lost the years with my Blackstone family and all that I’d missed while I was in Mexico.
The kids being born and all that. It left a hole, but I was happy to have them now.
“Stay sharp.”
“Yes, sir.” I watched as he disappeared around the corner.
The hallway was quiet, which made it easier to follow voices, and soon I heard John and moved in his direction.
“Don’t let Frank see you in here.” John sounded concerned as he looked up from his laptop. I looked around the small, airless room we were in on the base, then looked back to where John sat. I carefully lowered myself into a chair next to him.
The pain in my chest burned, but I breathed through it before I answered. “I passed him in the hallway. He’s okay with it.”
“He shouldn’t be. You look like shit.”
I could hear the rasp in my voice as I tried to clear my throat and felt the sweat that broke out over my forehead.
I felt the toll the surgery had taken on me, but my head finally felt close to normal now that the drugs they’d shoved in my veins had cleared somewhat. God, I hated all things medical.
“Truth, how are you feeling?”
“I feel like I’ve been at a rave for a week straight and then was stabbed as I left.” I lifted a hand in lieu of a shrug.
He sputtered a laugh. “Good lord, man. You’ve had a cocktail of drugs, surgery to close two stab wounds in a chest that was shot to hell a decade ago. You’re lucky you can stand at all.”
“When do they get here?” I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes and wished to hell I felt better.
My mind was a mess with the fact that my son was moments from arriving with a woman I couldn’t get out of my head.
Anger at her made my stomach hurt. I couldn’t believe she’d used my child for a goddamn news story.
“Anytime now,” he assured me. “Dark Water checked in and said the Canoses were heavily protecting the southern borders on an anonymous tip that Nicole and Chase were heading that way.” He smirked at the lie Ty had spread.
“But they were also spotted leaving the El Paso border ten minutes after Chili grabbed them.”
“That’s odd. Makes you wonder if the Canoses have some mutual friends.”
“Anyone come to—” His attention was pulled by his phone as it vibrated on the table.
“Is that?”
“Yup, they’re here. Give me a minute to talk to her first.” He reached out a hand and put it on my arm then hopped to his feet.
Without a thought, I did the same and gasped as pain flooded through me.
He turned and eyed me hard then hurried out the door with me not far behind him.
He was almost to the airplane hangar when Cole met up with him.
I heard the engine from the big rig rev down then stop.
Cole and John glanced back at me then hurried ahead through the big doors.
I managed to make it to the door before it closed and jammed my foot in it so it didn’t latch.
I awkwardly pulled it open so I could walk through.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I looked past them and saw my son.
He was still in the makeshift pouch against Nicole’s chest. Her arms were around him.
He’s here.
I forced my emotions back as a commotion behind me made me turn. The medical team, a doctor and a nurse who Cole had arranged for, came rushing in with Mike and Mark.
“Everything’s checked and the jet’s ready to go,” Mike called as they came up behind me. Keith had been in conversation with Frank on the far side of the hangar, but when they saw me, they walked over. Keith coughed like he was unsure of where my head was. I didn’t know either.
I looked toward Nicole and saw Cole nod at her as her mouth moved, and I quickly stepped close enough to hear what she was saying. I saw her gaze on my face as she continued, but I couldn’t muster a smile, and she looked down at my son.
Nicole filled us in on Chase’s condition.
“He had Tylenol a couple of hours ago, but he’s still hot, and I’ve been worried about his breathing.
He’ll drink a little but not enough. He’ll hardly eat at all.
” The doctor reached for him, but when Nicole began to move him, he whimpered, and she paused.
“He, ah, he doesn’t like to be moved too much.
” The doctor basically had to peel Chase off Nicole.
“Mama.” His little hand reached toward her, and her face fell as he was taken.
“It’s okay, buddy. I promise I’m here. You just need to get looked at.” Nicole glanced at me with a worried expression. “Hey.” She tried to focus on me, but Chase’s cries clearly affected her.
“He needs an IV. He’s dehydrated,” the doctor said to the nurse, “and his lungs are full.” He held the stethoscope to the little guy’s chest, and my own contracted as I watched.
I squinted to listen over his sobs. “My guess would be he has pneumonia, and God knows what else he may have been exposed to. Logan,” he called over his shoulder, “we should go soon. I need to do some bloodwork and get an x-ray.”
“Copy that, Doc.” Cole turned to me. “He needs care, and you need to sit down.” Before I could answer him, he said to Nicole, “You and Chili need to get scanned for trackers. Frank will take you. Go with him and get it done.”
“But if I am chipped, what am I doing here?” Nicole’s eyes were wide, and she looked nervously toward Chase.
“Everyone else, get on board.” Cole nodded at our private jet. “The entire base has scramblers, Nicole, but we can’t take any chances.” Frank waved at them to follow, but Nicole glanced at me then back toward the doctor and nurse who were already headed to the jet with Chase.
“He’s in good hands, and it won’t take long,” Frank promised Nicole, who still looked at me. I gave a slight nod so she’d leave.
Keith still stood beside me as the place emptied out. “You’re quiet.”
“Says the man who barely speaks more than three words at once,” I shot back but then felt bad. He was only checking in.
“Right, because being quiet is my thing, and you can’t have that. Just like neither of us can be the hungry, loud, flamboyant one. That’s reserved for Mark.” He lightly hit my arm. “C’mon, you’re hurtin’, and I know you want to be with your son.”
He was right; I didn’t want to let my son out of my sight, so I walked with him.
“My head just isn’t sitting right at the moment,” I confessed.
“And yeah, my body aches, I’m a stranger to my son, and the woman I…
” I stopped myself and let out a careful sigh, unsure what the hell Nicole really was to me.
She was more than a woman I simply kissed; I knew it was more than that.
Wasn’t it? Betrayal pushed to the surface, and I relished it for a moment.
I physically felt shitty, and my head wanted to join it.
“I just need to get back on our mountain so I can breathe.”
We crossed the tarmac and waited for Chase, who was now hooked up to an IV and on a stretcher. They began to load him onto the plane. The jet engine was loud, but Chase’s cries were louder, and it did something to my gut.
Keith ran a hand through his hair as we stood at the bottom of the steps.
“He’ll be okay. He’s tough. Take it minute by minute and go easy on Nicole.
She went through a lot to get him here. That counts for something.
You may not like the way she did it, and I have to admit it might have been morally gray in some areas, but we’ve all been there before.
” I knew he didn’t mean it as a dig about my other life, but the comment still hit hard.
“Yeah.” I headed up the stairs and joined the others on the plane.
The Gulfstream G550 was a sleek private jet the military had bought a few years back.
It was a thing of beauty with its black leather seats and rich mahogany wood finish.
It seated nineteen people, so there was plenty of room for the team, as well as the medical duo, Frank, Nicole, and Chase.
The pilot was a good friend of Frank’s, and the staff were friendly and discreet.
Chase was in full panic mode, and I quickly moved to his side, at a loss as to what to do.
His eyes were tightly shut, but tears leaked out from them as he flailed about.
I took his waving hand and held it. “Remember me.” I tried to speak to him the way Nicole had shown me.
“Friend, remember.” He rolled his red face and opened his eyes to see me, then he squeezed them shut again and sobbed even more. Christ, I suck at this.
“Frank, I’ve been cleared, and I’m fine. Please, I just need to make sure he’s okay.” I heard the stress in Nicole’s voice, and it made me step back from Chase. I noticed that her cheek had a fresh bruise, and she had a cut in her hairline that looked pretty nasty. So, she wasn’t totally all right.
“Nurse, please hold him.” The doctor leaned down and juggled a needle with his free hand while he tried to hold Chase still. Chase screamed harder, and I stepped forward again to block Nicole as she reached for him.
“Hang on.” My tone wasn’t friendly, and her confused, hurt look almost made me drop my guard, but then the image of her on camera as she held up my son fueled my anger again. “Let them give him the medication.”