Chapter Twenty-Eight
GRANT TOOK A deep breath and flinched. Right. Surgery to repair a bullet wound in his side, then a second surgery to repair whatever damage he’d done to himself by running flat out in order to reach Rayne in time.
He opened his eyes and squinted at the bright light above his head. A second later, the light dimmed. “Thanks,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome,” a male voice said with a slight Southern accent.
Grant turned his head to see Eli Wolfe sitting in a chair beside the bed. “Wolfe, what are you doing here?”
“Protection detail. Jon’s outside your cubicle, making sure you don’t have any unwanted visitors popping in on you unannounced.”
“Where’s Rayne?”
“Still with the doctor in the emergency room.”
Grant’s eyes widened.
Eli held up a hand. “She’s fine. Andre’s with her. The doc is removing the duct tape from her wrists. It takes time.”
He glanced at his own wrists. They were bandaged and felt numb at the moment. Grant knew that wouldn’t last, but for now, he’d take it. “She’s okay?”
“I talked to her myself, buddy. She’s eager to see you but fine otherwise.” Eli folded his arms across his chest. “So, is there something you want to tell me?”
“Rayne and I are getting married as soon as I can work out the details. If I had my choice, I’d marry her today.” He held up his wrists. “These might slow me down, though.”
A broad smile curved Eli’s lips. “I’m happy for you, Grant. If Rayne makes you even half as happy as my Brenna makes me, you’ll be a lucky man indeed.”
Jon poked his head around the curtain. He gave Grant a curt nod, then said, “Cops are here. Do you feel up to talking to them?”
Not really. It had to be done, though. “Send them in.”
A moment later, two detectives introduced themselves as Stephen Porter and Tom Littlefield. Porter said, “Tell us what happened tonight, Mr. Bowen.”
“I’ll have to go back farther than tonight.”
“Go back as far as you need to,” Littlefield said. “Try not to leave anything out.”
Right. He was half loopy from the drugs. He’d be lucky to make sense at all. Grant started his story at the running trail near his house.
Two hours later, the detectives closed their notepads and slid them and the pens into their pockets. “If you think of anything else to add to your statement, you have our cards with our numbers on them. Call us.”
He nodded. “Have you talked to Rayne yet?”
“We did. She’s brave and smart.”
Littlefield added, “She’s also lucky to be alive, and so are you.”
“I’m aware.”
“Stop by the station after you’re released, you and Ms. Weatherly. You’ll need to sign your statements and possibly answer a few more questions. Please don’t leave the area unless you notify us first.”
“We’ll do our best,” Grant said. “We’re both members of black ops teams, and our boss is shorthanded.
It’s possible we’ll be deployed.” Not likely since he was injured, but he couldn’t count on Rayne remaining stateside with Artemis.
If the boss was in a bind, he could very well send Artemis on a short mission.
Unless Rayne was on her honeymoon. Injured or not, he needed to make some plans. That wouldn’t happen unless Littlefield and Porter moved on to the next thing on their long to-do list.
Grant motioned to his side. “Well, I won’t be going anywhere for a few days at least. The doctor is keeping me stateside for a few weeks.
Besides that, my father is still in the hospital.
I’d like to stick around until he’s out of danger.
” Whether his family allowed him to visit was another thing altogether, especially since Dad had been shot because of him.
“We’ll let you rest,” Porter said. The two men left the curtained area.
Eli studied him for a moment after the detectives left. “You look like a man with something on his mind.”
“I need a favor.” He dragged a hand down his sweaty face, annoyed to see it trembling.
“Name it.”
“I want to plan a honeymoon. Something low-key, private, and safe.” God knew they’d had more than their fair share of danger the past few days.
“I might have just the place for you. I need to make a call to see if it’s available.”
“Where is it?”
“An hour outside of Nashville.” Eli pulled out his phone and made a call, which he put on speaker. “Rod, it’s Eli Wolfe. Is your cabin available?”
“Yeah, it is. Why? Are you taking Brenna and the kids for a mini-vacation?”
“Not me, a friend of mine. Grant Bowen is another operative with Fortress who needs a place to heal from a gunshot wound. He’s also in need of a place for a low-key honeymoon. He’s getting married in the next day or so.”
Silence, then, “Sure. No problem. You know where the key is. You’ll have to stock the refrigerator and pantry, Eli. Meg and I were down there a month ago and didn’t restock before we left.”
“I’ll take care of it. Thanks a lot, Rod. I owe you one.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t let you forget it.” The other man laughed. “See you next time you’re in Otter Creek.” He ended the call.
Eli slid his phone away. “There you go. Problem solved.”
“That was Rod Kelter, wasn’t it?”
“Sure was.”
“Thought I recognized his voice. He came to see Josh Cahill one day when we were at Personal Security International for training. What’s this about a cabin?”
“Rod inherited a large cabin from one of his relatives. Since Fortress has used it to hide principals, we upgraded the security. You won’t find a more secure vacation spot anywhere unless you’re the President of the United States.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Good. I’ll call Brenna. She and Dana will be glad to stock the cabin in time for your arrival. You wanted low-key, private, and safe. This cabin is that and more.”
“I can’t thank you enough for arranging this.”
Eli shrugged. “Just took one phone call. Calling my wife is pure pleasure, so I won’t charge you for that one.”
Grant chuckled, then hissed and pressed a hand to his side. “Don’t make me laugh.”
Jon’s head peered around the edge of the curtain again. “You have a visitor, Grant.”
Eli scowled. “He’s supposed to be resting.”
“I think he’ll want to talk to this visitor.” He stepped back.
Rayne walked in. “Hey, how do you feel?”
Eli left the curtained area and stood with Jon to give them some privacy.
“Like a second truck ran over me.” His gaze took in the stark white bandages wrapped around her wrists and forearms, similar to his own. “Are you okay?”
She bent and brushed her lips over his. “I’m fine.”
“Baby, you were drugged and taken hostage. Things went down so fast that I didn’t have time to check on you earlier.”
“Dr. Carmichael said the drug was Ketamine. The effects are no longer bothering me.”
“What about your wrists?”
She grimaced. “That’s another story. Peeling tape off skin is a painful endeavor.”
“You’re really all right?”
“Yes. If I wasn’t, I would tell you.”
The surgeon entered the curtained-off area. “You certainly look more alert than the last time I saw you. How do you feel, Mr. Bowen?”
“Drugged and sore.”
“You’ll feel both things for a few days. The orderlies will be here soon to take you to your room.”
Grant froze. “You’re keeping me?”
“Since this is your second surgery in less than a week, it’s best if we monitor you overnight. If I’m satisfied with your progress, you’ll leave our fine facility tomorrow. Deal?”
He sighed. Might as well suck it up and deal. Checking himself out didn’t seem like a wise choice to make under the circumstances. “Deal. But only if Rayne stays with me.”
“I think we can work something out for Rayne and your two bodyguards.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
“Sure.” He turned as the orderlies entered. “Perfect timing, gentlemen. Give Mr. Bowen a nice smooth ride.”
“You got it, Doc.”
Rayne walked beside Grant, her hand wrapped around his. Eli and Jon trailed them.
Minutes later, the orderlies situated Grant in a private room and left.
Without having to ask, Rayne went to the nurse’s station and asked for two cold packs.
After draping one over his forehead and slipping the second behind his neck, his nausea receded.
Thank goodness. He’d rather not puke in front of his woman, especially since he hoped to persuade her to marry him in a day or two.
Would she be willing? Noah and Violet Mann, their teammates, were gone on their own honeymoon.
Would she insist on waiting until they could attend the wedding?
He hoped not. Grant wanted his ring on her finger and longed to see her face when he went to sleep at night and woke in the morning.
Their jobs were dangerous. He didn’t want to wait anymore.
Rayne studied him for a moment. “Something on your mind?”
Eli picked up a chair. “I think I’ll talk to Jon for a while.” He carried the chair to the hallway and joined Jon at the door.
Grant scooted to the other side of the bed and patted the space. “Come sit with me.”
She froze. “Is this a conversation where you break up with me?”
He stared. “Break up with you? No way. This conversation is where I ask you to marry me.”
Rayne blinked. “Really?”
“That’s usually what follows after a man and woman confess their love for each other. But they move slower than I want to go.”
“When did you want to get married?”
He raised her hand to his mouth. “Answer my question first, my love.”
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you. I love you, Grant.”
“Enough to marry me tomorrow or the day after at the latest?”
More staring. “Tomorrow.” Her voice was faint. “I literally have nothing to wear. I’d have to show up in my Fortress uniform.”
“Fine with me. That means I can wear mine, too. I know we talked about having our teammates attend, and we could have most of them. We’d only be missing Noah and Violet.”
She was silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head. “No.”
His heart sank. “No? You’ve changed your mind about marrying me?”
“Are you kidding? Marrying you is a dream come true. No, I was talking about having our teammates attend the ceremony. After all we’ve been through the past few days, I’ve changed my mind about that.
I want a very private ceremony with just the two of us and the judge or pastor.
After things settle down, we can have a big cookout at your house. ”
“Our house. It will be our house now, and I think a cookout is a perfect celebration of our marriage.”
“You really don’t mind if I wear my Fortress uniform?”
“We’ll have interesting pictures to explain to our kids one day.”
She smiled. “Should be fun.”