Chapter 6
Marshall
The question should have been easy to answer, but I really didn’t want to talk about my injury right now.
Hell, I never wanted to talk about it, but it wasn’t like Emma wasn’t going to notice once we stepped out of this shithole.
Since I didn’t want to explain my injury when we were hightailing it for safety, it was better to tell her now.
“I had to retire early,” I told her in a clipped voice. “Not long after you and I met in Virginia Beach. I was injured on my next mission. They managed to save my leg, but I couldn’t continue with my duties as a SEAL commander after I recovered. I have a pretty bad limp, and my leg is a mess.”
“Oh, God, Colin,” she said, sounding horrified. “Tell me honestly, how bad was it?”
Fuck! I lied my ass off every single day when I was doing my job and gathering information, but I’d never been able to lie to Emma.
“Pretty bad. I almost bled to death before I got to a hospital. I really don’t remember that much after the injury.
I was unconscious until I woke up from my first surgery.
That was the first of several surgeries.
I was in the hospital and then rehab for a long time. ”
Emma reached out and put her hand on my forearm to comfort me. “That must have been difficult emotionally and physically. I’m so sorry, Colin.”
It had been forever since this woman had touched me, but I still felt that same spark of awareness that I really didn’t want to feel fourteen years later.
It had always been that way with Emma, but it wasn’t fucking possible that I still felt that awareness of her all these years later.
It had to be some kind of memory response.
“It’s not your fault,” I said stoically. “You weren’t the one who tried to kill me.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that pain. I wish I could have been there for you.”
“No, you don’t,” I said morosely. “I was a prick, Emma. I hated my life, and I was a miserable person to be around. My job as a SEAL commander meant everything to me. The only thing that got me through that time was pure stubbornness. I wanted to get as healthy as possible, even if I couldn’t be a SEAL commander anymore.
That injury changed me. I’m not the same man you knew fourteen years ago. ”
“Yes, you are,” she said stubbornly. “You’re still a guy who’s willing to give yourself up for someone else.
You’re still putting other people before yourself.
Don’t tell me you’re not the same man. You’ve been dedicating yourself to helping other people with Last Hope.
Difficult times might change us, but you’re still the same guy.
You found another purpose in life. Maybe you couldn’t be a SEAL commander, but you found a way to do something else that’s meaningful to you. ”
I let out an exasperated breath as I reached for her food. “You always did try to find something positive in everything. Eat. You’re going to need some energy for tomorrow night.”
She took the pouch and the spoon I put into her hands.
I’d eaten MREs for years out in the field, and most of them tasted like crap, but I knew it was the most nutritious thing I could give her.
Luckily, the light was so dim that she couldn’t see what that food looked like.
“It’s good,” she said after she’d tried it. “It’s something Italian.”
I let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You’re only saying that because you’ve gone three days without food.”
“You’re probably right,” she admitted. “Any food would taste good right now. How long is the hike out of here? I was so drugged that I don’t really remember how far it was to get here.”
I really fucking hated to think about the way Emma had been treated by her captors.
Yeah, I’d been relieved that she wasn’t raped, but those bruises on her face had made me want to kill the bastards that had left those marks on her face.
They’d also given her enough drugs to make her forget her trip to this shithole.
She could have died from an overdose.
“We’ll have to hike to get to a clearing where Nick can pick us up in his helicopter. The woods surrounding us are pretty dense. He’ll fly us to the airport to board the private jets that will get us home.”
“Private jets?” she asked in a surprised voice. “Exactly how big and technical is Last Hope?”
“Later,” I said. “Right now we need to focus on getting you out of here.”
There would be plenty of time on the flight home to answer those questions.
Once I knew that Emma was safe.
“What are Brock and Nate going to do about the kidnappers?”
“It’s a stealth rescue,” I explained. “They’ll come in after the kidnappers are asleep and get us out of here without them ever knowing.
The kidnappers aren’t camping that close to this building, and your friends are masters at getting in and out without anyone knowing.
They’ll both be armed, but they won’t use those weapons unless absolutely necessary.
Nick will deal with those assholes after you’re safely out of here. ”
“He’ll still be in danger,” she told me. “I think these guys are just hired thugs. His enemies will still be out there.”
“Nick is aware of that,” I said grimly. “He’s hoping he can get the information he needs from the kidnappers.”
Sadly, we really needed to leave that group of idiots alive so Nick could get to his actual enemies.
“You’re injured. How are you going to hike out of here?” she queried softly.
“I might be old, and I have a limp,” I said defensively. “But I’ll hike out of here the same way I hiked in. I’m fit, even if I do have a limp.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding contrite. “I was just worried. And I know you’re not old. Do we want to share our ages now?”
“I’m fifty-three. I already know that you’re forty-five,” I explained.
“Brock told me. You’ve always looked a lot younger than you are.
I knew you were at least of drinking age when we met because you showed your ID at the bar where we had a drink, but you looked pretty young.
You still do. I’ve seen some recent pictures.
I felt old after seeing your picture. You haven’t changed much. ”
“I’ve changed,” she argued. “I’m not the same woman you knew years ago, either.
I gained weight, and I feel old every time I look in the mirror.
My life is very different than it was fourteen years ago.
I lived in Chicago when we met. I was born and raised in Cherry Cove, so that’s where I eventually decided to settle. ”
“You never found the man of your dreams?” I asked, already knowing it was something I didn’t really need to know.
“No,” she answered solemnly. “I was newly divorced when we met in Virginia Beach. My ex decided he wanted a younger woman after seven years of being married to me. Marriage hasn’t exactly been high on my list of priorities. The first one wasn’t a good experience for me.”
“He was an idiot,” I told her roughly.
Christ! What kind of simpleton would dump Emma for someone else? If I’d been a normal guy who wanted to get married, she would have been my dream woman.
“He was,” she said with humor in her voice.
“I was pretty young and na?ve when we got married. I was an emotional mess by the time I divorced. Meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to me. You made me feel like a desirable woman again. I needed to feel that way at that point in my life, Colin.”
“You were always a desirable woman,” I said hoarsely. “You were everything any guy could ask for, Emma. Beautiful. Intelligent. Kind. Compassionate. That asshole must have done a number on you if you didn’t know that.”
“He did,” she agreed. Emma was silent for a moment before she added, “You should have woken me up before you left. We never really got to say goodbye, and I never had a chance to thank you for the necklace.”
Hell, I wasn’t about to explain that I was afraid I’d change my mind about not exchanging information if I had woken her up that morning. “It was easier that way,” I replied. “I’m not exactly good with emotional goodbyes, and we made a deal.”
I saw her hand move to her neck before I asked, “You still have that necklace?”
“I’ve worn it almost every day since you gave it to me,” she admitted. “I loved it. I still do. It was a pretty expensive gift for a fling. Gifts weren’t exactly part of our deal, either.”
Fuck! I suddenly hated the way she referred to herself as just a fling.
“You were never just a woman I fucked for five days, Emma,” I said as I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.
“Our time together in Virginia Beach meant more to me than just that. Maybe I didn’t know a lot about you or even your last name, but you meant something to me.
I was married to the Navy at the time, but for just a short time, I forgot about my job and just spent as much time as I could with you. That had never happened to me before.”
“It wasn’t just a fling for me, either,” she confessed. “That time meant something to me, too. I wasn’t a woman who had ever even thought about having a fling or a one-night stand before we met. You probably already know my last name now. What’s yours?”
“I know your last name,” I confirmed. “My last name is Marshall. Everyone knows me as Marshall. I very rarely use my first name.”
“Colin Marshall,” she said like she was testing my full name out loud. “Wyatt mentioned knowing a guy named Marshall. That was you?”
“Yeah. I’m known by everyone as just Marshall at Last Hope.”
“It’s weird, right?” she asked in a contemplative voice. “All this time, we knew a lot of the same people, but we never ran into each other again.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not so weird. I live in San Diego. You live in Michigan. I almost never leave San Diego because I like to be near Last Hope headquarters in case something comes up. I’ve never been to Cherry Cove.
I’ve only seen our Michigan team in person on their infrequent visits to San Diego. ”
“Yet I’ve heard Wyatt describe you as the most intelligent person he’s ever met, and I never knew he was referring to you,” she replied. “That’s weird for me.”
It was odd for me to hear that Wyatt had said that to her.
I guess I’d never really wondered what my guys said about me when I wasn’t around.
“I’ve been to San Diego,” she mentioned. “My mother retired there a few years ago. She has friends there, and the winters in Cherry Cove were getting to her. I get there as often as I can.”
“It’s a big city,” I reminded her. “It’s not unusual that we’ve never run into each other. I spend most of my time at headquarters or at home. I’m not exactly a social kind of guy.”
“What about dating?” she asked in a curious voice. “You haven’t had a serious relationship?”
“Negative,” I told her. “I’m about as eager to marry as you are. Never married. I never wanted to get married. I’ve watched every single one of my billionaire partners in San Diego lose their shit over a woman before they married their spouses. I’ve never had the desire to be in their positions.”
Emma sighed. “I think Brock, Nate, Gage, and Seth feel the same way. But I think they’re all lonely. I wish they’d find women who could make them happy.”
“Why does everyone assume that a bachelor is lonely?” I questioned drily. “Maybe we just prefer our own company.”
“I’m not saying all bachelors are lonely,” she corrected. “But I know my friends. I’ve known them all for years, and I do think that they’re lonely.”
“Most of their spare time is probably consumed by Last Hope,” I observed. “They’re my most active team.”
“They do disappear a lot,” Emma observed. “I worry about them every time it happens.”
“They trust you,” I said. “But it’s always been policy not to share information about Last Hope with anyone except significant others or kidnapping victims. It wasn’t their fault. If it helps, those guys save a lot of lives when they disappear.”
“It helps,” she said earnestly. “I’m almost glad I didn’t know that they were disappearing into dangerous situations.”
I wanted to tell her that what those men did wasn’t that dangerous to make her feel better, but that would have been a lie.
Every operative knew what they were getting themselves into when they went on a mission for Last Hope.
They knew the dangers, and they took them on willingly.
We took every precaution we could, but I couldn’t say that it wasn’t dangerous.
I handed Emma another packet from the MRE and decided to just remain silent.
Just like I always did.
I was a man of few words.
I’d discussed more personal things today than I had in years, and it was probably better to keep my mouth shut.