Chapter Six #2
Sedona forgot about her own problems the second she saw the angry red line scoring the top of Cam’s chest. She set her tea on the table and pushed off the blanket.
“Oh, Cam,” she murmured, gaze locked on his injury.
How could she have missed this when he was holding her in his arms? “Will the table hold your weight?”
After a quick glance at the piece of furniture, he nodded.
“Sit down, please.” She looked into his eyes. “May I touch you?”
His eyes twinkled. “Absolutely. Any time.”
She flashed him a grin. “I need something to clean his wound.”
Owen unzipped his kit and David’s, pulled out antiseptic wipes from both, and handed them to Sedona. When a ruckus broke out nearby, accompanied by shouts and curses, he motioned for his brother to go on. “I’ve got this.”
Sedona ripped open the package of alcohol wipes and pulled out the cloth. She set it on the wrapper in order to tug on rubber gloves. Sedona picked up the wipe again. “This will hurt, Cam. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll be fine. Just do it.”
Taking him at his word, she applied the wet cloth to his wound. Ignoring his quick hiss, she quickly cleaned every inch of the long wound. “I’m not a doctor, but you probably need stitches. I’m also concerned about infection. I bet the shooter didn’t sterilize his bullets before using them.”
He shook his head until he caught sight of Owen staring him down with his arms folded across his chest and an eyebrow raised. Cam groaned. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Too late.” Owen narrowed his eyes. “I’ll take you to the hospital and interview both of you while the doctor is working on you. How’s that for service?”
“Wonderful. You should receive employee of the month.”
“Thank you, thank you.” He gave a mocking bow. “I will pass along your glowing recommendation to my brother, the sheriff.”
Cam chuckled despite his obvious irritation at their insistence that he go for further medical treatment.
Sedona finished taping gauze over the angry red line marring his muscled chest and threw away the trash.
“I’m fine, you know,” Cam muttered. “It’s just a scratch.”
Two hours later, Sedona scrambled into clothes that Brynn Montgomery, Caleb’s wife, had brought her. “It’s just a scratch,” she mimicked Cam’s deep voice. “Right. That scratch took forty stitches to close, Brynn.”
Her friend laughed. “Welcome to the world of cops and black ops.”
She froze. Black ops? “Cam isn’t black ops.”
“Don’t kid yourself. He was Delta Force in the Army. Do you know what that means?”
“Not really.” Did she want to know?
“Well, I do. Caleb was Delta Force as well. It means these men will do whatever it takes to get the job done. The Army calls them Cowboys because they work outside the lines and find creative solutions to problems.”
That sounded like Caleb and Cam. “Cam isn’t currently in black ops, is he?”
“Not yet.”
She stilled. “There’s a possibility that he will join Fortress Security, too?” Would he be like the Montgomery brothers, on rotation every other month?
“Let’s just say Brent Maddox is after Cam and his Delta unit to join Fortress as a Search and Rescue team.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “No kidding.”
Brynn shrugged. “That’s what I overheard when Caleb and his brothers were discussing Cam’s unit. David wants to hire the rest of Cam’s unit as deputies. That would mean Maple Valley and Morgan County would complete their roster.”
More men like Cam? “Wow.”
Brynn handed Sedona her shoes. “Can you imagine four more men like the Montgomery brothers and Cam?”
“To be honest, no. These men are overwhelming.”
“Truth. I also heard that Lucas Cruz, a detective in Archer, wants to do SAR training with them.” Brynn stood. “Anyway, I have to go. We have a new shipment of plants coming into the nursery this morning, so I can’t be late.”
“I understand.” Sedona hugged her friend. “Thank you for bringing me a change of clothes. I owe you big for this.”
“This is nothing. We’ll talk later after I get home tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I saw how Cam was looking at you. I want all the details when we talk.”
“We’ll talk. Now, go. Have a good day.”
“Same to you.” Brynn dashed for the door. “Enjoy the zoo.” And she was gone.
Sedona took one last look in the mirror, then hurried toward the door herself. Cam was waiting in the hall for her so he could drive her to school in a black SUV. Maybe it was her imagination, but this area was filled to the brim with black SUVs, just like the ones the Montgomery brothers drove.
She bent to scoop her bag from the floor and gasped.
Cam was beside her seconds later. “Sedona, what’s wrong?”
“My back hurts, but I don’t know why.”
“Did you tell Dr. Cunningham about it?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t realize it hurt.” Would he accuse her of lying to the doctor? She hadn’t. Would Cam believe her?
He frowned, his hand coasting up and down her back in a soothing motion.
“Adrenaline can mask many symptoms that show up when the adrenaline is out of your system. It’s not unheard of for soldiers to keep functioning in the heat of battle only to realize when the crisis is over that they need medical attention.
We should have Cunningham check your back. ”
“Cam, we need to go. I have to be on campus in a few minutes. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind checking it later.”
His hand stopped coasting up and down her back. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea since you might have to take off your shirt.”
Sedona glanced at him, a smile curving her lips. She rested her hand against her back, just above her right kidney. “You would only have to lift the hem a few inches.”
He relaxed. “That I can handle. If your back hurts worse after the field trip, we need to have someone with more expertise than I have to check you out.”
“Agreed, if you’ll get moving right now. I can’t be late.”
Cam chuckled. “Can’t have that.” He took the duffel bag from her, then guided Sedona toward the elevator. “Please tell me we have time for me to purchase a cup of coffee.”
“I have everything you need in my classroom. Let’s go.”
Minutes later, Cam escorted Sedona toward the elementary school.
Twenty feet from the door, she gasped. “Oh, no.” She stared at her SUV, which listed to one side.
While two flat tires were bad enough, someone had also bashed in every window and tagged the side of the vehicle with red paint.
“Oh, man.” The bill was growing by the second in her mental tally of the cost of repairs.
When he saw the damage to her vehicle, he stiffened. “Look at what they wrote,” he muttered.
Sedona’s gaze shifted to the ghoulish red paint that ran in rivulets down the doors. Someone had written, “Send him away or he dies too.”