Chapter 6
Six
“What are you doing here?” Gunner’s voice boomed across the gym.
Mae slowed the treadmill down to walking speed, her breath sawing in and out of her lungs painfully.
Her eyes bounced from the grumpy man standing against the far pillar to her treadmill’s stats screen.
Shit. She’d been running for over an hour.
It wasn’t part of her plan to push herself so hard for so long.
Mae reached for her water bottle, the icy water immediately soothing the burning heat of her empty stomach.
“Needed to get rid of some energy before I hop behind the desk.”
“No.”
Her arms went up over her head as she stretched out one particularly stubborn stitch in her side. “Excuse me?”
“We don’t need you here.”
Mae bit down on her cheek before blowing out her breath. “Wow. Thanks?”
Gunner’s hand went up to his face, scratching along his jaw as he sighed. “You know what I mean. We’re closed until further notice. The guys and I have the rotation figured out for the training we weren’t able to reschedule at The Trident. There is no reason for you to be here.”
“I asked Sebastian to have me on the schedule for this morning. I just need… I need a morning of normalcy. It’s been ten days, Gunner.
” She hated to admit it, but the days were passing by with no change in Stone’s condition, and it was draining everything in her.
His body was healing, but his mind just wasn’t waking up.
And the doctors couldn’t give her answers.
It was horrific and frustrating, and she just needed some time to be numb to it all.
Gunner nodded, still staring right at her.
“That’s all it is? Just some normalcy?”
“What else would it be?” Mae jumped to the side track of the treadmill, stopping the belt from moving before she got down and walked over to him. “What? Tell me what you think this all means?”
“You’re not staying at Stone’s place.”
Mae’s eyes narrowed. “You know that’s where his family is staying. You want me to force his mother or his pregnant sister-in-law to sleep on the couch?”
The sigh that came out of Gunner’s mouth had Mae fighting not to roll her eyes.
“We both know that’s not why you aren’t staying there. You don’t think he’d want you there?”
“We broke up. It was messy, and heartbreaking, and I’m still sick to my stomach over it.
What do you want me to say? That it’s not awkward as hell trying to figure out if he would even want me to be at his bedside?
If he would even care that I’ve been there for days at a time when I’m not anything besides a coworker to him now? ”
“Mae—”
“I’m fine being in the apartment with Hawk.
I do technically live there. And I’ve been back to Stone’s apartment.
To get some things he might eventually need.
To grab things that I need but keep there.
I’m not hiding. I’m not refusing to process what happened.
The man I love, the man who I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with broke my heart and now he might never wake up.
I just needed a goddamn normal morning.”
Gunner nodded before he pushed off the post and disappeared.
Mae could have run back up to her apartment, but there was no sense when the locker room was right there.
Good thing, too, because Mae ended up with her head in the toilet.
She’d pushed herself too hard. Just great.
After a quick shower, and thanking the warm water for washing away every bit of grossness she felt after getting sick, Mae dressed in her work clothes and found her way back out to the front desk.
An hour later, with expense reports filed and training schedules printed, Mae almost felt back to normal. She just needed to send one more email off to Sebastian and then she could get a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, can you help me?”
Mae’s head snapped up at the unfamiliar woman’s voice.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the door was open. We’re closed for the foreseeable future.”
“Oh.” The leggy blond looked completely out of place.
Bright red nails to match the red toe peeping out from her long black slacks.
A black blazer and silk blouse, designer from the look of it, did not scream ‘rural Texas’ to Mae.
“I didn’t see a sign. Is this business closing?
This is the same team that runs that elite training facility, right? What’s it called?”
“The Trident. And yes, we are one in the same. The business isn’t closing, we just are having to take a hiatus for a few weeks. For personal reasons I won’t divulge with a stranger.”
“Oh, I’m not a stranger, honey.” The woman smiled. “Can you just tell me if Stone Lawson works here? The newspaper article I found said he was one of the founding members, along with his SEAL team. I have a few questions I was hoping to ask him. Or, them, I guess. We’ve all met before.”
“Excuse me?” She cleared her throat as she stood. “How exactly do you know him?”
Mae’s fingers tapped against the wood top of her desk. Something about this woman was ringing all sorts of alarm bells.
“We have history. But like you said, it’s best not to discuss things with a stranger.”
Okay, this lady was really starting to piss her off. With a sickeningly sweet smile, Mae fought her urge to tackle the stranger.
“I’m happy to take your name if you want to leave a message for him.”
The blond’s eyes went wide. “So, he’s not here?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Wow. Small town gossip at its finest.”
“Excuse me?”
“The story is true, then? He’s currently in the hospital from a gunshot wound?”
Mae didn’t reply, her finger now searching against the underside of her desk for the silent panic button.
“I asked around town before coming here. It’s incredible what people will tell you when you ask them one or two little prompting questions.
I’m just sorry to hear he’s slipped into a coma.
I’d really love to ask him if he felt that the shooting was karma for what he did in Afghanistan with the rest of his team. ”
Nope. She wasn’t going to ignore that comment. Mae pressed the panic button. Better to have Gunner up there to sort out whatever this woman wanted.
“Mae? What the fuck? You okay?” Gunner jogged into the reception area, his hand on the weapon inside the holster he wore on his belt. As soon as his eyes landed on the woman, they widened. “Lo? What are you doing here?”
Mae’s jaw dropped open. “You know her?”
“Yeah. I know her.”
“Gunner.” The woman’s face transformed into a smile. “Long time no see.”
“What. Do. You. Want?” Damn, Gunner wasn’t messing around.
“I want to ask Stone some questions, but I hear he’s… not up to talking right now. I’d take Sebastian in his place. And Hawk, too. Hell. The whole team if I can.”
“No.” Gunner crossed his arms and Mae was thankful for his bluntness.
“Is that your official statement for the record? Or would you like to give me a little more to work with?”
For the record. This woman was a reporter? Mae was lost.
“We’re a little busy, Laurel.”
“I heard.” She pulled out a notebook and pen.
“Stone was shot in the middle of the night and left for dead on Main Street, Small Town, USA. What a story. The lady at the diner said he was in a coma. And your receptionist here confirmed that. It’s terrible.
Such a tragedy.” Something about the tone in her voice made Mae want to jump over the counter and scratch her eyes out.
Instead, she took a deep breath, trying to stop the nausea that was bubbling back up.
Christ, she’d already thrown up that morning. Fucking stress.
“Gunner, who is this lady?”
“Laurel Lillienthal. She and your brother used to hook up back when we lived in Coronado.”
Recognition flashed in the woman’s eyes again as she turned back to Mae. “Oh, you’re Hawk’s little sister! What a small world. You know, I went out for a date with Stone first. But Hawk was just such a carefree soul… stole me right out of Stone’s arms.”
Sara and Rhett walked down the hallway from the elevator and turned into Montgomery Defense. Shit. She was supposed to ride up to the hospital with them. Mae turned to Gunner. “I need to get to the hospital. Do you have whatever this is covered?”
Laurel laughed. “What this is, honey, is a front page exposé I’m working on involving your brother and his Seal Team. Did you know, Mae, that they were involved in one of the largest cases of friendly fire cover up in the history of the Navy SEAL program?”
Her hand pressed over her heart as Gunner took a step closer to Laurel. “Excuse me?”
“Seal Team Four deployed two platoons together on a joint mission deep in the Spīn Ghar mountain range of Afghanistan six years ago, and somehow, through paperwork so redacted and classified it looks like it was printed on black paper, four men died on that mission. I have a source that says friendly fire was involved. And that Sebastian Montgomery covered it up in his reports for his team.”
Gunner growled. The sound was so deep and so menacing that Mae fought the urge to curl into a tight ball under her desk.
“Get out, Lo. And don’t come back,” he ordered.
She chuckled, licking her lips before flashing her smile at him.
“Aw, don’t be like that, Gunner. At least talk to the guys for me.
If you go on the record, you can save face for that multi-million dollar training facility you’ve put so much time and effort into.
This runs without your side of the story…
and trust me, it will run… I can’t imagine how bad that’s going to be for your reputation.
I’ve already got people in this community chomping at the bit to give their unfiltered thoughts on you guys for the article. Don’t let your side go untold.”
Gunner stared at her, his arms flexing as he crossed them over his chest.
“Fine. Here’s my card. Maybe you can convince one of the other guys to come talk to me.
” She flipped the small card stock cutout between her fingers and held it towards Mae.
God, she wanted to take it and light it right on fire in front of Laurel, but instead, she returned the sickly, sarcastic smile.
Laurel turned, but Mae couldn’t let her leave without answering the one question she’d been rolling over in her mind.
“Why do you want Stone to talk to you? What does he have to do with this… specifically.”
“Mae…” Gunner warned.
“I want to know.”
Laurel shrugged. “He’s been named by my source as the shooter. He’s responsible for those deaths.”
Mae’s stomach pitched, and she closed her eyes, slamming the card on the surface in front of her. The second she heard the door close, Mae slid onto her knees and hunched over the small trash can under her desk.
Somewhere behind her, Mae registered Gunner swearing, but she didn’t care. That was the second time that day she’d had her stomach try to kill her. She needed to get a grip. If she was sick, they wouldn’t let her be in the ICU with Stone.
Sara rushed around the side of the reception counter, her hand landing gently on Mae’s back.
“Just try to breathe, honey. We’ll get it all figured out.”
“Thanks,” she managed to choke out.
“Here,” Gunner grumbled as he set a ginger ale from the fridge in front of her. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Mae grabbed a tissue off her desk and wiped her mouth. “Sorry. I think I’m coming down with something.”
“It’s the stress, Mae. I was just like this during my first trimester whenever work would have me running around too much. Your body needs rest.”
Nausea was replaced by a sudden burst of dizziness.
Because it was all too possible that she wasn’t coming down with a stomach bug.
There had been that week, after everything happened with Nash and Lacy, and Embrie, that Mae hadn’t been careful with her birth control.
Stone had invited her over for dinner… and he’d made her the main course.
Fuck. Oh, double, triple, no way in hell she was pregnant while he was refusing to wake up from being shot fucking fuck.
“Mae, you’re looking really pale. Should I…” Gunner’s hand was gentle on her arm as he helped her sit back in her chair. “You, uh… should I get Lily? You want… support?”
What she wanted was to laugh. “Support for having a tummy ache? I think I’ll live, Gunner.”
“Alright,” he answered, still looking at her skeptically. “Are you still planning on going to see Stone?”
“Yes.” She looked up at Rhett and Sara. “But you guys should go ahead without me. I’ll drive down a little later after we figure out what we are going to do about that reporter.”
“We’ll call you if there’s any changes,” Rhett said before wrapping his arm around Sara’s back and pulling her towards the door.
Mae stared out after them, trying to wrap her mind around the bomb that just exploded in front of her. How the hell was she supposed to have Stone’s baby when her heart was hanging on by one thin thread of hope that he might just wake up one day soon and come back to her?
And never mind the fact that she’d been by his side, nonstop, since he was in surgery, but it didn’t change the fact that he still ended things between them, with no room for a misinterpretation about how he felt.
No. Nope. It was just stress. The universe wouldn’t… it couldn’t…
“Are you going to tell the guys what just happened?” Mae asked, trying to focus on something other than the dread making her body feel like it was made from lead.
“We definitely need to talk about it. But that shouldn’t stop you from going up to see him.
Hawk will be out at The Trident with Nash until tonight, so there’s no sense in calling everyone here right now.
” Mae placed both palms flat on the desk and waited for the tsunami of panic to wash over her.
Yup. She was drowning. And there was only one thing that would help.
“Hey, you aren’t going to pass out on me, are you?” Gunner asked. The genuine panic in his voice cracked through the fear, and she smiled.
“No. I’m fine. I still plan on seeing Stone today… I just… I think I do need to see Lily.”
Gunner studied her face for another minute. “You sure you’re okay?”
“No. I’m really not sure of anything anymore.”