Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rylee
Friday
The plan had been easy.
Anti-climactic.
Ares had purchased a pickup from a man who had been working to dig his fellow villagers from the rubble. Team Bravo had transportation during their mission.
Dakota had placed her in the passenger seat as if she were made of glass.
This wasn’t how she’d been treated in her life, as precious.
It was interesting. Rylee could get used to it as long as it didn’t come with the expectations that she was weak.
Ares was at the wheel, focused on driving by moonlight over the road toward the highway where McKayla’s jet had landed and was waiting.
Dakota and Tank were in the back with the others.
Onto the jet they climbed.
Off they flew.
Rylee and Dakota parted ways at Heathrow.
There was an ache in her heart when Dakota lifted her onto the wheelchair, knowing he would fly on. But physically, Rylee was fine. Her foot had regained sensation; she could walk. “Dakota, you’re hovering.”
“Get used to it,” he said.
Rylee bent to kiss Tank goodbye. “All the steaks when I get home. All of them. I’ll cook for you and Fifi.”
With her hand on Tank’s head, she tipped back and accepted a kiss from Dakota that, if Rylee read about it in her fantasy novels, would have been described as a kiss that claimed her as his.
And she hoped that Dakota felt that same sentiment from her.
Cemented.
That was what happened in desperate situations.
But this kind of cemented relationship was a world apart from the other connections she’d made in her life.
The sun had circled the Earth.
And here it was, Friday.
She was sitting in the hotel lobby, waiting until it was time to ask the doorman to hail her a cab.
She hadn’t heard from Dakota since Heathrow. Of course, he’d been flying, then had to deal with McLeod’s arrest.
It was after midnight in the States.
And with that thought, her phone rang. Rylee snatched it up with anticipation and found Neesa’s name on her screen.
“Dressed and ready?” Neesa’s voice was bright.
“Just wondering what’s happening with Quebec.”
“Yeah, I heard from Mandy that you were involved in an event,” Neesa said. “The team is fine. Morale is high. They’re on task.”
“Good to know, but that’s how Mandy categorized my last night in Turkey? An event?”
“Why? How would you describe it?” Neesa’s voice edged with worry.
Rylee took a minute to bring Neesa up to speed.
“I bet it felt like it went on for hours, but we got a readout from Iniquus Logistics and the whole thing, start to finish, was less than twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, it felt longer,” Rylee said.
“So I have good news. Team Mike and the equipment have arrived, and Quebec is taking a rest day unless they get called to a compression injury. But Egypt is there, and last report, they were busy setting up their field hospital.”
“Perfect,” Rylee said.
“Jasper already told me about Shithead McLeod’s arrest. That’s his prison name. He’s not in prison, but jail. The Secret Service convinced the judge that he’s a flight risk. If he could print his own money, there was no reason not to flee. Nothing to hold him back.”
“I hope he rots there,” Rylee said.
“Okay,” Neesa said. “Catch me up on you. You arrived on Wednesday as instructed.”
“Can you believe it?”
“What did you do to relax yesterday?” Neesa asked. “I couldn’t get you on the phone.”
“I turned my phone off while I indulged in the hotel spa. I picked the full-day package. And after I was rubbed and buffed, I just wasn’t in the mood for words. I went to bed.”
“Full day, that sounds exactly right.”
Rylee stuck with the gossipy banter so her emotions didn’t surface. “They were confused by the dirt and blood in my hair,” Rylee said.
“Imagine that.”
Rylee smiled at Neesa’s signature deadpan delivery. “They tsked over my raggedy nails.”
“A given.”
“I had plenty of hair on my legs for the wax,” Rylee said, stretching her leg long and seeing the angry red dots that would go away in a day or two.
“Dakota goes for the wild woman who runs with the wolves.”
“No complaints,” Rylee said. “And Tank seemed to think we had an affinity, both being furry as we are. My god, that dog. Hero. Dakota, too. Both of them.”
“You, too,” Neesa said.
“Me, too, I guess. Feels weird to think of myself like that. So I won’t.”
“I’m sure if you told Dakota he was your hero, he’d feel the same,” Neesa said.
“True.” Soon, Rylee would have to say goodbye. Soon, she’d be in the taxi heading toward the hospital. John wouldn’t be there. His wife thought she was in labor.
So Rylee would go through this alone.
“So, pampered …” Neesa nudged.
“Yes, and I had a big salad for dinner. This morning I had some porridge.”
“Good. Rylee, it’s human to be nervous. This is a moon walk. A new step into science. And you’re taking it. I’m proud of you.”
Rylee swallowed.
“You talked to John about what to expect?” Neesa asked.
“I’ll be at the hospital for the day. I’ll be tired.
They have a doctor in the States who will order the blood work they’re watching, and I’ll fly back at six months and a year for scans and prods.
And honestly, so I can cuddle John’s new baby, who should arrive any time now.
” Rylee stood. “It’s time. Thank you for distracting me for these last minutes. ”
“You’ve got this.”
“Yes, I do.” Rylee slid her phone into her pocket, squared her shoulders, and walked toward the door.
Taxi. Reception. Into a blue cotton hospital gown. Propped up in the bed.
Now, all she had to do was wait.
Rylee turned to the knock on the door. And there Dakota stood, with a bouquet of bright flowers in his hands.
It was déjà vu.
“Neesa said you were in D.C.” Rylee squinted. Was this real?
“I was, but only to hand over McLeod to Jasper and Singh at the airport. I went back in and repurchased the first flight to London, so I could be here to support you.” He moved into the room and set the vase on the windowsill where she could see it, then leaned over for a kiss.
“My god,” Rylee said as she suddenly realized, “I knew you’d come. I knew you’d be here.” She’d just been holding her breath, waiting.
“It’s scary to be one of the first.” Dakota pulled a chair to sit by her bed. “I didn’t want you to go it alone.”
“It is. Admittedly, I am a little wigged out. Better now, though.” She reached for his hand, and they laced their fingers.
The nurse walked in with IVs on a cart. “Ready?” she asked cheerfully.
“Let the guinea pigging commence,” she said brightly, but Rylee turned worried eyes to Dakota and squeezed his hand tighter.
He brought their hands to his heart. “You’ve got this, Rylee. And I’m not leaving your side.”