Chapter 13
After getting Hollywood situated, Shadow led a quiet Sparky to the truck bed and settled her beside their teammate. Apollo jumped in beside her and lay across Hollywood’s chest.
Saint tapped the side of the truck as Shadow took off. Knight rode shotgun and Patch rode in the back with Sparky.
Knight slid the window open in the back. “How’s he doing?”
“He’s holding his own and still asking for a damn rattle,” Patch said, bracing Hollywood from all the bumps in the road.
Glancing at Sparky, Patch said, “You know Saint didn’t mean anything. He’s under a lot of stress. With Leo gone, he must prove himself as a new leader. He made a decision based on the lesser risk. If he had a choice, he’d ride back here. One of his men got hurt on his watch. It’s killing him.”
Swallowing hard, Sparky turned her head. “I thought I found my place on this team. It turns out some people still feel sorry for me. He’s sending me home because he’s afraid I’ll get hurt.”
“You don’t have your guide dog, and while I admit you can kick ass, you can’t see your way out of a desert attack without risking us,” Patch growled. “Don’t make this personal.”
“We’ve got company. There’s a vehicle coming up on us,” she said.
Shadow glanced up and shielded his eyes. “I don’t see anything.”
“The engine doesn’t sound like ours,” she explained. “It’s coming up fast.”
“Hey, Knight. Sparky says we have company coming,” Patch said inside the window.
Knight nodded and put his weapon on the side.
A minute later, a beat-up truck loaded with eight men pulled in front of their vehicle. The leader ordered them out of the truck and approached the vehicle. Shadow raised his hands and spoke in their language.
Sparky leaned over Hollywood, moaning and wailing loudly.
“Who is this man?” the leader said, poking the gun into Patch’s back.
“He’s her husband,” Shadow exclaimed, trying to keep the attention on him. “We work in the field. Her husband suffered an injury.”
Sparky wailed louder, speaking gibberish.
The man lifted the blanket and saw the blood. Apollo let out a menacing growl. Striker’s hair stood on its ends. The man backed off as Sparky cried out, begging for help.
Shadow comforted her in their language, playing along.
The leader slowly made his way to the cab and pointed toward Knight. “Who’s he?”
“A hired man. We couldn’t leave him,” Shadow explained. The leader narrowed his eyes as Sparky pounded on the glass, lamenting about the delay.
He jerked his head, telling his men to let them pass.
Shadow said thank you as he sped through the roadblock.
“Shit,” Patch said. “You saved us.”
“I didn’t do anything the rest of you wouldn’t do,” she said stubbornly.
“Patch,” Hollywood said, turning his eyes on him. “It’s bleeding again. I feel it.”
Patch threw back the blanket and inspected the wound. “You’re fine, man. You’re feeling the shock.”
“No. My hand. I saw the rattle,” he moaned.
Sparky moved, pulling back the covering and felt his slippery skin. “His hand’s soaked,” she said.
Patch leaned over, examining Hollywood’s limb. “What the hell,” he exclaimed, seeing the skin between the thumb and pointer finger pouring blood. “Sparky, hold up his hand,” he directed, placing hers where he needed it.
“How bad did he get hit?” she asked, doing as he ordered.
“It’s through the tissues. There are a lot of blood vessels there and an artery. We have to bandage it tightly until it stops. Hopefully, Victoria will be there by the time we arrive.”
“She knows it must be serious if Ivan called her. I’m surprised she didn’t take over flying the plane,” Sparky said.
Apollo whined and whimpered as Patch worked around him.
“It’s all right,” Patch soothed the K-9. “You’re doing a great job, buddy. You protected him. You did a great job, too, Sparky.”
She grunted. “Does it surprise you?”
“Not in the least,” Patch replied. “Don’t let this get in your head.
You’ll prove Saint right if you start getting your feelings hurt.
Don’t you think we haven’t gotten our asses reamed?
When I met Claire, I almost walked away, believing I wasn’t good enough.
Now, I only think about seeing her again, carrying our child. ”
“You’ll get the opportunity. Doc and Whiskey plan on coming,” she said as Patch moved her hand to where he needed it to go. “We’ll be home in time for you to see Claire.”
“I know. It’s hard to feel happy with Leo gone. Don’t get me wrong, I never wanted to become a dad. Now, it’s all I think about.”
“Do you want a boy or a girl?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Patch replied, wrapping the injury tightly. “I want Claire to have an easy labor and a healthy baby. I haven’t even felt the baby move.”
“I’m sorry,” Sparky said. “First, you lose Leo. You’ve known him a long time. I can’t imagine how you must feel between losing him and worrying about Claire.”
“Will you watch over her for me?” Patch asked. “I’ll feel better if I know you’ll be there with her until I can come home.”
“I’ll check on her every day,” she promised.
“Thanks, Sparky,” he said, trying to hide the emotion in his voice.
“Will you do the same with Gabby? Tell her I miss her so damn much. I wish I got the chance to spoil her,” Knight said through the window. “I missed a lot of her pregnancy with Marcus. I acted like an asshole and missed out on the experience and made her unhappy,” he confessed.
“I haven’t known you long, but I know Gabby loves you. She doesn’t seem bothered by the past. Don’t focus on the past. Stay committed to your future,” Sparky said. “And yes, I’ll check on her daily.”
They rolled up to the small airstrip and saw Victoria’s plane waiting for them. Shadow pulled up as close as possible as Victoria ran down the steps.
“Who got hit?” she demanded.
“It’s Hollywood,” Patch said as Shadow opened the tailgate and Knight helped Sparky get down.
“Come, Apollo,” she called, holding out her hand. The K-9 whined, not wanting to leave his handler.
Sparky made the hand signal Cole taught her, and Apollo reluctantly went to her.
“Where are your men?” Patch asked.
“They’re following leads on Katie,” Victoria said. “I gave them orders to help the Texas team. They’re sending in their new recruit, Spider. It better work, or I’ll be wearing Matthew’s hide like he wears those cows on his feet.”
“You didn’t bring Aleski?” Patch asked, frustrated. “Shit, Hollywood needs medical care. We need to make a stop in Germany. He’s losing blood and has two GSWs.”
“Then you’ll come with us,” Victoria said.
“I can’t, damn it,” Patch said. “The team needs me.”
“From the appearance of things, Hollywood needs you more,” Victoria argued. “The faster we get him in the air, the quicker he gets treatment.”
Sparky bent down, listening to Hollywood, letting Victoria and Patch figure out what to do.
“Victoria’s here. She’ll get you to Germany, and you’ll be good as new,” she assured her teammate.
Hollywood turned his head toward her. He touched her cheek with his bandaged hand. “I saw Grace holding the rattle.”
“When?” she asked, thinking he hallucinated with the second dose of morphine Patch administered.
“Before we left. Grace dropped it on the ground. Leo picked it up and stuffed it in the diaper bag. I saw the rattle,” he slurred.
“What the hell will we do now?” Patch exclaimed. He turned to Knight. “You need to go. Keep pressure on his hand and check his leg. If it starts bleeding?—”
“Whoa,” Knight said, holding up his hands. “I know nothing about this kind of stuff. If it starts gushing again, he’ll bleed out before we ever land.”
“Come on, man. I gave all of you a class on basics,” Patch argued.
“This goes beyond basics. Take a gander at his hand,” Knight pointed to Hollywood’s bandages.
“Shit, he’s bleeding again. Let’s get him on the plane,” Patch said, picking up the mattress to spare his patient any more pain.
Knight grabbed the other end, and they went up the steps.
“Victoria?” Sparky called out.
“Yes, darling?” Victoria answered her.
“When they make it on the plane, take off. I’m going back with Shadow. We have to find something. Patch and Knight deserve to go home. Take care of Hollywood,” she said.
Victoria chuckled darkly. “Usually, people don’t give me orders, but this time, I believe you’re right. What will you tell your new leader?”
“I’m part of the team. Hollywood’s life depended on it. I can’t help Patch. Knight can. Shadow and I know the language. The villagers already stopped us. We must continue the search,” she pleaded.
“Go, darling. Shadow’s coming toward you now. I’ll have the door closed before he figures it out. You need to stall him for five minutes,” Victoria said, turning and running up the steps.
“Shadow,” she called. “I figured out what Hollywood tried to tell us. He saw a rattle. It’s Grace’s.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Shadow asked as he grabbed her arm.
“We have to go back. Hollywood thinks he saw Grace’s rattle. It might be the reason he got shot.”
The door shut on the plane, and the engine roared to life. Shadow glanced at it and jerked his arm from Sparky. “Do you know what you’ve done? Saint will have your ass.”
“I’m telling you, Hollywood saw something. I need your eyes. He started bleeding again. I can’t assist Patch. Knight will. Victoria will get them to Germany. We need to head back to the rest of the team,” she insisted.
Shadow propelled her toward the truck. When she stumbled, he slowed down and loosened his grip on her arm. Ushering her inside the truck, he said, “You’d best have a plan. Disobeying orders can get you fired. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me physically. You’ve taken my pride and thrown it in my face. I may be blind, but I have ears, and Hollywood saw something. Maybe I’m worth something after all.”
“It was never about your worth. You represented a safety risk. Your stubbornness will get you killed,” Shadow gritted out.
“Then I guess I belong here after all, since you’re all stubborn jack asses. You won’t even listen to me now,” she argued.
“Tell me how Grace’s rattle made it all the way to Afghanistan,” he said. “Soldiers bring small toys and candy to these areas to help build trust with the villagers. So, what if he saw the identical rattle? They probably make a million of those a day.”
“Hollywood seemed sure of it,” Sparky said, now doubting his claim. Maybe Shadow made a few good points. “We haven’t found one damn lead. What if someone didn’t want us to discover it?”
Shadow tapped on the wheel as he thought about her argument. “How will you explain Knight leaving? Saint has every right to boot him, too.”
“Victoria decided to leave. Do we need any more of an excuse? He knows how stubborn she can be,” she reasoned.
“Hmmm, it seems like you two share a common trait,” Shadow said as he raced back to their new base.
Sparky smiled and relaxed against the seat. At least Shadow didn’t seem furious. She’d figure out a way to convince Saint on their way back. If he fired her, she’d accept his decision. It only lasted a short time, but with Leo gone, maybe it was time for her to move on.