Chapter Thirteen #7
“NO, Caspian. You’re not going. You’re going to sit here and wait. You being twitchy puts us all in danger. The Marines need to focus to keep me safe. They can’t worry about you, too!”
That helped a little.
Only, she knew he wasn’t going to want to listen.
Hell!
She wouldn’t listen if she was in his shoes. Elizabeth would do anything to check on one of her loved ones.
“You’re going to have to trust me,” she stated.
He had tears in his eyes.
Caspian kept his voice low, and as he did, he pleaded with her.
“I have to go. I have to m-m-make sure she’s okay. You can’t m-m-make me stay here, MOM. You can’t. That’s my woman. I love her!”
Seeing him crowd Elizabeth with his much bigger body, Ivan knew this was up to him.
So, he stepped in.
It was time to play by a different set of rules.
MARINE.
RULES.
“Uriel! Stand down, Marine, that’s an order! You need to do your duty! Stay here and watch the family. We’ll go check on your lady, and we’ll get her here. She’s probably just busy, or her ringer is off. Breathe.”
That helped a little.
Marine training tended to always kick in when given a direct order, and that allowed him to lean on something that was very familiar to him.
He started to calm down. When he was being asked to not think, just do what was ordered, it helped him focus.
“Go meditate,” Ivan stated. “Go read a book. Go do something, because she’s right. We can’t be worried about you being off and protect the Deputy Director!”
He needed to know.
“D-d-do you think it’s j-j-just something s-s-simple? Am I o-o-over reacting?”
Oh, he was rattled.
The stuttering was getting worse.
Truth be told, they were overreacting too. No one there wanted to find Caspian’s woman hurt and then have to tell him.
No.
One.
So, until they knew for sure, Ivan faked it until they could make it.
Ivan nodded.
He tried his best by rationalizing it for him. Ivan was a ‘full-of-hope’ kind of a guy.
“You said you sicced her father on her. What do you want to bet he’s annoying the fuck out of her, and she can’t answer because he’s there?”
That worked.
Immediately, Caspian calmed down, hearing the logic. If you wanted to rationalize with a Marine, show them logic they could rely on.
Only, Elizabeth had that sick feeling in the pit of her belly, and knew that was likely not it.
Her world didn’t really run on optimism and coincidences. This was about to go South.
DEEP.
SOUTH.
She was about to lose another bodyguard, and that would be his plan.
“We’ll go, Cas. I’ve got you, Boo.”
Ethan went over to him and took him by the hand. He led him to the table and sat him down.
“We’ll keep you company while we wait,” he stated.
“D-d-dad?” he asked.
Ethan kissed the man on the top of the head, and all the while, he was staring at Elizabeth.
Even he knew.
Elizabeth was about to walk into a nightmare, and with this hit close to home, it would be something that would scar her for life. Devon would make sure of it, too.
Everyone knew that she had a soft spot in her heart for the Marines who were part of their family. From their son, Takoda, to Ivan the Not-So-Terrible.
They were all hers.
And Devon would have studied that.
Without another word, she took her leave with the four Marines following her.
As they headed out, Ivan kept his voice low. Now, he was really worried, and not about her safety.
Devon Slater was a disgusting piece of shit.
“Do you think that’s it?” Ivan asked. “Please tell me that I’m not going to have to watch Caspian die inside over this, Elizabeth. He’s a good guy and doesn’t deserve this.”
Oh, she was aware.
Only, she prepared him for the worst.
“If we’re right, it’ll be the worst one yet. Am I wrong? I doubt it.”
Well, that sucked.
Now, she had to know. In her head, she was running the chances that Devon had figured out that one of her people was dating the Chief of Reservation Police.
They’d been so careful, too.
“Did she come in contact with us at any time? We now know he’s been watching us and has been able to since he wasn’t traveling. We tried to get her into protective custody, but the only reason we didn’t was her contact with us. That was her safety net.”
Ivan considered it.
He almost said no.
Then, it hit him.
FUCK.
They’d just seen her.
TODAY.
Holy shit! It appeared that they’d just put a bullseye on her back.
“What?” Elizabeth asked, when he didn’t answer her right away.
He told her.
“Son of a bitch, Elizabeth. We all saw her at the council house a few hours ago when they went to try and get Jet a burial plot. She showed up, and she came right up to us. The husbands hugged her, and they were laughing and talking. We made contact, inadvertently, but we assumed the rez was safe.”
Well, shit.
Up to that point, they’d managed to keep the two apart, and Rayna away from them because it had been safe.
It.
Was.
Not.
If he was all up in their business, following them, or paying for information, Rayna absolutely would be a target.
Holy.
Shit.
This was about to blow up.
Because they fucked up, and it might have just cost another innocent woman her life.
And Caspian his future.