Page 57 of Building Courage

She stowed her backpack and zoom in the back seat and buckled them in. She wondered if Tucker had arranged to have anyone check on the house or water his landscaping while he was gone. Surely, he had something like that in place since he flew in and out of the country so often.

She couldn’t drive by his house when he wasn’t there. It would be too much like stalking. But she wanted to.

Arriving home, she found Liam Bryant’s email with the photographs he’d chosen for the brochure and the slide show. To keep her mind occupied, she went directly to work on the slide show, paying close attention to the order and movement of the presentation.

He could have gone with a video, but it wouldn’t have shown nearly as many of the amenities available on board the vessel. The photos of the dining room, in particular, made the space look romantic and inviting.

The intercom buzzed, and she rose to answer it.

“Hey, I forgot my keycard. Can you buzz me up?” Jessica’s voice came over the intercom.

“Sure.” She pushed the button to unlock the door downstairs. When a knock followed in a few minutes, she expected Jessica to be standing outside and smiled. Jessica was there, but her attention focused on Tucker. Her heart leaped at the sight of him. She stepped forward, and it seemed so natural to reach for him. His arms went around her and tightened.

She shot Jessica a look of thanks. Jess nodded and moved on down the hall to her apartment.

After a few moments, Tucker loosened his grip on her and eased back to look into her face. “I just wanted to see you. We just landed about an hour ago.”

His jaw was heavily shadowed by a beard. It was evident that he hadn’t shaved all week. He looked as though he hadn’t slept either. His uniform was different, heavier and more utilitarian than the one she’d seen him wear the week before. His hair looked windblown and curled around his ears. Though he stood as straight as always, there were subtle differences in his stance. Something that triggered the urge to comfort him.

“Come inside.”

*

He remained at the door. He needed to go home and deal with this pain.

“Let me get you something to drink, Tucker. Have a seat.”

“I can’t stay. I need a shower and to make some phone calls.” He should have taken the sleep aid Knotty had offered him, but he’d been too wound up with grief to do it.

Brynn continued to pour the tea. “Has something happened to your father or grandmother?”

“No.” He shook his head. His temples were pounding. “A friend was killed in a parachute jump during a mission. We were told about it just before transport home. His name was Jordan Tolliver. He was my swim buddy in BUD/s.” He raked his fingers through his hair. The grief had eased, and anger had replaced it. He wanted to shout and rage at the injustice of it. “This is the fifth parachuting accident in the last two years. Only one man has survived, and his life has been turned to shit. He’ll never walk again.”

Brynn caught his hand and tugged him to the couch. “Did you know the others?” she asked and offered him the glass.

He turned the glass in his hands and then finally took a long drink.

“I knew a couple of them from BUD/s or from deploying with them and their teams. Book was my teammate. And now Jordan.” He shook his head. “It’s hard enough to lose a teammate or fellow SEAL in combat, but this is senseless.” He set the glass aside on the coffee table.

“No matter how careful people are, accidents happen, Tucker.”

“There have been some close calls, too, Brynn.”

She paused to take that in. “Then someone isn’t packing the chutes right.”

Tucker remained silent.

“It can’t be deliberate, can it?” she asked.

When he didn’t respond again, shock rippled across her face. “My God!” She dragged in a breath. “What are they doing about it?”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“That’s…” She seemed to struggle to bite back what she was about to say. “They’re not moving fast enough.”

“No.” It wasn’t fast enough. Jordan had died because they hadn’t found the fucker responsible.

He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. It had been over twenty-four hours since he’d slept. The back of his neck felt like it was slowly being tightened in a vice. When in battle, the adrenaline held the aches and pains at bay. But that had leeched from his system long before leaving Ecuador. “I have to go.” He got to his feet with an effort. He should have never come here. Why had he come here?

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