Page 51 of Ozzie

“He’s here. We need to go to the airport now.”

Clive drives us, and in under an hour, we are on the plane and in the air.

“Is there any food on the plane?” JB asks.

I can’t help myself; I laugh. I’ve never seen someone who could eat so much.

“Clive gave me some bananas,” Harding says as she hands us each one.

“I found a stash of nut packs in the back,” Lightning says, holding them up.

He hands them out, and JB eats his share fast. The flight is long, but finally, we touch down in DC.

“Senator Walton wants to talk with us,” Harding says.

I’m not surprised. I figured the senator and a few others would debrief us before we headed to New York.

The rest of the day is a blur as we answer questions regarding JB’s rescue. When the boy sees his mom, he runs to her and hugs her tightly. His father is focused more on us than on his son. But he probably wants to know who exactly to go after.

Despite the private flight into the States, Lightning and I fly commercial back to New York. We parted ways with Harding in DC, since she’s heading to Seattle. Luckily, we snag two seats on one of the last flights of the night. By the time I finally get back to my place, it’s after midnight. I debate calling Piper. But she’s probably asleep, and frankly, I can barely keep my eyes open at this point.

I send Piper and Durango a text that I’m back before I crawl into bed and crash.

The next morning, I wake up and grab my phone. Tenmissed calls from Durango causes me to sit up. Damn, I forgot to take it off silent mode. I listen to the voicemail he left.

“John’s taken Piper.”

I don’t listen to any more. Instead, I call Durango. He answers right away.

“John took her. He shot me with some tranquilizer, and I’ve been in the hospital since. I was about to bust out of here last night, but the nurse gave me something and I just woke up twenty minutes ago.”

I run my hand through my hair. “When did he take her?”

He sighs. “It’s Saturday?”

“No, Monday.”

“Shit. Friday night. Where the hell are my pants?”

“I took them,” a female voice says. “So, you wouldn’t try to leave in the night.”

“That’s the nurse. Can you pick me up and bring some pants? We need to find Piper now.”

Once he tells me which hospital, I’m out the door. But I double back and grab the bag I dropped by the door last night. Hopefully, something in here will fit him.

I drive as fast as I can. When I pull up, he’s outside, fortunately wearing pants. He hops in.

“My phone is dead. Let me use yours.”

I pull mine from my pocket and toss it at him. “Why the hell did they give you something to sleep if you were in for being drugged?”

Durango sighs. “While running all the tests before they figured out what happened to me, they discovered someabnormality around my liver. The doctor wanted to keep me calm and monitor me.”

I glance at him. “You know, Lightning and I can handle this.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m sure whatever came up is related to whatever that asshole drugged me with.”

While I’m not so sure, there’s no way he could really have any major issue. He never would have gotten medical clearance when we were in the Navy. But he has been out for a while now. And it could be a new issue.

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