Page 45 of The Destined SEAL
In between bargaining with God and trying to convince myself I’m wrong, I hear Marcus asking repeatedly what’s wrong.
I look him in the eye. “It’s Norah.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ben
When we land backin San Diego the next morning, my phone is blowing up. I make it a point to keep it off while I’m working so it doesn’t distract me. I slept the entire flight, and I’m still exhausted. All I can think about is a dark room and my bed. My energy level after missions is completely depleted. I have to be on constantly. There’s no breathing room. Perfection twenty-four seven. It’s not as if I can make a mistake either. That could cost an innocent life or two. I like to call it the mental mush. Voicemails ping by the half dozen. Text messages from so many people I’m not sure where to start.
“Ah, I need sleep first,” I whisper, trying to keep my eyes open. “Harper,” I whisper, seeing a voicemail from her phone number flash across my screen as I walk toward my truck. It was from yesterday morning.
That’s obviously the first one I click. “Benny. You need to call me as soon as you can. It’s important. I’m not just saying that to get you to call me back. I’m saying that because nothing has ever been more important.” She’s sobbing hard, her words hard to make out. My brain that is finished for the week starts firing up again. “Please call.” The message finishes, and I’m left with a jagged hole in my stomach that’s telling me something isincredibly wrong. I head to my truck, ready to be away from here and back on neutral ground—ready to be home.
I go to call her back, but I get a phone call from a number not programmed into my phone. I can tell it’s a number from work, the place I’m trying to leave right now. Swallowing down my irritation, I answer. “Hello?”
“Ben?” a male voice rasps.
“Yes,” I reply.
“It’s Cage. I’m sorry I’m just now getting a hold of you. I couldn’t track you down after you touched down. You already on your way home?”
“About to be,” I say.
“We have some tragic news. Can you come back into the office for a second?” my boss says.
I sit up straight, realizing just how much elasticity my energy level has. No longer am I tired. I’m ready to fight—kill. I feel warm and cool at the same time as I open and close my truck door. I start the engine and turn on the air to full blast.
“Did you hear me?” Cage asks, waiting for my response. What if I don’t want to hear anything right now?
“I heard you, yes. Go on.”
“Can you come to the high bay?”
I glance to the right, to the high bay, where I just walked from.
“Just fucking tell me,” I bark. Adrenaline hits me like a hot shot of whiskey.
Cage sighs. “Norah has been in an accident.”
“Fuck! Is she at the hospital? Is the baby okay? Which hospital is she at? I’m in my truck now. I can be there in fifteen minutes. What happened?” I ask, my brain in a frenzy trying to process all of the information. He called it tragic news. “She’s okay, right?”
He clears his throat on the other side of the line. “Norah was hit by a drunk driver yesterday morning. She was killed on impact. As was the baby. I’m so sorry, Ben.”
“What?”
He repeats himself a few times. “Ben, do you have someone to drive you home? Please don’t drive right now.”
I don’t respond. Norah is gone. Robin is gone.
“Ben?”
They say when you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. Right now the whole life I was supposed to have blazes behind my closed eyelids. Every moment that was stolen from Norah. Holding Robin for the first time. Watching as she takes her first steps, kissing baby toes, watching a kindergarten play, first dates, learning to drive, and graduations. Robin. She never got to see the woman who loved her more than anything else in the entire world. It’s so painful to think about that I might be sick.
“Who hit her? Who was driving the other car?” I ask, needing to know every last detail before I fall apart completely.
“The driver of the other vehicle is in a life-threatening coma at the hospital. His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. I assure you justice will be served. There’s no way he’s getting off, Ben. He will pay for this.”
What if payment isn’t enough? What happens then?
