Page 54 of Embedded
“I don’t have a look.” I kept up the pace until I spotted Cole. He stood by an exit talking to Mark. He nodded at us as we joined them and signaled we had three minutes before the car arrived to take us to the helicopter pad.
I needed to do damage control.
“Hey,” she’d stepped a few feet back to chug down a water, “sorry we didn’t have much time to get that meeting in. Face-to-face time is important with those guys, especially when they’re offering to help with a mission.”
She tossed her bottle in the recycling bin. “How often does that happen?”
“Enough times that I trust them.”
“How do you know them?”
I figured she’d let us in on this whole thing, so I needed give a little too. “I met Trigger through Mike. They go away back. Grim I met through?—”
“Talya?” She stared at me. “It makes sense now.”
“Huh?” I swallowed hard.
“What you said back there about you both wanting to get her killer. So, you and Talya knew each other?”
“Yeah, we did.” That wasn’t a lie.
“Sorry.” The tension lifted from her shoulders. “I never realized. It must have been hard hearing that she died and had a child who needed saving.”
I felt my phone vibrate and looked at Cole. He waved for us to leave. “We need to go.”
She started to walk but looked back at me. “Thanks for getting me protection over there.”
“Of course.” I shrugged.
We made it to the chopper, and the sound of the muffled rotors through my earphones relaxed me. I let my head go back over the last few days. I’d almost drifted off myself, when my earphones crackled.
“She’s impressive.” Cole’s voice found me.
“You should have seen her with Trigger.” Mike laughed. “She handled herself like Tess would.”
“She’d make a huge asset for the teams.” Cole smiled. “Just something to think about.”
I looked down at Nicole, who had fallen asleep with her head against my shoulder. For a moment, I thought about what it would be like to have a significant other in my life. I was always on the outside looking in at the other men and their lives. I shook that thought away, and instead my mind went to how every wife had a purpose at Shadows. Nicole’s skills were impressive; she would certainly bring a lot to the table. I smiled in agreement at Cole but didn’t comment.
One thing I loved most after we got back from a mission or a trip, was when my boots hit the ground on the Shadows property. I always took a moment to suck in a big lungful of air and let it out slowly. This place brought me so much peace. I did just that as I stepped out of the chopper behind the others. I needed it to get my head on straight. I smiled as I saw Nicole make a beeline for the house. I had no doubt she was headed directly to Chase. I grabbed my bags and followed Cole and Chili.
“Hey, look who I’ve got.” Nicole brought Chase over and held him out to me and I scooped him up, feeling more confident.
“You look better today.” I noticed his color was improving. He seemed to be more aware as well. His eyes were definitely brighter. “I see you got your bunny.” Chase gnawed on its ear, and some drool dripped down his neck.
“He’s still teething.” She used her finger to swipe the spit like it didn’t affect her in the slightest. “Bunny may not have an ear by the time all your teeth come in,” she cooed at him.
“We’ll just have to sew on a new one.” I rubbed the bunny’s damp fabric cheek. “Bunny is too important to replace.” I felt Nicole watching me. “What?”
“You’re good with him.” She smiled. “You’re a natural.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I ruffled the top of his head, “but this guy is starting to grow on me.”
“Good, because he needs all the love he can get.” She touched my arm, and suddenly my head switched to a memory of the time when Tayla and I saw each other in the bar and ended up having sex in the back room. That could have been when he was conceived. I still remembered how she felt, how she smelled, and the sadness that ran so deep inside me when we parted that day. I think we both knew, in some way, that we were saying goodbye forever.
Chase wiggled, and I blinked the memory away. Nicole stared at me. “Where do you go when you make that face?”
“What face?”
