Page 31 of SEAL's Patience
“She’s thirty, divorced, with two kids, a boy and a girl, both under four.”
“You sure you want to go down this path? You’ve never had a relationship, have you? And you’re going to take on a ready-made family? You can’t fuck with a single mom.”
“Who said I was taking on the family? I’m just concerned. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she wouldn’t. I think someone’s hurting her. My money is on her ex.”
“Definitely plausible. What do you want to do about it?”
“I dunno, bossman. That’s the first reason I was calling. To see if you had any thoughts. You’re the one with the planning skills. I’m just the fixer.”
“Well, we’ll need more intel. In the meantime, I’d still let Pam know to keep an eye out for anything weird or new injuries.”
“Yeah, good idea. Thanks.”
“Okay, what’s the second thing?” Quinn asked between sips.
“I, well, umm…”
“Just tell me, it can’t be that bad. I don’t have to bail you out, do I? Wait, never mind. You would have started with that.”
“Yeah, no, I’m actually checking on you. I know what happened in Marikistan messed you up, but I feel like there'smore to it. We’re all concerned, not in a bad way. We trust you with our lives, always will.”
“Stop, right there. I told you, I’m fine.”
“Yes, you did. But not one of us believe you. Neither does Tony. He called me last night to check on you.”
“What the hell? I had my debrief. He knew I was fine.”
“Apparently, not. And it seems our friend Dickless Kern had a few things to say after you left.”
“Fucking asshole. I should have known he’d start something. Well, he’s in for a rude awakening. It seems he got a woman pregnant, lied to her about being a SEAL, and then ghosted her.”
“What? Dicklesshasa dick and dipped it?”
“Affirmative. There is no reason Felicity would have a reason to lie about it.”
“Who’s Felicity?”
“It’s a long story. Better told in person because all the guys are going to want to hear it.”
“Dammit. You’re going to make me wait until Monday after PT,” Doc groaned.
“Yup. You’ll survive. Anyway, what did you tell Tony?”
“That you were fine. What else would I say? It’s true, right? You’re not just covering up some deep secret?”
Quinn winced. Technically, maybe. But Tony and everyone else up the food chain knew everything about his past. He’d gone through plenty of psych exams before they allowed him to enter BUD/s. It would all be in his permanent file, but it didn’t mean his teammates needed to know.
“Quinn? Youareokay, right?”
“None of you need to worry. I’m good.”
“Why don’t I feel convinced?” Doc grumbled.
“Because you are always looking for there to be something going on.”
“Well, because there usually is. Just one more thing, and then I’ll let it go. If there is something, you can talk to me. I’m like a lockbox. It’ll stay with me, no judgement at all, no matter what. Got me?”
“Yeah, I got you. Anything else?”
