WHITEOUT: Above And Beyond (Beauty 0f Life Book 10)

by Laura Acton

  Another yawn caused Dan to wonder why his caffeine pills were not working as they should. As he straddled the cycle, preparing to pull it from the stand, Dan mumbled, “Should’ve taken Nick up on his offer of a lift home. I’m so exhausted I might actually sleep straight through any nightmares.”

  Riding Back to Support Group – 11:40 p.m.

  When he stopped at Timmy’s to pick up timbits for the morning, he realized he left his phone in the center’s restroom. Now riding like the wind, he prayed he arrived before Sergeant Kelly locked up and departed. Otherwise, he would be facing an expensive door repair or a night sleeping outdoors. Neither option appealed to him.

  Pedaling hard, he mentally kicked himself for unwisely configuring his security system to work with only the cell phone app … no keys, and no digital pads. Thought you were so smart, didn’t you? Dumb idea, Genius. Tomorrow you’ll be rectifying your idiotic error and adding a backup method in case you lose your phone or it breaks.

  Outside Support Group – 11:45 p.m.

  Jon patted Samuel on the back. “Thanks again for everything.”

  Turning from locking the door, Kelly said, “Anytime, Jon. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to discuss the nightmares you’re experiencing. How are you handling things?”

  Jon’s eyes closed a moment before opening and peering steadily at Kelly. “I’ll be alright. Never easy to take a life. Sadly, Reese was too far gone, and I stuck to the priority of life … citizens, officers, subjects. At the time, we were not aware of the suicide pact, but Reese still posed a threat to a hostage.”

  Kelly nodded. “Okay, but if you need an open ear beyond Nick’s, call me.” Shifting gears, he said, “I’m glad Dan has friends who care. That young man is in a world of hurt.”

  Nick sighed. “Yes, he is, and I’m extremely pleased he shared with the group. I’m not sure if he will come often, but at least now, Dan realizes he has somewhere to go if things become overwhelming for him.”

  As the three of them turned left, heading for the parking lot, Kelly said, “Six years in Special Forces … the potential triggers must be vast. Are you sure he doesn’t suffer from PTSD?” Putting his hands up in placation at Jon’s hard glare, Samuel added, “Just asking out of concern, no judgment.”

  Jon softened his defensive response when Nick said, “Dan does not have PTSD. In fact, according to Dr. Dawn Tansy, the psychologist he worked with after being shot last year, Dan possesses robust coping mechanisms.”

  Kelly squinted. “I’ve heard positive things about Dr. Tansy from a few soldiers in our group. Do you think I should add her name to the list of recommended psychologists?”

  Jon stood by the car as Nick and Samuel discussed Dawn’s qualifications, but a figure on a bicycle speeding towards the building grabbed his attention. The limited lighting made it difficult to determine who it was, but he caught a glimpse of blond hair, cut military style like Dan’s, and the male appeared to be of similar build. “Dan left at least fifteen minutes ago, why is he returning?” Jon strode toward the approaching man.

  Nick and Kelly stopped their conversation and peered in the direction Jon headed. Spotting the cyclist riding pell-mell towards them, they followed, curious why Dan came back.

  Outside Support Group – Bicycle Rack – 11:53 p.m.

  Carles headed straight for the rack. Almost there, he spied Nick, Jon, and thank goodness, Samuel heading towards him. He smiled, exceedingly happy he wouldn’t be camping outside overnight and waved as he came to a stop and hopped off his two-wheeler.

  Jon called out. “Thought you were Dan. What are you doing back here?”

  “Seems I left my phone in the bathroom stall. Can’t unlock my apartment door without it.” At the quizzical looks from the guys, Carles briefly explained his self-installed security system.

  Jon chuckled. “You and Loki sound like birds of a feather. Should probably introduce you to him.”

  “Loki?” Carles asked.

  Nick nodded. “Our technical specialist. He loves all things geeky. Jon’s right. You two would get along well.”

  Samuel said, “Put your cycle in the stands, Carles, and I’ll open up so you can grab your phone,” before heading for the entrance with his keys in hand.

  Carles grinned and pushed his bicycle towards the enclosed rack area. He stopped short as he rounded the wall. Dammit! Dan lied to me. The container might be for caffeine tablets, but the goddamned pills must’ve been something he slipped into it just like Wilkinson.

  His buddy, Wilkinson, died of an overdose and hid his addiction by putting barbiturates in an aspirin bottle. No one knew until he died how he concealed the pills. With deep concern, Carles turned back to Nick and Jon. “Um. I think you guys have a problem and I’m worried about Dan. I caught him taking pills in the men’s room. He said they were caffeine, and he showed me the bottle. But … um, I don’t think that’s what they are.”

  Jon studied Carles’ expression. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because … um … well, you have to see this… it’s Dan,” Carles stammered out as he turned to peer behind him.

  Rushing forward, Jon and Nick stopped as they turned the corner.

  Jon shook his head and grinned with a twinkle in his eyes. “Well, don’t that beat all?”

  Nick chuckled. “We’re aware they aren’t caffeine.”

  Confused by their amused reaction to viewing a drugged-out Dan straddling his bike with his arms crossed on the handlebars, and head on arms, Carles’ hackles rose.

  With disbelief and censure in his tone, Carles said, “How can you be so cavalier. He’s your teammate. If you knew, why did you let him take them? He needs much more help than our group can provide. Dan requires professional drug counseling to kick the habit before it ruins his life or kills him.”

  Jon sobered, pleased by the show of concern but realizing Carles was unaware of what made them chuckle. “No counseling required. They’re sugar pills. Loki swapped them out today.”

  Nick explained, “We recognized Dan wasn’t sleeping much and suspected nightmares. When he became wired on caffeine, our team conspired to cut-off his source today. We found reasons to avoid Timmy’s so he couldn’t consume coffee, and Jon arranged with Samuel for only decaf to be available at the meeting. We hoped in doing so he would sleep tonight.”

  Carles peered at Dan with incredulity. “He is sleeping? How? He’s standing and straddling a cycle. Shouldn’t he be falling over?”

  Wondering what took so long for Carles to come to the entrance, Samuel wandered back in time to overhear the remarks and spied Dan’s position. “Wow, some skill. I bet with his years in the service that came in handy.”

  Jon nodded. “Yeah. The only tricky part is waking him without risking your life. Startling Dan is a sure-fire way to end up dead.”

  Nick chuckled and added, “Or to be thrown on your back in seconds flat and almost have a fist slammed into your jaw.”

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me,” Jon muttered.

  Samuel laughed. “Sounds like personal experience.”

  “Most definitely,” Nick said with mirth. “Jonny here learned the hard way not to startle Dan.” Assessing their young sniper, Nick rubbed his jaw. “How do you think we should wake him? Given his exhausted state and the nightmares, this might be exceptionally risky.”

  “Wish I had a ten-foot pole to prod him from a safe distance.” Checking the area and not finding anything of use, Jon decided to attempt speaking loudly before making any physical contact. He stepped closer but remained out of arm’s reach as he shouted, “Dano, wake up. You can’t sleep here.”

  When Dan gave no indication of rousing, Jon moved to the rear of the cycle and grabbed the tire. Jon tried again with words. “Time to rise and shine, Dano. Wakey, wakey.” Still receiving no response, Jon shook the back tire vigorously.

  Jerking upward, Dan’s eyes flew open as he scanned his environment, attempting to figure out where he was and why the earth shook violently. Bomb e
xplosion came to mind first, but his location dawned quickly. Dan turned to check behind him and found Jon wearing a Cheshire cat grin.

  Releasing his hold on the wheel, Jon sighed dramatically. “Dano, Dano. You do realize, bike rack just made the unacceptable nap locations list?”

  Dan peered beyond Jon and spied Boss, Carles, and Kelly. A sheepish grin played on his now reddening face at being caught nodding off in an unexpected locale. “Those damned caffeine pills suck. They aren’t working.”

  Jon snickered.

  Dan’s brows drew together. “What?”

  “Sugar gives you a bit of energy but doesn’t work quite like caffeine.”

  Gaping at Jon, Dan pulled out his bottle, uncapped it, and shook out a few white tablets. Upon closer inspection, he noted the difference. Lifting his gaze to Jon, Dan’s tone held incredulity, “You switched my pills?”

  Jon confessed to the team’s activities. “Not me, Loki, but I did arrange for non-caffeinated beverage options tonight, and we all plotted to keep you from getting an iced capp today. You need to sleep, and we wanted to help.”

  Surprised and touched by his teammates’ thoughtful conspiracy to eliminate his caffeine, Dan decided their actions resembled something his unit brothers would’ve done given similar circumstances. He yawned as he shook his head and put the tablets back in the bottle.

  Nick studied Dan’s haggard features, encouraged their scheme had not ticked him off and hoped to gain one more concession. “Dan, you’re too tired to ride home safely. Leave your bicycle here, and let me give you a lift.”

  Swinging his leg over the center bar, Dan nodded in agreement, accepting it wouldn’t be wise to tempt fate while exhausted.

  Jon flopped his arm around Dan’s shoulder. “How about you spend the night at my home? We can shoot some golf in the morning then trounce Kent and his friends in a few games of basketball in the afternoon. We can come here afterward.”

  Although shooting golf with Jon and playing basketball with Kent sounded fun, he could not stay at Jon’s place for the same reason he refused staying with Bram. “Thanks, but no.”

  “Why?” Jon asked before it dawned on him, and Dan confirmed why.

  “Don’t want to scare Kent or Joey with my nightmares. And if they come in …” Dan sucked in a breath, but Jon spoke before he continued.

  “The boys aren’t home. Joey’s with Jack, and Kent’s staying with a friend. Jen’s experienced with nightmares, but you can lock the door as a precaution if you want, and I’ll inform her why she shouldn’t go in.”

  The prospect of sleeping in an actual bed, a comfy one, rather than his chair or the floor, because his bed was off-limits due to memories of Lexa, Dan contemplated accepting the invitation.

  Witnessing his hesitation, Jon arched his brow and eyeing Dan extended a further incentive hoping he would agree, “I’ll sweeten the deal … Jen’s waffles or pancakes for breakfast.” With a bit of luck, his offering would be a step in the right direction and facilitate re-establishing the trust he obliterated months ago.

  Too fatigued to resist, Dan nodded. “Okay, thanks. I gotta lock up.”

  “You’re dead on your feet. Toss me the keys. I’ll take care of it and give them back to Nick,” Carles offered, relieved Dan would be going home with someone who cared about him.

  Dan dug out his keys and handed them over.

  Jon started moving and took Dan in tow with him. He guided an exhausted Dan to Nick’s vehicle.

  Pleased Dan consented to Jon’s proposition, Nick patted Dan’s back as he and Jon went past him then watched their slow progress to his car.

  After securing Dan’s cable lock to the bike’s frame, Carles gave Nick the keychain before peering at Kelly. “I’ll just run in and grab my phone.”

  As Carles trotted off, Samuel focused on his old friend. “What is this unacceptable nap locations list?”

  Nick snickered, and couldn’t stop the growing grin as he recalled all the locations. “A list of the odd and funny places we’ve found Dan sleeping. A bike rack is certainly one of the strangest places.” Sobering, he said, “I’m glad Carles left his phone. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known, and Dan would’ve gotten cold tonight. Not a good thing for him.”

  “Because of his lungs, right?” Samuel remembered Nick sharing his worry that Dan might not return to the team last year and how hard the young man worked to recover his full lung capacity.

  Several emotions flickered across Nick’s face. “Yes.”

  Kelly said with sincerity, “You did good, Nick. I can tell you care a lot about him. Dan is blessed you and Jon are in his life.”

  Nick observed Jon close the rear passenger door after Dan got in. “We’re fortunate he’s in our lives too. I should be going, goodnight, and thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome. Take care,” Samuel bid Nick goodnight, and remained in place waiting for Carles to come out as his long-time friend strolled to his car. He contemplated the events of the meeting, and they reaffirmed his belief his group made a difference in the lives of valiant men. When Nick drove out of the lot, Samuel grinned as he glimpsed the young blond constable leaning back on the headrest with his eyes closed. “May your dreams be pleasant, Dan.”

  Déjà Vu

  11

  October 7

  TRF HQ – Briefing Room – 1:00 p.m.

  Hair still damp from his shower and his clothes a haphazard mix of whatever he blindly grabbed after his phone buzzed, paging him to report to headquarters, Dan hurried into the room. He believed it to be a drill since it was the day before Thanksgiving, and Alpha had the day off, but he responded as if it was an emergency and got here as fast as humanly possible.

  Halting inside the room, he realized this was no exercise as no one clocked his arrival time. Everyone from the team except Bram assembled, and Victor Mosley, Bravo’s sniper, stood at the front with Commander Gambrill, and no one appeared happy. Victor’s distressed expression is what concerned Dan the most. Moving to his regular chair next to Loki, he noted the techie’s knee bounced like a jackhammer. “What’s up?”

  Loki turned to Dan, noting the dark circles abated slightly in the past two days, and assumed he had finally slept. “Not sure but doesn’t appear to be good news, especially if they called us in.”

  Bram trotted in. “Sorry, would’ve been here sooner but …” he trailed off as he caught sight of Victor. Bram took his seat as Gambrill patted Victor’s shoulder and said, “Go. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Victor nodded, and as he rushed out, he mumbled a quick, “Sorry, guys.”

  Walter rubbed his lower jaw and scanned the team. “Thank you for coming in so fast. Sergeant Bradley’s team served a warrant on a suspected meth lab about two hours ago, and things went badly.

  “All are expected to make a full recovery, but Camden, Doug, Meng, Curtis, and Devon all inhaled harmful chemicals and are being treated for exposure at Saint Michael’s. Hazmat and patrol officers have the situation in hand, but Alpha will be covering the remainder of Bravo’s shift today.”

  Nick nodded. “Understood, and not a problem.”

  “I’m headed over to the hospital to check in with Camden and find out how long Bravo will be off duty. May need to switch up the schedules a bit.” He grinned, as he noted the solemn faces, knowing Bravo had been scheduled to work Thanksgiving. “Your team will still be off tomorrow. Delta or Echo will provide coverage since you are due back for a five-day rotation on the tenth. Don’t want my best team worn out.” The smiles which greeted his announcement lightened his day.

  After Gambrill exited, Nick said, “Let’s go change, we must be prepared if a call comes in.”

  The team rose and headed towards their respective locker rooms, Lexa peeling off for the women’s, as the guys continued to the men’s.

  TRF HQ – Women’s Locker Room – 2:10 p.m.

  Fully dressed in her uniform, Lexa closed her locker, turned, and leaned on the metal as she let out a long sigh. The p
ast few weeks had been miserable. Starting with the Whitehall incident, everything went downhill. The one person she had come to rely on when she needed shoring up, she couldn’t approach. Though she wanted to be friends with Dan, the actual execution of doing so proved more difficult than she expected.

  His emotional torment voiced through the song’s lyrics at the bar targeted her soul and had been a tough pill to swallow. She was responsible for causing him the anguish, which flowed out of him as he sang.

  Moving to the sinks to pull her hair into a ponytail, she gazed at her reflection and berated herself, “Yeah, the damage is done. You shot him through the heart. You give love a bad name. You’re as cold-hearted as your father.” Lexa halted as the door opened, and Kinsey Peltora ambled in.

  Kinsey smiled at Lexa. She had been uncertain if she would like McKenna, or more correctly if Lexa would like her, particularly after the words Lexa overheard back in the Fifty-first Division when she referred to Lexa and Justine as pretty ponies and insinuated the two women only made TRF to avoid discrimination claims. Boy, she regretted those words. From what she learned while covering for Lexa, coupled with her few months on Charlie Team working directly with Justine, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  “Heard Alpha got called in.” Kinsey pulled open her locker.

  Shoving her negative personal thoughts away, they didn’t belong in her mind while working, Lexa pivoted and peered at Kinsey. “Yeah. I’m hoping the guys of Bravo will all be okay.”

  “Should be, according to what Gambrill shared.” Tugging out her jacket, she remarked, “Today is chillier than I expected.”

  Lexa nodded. “The weather forecast is predicting an earlier and harsher winter. Hope the snow and icy rain hold off, though.”

  Shutting the locker door, Kinsey slipped on the jacket. “Toronto is both colder and warmer than Vancouver, but at least it rains less here. Not sure I’m looking forward to the ice storms.” She said with a grin, “Colton told me about Dan getting stuck up in a pear tree last December. Man, I don’t think I would’ve been able to withstand cold like that.”