After that, I hadn’t heard a word. I’d briefly wondered if he was hitting the brakes because of how much time we’d spent together after the failed attempt at attending a beach party but had decided it wasn’t that.
Lincoln was the one who had initiated contact first after that, and after I’d reciprocated, we had fallen into an easy rhythm. I wanted to believe that we knew each other well enough by now that if he had decided to slam on the brakes, he’d have told me.
The only thing that made sense was that he’d gotten caught up in something else, which I was totally fine with. One of my main goals this summer had been to spend some time with my father after his retirement, and I hadn’t done nearly enough of that so far.
It wasn’t only because I’d been spending so much time with Lincoln and Haley. Dad had also been busy, retirement or no. There had been a lot he’d had to wrap up on the base. Apparently, the handover after having been the head instructor at BUD/S for so many years was no picnic, either.
In addition to all that, his fellow retirees were trying to get him into golf. He’d always detested the sport, but it seemed to be growing on him now.
Today was the first time we were both at home, both seemingly without any plans. Dad read the paper in the kitchen but looked up when I walked in.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” he commented, sipping from his khaki-colored mug. His dark brows knitted together. “Don’t tell me Haley has finally remembered she has a business to run and can’t spend all the time gallivanting with you.”
I pressed a kiss to his temple before going to fix myself a cup of coffee. “You know, if I wasn’t used to your extremely unfunny sense of humor, my feelings might have been hurt right now.”
He guffawed, dropping his gaze back to the article he’d been reading as I moved away. “Good thing you know not to be offended by my hilarity.”
“Your hilarity,” I placed emphasis on the word as I spooned sugar into my mug, “is very well known around these parts. Talk of the town really.”
“Shows you how much people really have to talk about these days,” he remarked, then flicked a curious glance in my direction. “On a serious note, what are you doing today? Do you finally have time to get some studying done?”
“I don’t have anything to study, Dad. It’s summer, remember?” I filled my cup to the brim and let out a soft moan when the bitter aroma hit my nostrils.
Dad frowned at me, setting the paper down on the table and crossing an ankle over his knee. “Couldn’t you be getting ahead of the work for next semester?”
“That’s not really how it works.” I blew on the surface of the drink, sighing as I wrapped my fingers around the mug. “What are your plans for today?”
A slight smile quirked the corners of his lips, which gave me the answer before he did. “I’ve got some work to do on the boat.”
“Want some help?” I offered. “You always used to let me help when I was growing up. It feels like it’s been forever since we last worked on it together.”
My father’s hazel eyes flashed with surprise, but his expression remained stoic. “Sure. Are you sure there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing, though?”
“No.” I grinned at him. “Is that your way of saying please don’t help me?”
His stubbled jaw tightened, but he shook his head. “No. Just don’t touch anything I don’t tell you to touch. As you’ve just pointed out, it’s been years since you’ve worked out there with me. I wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt.”
“By either of us, you mean me and the boat, right?” I joked. When he scowled at me, I held my hands up. “Kidding. I know she has a name, and I know she’s your second baby. I promise I won’t touch anything I’m not specifically instructed to touch.”
“Good.” He gave me a satisfied nod. “Let’s get started then, kiddo. My errands later aren’t going to run themselves.”
I groaned but hung onto my coffee as I followed him outside. While he got started, I sat in the Captain’s chair and finished my morning brew.
Dad didn’t say much as he unrolled his toolkit and crouched down to get to work. He was wearing a sleeveless white vest and cut-off cargo shorts.
If I’d seen him from the back and hadn’t noticed the silver shine in his hair, I’d have mistaken him for a much younger man. Dad was still as intimidating and industrious as ever. He kept himself in shape, his mind sharp, and his morals and body strong.
While he’d never been a sensitive man or father, he sure had taught me how to be strong, too. Maybe not physically, but mentally and emotionally for sure.
Watching him now, it was difficult for me to reconcile Lincoln’s view of him with my own. There were many points we agreed on, such as him being bullheaded. Lincoln, however, seemed to believe Dad was borderline evil while I knew that despite his tough exterior, he had a heart of gold.
Thinking back to what Linc had told me during our most recent walk on the beach, though, I had to wonder if that heart of gold thing only applied where I was involved. I’d known, of course, that Dad and Lincoln had issues.
What had been news to me was that Dad had been the one to suspend Lincoln shortly before we’d met and that he’d vowed he’d stop him from “killing more soldiers once he was gone.” From Lincoln’s point of view, it was wholly unfair because he’d never gotten a soldier killed.
If what he had told me was true, and I had no reason to believe it wasn’t, hostages’ lives had been saved as a result of the actions Lincoln had taken but had later led to his suspension. It made little sense to me, but I’d never really understood Navy politics.
More than once since Linc had confided in me, I’d thought about asking Dad for his side of the story. Lincoln seemed like a really good guy to me, and my inner peacemaker was screaming at me to do something about what had to be a miscommunication between the two.
I didn’t ask Dad, though. If I did, I’d have to tell him how I’d even found out about Lincoln’s suspension, and I didn’t want to have to do that.
He hadn’t told me any of the details that were classified or anything like that. I’d simply asked him to give me an honest answer about why he disliked my father so much, which he’d dodged. When I’d followed it up with a question I’d honestly thought was innocent about when he’d be going away again, he’d admitted that it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
I knew he had been suspended, but he had given me brief, very vague details about why. In fact, those were the only details I had.
“Want to come hold this for me?” Dad asked, motioning to a wrench lying on the polished wood beside him.
I nodded and set my empty cup aside before hopping off my chair. My fingers had barely grazed the cool metal of the tool when Dad cursed.
As he stood up and slid his phone out of his pocket, I realized the cursing had been because of a call interrupting his work. I smiled as I watched him answer, but the smile melted away the more I saw tension building on his features.
Every passing second that the person on the other end of the line spoke was stressing Dad out more and more. Blood drained from his cheeks, the skin around his eyes tightened, and for just a minute, I could’ve sworn I saw actual fear on his face.
“When?” he barked, then kept quiet as he listened as the person replied. “What the fuck were they thinking?”
His head dropped so low his chin touched his chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut. His free hand came up to rub his head. Over and over again, he shoved his fingers through his hair in agitation.
“I didn’t expect it,” he said finally, tone clipped. “Yes, we’ll have to. I’ll be right there.”
Instead of just hanging up the call, he tossed his phone clear off the damn boat. It clattered on bits of dirt between the grass on our lawn, but at least it didn’t look like it had broken.
“I have to go to the base,” Dad said without looking at me. His voice was tighter than I’d heard it in a long time, and he planted his palm on the side of
the boat and jumped off before I could question him.
Following as soon as I could, I felt his fear simmering in my own chest. That was the only thing that could be making him react this way. “You’re retired, Daddy. Why don’t you come sit down in the kitchen? I’ll make you another cup of coffee, and we can talk about it. If you tell me who to contact, I’ll even give them a call on your behalf to update you.”
“I don’t need to be updated, Sofia,” he snapped as he banged his shoulder against our front door to open it. “I need to get to the base to deal with this myself.”
“But you’re retired,” I argued, exasperation creeping into my tone. “Whatever it is, just slow down and think about that for a minute. You can’t go storming off to the base every time something happens anymore.”
“When something goes wrong and SEALs get hurt, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be there every goddamn time.” The door slammed behind us, but Dad still didn’t look back.
He ran up the stairs and into his room. Less than a minute later, he was fully dressed and marching into the garage.
As soon as I heard his car squealing out of the driveway, I yanked my phone out of my pocket. My heart was thundering in my chest, the icy tentacles of fear wrapping around my organs.
Logically, I knew neither Lincoln nor his best friend could have been among the SEALs who had been hurt. They were on suspension, so they were safe. There was no way they could have been involved in the incident.
I knew how close all these guys were, though. They might have their spats, disagreements, and whatever all else, but above all, they were brothers. If one got hurt, they all hurt.
For some reason, I wanted to be there for Lincoln while he was hurting. I’d never really understood that concept before, but I did now.
I needed to check on him, to hear his voice and reassure him. Then I had to figure out how the hell to be there for an alpha male who would refuse to show weakness in front of anyone, myself included.
But first, I needed him to answer his phone. When it rang out for the third time in a row, those tentacles sliced into me. No answer in a time like this was not a good sign.
Chapter 19
Lincoln
Rhythmic bleeps and the suck and whoosh of the ventilator kept me company where I sat beside Eden’s bed. My forehead rested on the starched white sheet tucked over his prone body. He hadn’t moved at all since he’d gone down. I didn’t know if he ever would again.
My heart felt like it was struggling to pump, like my blood was as thick as tar and refusing to cooperate. With my mind a vortex over the events of the past twenty-four hours, I couldn’t grab hold of any one thought for long enough to make sense of it.
Everything inside me felt dull, broken. What the fuck had happened?
How had it only been yesterday that Eden and I had gotten that call from the lieutenant to come to the base? Why had we rushed out despite that prickling in my damn gut? I should have known better. Hell, I did know better than to ignore my instincts.
And yet, I knew sending us in had been the right call. It was the chaos we’d walked into that had landed my best friend in a coma at the base hospital.
My eyes burned, but there were no tears to ease them. I hadn’t cried in years. I didn’t even know if I could anymore, especially not with this empty black hole inside me.
The room Eden had been placed in was small. There was one other bed, but it was mercifully empty. It smelled of chemicals and plaster in there, with a faint whiff of coffee coming in from the kitchen at the end of the hall.
Thick bandages covered half of Eden’s head, though I didn’t know why. In fact, I didn’t know much of anything about his state. The doctors and nurses had remained tight lipped since we’d arrived hours ago.
None of my requests for information had been granted. They’d hardly even looked at me. Regardless, I’d planted myself in the chair and hadn’t moved since.
While they’d been working on him, I’d sat and stared out the window in his room, trying to make sense of how everything had gone so fucking wrong in such a short space of time. The sky was the kind of blue that made people flock to the beach. Treetops swayed in a light breeze while the sun blazed down on the island.
It was the perfect day outside, and yet the hospital walls around me seemed to block that perfection from seeping in here. Nothing was remotely perfect within these walls. Not even remotely good, never mind perfect.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and was about to blow it out when I heard the door click open behind me. “Dobbs, we need you to step outside.”
The voice was deep and familiar. Turning to peek at the man I knew would be standing in the doorway, I didn’t even bother lifting my head off my arms.
Sure enough, it was the lieutenant commander in charge of mine and Eden’s cases. Those icy-blue eyes of his latched onto mine through the slat in my arms, and he arched a single brow.
This ought to be good.
“You need to come with me now, Dobbs,” he murmured with a flick of his gaze at my friend. I assumed he’d only lowered his voice out of respect for the sick and mending, not out of deference to me.
This was not the time to be obstructive or make any smart-ass remarks about the situation they’d sent us into, though. Even I knew that.
The breath I’d sucked in released as a heavy sigh as I got to my feet. With my fists clenched at my sides, I met the superior officer’s gaze. “Yes, sir.”
His eyes lingered on mine, a tiny crease between his brows the only break in his otherwise stoic expression. There were questions and confusion in the icicles that were his eyes, though, which I didn’t quite understand.
“Follow me,” he said, keeping his volume down and stepping out of the doorway. I left Eden’s door open just in case any of the alarms connected to him went off and left my friend behind reluctantly.
Just before I stepped out of the room, I gave him one last look and vowed I’d be back. No matter what. When—not if—he woke up, it wouldn’t be to a sparsely furnished room, a single window offering a view of nothing but sky and treetops, and some unknown medical personnel. I’d do everything in my power to be there when those eyes of his opened again.
Unfortunately, I had to face our superiors first. When I followed the lieutenant commander to his office and found Charles waiting there, too, I knew I hadn’t been brought there to be praised for what we’d done.
“Dobbs,” he barked, deep burgundy blotches splattering his cheeks as the muscles in his neck bulged.
I glanced at the seat I assumed I was going to be told to take, nearly collapsing into it before I’d even managed to salute them. My legs felt like they’d been weighed down with lead.
“Don’t sit,” he ordered, his eyes narrowing in a glare. “You won’t be here long enough to make it worth your while.”
My insides turned to steel. It took every ounce of determination I had, but I rallied. Forcing my legs to obey my goddamn commands and keep me standing, I pushed my chin into the air.
Charles’ hazel eyes were so similar to Sofia’s that just looking into them nearly made my knees buckle anyway, but I stood firm.
If these were the gates of my personal hell, the keepers wouldn’t find me sinking to my fucking knees.
“What is this about?” I asked, my voice lethally quiet.
“What is this about?” Charles repeated with disbelief ringing in his tone and shook his head. “You and Phillips were on suspension. Care to explain how the two of you ended up stumbling into an active mission?”
I kept my mouth shut but lifted my chin a fraction of an inch higher in defiance. If he had to ask me how we’d gotten there, that prickling in my gut had been more than just a warning about the impending danger.
Since I highly doubted giving my side of events to Charles, of all people, would get me anywhere, I didn’t say a word. There’d be an investigation. I’d cooperate then, but all I’d be doing by speaking now would be putting up hurd
les I myself would have to jump over again later on. There was no doubt in my mind he’d twist my words to try and use them against me during the investigation.
“Very well,” he mused, but his body was practically vibrating. “You’re not going to answer my question?”
I gave my head one shake from left to right, straightening my spine to stand at my full height. The lieutenant commander and the officer standing beside him both frowned at me, but I still didn’t say a word.
Charles waited another minute, then released a huff of air and nodded slowly. “You and Eden Phillips were on suspension from active duty, Dobbs.”
This time, I didn’t reply because it wasn’t a question. Every man in this room already knew what my status and Eden’s had been yesterday when we’d boarded that plane.
“You disobeyed a direct order,” Charles continued without even a pause to allow me to reply. Evidently, he already knew where I stood on this issue. “We will discuss the matter with Phillips when he wakes up, but you are being placed on suspension indefinitely, Dobbs.”
Even though I had expected it when I’d seen him waiting for me, his words still drove stakes into my heart and stomach. My organs took the battering, but I didn’t so much as wince. I refused to give him the satisfaction.
“There will be an investigation into this latest transgression of yours. Once it has been concluded, the decision will be made on whether you will be dishonorably discharged.”
Red-hot flames erupted from the stakes already lodged in my most vital organs. My ears rang and my muscles tightened so much I worried they might snap, but I still didn’t move or say a word.
“Of course,” Charles muttered, then pursed his lips in disappointment and shook his head again. It seemed to be a favorite pastime of his where I was involved. “You’re dismissed, Dobbs. Someone will contact you in due course.”
I reacted on auto pilot, snapping my fingers to my forehead once more before pivoting on my heels and marching my ass out of that office. Anguish rolled through me as memories lit up my previously dulled mind. It was like a highlight reel for my career had already been compiled and was now playing out for only me to see.
Let Freedom Ring Page 13