Hannah’s head shot up, her eyes became sharp and pinpointed on Sam’s face.
“What happened?”
“Nothing I can discuss, I’m sorry.”
“He’s locked up isn’t he? They didn’t let him go or anything did they?”
Sam watched as Hannah’s hands began to tremble. Her breathing became shallow and quick. Her hold on Raya became tighter.
“I’m sorry Hannah but I can’t discuss this with you. You don’t have anything to worry about,” she said rubbing her arms. “Raya is safe.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”
“I know this has been traumatic. But it’s over. You need to make things as normal as possible for Raya.”
Hannah chuckled. “Normal and Raya aren’t words people usually use together.”
“No, I don’t imagine they do. She’s special.”
“She sure is.” Hannah kissed the back of Raya’s head evoking a cute smile from the girl.
“She’s been doing that all day,” Raya signed.
Sam laughed and then stood turning to Ricochet and Kong. Kong motioned to her.
“How about we just wait for you? That way the plane doesn’t have to come back and pick you up,” he said putting his arm around her.
“That’s okay. I may stick around longer. Looks like Hannah isn’t quite over the experience yet.”
“Told ya somethin’ wasn’t right,” Ricochet grumbled walking away.
Sam ignored him not wanting to argue.
“So I’m gonna spend tonight alone hunh?” Kong whispered.
“I guess you are.”
“Can’t say I like the thought of that.”
“I don’t either but I think we’ll survive. But,” she said leaning into him, “think of the welcome home you can give me.”
“Oh yeah.”
“I’ll call you later tonight.”
Kong leaned down and gave her a scorching kiss that made her knees buckle and her head spin. When he pulled away she wobbled back and forth. “Damn.”
“Don’t stay away too long,” Kong said before turning and walking away.
She thought about following him for a second and then came to her senses.
“Are you two married?” Hannah asked from behind her.
“No,” Sam replied with a touch of sadness. Marriage wasn’t something they had discussed but she had thought about it. “No we aren’t.”
“Sorry.”
“What about you? Are you married to Raya’s father?” Sam asked politely.
Hannah turned her head. “No. He turned out to be someone I couldn’t live with.” When she turned back she had a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How about we get you those clothes? The stores should be opening soon and they won’t be too busy this time of day.”
“That sounds great. I’d like to be back in time to meet Boomer’s brother.” Sam looked down at Raya. “What do you say Raya, want to go shopping?”
The little girl smiled widely and nodded her head.
Two hours later Hannah dropped Sam back at the hospital. Gone were the black pants, shirt and weapons. In their place she wore a pair of tight jeans, a snug maroon sweater and a pair of black boots. Hannah had raved about the color of the sweater setting off her jet black hair. Sam had to admit it was nice shopping with another female. She didn’t realize how much she missed having a female companion.
Hannah and Raya waved goodbye from the car as Sam walked inside. They had made plans for Hannah to come back and pick her up then go for pizza. Sam strolled through the automatic doors with a contented smile on her face. As she reached the nurses’ station she noticed a tall, wide-shouldered man looking rather distressed. As she came closer she could see the resemblance to Boomer. The square jaw, the thick, strong nose and the hair color.
Sam tapped him on the shoulder. “Are you Mike?” she signed.
“Yes,” he answered with a mixture of relief and confusion on his face.
“I’m Samantha Wells. I work with Ben.” She laughed when his eyes grew to the size of saucers.
“I’m sorry,” he signed. “Ben told me you were a pretty, little thing but wow.”
Heat spread through Sam’s face. Hearing her teammate describe her like that made her a bit uncomfortable. “Come on, I’ll take you to Ben.”
They rode the elevator in silence, Mike sneaking peeks at her every few seconds. When they reached Boomer’s room she walked in feeling a bit self-conscious.
“Look who I found hanging around downstairs.”
Mike blew past her and wrapped his brother in a bear hug. Boomer stifled a groan of pain and hugged him back. Then things got odd. Mike began signing furiously and fast. It was all she could do to keep up with him. With each word his hands and arms made bigger gestures. She didn’t need to read sign to know Boomer was catching hell.
When Mike called him a stupid, no-brained, moron Sam thought it would be better to vacate the premises and leave them alone. She began backing out of the room when Boomer saw her.
“Oh no you don’t. You aren’t leaving me here alone with him.” He spoke and signed at the same time.
Mike turned, his face glowing red. When he saw her he pulled back his temper and ran his hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry, Samantha,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she replied with her hands. “I understand. You aren’t the first one to chew him out.”
Mike smiled at her. “He’s always been the one to take care of me. Taking me to school to learn sign, making sure I knew what everyone was saying when his friends came over, basically never leaving me out, including me in everything. He’s my big brother, my hero. When I heard he was severely injured I got scared.”
“We all did, Mike,” she said with smooth, gentle movements.
Boomer waved his hand in the air to get Mike’s attention. “It’s not that bad. They just want to keep an eye on me for a few days. I feel better already.”
“You lost a lot of blood, Ben,” Mike signed.
“Yeah but that will come back. The point is the damage wasn’t that severe.”
Mike turned to Sam looking for conformation.
“He’s right. No major damage. He just pushed himself too far and lost more blood then was necessary. He’s already been sufficiently reprimanded for that. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
“You don’t believe that do you?” Mike asked with a smile.
“No. But I bet he’ll think twice the next time.”
All three shared a laugh. Mike and Sam sat on each side of Boomer’s bed and visited for a few hours. Mike told Sam of childhood antics they used to find themselves involved in. It was clear they had a special relationship.
“Where are your other two partners in crime?” Mike asked Boomer.
“They had to return to W&S. There were some lose ends that needed to be taken care of.”
“Is everything okay?”
“It will be,” Boomer replied.
A knock sounded at the door. When Sam turned around Hannah stood there dressed in a pair of tight blue jeans and a pretty green sweater that accented her hair. When she turned back to Boomer he was fixated on her. Mike could see the strange look in his brother’s eyes and turned to see what had him mesmerized. Standing next to Hannah was a freshly cleaned Raya with her hair combed and tamed, dressed in a pretty green fall dress.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” Hannah said.
“No not at all,” Boomer spoke and signed. “Come in please.”
Hannah walked into the room as Raya struggled with her crutches to keep up. The little girl hobbled over to Boomer’s bedside and pulled a folded piece of paper from a pocket in the front of her dress and handed it to Boomer.
Sam could see a large angel dressed in black clothes with a huge gold halo and tiny wings drawn on it. At the bottom were the words “My Angel”.
A very insightful child. The words passed through Sam’s mind on a whisper. What it meant exactly she wasn�
��t sure.
“Thank you Raya,” Boomer signed and then tweaked her button-like nose. “Raya this is my brother, Mike.”
“Hello Raya. What happened to your foot?” Mike asked with very precise hand movements.
“I sprained it,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “I was trying to get away from the bomb and fell. He pulled me out,” she finished.
When Mike paled slightly, Sam quickly filled in the missing pieces of the story. “Miss Raya thought we needed her help so she returned to the building and stumbled across a hidden bomb. Ben didn’t have time to defuse it so he got her out and ran.”
Hannah quickly jumped into the conversation tapping Mike on the shoulder to catch his attention. “Instead of staying put she created more trouble. My daughter thinks she can save the world on her own.”
Mike smiled at Sam and began to sign. “Sounds like someone else I know.” He jerked his thumb toward his brother and received a slap on the back.
“This is Raya’s mother, Hannah. Hannah, my brother Mike.”
Mike rose, reached out and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and your daughter,” he told her.
“Thank you.”
A hint of pink kissed Hannah’s cheeks giving her a soft glow. Apparently Boomer noticed it. Sam covered her mouth to stop a chuckle from escaping as he gazed at her like an adolescent. Mike raised a thick eyebrow and bit down on his lower lip to keep from smiling.
“Well, I think I’ll go back to the hotel and check in with my wife,” Mike said to the group.
“I’ll go with you. I’d like to make sure you have everything you need,” Sam quickly replied. “Hannah, I’ll meet you back here.”
Mike and Sam made a quick exit before anyone could protest. They smiled at each other on the way to the elevator, both tickled with their underhanded way of leaving Boomer alone with Hannah.
“She’s pretty,” Mike said when the elevator doors closed.
“That’s what your brother said too.”
“I take it she isn’t married?”
Sam shook her head. “Little girl is a cutie.”
“Yes she is. Has she been deaf since birth?”
“I’m not sure. All I know about Raya is she’s a pistol and isn’t going to let anyone walk on her. She was very helpful during the mission though.”
“How so?”
“She helped us get in without being seen. She also helped with a little boy who is blind and deaf. Took right over and led him out.”
Mike nodded his head in approval. “Know anything about the mother?”
“No but I have a feeling Ben will before too long.”
Chapter Nine
“I didn’t mean to chase off your brother and friend,” Hannah said staring at the door.
“You didn’t. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable until Sam gets back.” Boomer wasn’t slow. He knew exactly what those two were up to. Mike was perfectly capable of settling himself into a hotel room. He’d done it thousands of times before.
“How are you feeling?” Hannah asked as she sat.
“Much better thank you. So Raya’s ankle is sprained not broken.”
“Yeah. It’s better than what the alternative was.”
Boomer saw her eyes tear up and felt a hard tug on his heart. So hard he actually reached up and rubbed his chest. “Hannah,” he said softly and waited for her look at him. “It’s over. Don’t dwell on what could have been. Take what was given and go forward.”
“Is that how you do it?” she asked wiping away a tear. “I’m sure in your job you lose a lot of people.”
Boomer nodded his head. “It can be difficult. Personally I haven’t lost any friends. I have lost one or two people who I was trying to save. I take a few moments and let the grief have me but then I push it away and go on.”
“So this is how you make a living, rescuing people?”
“It is now. I was military just a few months ago. We all were—Mark, Carl and me. Then we met Sam. We’d heard of her through the gossip lines of the military then we got called to work with her. When the mission was over her uncle offered us jobs.”
“I don’t know much about what you do but I’m grateful for it. I can’t imagine living without her,” Hannah said nodding toward Raya who had set herself up in the window and was watching the people milling about on the street below.
“She’s got spunk,” Boomer said laughing. “She had Sam in a tizzy for a few seconds inside the building. Insisted on helping us. Two strong personalities colliding like that, it’s something to see.”
“She scares me,” Hannah said staring at her daughter. “She does things children her age shouldn’t be doing. It seems like nothing scares her. I know she can’t hear. She’s been deaf since she was born but I swear…”
Boomer waited for her to continue and when she didn’t he prompted her to go on. “What is it Hannah?”
“It’s silly really but it’s like she hears someone talking to her inside her head. I watch her and she stands perfectly still like she’s listening, then she nods her head and takes off to do some dumb thing that worries me sick.”
“Does she ever tell you she hears things in her head?” Boomer asked.
“No. I’ve tried to ask her but she blows me off. She’s really good at that.” Hannah brought her attention back to Boomer. “I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear about my child rearing troubles.”
“I don’t mind. It’s better than getting chewed out by my brother or the rest of the team for scaring them to death. Besides, she’s a great kid. I like her.”
“Thank you. Uh, by the way, you scared me too. When I saw you come barreling out of that smoke cloud you looked like that angel she drew. So big and powerful then I got a closer look at your face and you looked…”
“Dead,” he finished for her.
“Yeah, all I could think of was, ‘he gave his life for my daughter, a little girl he didn’t know’. Who does something like that? Then you started slipping away and the paramedics got frantic and your friends were so torn apart. I knew you had to be someone special so I started praying that you’d pull through. We don’t have enough special people like you in this world. Losing one would be a big loss.”
Boomer physically flinched. It was as if he had walked into a wall of hot air that warmed him from the inside out. His heart floated inside his chest while thousands of butterflies took flight inside his stomach. It was a sensation he’d never experienced before and he liked it. Adding to it was the way she was looking at him with those huge, blue eyes. There was tenderness and curiosity mixed with caution. He understood that look.
“I’m nothing special Hannah. Just a man with a certain set of principals that most people don’t understand.” It was taking everything he had not to let his voice sound shaky.
“Well in a world where men will kill children to make a point, I’d say you’re pretty special and I’d like thank you for saving Raya’s life again. I don’t think I can say it enough.”
Boomer looked away. Her relentless gratitude was making him uncomfortable. “You’ve said it enough, Hannah, please don’t say it again.”
“Okay. At least let me do something for you. Is there something special you’d like to eat while you’re here? I know hospital food isn’t the greatest.”
An overwhelming craving for cookies and orange juice made his mouth water. “I could eat some cookies, chocolate chip preferably and some ice cold orange juice would taste good.”
Hannah looked at him with a blank face and then burst into laughter. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, why?”
“I don’t know, a big guy like you seems more like the type who would want steak smothered in barbeque sauce with a huge baked potato and half a loaf of bread.”
“I eat like that sometimes but not all the time,” he said a little offended.
“Oh please, don’t look so embarrassed. I didn’t mean to laugh. You just caught me off guard. Cookies and juice it is. How abo
ut I bring it tonight? I’ll have enough for all of us. Sam, your brother Mike, you, me and Raya.”
He should have been pleased that she wanted to include his brother and Sam but for some odd reason he wasn’t. “You don’t have to go to all that trouble.”
“I know I don’t. I want to. I don’t do things unless I want to.”
He believed that. There was an air about her that told him she didn’t let society push her around. He liked that. He liked that a lot. Still, he couldn’t shake the selfish feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t want Mike or Sam sitting with him and Hannah having cookies.
“Is something wrong Ben? You look a little lost.”
Boomer shifted his gaze to Hannah’s beautiful face. Nope, he didn’t want to share her and he was going to tell her. “Would it be all right if Sam and Mike didn’t join the three of us?”
He could tell she was surprised. Her eyes grew wide and her lips parted just enough to make him curious about how it would be to feel them pressed against his. When the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten them his stomach clenched.
“Are you sure?”
The surprise in her eyes melted away, replaced by curiosity of her own. Could it be she found him interesting enough to want to know him a little better?
“I’m sure,” he replied with a firm voice so there was no mistake what he wanted.
“Okay. I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
A hint of a smile and amusement washed over her face. This was a woman who wouldn’t keep him in the dark about her feelings. She wore them on her face the same way Sam wore her mask.
“So would I.”
Raya interrupted the moment by flopping her upper body on the side of the bed. Boomer looked at her and could tell she had been thinking about something very important.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
Raya shrugged her shoulders and continued to scowl.
“You look like you’re thinking about something important. What is it?” he tried again.
Raya hesitated, looked at her mother and then back at Boomer. “You’re going to leave soon aren’t you?”
“In a few days when I’m feeling better. Why?”
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