“Oh, so he knows?” Monica asked.
“Well, it’s a message. I suspect he’ll call you whenever he can,” she addressed her comment to Adele, accepted a hug and kiss from her, and turned to go.
Gerud followed after. “Hey there, so you and Jake, huh?” They kept walking toward the elevators.
Ginger noted her stamina was waning. She’d been up for nearly twenty hours. She really needed to decompress. But she gave Gerud the time he was asking.
“We’re just waiting to see where things take us. He’s trying hard, Gerud. But now there is this with your dad, the family.”
“Have him get in touch with me right away.”
“I’m sure he will. You know they have to go dark. I might not talk to him for a couple of days. But I’ll be sure to let him know.”
“So, you happy with how Vegas turned out, then?”
Ginger stopped walking. She hadn’t thought about that for days, always thinking she’d have time after Jake got back.
“To be honest with you, I wish I hadn’t had any involvement in that. He was hurt, Gerud. I look at that whole thing as a mistake.”
“Oh, so you’re gonna blame me for that too?”
“No, of course not. But what exactly do you mean?”
“You gonna tell Jake?”
“You’re not yourself, Gerud. He already knows about the suite. What’s done is done. Leave it alone. I’m tired, exhausted. Go be with your family. They need you right now.”
“You were always the smart one, Ginger.”
“Listen, your brother is over there putting his life on the line. Your father’s just died. Your mother needs some attention. You were the one who upset him so much and then he had his fatal heart attack. Where are your brains, Gerud? Get hold of yourself and stop making wild accusations and stories.”
He righted himself and squinted. “So that’s how you’re gonna play the game. Blame me for dad’s death?”
“I’m not playing any kind of game and I didn’t say that. I wasn’t there. It was you and Monica!” Ginger began to realize Gerud’s world was collapsing.
“But you’ll tell Jake that I killed our father.”
“Stop this. This is insane!” She saw out of the corner of her eye that Monica was on her way down the hall, pushing that baby stroller like it was a Clean Up On Aisle One. Adele and Karlene were frowning. Karlene was holding Aaron in her arms as if for safety.
“You leave him alone and stop harassing him.” Monica said as she inserted herself between she and Gerud. She inhaled, and Ginger knew she was going to get her best, something she’d probably wanted to do probably for days. “You know, this family is way better off when you’re not around. Why don’t you take your pissy little daughters and butt out of our lives?”
Adele came running down the hallway. “No! No! No! Monica, please stop. You don’t understand. We need to come together.” Ginger saw the anguish written all over Adele’s face.
Monica appeared ready to punch her ex-mother-in-law. The baby woke up and began to cry. The two women began shouting back and forth, their voices echoing down the hallway.
Looking back toward the nurse’s station Ginger saw one of them on the telephone. Karlene was on her cell, still holding Aaron. Gerud was trying to pry the two women apart. Adele reached for Monica’s hair. For a few seconds, Ginger thought she might actually see her mother-in-law and her husband’s whatever-she-was girlfriend/wife rolling down the hallway like they were at in a playground fight in grammar school.
Ginger stepped back against the wall, wishing to be anywhere but there, just as two security guards ran around the corner from the elevator and ordered everyone to be quiet. One took hold of Monica’s arm and the other tried to grab Adele, but instead grabbed Gerud.
“All of you, outside! Lower your voices or we’ll call the police and you’ll be arrested!” The larger of the two guards was built tall and skinny, like a high school basketball player. His hat sat low over his eyebrows, too big for his head. The other one was stocky and nearly as wide as he was tall. Gerud towered over him.
Adele, Monica and Gerud were issued orders to exit down the elevator. Ginger stood back in shock, trying to collect herself. Just as they turned the corner, the taller guard hailed her. “That means you, too, Miss. We gotta clear the hall.”
Karlene was the only one left behind, with little Aaron, who wanted to run after his grandma, wiggling in her arms, crying for her. He threw his plane down on the floor in anger.
Once in the elevator, Ginger stared at her feet. No one was talking. Monica was sniffling. Adele slid over and put her arm around Ginger’s waist, but said nothing.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, everyone scattered to their cars. At first, Ginger couldn’t remember where she’d parked. So much had happened in the last day, just being out of the confined space of the hospital made her feel like she was escaping from jail. She used her alarm on her car’s key and as soon as it went off, was able to walk straight to her vehicle.
She watched several other two cars leave the parking lot, and realized she’d finally been left alone. In the privacy of her own space, she folded her hands over the top of the steering wheel, and cried.
Chapter 24
Jameson drove the van while Kyle got directions, linking in to an excellent trauma center. Jake, Lucas and Alex gathered the bags and equipment in one area, stacking them to make room for passengers and their patient. Armando cracked open the window in the back, looking for signs of anyone who might have followed them, his H&K at the ready. T.J. and Coop were working on the girl, but were somber, and Jake couldn’t see her chest move and her color was turning ashen. The other two girls were wrapped together under a blanket Fredo placed around them, and out of eyesight of the third girl.
The second van was close by, so Kyle ordered Armando and Fredo to stay with the girls, to obtain as much information as possible about their kidnapping. Coop and T.J. were ordered to stay working on the injured girl, and everyone else to leave. He handed the keys to the second van to Jameson.
“You get these guys home and stay put.” He gave Jake a hard stare. “You okay?”
Jake looked at his boots.
“It happens, kid. Glad it wasn’t you that got it.”
Jake shrugged. “I’m good. Just what we do.” He was glad his voice didn’t show signs of the shaking going on inside his ribcage. His lips felt cold, and his fingers were stiff and numb. He tucked them under his jacket to keep them warm.
“And those fuckin’ girls shouldn’t have been anywhere near that place,” whispered T.J. over his shoulder.
“Boy, would I like to get those assholes. The whole operation,” said Alex.
Everyone agreed.
Kyle continued with his instructions. “No calls in or out. Stay put until either I call or we get back, understood?” he said looking at the crew just before they stopped. “You hang together. No TV, either. Get some rest if you can. Get cleaned up, shower. We might be taking off soon, so make the most of your time.”
Jake, Alex and Lucas concentrated on transferring bags and equipment to the other van, since it was important no weapons be found on the SEALs with the girls.
He heard Fredo whisper to Kyle, “They don’t want to go to the police. They want to go to the local padre at the catholic school. Can we do that?”
“I’d say take them where they feel safe. They probably know better than us assholes.” He assisted in the last transfer. “Okay, we’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Everyone nodded and climbed into the van. Jake was in the second seat, behind Jameson. Kyle walked up to the window and hit his open palm on the glass. Jake returned it with his own on the other side of the glass, and then they both gave the thumb’s up.
Both vans sped off, Jameson trying to keep up with Kyle in the first one, but they finally got away, speeding to get to the center. Jake had a bad feeling about that outcome.
No one said a word on the way to their lodge. Tay an
d Ollie greeted them and learned about the evening for the first time.
“Fuck,” whispered Ollie. “You okay, Jake?”
“Other than the fact I have poop in my pants, yes.” He was kidding, of course, but trying to stay light. He didn’t want to descend into that dark pit of a place he felt was sucking him in.
“Good thing it was remote, or you’d be in jail,” Ollie added.
“Where did they take her?” Tay asked.
“Kyle got hooked up with some world-class trauma center,” said Jameson.
Everything was unloaded, wiped down, re-stored back in their cases carefully before anyone got into the shower. Inventory was taken of remaining ammo, equipment counted to discover anything missing. Nothing was.
“I should have gone with them,” said Tay. “Maybe I’ll take the van.”
“No, man,” objected Danny. “Kyle said we stay put. Don’t answer anything until Kyle calls us, no TV, we stay right here until they get back. And to be ready in case we leave right after that.”
“So what was the scene like?” Lucas asked Danny as Jameson headed for the shower.
“These guys were players. Never seen so much jewelry and flashy bling. Drugs. More girls than guys. They had a small group meeting going on we were just about to be introduced to when the girls were brought in.”
“So they were from town?” asked Ollie.
“That’s right. It’s a girl’s boarding school. They had no chance and no security. The two girls were students. Probably about thirteen years old. Fuckin’ perverts.” Danny pulled out several beers from their refrigerator and placed them on the table in front of the group. “The one who got shot was their teacher.”
Jake sat by himself on the couch and stared at the floor, feeling worse than ever. Alex offered him a bottle. He grabbed it, taking a swig before he remembered he was going to have to do this solo. And fuck, he didn’t want to. His father was dying, the girl was dying, and all he could think about was having a beer. He knew the most important thing for him to do in the next twenty-four hours was not to drink. Stay sober, and keep his shit together.
He handed the beer back to Alex. “I do that again, you can punch my lights out, Alex.”
Nobody gave him any guff.
The unspoken rule is no one would bring up the shooting unless Jake brought it up. Up to the man to determine if it needed to be talked about. Oh, he’d talk about it with the shrink, and with Kyle and others. But the Team didn’t go digging where they weren’t invited. It was as bad as dating someone’s wife, or daughter or sister without permission given.
He wanted to check for messages on his phone, but he had promised not to. He focused on his breathing. As the others were done with their showers, it was Jake’s turn.
Under the warm water he cried for the first time as a SEAL. It wasn’t fair that she’d been shot. He’d killed a lot of bad guys. He’d probably injured civilians that had been used as shields or gotten caught in the crossfire. In some cases, those were people who knew the risks and were willing to die for it. Some were just innocent people held hostage by evil men.
But the SEALs were sent in, to break the mission, to save these girls when it was determined saving innocent lives took precedent over the overall mission. Jake was supposed to be the one to be counted on to protect her.
Instead he’d killed her, or nearly killed her. He couldn’t be trusted.
The water felt good. He couldn’t hear a thing, and couldn’t feel the tears, either. Under the gurgle of the steamy water, he let his angst and worry and self-loathing melt away.
It was no more than a few seconds before the water got stone cold and Jake jumped out, toweled off and put on fresh boxers and a tee shirt. Alex was listening to music on his iPod. Jake’s bedroom he shared with Lucas, but Lucas was already sawing logs and making the windows rattle, so Jake figured he’d retire to the couch. He was also glad Alex was staying up a bit to keep him company. Danny and Jameson were in a quad room they shared with several of the others. Tay and Ollie retired to their room, while Coop and Kyle had their own place next door.
“You suppose they’ll send us home tonight, or do you figure tomorrow?” asked Alex. Jake knew he was just shooting the breeze.
“I’d like to get out of Dodge. From some of my trips down here, you get involved in a shooting, you don’t want to get the authorities involved.”
“Roger that.”
“Man, I wanted that beer tonight. But I can’t do it anymore.”
“I’m not six-foot-six, either.”
Jake chuckled. It was as simple as that. He was allergic to his pastime. Probably his dad was as well.
Sure sign of battle fatigue was when he started wondering what his bank account balance was, and if he’d remembered to lock the apartment door behind him. He wondered if he’d remembered to pay the PG&E at the apartment and if he’d forgotten to mail his truck payment.
And then he thought of Ginger. Just like in the shower, thinking about her brought tears to his eyes.
Alex had dozed off, his music still on. Jake watched him through watery eyes. She was all alone dealing with his dad and mom, who could be a real handful, especially if they were arguing, and they had been doing that a lot. He was glad his girls were over at Kyle and Christy’s and not with her at the hospital, waiting, nowhere to play and be loud.
He hoped she was holding up okay. Would she change her mind about re-marrying him if the family was too weird?
Lights in the driveway signaled Kyle and the rest of the Team were back. Alex came to attention and shut off his device. Coop crossed the room as soon as he saw Jake, the front of his shirt bloody, blood on his hands all the way up to his elbows, where he’d rolled his sleeves up. He knelt in front of Jake.
“We lost her, kid. I’m sorry,” Coop patted him on the knee. “She was dead when we brought her in.”
Jake held his breath.
Kyle stood behind Coop. “Nothing you could have done, Jake. Your reflexes were good. Lots of moving parts going on in that house tonight. We’re lucky none of us got shot the way everything was going.”
Jake looked up at both of them. “Did the girls get back to their school?”
“Yup, we escorted them, and told them about the other one, the teacher,” answered Kyle. “We’re being picked up at oh-eight-hundred, tomorrow, flown back to the island and immediately back to Coronado. We can’t break Mexican air space unless it’s an emergency, and they have to get permission in the morning. But we’re leaving. So, get your rest. Coop, you get in there and then burn those clothes.”
Coop leaned over and tapped Jake on the shoulder. “Tough break, but you’re tougher, Jake. Now let’s get out of this hell hole, okay? We don’t forget, we just put it past us. That sound right with you?”
Jake nodded. It wasn’t about eliminating the memory. It was just tucking it to the side of his mind so it wasn’t the first thing he thought about when he opened his eyes and the last thing he saw at night.
“Everything’s packed and stowed. We’re all set here,” said Jake.
“Good,” said Kyle.
“Can I call home to find out about my Dad?”
“Not yet. And that’s not coming from me. They’re already looking for you, Jake. We don’t want to give them any way for them to track you. We get to the island, you call then. Nothing you could do anyway.”
It was true. Finding out about his dad wouldn’t change anything. But what he needed more than anything else was to talk to Ginger.
He watched everyone leave the room and knew they’d all have to take cold showers, thanks to him. Another fuck-up.
He lay down on the couch, using his jacket as a blanket and prayed he could get to sleep quickly. He wanted to count angels. All he could see were three red-headed angels, two little ones and one who looked just like Ginger.
Chapter 25
Christy was waiting for Ginger when she arrived. She found herself running up the steps to her warm arms and bursting into t
ears.
“Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry all this is happening. Come on inside. Let’s have a cup of tea, or do you just want to get home?
“It’s so late. I really should get home. I do have to work tomorrow.”
“Don’t be silly,” Christy said as she put her arm around Ginger’s shoulder. “They have to understand you’re trying to manage all this with your husband gone. So much falls to your shoulders now.”
“But I feel like I’ve already taken so much time off. The trip to Vegas, was a couple of days—”
“An investment in your long term future health, Ginger,” Christy argued. “Come, lets have a little tea, or would you like some hot chocolate?”
“Tea sounds great.”
Ginger looked around the house for signs of destruction, but found none. The toys had been neatly put away in bins. The Lansdowne’s dining room was a playroom for the kids, since the house was so small.
“Everyone’s racked out. That puppy insisted on sleeping with your girls. I put Brandon in bed with his sister.”
“Hope they were good.”
“Brandon is the handful. Big instigator of things. Anything that goes wrong, he’s right in the middle of it. Your girls were easy as pie to take care of. So sweet. Maggie adores them.”
“Thanks. And the dog was a hit?”
“Oh. My. Gosh. Kyle doesn’t know it yet, but I think we’re going to have to get one.”
She brought two mugs to the kitchen table and offered Ginger a chair.
“So tell me how it went.”
Ginger wanted to unburden herself about the papers the attorney had Burt sign, but was going to hold to her own resolution and keep it quiet until she had a chance to speak with Jake.
“Where do I begin?” She took a sip of tea. “Mr. Green has never been especially close to his family, working all the time. Driven, I could say driven. He and Adele have a curious relationship.”
“Curious?”
“He is or was a womanizer and drank heavily. It seems more so now than before when we were married. I get the impression things are not going very well at the Green & Green offices.”
Band of Bachelors: Jake Book 3 Page 14