BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3)

by Laura Acton

  “I see,” the General said slowly, trying to decide how to proceed and finally deciding to relent in the face of a far stronger force. He was a General after all—he knew when he was outflanked. William was happy Daniel had good friends, but he was jarred by another thought—God, please let Daniel be okay.

  His son really did need help right now. William had felt the fever. He had heard the screaming and knew about the physical and mental trauma Daniel had gone through in the past two days. His son could take only so much

  “So, if that is how you all feel, we need to make a plan. Daniel needs proper rest and care now. Something more than a gurney in this room,” William stated in a command voice as he looked to each of them.

  The group was starting to disperse around the room again after having been clumped together in a corner observing the General.

  Walter spoke, “William, you’re correct that the lot of us are exhausted.”

  Winds wasn’t happy and was confused by this alien General in front of him, but he released his grip on his gun knowing that Blondie needed his help and that was his priority. He could deal with the confusion later. Winds stated, “Sir, we could rotate shifts watching over Blondie. As for where, I’m not certain—you’re right, this room isn’t ideal.”

  “How about taking Dan to his place? He’d be comfortable there,” Ray suggested.

  Jon spoke up, “Not secure. If there’s a threat against Dan, that’d be one of the first places whoever is after him would check,”.

  Patch voiced his opinion, “Not a hospital, either. Two reasons, hard to secure and Blondie hates them and will leave at the first opportunity. Can’t keep him in them if he’s mobile—and often when he’s isn’t quite mobile, too.”

  The General nodded and thought to himself, I know why he hates them. Those damned orderlies terrorized my boy. Wish I could’ve done more than just dress them down. Then he winced at that, realizing what that had caused.

  William pushed that away and stated, “I’ll get a suite and several adjacent rooms at the Grand Citadel Hotel. Captain, would you be able to adequately secure the area?” he asked.

  Blaze rubbed his weary eyes, knowing that they all needed rest. It was hard to be on top of his game when he was dog-tired. He answered, “Yes, Sir—with the appropriate manpower. I have a request that will solve two issues. Allow me to bring in the other four members of my unit. I trust them implicitly even though we’ve only been together for a short time. It would give us the manpower we need and it would allow us to get some much-needed rest.”

  “That resolves the security aspect, but what of Blondie’s physical needs? Patch can’t stay up twenty-four seven, he’s about to drop as it is. I know he’s a miracle worker, but …” Winds trailed off looking over at his drained buddy with a worried smile.

  Patch gave him a look that said both ‘Thanks’ and ‘What the hell? I’d do anything for Blondie’. But he knew Winds was right, he was dead tired. Then an idea came to him.

  “When Heather brought the supplies earlier she told me she had the next three days off and said if we needed anything to call her. Maybe she’d be willing to help watch Blondie while I get a bit of shuteye. She seemed nice and concerned about all of us the other day. God, was that just last night? Wow! I noticed that she’d changed his name on the chart board when I was talking to Dr. Fraser,” Patch said as a small grin teased the corners of his mouth.

  “She did what?” asked Loki.

  “Heather changed his name on the nurses’ chart board,” Patch repeated with a full grin.

  “To what?” Loki asked, itching to know. Seeing the grin on Patch’s face gave him a clue, but he wanted to hear it anyway.

  “Dantastic,” he replied.

  Loud boisterous laughter erupted from all except the General who looked a bit concerned. Were they so tired their minds had cracked? But Dantastic, yeah, that fit his son. William allowed a hint of a smile to cross his face for a fraction of a second.

  “Oh, my God, she didn’t? Told you Dantastic was way better than Blondie,” Loki gleefully chortled.

  As the laughter died down a bit, Patch asked, “Should I see if she would be willing to help?” Heads nodded yes. He made the call and Heather said she was honored that he’d called and she would be delighted to help.

  Patch then gave her a list of supplies he needed. He needed to redress the wounds, more pain meds, more saline, and more fever reducer, along with a few other items. He told her to go to the Grand Citadel Hotel and ask the front desk to call up to General Broderick’s room. An escort would come to the lobby to bring her up.

  Just before he hung up, Patch asked her to also arrange for more sedative. He believed it would be a good idea to keep Blondie under for a few days so his body recovered a bit before he had to deal with the emotional stuff.

  The plan was taking shape. The General contacted the Grand Citadel Hotel and arranged for the rooms. In fact, he cleared an entire wing of one floor—it would make security easier. William also thought it would be nice to provide a room to each of them to get some much-needed rest without having to be far from Daniel. It was the least he could do, a small repayment for taking care of Daniel.

  Loki had talked with Winds and Commander Gambrill to get the necessary equipment to set up security cameras. Nick had gotten Dan’s keys from his locker. He and Lexa were now on their way to his apartment to get clothing and personal care items that Dan would need and then on to their respective homes to gather the same for themselves.

  Blaze contacted Major White at the base and requested the rest of his unit be assigned. The Major was hesitant to do it until General Broderick took the phone and resolved the issue with the Major. Hal, Angus, Duncan, and Russ would be sent straight away, but it would be a few hours until they arrived. Blaze contacted Hal directly and arranged for him to bring a kit and change for him and Winds along with several items they needed to make the room more secure.

  Security, medical, personal items, and lodging arrangements made, Bram looked at Dan and asked, “So how do we get him there? I doubt we want to attract attention wheeling him through the lobby on a gurney. Not after all the pictures of him on the news lately. Striding in with the General would also get noticed.”

  Everyone stopped to think, but no one was coming up with any good ideas. They were all stuck on solutions going through the lobby when Ray offered, “We could take him through the rear service entrance. We could cover his head with a hat pulled low so no one can glimpse his face. Two of us can sling his arms over our shoulders and carry him in.”

  Pointing to the gurney, Patch said, “I like most of it, but given his injuries I wouldn’t want to put that kind of pressure on his arm, shoulder, or ribs. We need a wheelchair at bare minimum, but I would still prefer this.”

  They pondered suggestions for a while longer. They were still coming up blank so it was decided to leave it up Patch, Blaze, Jon, and Bram to figure a plan to get Dan safely into the Grand Citadel without attracting undue attention. That way Winds, Loki, Ray, and the General could leave for the hotel and get the security set up before Dan arrived.

  Although he didn’t want to leave Dan at this time, Gambrill still had a job to do running TRF. He had to rearrange team schedules to give Alpha Team extra time allotted to this protection detail. It wouldn’t be easy given that Delta Team was still out on annual leave and dealing with the loss of Aaron.

  TRF was now down two teams, which wasn’t good. The other teams would need to pull extra duty and Walter wasn’t sure how that was going to sit with them. He also had to schedule the NRB interviews for Lexa and Dan. Lexa would need to do hers tomorrow, but Dan’s could wait until he was able.

  Walter handed William the suicide note and told him that they would speak later and he would provide him the full details. Then he walked out of the briefing room. He noticed Inspector Davis was still there in the waiting area.

  He walked towards the Inspector and said, “Broderick will be okay. We’ll see to that.
I’d like to thank you for your investigative skills and for bringing that suicide note to my attention. It may not have sounded like it earlier, but I think it was a good thing and may help to heal a very old wound for two people. I’d like to know what the psychologist had to say.”

  Walter invited Davis to his office. Davis nodded, followed Gambrill to his office, then shared what he had learned from Dr. Carter. Walter shook his head as he thought about what he would have to share with William tonight. To Davis, he simply said, “Tragic all around. Tragic. Thank you again,” then Walter stood and shook Davis’s hand before the Inspector left.

  After much deliberation and many non-workable ideas, the group tasked with getting Dan to the hotel unseen was frustrated. The group milled around the briefing room as they tried to come up with more possibilities.

  Jon yawned as he stared out the window. He watched the traffic below and was struck with an idea. He smiled, pulled out his phone, and called his wife. Jennifer was a part-time events planner and she could help him with this. When she answered, Jon said, “Hey, Jen, it’s me. I need some help.”

  Jennifer answered the phone as Kent and Joey headed out the back door to play basketball. “Hi, Hon. Sure.” She heard the tiredness in Jon’s voice.

  “I was wondering if you might know of a caterer that would allow us to use their catering truck for an hour or so?” Jon asked.

  That was a strange request, but Jen didn’t ask why. Instead, she responded, “You could try Dan’s friend Jarmal. He recently started catering. If Jarmal can’t help, I can give you names of three others that might.”

  “Thanks, Jen. I’m sure Jarmal will help if he can. He was quite concerned about Dan earlier today when he delivered lunch.”

  Jennifer asked, “How’s Dan doing? Do you know when they’ll release him from the hospital? If he needs to be looked after, I’d be happy to do it.”

  “He’s not in the hospital.” Jon sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.

  “What?” Jen exclaimed.

  “I’ll explain later when I stop by home to pick up some things.”

  “Some things? Like what?” Jen asked, confused.

  Jon pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you pack me an overnight bag with a few days’ worth of clothes and toiletries? I can’t say more on the phone.”

  “Sure. Okay. Anything else I can do?” Jen asked with worry in her tone.

  “Can you call Kellie and ask her to pack a bag for Bram, too?” Jon asked.

  Jen wondered what was going on? This was so strange. “Yes, I can do that. I’ll have your bag ready shortly. Call if you need those other caterers’ numbers. You take care of yourself. Love you.”

  Uncomfortable expressing his softer emotions in front of others, Jon answered, “Ditto.”

  Jen laughed. “Oh, you know all the right words to make me swoon.”

  Jon smiled and then relented as he whispered, “Love you, too, My Queen.”

  After he hung up with Jen, Jon called Jarmal. He was more than happy to assist and Jarmal sent his truck right over. They rigged up the gurney with poles on four corners and draped it to look like a food rack—Dan was completely hidden. They all donned caterer’s jackets and drove the truck to the service entrance at the back of the Grand Citadel Hotel. Then they rolled Dan through the kitchen, into the service elevator, and got off on the fifteenth floor.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  July 16

  Grand Citadel Hotel – Dan’s Room – 6:00 p.m.

  They had just settled Dan in one of the two queen size beds in the room off the main suite and Jon was heading out with Nick to return gurney to TRF and the truck to Jarmal when the suite phone rang. It was the front desk saying that Heather was here. Loki jumped up and said he would go get her.

  Blaze pulled a chair next to Blondie’s bed and sat down wearily. He was running on vapors now and his mind wasn’t up to the task of sorting everything out. As he watched Patch readjust Blondie with the help of Winds and Bram, putting several pillows behind Blondie to prop him up a bit and make it easier for him to breathe, Blaze let out a long sigh.

  Winds turned to Blaze and saw the look in his eyes. So many questions. They all had so many damned questions. However, discussing them right now wasn’t the best timing. They were all dog-tired. Quietly he said, “I know that look Blaze. We have to talk to Blondie.”

  Bram looked at the three men and then said, “I think you should hold off. He’s been through a lot. Give him some space.”

  Blaze eyed Bram. “We know what to do. Been doing it for six years.”

  “Yeah, well … that may be true … but …” Bram trailed off. He really didn’t know if it was his place to judge. But where were they for the past year?

  Patch gently put a pillow under Blondie’s left arm to elevate his sprained wrist. He completed Bram’s statement, “But we haven’t been there for him for the past year. That’s what you were going to say. Right?”

  Bram nodded then turned his head to the General. He recalled the confrontation between Dan’s unit buddies and father. “I don’t know what happened this past year … why you weren’t there for him … but Dan could’ve really used some friends or family—some people he trusted. Yesterday was bad, but the entire past year has been really tough on him, too.”

  General Broderick raked his hands through his hair as heard the censure in Daniel’s teammate’s voice. He knew he’d screwed up again. How could he ever begin to make this right? Captain Blain’s words echoed Erik’s words—both thought Daniel was on blackout protocol. He cleared his throat and said, “Constable De Haven, Mr. Shea, if you will please leave the room, I need to speak to my men.”

  Bram didn’t really want to leave Dan alone with the General and his former unit mates—mostly because of the looks of animosity being thrown at the General by Winds. “Perhaps, you could take your discussion in the other room. I’ll stay with Dan.”

  Blaze empathically stated, “Not leaving Blondie!”

  William turned to Bram. “Daniel will be fine.”

  Patch shook his head. “I’m not leaving Blondie, Sir.”

  General Broderick squared his shoulders, hating to do what he was about to do, but couldn’t see any other way around the situation. He stated firmly, “Master Corporal Shea, in order for you to remain and your clearance to be in effect, you are hereby recalled and classified under short-term special assignment per your exit contract.”

  Patch’s shoulders slumped and his eyes went wide with shock. Damn, so much for exiting the military and never looking back—could this get any worse for him? He glanced at Blondie and decided that if that was the price of remaining in this room—he was willing to pay that and more. Patch gave a curt nod to the General. Then he looked at Blaze and got a look of ‘sorry, buddy’ from his former CO.

  Winds saw the slump of Patch’s shoulders and turned to glare at the General. How dare he do that to Patch? His eyes flicked to Blaze. What the hell was going on? His intense loathing glare returned and stayed on the General.

  “Sir, is it wise to remain in his room alone?” Bram stated watching the open look of hostility on Winds’ face at the General’s comment.

  William looked at the large man and had a vision of Dan’s former unit buddy Mason. It was likely the size and the protectiveness he read in the blue-green eyes. He wasn’t certain what to make of the man yet. But he stated calmly, “Close the door on your way out, Constable.”

  Grand Citadel Hotel – Main Suite – 6:05 p.m.

  Bram slowly closed the door as he left the room even though he didn’t want to. He looked at Ray, who looked up from the security monitor. Bram just shook his head. He had no clue what the hell was going on. As he sat down, Lexa entered the hotel suite after storing her items in the room assigned to her.

  Lexa asked, “Where is everyone?”

  Ray responded, “Jon and Nick are returning the catering van. Loki’s getting Heather. The General and Dan’s former unit are in the bedroom.”

&n
bsp; Lexa looked at the closed door then at Bram as she took a seat next to him. He looked worried. “What’s going on? Why’s the door closed?”

  Bram shook his head. “Don’t know. But I’m not too sure the General is safe in there based on the looks he was getting.” Bram looked heavenward and then back at Lexa. “I’d sure like to know what’s going on. If I heard right, the General just recalled Patch to active duty. Said something about his clearance being in effect because he was now classified under short-term special assignment. Kicked me out of the room saying he needed to talk in private to his men. From everything we’ve heard … I’m damned confused.”

  Ray whistled low. “Man, that doesn’t sound good. What the heck is blackout protocol and GU? At HQ, the General certainly wasn’t happy when Blaze said that. Whatever’s going on, it must be serious to involve putting Dan under the protection of Special Forces soldiers.”

  He rubbed his tired eyes then Ray looked at Bram and Lexa and both Bram and Lexa shook their heads—they were as clueless as he was. Ray glanced at all the audio jamming devices and thought, Yep, something serious is going on. He then returned to watching the camera feeds that Loki had set up.

  “How was Dan?” Lexa asked as she rolled her tired and aching shoulders.

  “The same,” Bram answered simply.

  Lexa leaned back in the chair as she stared at the door. Her eyes began to feel heavy as her body began to feel the toll of the past two days. She was beat and her normally crisp and clear mind was not firing on all cylinders. Lexa didn’t mean to, but her eyes drifted closed and her lolled to one side.

  Bram looked at Lexa and sighed. Yeah, they were all running on empty. It would be a good thing when the other Special Forces soldiers arrived to take over for them.

  Grand Citadel Hotel – Lobby – 6:05 p.m.

  Loki gave Heather a huge grin when he met her at the desk. “Hey, let me take that for you, you’re a real lifesaver,” Loki said as he grabbed a large nondescript box off the floor. “Dantastic’s gonna appreciate all your help. In fact, we all do. Were you able to get everything we needed or do I need to send someone out to get anything?” he said in a lighthearted manner.