A Little Harmless Rumor

by Melissa Schroeder

Every bit of Sean’s body was throbbing as they cleared the front lanai and rushed out into the yard. Shots rang out behind them as Randy helped Royce. Jaime was right behind them, protecting their back. He tried to turn and see what was happening, but Randy was moving too fast, urging him on. Smoke filled the area as the Task Force Hawaii members were running toward them.

  Suddenly, it was as if the heavens had erupted behind them, lighting up the sky. Heat singed his back. He tried to turn around.

  “No,” Jaime yelled. “Run, Sean. Don’t look back.”

  The last explosion threw them all forward. Randy and Lassiter stumbled, and both of them fell to the ground. Using what energy he had left, he helped Randy up, who then grabbed Lassiter. The four of them made it to the gate, as police vehicles came tearing up the road. Sirens were screaming through the night, cutting into the explosions behind them.

  Del was leading the charge as he rushed them.

  “We got ya,” he said. “We have injured here,” Del shouted.

  Paramedics came rushing toward them, and Sean finally gave into the pain. He closed his eyes as he was laid out on a gurney. Randy was there, his hand in Sean’s.

  “Everything is going to be okay.”

  He nodded, but he couldn’t open his eyes.

  “Lassiter.”

  “Not sure, but looks worse than I think it is.”

  “You should have waited,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, when have I ever done what was expected?”

  He wanted to tell him to stop making light of the situation. Both Jaime and he could have been hurt, and what would have happened then? But, the moment he opened his mouth to say it, Jaime returned.

  “You’re going to Tripler Army Medical Center.”

  Jaime leaned down, cupped his face and kissed him. “It’s over.”

  Her voice was filled with relief. Before he could respond, the paramedics returned.

  “We need to get him loaded up in the ambulance.”

  Jaime nodded and stepped back. “We’ll be there.”

  As they lifted him up into the vehicle, Sean looked at Randy and Jaime. They both were covered with mud from their stumble onto the ground. The fact that they were safe was the only thing that kept him from going to find Letov’s corpse and setting it on fire.

  They would not have been put in this kind of danger if it hadn’t been for him. As the attendees slammed the doors shut, he watched Randy and Jaime through the windows, his heart heavy. But how much longer would they be safe if they stayed around him?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The rush to get the Tripler ER had left Jaime on edge and had Randy with a headache. When the arrived, Randy wasn’t surprised to find themselves detained. Since the hospital was actually an Army hospital, it was considered federal land. With no clearance or official military ID, they had to wait. Thankfully, as Jaime called the gate guard some rather vulgar names, a massive Scotsman had shown up, flashed his Task Force badge and got them through. They had followed him to the ER, and then guided them to the entrance.

  “Name’s Graeme, and I bet we’ll be able to find Del in here.”

  As the burst through the doors, the entered a morass of confusion. The small area was filled to capacity with official and unofficial people, not to mention military members and their families. Randy searched the crowd and found Del on the other side of the room near a hallway.

  “Have you heard anything?” Randy asked when the reached him. .

  Jaime walked up beside Randy as Del nodded. “Things look good for both Sean and Royce. Royce will have to stay for a while. He lost some blood, and he’s malnourished. Sean has a broken nose and some broken ribs. But he should be able to come home tonight.”

  Randy released a sigh of relief as the doors burst open again. Emma came rushing forward, a Hawaiian man, who must be part of the Task Force, hard on her heels.

  “Where is he?” Emma demanded. The terror Randy saw on her face shot straight to his heart. For all her issues, Emma loved Sean. It was easy to see the sibling worry in her pale skin, and the fact that she looked like she was on the verge of crying. This must be one of the meltdowns that Sean had talked about.

  Randy took her by her arms. “He has broken ribs, but he should be okay.”

  The rather large Hawaiian shook his head. “Sorry, boss, she would not stay put.”

  Emma tossed a look at her escort. “My brother was injured. What would you do if you were in the same situation?”

  Her companion acknowledged it with a nod.

  The doctor walked out at that point, searching for someone. When she spotted them, she walked over.

  “How’s my brother?” Emma asked stepping in front of everyone. He knew she needed Sean, and that he would be able to handle her, but he wasn’t here, so Randy stepped in. He settled his hands on her shoulders, and she drew in a deep breath.

  “You have to be related to Mr. Kaheaku. He’s fine. He has three broken ribs, and he’s going to feel like shit tomorrow, but otherwise fine.” She looked at Jaime. “Ms. Alexander?” Jaime nodded. “Mr. Lassiter will have to stay at least a day or two. He’s a bit dehydrated, and he has a few broken bones we had to set. You can see him in just a bit.”

  Jaime acknowledged it with a nod, then the doctor left them aloneAll of them seemed to sigh with relief. Emma looked at Randy and Jaime. “You two are okay?”

  Jaime nodded. “Yes. We got there right at the end.”

  Randy knew the tone. She was ready for Emma to yell at her, but instead, Emma stepped closer, hesitated, and wrapped an arm around each one of them. “I am so happy you are all safe. Sean would be lost if something happened to you.”

  Emma stepped back and blinked a few times. From what Sean had said, his sister wasn’t good with emotional gestures, so Randy knew just how much that had taken out of her.

  “Why don’t we find a place and settle down to wait,” he suggested.

  “I’ve got paperwork to do,” Del said. “I’ll want statements from all of you.”

  “Tomorrow soon enough?” Randy asked.

  “Hell, Monday will work for me,” Del said.

  “He’s dead then?” Emma asked him.

  Del nodded, his expression still grim but Randy saw the satisfaction in his eyes. “Yeah, he’s dead. Died in the blast.”

  Emma said nothing as the lawman left them alone.

  “Over there,” Randy said, pointing to three seats. They made their way over, and Randy realized he now had two women who were going to be worried until they saw Sean and Lassiter. He decided to occupy their time.

  “I understand you hit Sean the first time you met him?” Randy asked.

  She chuckled and started telling the story of how it had all really happened. Randy just hoped it was a long enough story to occupy their time.

  * * *

  About a half hour later, Jaime followed the nurse down the hallway. She wasn’t really sure what to say to her father, but he had asked for her. After all he had done to help Sean, she at least owed him that much.

  When she stepped into the room, her breath caught. He was even paler than when she had seen him earlier, and he looked ten years older than the last time she saw him.

  He must have sensed her presence, because he opened his eyes and looked in her direction. She walked over to him.

  “You’re alright?” he asked. His voice was so weak she could barely hear it above the monitors. She stepped closer but still kept her distance.

  “Yes. A few bruises, nothing big.”

  He swallowed. “And Sean? And Randy?”

  “Sean has broken ribs, some other issues, but nothing big. Randy’s got a few scrapes here and there.”

  He nodded. “I…I didn’t have a choice, not at the end. Letov threatened you. He knew about our connection.”

  “Oh, Royce.” And then, she couldn’t hold back. The anguish she heard in his voice broke her heart. “It’s okay. Everything turned out alright in the end.”

  “I should h
ave just let him kill me. Sean didn’t need to be captured like that.”

  That thought had her blood running cold. “Royce Lassiter, don’t you ever say that again.”

  He gave her a weak smile. “I promise.”

  She walked over to the bed and took his hand. “I don’t know where we go from here. We have a lot of work to do.”

  He nodded. “I have a feeling you’re going to stay in Hawaii.”

  “For the time being.”

  “Then, I guess I need to spend some time in the sun.”

  She sighed. “I can’t promise anything.”

  His smile faded and his grip tightened on her hand. “A chance is all I ask for.”

  “Okay. I need to go check on Sean.”

  “You do that.”

  “I’ll be back tomorrow, probably late, but I will come see you.”

  “Sounds good.”

  She hesitated, and then leaned down to brush her lips over his cheek. “I’m so glad you are okay.”

  Then she left him there. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

  * * *

  Over an hour later, Sean sat in the bed waiting for everyone to show up. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Tonight was another clusterfuck. It seemed that any time he was involved with Jaime and Randy, he ruined everything. When he realized they had both been in the building…he’d closed his eyes. He would never have been able to live with their deaths. And it would have been his fault.

  He sat up and grabbed the scrubs shirt they’d given him. He cussed as pain radiated through his body.

  “That’s not very nice,” he heard Randy say from the doorway. With a sigh, Randy walked forward and helped Sean tug the shirt down over his head.

  Emma was standing there, her eyes shadowed. “You said the plan was good.”

  “It was. It just got a little more…violent than I expected.”

  He held out his arm, and she hurried over to hug him. “I thought I was going to lose you,” she whispered. She said it as if she were ashamed of her feelings. He had a lot of work to do there. He knew she wasn’t ready to tell him everything, but she needed him. And he needed her.

  She pulled back, and Randy leaned down to kiss him. Sean relished the feel of Randy’s mouth over his; because he knew it would be one of the last times. When he pulled back, he noticed Jaime was in the room.

  “Hey, how’s Royce?” Sean asked, knowing that any injuries her father had were his fault as well.

  “He’s doing well. We…talked. He was more worried that we are all okay.”

  He nodded.

  “I just need my discharge papers then we can go.”

  She came to him, kissed him, and again, he cherished it. Once they made it back to the house, he was going to have to do something he never wanted to do. But after the events of the last few years, he had no choice.

  * * *

  By the time they got back to the house, all three of them were exhausted. Since all of her things were still over at Del’s, Emma had said she would get them and return the next day. Jaime hoped the younger woman got some rest, because she looked completely exhausted by the events of the evening. The last forty-eight hours had really worn them all out. Jaime and Randy helped Sean into bed.

  Sean had been quiet on the ride home. She knew he was irritated with the situation, and she knew he was mad. About what, she had no idea. There were so many things to be mad about that evening, but she couldn’t deal with that. She was so bloody happy they all survived.

  “I think it would be best if you both left.” His voice held no emotion, and it left her cold.

  “Excuse me?” Jaime asked, her heart in her throat, and her whole world coming to a halt.

  “This…look what happened. I don’t think it is a good idea being around me.”

  She looked at Randy, who shook his head. It was a warning not to fight with him. Sean was the worst patient, and could be a real pain in the ass. But this sounded different. This sounded final.

  “I think I need a better explanation.”

  “No,” Randy said. “We both deserve a better explanation.”

  Sean looked at them and, in that instant; she saw the longing, the need really, there in the depths of his green eyes. As quickly, it shut down and hardened. This was the stranger she had seen when they first arrived.

  “That’s it. Just it’s best if you both leave?” she asked.

  Randy looked at her, and the pain he saw there, the pain that Sean was causing for both of them, was almost too much to bear.

  “It isn’t a good idea to be around me. Look what has happened in the past.”

  “You are such a bloody stubborn man. You sit there and say you caused everything bad in life. So, you fucked up. We all fuck up. I have news for you, Sean; you are not bloody fucking God. Get over yourself.”

  He closed his eyes. “You almost died.”

  “I have almost died several times. And this time, I wasn’t even close to being dead. You were. Hell, it is a fucking miracle I survived the streets when I was a kid with my smart mouth.”

  She heard a suspicious snuffle, and she shot a look at Randy. “You are not helping the situation.”

  Randy held up his hands in surrender, even if he was smiling.

  “You do not get to choose whether or not we love you. You do not get to decide if I can spend my days wondering what would have been if you had not been a coward.”

  His eyes shot open and then narrowed. “I am not a coward.”

  “Yeah? Well what do you call this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “People dream of finding that one person who loves them unconditionally. They pray about it, they join online dating…they do anything to have that special partnership. You have two people in your life who love you so fucking much that we went on a suicide mission to save you. And how do you reward us? You tell us to leave. I’m fighting for you here. Randy and I have been fighting for you forever, Sean. But, I’m getting tired of being hurt, again and again. This time…this time, we might never come back. I cannot take it anymore.”

  “Jaime,” Randy said and stepped closer to comfort her.

  “No. I want forever. Happy. But if Sean’s too much of a coward to take a chance, then go to bloody hell.”

  And with that, she strode out of the room. She was running by the time she made it downstairs, and didn’t stop until she made it to the beach. She collapsed there on the sand and gave into the fear, the anger, the desolation. He would never understand. No matter how many times they saved him, begged him…loved him…he would never accept it. It wasn’t until that moment, that she realized it was lost, and they probably never had it anyway.

  * * *

  A deafening quiet filled the room. Sean looked at Randy, who shrugged.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, babe. You pushed her too far.”

  “I didn’t do a fucking thing.”

  Randy cocked his head as he studied him. “You told her to leave. If you haven’t noticed yet, that woman loves you. I love you. We want you in our lives. For the first time ever, she’s thinking it won’t happen. She can’t keep hanging around hoping that you’ll accept the specialness of our situation. I can’t do it. It hurts us too much. But I really don’t know how we would be together without you. We lose you, we’ll probably lose us.”

  Sean didn’t know what to say to that. He hadn’t hoped for it, because hoping always ended in pain for him. From the time he was kid, to now…he just didn’t know how to handle being happy.

  “I can see you trying to work it out there in your head.” He rested his weight on his hands and leaned forward to brush his mouth over Sean’s, then he pulled away. “We don’t need a plan. We don’t need anyone to approve. We just all need each other.”

  For the first time in too many years, hope filtered through him. Could they actually just say the hell with everyone else?

  He looked out over the lanai and saw her there out on the beach. She was face down, crying
. Jaime Alexander was sobbing her eyes out. A woman who barely ever cried, who did her best to never show emotion, had yelled at him and then ran off to cry.

  “She’s crying. Not just little tears. That’s some serious…damn.”

  “Of course she is. Her heart is breaking, Sean. Both of our hearts are breaking.”

  Just hearing that made his own heart turn over. He looked back at Randy. “We’ve broken it off before.”

  “This time is for good, Sean. If you don’t get your ass down there and beg for forgiveness, you’ll lose us both.”

  He managed to get up and walked to Randy then, irritated, scared, and in so much pain; he didn’t know if he could make it. Even with the heavy medication, the pain of his injuries filtered through his body.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “You can.”

  He didn’t want to say what he was feeling. Mainly because he felt like a coward.

  It took him a little bit and a lot of effort, but he made his way downstairs and went in search of her. Randy followed him, walking just as gingerly. He found her, kneeling in the sand, her face wet with tears.

  It broke his fucking heart.

  “Jaime…”

  “What?” she spat out. Oh, princess never did like showing her emotions.

  “I shouldn’t have said it. I was trying to…”

  In that moment, she looked up at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears, and he knew he couldn’t send her away. He couldn’t send either of them away. They were the reason he got out of bed every morning, the only people who would truly understand him. The only two who would love him like he needed to be loved.

  He eased his way down onto the sand, knowing he would pay for it when the pain meds wore off. “I’m sorry. I was being an ass. Don’t leave.” He looked behind him to Randy. “Either of you. I want you to stay, to be with me. “

  Jaime shook her head, and his heart sank.

  “Are you saying no?”

  “Don’t ask because you’re afraid of being alone.”

  It was his turn to shake his head, and he instantly regretted it. “Afraid of being alone? Woman, I just told you two to leave. Where do you get such asinine ideas?”