Delta Force Daddy

by Carol Ericson

  Paige swallowed. “Enemies?”

  “What would you call them? These people are trying to kill us.”

  “Yeah, enemies will work.” She powered up her phone and went to her contacts. “Might as well jot down all these numbers and program them into the new phone. I don’t have anyone’s number memorized anymore.”

  “Neither do I.”

  As she shot him a glance, he cracked a smile. The first she’d seen from him since Hidden Hills. She smacked his biceps, still hard and ready, with the flat of her hand.

  “If the army doesn’t want you back, maybe you can have a career as a stand-up comedian.”

  “The army had better want me back.” He tapped the table in front of the burner phone. “It’s charged.”

  Leaving the phone plugged in, Paige took a deep breath and entered Cam’s phone number. “He’s probably not going to pick up from an unknown number.”

  “Probably not.” Asher picked up the phone. “Let me leave the message.”

  He paused for several seconds and shook his head. “Cam, this is Asher. I’m with Paige and heard your message about me. I’m retracting my version of the events that led to Major Denver going AWOL. I was set up just as surely as he was and we need to talk.”

  Asher paused and rubbed his eyes. “Give us a call back at this number. It’s a phone...a burner phone.”

  He broke off, and Paige studied his face. A light sheen of sweat glistened on Asher’s forehead.

  His jaw worked and he started talking again. “Trying to keep Paige’s phone off. Long...long sto—”

  “Asher!”

  His eyes rolled back in his head. The phone slipped from his grip and fell to the floor...just before he hit the table.

  Chapter Ten

  Paige looked around the coffeehouse, her gaze darting from the occupied tables to the people standing in line. Thank God for people’s addiction to their phones. Nobody had noticed Asher collapsing at the table.

  Leaning forward, Paige swept the phone from the floor and then pretended she was talking to Asher—just in case someone looked up from texting long enough to notice.

  Cam’s voice mail was probably still recording, so she whispered into the phone. “Cam, it’s Paige. Asher just collapsed. I’m going to need some help. We’re in Vermont... Montpelier, but probably not for long.”

  She ended the call and folded her arms on the table, resting her chin on her hands. With her lips close to Asher’s ear, she whispered, “What’s wrong, Asher? Can you hear me?”

  He answered with a soft moan. At least he wasn’t dead.

  What had happened? Had someone poisoned the coffee? She popped the lid off her own cup and eyed the liquid as she swirled it around. Nobody could’ve poisoned their coffee but the barista, and she doubted the doctors at Hidden Hills had compromised a couple of baristas in Montpelier.

  Maybe he was just ill, still suffering from his head injury. God knew what kind of treatment he received for his physical injuries. Those doctors had been more concerned with his psychological responses—and how to tweak them.

  She brushed his hair back from his clammy forehead. She couldn’t risk calling 911 for him, but she couldn’t risk not calling. She’d rather see him back at Hidden Hills than dead, although another stint at Hidden Hills might end in his death.

  “Think.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. She’d helped more than a few drunks out of bars. Could this be any different?

  She grabbed Asher’s wrists. “We’re getting out of here. I’m going to help you, but you’re walking out of here. Got it?”

  Asher’s eyelids fluttered and he moved his lips.

  “I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She shoved the phone in her purse and strapped it across her body. She crouched beside Asher’s chair and dragged his arm over her shoulders.

  “On the count of three, I’m going to straighten up and you’re coming with me.” She braced her feet on the floor. “One, two, three.”

  She pushed up and Asher made a move to join her, which made hoisting up easier than she thought. So, he could hear her and respond in some way.

  Once on her feet, Paige began to shuffle toward the door. A couple walking in gave them a wide berth but held the door open.

  Paige nodded her thanks and half dragged, half carried Asher across the threshold.

  A young man jumped from his chair in the coffeehouse and followed them outside. “Do you need help? Is he sick?”

  “Yes, he’s sick. I just need to get him to the car.”

  “Should I call 911?”

  “No. He has the flu. I just need to get him home.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  The man got on the other side of Asher and together they dragged him to the car and loaded him into the passenger seat.

  The customer’s friend had run out after them—too late to be of any help.

  Paige rushed around to the driver’s side. “Thanks so much.”

  Before she closed her door, she heard the man’s friend say, “What’s wrong with him?”

  The man who’d helped her snorted. “Junkie.”

  As she slammed the car door, anger burned in Paige’s chest—for just a second. Could it be a drug in Asher’s system? Something put there by the Hidden Hills’s doctors earlier to release at a later time? Was that possible? Something Tabitha had given him to make sure he’d stay compliant?

  She snapped Asher’s seat belt across his body and checked his breathing—still steady.

  She drove out of the parking lot, just in case someone at the coffee place got the bright idea to call the cops or an ambulance.

  She pulled up next to a park, its swings and slides deserted in the chilly air.

  Could Asher be on something he hadn’t told her about? She wouldn’t blame him if he were after what he went through, but he had a strong aversion to drugs of any kind.

  She pulled her old phone from her purse, turned it on and scanned through her contacts until she found Elena Morelli’s number. As Paige didn’t have the authority to prescribe medication, she often referred clients who needed drugs to Elena, a psychiatrist who worked in the same building.

  Paige almost sobbed with relief when Elena picked up after the second ring.

  “Hi, Paige. I thought you were out of town.”

  “I am. I need your help.”

  “I’m great. How are you?”

  “I’m sorry, Elena. This is urgent.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I’m with a...friend, and he passed out. I think it might be some kind of narcotic, but I’m not sure. I need to know the best way to bring him out of this if it is a drug. Is there any such thing as a timed-release drug? Something injected that takes effect later?”

  “Whoa.” Elena whistled. “You just gave me a lot to chew on. Why not bring this friend to the emergency room? You’re not in trouble, are you, Paige? Are you in a...situation?”

  This could certainly be called a situation, but it wasn’t the kind Elena meant.

  “I’m fine, Elena. But my friend... It’s a long story. I can’t bring him to the hospital right now. I just want to make sure he’s okay and see if there’s anything I can do to speed up his recovery.”

  “I can’t be much help if I don’t know what drug he took. How’s his breathing?”

  “Steady, slow.”

  “Is his skin dry to the touch? You know what I mean? Parched?”

  Paige shoved up Asher’s sleeve and rubbed his forearm. “Doesn’t seem to be.”

  “Peel up his eyelids. How do his eyes look? Bloodshot? Pupils dilated?”

  Paige shoved back her seat so she could turn and face Asher in the passenger seat. Placing her thumb against his eyelid, she pushed it up. “His pupils are dilated.”

  “You don’t have any idea what he took? Does he h
ave anything on him?”

  “It’s not like that, Elena. He was drugged, but there’s no way someone could’ve slipped him something before he passed out. That’s why I asked about a timed-release drug.”

  “This is too weird, Paige. What kind of trouble are you in? Do you need to call someone in the program?”

  “No. I’m fine, Elena. I just want to help my friend.”

  Elena took a measured breath over the phone. “The best thing you can do for your friend right now is get him comfortable, lying down, preferably. Let him sleep it off, keep him on his side. When he starts to come to, and he will, give him lots of water and then get him to a Narcotics Anonymous program.”

  Paige closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose. Elena wasn’t going to believe her anyway, so she might as well plunge right in. “So, is it possible to administer a delayed-reaction narcotic?”

  “Yep, it’s possible.” Elena’s clipped tones cut through the phone.

  “Then that’s what happened. How long could this last?” She couldn’t have Asher passing out on her every twenty-four hours.

  “I don’t know. It depends on the drug. You’re being totally serious, aren’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “You’re going to have to take your friend to a doctor.”

  “I’ll try.” Paige brushed Asher’s hair from his forehead and pressed her palm against it. “Thanks, Elena. If anyone asks if you’ve heard from me, tell them you haven’t.”

  “Of course. Paige, are you okay?”

  “I will be.”

  Paige ended the call. Where should they go? She didn’t want to go back to Tabitha’s cabin.

  She pounded the steering wheel in frustration. The man who’d always helped her, the man with all the answers was now slumped in the seat next to her.

  She shook her head. She’d had an idea before how she could get cash. Using her own phone, she called Terrence, her father’s best friend and now her mother’s...best friend.

  Asher stirred and mumbled.

  “Asher?” Paige squeezed his shoulder. “Asher? Come out of it.”

  Terrence answered the phone, his voice sounding strong and sure—just what she needed. “Paige? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Terrence, but I do need to ask you another favor.”

  “I’m just about ready to head out for a three-day desert hike, Paige, but I’ll do what I can.”

  What could he possibly do from the desert? “I need money—cash.”

  “Where are you? Still in Vermont?”

  “Yes, but I can leave at any time.” She took a side glance at Asher. Could she?

  “Let me get on the phone with a couple of contacts out there before I leave.” Terrence cleared his throat. “Did you see Asher?”

  “He’s with me, Terrence. I took him out of there.”

  “I’m assuming he didn’t have their approval to leave if you need cash. How is he?”

  “He’s fine.” She didn’t want to worry her mother or Terrence. She’d put Mom through too much already. “We just really need that cash to get around without using my credit or debit cards.”

  “You are using your phone, Paige.”

  “Just to make a few calls. We have a temp phone.”

  “Then use it. Call me back on that phone later tonight and turn off the one in your hand. Do you have enough cash for tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Call me later—on that other phone.”

  She ended the call and powered off her phone. She dropped it in the cup holder and then started the engine. She had the cash right now to get them a hotel room. Asher had wanted to stay near DC, so she’d start driving south now.

  Paige cast an anxious glance at Asher, still slumped in the passenger seat. He looked like he was asleep, but if he didn’t come to soon, she’d have to take him to an emergency room—even if that meant he’d be recaptured.

  Her muscles became more and more relaxed and her grip on the steering wheel looser and looser the farther she drove away from Hidden Hills.

  Finally, as she sped out of Vermont, the temp phone rang. Keeping her eyes on the road, she felt for the phone and propped it on the steering wheel in front of her. Her heart jumped when she saw Cam’s number.

  “Cam, it’s Paige. Don’t hang up on me.”

  “Why would I hang up on you? I just called you back, or I thought I was calling Asher. Has he come to his senses?”

  “Did you hear my part of the message?”

  “I just heard Asher’s message. What’s going on?”

  Paige slid a sideways glance at Asher. “Asher’s in trouble. They’ve been messing with his mind, Cam.”

  “Can I talk to him?”

  “H-he’s out.”

  “Out? Out where?”

  Paige scooped in a big breath. “He’s knocked out, drugged, whatever. I don’t know.”

  Cam let loose with a string of expletives. “What are you talking about? Is he still at that rehab center in Vermont?”

  “I broke him out of there. They were the ones jerking him around, Cam. They’re the reason he came out with that statement about Major Denver. The doctors at Hidden Hills planted those memories in his head.”

  “Paige, slow down. What’s wrong with him now? He just left me a voice mail a few hours ago.”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say the docs at the rehab center injected him with some timed-release drug to try to control him. They didn’t even tell him about me. They haven’t been trying to help him at all. They only wanted him to tell their story about Major Denver.”

  “Unbelievable, but I know there’s some setup involving Denver. I just learned that the original emails implicating him were bogus. Are you going to take Asher to the emergency room? Where are you, anyway?”

  “We’re on the road.” She eased off the gas pedal. She didn’t need to get pulled over for speeding now. “I don’t want to take him to a hospital, Cam. I don’t think he’d want that. It could lead to his recapture.”

  “Are you sure he’s okay?”

  Paige reached over and pressed her hand against Asher’s chest, slowly rising and falling. “He’s still breathing. He doesn’t seem like he’s in distress—no foaming at the mouth or jerking limbs.”

  “Well, that’s a plus. Are you still in Vermont?”

  “Just left it. Can you help me, Cam? Help us?”

  “I’m leaving the country, Paige. You’re gonna have to do this on your own. Can you do this on your own?”

  She flushed and snapped, “Of course.”

  He clicked his tongue. “It sounds like you’ve been doing a great job so far... At least you got him out of Hidden Hills. Do you have money? A place to stay? You can’t leave an electronic trail. You can’t let the army track you down.”

  “I’m working on it. We’re heading south. Before Asher...passed out, he told me he wanted to go to DC. He wants to figure out who’s behind this.”

  “So do I. About how far are you from DC now?”

  “Maybe another nine hours.”

  “I have an idea for you. My girl has a family home on Chesapeake Bay, about an hour outside the capital.”

  Paige blinked. “You have a girl?”

  “Yeah, long story. It’s her mother’s home, but there’s nobody there now. You and Asher can stay there and we can arrange to have money and resources there for you, including a doctor.”

  “Really? I would feel so much better if Asher could see a doctor.”

  “Martha has a lot of contacts in the area. We can do this as long as you can get Asher to Chesapeake in one piece. Can you do that, Paige? Can you do that without falling apart?”

  If Asher’s friends couldn’t trust her, how could Asher with all his memories fresh in his mind?

  She clenched her jaw and
ground out the words. “I’m fine, Cam. I’m not falling apart. Just give me the address and I’ll get Asher there if I have to die trying.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  Cam rattled off the address and instructions for getting a key. “Text me when you get there. And, Paige?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When Asher wakes up, tell him we have his back.”

  * * *

  PAIGE DROVE ON into the late afternoon and the beginning of the evening. She listened to music, talked to herself, talked to Asher.

  He stirred a few times, and she drove through a fast-food place to have food and water on hand when he woke up—because he would wake up.

  Halfway through Delaware and the first verse of a song, she got her wish. Asher had been shifting his body for the past several miles, and now his eyelashes fluttered and he stretched his legs.

  He mumbled and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

  “Asher? Asher, are you awake?”

  She couldn’t wait to tell him the good news about Cam and that they were on their way to a safe place—and she’d arranged it on her own.

  He scooted up in his seat and rubbed his eyes, cranking his head back and forth as if to work the kinks out of his neck.

  He muttered, “God,” and then his hand closed around a water bottle in the cup holder.

  Paige released a sigh. “Thank God. I was so worried about you, but I didn’t call 911 and we’re on our way to a safe house. You’re even going to see a doctor there. There’s food in the back, just burgers and fries, and we’re halfway to DC.”

  Paige drew back her shoulders and waited for Asher to say more, maybe how he felt or what he thought happened to him.

  Instead he downed the water and gazed out the window.

  “Asher?” He seemed awake, but was this some kind of suspended state of consciousness? She waited for several minutes that stretched into an eternity.

  “Asher? Did you hear me? We’re on our way to a safe house.” She touched his cool hand.

  He snatched his hand away from her, screwed on the lid to the empty bottle, placed it back in the cup holder and finally turned toward her, his green eyes dark and unfathomable.