“Actually, doc, if you don’t mind, I’ll stay,” Eric said.
“All right. It could be a long night.”
“I’m up, so what can I do?” the captain asked.
“Help her relax from whatever that nightmare was that scared her so much. Help get her mind off it. I need to examine her again, see if she’s dilated any further.”
Eric nodded and followed the doc back over to Abby.
“Her blood pressure is down. Her last contraction was eight minutes ago,” said the lieutenant when they approached.
Abby was propped up with several pillows on her side, drinking some apple juice. She finished and held up the empty cup, handing it back to the lieutenant.
Eric noticed how Abby’s hand immediately flew to her belly when a contraction started. But this time she didn’t fight it. She reached for Eric’s hand as he helped her ride it out.
“Just relax. Almost over, Abby.”
“It wasn’t as bad this time,” she said wearily.
“I need to examine you again and see if your cervix has dilated any more. Try and make yourself as comfortable as possible.” The doctor pulled back the blanket again.
“Okay,” she mumbled.
“Over on your back, Abby.” The doctor pulled out the pillows and helped her lie flat. This time, she blushed a deep crimson as he lifted her gown and once again propped up her knees. She turned her head to the side, and Eric could almost feel her acute embarrassment, so he touched her face, the side of her head, with his long work-roughened hands.
“Okay, so far so good. You haven’t dilated any further. As long as your contractions continue fading, I’m hopeful this little guy won’t be making an appearance tonight.” He pulled her gown back down and covered her once again with the blanket, ripping off the latex gloves and disposing of them. “Check her vitals again in thirty minutes,” he said to the lieutenant.
“Yes, sir,” Todd responded.
Chapter Twelve
The bright yellow and orange of the sun was just skimming the horizon when Eric finally returned to his cabin. He was tired, probably because he’d tossed and turned for hours before finally drifting off right before Petey pounded on the door, waking him. He had stayed with Abby and talked to her, telling her stories of when he had enlisted and first met Joe, what it was like during his first deployment on an aircraft carrier as a lowly sailor. That was when he had fallen in love with the sea, visiting port after port and miles of open water. Abby had watched him with joy reflecting in her eyes.
She had listened to him with her whole heart. As she relaxed, she had held his hand for hours as her contractions faded, and at dawn, she fell asleep. Eric had watched her and felt such overwhelming peace. No matter how much he fought it, he realized he was beginning to care a lot for her. Abby was amazing, and he wanted nothing bad to ever touch her again. She wasn’t like other women he had dated. She didn’t appear to have a selfish bone in her body or a mind that worked overtime, scheming and planning or plotting for her own means. This scared the hell out of him. He was alone for a reason. He wasn’t made like Joe, to have a family. He did his own thing, and he liked that. So why was the carefully structured world he had created crumbling now?
The cabin door shook at a knock. Eric was startled, and that didn’t happen often. “What!” he barked.
Joe snapped open the door and closed it behind him, carrying another one of his damn files. He pulled out a chair on the other side of the desk and sank into it. “You look like shit. I heard about Abby. Is she all right? Did the labor stop?”
The sincerity in his voice was enough to take the edge off Eric’s irritation. What Eric really wanted at that moment, as he squeezed the tight muscles clenching up the back of his neck, was to lie down and get some sleep for a few hours. A headache was beginning to dig in at the back of his head.
“She’s resting now. Her labor seems to have stopped.” The words softened somewhat, but he heard the gruffness still in his voice.
“You look tired. Would you rather I came back later?”
Shaking his head, Eric ran his fingers over his raw, overworked eyes as he attempted to refocus. “Nope. Sorry, Joe, I’m just really tired. What is it?”
“I just heard back from Edwin, unofficially of course. It appears that Mister Seyed Hossein, our illustrious captain, is looking for someone or something.”
“It’s Abby!” Eric shouted, slamming his fist down on the solid desk. “God dammit.” His weariness fled as adrenaline pulsed through his veins, pumping him faster than any shot of high-octane caffeine would. Reaching across the desk, he ripped the report from Joe. “This is un-fucking-believable. Can you believe he has the unmitigated gall to be looking for her, that motherfucker?” Eric cursed again, reading the rest of the report. “Is this information for real?”
Joe nodded slowly, eyeing Eric. “Yup, he knows how important this is. You may not like this next little bit: Edwin said the CIA suspects that Abby knows something more than she’s saying about this guy. He kind of indicated off the record that the CIA is baffled about her disappearance. They want some answers, and he said they will be talking to her. They’re aware you’re keeping her here on board, by the way.” Joe paused, looking directly at Eric before continuing. “Edwin also said this Hossein may be involved with a local terrorist group—you know, boats running into our boats to blow them up—and maybe Abby knows a whole lot more about it. Could even be involved.”
That last had his gut sinking as if a boulder had been dumped into it. An icy chill raced up his spine because he knew the CIA were famous for using the innocent, and he was truly afraid of what they’d do to her. “Shit!” Eric pushed out of his chair, feeling as if he had aged ten years. Panic threatened to nip at his heels, so he started pacing around his desk and stopped in front of Joe, then tossed the file he squeezed in his hands back on the desk.
Walking over to the couch, he flopped heavily and sank back into the leather cushion. He sank all ten fingers into his short dark hair and fingered it back until he was positive it standing on its ends.
“You know she needs protection,” Joe said. “Have you thought about maybe moving her to the base in Bahrain? They could protect her there.”
Eric didn’t look up when he said, “No, she’s staying here. This is the safest place for her.” He waved a hand to stop any further talk on the subject. “I spoke with Doc a while ago. She’s too far along to be moved safely today, anyway, and with this little bit of information, there’s no way I’m sending her ashore. If I did, you and I know the CIA would be in there like a dirty shirt and grab her, and then what would happen to her? No, for now she’s under my protection, and she stays right here until it’s safe for her to be moved someplace where the CIA isn’t going to swoop in and take her.”
Joe slid out of the chair and joined him, taking one of the chairs by the couch and crossing his long legs out in front of him, tapping the arm of the chair. “Eric, I’ve never known you to have feelings for a girl, especially a girl like this. Are you sure it’s not just pity because this situation is so volatile? What she’s been through would really mess up a person. What do you think you can do for her? This baby—look at the violence in how it was conceived. Does she even want to keep it? Have you asked her this? What do you really know?”
Eric shut his eyes and leaned his head back. Everything Joe said had already gone through his mind. He also hated the nitpicking and the tough love that Joe sometimes used on him. Sometimes, he was worse than a damn woman. “Shit, Joe, back off. I don’t know. I’m tired, and if you’d seen the kind of fear in her eyes that I did, I think you’d be doing the same thing.”
Joe said nothing, only narrowed his eyes and glanced away. “Are you going to tell her that Hossein is looking for her?” he asked.
Eric stomped both feet to the ground and stood up so fast he almost knocked the coffee table over. “No!” he roared. “And don’t you dare say a word to her. My God, that is the one thing that she is so
damn afraid of. She told me he won’t stop looking for her, and she’s right. That goddamn animal bought her and believes he owns her. He will hunt to the ends of the earth for her.” Eric started pacing, his mind racing a mile a minute. “Joe. Does anyone else on this ship know about Hossein looking for her?”
Joe pushed himself up and stood with his hands on his slim hips. “Just Petey, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t say anything.”
“Be sure he doesn’t.” Eric paused briefly to run his hands over his dark facial hair. He knew he looked rough. Hell, his hair had to be sticking up, too. He really needed to clean up, shave. Sleep would have to wait. “Look, Joe, I’m tired. I need to clean up.”
“There’s another matter that’s just come up. And it’s quite serious.”
When Eric glanced over, he gestured in irritation. “What?” he snapped. It was the first time Eric had seen Joe have trouble putting two words together. He firmed his lips into a fine white line and gestured with his hand to sit, which Eric ignored.
“A charge has been laid against you for sexual harassment,” Joe said. He just stared at Eric, who was having trouble understanding what he had just said. Joe sighed and finally continued, “By Gail Carruthers.”
Eric could hear nothing but a buzz that seemed to vibrate up from the floor, shooting through him like a rocket. Time could have ticked by, for all he knew. Then his head started to clear, but he felt dizzy, as if he’d just been blindsided. “Huh” was all he managed to say, because he was stuck in a strange sensation, as though he were in a vacuum. He was waiting for someone to jump out and say it was all a big, sick joke.
“You heard me right. She filed a report of sexual harassment.”
Eric leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms. He wanted to hit something, slam a chair against the wall, grab Joe by the shirtfront and shake him and make him say it was a lie. But he did none of it. He crossed his arms and then glanced over at Joe, who appeared to have a ring of fire surrounding the sharp blue of his eyes. Finally, he said, “Are you fucking kidding me? This has to be a joke!”
Joe shook his head, his own eyes mirroring Eric’s fury. “Sorry. No joke. She filed the report directly with command. The admiral’s assistant sent me a copy. I guess Carruthers figured that if she filed with me, I’d try to bury it.”
Eric felt the fire burn in his cheeks. His headache, which had just been a subtle pressure earlier, slowly building, now exploded inside his head to the point that he clamped his hands to his temples. “Why, that conniving, fucking, lying little bitch. I want her off my ship now!”
Joe kept his one hand braced on his hip and held his other out to try to calm and reason with Eric. “You can’t touch her right now. She’s not going anywhere pending an investigation, and just so you know, she’s already asked to have you removed as captain.”
Eric absolutely lost it. He couldn’t stop the string of curses from rolling off his tongue. As he finished, he winced as sobriety sank in at his own crude reference in comparing Gail to a donkey’s ass.
“Look, Eric, calm down. I’m just giving you the heads up right now.” Joe added, “They’re not going to replace you.”
Joe spoke calmly and evenly, but the more Eric thought about the ridiculous accusation, the more a burning hatred sizzled once again, pulsing through his veins until he thought the top of his head would blow off. “Just let them try and replace me!” He flung his hands in the air, then pounded his palms on the desk and winced from the sharp pain that shot up his arms.
“Look, you need to be smart about this. I know this charge is bullshit, and so will the higher ups, but you know how it is right now. There’s so much fucking media spotlight on assault on female personnel in the military that they simply can’t ignore it. We need to disprove this quickly and quietly and make it go away.”
Eric leaned forward, resting his palms on the desk, dropping his head in defeat. Then he pushed away and started pacing once again. “As soon as I do, I want that fucking bitch off my ship.” The words were intentionally sharp so there would be no misunderstanding.
Joe inclined his head. “I’ll see to it personally, with pleasure.”
“As captain of this ship, I want to see the formal complaint she filed.”
Joe pulled the complaint from the file on the desk and handed it to Eric.
“What I really want to know is this: When did this alleged incident happen, and what is it exactly that I supposedly did to her?” Eric scanned the pages of the report.
“She said it happened in sickbay—yesterday, as a matter of fact. Abby was asleep. You brushed up behind her and…” He paused to clear his throat. A telltale blush rose in his cheeks, which was so unlike him. “You cupped her butt, gave her a tight squeeze, and told her to go into the bathroom so she could, and I quote, ‘Let you fuck her.’ She said she refused and you threatened her with reassignment, along with putting her on report for some incident you would create if she didn’t cooperate.” Joe cleared his throat again and then rubbed his chin, looking damn awkward and a bit sheepish for having to relay the details.
Eric’s dark eyebrows raised—he felt the tightening in his forehead. He looked over Joe’s shoulder at the closed door, blinking as he tried to absorb such a tale. Jabbing a forceful finger at the papers he held, he said, “This whole thing is a bunch of crap. Who the fuck would want to fuck her? You’ve seen her. Shit, anybody in their right mind… shit. I can’t believe—” Unable to form a complete sentence, he began to laugh at the incredulity of the situation. The woman, he’d swear, was barely one step up from a homely mutt. He dropped the report on top of the file and walked away.
“You know,” he said, “I am so damn angry right now for having any woman on this ship. You know how I feel about women in the Navy, period: They don’t belong. Even when I fought so hard to keep them out, some of my superiors, you know, the ones who agree with me but won’t back me, they told me to stand down. I wouldn’t win that fight and needed to use caution when expressing my opinion. But to me that is just bullshit. I’m also aware of all the senior officers on this ship, how you’ve seen to it that they keep all the women billeted under their direct command well away from me.”
“Well, it didn’t stop you from shoving your foot in your mouth, though,” Joe said. “Remember that one petty officer—what did you say? ‘You have no business being in the Navy. You should be home looking after your husband and being a mother to your kids. Try being a good role model for them.’ Oh, yeah, and then my favorite: You said to that young lieutenant, ‘You have no business traipsing all over the world with a bunch of guys, trying to pretend you’ve grown a pair of man’s balls when what you are is just a woman.’ ” Joe leaned against the door and shook his head. “I’m afraid you may have pissed off the wrong one.”
He knew his reputation of being a chauvinistic bastard. The exact wording used by the women serving under him had most of them running the other way, but there had been one or two who’d seen it as a challenge, a fun challenge. One in particular had done her best to find any way she could to get him into bed with her, and she had been the one to cross the rigid military regulations of fraternization. He had put her in her place, and not in a nice way. Hell, Eric didn’t coddle anyone. Especially women.
“Eric, you’ve always had issues with women. They’re not all like your mother or those that fostered you, you know. There are good, decent women out there. Don’t let this incident have you tarring and feathering all women again.” Joe cleared his throat as Eric tried to take in what he was saying. Right now, hearing any woman’s name left him with a bad taste in his mouth, except when he thought of Abby.
“So what really happened with Gail?” Joe asked.
“I dismissed that stupid twit as soon as I got there. I didn’t want her to wake up Abby.”
“Was Abby awake?” Joe asked.
Jamming his fingers in his hair again, he tugged and then closed his eyes. “No, I think she woke up shortly after.”
“So then it comes down to your word against hers.”
The reality hit Eric like a freight train plowing over him. Any situation without a witness became a he-said she-said, and for assault on a woman in the military, it could go either way. Looking over to meet Joe’s pensive gaze, Eric was very aware of his friend’s efforts to lighten the mood with a smile that seemed so pasted on it almost appeared painful. All the light had gone out of his eyes. Crap, this was really bad.
“Does the crew know?” Eric asked.
Joe shook his head and waved his hand toward the door. “Some of the officers do, but they know it’s bullshit. The crew doesn’t know yet, but I’m sure they will by day’s end. You know I can’t stop news like this. It’s impossible. You can be sure Gail is making sure everyone knows. You know, tell everyone, build allies, and do her damnedest to destroy you.”
“God fucking damn her. Why now, when morale is low enough with news of the extension in our deployment? You can bet the crew will be taking sides and cause problems, all right.”
“Eric, I want to talk to Abby to see if she remembers anything. Maybe she wasn’t asleep and she can clear up this whole thing before it goes any further.”
Shaking his head, not willing to budge, Eric gave a clear warning. “No, Joe, leave her out of this. She was asleep, and she is so upset that she’s barely holding it together. After last night’s close call, just leave her be. I don’t want her to know about this, anyway. My God, she’d probably hate me. I’m going to put a call in to the admiral and see what help I can get from him.”
Joe appeared to want to argue but then held both hands up in a show of surrender, grabbed the file, and rapped it against his leg. “Eric, I know you’re angry. You have every right to be, but I need to warn you again: Be smart and avoid Gail. You are never to be alone with her anywhere on this ship. Don’t give her that kind of power. Okay?”
Eric was beyond furious and gave only a dismissive wave in response. Joe opened his mouth, and Eric knew he probably had a whole lecture and a list of rules set out for Eric, but he was grateful when he spun on his heel and left, pulling the door closed behind him. He didn’t need to say one more word about where this was going. This was a serious charge that might not just mean the end of his career, which was his entire reason to live. He could be facing years in hell: Leavenworth.
Danger Deception Devotion The Firsts Page 57