by Alexa Davis
"No one," he said solemnly. "Not your friends, your professors or even TriCorp's new CEO, once he steps in."
"So, basically what you're saying is that my work will be conduced in total secrecy," I said.
"That's exactly what we're saying, Miss Frost," the Vice Admiral said.
"Can I think about this?" I asked.
"You have one week to make a decision," Commander Donnelly said. "If you need to talk to someone about it, you may call me or Vice Admiral Kelly, but you are not to discuss this with anyone else."
"Wow, you guys sure know how to woo a girl," I said with a wry grin.
"Miss Frost, I understand that this an enormous responsibility," Commander Donnelly said. "But please understand that Dr. Powell's project has far reaching implications for the Navy and other arms of the military. We take this extremely seriously."
"I'm sorry, I understand," I said as I suddenly felt the weight of responsibility come crashing down on my shoulders. "Just out of curiosity, what happens if I say no?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Vice Admiral Kelly said.
"I see," I nodded. "Then if you gentlemen will excuse me, I've got some thinking to do."
"Very well," Commander Donnelly said as both men stood and shook my hand.
As I walked out of the office, it occurred to me that Vice Admiral Kelly's tone had given me the distinct feeling that they had not planned to cross any bridges they didn't want to cross.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Ryan
On Friday afternoon, much to the surprise of the hospital staff, I got up and signed myself out against medical advice. I was tired of laying in bed waiting for someone to give me permission to get up and walk the halls even though I probably could have run a 5K. My SEAL training gave me an advantage when it came to recovery and as a result, I was antsy and wanted out.
Echo and Cece had been in earlier to visit and bring me real food, but I hadn't wanted to let them know my plan because I had errands I needed to run before I returned to Echo's apartment and let her know my plans. I was used to functioning on my own, and I had no intention of changing my ways now.
I caught a cab from the hospital to Eva's mother's townhouse and was informed that Eva was at the Park Avenue apartment packing it up. When I arrived, I found her standing in the middle of the living room yelling at two men who were moving the baby grand piano.
"No, no, no!" she shouted before lowering her voice. "Look, you need to wear gloves when you move it or you're going to damage the surface with the oils in your hands."
"Good to see that you're focusing on something productive," I said as I entered the room and looked around. Most of the things that had made this feel like my father's home were gone.
"Oh, hello Ryan," Eva said sounding vaguely disappointed to see me.
"What happened to you?" I asked as I pointed to the designer-made sling that stretched across her body and kept her left arm snugly against her body.
"Oh, horseback riding accident," she said. "One of Mummy's mares was not properly broken in and they gave it to me to ride."
"Bummer," I said without sympathy. "You live a rough life."
"Don't mock me, Ryan," she said narrowing her eyes. "I won't have it."
"I'm sure you won't," I said as I walked toward the balcony. "Where's the corner's report and what's going on with the will?"
"Well, you're a man who gets right down to business, aren't you?" she said dryly.
"Yes, well, after this past week I've realized that I might not have a lot of time left," I said looking at her pointedly. "But then you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said as she brushed a strand of hair away from her face and then looked in the mirror that hung over the mantle. "I'm just trying to adjust to life without my husband."
"Cut the grieving widow shit, Eva," I said without sympathy. "I don't buy it."
"It's not up to you, now is it?" she hissed sending a chill up my spine. She quickly reverted back to her usual high-society bored tone and said, "And it's a darn good thing, too."
"Corner's report. Where is it?" I said as I looked at her more closely. She was wearing a brightly colored summer dress that looked like a field of English flowers and a pair of flats that she uncharacteristically shuffled as she walked.
"I don't know, I don't have it," she shrugged. "I think it went to Julian's office. He's the executor of your father's estate, you know."
"Oh yes, I'm well aware of that," I said. "And I intend to challenge that in court, but first I want to find out how my father died."
"Give it a break, Ryan," she said rolling her eyes. "Your father wasn't a healthy man. He had heart problems and a host of other issues that he clearly ignored for many years. I told him to get a full check up and find out what was going on, but would he listen to me? No. Alan Powell listened to no one."
"Why don't you give it a break, Eva?" I asked as I moved toward her. "You didn't care about his health, you cared about his money. That's all you ever cared about, isn't it? I never once heard you say anything about him needing to take care of himself."
"That's because you cut and run," she shot back bitterly. It was a low blow that hit right where she intended. "You ran away the first chance you got and you never looked back. Your father knew you didn't want to be anywhere near him, so he left you alone to live your life, but his whole life was focused around you. It was always about you."
"What in the hell are you talking about?" I yelled. "He didn't care about me one bit! He spent his entire life chasing some research dream that didn't include me or anyone else, for that matter."
"You really are blind, aren't you?" she said with a brittle laugh. "Every single thing your father did was about you, Ryan. His research project? All about you. His devotion to SAI? You, again. His connection to the Navy brass? That was you, too. Everything your father did every single waking moment of every single damn day was about you!"
"You're full of shit, lady," I said as I stood staring at her trying to piece together the information she was spewing.
"And at night it was all about your beloved mother," she spit venomously. "He thought of you during the day and dreamed of your mother at night. I never stood a chance. There was no room for me."
"Eva, my father often said he loved you," I replied dryly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Alright, you want me to spell it out?" she said in a voice that dripped with carefully contained rage. "You killed your father. You are the reason he is dead. You and your damn SEAL team. You killed him, Ryan. You and you alone."
"You, bitch!" I shouted as I grabbed her arms and shook her.
"Let go of me!" she screamed in pain as I gripped her shoulder. "Stop it! You're hurting me!"
"Tell me how my father died!" I roared as I shook her harder. The scream that came out of her mouth was one of agony rather than rage and when I heard it looked down and saw a large stain seeping through the fabric of her dress. I quickly let go and stepped back. "What the hell? Eva, you're bleeding!"
"You stupid son of a bitch," she growled as she ran into the guest bathroom and yanked a towel off the wall pressing it to her shoulder as she searched for her phone. "You have no idea what you've done."
The sound of her voice struck a chord and I turned to see Eva pointing a gun in my direction. I dropped to the ground and crawled behind the sofa closest to the windows.
"You can't hide from me, Ryan," she said quietly. "I'm not letting you leave this apartment."
I fought with everything I had to keep from saying anything and giving away my position as I took my surroundings into consideration. She was at a distinct advantage holding the gun, but I had the element of surprise on my side as I swept my eyes across the part of the room I could see in search of a weapon.
"SEAL or no SEAL, you're not getting away from me this time," she cackled as I realized, whether due to grief or greed, she'd gone over the ed
ge. I knew this would give me the advantage for only a brief second or two, but that's all I needed to take her down. I could hear her shuffling closer and knew I didn't have much more than a few seconds before she started firing.
Holding my tongue and gathering all the strength I could muster, I kicked the far end of the couch as hard as I could and then drew my legs up as quickly as possible. Eva fired a shot at the end of the sofa and that gave me the opportunity I was looking for. I grabbed a cushion off the couch and launched it at her as hard as I could, knocking her off balance. As she struggled to keep hold of her gun, she fired a second shot into the ceiling before I was on her and wrenching the weapon out of her hand and punching her as hard as I could to knock her out. I felt the stitches in my side pull, but they didn't give way as I looked up and saw the horrified expressions on the faces of the piano movers.
"Call the police," I said as calmly as possible. "Now!"
The two men scurried out of the room as I dropped to my knees holding my side as I tried not to pass out from the pain.
I was unsuccessful.
#
I woke up in a familiar looking room, but this time I wasn't alone. Echo was leaning over me smoothing my hair and straightening the sheet as I slowly opened my eyes.
"Hey, you," I croaked. "Water?"
"Hey, you," she smiled as she reached across the bed and grabbed a glass offering me the straw. I sipped a little and then closed my eyes briefly.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," she smiled as she patted my hand. "What did you do, Ryan?"
"I think I found my father's killer," I said. "Did I?"
"Not quite, son," a voice from across the room broke in. "But you did find the people responsible for kidnapping Echo and breaking into the lab."
"Huh?" I said as I tried to raise my head, but the pain from my side made it impossible. I turned to see Commander Donnelly moving into view.
"Lieutenant, you were very foolish to go to see your stepmother alone today," he said. "We'd suspected she'd had something to do with the kidnapping and had police investigators watching her, but they didn't see you enter the apartment. You almost got yourself killed."
"But why?" I said still groggy from the pain medication.
"They were after something bigger than your father's fortune," he said. "They wanted his research so they could sell it on the black market."
"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," I said looking back at Echo who refused to meet my eyes. "What's going on?"
"Lieutenant, let's just say that you solved a crime that both had and hadn't yet happened," Commander Donnelly said. "When you're feeling a bit better, we're going to send someone in to take your statement, but until then, I want you to rest and take it easy. And I mean it."
"Yes, sir," I nodded as I looked at Echo who was now smiling at me again. Commander Donnelly left the room and I turned to Echo. "What the hell is going on?"
"Your stepmother was the one who kidnapped me," she said. "She tried to kill you because you figured it out."
"I don't understand why she would have wanted to kidnap you," I said wondering if the confusion was drug induced.
"She wanted to sell your father's research on the black market," Echo said eerily repeating Commander Donnelly's exact words.
"How did she even know what my father was doing?" I asked.
"I don't know, you'll have to ask her," Echo said as she leaned down and silenced me with a soft kiss.
"Don't do that," I said pushing her away. I could feel the effects of her touch instantly and was afraid that if she lingered, I'd show my entire hand.
"Okay, sorry," she said as a hurt look crossed her face and she backed away. "I'll just hang out here until Cece comes to relive me."
"Echo..." I began.
"No, it's okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries," she said cutting me off. "It won't happen again."
"I didn't—," I tried again.
"Are you ready for more pain medication," the nurse on duty said as she pushed open the door and came in with her cart looking at Echo she said, "I need to take vitals and check the wound site. Why don't you wait outside?"
"Be back later," Echo nodded and walked out the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Echo
"I tried to kiss him and he pushed me away and told me not to," I said miserably. "He doesn't want me, Cece."
"Chica, you are so very wrong about that," she said handing me a steaming hot cup of coffee. "Drink this, you'll feel better."
"I don't know what's wrong with me," I said as I sipped. "Or him. What's wrong with him?"
"Well, he's had a pretty rough couple of weeks, I'd say," Cece said giving me a sympathetic look. "He's lost a friend, his father, his money, and then almost lost you. I'd say the guy probably deserves a bit of a break when it comes to making judgments about him right now."
"I know," I nodded. Cece was right that Ryan's life had been upended, but I couldn't understand how I could feel like he was so attracted to me and then be so wrong about it. "But I don't understand the mixed signals, Cece."
"He's a boy," she shrugged. "They can be idiots sometimes too."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Chica, you haven't had that much experience with men, have you?" she said sympathetically.
"No, but I've had enough!" I protested.
"Yes, but you haven't had the kind of experience I've had, have you?"
"No," I grumbled. "I haven't."
"Okay, then listen to me. Sometimes boys are idiots not because they're trying to be idiots, but because they simply can't help it," she said. "They want to do things, but then they get scared, so they run away."
"Is that what you think is happening?" I asked.
"I have no idea, but you know I'm gonna try to find out," she grinned. "It's my turn to watch for the next few hours, so I'm going to do my best to get to the bottom of this."
"If you can figure out what's going on, you're a better woman than I am," I said.
"Go home and get some rest," she said squeezing my shoulder before she pulled me into a big hug. "You haven't been sleeping much, have you?"
"No, but..." I began and then realized that there was no way I could explain my lack of sleep to her because I couldn't talk about the decision I was trying to make.
"Just go home for a few hours and try to sleep," she repeated. "You'll feel better if you do. I'll call you if anything changes."
"Thanks, Cece," I said.
"No hay nada, chica!" she grinned as she grabbed her coffee cup and headed into Ryan's room. I watched her hoping that she was right and that she'd figure out what was going on so that maybe Ryan and I could find a way to move forward together.
#
Three days later, Ryan walked through the front door of my apartment just as I was coming out of the shower.
"What are you doing here?" I squealed as I grabbed the towel I had wrapped around my body.
"That's a nice way to welcome me back from the dead," he grinned as he ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his jaw. "I hope there's still enough hot water for me to shower and shave."
"I don't know, I didn't know you were coming home," I said as I walked backwards toward the staircase. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell us you were getting released today?"
"I wasn't supposed to be released, but I was sick and tired of the food," he half joked. "I signed myself out."
"Again? Don't you remember what happened the last time you did that?" I said warily.
"Yeah, but I know for a fact that you don't have a gun, so it's all good," he grinned as he walked toward the couch and collapsed.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. "Let me get dressed and I'll make some food for us."
"Nah, I stopped downstairs and asked Mando to make us something," he said waving me off. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. Why would I?" I asked as I quickly climbed t
he stairs and pulled on the cleanest pair of shorts and t-shirt I could find.
"Dunno," he mumbled. "I'm going to shower. Answer the door if Mando comes, will you?"
A half an hour later one of the busboys from Nemo's brought up enough food to keep us fed for a few days. I was dishing it up as Ryan emerged from the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. My heart began beating a little faster as I looked at his bare muscled chest before turning my gaze upward to meet his bright amber stare.
"Food arrive?" he asked.
"Uh-huh," I nodded as I turned back to the plates and tried to decide if I needed to put more on them.
"Smells a hell of a lot better than that disgusting slop they served at the hospital," he said as he grabbed clothes out of the duffle bag he'd stored behind my couch and quickly pulled them on.
"Uh-huh," I nodded again as I kept my back turned toward him so I wouldn't see anything I wasn't supposed to.
"You okay, Echo?" he asked.
"Uh huh," I nodded as I waited for what seemed like an appropriate amount of time before turning back around. When I did, Ryan was standing right behind me and startled me, "Oh!"
"Forgot what it was like having me around, didn't you?" he said quietly as he reached around me and grabbed the plates. "Bring drinks, would you?"
"Uh huh," I nodded more vigorously feeling like an absolute idiot as I grabbed two beers out of the fridge and followed him to the balcony.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ryan
"Are you okay," Echo asked.
"I'm fine, and if you ask me that one more time, I'm going to lose it," I said as I scooped up a huge bite of carnitas and beans in a tortilla and shoved it in my mouth. It had been days since I'd eaten anything more than the horrible fare served by the hospital dietician and I was starving. I knew I was probably going to pay a price for this, but I was willing to pay it.
"Sorry," she said looking down at her plate as we ate in semi-uncomfortable silence. Quietly, Echo said, "So, what's next?"
"What do you mean?" I replied. I was having a hard time focusing on my food when she was sitting just a couple of feet away from me and looked and smelled so fresh. Everything about her made me want to gather her up in my arms and carry her up those stairs, but I knew better than to let those thoughts find a home in my brain, so I shook my head and tried to conjure up images of what I would be doing once I returned to my SEAL team.