“Go get ready for your bath. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay.”
Chase ran down the hall in that awkward way that small children have. David watched, unable to shake this cold feeling that wrapped itself around his heart. Ricki touched his face, pulling his attention to her.
“What’s happened?”
“Ingram called.”
“I thought he was down in Houston dealing with some personal matter.”
“It turns out the personal matter was his wife.”
Ricki’s eyebrows rose. Ingram had never mentioned that he was married. The only reason they already knew was because the marriage certificate came up on the background check they run on everyone. When confronted, Ingram explained that he’d been married for only a few months before he went to the brig. He said that, as far as he was concerned, the marriage was over and he would arrange for a divorce as soon as possible now that he was out. David had never thought to follow up on it, deciding the matter was a personal issue. But now it was coming to rest on his front doorstep.
“He wants to bring his wife here to keep her safe while he deals with what’s going on.”
“What is going on?”
David shook his head. “It’s complicated. Something to do with the officer he assaulted that got him in the brig in the first place. I told him he could bring her.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“But it turns out there’s a kid. I don’t remember him mentioning a kid before.”
“Me, either.”
David smoothed Ricki’s hair back from her face. “I’m beginning to wonder just how much we know about these men we’ve welcomed into our home and how much trouble they might cause for us.”
“They’re a team,” she said. “Just like the men who had your back when you worked for Ash. Just like the men who still have your back should something go wrong.”
He smiled softly. “True.”
“It’ll be okay, babe.”
He kissed her. “I don’t know if I could do this without you.”
“You don’t have to do anything without me. We’re in this together, good or bad.”
He nodded, stealing another kiss. “Thanks, babe.”
David watched her go off to give the kid a bath. She glanced back, that lovely smile lighting up her face. He lifted his hand in a silent wave, but his thoughts were right back to where they’d been from the moment Ingram called.
There was once a time when he couldn’t protect his family, when he felt useless as she fought for her life. When his fancy computer system told him that Ricki was in danger, he was stuck in a wheelchair, unable to do anything to protect her. He had to call Donovan, had to send his brother’s best friend, an able bodied operative to do what he couldn’t because he was in that damn chair, the chair he’d chosen to spend his life in because of the guilt of his parents’ death. But he’d never felt so helpless…so useless…
It was then that David decided to have the surgery that would correct his paralysis. It was then that he knew he needed to be able to care for his family to the best of his ability. Nearly losing Ricki was the catalyst he’d needed.
If trouble ever came to their doorstep again…he wasn’t sure what he would do.
Chapter 12
Bailey
I was on edge as we made our way slowly through the familiar streets of my neighborhood. We were in my dad’s massive Dodge pickup now, using the height and the strength of the vehicle to get through some tight spots that we might not have been able to get through in the stolen Mercedes. That was left on a street some blocks from my parents’ house, abandoned safe and sound with the hopes that it would be returned to the owners when things began to return to something like normal.
We’d seen more destruction here than I’d anticipated. The hurricane should have begun to break apart the moment it hit land. Coming up through Galveston, it should have weakened considerably by the time it hit Katy. But there were houses and businesses that were no longer recognizable, places I passed on a daily basis were gone or so altered that I couldn’t quite remember what they’d looked like before their roofs were torn off or their windows blown out.
I sat close to Ingram, the heat of his body offering a small bit of security. I pointed to the turns he needed to make, needing to get to my house soon. So much destruction. What if my house was no longer standing? What if my baby boy…?
“This street here,” I said, pointing to the turn that would take me home.
Ingram navigated the street slowly, moving the truck up onto the sidewalk at one point to avoid a tree that had fallen across the road. My neighbor’s lawn was no longer the pristine green it once was, now covered in bricks and glass and mud from the storm. And then…
“Oh, thank God!”
The house was still there, standing over the neighborhood like it had always done. A two story Victorian style in a neighborhood of ranches, it seemed incredibly out of place even on this day when half the houses around it were missing their roofs or their front porches. But it was there, still standing, seemingly unaffected by Mother Nature’s fury.
I slid across the seat and ran up to the front of the house before Ingram even managed to stop the truck. The front door was locked, but it opened unexpectedly under my hand. Karen, my incredibly dependable nanny, stood there, a smile on her pretty face.
“You’re okay?”
I threw my arms around her. “Fine,” I mumbled against her throat.
“Adam’s upstairs. I’ve been letting him watch DVDs on my laptop.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled, touching her face with a hand that shook. “You are my new hero.”
She smiled. “I love him, you know that.”
I nodded as I moved around her and ran upstairs. Adam, my four-year-old miracle, was sitting in the center of his bed, propping his chin on his hands as he watched VeggieTales on the laptop. When he saw me come into the room, he jumped off the bed and ran into my arms.
“It was so scary, Mommy,” he said. “The wind was talking to me.”
“I know, baby. I’m sorry.”
“Why weren’t you here?”
“I was at the lodge checking on the cabins. And then the storm hit sooner than it was supposed to.”
“I was scared, Mommy.”
“I know, baby. But Karen was here for you.”
He nodded, pressing his face against my neck. I held him as tight as I could, the alternative still playing in my head despite everything. My baby—I could have lost him last night. But he was here and he was safe and I would never forget this feeling, this joy and relief and fear all mixed up together.
“Hey,” Ingram said a moment later, his voice low and respectful, “we should get on the road.”
I turned, not even aware of the tears in my eyes until I saw him through them. He was leaning against the doorframe, his expression guarded, but there was curiosity there as he studied the child in my arms, noting, no doubt, the dark, curly hair on his precious head. I walked toward him, my hand moving slowly over my son’s slight back.
“This is Adam,” I said softly.
“Hey, pal,” he said just as softly.
Adam peeked at him from his position on my shoulder. And then he slowly sat up and really studied him.
As they stared at each other, I could see Ingram noting all the things that made it pretty obvious who Adam’s father was: his dark, curly hair; his wide jaw; his narrow, almost patrician, nose. Even his eyes were Ingram’s even though their color was mine.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, holding a hand out to my son. Our son.
Adam just stared at him for a long moment.
“I know who you are,” he finally said. “Grandpa showed me pictures.”
“What?”
Adam nodded. “Grandpa said you’d come find me someday…” He pressed his hand to Ingram’s, his tiny fingers nearly disappearing in Ingram’s big hand. “You’re my daddy.”
“I am,”
Ingram said softly, moving so that his face was just a breath from Adam’s. “And I’ve found you.”
Adam surprised us both by throwing his arms around Ingram’s neck and moving into his arms. For the first time in all the time I’ve known Ingram, I saw his eyes well with tears. He held the boy very close, one hand pressed against the back of his head, the other on the small of his back. And he stood there like that for a very, very long time.
~~~
We packed up a few necessities and hit the road, making our way out along the path the hurricane had taken. We ran into rain outside of the city, a few little cloud bursts that still lingered. Once we were outside of the city, the debris lessened and we had less trouble navigating the highway. We even hit some traffic as we turned off the Interstate 10 and headed up toward Austin.
“Where are we going?” Karen asked for what must have been the third time as we hit Smithville. I glanced back at her. She was sitting in the backseat of the huge truck, Adam in his car seat snuggled beside her. He was asleep, his red cheeks and sweaty brow reflecting the humidity that even the air conditioning couldn’t quite cut.
“To a friend’s. In Austin.”
“Austin?”
I nodded. “Have you ever been there?”
She shook her head, her eyes moving to the windows. “Not in years.”
I slid across the seat to snuggle against Ingram. He slid an arm around me, tugging me tight to him.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He glanced down at me. “I just got my wife back and met my son for the first time.” His eyes moved to the rearview mirror, softening as he studied Adam there. “I don’t think I’ve been more okay.”
I reached up and kissed his jaw lightly, resting my head on his shoulder as I watched the road barrel toward us. As much as I’d hoped, I was never sure if I was ever really going to find Ingram again. He was so angry after the court martial that he wouldn’t even look me in the eye. And when I tried to talk to him in the conference room where he was taken during breaks, his JAG officer told me he didn’t want to see me.
“And frankly,” the man had said, “I can’t blame him. You just basically handed over a guilty verdict.”
The last time I saw him, I was on the witness stand and he was watching me from the defendant’s table. And the betrayal I saw in his eyes haunted me every single time I closed my eyes in the time since.
There’s nothing worse than seeing hurt and betrayal in the eyes of the man you love.
But things were different now. If we could just survive what came next.
“What now?” I asked softly.
“My boss has this big house that he’s converted into office space on the first floor and an apartment on the second. And there are cottages on the property where they allow us to live rent-free. I’ll put you and Adam and Karen up in my cottage…” He sounded a little doubtful about that. “…and then we’ll figure out what our next step should be.”
“Together.”
“Yes, together.”
He kissed the top of my head again. I tried to relax, tried to look at this as a good thing. But I was worried that he’d go rushing off after Philips and James on his own. I was afraid he’d leave me and I wouldn’t see him again. I wasn’t sure I could face that possibility after everything we’d been through. I’d just gotten him back. I wasn’t ready to lose him again.
My cellphone began to buzz as we entered Austin. I tugged it out of my pocket. I’d almost forgotten I had it. The cell towers went down before the hurricane made landfall last night. I was carrying it more out of habit than anything else.
It was a text message from my mom. She wanted to know if we were okay. I texted back, letting her know we were safe and that I’d call later.
“Everything good?”
I nodded. I glanced over my shoulder at Karen and Adam. I guess Karen’s phone had begun to work again, too, because she was also texting.
“Your family must be worried.”
She looked up. Karen had worked for me for a little more than three years and I felt like I knew little about her. Every time I asked about her family, she changed the subject.
“Everyone’s worried. The devastation in Houston is pretty overwhelming.”
I nodded, turning around again. She wasn’t going to tell me, so why push it.
Ingram slowed the truck as we approached a long, elegant wrought iron fence that had the name Grayson spelled out as part of the top of the gate. He reached out the window and punched a code into a box that was standing off to one side of the drive. The gate immediately opened, sliding back to disappear into either side of the fence. Ingram drove up a long drive that ended in a circle in front of an impressive stone mansion.
“Wow!” Karen said from the back seat.
“It belongs to David’s family,” Ingram informed us. “His father was some sort of politician.”
He pulled the truck to a stop and we climbed out. Karen moved to get Adam, but Ingram stepped in before she could, carefully pulling him out of his booster seat. He held him cradled in his arms, smoothing his hands over his back as he settled him on his shoulder. Then he led the way up the stone steps. There was a keypad on the door. Ingram quickly put in the proper numbers and the door swung open to reveal an impressive marble entry. There was a staircase off to one side and multiple corridors going to the right and the left and a large room directly ahead. Ingram led the way there, pausing as a woman stood from behind a massive desk and greeted him.
“Ingram! I’m so glad you made it back safely.”
She was a woman in her late forties, early fifties. There was gray streaking her blond hair, giving it a sort of silvery look. She had bright gray eyes that were filled with concern. I knew without asking that this was the Annie that Ingram had spoken to several times over the last day and a half.
“Annie, this is my son, Adam, and his nanny, Karen.” He turned slightly to indicate Karen. Then he took my arm and pulled me forward. “And this is my wife, Bailey.”
Annie said a polite hello to Karen, dismissing her as she focused on me.
“I can’t tell you what a joy it is to finally meet you, Bailey,” she said, resting her hands on my shoulders. “Ingram is not one to talk a lot about himself, but I’ve managed to coax a few things out of him. And all those things were about you.”
“Really?” I glanced at Ingram. He was suddenly hyper focused on Adam.
“He told me about your date to the park while the two of you were on leave. He told me about your father and his dream of beginning a hunting tour business. He told me how your father took him in when he needed a family.”
I glanced at him again.
“Okay, Annie, don’t get me in trouble,” he said, knocking her shoulder with his arm.
Before Annie could say anything else, a man and woman came down the stairs, holding hands.
“Ingram,” the man said in a deep, delicious voice, “I’m glad you made it safely.”
“Hello, David,” Ingram said, shifting Adam to shake his hand. “Thank you for this.”
David just shook his head. “No problem.”
Ingram went through the same introductions he’d just made to Annie. When it was my turn, I could feel the curiosity coming from David and his beautiful wife, Ricki. She was watching me, her kind eyes taking in everything about me.
“I bet you could use a hot bath,” she said, taking my hands.
“I could, actually.”
“Come on. We’ve got you set up upstairs.” She glanced at her husband. “Why don’t you take Ingram and the baby out to the kitchen to get him something to eat?”
I watched them disappear as Ricki pulled me up the stairs. Ingram winked at me as he and David stepped out of sight.
“They’ll be alright. David’s good with kids.”
I forced a smile. “Do you have kids?”
“A boy about the same age.” Her smile was more genuine than mine.
When we re
ached the head of the stairs, we found ourselves in a large, open area that was set up like an apartment. There was a sitting room in the center with a large television and a couple of comfortable-looking couches. Surrounding those were multiple doors that opened into God only knew what. Bedrooms, I assumed.
“We’ve prepared a couple of bedrooms for you and your family.” She led the way to one of the doors, pushing it open and gesturing for me to go inside. It was a nice room, bigger than my living room back in Katy, decorated with a large, four-poster bed and a nice sitting area near the windows. Through a door I could see a large bathroom with a deep, whirlpool tub on a platform at the back.
“Wow!”
“Yeah. My husband’s family…they knew how to live.”
“He grew up here?”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t know it by talking to him, though. He’s probably one of the most down-to-Earth people I know.” She chuckled a little. “I never imagined I marry a man like him. But here I am.”
I nodded in agreement. “Ingram and I…he was an enlisted man. I always swore if I fell for another sailor, it would never be an enlisted man.”
“But Ingram is a pretty charming fellow.”
“He is. Very charming. And he always seemed to know exactly what to say in those first few weeks we knew each other.”
“Sometimes, that’s all it takes.”
I smiled softly, wondering if this woman knew all there was to know about Ingram. Somehow, I got the feeling she did.
“There are towels in there,” she said, gesturing toward the bathroom. “And I brought some lotion and shampoo from my own collection. If there’s anything else you can think of, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll be around.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’re doing for us.”
Ricki leaned against the doorjamb, watching me.
“I don’t know what he’s told you about us, but Gray Wolf Security began in Santa Monica, the product of an idea Ash—David’s older brother—came up with. He began with just David and four operatives like Ingram. They became a family in a very short time.” Ricki looked down at the carpet for a second. “This line of work…it can be intense. And that sometimes brings people very close to one another.”
GRAY WOLF SECURITY, Texas: The Complete 6-Books Series Page 24