by J. M. Madden
Raine reached out and shook their hands. “I was just about to deliver some meds if you’d like to join me.”
Launching into an explanation of her floor, Raine led them through her residents, describing their original injures, in general, as well as their treatment progress. The Holtmans stopped and talked to several of the men, fascinated at how well some of them were adapting.
Raine ended the tour at Haven’s room.
Every time she saw him Elizabeth was struck with how much he had changed in the past week. Haven’s skin was filling out and he didn’t have that scrawny anemic look anymore. Aiden had found his military file. Somewhere in that bag of bones was a two-hundred pound former Army Ranger.
“Give him time,” Wulfe kept telling her. “He’s filling out.”
“Sir,” Haven said, shaking the general’s hand. “Ma’am.”
“Haven,” Elizabeth said, “we thought you might join us for a meeting. We have some things to talk about.”
“Yes, Dr. Cole.”
They all took the elevator down to the first floor, where the bigger medical devices were, like x-ray and the MRI machine, the hematology lab as well as the conference rooms and some of the doctor’s offices. When they got to the conference room, Wulfe and Noah were already there. As soon as they walked in the door, Noah’s hungry eyes latched onto Raine and she blushed. The two of them were so damn cute together, and Elizabeth was so thrilled that Noah had found such an amazing partner. She watched as Raine circled the table to sit next to him.
“So, I thought we could catch up on a few things first,” the general said, holding his wife’s hand as they sat down. “Deputy Director Green is still interviewing the senator’s employees. His wife Victoria is trying to work out some kind of deal with the federal prosecutor to testify against her husband. She’ll probably still get time for forgery and kidnapping charges, but she wants nothing to do with all of the murders Ms. Frame has implicated the senator in.”
“Ms. Frame has proven to be a fountain of knowledge,” Holtman continued. “She and her daughter are at a safe house for now, but hadn’t you suggested, doctor, that she would be an asset here?”
“Yes, sir,” Elizabeth said immediately. “If she’s willing to help us out with the men and she’s cleared of all wrongdoing on your side, I would absolutely hire her.”
Holtman nodded. “She’s expressed to me several times how much she regretted what she’s done for the senator and I think she would love a chance to redeem herself. After hearing the conditions in which she was kept, I don’t think she’ll have to worry about charges.”
“I can absolutely use her, then, either as a research assistant or even as a nurse. There will be a settling in period, of course, and we’ll figure out a slot for her.”
“We’re always short nurses,” Raine murmured. Elizabeth nodded in agreement.
Holtman looked at Noah. “How is your hearing, Mr. Cross?”
“Better, sir. The right ear is almost a hundred percent. The left is taking a little longer.”
The older man shook his head, looking at Wulfe. “We literally saw you heal while sitting at our dining room table, but I’m still amazed. His ears were completely blown.”
Wulfe nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He looked back at Noah. “You were correct when you suggested that there were two missing enhanced guards at the senator’s estate that night. We went over the security footage and identified them, but we’re not sure where they’ve gone. Even Mr. Poole’s special algorithm can’t locate them. Same goes for Agent McCullough.” Holtman glanced around the room. “He hasn’t been seen since the day of the raid and he has gone AWOL from the Secret Service. We don’t know where he’s gone, but he probably has an axe to grind. The senator is bound and determined to take McCullough with him to hell.”
“Let them go,” Moira murmured, making Elizabeth grin. The general’s wife had some spunk to her.
“The team that the senator loaned the president has been removed and secluded. Thank you very much for the sedatives, doctor, they seem to be working. The next time Wulfe is in the area maybe he can do his hocus pocus and give us an idea if they’re salvageable or not.”
Wulfe tipped his head.
“And,” the general continued, “the President has agreed to a sit-down with me next week. We’ll have to talk about whether you come as yourself or just no-name assistant trying to fade into the background and listen very closely.”
Wulfe snorted. “I’m at your disposal, General.”
The man nodded, and Elizabeth felt bad. They’d kind of dragged him into a shit-show, though he seemed to be adapting well. This was their first in-person meeting this week, though they’d spoken on the phone a couple of times. Elizabeth was glad that Noah had caught his name that long-ago night.
“I have one more thing before we move onto new business,” the general said. He looked at Elizabeth. “I’m afraid we found your assistant.”
Elizabeth blinked. “What? Jodie?”
The general nodded. “Her body was found in the trunk of one of the cars in the senator’s car pool at the Manchester House.”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
Holtman nodded. “She’d been beaten, it looked like, and eventually strangled. We’ll know more when the ME’s report comes in.”
Elizabeth looked at Wulfe. “That was unexpected. So, with the fact that she was at the senator’s house, we have to assume that he had access to the names and basic abilities in that file.”
The general nodded slightly and Elizabeth’s stomach turned. “Belladonna, Ms. Frame, had seen the information but didn’t know where it had come from. We have to assume that one of the senator’s guards killed the woman. I think we also have to assume that everyone on that list now has a target on their backs.”
She felt sick. Jodie had worked for her company for years and Elizabeth had thought she was a trustworthy employee.
“Maybe it’s time to go through the employees again,” Wulfe suggested. “And no offense general but I think I might talk to Ms. Frame before we give her access to these men.”
Holtman held up both hands. “I completely understand. I told her as much. She has no problem talking to you and letting you… read her. Or whatever you call it.”
“McCullough knew about our facility,” Haven said into the silence. “He remarked on it the first time I talked to him. Called us lame ducks you were trying to fix,” he told Elizabeth.
“That’s why he looked at us on the street, Noah,” Raine said. “He was looking at you because he already knew who you were.”
Silence settled into the room as they all thought about the repercussions.
“We’ll have to be more on guard,” Noah murmured, looking at Wulfe. “Tighten access.”
“Well, about that…” Holtman said. “I think it would be smart to house Joint Task Force Omega here for now. The empty floors look fine and I’ll see what the situation is with the adjoining properties. Maybe we can think about expanding. Your security is good, but I think if you have some of our men on-site it could be that much stronger. And, if you’re going to develop a team of enhanced soldiers, you might as well have the people training with them on-site. Which brings us to our next proposition.”
Elizabeth sent a sheaf of papers toward Haven, and another toward Noah, and couldn’t contain a grin. She winked at Raine, because they had already talked about the possibility of the two men working together.
“Dr. Cole and I believe that as the men recover, they’re going to reach a point where they have to decide whether to continue on with our group, the Omegas, or not. If they do want to renew their military service, we’re going to need trainers and advisors.”
He looked at the two men expectantly.
Haven barked out a laugh. “I’m not exactly ready to bounce back into PT, General, sorry.”
“No,” Holtman agreed, “but do you want to renew your military career? To a certain extent. I’m not going t
o lie, everything is just being spit-balled right now. Noah was invaluable in the raid last week.”
“Until my ears got blown,” he mumbled.
“And I know for a fact he’ll be used again. Clark already talked about it.”
Noah looked legitimately shocked. “Seriously?”
Holtman nodded. “But we need some kind of team set up to work directly between the men and the task force. Right now the task force has one enhanced soldier.” He pointed at Noah.
Haven was quiet for a long time and Elizabeth watched him process what was being offered.
“There’s no obligation, Haven,” she told him softly. “And if you choose not to do it you don’t have to move out or anything. I told you there would always be a place here for you, no matter what you choose to do.”
“I’m going to have to think about it for a while,” he said eventually.
“That’s fine,“ Holtman said. “There’s no timeline as of right now. We’re just trying to get some groundwork set up so we’re not caught asleep at the wheel. Just talk to Elizabeth.”
Haven nodded, looking thoughtful. Elizabeth didn’t want him to feel like he was on the spot or obligated at all. She would go up and talk to him later alone.
Noah, on the other hand, looked ready to go on his next op. Raine had said that he would be all in, especially if the ops were in connection to seeking retribution for what had been done to the men housed in the Elton Building.
“Moira,” she murmured. “If you want to go do your blood test we’ll let the men talk military business.”
The woman agreed and they headed into the lab.
Raine ran her hand over Noah’s chest, playing with the hair there. Coming home and loving him was always the highlight of her days now. She hadn’t officially moved in, but it was kind of semantics at this point.
“Why were you surprised that Clark wants you to work with him again?”
Noah heaved a sigh. “I don’t know. I guess it was just nice to hear considering all the problems I had after I was deployed. It’s like this loop of closure or some shit. Military fucks me over for my hearing. I get hired for my military experience and my hearing gets juiced, and now the military wants me back. I was a damn good soldier when I was in and I did enjoy helping out the Delta team. If I can do that and get justice for the guys here, hell yeah I’ll do it again.”
She smiled, snorting softly.
“Do you mind that I said yes?” he asked, turning on his side so that he could look at her.
“Not at all,” she told him honestly, turning on her side as well. “I think a lot of these men are going to need… resources and guidance, and so much other possible help on down the road. How can I not appreciate and love you for wanting to fight for them?”
Noah smiled and leaned in to kiss her. “I love you, Raine. And I love that you see me.”
She leaned in for a kiss, her eyes heavy. Then another. “Now, did I love you enough tonight? Are you going to sleep the night through from exhaustion?”
“Oh, no. 3 a.m. cookies are on, baby.”
She grinned. “Okay. No leaving me behind this time so you can hoard all the cookies yourself.”
“Hey, I legit thought you were out cold. I will never eat all the cookies again. I promise.”
“Okay,” she said groggily. “Night, Noah.”
“Night, Baby.”
The End…
Also by J.M. Madden
Thank you so much for reading Catalyst! If you can, please take a moment to leave a review. They are so incredibly important to an author!
If you would like to read about the ‘combat modified’ veterans of the Lost and Found Investigative Service, the series BEFORE the Dogs Of War, check out these books:
The Embattled Road
Duncan, John and Chad
Embattled Hearts-Book 1
John and Shannon
Embattled Minds-Book 2
Zeke and Ember
Embattled Home-Book 3
Chad and Lora
Embattled SEAL- Book 4
Harper and Cat
Embattled Ever After- Book 5
Duncan and Alex
Her Forever Hero- Grif
Grif and Kendall
SEAL’s Lost Dream-Flynn
Flynn and Willow
SEAL’s Christmas Dream
Flynn and Willow
Unbreakable SEAL-
Max and Lacey
Embattled Christmas
Reclaiming The Seal
Gabe and Julie
Loving Lilly
Diego and Lilly
Her Secret Wish
Rachel and Dean
Wish Upon a SEAL
Drake and Izzy
Mistletoe Mischief
Cass and Roger
Lost and Found Pieces
Lost and Found Pieces 2
There are two Lost and Found Spinoff series, the Lowells- western- and the Dogs of War, which heads in a bit of a paranormal direction.
The Lowells of Honeywell, Texas Box Set
Forget Me Not
Untying his Not
Naughty by Nature
Trying the Knot
The Dogs of War
Genesis
Chaos
Destruction
Retribution
Catalyst
If you love dogs and would like to read about a concierge service helping military personnel out of difficult spots, check out:
Healing Home
Wicked Healing
Healing Hope (Coming Soon!)
If you would like to read a Navy SEAL book with more mature characters, check out
SEAL Hard
Flat Line
Other books by J.M. Madden
Where you can follow me!
Website- www.jmmadden.com
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/jmmaddenauthor/
Twitter @authorjmmadden
Amazon- http://amzn.to/2txVkte
Bookbub- https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-m-madden
Or you can always email me at [email protected]