Authors: Leigh Bale
Her eyes held a hint of
nervousness. “Is that what you want?”
His gaze locked with hers. “Yes.
I’m not going back to the military. I’ve applied for admittance to the medical
school in Reno.” Mac watched her carefully, letting his words sink in.
“But I thought you wanted to make
the military a career.”
He indicated his cane, which leaned
against the seat between them. He no longer needed the crutch. “The doc said my
leg won’t ever be the same. I can’t jump out of helicopters any more. I think
I’d enjoy being a doctor and helping people more.”
“That sounds nice.” She looked
away. “I’m very happy for you, Mac. Med school will be hard, but I know you’re
up to the task. You always got top grades in biology and math. Clarkston needs
a compassionate doctor like you. When exactly does your commission expire?”
“In March, but they’ve given me the
option of an early out because of my injury.”
“Good. Never again do I want to
hear that someone I love has fallen in battle. You’ll have time to get settled
before you start med school in the fall.”
Planning the future should be a
time of joy. Instead, he felt overshadowed by gloom. “You still love me?”
She exhaled a slow breath. “I never
stopped.”
Mac glanced at Toni, opening his
mouth to say something more, then changing his mind. It’d do no good to speak
of love. Not until this problem was resolved. She waited for his response with
the patience of Job.
“What is it?” she finally asked.
“Toni, can I give you a loan for
your store?”
She shook her head. “I appreciate
the offer, but I can’t accept.”
“I have the money. You can pay it
back once your store recovers.”
“That’s just it. The store will
never recover. It’s old fashioned, in a bad location, and too far in debt. I’d
never be able to pay you back. I only stepped in to run the store after Mom and
Dad were killed.”
She clamped her mouth closed, as
though she regretted confiding so much.
“Have you told your grandma how you
feel?”
“No, I don’t want to hurt her.”
“I have a feeling she’d rather you
were happy than spending your life doing something you hate. You should tell
her the truth.”
The way Mac should tell Toni the
truth. But his situation was much different. Toni’s grandma wouldn’t stop
loving her if she knew Toni hated running the shoe store. But if Toni knew
about Mac’s part in Eric’s death, she’d despise him. Mac needed more time.
Hopefully NCIS would discover the truth soon. Mac awaited the ballistics report
with baited breath. His greatest hope was that they proved him innocent of any
wrongdoing in Eric’s death.
The drive from Vegas to Mountain
Springs didn’t take long. Maybe forty minutes. Mac scanned the streets, looking
for Amber Boulevard. Tall palm trees, cactus and flowers filled the front yards
of tidy homes with red tiled roofs. Because they lived in a desert, the law
prohibited these newer homes from having any lawns. Instead, decorative
rockwork and shrubs filled the yards.
“There it is,” Toni pointed and Mac
turned the steering wheel as they drove down Colonel Wilkinson’s street.
Tension increased at the back of
Mac’s neck. He didn’t know what to expect from this visit.
He glanced at Toni, noticing she’d
applied a hint of color to her cheeks and lengthened her lashes with a touch of
mascara. Driving down the road, he realized he loved her. So much that he
couldn’t stand to hurt her with his own grief. She’d suffered enough already.
He’d find a way to get Cara home safe. Then, they’d go their separate ways.
He parked in front of the Colonel’s
spacious home and got out of the truck. He stared at the sandstone-colored
structure, not at all what he expected. Knowing the Colonel’s habit of packing
light and making do with very little during military operations, Mac expected a
compact house with few amenities. The Colonel made a good salary, but how could
he afford this sprawling home with tall marble arches over the entryway?
Maybe his wife had money.
It just went to show how little Mac
really knew about the Colonel’s personal life. It must be the same for all the
men on his MARSOC team. Sure, the men talked about their girlfriends, wives and
children, but what did Mac really know about them and their lives at home?
Except for Eric and Derek Hooper, Mac had spent little time with his buddies in
civilian life. But he knew each and every man would defend his back against
enemy fire. As far as Mac was concerned, that kind of courage said a lot about
a man and his true character.
As they walked up the sidewalk,
the sprinkler system whooshed over the curving flowerbed and Mac caught the
scent of damp earth.
He leaned against the wall while
Toni rang the bell. The door opened and there stood Colonel Wilkinson, his hair
buzzed short, his face clean-shaven, a tall man with not a bit of a paunch. Mac
almost didn’t recognize him out of uniform. Dressed casually in khaki slacks
and a blue shirt, the Colonel reached out and clasped Mac’s hand and grinned.
“Sergeant MacKenzie, this is a
pleasant surprise. I couldn’t believe it when Gwynne told me you wanted to see
me.” The Colonel lifted his bushy eyebrows at Toni. “And I guess this lovely
lady is Eric’s sister?”
“Yes, this is Toni Hamilton.” A
feeling of pride surged through Mac’s chest. He wished he could introduce her
as his fiancée. But she wasn’t. Not anymore.
His smile faded.
The Colonel took Toni’s hand in a
gentle grip and pulled her inside. “You’re just as pretty as Mac said. Come in.
Sorry about Eric. He was a good man. One of the best. I could depend on him to
get the job done.”
Mac almost groaned. Had he told the
Colonel Toni was pretty? What was he thinking?
“Thank you,” she spoke in a quiet
voice, glancing at Mac with uncertainty.
Mac followed them into the spacious
entrance and an older woman dressed in shorts, a tank top and slim sandals
greeted them. “Hello, Mac, how have you been?”
“Mac, you remember my wife,
Gwynne.”
“Of course. It’s good to see you
again, Mrs. Wilkinson.” Mac nodded respectfully.
“And you, too. I was so happy to
hear you were safe.” Gwynne embraced him and he felt the heat of a blush stain
his face. He couldn’t forget this was his Colonel’s wife no matter how informal
the setting.
The Colonel led Toni into the
kitchen. Gwynne and Mac followed behind.
“How about something cool to
drink?” Gwynne offered.
In the kitchen, she poured glasses
of lemonade from an iced pitcher and handed one to Toni and Mac. The ice
chinked as they took a sip.
An uncomfortable silence settled
over them.
Gwynne laughed. “I still can’t get
used to having RJ home. Sometimes I feel as though I should salute my own
husband.”
Mac chuckled. “I understand. When
I’m at my father’s cabin, I keep forgetting not to salute him. He’s got a
gravelly voice like the Colonel’s.”
They all laughed and he realized he
respected these two people. It seemed odd to be out of uniform and casually
drinking lemonade in their home.
“Let’s sit out on the patio,”
Gwynne urged. “There’s a nice breeze in the shade.”
She urged them through the vast
family room and out the wide French doors onto the patio. Toni carried Mac’s
glass of lemonade so he could negotiate the steps with his cane.
A swimming pool gleamed in the back
yard, clear and inviting. Colorful purple sage, yellow prickly pear and red
cholla blooms filled the flowerbeds.
“This is beautiful,” Toni breathed
deep and fidgeted with her handbag. No doubt she wished Mrs. Wilkinson would
leave so they could speak frankly and seek the Colonel’s help.
“Thank you.” Gwynne sighed as she
gazed at the yard.
They sat in comfy lawn chairs. The
gentle breeze carried the sweet scent of prickly pear blossoms on the air. Toni
shifted nervously in her seat and Mac could tell she was anxious to question
the Colonel about Eric’s file. So was he.
A veteran at discretion, Gwynne
seemed to sense they wanted time alone with the Colonel. “I’d love to sit here
and talk all day, but even a Colonel’s wife has laundry to wash.”
Both the Colonel and Mac came to
their feet. Mac braced one hand on the table to steady himself without the
cane.
“You two sit down and relax,”
Gwynne urged as she headed for the house.
Mac sat beside the Colonel.
Wilkinson leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and
clasping his hands together. He looked directly at Mac, his friendly smile
replaced by narrowed eyes and a furrowed frown. Mac knew this piercing look.
The Colonel was no nonsense when it came to business.
“What’s going on, Mac? I can tell
this isn’t just a social call.”
In soft tones, Mac explained the
situation, including the fact that Cara had been kidnapped and they had less
than two days to find Eric’s missing file.
Toni reached inside her purse and
withdrew some papers and the picture of Mac posing with Eric and Lieutenant
Andrus. She handed them to the Colonel. “This is a replica of Eric’s stolen
letter. I tried to write down everything I could remember from what he said,
word for word. I read the original enough times that I think I got it right.”
The Colonel withdrew a pair of
reading glasses from his breast pocket and put them on before he scanned the
pages. He grunted. “Hmm, you have no idea what file the letter is referring
to?”
Mac quirked his mouth. “No, we were
hoping you might be able to pull some strings and get a look at his military
personnel file. We don’t know where else to turn.”
The Colonel handed the letter to
Toni, then sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, looking over the rim of
his spectacles. “You realize Eric’s personnel file won’t have anything in it.
I’m retired now and don’t have access to that info, but I’ll do everything I
can to find something out.”
“That’s all we ask,” Mac said.
“But what about my sister? Please
help me.” Tears beaded in the corners of Toni’s eyes.
“The man you described with the
ponytail sounds like he’s from the Middle East. If what you say is true, you
could be dealing with the Taliban and they won’t think twice about harming the
girl. I’ll call in the FBI and NCIS. They can tap your phones and stake out
your house. In the meantime, you and Mac should do everything you can to find
Eric’s missing file.”
Mac shifted in his seat. “You and I
know if the kidnappers want to harm Cara, they’ve probably already done it.”
Toni made a small sound in the back
of her throat and he reached for her hand. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by
the Colonel, who eyed their clasped fingers with a thoughtful frown.
Mac hated adding pain to Toni’s
anguish, but she had to know the worst-case scenario if she was going to help
resolve the problem. The warmth of her fingers seemed to burn his flesh. He
couldn’t let her down. He just couldn’t.
“Keep me apprised,” the Colonel
said. “And don’t give up hope. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“We appreciate it.”
“And the picture? What’s wrong with
it?” The Colonel peered at the photo in his hand.
Again, Mac explained about the
electronically altered photograph showing him and Eric posing with Lieutenant
Andrus.
“I don’t know what to tell you
about that.” The Colonel handed Mac the picture and removed his glasses,
dangling them from his long fingers. “Maybe you should ask him about it. He’s
here in Vegas.”
“Who is?”
“Lieutenant Andrus. You two men
were the only survivors of the skirmish in Afghanistan. The military gave him a
leave of absence, too. They figured both of you needed time to recuperate.”
“What?” Mac came to his feet,
gritting against the jarring pain it caused his leg.
He was vaguely aware of Toni
staring at the Colonel, her eyes wide with shock. Neither one of them could
absorb this information fast enough.
“I thought Mac was the only man on
his team who survived the ambush,” she said.
“So did I.” Mac gripped the glass
top of the table with whitened knuckles. His mind whirled.
“Who told you that?” The Colonel’s
eyes looked guarded.
Mac shook his head, trying to
remember. “I think it was a doctor. I was fresh out of surgery and still groggy
from medication. But Derek Hooper with the CIA confirmed it when he paid me a
visit yesterday.”
Colonel Wilkinson snorted. “Just
shows you how much the CIA knows. Lieutenant Andrus is alive. He survived
without any injury.”
Mac sank back into his chair,
stunned with disbelief. All this time, he’d believed he had been the only survivor
of the ambush. That knowledge had done something to him. Changed him somehow.
Left him feeling cynical and fatalistic. Like he should have died with his men.
Now, knowing another man made it
out of there alive clicked on a light of hope inside of Mac.
“I’ve got to talk to Andrus. Maybe
he knows something,” Mac said.
The Colonel nodded. “You should go
see him. It might help both of you feel better if you talk about what happened.
He has a house in North Las Vegas. I think it was his mother’s home before she
died. I can give you the address.”
Mac clenched his hands to stop them
from trembling. “I’d appreciate it.”
Toni reached over and squeezed his
arm. He met her eyes, still reeling from what the Colonel had told them.
“Hooper insinuated that the CIA
intercepted communications from someone on the inside giving the team’s landing
position to the Taliban,” Mac said. “Toni accidentally overheard our
conversation.”
“So, she knows about the ambush,
then?”
Both Mac and Toni nodded.