Smart ass. He exuded cocky. I couldn’t reprimand him though, because without him, I’d be penniless.
A few left and right turns and the heavy door swung open, revealing stacks of hundred dollar bills piled to the top.
“The pot of gold, my man. The pot of gold.”
Grabbing a stack of notes, I let the feel of it sink into my skin. I had a shitload of money.
“I’m gathering we get paid well for our jobs?”
“Oh yeah. We’re looked after. You’ll never have to worry about money again, let’s put it that way.”
I didn’t doubt it as I stared at the pile, shaking my head at the irony of it all.
“Leave the safe here and stow the money in a bag. I’ve got two bigger babies at my place. You can use one. Saves lugging this sucker out.”
“Good point.” I stood, and remembering a large bag in my closet space, I walked over and retrieved it, stacking the money inside. “Anything else I should know, like where my weapons are?”
“You used to carry your MK23 on your person, but I’m assuming when you were ambushed, it got stolen.”
“Shit. So I have nothing?”
“I can gear you up, man. Don’t worry about it. Just pack clothes and necessities, and let’s get out of here.”
Throwing some shirts, shorts, jeans, shoes, and a couple of jackets on top of my wad of cash, I grabbed a few toiletries and scanned the apartment for anything else of use. I truly didn’t have too much, apart from the cash. If I wasn’t home much, it made sense.
“All ready.” I nodded to Viper.
“You follow me in Mac’s car. We can pick up your truck tomorrow.” Looking at me weird, he asked, “Uhh, you do have a set of spare keys to it, right? Or do I have to call the locksmith again?”
“Shit.” I couldn’t remember. “Let me check the glove compartment.”
Walking to the garage, I opened the passenger door and checked everywhere. Nothing. Heading back inside, I opened drawers, checking in my bedroom and the kitchen, but came up empty.
“Damn it. Looks like I will be forking out for a new key. Not today though. I’m sure Mac won’t mind me driving her beast for the next day or two.”
“Okay. Let’s head out then. See you soon.”
Hopping into the Mustang, I followed Viper the short distance to his house. We all lived relatively close to each other, which proved to be an asset.
Thoughts morphed to Mac as I drove. I wound my window down to let in fresh air, banging my fingers on the steering wheel in time to a random song on the radio.
Last night had blown my mind. And my groin. Literally. Damn, she had pulled every ounce of pleasure from me. I hardened just reliving our explosive evening. She’d been every bit as sensual as I’d imagined. Now that I had her, I couldn’t let her go. Didn’t want to. Ever.
If we began a committed relationship, would she cope with me being away often? More to the point, did I even want to return to the military? Surely if my memory never returned fully, I’d be deemed unfit for duty. What other jobs could I do? Security perhaps?
For whatever reason my ex-wife had turned to Reno for attention, I vowed, I wouldn’t let the same happen to Mac. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Parking in the driveway, Viper kept his garage door open until I was out with my packed bag and inside before closing it. Nothing about his house seemed familiar. He stopped and let me take it all in before asking, “Bring back any memories?”
“Nah. Not yet.”
“Well, make yourself at home. You want a beer?”
“Is the sky blue?”
Laughing, he moved to the fridge and removed a couple of beers, handing me one. I sat on a comfortable dark brown, leather recliner, placing my bag on the floor next to the side table. Viper took the other one. We were quiet and in our own thoughts for a beat too long before the silence broke.
“You gonna call your mom?” Viper’s question spiraled me out of my own head instantly.
“Huh?”
“Your mom. Don’t you think you should at least call her?”
“And say what, exactly? Hi, Mom. It’s your son. I’d love to come visit but I can’t exactly remember who the fuck you are?”
His eyebrows raised slightly, but other than that, he remained neutral.
“She’ll understand if you explain what happened. She’s still your mom, regardless. You were close to her. I think you need to make contact and fess up. For her sake, not yours.”
I took his advice on board, putting myself in my mother’s shoes. My dad had died and I worked in a job fraught with danger. She must worry.
Resting my head back on the seat, I let a deep breath out. “You’re right. I’ve gotta stop being a self-absorbed ass and just do it. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Pfft. Yeah, maybe tomorrow.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve heard hundreds of ‘maybe tomorrows.’ Just hope you do.”
Would I call? Part of me wanted to and the other part knew how much it would hurt her. How could I look at the woman who gave birth to me and not feel a thing? As much as I stayed detached from my past, I wasn’t enough of an asshole to not be affected by the grief she would suffer. Could I put her through that, or would staying away and not contacting her hurt more?
“If you want to visit, I’ll go with you. She loves me,” Viper admitted a tad too cockily.
I connected with his blue eyes, noting the gleam in them.
“You goad me?” I scoffed.
Snorting, Viper, swigged his beer. “No goading. Just simple facts. Your fine mother happens to think the sun shines out of my butt.”
“Is that so? Well, after meeting you, I’m beginning to think my mom is an extremely poor judge of character,” I joked.
“Hey dick. Watch it. I can’t be too bad. You chose me to be best man at your wedding.”
My wedding. More like a sham. The idea of it all being for nothing sat heavy on my chest.
Not wanting to talk about Trudy or the things she’d done, I changed the subject. “You live here alone?”
“Ah, yeah. No girlfriend at the moment.”
“What I mean is, you don’t strike me as the low-set suburban house type of guy.”
Tossing me a brief scowl, he said, “It’s a story for another day. Let’s just say it was going to be a family home.”
Oh. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t go there. His facial expression told me to leave it alone.
The place danced with light through floor to ceiling open windows and warm colors via the furnishings. A wall mounted television hung opposite. Aside from that, the space appeared uncluttered and clean.
Rising from his chair and placing his can of beer on the coffee table, he offered, “Make yourself at home. I’m gonna take a shower. Your room’s the last door down the hallway on the left.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate this.”
“I got your back, always.” He grinned, walking off.
Realistically, I should know where to find everything, but my reality had been severely altered, so it became a case of re-learning a lot. Following Viper’s instructions, I found a small, tidy room with a double bed, closet, and full-length window looking out over the decent-sized yard.
It would do for my stay. Viper needed to work with me, and hopefully military intelligence, to find the fucker or fuckers who had jumped me and left me for dead.
None of us would be safe until that happened. I wanted blood, and I’m sure Viper did too, so with his superior knowledge and contacts, I’d let him lead the race. Due to my current circumstances, I could only follow.
We spent the better part of the day chatting while enjoying another beer or two. Viper did most of the talking as he recounted stories of old. Our time doing tours and the fun times while back home. He didn’t mention any more about why he’d purchased a family house, so I let it go. He’d bring it up when he wanted to. It appeared we’d done a lot together, and the more stories I he
ard, the greater my respect for the guy sitting beside me.
He retold his heartache at his parents’ passing, and as an only child, he had no one close by. Relatives were scattered around the country. I felt sorry for him being alone and wondered if that was the reason he’d wanted me to move in. He thought of me like a brother.
Handing me a blank card, I stared at the cell number, looking up with raised eyebrows.
“My private number. In case you need it. Don’t give it to anyone.”
“Thanks.” Shoving it into the pocket of my jeans, I didn’t give it another thought, happy I’d be able to call him should I need to, even though I didn’t own a cell. I’d rectify that tomorrow.
The time powered on and before I knew it, the end of the day had neared. Mac needed to be picked up from work, so I threw my boots back on and headed out, remembering the route to the hospital.
It bustled as usual, a parking space hard to find in the staff area. Driving around and around four times, I eventually spotted a car reversing out and nabbed it before anyone else did.
An ambulance blared its siren and tore into the emergency entrance, another victim unknowingly impinging on an already overcrowded system. I knew from my time here, nurses and doctors were overworked due to staff shortages, many of them doing back to back shifts. A little disconcerting to have the welfare of sick patients being tended to by exhausted physicians.
Entering the building and heading toward ICU, I buzzed on the intercom and waited for someone to address me.
“Hello, how can we help?”
“Hi. I’m here to pick up Mackenzie Nichols. She works in intensive care.”
“One moment and I’ll let her know. Take a seat, please.”
A couple of people already waited to go through to see loved ones. Generally they only allowed one at a time due to the critical nature of the patients. I’d learned a lot from Mac about how the ICU operated.
A large wall-mounted television with the volume barely audible played a news channel so I watched without really seeing, hating the feel the hospital gave me. The smell. The sounds. Both associated with sickness and death. Or in my case, losing my past. A small chill rattled up my spine, but it passed quickly.
My foot tapped on the floor in a nervous melody to an invisible tune. Would Mac be staying back late? Shit. I hoped not. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
I craved to see her again. It had only been eight hours, but it felt so much longer. She could definitely become my latest addiction. One I don’t think I’d ever get over. Moving her in felt right in so many ways, not just the ‘keeping her safe’ one. I wanted her around. To get to know her more. I’d only scratched the surface of her depth and I couldn’t wait to uncover more.
After ten minutes of sitting, getting antsy, I rose and pressed the intercom button again.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m still waiting on Mackenzie, the nurse. I need to know if she’s working back, or finishing up.”
The female voice sounded the same as earlier. “There’s someone looking for her now. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Coming from a staff member in a hospital, I knew it could be ages.
Sitting back down, I flipped through a boating magazine, eying the expensive, gleaming water-cruisers, thinking of how nice it would be to sail away with Mac and forget about the rest of the world. Just the two of us. No drama. No stress. No potential killers lurking. Just the ocean, sky, and our naked bodies writhing on the deck under the sun. Yeah, that sounded nice. Perhaps tonight we could re-create the ‘bodies writhing’ part. We’d need to keep it quiet under Viper’s roof. The way Mac sounded out her release last night, there’d be no hiding what we were up to.
The door opened beside the intercom and I sat straighter, expecting my stunning blonde to walk through, but it was a male doctor who called out a name. One of the visitors near me got up and walked through, the door shutting again.
How long did it take to find a nurse in ICU? It wasn’t that big. Maybe she’d gone to a different ward or had to take blood to pathology. I hated waiting.
The door opened again and this time a dark-haired nurse exited, eying me and the other visitor before she stopped and asked, “Who’s here for Mackenzie?”
Raising my hand like a five year old, I said, “Me.”
She frowned. “We’re still trying to locate her. She should have been back from her break an hour ago. She missed lunch, so she went to the staff canteen to grab a coffee and apparently no one’s seen her since.”
I stood, towering over the poor nurse like a Phoenix rising from its ashes. “What do you mean no one’s seen her since? It’s a busy hospital. How can that be?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but if you want to hang around we can look into it more.”
Niggles of anxiety sizzled in my bloodstream until full-blown fear cemented itself behind my ribs, deep within my chest cavity. A nurse couldn’t vanish. Especially Mac. She wouldn’t walk out or abandon her job. Unless…fuck!
Chapter Six
Mac
The staff cafeteria contained nurses and doctors like me who’d forgone lunch and were grabbing a quick hit of caffeine to last them the rest of the day. Choosing not to wait in line, I continued to the ground floor to the public cafeteria, knowing Ruth would be serving. She always let me go behind the counter to make myself a ‘real’ coffee, should I get sick of the instant variety served upstairs, or if I didn’t want to wait in line like this afternoon.
Walking down a long corridor to the bank of elevators, I turned to scan the empty area behind me as pinpricks of flesh bubbled all over. An impression of being watched crept along my spine, unsettling me. I could still hear chatter from the nurses’ station not far away seeping through the walls, so trying not to worry, I increased my pace.
There weren’t many parts of the hospital that creeped me out, apart from the morgue for obvious reasons, so the increasing discomfort I had now made me jittery. Turning right, I relaxed slightly as the elevators came into view. Perhaps my nerves were still frayed after the break-in at my apartment.
Stopping in front of the elevator, I pressed the down button and found the car already there. Stepping in, I turned to wait for the doors to shut. Just as they were about to, a doctor came flying around the corner, calling out, “Nurse! Wait!”
Having seen many a frantic doctor racing through hallways, I knew it must be urgent, so I pressed the button to hold the doors open for him.
I hadn’t seen him before, but that didn’t mean much. New doctors, interns, and surgeons were brought in regularly, making it virtually impossible to keep up with.
Smiling, I asked, “Are you new here?” The doors closed, slowly.
“Yes.” His curt voice had me take pause, briefly turning to check if he had a name tag.
None.
Suddenly the air in the elevator evaporated, leaving me with the same uneasy sensation I’d experienced in the corridor. The dark-haired doctor stood too close. Before I could move away, he leaned down to me and whispered, “We’re going to the basement. You’re not going to scream, move, or look at anyone else who enters. Understood?”
Alarm shooting through me, I nodded without thinking.
“If you make a sound or attempt to run, I will shoot whoever is in my path.” Pulling his blue medical shirt up, he showed me a black handgun tucked into the waist band of his scrubs.
My heart plummeted at the same speed as the elevator. I didn’t know what to do. Fear made me remain mute as the bell dinged, signaling the arrival on the ground floor. As the doors opened and five people strolled on board, none the wiser, I felt a hand bunch my own scrubs at the back and pull me backward to make room. It stayed there, informing me to honor my vow to keep quiet.
Why me? What did he want? Rationale attempted to break through my haze in order to figure out how to escape a man who’d clearly lost the plot. My instincts were to call his bluff and run like hell before the doors closed, but needi
ng to keep everyone else in the vicinity safe overpowered all else.
Quiet chatter trickled through the car. A couple smiled at each other, oblivious to the man with a gun standing directly behind them. An elderly woman beside him, watched the light on the wall signal our arrival to the basement as we jerked slightly and stopped. My chest ached, adrenalin pouring to my muscles. I knew once I stepped out of the confines of the elevator, the true terror would begin. My assailant moved forward, banging into the happy couple, who gave him contemptuous glares while he gripped my arm and dragged me out. My feet didn’t want to move. Every flight or fight response I owned had been tripped to high alert. The sound of the door closing echoed loudly in the quiet of the basement, like my world rose with the five strangers, leaving me in a new reality. One which reeked of hell.
My voice found me finally. “Who are you? Why are you doing this? Where are we going?”
Still clutching my arm tightly, he increased the pressure, causing me to suck in a sharp breath.
“Don’t speak or I’ll shoot you right here.”
I really didn’t expect him to explain himself. Someone who took another at gunpoint wasn’t exactly going to chat about the why’s of it all. He had an agenda and it didn’t involve me asking questions.
I needed to keep my head in the game even though my stomach roiled and acid rose to my throat, threatening to upend its contents all over the concrete.
I needed to watch and wait for him to let his guard down just a tiny bit and use it to my advantage to escape. I had no other option.
Stopping at a black, heavily tinted SUV, he unlocked the doors and pushed me into the passenger seat via the driver’s side, whereby I had to scramble across the center console while he aimed the gun at me so I wouldn’t do anything stupid like try to escape.
As he climbed in beside me, blood roared in my ears. Getting in the car had almost sealed my fate, but I’d had no choice. My life or the lives of other innocents. I never wanted to die a martyr, but if it came down to it, I would. To keep others safe. I’d never have chosen to become a nurse if that weren’t the case.
The Lost and Found Series Page 21
