“Whatever it is, Mother, I can’t right now.” Brad’s armpits and the middle of his back became damp.
“Nonsense, get in the shower and put on some halfway decent clothes. I talked to that nice Doctor Ruben. He said that, although he filled your old position, there is an opening for a technical assistant. Now it’s only part-time, but at least you would have your foot in the door. And when a veterinarian’s position opens up again, you can just slide right in.” Finally his mother took a breath. Unfortunately she started talking again. “Then tonight, in celebration of you working again, I’m having a small dinner party. It’ll just be your dad and me and Carson and Racheal White from over on Oak Street. They are such nice people, and they have a wonderful daughter. Her name is Robin, and she just moved back in with them. Thank goodness she divorced that no-good husband of hers. He was nothing but trouble. I’m sure you’re going to love her and her three boys. They’re such a lovely family in need of a good stable man in their life.”
Brad’s breakfast about left his stomach back through his mouth at that point. He couldn’t and wouldn’t go through this again. The last time he had participated in a small dinner party that featured the neighbor’s daughter was in high school. He’s ended up married to the daughter without him even asking her.
“I can’t make it, Mother.” Brad’s mind started racing, and his eyes landed on the closest whiskey bottle that was shouting his name.
“Why not? It’s time you get out of that hotel room and do something with your life,” Janice nagged. “If your brother had listened to me and married that model I found for him, he wouldn’t have had that car accident and ended up in Texas wasting his life with that man. By now he’d be a shoo-in for the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Brad sucked in his breath at his mother’s venom. When she went too far in her manipulation of her children’s lives, his dad would rein her in. Unfortunately his dad never knew the half of what she actually did.
“Do you want to know what Tyler has, Mother? I’ll tell you. He is in a relationship with someone he loves. He lives in a gorgeous home, training some of the most beautiful horses in the country. He is passing on his love of baseball to kids as their coach. And most of all, he is happy.” By now Brad was almost shouting into the phone. But he couldn’t stop. “Do you know what I had listening to you, Mother? I had a sham of a marriage from day one. Tracy finally grew some balls, because heaven knows I didn’t have any, and was about to file for divorce. Neither of us was ever happy being married to each other. That’s what I had listening to you.”
With tears streaming down his face, Brad ended the call, ignoring his mother’s shouting. Standing up, he grabbed all three bottles off the table and threw them across the room, where they hit the wall in an explosion of liquor and glass. Not stopping or thinking, he ignored the mess and ran to the bedroom.
Taking a large green and gold duffel bag from the top shelf of the closet, Brad filled it with what little clothes he had. A person didn’t need much to sit in a chair and rot his brain cells with booze for a year. In the bathroom, he threw his toiletries on top of the clothes.
Passing the chipped dresser, he grabbed his keys and wallet, refusing to slow the momentum of his movements. Stopping would give him time to think about that small flask filled with the amber glory of premium whiskey in the back kitchen cabinet behind the box of Cocoa Krispies cereal.
Shoes and his only coat were next. Minutes later he inserted the key into the ignition of his new Ford F150 4x4. After pulling the dark blue crew-cab truck out of the parking lot into the street, Brad drove down to a four-way intersection. Sitting at the stop sign, he now had to make a decision. Turn right to the airport and the Crazy Angle Ranch or left to Granite County.
* * * *
Alex Taylor separated from his Rescue for Hire teammates and took a position surrounding the barn where Granite County’s chief deputy, Creed Darnley, and Department of Criminal Justice agent, Dean Titan, were being held and tortured. His teammate Treb was already inside the barn. Alex and the rest of the team were waiting for his signal to take action. They all wore a special communication device in their ears curtesy of Tony, their computer expert.
In a prior rescue Alex had been injured and developed infection in his hip joint. He’d recovered but had been told that eventually he would require a hip replacement. Unfortunately that kind of surgery would end his career as head tracker for the rescue company. This hurt, as he loved finding missing children and adults with his bloodhound, Bud.
Faithfully, he continued to do special exercises and swam in his pool to keep the joint strong and flexible. But lately Alex was experiencing deep pain and weakness in that joint. This hadn’t gone unnoticed by his boss, Cade Miller, or Cade’s brother and head of field operations, Shane Miller. Just last week he’d sat down with them to discuss the state of his hip and ideas for the future.
Surprisingly, Alex was pleased with the outcome of that meeting. Cade wasn’t going to throw him out of the company. Instead, his roll was changing, with his skills being utilized to train a new tracker. There was also some discussion of a government contract involving him instructing certain specialists for the government. Another idea had him setting up a facility for potential service work puppies.
Alex, in turn, recommended that Cade get in touch with a master tracker he had heard about in Alaska. From his understanding, this guy was phenomenal at finding missing persons up there. Overall, Alex felt better about the future.
Not only would he and his tracking hound, Bud, still have a job, but not participating in rescue missions would mean less travel. Alex couldn’t contain his excitement at being able to spend more time with his partner, Leo DeLuca, and, in a month or so, their new son. They had found a wonderful woman to carry the baby for them, and it was due a month before his teammate Jack’s newest twins were due.
A click in his ear was the signal to get ready. Bracing his bad leg on the ground to support him, he prepared to smash the barn board in front of him so he could get inside as quickly as possible.
“Now,” Treble’s urgent voice said through his earpiece.
Lifting his leg, Alex kicked through the old rotted boards and entered the barn to see former Pine County sheriff and prison escapee, Sullivan Bechard, holding a gun in each hand. In front of Bechard, suspended from the main beam of the barn, were Creed and Dean, badly beaten and bloody.
“Drop the guns, Bechard,” ordered their commander, Shane Miller.
“No way!” Bechard screamed and pulled the triggers of both guns.
A red-hot poker of pain exploded in Alex’s upper leg, dropping him to the floor. The barn erupted in gunfire. Bechard’s body jerked in a grotesque dance before collapsing to the floor.
Looking down, Alex saw a fountain of blood shooting out of his upper thigh, pulsing in time with his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Pressing his hand down on the heavy material of his black pants did nothing to stop the blood from shooting through his fingers.
“Shit, okay, Alex, stay with me.”
Jack knelt in front of Alex, ripping open a plastic package and pulled out a thick wad of white bandages. Jack usually didn’t go out in the field much anymore, leaving that to the newest field medic, Gabriel. It was a good thing he had this time, as between him, Dean and Creed, this rescue needed the extra medical personal.
Pain shook Alex’s body when Jack jammed the white cloth into his wound.
“Hold this, Treb, I need to tourniquet his leg,” Jack ordered briskly. “Come on, Alex, you have to try and stay with me here. Look at me.”
Kneeling, Treb replaced Jack’s hands on the gauze while Jack jerked something around his leg. Alex tried to blink away the fuzziness starting to cloak his eyes. For some reason he found comfort in his best friend, Treb, being there.
Looking over Treb’s shoulder, Alex became confused. Why was his dad standing there smiling at him? His dad had died when Alex was thirteen.
From far away, shouts erupted a
round him, and he felt his body being jostled about. At that point, Alex didn’t really care. His beloved dad was walking toward him.
* * * *
Cade Miller looked around the emergency waiting room at his family. He had picked each and every one of them to join his team to help victims in need. Be it weather, violence, accident, or neglect, his company of specialists went in and helped the victims. Yes, they were his employees, but they were also his family.
The last couple of years they had all spent some hard times in emergency waiting rooms. Today was another one. Hopefully over the next couple of months, they could look forward to happy times when they would all be waiting for the blessed events of the birth of Leo and Alex’s baby and Jack and Pip’s babies.
But now Cade and his employees had the hated job of waiting when one of their own was injured. Thanks to some quick medical skills on Jack’s part, and Damian’s piloting abilities with the company’s helicopter, they had managed to get Alex to the hospital before he bled out.
There had been a flurry of activity in the back since Cade and his partner Bret had arrived at the hospital. Cade noticed that Treb wasn’t in the room. That didn’t surprise him. As deadly as Treb could be, he had a soft spot for Alex. No doubt he was lurking near Alex without anyone noticing him.
A short time ago, two ambulances had arrived, carrying Dean and Creed. They both were currently in surgery. A third brought in a county deputy who had been shot by Bechard with a rifle just before his team had gotten to the barn. Cade didn’t know the man personally, but the nurse had told Cade he had also been taken to surgery.
Cade flinched and stiffened when alarms pierced his eardrums. “Code blue, stat. Code blue, stat,” rang over the intercom.
Cade heard shoes hitting the tiled floor as people ran down the halls behind the doors leading to the emergency examining rooms. There were shouts of people calling for equipment and drugs Cade knew were used to restart a heart after it stopped.
A small hand made its way into Cade’s. Looking over at the love of his life, Cade squeezed Bret’s hand, hoping to reassure him. By the panic in Bret’s big brown eyes, Cade could see it wasn’t working. Cade lifted his arm, and Bret snuggled in close. Cade looked around the room at the masks of stone that were now the faces of his team. A sea of dread clouded the air, becoming thicker as long minutes ticked by.
The doublewide heavy doors to the examining room burst open, and an ashen-faced Treble staggered through. His partner, Damian, rushed over and led him to one of the chairs. Cade’s lethal weapons expert, who would just as soon kill someone that irritated him than not, refused to sit in a chair and, instead, climbed onto Damian’s lap and buried his face into Damian’s neck.
Cade let him sit there a few minutes to compose himself. Finally his patience was used up for the day. “Treble, what happened?” he demanded.
Treb lifted his head, and bleak deep brown eyes stared at Cade. “He flatlined,” Treb said dully. Audible gasps went through the group, all eyes glued to Treb. “They had to shoot drugs straight into his heart. Finally it started beating again. They just took him up to the intensive care unit.”
“What about his leg?” Jack asked.
“They opened his leg up right there and sewed the artery shut. They said that until he’s stable they won’t do anything else,” Treb answered. There were nods all around, and shoulders relaxed until Treb’s next words. “I heard them say the bullet mangled his hip and upper thigh bone. Unless a specialist can perform some fancy surgery, he will never walk again.”
Chapter Two
Brad sat in his brother’s living room, heart aching, watching his two little nieces pushing a toy vacuum cleaner and lawn mower over a thick multi-colored rug. The rug seemed to be set up as their play area. It was quite large and contained a scattering of different kinds of toys.
When he’d arrived at the house, he’d been greeted at the door by Mrs. Martien, Mrs. Drake, and Ms. Emma. He knew from past visits they were the twins’ babysitters, and the guys referred to them as “the grannies.” They explained that Brian and Jack were gone. One of Jack’s co-workers had been shot during a rescue, and the whole team and their partners were at the hospital.
Curling his fingers into the palms of his hands, Brad pushed the rocking chair he was sitting in back and forth, trying to stop the tremors shaking his body. Now he had his answer. Alcohol had become a problem. Knowing that didn’t stop his eyes from being pulled again and again over to the small alcove in the corner that he knew contained the liquor cabinet. The rocking chair squeaked under his agitated movements.
He was going to have to leave. Those two beautiful little girls were bringing up memories of his own lost children, and it was breaking his heart. Maybe he needed to head to Texas and visit his brother Tyler. There weren’t any children there.
Taking his cellphone out of the pocket of his lightweight black leather jacket, he pressed the side button to activate it. A tiny, pale finger snuck into view and poked at the colors on the screen.
“Would you like to help me call Daddy, Bella?” Brad asked the blue-eyed, fine-blond-haired child. Silently he willed his voice to stay calm and even. His problems weren’t this precious child’s fault.
“Call Daddy,” Bella agreed.
“Okay.” Brad tipped the screen toward her. “Press here. Super. Now here,” he instructed. It became obvious the little one knew her way around a cell phone. Soon it was ringing.
“Hello.”
“Daddy!” Bella squealed.
“Hi, baby girl. Are you playing with Uncle Brad?” Brian asked.
“Uncle Brad sad,” said the three-year-old.
Brad grabbed the phone and hugged his niece, kissing the top of her head. A whiff of sweet, soft little girl smell hit Brad in the face. Thank goodness she decided it was a good idea to go help her sister throw Barbie doll clothes all over the play rug before he lost his mind.
“Hey, Brian,” Brad said, taking slow, calming breaths.
“I’m glad you came,” Brian said. “I’m sorry we weren’t there when you arrived. But Alex is in the intensive care unit, and we’re all going to be staying here for a while. Once he’s stable, they’re flying him by medevac helicopter to Mercury Hospital about forty miles from here. When that happens, we’ll be heading over there.”
“I understand. He’s lucky to have friends like you,” Brad said, truly meaning it. Part of him wished for that kind of deep connection and acceptance. He’d had friends once, but when he’d lost his family, they hadn’t known what to say and after a while left him alone.
Brad could hear someone talking in the background through the phone. This was confirmed when Brian said, “Brad, Cade is here and wondered if he could talk to you for a second.”
A tiny hand touched Brad’s knee. Looking down he saw pretty little Tina smiling up at him, sporting soft red curls and big blue eyes. Brad could hardly breathe through the ball of pain lodged in his throat.
Clearing his throat, he managed to say, “Sure.”
“Brad, Cade Miller here.” The deep voice filled with such authority made Jack’s boss a solid force to be reckoned with.
“Hi,” Brad said.
“I have a potential employee flying into town today or tomorrow. I know you planned on staying with Pip and Jack, but I wonder if you would stay at my house instead? I know it’s inconvenient, but I would feel better about this whole mess if Rock had someone there with him.”
Brad slumped back into chair, relief flooding through his body. “I can do that. If I remember right, your house is right down the road.”
“Thank you. You’ll see a bunch of small statues in the flowerbed out front. There’s a spare key in the chicken, just turn it over and make yourself at home,” Cade said. “The potential employee’s name is Rock Morrison, and he’s going to call when he lands at the airport. Would it be possible for you to pick him up?”
“Sure, I can do that,” Brad said. A small piece of his soul came alive at b
eing useful again.
“Bret has a bedroom made up for Rock already. There are clean sheets in the hall closet. Take your pick of any of the other rooms you like. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Cade asked.
“Yes, it’s no problem,” Brad responded.
“Thanks, Brad, I really appreciate this. Here’s Pip.”
It took a moment for Brad to remember that the team called Brian Pip. He believed it was short for pip-squeak, because Brian was so small and fragile looking.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Brian asked, concern evident in his tone. “I know you planned on staying with me. Maybe I should leave here and come home. We can talk.”
Brad ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Look, it’s okay. I don’t need a babysitter. Getting out of that hotel was a good idea,” he admitted. “Brian, I can’t stay here at your house anyway. I’m sorry. You have two beautiful children, and it hurts too much being around them all the time.”
Bella pushed in between his legs and tried to climb up onto his leg. Leaning forward, Brad scooped her up with one arm and set her on his lap. The feel of her warm little body nestled in his arms brought tears to his eyes. Desperately he wanted to jump up and run out of the house. But he would never do that to a child.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I never thought how seeing the children might affect you. I would never purposely hurt you,” Brian said. “I wanted you to come here to heal and, for the first time in your life, be yourself.”
Brad stiffened, going on alert. His tiny brother, who had been kept in the background most of their childhood, had just dropped a bomb. And they both knew it. If Brian was in front of him right now, he would hug him.
“Do you think that’s even possible?” he asked. A seed of hope planted itself in Brad’s ice-cold soul.
“Yeah, and you have me and Jack to back you up. No more living someone else’s dream, Brad,” Brian said.
Brad's Rock [Rescue for Hire 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 2
