Gnarled hands gripped my upper arms and my head swiveled to the older man standing next to me. Shock crashed through me. My mouth hung open as words refused to form.
“Poppy, you can’t go through there. It may not be safe.” His voice wavered. Nita was whimpering and growling as she looked up into the branches of a tree on the edge of the debris field. Looking up to see what she was fussing about, I heard a scream. What appeared to be a woman’s legs hung lifeless from the high branches. It was like a rag doll that had carelessly been tossed aside.
On the verge of hyperventilating, I felt my head swimming. Tears ran, mixed with the light rain, down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure how long it took to register that the bloodcurdling scream was my own.
“Breathe”—Through Fire
My heart constricted in my chest. It was as if the demons who lived inside me were crushing it in their fists as they laughed in fiendish glee while I crawled along the interstate at a snail’s pace.
I’d seen the destruction of war. The casual disregard man had for other humans. But to see devastation of this magnitude, knowing it was caused by nature, was mind-boggling.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Logan had seen neither. This was his first up close and personal experience with mass obliteration of neighborhoods and homes. “What the ever-loving fuck?”
“Goddamn.” Aiden stared out the passenger-side window as we inched along in the traffic going into Pensacola. Next to us was a car with a family that must have been returning home to assess the damage to their home and neighborhood. The mother had her hands over her face and was obviously distraught. The children looked terrified.
Returning my eyes to the vehicle in front of me, I tried to close my heart off from emotion. John had called us about an hour ago to tell us there was still no news. Poppy hadn’t contacted anyone, and it was confirmed that her house had been leveled. The only good news he had was that the search and rescue dogs didn’t find a body in the rubble.
What he didn’t say, though I knew, was that her body could have been plucked from there and dropped somewhere else. God knew where.
When we skirted through Texas, we’d stopped at a Walmart and bought enough bottled water to fill most of the bed of the truck. The remaining space we filled with nonperishable foods. There was no telling what we would find when we got there, but we knew potable water would be in short supply. So we’d stocked up while we could. It looked like we probably made a wise choice.
The GPS had already rerouted us twice because the exits it wanted us to take were closed. The next one was coming up. From where I was, it looked like they were letting people exit.
Aiden’s phone rang over the truck’s sound system. We all looked at the screen. Kayde Maguire flashed across the display. As he reached over to the screen to answer it, my heart lodged in my throat. So far, he hadn’t had anything good to tell us.
“Hey Gunny. What’s up?”
“Jesus, call me Kayde, Joker, or Maguire. For one, my brother’s road name is Gunny. For two, you make me feel like I’m still in boots. Not sure how I like that.”
“I feel ya.” Aiden looked away, out the window. I watched as he took a deep breath then return his focus to the call. “What have you got for us?”
“Well, it turns out, Mac’s girl has a sweet-ass car. One that she has an active OnStar plan for. We have an address of where it’s located. I’m going to text you the location so you can put it in your GPS.” Never in my life had I heard words that gave me such hope. In anticipation, my left knee started hopping up and down.
“That would be great. We just got here. Traffic is a motherfucker. Tell Jaeger we said thank you. I owe you guys.” Clearing my throat when my voice cracked, I fought an all-out emotional breakdown. “We’ll let you know as soon as we get there.”
“Roger that. Be careful. It’s bound to be a mess. We’re just crossing into Tennessee. We’ll be stopping for water and supplies before we cross into Mississippi. Let us know if you need anything and we’ll get it, too. See you soon.”
“Will do.”
“Out.” The call ended and it was another minute before Aiden’s and Dominic’s phones both received a text. They’d obviously sent it to both to be sure we got it.
“I got it routed. You’re still taking this exit.” Nodding, I slowly eased along the exit ramp, following what seemed like a million other cars. Continuing to follow Aiden’s directions, I realized we were still heading toward her neighborhood.
Praying like a motherfucker that we weren’t going to find her car dumped somewhere by one of the tornadoes, I kept driving.
Recognizing this as the same route I had traveled with her, I had a hard time believing it was mere days ago. It looked so different.
As we crossed over the last long bridge, we saw large and small boats lying on their sides in the shallow water, a few up in the marshy areas, and a couple just floating aimlessly.
We passed houses and businesses that looked just fine, some that had a lot of junk dumped in the yards and parking lots, then others that looked like a bulldozer had come in and leveled out just that one address. It was fucking bizarre.
“The next left you can take is where it is. Turn in right here.” Aiden was pointing at a gravel driveway. As soon as I started to turn, I was able to see around the small line of trees. Her bright yellow Camaro was parked alongside a travel trailer. Pulling in behind it, I put the truck in park, glanced at the guys one by one, and shut the truck off.
Opening the glove box, Aiden reached in, grabbed a pistol, and clipped the holster into the back of his jeans. At my look of surprise, he shrugged. “What? You can never be too careful. Do you know whose place this is?”
“No.” I had no idea who lived there, but I vaguely remembered her telling me something about it.
“All right then, let’s go find your girl.” The cocky grin he shared had me shaking my head at him.
All four of us piled out of the truck. We could hear a dog barking inside the camper.
“Goddamn. It feels good to be on my feet.” Logan did a couple of squats, and we laughed at him.
Mere seconds later, the door came flying open and a huge, hairy white dog flew out of the trailer’s door, followed by an old man with a shotgun.
“Jesus, where the hell are we? On the set of a hillbilly movie?” Dominic whispered. The man did kind of fit the stereotype. He had white-gray hair, a full beard, was wearing a wife-beater, shorts, and… combat boots?
“Nita! Come!” The big white beast didn’t look happy at being called away from us, but obeyed the old man. Begrudgingly, it sat next to him where he now stood at the foot of the stairs. “Who are you, and what are you doing here? We ain’t got nothing of value, and I don’t need to pay anyone to clean anything up.”
“No sir, we’re just looking for my…” I wasn’t really sure what to call Poppy. To call her my fiancée went against my promise to her. To call her my girlfriend seemed too casual. I sure as fuck wasn’t referring to her as my baby mama. So, for lack of a better term… “Poppy. I’m looking for Poppy. That’s her car, right there.” Pointing to the dirty yellow car, I kept an eye on the hands holding the shotgun and the dog with the big teeth.
“Who are you?” Suspicion clouded his face.
I opened my mouth to reply—
“Levi!” Poppy appeared in the doorway and lumbered down the stairs. God, I would have sworn her rounded belly had gotten bigger since I left. My heart was in my throat to see her in one piece.
Uncaring of the old man or his gun, I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her. Those long arms were nearly strangling me, as tightly as she held around my neck. Her lips brushed my ear as I slowly swung her in a half circle. “Goddamn, baby, I’ve been worried about you. I thought….” Becoming choked up, I chose to just quit talking.
Kisses to my neck preceded her sobs. “Oh God, Levi. I’m so glad to see you! It was so awful! The hurricane passed, and I came to check on Tom, and there was a tornado warning, an
d the road was blocked, and we had to go around, and the sounds, it was like a freight train straight from the depths of hell, and….” Her words were all running together and interspersed with tears and choked cries.
“Shhhhh… I’ve got you.” I never wanted to let her out of my sight again. We held each other so tight we were trembling and I didn’t know if it was me shaking, her, or both of us. “How’s our baby girl doing?”
“She’d been kicking the hell out of me for the past hour while I tried to nap!” A hiccupped sniffle followed her exclamation.
To prove her mom was telling the truth, or to tell us she was tired of being squished, I received a little punch to the gut. Grinning ear to ear, I pulled my head back and slid my hands to frame Poppy’s face. Taking in every little scratch and dirt smudge, I scanned her for injuries that needed attention. “Baby, I want Aiden to check you out. Make sure none of these cuts and scratches need more than cleaning. Okay?”
Aiden was already ahead of me, because he had the first aid kit from under his seat in hand. “Sir? Do you mind if we use your home to get her checked out?”
“Hmph! I’m no sir, I worked for a living. Poppy, you okay with that?” It was then that I noticed the Vietnam Veteran ball cap he wore. His comment made total sense to me.
“Roger that. Thank you for your service.”
Poppy turned her head from where I still held it cradled in my hands. Chills skated up my arm at the soft kiss she placed to my palm.
“If you can fit these four gargantuan men up in there, I’m fine with it.” Her teeth flashed as a huge smile filled her face.
“I reckon’ we can find room. Just don’t track mud in.” He ordered the dog inside and followed behind it.
“Where did you find him?” He was quite a character.
“He’s the waving man!”
Then it clicked in my head. As we’d gone by the camper, she had pointed to it and told me it was where the waving man usually stood by his mailbox. I hadn’t quite known what to make of it then, but after seeing him I really wasn’t sure. The grumpy dude didn’t jive with a man who stood outside waving at people.
“Well, are you coming in or not?” Tom shouted out the door. I noticed the combat boots were off as he turned from the door and headed off toward whatever was at the back of the camper.
Dominic raised his eyebrows at me as he tipped his head in Poppy’s direction. “Well, I was going to ask your girl how she was doing, but we better not keep the First Sergeant waiting.”
“Aw, to hell with that. Hey, baby girl, not sure if you remember me, but I’m Aiden.” Holding out his hand, he waited for Poppy to shake it. She turned and stepped away from me to place her hand in his, and my arms felt the void.
Even though I knew he was just doing it to get my goat, it worked. He’d pulled her to his chest by the hand he held and wrapped his burly arm around her to hug her. Seeing her in his arms had my blood heating—and he knew it. Chuckling, he released her.
“Umm, hey again. Damn, I forgot how big you were.” Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him.
“That’s what she said.” Her face flushed, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Hey gorgeous, I’m Dominic.” Of course, that fucker had to go and hug her, too.
“I remember you.” Her sweet smile stole my breath as she stepped back and looked up at my friend.
“Long time no see, beautiful.” By the time Logan stepped up and folded her in a big hug, I was tired of seeing everyone holding my woman but me.
“All right. Damn. You guys can all go on inside.” Slipping my arm around her from behind, I palmed her belly and pressed her back to my front. With the other hand I made a shooing motion at them.
Like middle school kids, they laughed and pushed at each other as they made their way to the steps. They creaked as Aiden stepped on them, and I prayed they held his weight. Then the entire thing rocked a bit as he stepped inside and slipped his boots off.
Next was Logan, then Dominic, and we followed last.
Nodding at Aiden’s military bag that housed his first aid kit, Tom questioned, “You a medic?”
Shaking his head, eyes mock-insulted, Aiden replied, “Navy Corpsman.”
“Ahhhh, a squidly.”
Aiden tipped his head and deadpanned the old veteran, “I prefer you call me by my real name… Aquaman, superhero, at your service.”
Logan, Dominic, and I snorted as Tom howled in laughter. “I like you, boy.”
“Hey Aiden, he called you boy.” Dominic was being a shithead and from his expression, he damn well knew it.
Turning his back to Tom, Aiden mouthed to Dominic, “Fuck. You.” Then he motioned for Poppy to sit on the top of the stairs that led up to the nose of the trailer. It was the only place she could sit that he wouldn’t be bent in half to assess her.
I shot off a quick text to John that Poppy was alive and well and I would have her call ASAP. His reply was an all caps “thank God.” Slipping my phone in my back pocket, I sat down next to Tom.
“Dang, there’s quite a bit of room in here. Maybe we should get one for when we tour.” Logan was taking in the high ceiling and the roomy interior of the fifth-wheel, thanks to the two slides. We all introduced ourselves to our graciously grumpy host while Logan gawked.
“Ah, that’s right! Poppy told me that you boys are big rock stars.” Dominic and Logan hid a laugh at his repeated use of “boys.” Aiden just shook his head as he shined a light in Poppy’s eyes, and then had her following his finger.
“Well, not yet, Tom. But we’re working on it. With these three constantly stuck in middle school, I’m not too sure how that’s going to work out.” My response was dry and aimed at the three in question.
“Have you been by her house?” Speaking low, Tom turned toward where I sat in the recliner next to him. He looked to see if Poppy was paying attention. Satisfied that he was safe, he returned his sharp gaze to me.
“No, but we heard about it from her father, who has a friend with the sherriff’s department. Does she know yet?” Dominic and Logan were serious for once as they listened carefully to our conversation.
Blowing out a frustrated sigh, he nodded. “It was bad. Real bad. When she pointed to where her house should be was nothing but a pile of shit. Then she lost it when we realized there was a body that had gotten tossed up in a tree across the road from where her house used to be. It was rough. It took everything I had to get her in the passenger seat so I could drive us back here. She’s been layin’ up there crying since we got back. Wouldn’t eat, drink, nothin’. I was fixin’ to call an ambulance if she didn’t snap out of it—was worried about that baby. Then you boys got here.” In my periphery, I saw the smart-ass tip of Nic’s mouth as soon as Tom said “boys.” “She perked right up then, but I’m worried. She may need to talk to someone.”
“I’m going to make sure she’s okay. I’ve already told her family I’m bringing her back to Seattle with me.”
A firm nod was his response.
“Ow! That stings!” Poppy grumbled from over on the steps. Aiden told her to suck it up, he didn’t want his niece to hear her mom being a pussy. The man must have had a death wish.
“The guys and I will do what we can to see if anything is salvageable from her house. Her father said he has a cleanup crew arranged already. They will get anything we miss. If it’s okay with you that she stays here, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m going with you, Levi!” Poppy evidently could hear, or at least heard that part. Channeling as much patience as I could, I leaned over to see her around Aiden.
“The hell you are. You don’t know what could be in all that. It could be unstable. Not to mention, there could be snakes, gators, dangerous bacteria, you name it. You don’t need to be messing around in that.”
“It’s my house!” Aiden had moved his bag to the kitchen counter to put everything back in its place. Poppy sat on the stairs, hands on her hips, a scowl etched on her face.
&
nbsp; “And that’s my baby you’re carrying! So, no! You’re not going in there and putting yourself and our baby in danger!” Everyone was uncomfortably silent as they all avoided looking at either of us.
The red in her face told me how she felt about what I’d said, but her eyes told me she knew I was right. Not really wanting to concede, she huffed. “Fine.”
Fuck. Damn stubborn woman.
“Tom, do you have somewhere we can store most of the water and food we have in the back of the truck?”
“If you help me rearrange, we should be able to fit it in the basement under the bedroom. The access is outside and opens from both sides.” Logan, Aiden, and Dominic started to move to go out with Tom. When I stood, Dominic placed a hand on my chest.
“We got this. You stay here and talk to Poppy.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. We’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
After he stepped out of the door and closed it, I walked over to my girl. Holding my arms open, I watched as she hefted herself to standing. When she stepped into them, I folded her close to my chest and just breathed her in.
“These past couple of days… not knowing if you were okay… fuck, Poppy, I was hanging on by a thread.” Thinking about it again had that awful, nauseous churning going on in my guts. I kissed her forehead, then pressed her head to my shoulder and continued to hold her.
“I’m so sorry. I guess I forgot my phone at the house when I left to check on Tom. I’d picked him and Nita up from here thinking they’d be safer at my house than in a camper. Except, by the time I got back there… everything was gone. It was so awful. I can’t even begin to tell you.” Tears shimmered in her eyes as she bit down hard on her bottom lip.
“Speaking of which, what the hell possessed you to leave your house? I mean, it obviously saved your life, but I don’t understand why you would come here, of all places. I didn’t think you knew the old guy that well.”
Make Music With Me Page 24
