A Friend in Need

by Bianca D’Arc

  When they reached the mess hall, which was really just a large room with a cafeteria-style serving area on one side, opposite a bank of windows that looked out onto the beach, Carter led her to one of the tables. Hannah had marveled the entire way about her foot, which seemed good as new, as if nothing had ever happened to it. There wasn’t the slightest twinge of pain from the joint. Some of her muscles weren’t used to moving normally anymore, and they would require strengthening, but that was nothing. Not when she could walk again.

  The mess hall was empty, but a coffee urn stood ready, hot go-juice in the half-full pot. Hal walked directly to the coffee urn and started dispensing black java into three cups. He handed the first to Hannah, and she took it gratefully, moving to get some creamer and a dash of sugar for hers from the supplies to the left of the urn. Carter got the next cup, leaving it black as he waited for her. Once Hal had his own cup, he led the way to a table in the far corner of the large, empty room.

  She could just hear faint bumps and clangs from the kitchen area. Staff in the kitchen on the other side of the buffet line were probably preparing the next meal. The corner Hal chose for their conversation would give them privacy. There was no way the kitchen staff would be able to overhear what they talked about unless they started shouting, and she certainly didn’t plan on any of that.

  She was too grateful to these men. This unit…and their incredible doctor.

  “The first thing you need to know, Sergeant Sullivan,” Hal said once they’d all sat down, “is that nothing you see here can ever be repeated to anyone else. This is all top secret at the highest levels. I wasn’t comfortable bringing you in on this, but Carter—and some others in our group—felt you deserved a chance after the mall incident. You were cool under pressure during the shooting, and it impressed the guys who saw you in action. The fact that you were already injured, and that we might be able to do something to help, weighed heavily on our minds. We had more than one discussion about your situation before I gave Carter the go-ahead to contact you.”

  “I didn’t realize that, sir,” she said when Haliwell paused long enough that she thought perhaps he was waiting for her to say something.

  Haliwell nodded. “I didn’t expect you would,” he replied. “But the fact remains that, while we all felt it was important to see if Doc could help you, there are farther-reaching issues that must be considered. Secrecy being the main one.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand,” she assured him. “I won’t tell anyone what happened here just now. Frankly, nobody would believe me.” She couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips as she imagined how that might go down. Yeah, better to not say anything, rather than end up in a padded room.

  “The danger isn’t only to yourself, Sergeant. Partially because of what you just saw, we’ve become hunted by agents of at least one foreign government. That’s who you saw shooting in the mall the other day,” Haliwell admitted.

  “Yeah, I knew it wasn’t gang-related, but I didn’t say anything. The Navy commander who came to see me in the hospital impressed me with the need to keep my mouth shut, and I figured there were good reasons for covering it up. I confess, I didn’t really think it could be enemy action on U.S. soil.” She was appalled that foreign agents had opened fire in the mall. That wasn’t gang warfare. That was terrorism.

  Hannah realized why they wouldn’t use the T word. Long Island was particularly sensitive to terrorism after the attacks on New York City, which was only a few miles away. Many people on Long Island worked in Manhattan and commuted there every day.

  “It isn’t a full-scale war, but I’m sorry to say, it’s definitely enemy action, and that’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with it since coming back Stateside,” Haliwell told her.

  Hannah began to understand how much danger followed this unit’s steps. Whatever they’d done in foreign lands, it had come back to haunt them. She didn’t understand it fully, and perhaps, it wasn’t necessary that she should. She’d received her miracle. She was thankful for that and willing to respect the need for secrecy about Rick’s amazing ability. That was only fair.

  “You have my word of honor that I will never reveal what happened here today,” she told the captain, hoping he would hear the truth in her voice.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Sullivan. I’m working with base command to get your paperwork updated so that detailed records of your foot injury won’t be in the VA system after today. It’s best if you don’t go back there anytime soon, because there’s really no way to explain your current condition to those who’d been treating you before. Also, I’m afraid you’re going to have to keep up a little bit of the fiction of having a sore ankle for a while, in public. Ease off the crutches and maybe use a cane for a bit. Pretend to favor the ankle as if it’s healing,” Haliwell suggested.

  Hannah saw the sense in what he was saying. “I can do that. No problem, sir.”

  “Good.” Haliwell slammed back the rest of his coffee and stood but waved for Hannah to remain seated. “Now, the paperwork and computer updates will take a while. I’d like you to stay here for tonight, and we’ll return you to your home tomorrow. My wife, Casey, and Rose, of course, can help you settle in. We have some spare clothing in stock for female personnel, and they can fix you up with whatever you need.”

  Hannah barely had the chance to thank him before the captain was out the door, leaving her with Carter. It was only mid-afternoon, and so much had happened in such a short time. She was having a hard time taking it all in.

  “Do you want to take a walk on the beach?” Carter asked as he finished his coffee. “Give your new ankle a spin?”

  “That sounds good,” she admitted. She hadn’t been able to keep from moving her ankle under the table, aware in one giddy corner of her mind that it didn’t hurt anymore.

  She finished her coffee and followed Carter’s lead in placing the used mug in the bin that would presumably be collected by kitchen staff for cleaning at some point. Then, she walked with him out the door and toward the nearby beach, still amazed with every step that she could, in fact, walk unassisted for the first time in months.

  They went slow. Carter didn’t speak, giving her time to pick a safe path onto the fringe of sand that met the ocean not too far away. He was looking out at the water, seeming in a pensive mood. Finally, after a few minutes of strolling along, he spoke.

  “I’m really glad Rick was able to help you,” he said quietly.

  “Me, too. And thank you for insisting I see him. I sense you probably had to jump through a lot of hoops to make this happen,” she said, feeling grateful.

  “Not as many as you might think. Fate might’ve brought you to the unit’s attention during the mall incident, but lately, some of us have come to be big believers in it. Your actions at the mall—your courage and steadfastness—impressed a lot of people. Not just me,” he told her.

  He’d been impressed by her during that first meeting? The thought surprised her. She’d been the one who was impressed by him and the rest of his friends.

  She looked out at the ocean. The view from here was incredible.

  “You know, I grew up on Long Island, but I didn’t live near the beach. I could get used to these ocean views all too easily,” she said, hoping to get the conversation onto safer grounds, just for a little while. There was so much jumbled in her mind right now, it was good to focus on something normal, like the view.

  “Yeah, it is one of the nicer spots I’ve been stationed,” Carter agreed. “I’m originally from Portland, Oregon. We have river views there. Not ocean. And it rains a lot.”

  “I visited Portland once,” she replied. “One of my college friends moved there. It rained the whole week I was there, and I was semi-convinced that Mount Hood was a model they set up for tourist post cards, since I never saw it in person from the city. We drove up to Multnomah Falls one day. Pretty place.”

  “Yes, it is. And yeah, Portland can be very overcast and cloudy, but when the sun shines, it’s a
great city,” he said, a bit of nostalgia in his tone. “Still, I like what I’ve seen of Long Island. Lots of people in a small amount of space, but every amenity you could ask for, close at hand. Lots of airports, too. And lots of sunshine compared to home, though not as bad as the desert.”

  “Oh, yeah. That desert sun was brutal,” she agreed. “I liked the adventure of going, but I was glad to come back. Though, I would have preferred to do my full tour rather than come back injured.”

  And they were back to what had happened to her, just like that...and what had happened today, to erase the last months of angst and pain.

  “How’s the foot?” Carter asked.

  “Good as new,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m saying that. I honestly thought I’d never have full use of it again.” She felt tears threatening again, as she spoke but was successful in holding them back this time. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  Carter shook his head. “No need to thank me. Rick did all the work. He’s been pretty amazing since he started being able to heal us like that.”

  “It came on suddenly?” she asked before she thought better of it. “I’m sorry, I know I don’t need to know. I’m just curious.”

  “Don’t worry.” Carter shrugged as they walked slowly along the beach. “I’d be curious in your shoes, too. Now that you know what he can do, I don’t see any real harm in telling you a little more about it.” He didn’t look at her as they walked along. “Rick was a doctor when he became part of the unit. Like I mentioned before, we’re a group of specialists sent in to do more in-depth investigation than most other units are capable of accomplishing. His task, among other things, was to assess any potential bioweapons we might come up against or discover in the course of our missions. He was kind of a germ warfare expert, though I guess since this...change...happened, that’s kind of taken a backseat.”

  “It happened in the desert?” she asked in a low voice, not wanting to pry but really intrigued by both the unit and whatever had happened to make the doctor suddenly able to heal with a touch.

  “Yeah, we were ahead of everyone else, as usual. Scouting. We came out of a dust storm to find an ancient city in front of us. Empty, but intact. It was the weirdest thing,” Carter told her. “We investigated, of course. There was this tower. We climbed inside and went up and up to the top room of the tower that had a view of the entire city. There was a man there. A man wearing loud colors, like something out of a book. His jewelry was gold, and he had a turban on his head. He was just sitting there, cross-legged, on a prayer rug. Like he was waiting for us.”

  “Only one man in the whole city? Were they all hiding?” she asked, breathless, but not from the walk.

  “Nobody hiding that we could see. It was just empty. Except for the turbaned man,” Carter told her. “He talked to us for a while. He was stand-offish at the beginning, but became friendlier as he got to know us. He asked a lot of questions about the world and the state of his country and those around it. He didn’t know what the United States was at first, but he caught on. We talked for a long time and then, he said a few more words and sent us on our way. It was the weirdest thing. Normally, we would try to control any interaction with locals. We control the conversation and the timing. We don’t answer questions, for the most part—we ask them. But all bets were off with this guy. We didn’t stick to mission from the moment the dust storm cleared and we found ourselves in that city. It was like we were under a spell or something.”

  “Maybe you were,” Hannah whispered, not quite sure why she was whispering.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “You believe in that kind of thing?” Carter asked, turning to meet her gaze.

  “I’ve seen some strange stuff in my life,” she answered, not wanting him to think she was either gullible or crazy. “Today was an eye opener, in fact,” she reminded him of her most recent brush with the mystical and inexplicable.

  “I suppose so,” he said, still eyeing her as if he would ask more, but he let it go. She sensed the topic wasn’t completely closed, but they were done with it for now, at least. “Well, we left the tower, and after some more exploring, we went back to base. Shortly after that encounter, Hal was hit by a sniper and would have died, but Rick came running and did his thing for the first time. To say we were all shocked would be an enormous understatement. After that, they hustled us home, because it became clear that some of the locals knew or maybe guessed what we’d encountered in the desert and didn’t want to let us leave their part of the world alive. They kept gunning for us, and they’ve kept trying to get us here, as well. That was what happened at the mall. And, we believe, that’s who added the extra surveillance in your home.”

  “They bugged me, hoping I’d lead them to you?” she asked. “Seems a bit far-fetched.”

  “I think they’re getting desperate. They knew you had interacted with some of us during the mall incident. There was no way to hide your involvement, since the kiosk, and the fact that you sometimes run it for your friend are both well-known,” he reasoned. “I think bugging your house was a precaution on the off-chance that one of us would extend the contact.”

  “Which you did,” she said, putting the final piece of that particular puzzle into place. “So maybe, it wasn’t that far-fetched for them to bug my place, after all.” She frowned. “I still don’t like it. Some stranger was in my personal space, putting in cameras and mics to watch and listen in on my personal life. Nope. Don’t like that at all.”

  “And, unfortunately, you can’t remove any of it without blowing the fact that you now know about them.”

  She growled. “This just gets better and better.”

  “And, when you get home, you’re going to have to act the part of still being injured some more, because they’ll be watching.” He reminded her.

  They walked past some boulders and Carter paused. “Want to sit for a moment?”

  “Sure,” she replied, moving toward the boulders and picking a likely spot to sit.

  Carter settled beside her. They were facing out toward the water, watching the waves.

  “I come here sometimes, to think,” he confessed quietly.

  “I can see why,” she said softly. “This is a good spot for contemplation.”

  “I’m sorry you got mixed up in all this. I know it won’t be fun for you to have to hide the fact that your ankle is better, but I really need you to play it cool. Both for our sakes, and for your own,” Carter said, turning to meet her gaze. “I hate that you’ve come under observation by our enemies. If I could rip out all the surveillance and shove it down their throats, I would, but as things stand…”

  “Don’t worry,” she told him, covering his hand with hers. “I understand. I don’t have to like it, but I understand.”

  The moment lengthened and then stretched ever so slightly as some unseen force drew them closer together. Like magnets, they moved slowly toward each other until his lips touched hers, and time stood still.

  Even the waves ceased their incessant shushing over the sand while they kissed. Or so it seemed.

  This kiss was unlike any other she had ever experienced. It was familiar…somehow. As if they’d known each other intimately before but hadn’t been together in a long time. It was impossible. She would have remembered a man like Carter in her life—not that there had been that many to start with.

  She’d never kissed him before. Never met him before that moment in the mall. But somehow, he was familiar. Easy. Comfortable. And compelling.

  She moved closer, sliding into his arms as if she belonged there. The kiss deepened and stirred things in her she’d thought long-buried. She hadn’t been in a serious relationship in a long time. Her career had come first—especially after being sent overseas. It had just been easier to not have anyone waiting for her at home. Her folks were gone. She didn’t have much close family. Lulu was really the only person in her life who’d been keeping in touch with Hannah while she’d been away. It was enough.

  But Cart
er made her feel things. Emotional things. Things that made her start thinking about the potential for a relationship with him.

  It was impossible, of course. He was in the middle of some sort of top-secret situation, and his unit was being hunted on top of that. It would be ridiculous to try to start a relationship under the circumstances, but her body clearly had other ideas.

  She responded to Carter instantly. There was no uncertainty. No hesitancy in her when he kissed her. It was the most natural thing in the world to kiss him back and seek more of his heat, his strength, his hard body.

  He drew back, and she didn’t understand at first. She tried to follow, but his hands gripped her arms above the elbow and held her back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, confusing her even more. Hadn’t he enjoyed it as much as she had? He’d certainly seemed to enjoy kissing her if the bulge in his pants was anything to go by. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he went on, splashing verbal cold water all over her burning desire. The yearning in her body petered out, to be replaced by embarrassment. She tried to retreat, but he didn’t let go of her arms. “I shouldn’t have taken advantage of the moment,” he clarified. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I should.”

  Stymied by his words, she spoke her mind. “Why not?”

  “Because I’m in a tough spot, right now. I don’t know how this is all going to end with the unit and the foreign agents gunning for us. I don’t want to drag you into the mess that is my life, any farther than you already are. It’s not fair to you to put you in such danger, and it kills me that those bastards have already invaded your privacy, just on the chance that I’d make contact with you again.” He pulled her close and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Hannah.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” she whispered, unable to say anything else.

  She moved away from him, and this time, he let her go. She stood from the boulder where they’d been sitting and walked a short distance away, toward the lapping waves of the ocean.