Protect and Serve: Soldiers, SEALs and Cops: Contemporary Heroes from NY Times and USA Today and other bestselling authors

by J. M. Madden

Zak could feel his ears getting red. He figured he’d get it over with. “I pulled a prank when I was in high school. We put cherry Jell-O in the other high school’s fountain. It foamed all over the place. Turned the whole quad red.”

  No one said anything for a few seconds. Finally Fredo turned to Carter. “That’s it? Carter, what the hell you talking about?”

  “No, my man!” Carter ran to Zak’s side and placed his arm around his shoulder. “He got arrested for doing that prank. Arrested by the father of the girl he was stickin.”

  “Oh I get it. Daddy didn’t like you and his little one hanging out, so he sort of threw the book at you?” Coop said.

  Zak nodded.

  Fredo gave a disgusted look by scrunching up his unibrow. “That’s not funny. Carter, you got some sick sense of humor if you think that’s funny. We got things way better than that and you better be ready, man. That shit,” he said as he pointed to Zak, “That shit is boy scout stuff.”

  “I think Carter has the stories you really want to hear. Mine are just, well, probably tame,” answered Zak.

  “You can be as tame as you like as long as you got my six, Zak. You don’t have to be outrageous to be a good team guy. You don’t have to drink, don’t have to do half the shit the other guys do. Just keep it clean.”

  “Yessir.”

  “Alright. So you guys are all invited over to my place tomorrow for a barbeque. You’ll be on good behavior, ‘cause our wives will be there. We’ll invite some local girls, friends of the ladies, and such, but you be respectful. We got a few days for you to recover, but nothing stupid, and no fuckin’ pranks at my house. I got two kids,” Cooper boasted.

  “You guys can bring your girls, if you want,” said Fredo. “If they’re decent type. No hookers or strippers. We got the ladies and the kids to think about.”

  The tadpoles grinned.

  Zak’s cell phone chirped. Looking down at the number, he saw it was Amy. His gut turned over as he looked at the monitor a second time.

  No question. Amy was reaching out to him, and for some reason, he knew it wasn’t good news.

  “Excuse me for a sec.” Zak ran outside and took the call on the patio which was much quieter than the inside of the bar. “Amy? That you?”

  “Zak! Oh my God, Zak. I’m so glad I got hold of you.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “There’s been a shooting.”

  Zak plugged his other ear so he could hear. His heart began to race, and his gut felt hollow. “You okay, Amy? Are you hurt in any way?”

  “No, Zak, but it’s like a zoo down here.”

  “Where did this happen? Where are you?”

  “I’m in San Francisco, at my job—”

  “Are you safe? Are you in a safe place right now?”

  “Yes. Behind locked doors. Already talked to the police.”

  “So this happened at work?”

  “Well not exactly. A gunman, I guess they’re saying two gunmen, shot some people at the pier close to my office.”

  “They catch the guys?”

  “No. Well, yes. One was shot, but the other one—”

  “So they haven’t captured everyone yet? You’ve got to get out of there, Amy.”

  “I know. I’m waiting for my Dad. I probably have to wait for the police again too. But Zak, I saw the gunman who got away!”

  “You saw him?”

  “Yes, he tried to get in the building where I work, but the doors were locked. But he knows I saw him, Zak. That’s what’s got me so scared. I mean I was lucky he didn’t get in, but I saw his face, saw the look on his face, and he knows I would recognize him. I’m afraid he’ll come back.”

  “You have to get out of there.”

  “This might sound ridiculous, but the police said I should just hold the open house like I always do on weekends. I mean—”

  “That’s stupid, Amy. No. You don’t do that.”

  “It’s my job. That’s what I do. This just happened, so I haven’t heard from the building owner yet. I’m sure he’d want to hear all about it and will probably contact me tomorrow. But I just wanted you to know.”

  “I’m so sorry, Amy. I didn’t hear anything about this down here.”

  “You’re back in San Diego. Not at a training site?”

  “No, we just finished one set of trainings and are getting ready to do our workup.”

  Zak needed to make a decision and quick. He knew what would happen if he went near Amy. His overarching motivation was to help Amy feel safe, help comfort her, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her fear. It was a thin line he was walking. He knew she was terrified and had nowhere else to turn, except her father, who might not be exactly what she needed right now. He felt obligated to protect her, yet knew he’d promised himself he wouldn’t get entangled.

  Damn. She was going to let him make the first move.

  “I have a few days, Amy. You want me to come up there? Would that help?”

  He heard her relax as she let out air she’d been holding. “Could you do that, Zak? I’d be so grateful.” He was still shaken from the news that Amy had been so close to danger—and she was an innocent, not trained to be part of this type of action. He knew she must be working hard to hold it all together and it worried him.

  “Let me see what I can do. Gotta check in with our Team liaison. I’m new to all this. If he says no, then I’ll have to stay here, but I’m willing to check. The Navy owns my ass first. I’ll call you back, tonight if I can.” He wasn’t sure how this would go over with the liaison, but he had to try.

  “Thank you, Zak.”

  “Are you staying in San Francisco, or going home with your dad?”

  “I think I have to stay here for the investigation. I just don’t know. He’ll want to take me home, I know. But I don’t think I can. He should be here any minute.”

  “Okay, then. Try to get some sleep. Good that your dad’s coming. I know better than to have you give him my best. Probably better you not tell him, but that’s up to you.”

  “Not to worry. I can handle Dad. Just get up here as soon as you can. I miss you.”

  That was the part of the conversation that made him stumble. He’d opened the door to something bigger. Was this an honorable thing to do or a mistake? Could he trust himself?

  He decided that if the Navy would let him go, he’d be there for Amy. It was the right thing to do. But not if it affected his career.

  TEN

  Amy hoped Zak would be coming up. She knew it wasn’t a sure thing, but took some solace in the fact that at least she’d talked to him. It settled her nerves just a little. She took a shower, letting the warm water sluice down her body, trying to put the visions of the sirens, the blood, and the killer’s face out of her mind. It wasn’t working.

  She put on some comfortable clothes she could fall asleep in and waited for her father’s text.

  True to his word, Chief Allister Dobson arrived an hour plus minutes later. As usual, he pulled up to the garage gate. Amy took the elevator down and ran through the abandoned garage to where her father was parked outside the security curtain. She used her key to raise and then lower the gate after her father entered. She directed him to a spot next to her car.

  Dobson took firm hold of Amy as she rushed to his arms. She felt the stiffness and tension in his frame. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered to his ear.

  He seemed hesitant to let go of her, as she struggled to pull away. “Anything new?” he asked quickly. “I figured you’d call me if there was. I’ve been listening to the reports on the way down.”

  “I haven’t had the nerve to watch anything except the initial reports. Waiting for you to come, I guess.”

  “Apparently they still haven’t caught the other guy. You say you saw him?” Dobson said as they made their way to the elevators. “Who talked to you?”

  Amy shrugged. “I have their cards. You can call them if you want.”

  “I’ll do that later.”

 
; The whir of the elevator ended in an abrupt jerk as they reached the tenth floor. Amy jumped nervously and noticed her dad study her, with his eyes narrowed and a furrow between his brow.

  “You okay, Amy?”

  She started to tear up, grateful she was leading him down the hallway to her door so he wouldn’t see her state. “I’m holding up. Just not what I’m used to.”

  The door closed behind her father. “No one should have to get used to this. This is what we do every day. Just can’t contain all the nuts of the world. I wish it was different, but everywhere has the same problems. No one is really safe anymore. Not really.”

  Amy knew that now. She felt like she’d been awakened from a deep sleep. Her world of picnics, parties, hookups and shopping suddenly felt very small and meaningless. “I guess I’ve been living in a bubble, Dad. I just never knew how close I could be to something—”

  “Now you know why I was so afraid of you living here in San Francisco. Amy, you’ve got to come home.” Her dad looked disheveled in his dark rain slicker with two layers of shirts underneath, not the usual crisp uniform she was so used to seeing him in. He looked smaller and older than she’d remembered him.

  “No, Dad. I have to stay here for now. And do you think things are really safer in Sonoma County? Really? I mean can you honestly say this type of thing wouldn’t happen there too?”

  Dobson angled his head. “But there at least I can keep an eye on you.”

  “But you protect and serve the whole community. It’s your job. You can’t spend your time 24/7 protecting me.”

  “But if you lived at home—”

  “Don’t you think I have to start living my own life? I mean when will it ever be safe enough?” She took his hands, drawing him over to the couch. “Sit. Can I make you something?”

  “No I’m fine.” Amy left him sitting in the middle of her living room as she got him some icewater. He was searching the room, looking at furniture and pictures, and then focused on the sliding glass door to the outside with views of the San Francisco skyline at night. She handed him the water, taking a seat at an adjacent chair.

  “This is home now, Dad.”

  He took a sip and shook his head. Searching the walls and then focusing on her face, he answered her. “I don’t see it. You’ve made a nice place here. I can understand why you like it. Exciting to be on your own. I get that. But these are strange times, Amy. I can’t even begin to tell you what we have coming in every day, alerts and information from the FBI. The whole social media thing has gotten way out of hand. We got the military asking all their service members to stay off social media, like we’ve been telling our own guys and gals for more than a decade now.”

  “Maybe it’s a good thing people are more aware of their surroundings, like I’ve become. Although I wish it wasn’t this way. I just never thought these things would happen here.”

  “Still the safest place around. But that doesn’t mean you have to live in the middle of it. This is a nice neighborhood, and still you’re not immune.”

  Night sounds from the city began to drain back into the background as Amy’s nerves began to chill. She checked her phone, expecting either an update from building security or from Zak. It was close to nine-thirty.

  “So tell me what happened, exactly,” her dad asked finally. Over the next few minutes she told him about the man and her interaction with the police.

  Eventually, she was talked out. The stress of the day had taken a toll on her body. “You’re staying over, right, Dad? That couch makes up.”

  “I’ll be fine. I can sleep anywhere.”

  “Except you’re going to sleep here, in my living room. And then I’ll make you coffee and breakfast in the morning. Maybe then you can check with some of your friends down at SFPD.”

  “Not much I can do tonight. You should check with building security before you turn in, Amy,” Dobson added.

  Amy did so, and was told no further incidences were recorded anywhere in the complex. She informed them she would not be holding the office open on Sunday and asked them if they’d heard from the building owners. They indicated they had not. She told them she’d been cooperating with police.

  She left a message for the building management offices, who usually did not work weekends, informing them of the closed sales office.

  After getting her dad situated with a blanket and pillow, she closed the door to her bedroom and climbed into bed. Her body ached. Laying her head against the pillow, she noticed her neck hurt, and her jaw felt like she’d been chewing down on something hard all day. Just before she closed her eyes, her phone beeped.

  The monitor flashed a message:

  ‘Taking an early flight to SFO. See you tomorrow. Zak.’

  She texted back a smilie face, then added a heart emoticon. She’d just fallen to sleep when she heard the ping of her phone again. Zak had sent a heart as well.

  ELEVEN

  Zak raced through the San Francisco terminal, down the escalators and out past the baggage claim. He hiked the black nylon duffel on his shoulders and exited to the taxi stand, got in line and gave directions to the cab coordinator. Checking the driver’s name badge swinging from the passenger window sunscreen, he noticed the gentleman’s name was Addis.

  “Why you want to go back down there?” Addis said as his eyes wildly searched him over the top of the driver’s seat. “You hear about the news?”

  “Yes. Is it still a mess there?”

  “Oh, no. All quiet now. But I’ve been telling people to go someplace else. Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf. Some other place. Not there.”

  “I’m meeting someone there.”

  The cabbie grunted. He swerved into the fast lane and joined the slow ribbon of steel heading into the City, several charms and a necklace hooked over the rear view mirror, flapping in the breeze of his open window. He spoke on the radio in a dialect Zak didn’t understand.

  He’d texted Amy that he’d landed and was on his way. It was past nine o’clock, much later than he’d expected. Now he was stuck in traffic.

  “Plane was late. So much traffic,” he said to the cabbie.

  Addis rolled his head and then barked back, “No! Worse earlier. This is much better. Always like this on the weekend except real early. Worse on the work days. Sunshine, clouds, shootings—everyone wants to come to San Francisco today. Nuts. All peoples are nuts.”

  Zak was inclined to agree.

  “So no word on the other shooter?”

  Addis laughed. “He look like me!” He continued to chuckle, his eyes getting wide, giving a grin showing off all his stark white teeth. “But trust me, I don’t know the guy. From the pictures they have, I don’t know anything about him. Looks like one of thousands of peoples who live here.”

  Zak watched the slowly moving landscape and other passengers in vehicles. This highway had the same numbers of Mercedes as the San Diego area had. Traffic was just as bad, too.

  “They’re saying he was a terrorist,” Zak said.

  “Who knows? Somebody unhoppy. All sorts of peoples unhoppy all the time. Too many.” After a pause, the cabbie looked in his rear view mirror at Zak. “You police man?”

  “No.”

  “What you do here?”

  “I’m not part of the investigation. Here to visit a friend, that’s all. Visiting a—a—girlfriend.”

  “Okay. Well, do her a favor and take her away from this place. No place for a woman here right now.”

  Zak was dropped off at the front of the address Amy gave him, and he walked into the Building One lobby, after being buzzed inside by the guard behind the desk. He texted her that he had arrived.

  “I’m here to see Amy Dobson. She’s expecting me.”

  Before the guard could call up to her apartment, the back door opened, and Amy came running out. Her light brown hair was down, trailing after her. She wore faded blue jeans that hugged her impossibly thin hips, and an oversized white sweatshirt hung off one shoulder. Her fresh face sparked
all kinds of good things, kicking his heart into gear as he felt adrenalin spread all over his body. Clearly, that familiar chemistry was there again. Big time.

  He felt her crush into him, as his arms wrapped around her, squeezing and lifting her feet up off the floor. “So happy to see you’re okay, Amy,” he whispered.

  “Thank you so much for coming, Zak.”

  They parted and he could see from the redness in her eyes where she’d been crying. “You okay?”

  She slipped her arm around his waist as she waved to the guards and then took him through the doors to the hallway leading to the elevators. “Dad came last night and spent the night on my couch. He’s down at the station right now, getting some information. Supposed to call me later on. I’ve just been here, waiting.”

  The elevator doors opened. Zak drew her into his arms as the elevator rose. “You must have been scared to death. What did the police tell you last night?”

  “Not much of anything. Just that I should be available to them if they catch the guy. I’m apparently one of the only ones to get a good look at him. That’s my artist sketch they’re putting all over the news.”

  “Of course, you have to cooperate. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

  Zak followed, holding Amy’s hand as she led him to her front door. When he stepped through the tall doorway, he was stunned to see the panoramic view from coming from her sliding glass door to the outside. The San Francisco Bay, the water, the Bay Bridge and glittering buildings nearby looked like a picture perfect post card of everything beautiful about the city.

  Amy walked up behind him, leaning into his back, wrapping her arms around his front. “You like?”

  “My God, Amy. It’s unbelievable. What a view. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.”

  “Yeah. I thought it was special too.” She stood next to him, admiring the picture before them. She hadn’t let go of his hand.

  “I don’t blame you,” he said, turning toward her. “This is you. This is perfect for you here.”

  Her eyes smiled before her lips did. She stepped closer to him, putting her hands up to his neck as he laced his fingers at her lower back. “So good to see you again, Zak. Thank you so much for coming.”