by D. C. Stone
A shadow moved behind Tayseer, but Chris kept his eyes on him, wanting to hold his focus. “How did you do it? Track us down all the way back here?”
“I have … resources,” he said. The mole in the CIA, he meant. Whatever they had promised the traitorous bastard, he hoped it was worth it. If Chris ever found out who it was, he’d make the mole’s life a living hell.
Something moved to their right, pulling Tayseer’s attention first. Charlie leveled her gun on Tayseer. “Police! Stop!”
Chris blinked, the world slowing to a mere crawl. In horror, he watched as Tayseer’s gun went off without abiding by Charlie’s command. He wanted to warn her that terrorists played by a different set of rules, that in his world as a Spec Ops soldier, you shoot first and asked questions later. Instead, all he could do was watch as her body shook with the force of the bullet and spun, falling to the side in the carousel, right at Sam’s feet.
Someone screamed, and distantly, he realized it was him.
Another shadow jumped from behind Tayseer, and a dark muzzle latched onto the SOB’s arm.
Delta Alpha!
Pulling every last bit of strength, he launched at Tayseer, diving over a bench and past a pony.
Spittle flew out of his mouth and landed on the man’s face, the droplets fascinating him with his distorted attention span.
Tayseer’s gun flew out of his hand as they all went down, then Chris rose above him and lashed out. Punched him in the face. Cartlidge crunched under his fist and pain blossomed from his hand. Blood flew to the side and dripped from him. So much of it, he couldn’t keep track of the source.
Most of it had to be his.
DA continued to growl and yank at Tayseer’s arm, but somehow, he lost purchase between one second and the next as Tayseer surged up and rolled them over, coming atop of him. His hands wrapped around Chris’s neck and squeezed.
He tried to lift his arms, but they felt as if they were a hundred pounds each. His vision swam, black dots appearing. Shadows crowded in from the sides, threatening to blink out his existence. He fought to take in air but was cut off, unable to breathe.
Cooper would die most likely.
Samantha…
Her child she carried.
Tayseer cried out then and his body shook, as if something had ahold of him and pulled with all of its might.
DA…
With one last surge of strength pulled from somewhere deep inside, Chris reached to his boot and yanked out his tactical knife, then plunged it straight into the side of Tayseer’s chest, knowing it pierced his heart.
Tayseer’s eyes widened then a peaceful look came over his face before he dropped to the side.
Chris rolled his heavy weight off him then pulled himself over to Charlie. He took in the status of Cooper and Sam, wanting to help free them but knowing he didn’t have the strength to stand.
It was a little odd looking into a face that resembled his own so much, but that couldn’t hold his attention long. He pulled up alongside Charlie and rolled her over, choking on his own saliva as she lay there so still. His fingers searched for a pulse and everything inside of him waited … waited … there! Her pulse beat fast and soft but was there. He tugged her up to his lap and rested against a bench. “I’ve got you, Charlie. Hold on. I’ve got you.”
His vision swam and his head lolled, energy draining from his body like the air from a balloon. The carousel slowed and the world around him started coming into focus. Color drifted away, an oddity seeing as he had his eyes wide open.
A soft whine pierced his ears. He looked up at Sam and felt his heart flip. She stared back at him with tears in her eyes, her whole face awash in concern. DA sat at her side, his entire body trembling with the need to protect. “Chris,” she said on a sob.
“I love you,” he said to her now, knowing it was the truth. Her face crumpled even more. He looked to DA. “Good job, boy. Good job.”
“Hang in there, Chris!” she screamed.
But he couldn’t. His head weighed too much. His body was too weak. Nodding toward her, he squeezed Charlie to him again, shifting her bulk so she would know he had her. “I love you,” he said again, his gaze on Sam as he rested his head against the bench. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. Just as they shut, big figures clad in black uniforms rushed up.
Chapter Twenty-One
Samantha lifted her head from where it rested against her hand joined with Chris’s. She’d dozed on and off over the past few hours, having only left his side to take care of the basic necessities after the hospital had released her, deeming her in good health. The past forty-eight hours had been one whirlwind after another, between the different questions she’d been asked by various individuals, the doctors checking and rechecking her health, the bloodwork submitted, and the all-clear that no unauthorized pathogens were in her body.
Chris had yet to regain consciousness, and despite being reassured by the nurses and doctors who watched over him, she couldn’t help but see their worried expressions when they thought she wasn’t paying attention. Her stomach twisted and turned each time the door to his hospital room opened, but the familiar and steady beep of his heart gave her a small measure of comfort, minuscule as it was.
Cooper entered the room, his tired gaze doing a quick sweep of Chris before landing on her. She shook her head to his silent question, the same they had stopped verbalizing over a day ago. Chris remained sleeping and unresponsive.
The sight of Cooper still jarred her, despite all the hours they’d spent together, despite having heard the story of him being Chris’s twin. And he looked exactly like Chris, sans the hair color, but his features were remarkably the same. Had she seen this man on the corner of a street, she would have assumed him to be Chris.
Which could have been awkward, seeing how close she’d grown to her gruff and loyal soldier.
Clicking sounds followed Cooper’s entry, followed by the swoosh of the door as it closed. DA ambled up to her side, tucking close to her body, and stared at Chris. He’d stayed at her side since the whole scene at the carousel, despite the brief breaks he’d had outside.
“How is he doing?” she asked Cooper, stroking the side of DA’s flank, assessing his healing body under her hands. DA’s injuries were healing up nicely. His mind was another story and one they needed to monitor.
Cooper pulled a chair from the wall and up to the opposite side of Chris’s bed, shrugging his big shoulders as he took a load off. Despite both of them being cleared and deemed in good health, she couldn’t help but watch him for any twinges of discomfort, ready to call the doctors in the room at the first sign. She had grown protective of these two men, three if you included DA, within such a short amount of time. And a protector role was something she was becoming comfortable with.
“The nurses keep giving us the stink-eye every time we pass someone new, but one of the guys on Chris’s team sweet-talked the head nurse, told them the whole story about how close Dumb Ass is with my brother.”
“I didn’t know they let dogs in a hospital, but I can’t imagine him being anywhere else right now.”
“With the number of different agencies running around and some full bird colonel swinging his weight, who knows why they turned a blind eye to it today.” A few seconds of silence passed, the only sound being the heart monitor filling the room. Cooper cleared his throat. “He has a lot of people that obviously care about him out there.”
Sam refocused, hearing a gruffness in his voice. He didn’t meet her gaze but instead stared at his brother lying so still. How surreal must this situation be between the two of them. The way Cooper had explained it, he and Chris had been separated by the state for several months before being reunited in a home together. A darkness had come over Cooper’s face as he talked about the past, and something caused her not to pry too much into it. She didn’t know if it was the shadows that crept behind his gaze, or the short answers he gave, only providing so much information as to get by. Whatever the case, it was
clear there were some lingering issues that needed to be resolved there, but she didn’t have the first clue how to help.
Trying to give a little to what felt like a horrible, helpless situation they’d found themselves in, one hopefully with a happy ending, she ventured and picked up the small bit of conversation he handed out. “From what I know of most of them out there is they are a great group of people.”
Cooper nodded but didn’t say anything.
She tried again. “You know, I’m an outsider here, too.”
He turned his attention to her, one eyebrow arched.
She nodded. “I just moved here a few months ago. Have known Chris shorter than that.”
His expression changed, growing almost incredulous. “You all seem extremely close. Hell, most of them out there seem as if they’d lay down their life for you from how they talk. Even DA,” he said and gestured toward where DA’s head rested in her lap, “seems very close to you.”
She shrugged and ran a hand over fur as soft as silk. “We’ve all grown very close very quickly. But despite what you just said, many of them out there are practically strangers to me still. I think it’s their loyalty to Chris that drives some of that protectiveness. Not me.” She finished the last bit softly, almost hating to say those words, no matter how true they were.
She turned to look at Chris again, not wanting Cooper to see how much she wished the opposite to be true. How she longed for a family like the one Chris had, for her own.
“You’re wrong,” he said.
She looked back.
“Those men out there don’t seem to me like people who would freely hand out their trust. Even with Chris and I being apart for nearly two decades, I don’t think we’re all that different. And I can tell you I wouldn’t associate with people I couldn’t trust. My brother is going to be much the same way.”
Is going to be. Again, she couldn’t get over how odd this entire situation had turned out to be. “When was the last time you remember being with Chris?”
Cooper released a sigh and looked up to the ceiling, running a heavy palm down his face. “God, when was that? All I remember the night I last saw him was I hadn’t been feeling well. Was bed-ridden sick for a few days at that point. The place we were staying at had become dismissive about my illness. There are bits and pieces from that night that I can make out such as Chris arguing with the guy who ran the home, pleading with him to give me something to bring down the fever. I think I remember him throwing things around the room, too.” Cooper shook his head and stared off into the distance, his eyes narrowing as if trying to get a clear picture in his head. “I think the guy ended up hitting Chris with something … a bat?” He shook his head again and refocused on her. “I can’t really remember that part. Just remember waking up what seemed weeks later, but was only days, my fever broken, feeling sluggish but better, and Chris was gone.”
“I went to get you medicine,” a voice between them said, causing Sam to whip her head to Chris, who had his gaze on Cooper.
“Chris!” she exclaimed, jumping out of her chair and sending it flipping over. DA let out a warning woof beside her, but she was too overwhelmed to care. She dove toward him, taking his face in her hands as she stared down with happiness.
“Hey, Red,” he croaked then cleared his throat. “Babe, can you grab me some water, please?”
A cup hovered next to their heads, held out by Cooper. Sam adjusted the bed so Chris could sit up in order to drink. He took small, cautious sips before draining the cup dry.
After handing the cup back to her, he grabbed her hand once she set it on the bedside table.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck.” He winced, shifting on the bed, pulling himself up more. She helped rearrange pillows to make him more comfortable.
“I think I need to grab a doctor. Let them know you’re awake,” she said.
Chris shook his head, wincing with the movement. “No, wait.” He grabbed her wrist before she could leave. “Hold on for a moment. How’s…” He swallowed hard and grimaced. “How’s Charlie?”
Sam’s heart squeezed. The pain on his face was unmistakable. She rushed on to reassure him, settling her hand over his. “She’s fine. A bit cranky with being in the hospital but your brother and Trent are watching over her, much to her annoyance.” She couldn’t help it. Her lips twitched. Annoyed was an understatement. The last time she went to the restroom, a bedpan had flown out of the room, barely missing Rossi’s head.
Chris let out a heavy breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Clearly, he was in pain. He barely moved and dark shadows lined the hollows of his cheeks. “I think I should get the doctor,” she said.
“Wait,” he responded, his voice sounding as if it’d been run over gravel. “I want a few minutes alone with you before everything else takes over.” He glanced between them. “I take it since you two aren’t in isolation, you’re fine?”
“Yeah,” both Sam and Cooper said together.
Chris frowned, his face awash in confusion. “But Tayseer said…”
“Exactly,” Cooper cut in. “And both Sam and I were given injections of something, but whatever was inside that needle was long gone once they ran the first blood test. So far, the other two follow-up tests have been clean, too.”
“Jesus,” Chris said, blowing out a huge breath. “And you two are fine?” He looked between Cooper and Sam.
Cooper nodded, and Sam followed suit.
“And the baby?” Chris asked.
Sam took his hand and placed his palm over her stomach, the tiniest of baby bumps visible. “The baby is fine, too.”
His eyes grew bright, but he didn’t say anything for a few beats. “Come here,” he said gruffly.
She smiled and dipped her head, letting him guide her mouth to his with a hand on her nape. His lips were soft and warm, the touch sending tingles in their wake. A chaste kiss, but one she understood and that spoke of the happiness inside of him. That she was okay. That they were all okay.
“I’m going to…” Cooper started to say. He took a step back toward the door to the room.
“No, stay here for a min … brother,” Chris said.
Cooper’s eyes closed as pain washed over his features. Sam tensed, her heart crying out for these two. So much anguish, so much loss. So much time wasted.
****
“I know you,” Chris said, his words scratchy on his throat. “I remember you.”
The pain in Cooper’s face reflected like a hard blow to his chest, splintering out as if the emotion wanted to annihilate. The beeping in his room sped as he watched a lone tear track down his twin’s face.
“I didn’t know,” Chris said, trying to make sense of why he didn’t remember Cooper until that night. Why his memories had decided to flee. Forgetting about someone as important as his own flesh and blood made little sense. It almost seemed impossible. “I’m sorry. I know that’s not much right now.” He cleared his throat, grimacing as pain lanced his shoulder. “Had I remembered … had I known, I would have tried. I would have stayed.” He let his head fall back on the pillow, at a loss for words. What could he say to fix this? To tell Cooper how horribly everything had gone? He had tons of questions about where Cooper had been, what had happened. Questions for doctors even to explain why someone so important, why events so important to him had been locked in his mind out of his consciousness.
Cooper lifted a hand to stop what was sure to be more apologies out of his mouth, then took one step, two, and leaned down to allow Chris to hug him. Awkward as it was with his big body sprawled out in a bed, he did what he could and held on to Cooper. A sense of peace settled inside even though the questions persisted. There was a lot to go over between him and his twin, but now that he’d found him, he sure as hell would take the time to get to know him again, and find out everything about what had occurred all those years ago.
Cooper stood again and subtly wiped his face with the back of h
is hand as the door behind him opened and Colonel Barber walked in.
While Chris knew he was in a hospital bed—and really, he needed to stop meeting his commanding officer while laid out in a bed—he had the urge to sit up at attention. Some habits died hard, and apparently this would be one he’d have to work on getting over, seeing as he’d made his decision. How Barber would take said decision was anyone’s guess.
“How you feeling?”
Chris cleared his throat. “As well as one can be, I guess.” He rubbed his chin, feeling the scratch of a new beard coming in. “Have you heard anything regarding Tayseer?”
Barber lifted a brow and settled beside the bed, hands held clasped low on his body. “Right to the point, huh?” He nodded. “All right, I have good news and bad news here. And rather than beat around the bush, I’m just going to go down what I know.
“Tayseer was killed. His body was picked up by some black ops group even I don’t have a security clearance high enough to know their names.”
Barber didn’t look too happy about this, his eyes hard and mouth pinched with displeasure. Oh, boy.
“That’s the good news. Bad news is I’m still stuck in the same place I was a week ago. No one seems to be returning my calls from the alphabet agency, and everyone else is playing a happy game of deflection. So, we’re no further along in getting answers. We’re still stuck at a mole being in the CIA and now said mole is out there somewhere running for their life. All they’ve told me is the right people—and son, I’m sure you can read between the lines on that—are hunting him or her.”
“Jesus,” Chris said and rubbed his head. “What a mess.” He frowned, remembering something. “Wait, there were some guys out at the carousel…”
Barber nodded. “Said group I talked about earlier. The only thing they told me about them was about some PI with Off the Record. Andrew Cox or something. He left his card and asked that you give him a holler once you’re up and moving.”
Chris took the card Barber handed out and curled it in his hand. “Did he say what he wanted to talk about?” All of this seemed surreal. As if he were living in some Tom Clancy novel.
