Baz broke the silence. “There’s no need for that, Hurst. We’re going to conduct an internal investigation. We already Vet our men, but we’re going to do it again. Maybe someone got to them or they were distracted, we don’t know, but this won’t be ignored. I know five men that I would trust with my life, and I make it a point never to trust anyone. How many you got?” he asked me.
Thinking about it, I went through my team and knew exactly who I would trust with my own life. “Six.”
“Right, eleven guys and we have Mace and his guys.”
“Don’t forget Neil and his security operation.” I absolutely trusted them.
Nodding his head, Baz turned back to the room. “I’ll call Mace and ask for some of his men so that we have at least twenty. Mace also has a security tech who can get further into records than I can. We’ll get him to run a check on everyone on our teams. For now, though, I think Hurst and Linda should move in here so that we have you all together.”
Jack and Colette sat back in their seats and then looked at each other. Turning back to face us, Jack spoke up. “Please, for the love of God, don’t do that. It’s not that bad, is it? Maybe the stair was rotted? Maybe it was woodworm?” Baz was doing his best not to laugh, but no one else could hold it in. “Oh yeah, you laugh, but why doesn’t one of you open your door to your poor grandparents?”
“Now Jack, it’s not like we’re difficult to live with! You were always so melodramatic as a child. I thought you’d outgrown it, though.” Linda sniffed. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. Hurst, we need to go and get our stuff.”
She walked out of the door with two of Baz’s men trailing behind her as if we hadn’t just told her that someone had intentionally hurt her and we didn’t know who we could trust. Hurst followed behind, bringing up the rear, and muttering as he went.
“There better be cable in my room and a decent sized television,” he said as he got to the door. “And I want soft towels, none of those ass chafing ones.”
“They do realize that someone tried to hurt them don’t they?” Maya asked as the door closed behind them.
“I’m moving to Layla’s,” Jack stood up and went to walk toward the back door.
“You are not leaving me alone with them, Jack Townsend,” Colette yelled at his back. “If you do, I swear to God, to God, that I will castrate you and then divorce you.”
Stopping before he got to the door, his shoulders dropped and he turned and walked toward the stairs at the back of the house that led down to the basement. My men had already done a sweep of the place after I’d called them on my way to tell the family the news, so I knew he’d be okay.
“What’s down there?” Isla asked from her perch on Luke’s lap.
“Aw fuck,” Ren snapped out and then walked in that direction with Maya beside him.
“What’s down there?” Isla repeated.
Sighing, Colette got up and sat down on the floor next to the twins and started playing with them. “That’s where he keeps his moonshine supply.”
“So, Dad’s getting drunk; cool. What about this fu…reaking baby?” Brett was looking like he was about to launch into some sort of panic attack.
“Just hold her, sweetie,” Colette replied, still playing with the twins.
“I have an update on the fire at Ebru’s apartment too,” Baz spoke up, looking at Cole and Ebru. “It was the wiring. It hadn’t been updated and there were rats. They chewed through the cables and boom.”
That was a relief for all of us because even I had been worried that it was linked to whatever asshole was trying to get to the Montgomerys and Townsends. I didn’t doubt that this was aimed at both families though, regardless of what happened a couple of months ago. They may have focused recently on the Montgomerys, but I knew they’d try something with the Townsends again soon.
“Can you take he…oh fu…fudge me,” Brett looked around the room in horror. I had a rough idea where this was going. “What the sh…sugar are they feeding this thing?” He held his breath and pointed his head away from the baby over his shoulder. “Take it, take it.” he begged the room.
“I told you, it’s like napalm.” Cole would know seeing as he’d been covered in the stuff.
“It’s like death,” Brett forced out as he gulped in a breath of air. Taking pity on him, Colette got up off the floor, took the baby and walked towards the basement. No one said a word as she disappeared and then reappeared two minutes later with Ren and Maya following her.
“Oh Jesus Christ,” Jack bellowed from his man cave and then started coughing. The sound of his feet running up the stairs as he wheezed almost echoed around the silent house as we all stared in the direction that he was coming from. Just as he came through the doorway, Colette handed him the diaper bag and went and sat back down on the couch. “Please, no. Please, I’m begging you.”
Colette was one cold customer, though, because she didn’t even look in her husband’s direction as he begged. “Okay, okay, I’ll take full responsibility for my parents while they’re here.”
Smiling, Colette went over to Jack and retrieved the tiny baby and then walked out the room to change her. I had to admit, the little shit knew how to clear a room with her ass. Even I was struggling, and I thought I’d smelt it all on my tours.
There were snorts and chuckles all around the room as Jack stuck his head out of the front door to get some fresh air. Brett had just settled himself into one of the recliners when his phone went off. I watched his face as he looked at the screen and saw the look of confusion.
“Townsend. Yes, I do. Okay. What? She what?” He looked at me and I pulled my phone out and dialed the helo pilot. “I’ll be there in two hours. Yes. No, she’s to get nothing but the best. Do you hear me?”
The pilot answered and I was relieved that we’d put him up for a couple of nights, thinking we’d fly home tomorrow. I had a feeling that I knew who this was about and, although, Brett didn’t realize it yet, she was his forever. In fact, I might place some bets with the rest of his family when we get back.
Standing up, he faced the room. “I need to get back to Houston. S…someone has had an accident and is having surgery, so I’m going to fly back and make sure they’re okay.”
“Would it be a girl?” Cole asked grinning. Brett scowled at him, but I gave a small nod behind his back that most of the occupants of the room saw and smiled at.
Saying no more, Brett turned toward the door and we went to the SUV. The pilot was moving the helo to a different field so that no one was waiting for us at the current hangar. Regardless of how much of an emergency it was, our safety was a priority.
“How bad is it?” I asked as Brett looked out of the window. Initially, you would think that he was calm, if it wasn’t for the constant but subtle ticking of his jaw.
“She’s been having chest problems since the fire,” he started, and I nodded because this was no secret. “She got bronchitis and was trying to leave her apartment block, but the elevator was out of order, so she took the stairs,” he stopped and punched the back of the passenger seat hard enough that I heard something crack. I’d get someone to look at that while we were away. “She started coughing and lost her balance on the stairs.”
“Fuck me!”
“She’s torn her ACL in her right leg, so they’re operating on it now.” His voice was becoming croaky, and I knew from experience that Brett Townsend didn’t show emotions. That one thing, though, gave away how much Sabine meant to him. “She was lying there for an hour before someone found her man.”
We arrived at the field and got into the waiting helicopter. “She’ll be okay, Brett. She’s a tough girl!”
Nodding he kept his face pointed towards the window, and I knew from experience that he wouldn’t discuss it further. I also knew that he was growing more and more frustrated that he wasn’t at her side by the way he started cracking his knuckles and glaring at the pilot as we flew to Houston. Poor sucker had it
bad.
Chapter Twenty
Cole
I pulled up in front of Eb’s parents' house and cut the engine. I couldn’t say that I was looking forward to this visit. I still had some resentment toward them for how they’d treated her, and no excuse would change that. I’d discussed this with Ebru a couple of weeks ago and she felt the same way, which was a relief. I just didn’t think that it was possible to forgive people who had done what they had that quickly. That said, these were her parents and she was adamant that Louise would have wanted her to make an effort with them. So long as they were decent to her and did right by her now, that’s what I was concerned about. The moment they upset her or did anything to her we were done, though.
I walked around the car to open Ebru’s door and when we looked over at the porch only her Dad there waiting for us this time. Her Mom was still recovering and didn’t have much energy, so it was understandable.
Getting our bags out of the trunk, we both walked up to him and Ebru gave him a tense hug. My heart hurt for her because if that was my dad, she’d be relaxed and hugging him with no problems.
“Hey, Ebby,” Finn grinned down at her. He had to have felt how tense she was, but he was still giving her a genuine smile. That went a long way for me in believing that he actually gave a shit.
“Dad,” she walked around him into the house as I shook Finn’s hand. The sad look he gave me said he hadn’t missed it.
We followed after her and I saw Enya sitting on an old fabric lounger with a couple of blankets over her. She looked so pale and it was a shock to see how quickly the treatment was draining the life out of her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of the hand, I sat back on the most comfortable couch I’d ever sat on in my life and relaxed.
“So, how are you feeling, Enya?” She looked up at me and I took in the changes in her again. I just hoped that the treatment worked.
“I’m good thanks, Cole.”
“What did the doctor say when you saw him on Wednesday? Ebru has tried explaining it to me, but she talks in medical talk and I don’t speak that double Dutch.” I gave Enya a wink and she grinned at me as Eb rolled her eyes. Even Finn chuckled.
“The surgery was a success. They did a hysterectomy and a bilateral…” she stopped talking and looked at Ebru.
“It’s a complicated one. A bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy,” Ebru finished for her. Had she grown two heads?
“You’re yanking my crank! There’s no way that that’s an actual medical thing.”
“It is,” she was grinning at me in that ‘aww look at the window licker’ way. I knew it well, my family had been doing it all my life.
“What the fuck is that?” It came out before I could catch it and I winced and looked at Finn. “Sorry.”
“I don’t know why you’re apologizing to him,” Enya snorted. “That asshole uses the f-word like it’s and or the.”
We all burst out laughing and then got back to the oopherpotomy or whatever the shit it was called. “It’s a full uterus removal along with the removal of both fallopian tubes,” Ebru explained, and I felt my stomach twist.
“And you survived that?” Maybe it was dumb question seeing as she was sitting in front of me, but it sounded impossible.
Laughing and nodding, Enya adjusted her position in the chair slightly and then lifted the blankets over her arms. It was fucking roasting outside and she was acting like we were in arctic conditions.
“The surgeon said that they’d removed all of the tumor and that it was definitely only stage two, so we caught it before it spread. The chemo has been hard, though. It makes you feel like you’ve just climbed Everest even going to the bathroom. I have two more sessions to go, but the doctor sounded really positive about it all. It’s just…” she looked at Finn, close to tears, “Hard.”
Her and Ebru started talking about side effects, what to do and what not to do, so I relaxed back in the couch again. I was going to let Ebru lead this and follow behind, unless she needed me to take over. I doubted that she would, though.
Being in the house, surrounded by photos of Ebru and Louise, made the news that we’d got this week hit harder. She’d gone to a cardiologist who had done a forty-eight-hour trace of her heart and some other tests and had gotten the all clear. We had things that we were to look out for, but she’d had her heart monitored while she ran on a treadmill, as well as the trace, and the specialist couldn’t find any issues. It had been the best news that we could have hoped for. I know that she had been terrified of finding out if she had it, but she’d said that at least if she got a diagnosis that she could start the medication that she needed. I’m not ashamed to say that I cried when we got the results. Ebru’s heart was perfect.
Almost like she was reading my mind, Ebru told her parents the news.
“I went to see a cardiologist,” she stood up and went over to a photo of her and Louise laughing on some swings. They must have been in their teens and the happiness that you could see on their faces, regardless of their upbringing, was beautiful. “He did tests to see if I had an arrhythmia problem like Lou’s.”
Her dad stood up out of his chair and walked over to Enya and held her hand. They looked terrified and it was obvious that they may have been shitty parents to their girls, but they definitely loved them.
“And?” Enya had tears forming in her eyes and looked a bit paler than she had before, if that was even possible.
“I got the all clear.” Their bodies sagged with relief when they realized what that meant.
“Thank the Goddess,” Enya said. I’d never heard them use any true references to their Pagan beliefs before. Quite frankly, I thought that after what had happened to their daughters that they’d turned their backs on it.
Looking over at me from her position next to the side table beside the door to the living room, Ebru shrugged her shoulders and gave me a wry smile. I guess don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.
The following morning, we decided to go and visit Louise, but I insisted on driving this time because I had a surprise for Louise and the baby boy whose grave I couldn’t get out of my mind.
We were just walking up to Louise’s grave when I remembered something that I’d been meaning to ask Eb for a while. Reaching out to take her hand, I pulled her gently to a stop before we got there.
“I need to ask you something.”
She looked at me and tilted her head. “Here?”
Nodding, I looked around us and focused on Lou’s headstone not far away from us. “When we have kids can we get them tested?”
Ebru was silent for a moment before she said, “I didn’t want to insult you, but I kinda kept the number of that doctor that does the,” she started doing the circle beside her head in the universal symbol for crazy.
“What? Why?” Oh shit, did insanity run in her family?
“Well Cole, you’re kind of…unique,” I nodded because I’d been told that before. “And special.” I had a feeling that I was missing something here by the way that she kept stressing words as she described all of my strengths.
“Listen, I’m flattered, but there’s no need to list all of my good qualities and put me on a pedestal. I’m being serious asking you this.”
She looked at me and blinked slowly a couple of times. “Cole, I was implying that you’re a bit of a…well you’re,” she looked around as if she was looking for inspiration. Spinning back around to look at me, she said, “You know your grandad?”
Now I was starting to worry that the insanity that was obviously in her family had hit her unexpectedly because, of course, I knew my grandad. I was relieved that she had the number of a doctor because as soon we left here, I was driving home and getting her seen. It had to be fixable.
“Stop looking at me like that. I’m saying your grandad is nuts and you take after him. In fact, I’m not convinced any of your family is sane or normal in any way.”
I didn’t know what to say to her,
so I just stood trying to process what she’d said. Was this that ‘projection’ thing that I always heard being discussed on that daytime television show where a psychologist helps people?
“Okay,” I said slowly. “If you say so.” I would support her no matter what. “Don’t worry. In this day and age, I’m sure it can be cured.”
“What’s happening here?” she asked, looking around the place.
“I was saying that I wanted our kids tested for the heart condition, but now I’m taking us straight home after we leave here and calling that doctor to get you tested.”
“I already got tested though? And the doctor said I was just fine.”
“When did you do that?” Fuck me, what a relief.
“Cole, you were there for the results, babe.”
Something wasn’t adding up here. “When was this?”
“Last week.” She looked so worried and it dawned on me what she meant.
“Oh, you mean your heart! I was talking about your mental issue. So did you get that tested too?”
She looked at me like I’d grown two heads, before sneering at me and walking towards Lou’s grave. I left her to spend time with her sister while I walked back to the car to get the surprises that I’d hidden when we were packing it up for our journey here.
As I walked back towards her, I wondered if the surprise would go down well or if she’d be pissed. Welp, only one way to find out.
Kneeling down beside her, I pulled the statue for Louise’s grave out of the bag and put it beside her headstone. Eb was quiet for a long moment before she burst out laughing and fell over on her side.
“That’s awe…awesome,” she got out through the laughs. I felt quite proud of myself at that moment, I’m not gonna lie. I’d found the statue on the internet and it was perfect. It was a sumo wrestler with a blue thong thing on and he was crouched over. The best part was, it wasn’t a cartoon looking one; this one was life like.
“I thought you’d like this, Lou,” I pushed a dead flower off her grave that had fallen from the vase that was filled with fresh flowers. “I’ll leave you girls to it.” I had one more person that I wanted to see today, and he wasn’t too far away from us.
Until Forever (Providence Series Book 3) Page 19
