by Karen Ward
Tears in my eyes, "Yes, I will marry you." He kisses me tenderly sealing the vow.
Hesitating he says, "I need to tell you one more thing."
Apprehensively I ask, "What's that?"
He pulls me close, "I'm going to have to go away for a little while."
I try to pull away and say disappointed, "What? Why? You just got back here."
He holds me snugly against him, "I'm having a little problem getting past my ordeal. I need to go to Phoenix for a few weeks to get some help dealing with it. The doctors say I have a mild case of PTSD."
Relieved, I say, "Oh, I understand. Of course, you need to go. When are you leaving?"
Hesitating again he says, "Tomorrow? I know I promised I would go with you to LA but I really need to get going on this. Please try to understand."
"Dylan, it's all right. I know how much counseling can help dealing with trauma. I wish I had sought help long before I did. Barry, Goose, and Bear are going with me to LA. I'll be all right. Will you be able to have visitors while you are in the hospital? I'll try to come to visit."
"I don't know. I'll find out and let you know. I love you Skye, more than life."
And he proceeds to show me how much several more times.
******
Reginald "Goose" Willingham and Evelyn Drake Smith are married that evening in a simple ceremony in the great room of Barry's home. Dylan gives his sister in marriage and Stump and I are witnesses. Evelyn wears a simple pink dress and Goose looks very handsome in his suit. Janie, Jeff, Damian, and Eric pass out refreshments and help by picking up empty plates. All of the residents of the ranch are in attendance.
For a wedding present, Goose surprises everyone when he presents Evelyn with a ten million dollar unbreakable trust fund to secure her and the children's future. When he is questioned about it he says, "My family has lots of money, I want to make sure she is taken care of forever. I don't want her to ever have to worry again."
Barry says, "You're one of those Willingham's, the ones that own half of New Hampshire?"
Blushing Goose says, "Yeah. Now you know my biggest secret."
Stump says, "I smell a story here. Come on spill it."
Blushing Goose says, "All right, I grew up a pampered jerk. When I was seventeen I got in trouble with the law, something my parents couldn't buy my way out of, and the judge gave me a choice. I could join a branch of the service, or I could go to prison. I chose the Marines.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the very first time in my life I was ever treated like a normal person and I grew up a lot that first year. Then I met you guys and learned what being a friend is really all about. I never wanted to lose that so I never told you. I was afraid you would treat me differently."
Dylan asks, "How did you ever get Evelyn to agree to this? I had the impression she wasn't going to accept favors from anybody."
He pulls her close to his side and smiling warmly says, "Believe me, it took a lot of convincing. It wasn't until I promised she wouldn't ever have to touch the money unless something happened to me that she agreed to accept it. Of course, if something happens to me she'll inherit ten times that much."
Laughing they all celebrate with the happy couple.
******
Early on Sunday morning, Dylan and I decide to walk down to the river for a few minutes alone before he leaves. We are holding hands as we walk and he says, "Sweetheart, thank you for being so understanding about my having to go to Phoenix."
Smiling I reply, "Of course I understand. I want you to be healthy and whole and if we have to be apart for a little while longer, then I understand. I love you Dylan. We will have the rest of our lives to be together."
He stops pulling me into his arms and says, "How did I ever get so lucky as to meet you? I love you more than life Skye," and he lowers his head and tenderly takes my lips with his. Delving deeply into the sweetness of my mouth he tries to show me the depth of his love.
When he finally raises his head he says, breathing raggedly, "Oh Skye, I wish we had more time. I would love to lay you down in the sweet grass beside this river and love you properly."
Blushing I say, "Hold that thought. I will hold you to it when you return from Phoenix." I raise my lips to him for one last kiss molding myself to him and drinking hungrily of his warmth. Then we walk back to the house where Pinky is waiting to fly Dylan to Phoenix.
I wave as Dylan and Pinky lift off for their trip to Phoenix so Dylan can get the help he needs for PTSD.
CHAPTER 12
The next evening Dylan is relaxing in his hospital room scanning through the channels on the television when he catches a glimpse of a picture of Barry. Barry, Skye, Bear and Goose all traveled to LA today for the beginning of the rape trial. He stops on the channel and listens as the announcer is talking,
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is so exciting! This is only the second time in three years Barry Farrady has surfaced since moving to his ranch in Wyoming. He is in Los Angeles to testify in the rape trial of five men accused of raping Skye Reynolds, daughter of Academy Award winning director, the late Benjamin Reynolds. The alleged rape took place ten years ago when Skye was only eighteen years old. It is rumored that Farrady found Skye behind a dumpster near the concert venue where she had been drugged and raped."
He continues giving more information, "It is also rumored that Farrady has married and now has a son but this reporter hasn't been able to confirm that information. Oh, folks, here they come!"
Eyes glued to the set, Dylan watches as the limousine carrying Barry, Skye, and his friends, Goose and Bear, pulls up in front of a famous restaurant on Rodeo Drive. He sees Goose and Bear exit the car first pushing the horde of reporters back so Barry and Skye have a clear path to the door. When Barry steps out of the limousine he smiles and waves to the cameras then helps Skye to stand. She looks so beautiful. She takes Barry's arm and they proceed to the door of the restaurant and then disappear inside.
The camera shot swings back to the reporter who is rambling on about other rumors concerning Barry and Skye when all of a sudden the screen erupts in flames and a huge explosion is heard coming through the speakers.
Dylan, shocked, screams, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Please God, NOOOOOOOOO!!"
The camera swings back to the building and he sees nothing but flames and a pile of rubble that was once the famous restaurant. Tears streaming down his face, he feels the orderlies grab him by the arms, then he feels a prick, and he sinks into darkness.
******
The minute Bear enters the restaurant he knows something's not right. He whispers to Goose. "Get them out the back door now! Something's not right!"
Dragging them through the throng of people as fast as they can, they run through the kitchen and out the back door just as the building explodes. The explosion is so violent it knocks them to the ground. Goose and Bear drag Barry and Skye down the alley to the end where they push them into the inset doorway of an abandoned building. They stand in front of them blocking the view of them from the street, Goose calls Detective Long. Sirens are screaming and people are rushing to help with evacuations from the burning building.
When an unmarked car pulls up to the doorway and Detective Long steps out, Bear and Goose hustle Barry and Skye into the detective's car.
Detective Long says, "Where to?"
Bear says, "The airport. We need to get them out of town. They are obviously the targets."
Barry reaches for his cell to have the jet readied. Bear says, "No, we'll take the helicopter. It will draw less attention."
Once they reach the airport, Goose gives directions to the helicopter to Detective Long.
Bear calls Jesse to let her know they are all right. Then Barry calls the ranch to let Melanie know they are safe and on their way back to the ranch. He asks Melanie to call Evelyn and to not tell anyone else they survived, not even the children since they attend school in Cody.
Detective Long drops them at the helicopter and s
ays, "I'll be in touch." He leaves to return to the scene of the explosion.
While Bear, Barry, and Skye sit inside the helicopter, Goose pays extra special attention checking out every aspect of the bird before getting in and starting the engine. He is not going to take any chances because they aren't sure who they are dealing with. He is just glad he flew to Phoenix to pick up Bear in the helicopter while Barry and Skye came to LA from the ranch in the jet. Otherwise they wouldn't have this option.
When they are airborne, Goose asks Bear, "How did you know?"
Blushing Bear says, "It's just a sixth sense I developed while in Vietnam. It has never let me down. I learned the hard way not to ignore it. The one time I did, I almost died."
"Thanks man, you saved our lives." Everyone nods in agreement.
******
When Dylan wakes up from the drug induced sleep the memory of the explosion is still in the forefront of his mind. The tears start before he even opens his eyes. The sorrow in his soul is excruciating. When he finally opens his eyes he sees Jesse sitting by his bed. His hands and feet are restrained and he can't move. He looks over at her and she smiles.
With tears streaming down his face he says, "They're gone Jesse. They're all gone."
Leaning over the side of his bed and reaching with her hand, she strokes his cheek and says, "Dylan, listen to me. I have to whisper because no one else can know yet. Can you understand me?"
Dylan nods. Jesse continues, "They're all right. Bear called me from the airport. They escaped out the back door. Remember, we can't tell anyone yet."
Joy roars through Dylan. Then unbelieving he says, "Please Jesse, be straight with me. I need to know the truth."
Jesse repeats, "I am telling you the truth Dylan, I swear. They are all right. Now you concentrate on getting well. I understand a wedding is in your future."
He lets the joy and relief flow through his system soothing his nerves. They're all right. Thank God! Skye is alive! Tears of joy flow down his cheeks. He looks at Jesse, "Thank you, Jesse." Hesitating he asks, "Will you untie me? I need to move off my back. I'm still not healed from the beatings."
Jesse doesn't understand but she unties his hands and feet and he sits up in bed. Jesse pulls the sides of the gown that is split up the back apart and cringes when she gets a look at Dylan's back. She asks, "Oh my God Dylan, what happened? Do the nurses know you have these lacerations?"
Dylan shrugs his shoulders. "No, I didn't mention it when I checked in but you would think they saw them when they put this piece of nothing on me. I was severely beaten on my last mission in Central America."
Jesse says, "The orderlies probably undressed you and put you in the gown. They wouldn't have mentioned it." She pushes the call button and asks for the charge nurse to come into the room. She shows her Dylan's back saying, "Make sure the doctor is aware of these and see if you can get some antibiotic cream ordered for them. They look very red and irritated and we don't want them to get infected. Also, would you please make a note in his chart not to restrain him on his back again?"
The charge nurse agrees and leaves the room.
Dylan says, "Thank you Jesse, for everything. When are you and Bear going to pull up stakes and move to the ranch? We would love for you to live with us permanently. They have hospitals in Cody, you know."
Jesse answers, "Actually, we've been talking about it. Clarence is still not comfortable in the city and I think he would really like to be near Stump."
Dylan responds, "Good. I know Stump would love for you to be at the ranch. You know we are changing the focus of Drake Security. We are only going to do domestic security from now on. I want to be close to home after Skye and I get married and Damian needs a full time father."
Jesse answers, "That's great news! Now I won't complain the next time Clarence asks me if he can join your company."
Dylan smiles, "Bear will always have a position with us."
******
Two days later, Detective Long calls Barry with an update. The explosion at the restaurant was caused by multiple bombs scattered throughout the establishment. It is believed they were hidden in potted plants around the perimeter and coordinated to explode with one cell phone call. They were very sophisticated. They are still looking for leads. One hundred and three people perished in the explosion including several very wealthy residents of the city. The police are not publicly releasing any names even though some family members of victims have confirmed their deaths. The police do not want to confirm or deny whether or not Barry and his group were among the victims. In fact, Detective Long is the only person outside of the family that knows for sure they survived.
The judge has postponed the trial at the request of the prosecutor. The prosecutor has video testimony of both Barry and Skye so he will probably proceed without them at some point. Barry and Skye have not contacted the prosecutor or the judge to let them know they survived after Detective Long told them not to.
******
Dylan's treatment is progressing nicely and his back lacerations are being treated with antibiotic cream and are finally healing. He has shaved off his beard and consulted a plastic surgeon about reducing the horrible scar that extends from just in front of his ear around his cheekbone and nearly to the corner of his mouth. He has scheduled the surgery for the end of the week. Unfortunately, Dylan is not allowed visitors or phone calls while he is in treatment.
******
Pinky, Stump and Goose are working their way through the pile of boxes that were delivered to the ranch from Skye's storage building. Skye is helping them by answering questions about what they might be looking for.
While digging through one box Pinky finds a doll and turns to Skye, "Hey Skye, was this yours?"
I frown when I look at the doll, "No, I've never seen it before."
Pinky shakes it and says, "It sounds like there might be something inside. Do you mind if I check it out?"
"No, have at it," I answer.
He pulls the head off the doll and turns it upside down causing a thumb drive to drop into his hand. "Bingo! Looks like I found something." He bounds up the stairs and plugs the thumb drive into his laptop. A series of files appear. Scanning through each one he says, "Holey Moley. This is unbelievable. Look at this, guys. This is what someone is willing to kill for." He makes duplicates of the files and places them in the safe, "I'm going to deliver this personally to our contact at the FBI. It's too valuable to take a chance on sending it via the internet or snail mail."
After briefing Barry about what they found on the thumb drive, Barry says, "Wow, I never dreamed Ben was involved in something that extensive. It's no wonder they killed him. I still don't understand why they are after Skye though. She wasn't in any shape back then to have known anything."
Goose says, "Maybe they are just after the thumb drive. Some very important people are implicated in some very illegal activities on that thumb drive. I mean this extends to the upper reaches of the government. Once everything becomes public they should back off. I can't see them wanting to add murder to their list of crimes."
Pinky says, "They obviously are willing to murder now. Why would that change?"
Barry says, "Now wait a minute. We may be dealing with two totally different things here. The explosion may be because of the rape trial and not have anything at all to do with Ben's murder. It has been months since Skye killed Jones and she's ventured out hundreds of times after that. This didn't heat back up until those guys were charged with rape."
Stump says, "I agree with Barry. I think the explosion was because of the trial, not a decades old murder. They probably think if the information contained on that thumb drive was going to be made public it already would have been."
Barry says, "Okay Pinky, you head out to DC tomorrow. Stump, you and Goose start digging into those five rape suspects. Let's see if we can dig up the dirt they are trying so hard to bury."
******
A few days later Detective Long calls Barry again. "Wo
uld it be possible for you guys to run some prints through those expanded databases you can access? We are not getting any hits here and I know you were able to identify Jonas as Jones with your access."
Barry says, "Sure, we'll be happy to assist you. Are you going to send them to Dylan's email? We can get them from there."
"Sure, I'll send them right over. Let me know if you find anything" says the detective.
Barry asks, "Detective, have you gotten any leads on the bomb maker? Maybe we can help with that too. We just need to see the information you have been able to gather about their makeup and construction."
Detective Long says, "That would be great. I'll send that information too. Keep me posted on anything you find."
******
As soon as Goose retrieves the information from Dylan's email he gets to work searching their databases. He manages to get a hit on three of the four sets of prints. All but one look to be innocuous but the one looks like a good hit. The guy's name is Jim Burleson. He is a former Marine known to the members of the Drake Security team. He is an explosives expert with knowledge unsurpassed by anyone else they know. They had always believed him to be a good guy and are surprised when his name pops up on the screen.
When they compare the information about the bombs with what they know of Burleson's knowledge they come up with another match. The just can't figure out why he would want to kill Barry or Skye. He and Barry were close friends in the Marines.
They call Barry and ask him to come to the Drake Security office over the barn. When he walks in he knows something is wrong. Barry asks, "Okay guys, what's up?"
They show him the information on the screen ... Barry shakes his head. "Wow, I can't believe it. Jim is a good guy."
Goose says, "Think Barry. Did he ever tell you anything that might explain why he would want to blow up that restaurant?"
Barry asks, "Do we have a current list of the victims of the explosion? I know Jim was crazy about a girl from LA. Maybe she worked at the restaurant or something. It's possible it was a coincidence we were at the restaurant that night."
