Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6)

by Teresa Reasor

  “We’ve talked to every person on the list, doctor. They’ve been warned to keep close watch over their pets. But we weren’t aware of this man and his dog.”

  The tension went out of Piper, and she relaxed for the first time in hours. “He’s retired Master Chief Clifton Flynn, and he’s in the Naval hospital. They fractured his skull, cracked some ribs, and broke his arm. He’s experiencing brain trauma from the attack, and having some balance issues and weakness on the right side. I have his dog. She was hit by a car while pursuing one of the men who attacked Flynn. The dog and her handler were close to the master chief in Iraq or Afghanistan, and since the dog was retiring at the same time he was, he adopted her on his way out. He was a SEAL.

  “I can’t believe we missed this.” She heard the shuffles of paper on the other end of the phone.

  “It just happened yesterday, Detective. It was actually the man who hit the dog who put it all together. He’s been coming by to see how she is and invited me to go with him to the hospital to see Master Chief Flynn.”

  “Who is this guy?”

  She bit her lip. Zach would be overjoyed about being dragged into this. “Ensign Zach O’Connor. He’s an active duty SEAL. He contacted the police and gave a statement after he brought the master chief’s dog in. He recognized her war dog status from the tattoo in her ear, and was upset about hitting her. I’ll give you his number and you can call him, but his statement should be with the policemen who interviewed him.”

  “And he saw the guy she was chasing?”

  “Yes, but he said he was wearing a stocking over his face.”

  “If you have his number I’d appreciate it.”

  She gave him Zach’s number and, as soon as she ended the call, skimmed through her cell phone for Zach’s number so she could warn him the police would likely call or visit him sometime in the next few days. A movement just outside her office caught her attention…more the shifting of a shadow than a movement.

  Was someone out there listening to her conversation? Had anyone checked the back door to make sure it was secure? A deadbolt could only work if everyone remembered to use it when they visited the run out back.

  Piper’s heart raced, jamming her breath up into her throat. She rose and slipped around the desk and eased to the door. Tony appeared and she yelped in surprise.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Piper pressed a hand to her chest as her heart continued to drum in her throat and ears. “Was someone out in the hall?”

  “Dr. Rawls came back in. He left something in his office he needed.” Tony waved the chart he held. “We have a black lab who’s lethargic and not drinking or eating.”

  Piper released a relieved breath, closed her phone, and dropped it in her pocket. “Let’s take care of him.”

  Chapter 12

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  Cal slouched in one of the two chairs. Hospital rooms were interchangeable, be they military hospitals or civilian. They all had the same beds, the same tables, and the same white sheets, bleached until they were rough as sandpaper.

  The smell lingering in the room was also universal. It was blend of bleach, cleaning solutions, and alcohol. There was also the sour smell of sick sweat hanging in the air.

  He propped his foot on the side support of the bed and tried to focus on the newspaper he was reading to pass the time. His father slept much of the time, which worried him, because Rob Crowes never slept. He was always in motion, always barking orders.

  But he wasn’t now. While he’d been confined to the hospital and home during his illness, he’d lost his tan. Silver threaded his hair, and he’d lost weight, which he’d needed to do, but he didn’t look healthy. Wires snaked out from inside his hospital gown to a machine next to the bed, monitoring his oxygen level, pulse, and blood pressure.

  For the first time, his father looked old and the emotions the simple observation unleashed were too complicated to unwind.

  If his dad hadn’t been such a hard-ass, there wouldn’t be this wedge of anger and resentment hammered between them, a wedge that changed them into polite strangers.

  Cal had been monitoring everything he said carefully to keep from antagonizing his dad, and his father in turn replied using words designed to push his buttons. Which made him resent his father even more. But he needed to find a way to set their tangled, contentious emotional history aside. If his father died, he’d be left holding the guilt and pain while his dad skipped out to the afterlife, fancy-free and with a clear conscience. Rob Crowes didn’t apologize for anything. Everyone was expected to just get over it.

  So why was Cal still holding on to so much hurt and resentment? He’d moved to San Diego and built his own life. He was settled in a job he enjoyed and was good at. He had a girlfriend he was crazy about, and who loved him. What difference did it make if he wasn’t a part of a business he said good-bye to four years ago?

  Being cut out of the business wasn’t what had caused the rift. It was being thrown out of his father’s life. He lost his leg and lost his father at the same time. On occasion he still had shadow pain from the leg amputation. The pain of losing his dad reared up just as often.

  His father’s voice cut into his thoughts. “I don’t know why you’re staring at the damn paper so hard. You haven’t read a word in the last five minutes.”

  Cal jerked his attention away from his thoughts. He folded the paper and set it aside. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. Where’s your mother?”

  “She had some scheduling issues to take care of at the office. Something about cabinets being delayed.”

  “So she left you here to babysit me?”

  Cal breathed a sigh. Why was this man always combative? “You’re a little old for a babysitter, Dad. If you don’t want me here, I can go sit out in the hall until she comes back.”

  His father looked away. “No. You’re fine where you are.”

  Cal straightened in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. “Do you want some water or something?”

  “Yeah, I could use a drink. I can have liquids until midnight.”

  Cal poured some water into a small cup from the plastic pitcher on the bedside table, stuck in a flexible straw, set it on the hospital table, pushing it over the bed. Then he raised the head of the bed so his father could sit up and reach the water.

  “You seem to know how to work everything around here,” his father commented.

  “One hospital is the same as another. I had plenty of practice when I was in one.”

  His father reached for the cup and took a long drink. “You look good.”

  “Thanks. I’m doing good.”

  “Tom Hill came through for you.”

  “Yeah, he did. I like my job, and I’m good at it.”

  “And this girl you’re dating?”

  “She’s not a girl, Dad. She’s a woman. Kathleen is beautiful and talented. You’ll meet her next week.”

  “She’s flying here?”

  “Yeah. I want her to meet you and mom.”

  “So it’s serious?”

  “As it gets.”

  His father nodded and studied him for a long moment. “I guess if you can survive surgery in a makeshift hospital in Afghanistan, I can make it in a state-of-the-art hospital here in the states.”

  Was his dad afraid? Hell, who wouldn’t be? They were going to crack open his chest and do bypass surgery. “You’re going to be fine. The surgeon doing your operation has an excellent reputation and no lawsuits on record. He knows what he’s doing.”

  “You must have looked him up.”

  “Yeah, I did some research on him.”

  “That’s the most interest you’ve shown in a while.”

  Cal cocked a brow at him and shrugged. “I call Mom every week, Dad. You could ask to speak to me any time.” He drew a deep breath and bit back the words of resentment begging to be spoken. “Why did you tell her not to tell me about your heart?”

  �
�I figured you were busy with work and stuff.”

  “Yeah, I have been busy, but not so busy I couldn’t listen to an update about your health.” Unlike his father’s disinterest in his son’s ability to walk again and lead a normal life. He turned away to look out the window and across the San Antonio cityscape.

  Silence stretched, and Cal let it. It was better not to say anything, because if he said half of what he thought, they’d have a blowup, and his dad would have another heart attack.

  “This woman you’re dating…what does she do for a living?”

  “She’s an architect for a large commercial firm.”

  “She must be a smart cookie.”

  “Yeah, very smart and beautiful.”

  “Where did you meet her?”

  He was tired of this slow, painful process. “On a building site. She’s the woman in the newspaper articles, Dad.” He turned to face his father. “We were already dating when she was kidnapped and tortured.”

  “I see.”

  There was the tone he’d been waiting for. He didn’t see a thing.

  “How long have you been dating?”

  “Nearly nine months. Her brother and his SEAL team saved my life in Afghanistan.”

  His gray brows went up. “That’s a wild coincidence.”

  “Yeah, it is. She had just moved out from Boston to start work at her job, and was living with her brother while she hunted for an apartment. She invited me to dinner, and I recognized him.”

  “So, her brother is a SEAL?”

  “Yeah. She has two other brothers serving, one army, one marine, and her father and oldest brother are Boston policemen.”

  “She has a large family.”

  “Yeah. Eight brothers and her mom and dad, plus an army of nieces and nephews. They’re Irish Catholic.”

  “Different from us, huh?”

  “There are certainly more of them. Her mom and dad are good people.”

  “When did you meet them?”

  “About six months ago. They came out to check on Kathleen and stayed a week.”

  He could see his dad’s mind working, trying to figure out a way to ask what they thought about their daughter dating a man missing part of a leg. He settled for, “And you got along okay with her family?”

  “Yeah, the ones I’ve met so far. Zach and I fish together now and then.”

  His dad looked away. “Sounds like you’ve moved on.”

  Like he had a choice. “I had to make a living.” Cal shrugged again and held his tongue.

  “We’ve got five crews working with only your brother and mother supervising, Cal.”

  He studied his dad’s face. “Doug will step up to the plate.”

  “He’s not ready.”

  Then what the hell had Doug been doing? “My impression was you don’t want me anywhere near your business.”

  “Your mother is overwhelmed and I…The doc’s already said I may never be able to go back to the job full time.”

  Cal remained silent to keep from voicing the string of curses going through his mind. Doug was a number-one fucker. “Doug’s worked with you for more than six years, Dad. He should be up to running things. He’ll get used to supervising and delegating. I’m only going to be here for a week or so. After your surgery, I have a job to go back to.”

  “You could help him find his feet while you’re here, Cal.”

  Why hadn’t his Dad helped Doug find his feet in the six years he’d been working with him? “He’ll see my help as interference. I didn’t come here to start a power struggle over the business. I won’t be a party to that.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to him about it.”

  “No. You’re not supposed to be under any kind of stress, and the minute you start talking about any of this your blood pressure starts to rise.”

  He frowned. “How do you know?”

  Cal pointed to the machine next to the bed monitoring his dad’s vitals. “It’s there on the screen.” He wasn’t going to be held responsible for his Dad having another attack, and the only way to avoid it was to avoid him. “I’m going downstairs to get a soft drink. Do you want anything?”

  “You’re running away,” his dad accused.

  “I’m glad to know you finally realize I can,” Cal commented and wandered out of the room. He stopped by the nurses’ station and spoke to the one who’d been assigned to his dad since he arrived. She was short and round, had an engaging smile, and a great mass of dark hair rolled into a casual bun at the crown of her head.

  “I’m going to the cafeteria for a drink, but I’ll be right back.”

  “We can give you a soft drink, Mr. Crowes.”

  “I need to stretch my legs. If you could check on my Dad, I’d appreciate it. He’s a little worried about his business. I’ve tried to reassure him, but he has a tendency to get worked up. I left so he’d quit talking about it and get it off his mind.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “Thanks.” He took the elevator to the first floor and followed the signs to the cafeteria. He wondered if hospitals had a universal plan their cafeterias had to follow. This one looked like all the others he’d been in. He grabbed an apple from the salad line and got a bottled soft drink out of a refrigerator unit. He paid for it, and then wandered back toward the elevators, taking his time. He didn’t want to return to the same argument. It was like being stuck on a treadmill covering the same ground over and over and never moving forward. He was tired of it.

  His mom walked through the front entrance, so he paused near the elevators to wait for her.

  Looking up, she spotted him and angled in his direction. “How’s your father doing?”

  “He’s fine. The nurses are keeping an eye on him. I just ran down to get a drink.”

  It was easier for the gray to hide out in her blond hair, but it was there, around her face. Lines at the corner of her blue-green eyes, the same color as his, deepened while she studied him with a troubled expression. “He’s already started on you, hasn’t he?”

  She’d put on makeup and hidden the dark circles under her eyes he noticed this morning.

  “What was he after you about?”

  “He wants me to help Doug out at the business until he gets his feet under him. I’d think Doug would already have the rhythm of the job after six years, Mom.”

  “Your Dad likes to keep a tight rein on things. And your brother hasn’t really put in the kind of time he needs to catch on to the way we do things.”

  Cal raised a brow. According to Doug, he was in charge, and their Dad was just there to supervise. “I don’t want to get into a tug-of-war with Doug over the business, Mom.” And he had a life back in San Diego he wanted to return to. He’d been gone forty-eight hours, and he missed Kathleen more every minute. He should never have encouraged her to fly out. She’d land dead center in a family feud if his mom and dad continued to push him toward helping with the business.

  “Doug’s bragged a bit, hasn’t he?”

  Cal remained silent. He wasn’t going to tell his mom what her youngest son had been up to.

  “We are a bit overwhelmed, Cal. It would be a help to me if you’d go by the sites and check on the crews’ progress. You know how the workers slack off if they think the boss isn’t watching.”

  Yeah, he knew. They needed deadlines; otherwise, they’d drag their feet and draw their check. Not all of them, but enough to screw up a construction schedule. “After Dad’s surgery, I’ll make the rounds with Doug. If I do it alone, he’ll get the idea I’m trying to take over.”

  “All right.”

  “I’ll need to see the plans for the projects and the materials ordered. What kind of problem did you have with today’s order?”

  “Just a delay in receiving some kitchen cabinets. The bathroom cabinets were in the same order. We have the flooring done in both bathrooms and the kitchen. They were going to deliver the granite counter tops tomorrow, so I’ve had to put them off for a couple of days until
we get the cabinets in. The guys went ahead and worked on laying the hardwood flooring in the bedrooms and hallway on the second floor today. The cabinets will be here tomorrow.”

  “I’ll look at things tonight so I’ll be up to speed.”

  “If Doug has anything to say about it, just tell him I asked you to check on some things for me.”

  Great! This was going to go over like a cherry bomb in a manure pile. Shit would fly.

  They hopped on the elevator and rode upstairs to the cardiology wing. “He’s never going to relax while I’m here, Mom. Every time I’m in the room his blood pressure goes up.”

  “He’s got a guilty conscience.”

  He didn’t want guilt to feed his dad’s illness. He just wanted him to acknowledge he’d been wrong.

  She drew a deep breath, impatience radiating off of her. “You’re both idiots.”

  Cal bit his lip to keep from smiling.

  “I’m over this thing between the two of you, Cal. One of you has to apologize so we can move on.”

  “I didn’t do anything to apologize for, Mom. He didn’t want me, and I left. What else was I supposed to do? My leg isn’t going to grow back. I wasn’t going to stick around and be treated like a cripple the rest of my life.”

  “No. I didn’t expect you to.” Her shoulders fell and she looped her arm through his. “Your dad thought you’d leave for a few months then come back. He never thought you’d stay away.”

  “He should have given me a chance. But he wasn’t willing to do it, so I found someone who would.”

  “He was going to, Cal, but you never came back.”

  That revelation came four years too late to change anything. “His finger wasn’t broken. He could have called me.”

  “He’s a stubborn man. And so are you. And Doug has always been stuck between you.”

  “Between us?” From his standpoint Doug had been front and center for the last six years. It was on him if he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation.

  “Both of you are driven and determined. Doug wants to be just like you, but lacks the initiative. He’d rather put in his eight hours and go home for a cold beer. He’d rather watch television than spend half the night tracking down a faucet lost in shipping.”