by Dale Mayer
Chase reached over and covered her hand with his. “And you should be. It’s a good way to look at it. All this bad stuff will be over soon, and you will have a whole new beginning.”
She nodded and tossed him a quick glance. “What are you going to do in order to have a new start?”
“Apparently I’m going to go to trial to give evidence,” he said in a dry tone. “If that isn’t putting the past behind me, I don’t know what is.”
“Oh,” she gasped. “I’m so sorry. You’re right, that’s a way bigger step than mine.”
“It’s not about the size of the step only that we take that step.” But his tone was darker than she’d have liked.
She slipped her fingers through his and gave a gentle squeeze. “You’ll do fine.”
Chapter 19
Two hours later, they had the house to themselves. Not that they were truly alone. Someone was on guard outside. She waved the others off before going inside. Chase leaned against the table and waited for her.
“What are we going to do now?”
“I have to meet with the DA in his office. Do you want to come with me?”
“Can we swing by and see how Amrit is doing?” She couldn’t help but worry about him.
He considered the possibility then nodded. “Better that we don’t meet them at the apartment though. Maybe take them for an ice cream later.”
She brightened at the idea. “Perfect.” She glanced down at her jeans and shirt. “I guess this will have to do. I didn’t bring very many clothes from my apartment.”
“We can also swing by there if you want to pick up a few more things. Then again…” He frowned. “It’s hard to say if your apartment is under surveillance or not. They should be running thin on manpower. But we don’t want to take any chances. We’ll go shopping instead, if that’s okay.” He glanced at his watch and added, “If we leave now we can meet Amrit either before or after lunch. Depending on how long the meeting with the DA goes.”
And that’s what they did, although the visit to the DA’s office took much longer than they planned. The opulent heavy wood mahogany look to the place just added to the elegance and seriousness of the issue.
She sat quietly while Chase and the DA went over several of the sticking points. She was glad she didn’t have to go on the witness stand. This was going to be a huge relief for Chase when it was over. First they needed to make sure Gregory went to jail and stayed there.
Finally they were done. Chase stood up, held out his hand for her and said, “We’ll be lying low until the court date.”
The DA nodded. “The trial starts on Friday.”
That surprised her. For some reason, she thought the trial would start on a Monday.
“Not that much happens at the beginning of these things,” the DA said. “You’ll probably be called Wednesday or Thursday if everything runs smoothly. Otherwise it will be the week after.”
The week after. Damn, that meant she might need to be weeks off work. Chase said, “I’d like to be called as soon as I can be. We need to return to work as soon as possible.”
The DA nodded but said in a noncommittal voice, “We’ll see how it goes.”
Vanessa asked in a low tone, “What happens to the trial if someone should come after you?”
“The case will be reassigned to another DA and will be pushed back.” He smiled at her. “I do this all the time. I haven’t been stopped by any of the many criminals that have threatened to do the job.”
“Not yet anyway.” She stood at Chase’s side. “Stay safe, please.”
“We all need to stay safe,” the DA said. “I’d planned to discuss security for you both, but I spoke with your commander this morning and he says he’s got it covered. I figured he’d do the job better than anyone else.”
Vanessa was surprised to hear that but then again maybe not. As they walked through the building to the front door she asked him, “Did you know about the commander?”
“No, I didn’t. But it doesn’t surprise me. The law needs to keep the witnesses safe up until the trial. Given the people I work with, the safest I can be is with them.”
“Is this official Navy business now?” she teased. He gave a bark of laughter and said, “Apparently it is for my unit. I, however, am not on the job.”
At the front door there were several men standing and talking. Vanessa watched as two of them separated from the group and walked toward them. She squeezed Chase’s hand. “Looks like the guards are here.”
“Great,” he whispered under his breath.
She could hear the change in his voice. The last thing he wanted was to be the one needing protection. He wanted to be the one giving it. She, on the other hand, appreciated the extra men. She’d take all the protection she could get.
They were walked outside and down to a large white SUV.
“Where did you guys get this one?” she exclaimed as she clambered into the back seat. Chase and Hawk pinned her in the middle of the big very comfortable vehicle. “Are we going back to Brett’s house?”
“We have a few other errands yet,” Chase said.
“And on that list was an ice cream with Amrit I believe,” Swede, who was driving, said.
She brightened. “I really appreciate you guys looking after Chase. Those gang members don’t want him to make it to court.”
Chase snorted. “I’ll be fine.”
“You will be now,” Hawk said. “It’s official. You are our mission this week.” But he said it with such a grin there was nothing offensive about it.
“And you should appreciate it,” Vanessa scolded. “These men are going to do whatever they can to keep you alive.”
“They are going to do what they can to keep you alive,” Chase said. “I can take care of myself.”
Irritation wrangled through his voice. She smiled and reached out to pat his hand. “It’s okay. You can accept help once in a while too.”
He glared at her. She upped the wattage of her smile. Hearing the snickers from the men around him, he groaned and collapsed back against the seat, tucking her up against his side.
She said, “You look out for me, they look out for you, and between us we should be fine.”
For all the joking banter inside of the SUV there was a noticeable seriousness too. This was what they did, but that didn’t mean they always succeeded.
“Where to first?” Swede asked.
“Clothes shopping for Vanessa,” Chase said. “If you guys are determined to look after us then we’re going to drag you along on her shopping trip.”
Swede groaned.
Vanessa looked behind her to see a second SUV a little further back. She nudged Chase. “Is that one of ours?”
He twisted to look and smiled. “Yep. Markus is driving the second vehicle.”
“What happened to all the fancy trucks and Jeeps you guys normally drive?”
“None of those are fancy,” Swede said in outrage. “Those are the necessities of life.”
She laughed. “So why are you driving this rig then?”
“Because it’s official now, so we avoid using our personal vehicles,” he said sadly.
She laughed. “I prefer the Jeep.”
That started the group wrangling the merits of the truck versus the Jeep. It kept the atmosphere light and much easier to handle than the fear that was choking her. Chase gave her a quick hug. “It’ll be okay. Stay positive.”
“You have really good friends, Chase, you’re very lucky,” she said quietly.
“He is very lucky. Keep telling him that. Maybe he’ll finally appreciate us.” Swede laughed. “Of course if he’s got you that makes him very lucky.”
She beamed at him in the rearview mirror. “You guys are too.”
“We’ll be nice to you. But not to him. That goes against the grain.” That came from Hawk on the other side of her.
“We can’t be too nice. It would ruin Chase.”
“Shit!” Swede suddenly hit the gas but somet
hing slammed hard into the back of the vehicle. It rose and flipped over on the side. She let out a shriek. All around her was grim silence interspersed by swearing. Glass shattered and brakes squealed.
Her head hit something hard and she blacked out.
*
Chase reached out to grab Vanessa but her head snapped back against a case that had been sitting at the back window. He quickly unbuckled her seat belt and checked her vital signs. Her pulse was slow and steady.
He could hear guns being ratcheted as doors were kicked open. His team quickly moved to protect those still left inside. He didn’t know what just happened, but it looked like they were rammed from the back and pushed up and over something else, tossing the big SUV onto its side.
From his vantage point he couldn’t see anyone approaching, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have sniper rifles. The rear windshield was badly cracked from the crash. Chase carefully carried Vanessa out to where his men were waiting. He could hear the second SUV racing to give aid. As they came alongside, Chase moved Vanessa inside the back. Then hopped up beside her on the bench seat. Markus was driving this rig with Cooper on shotgun. Evan sat in the backseat also, keeping Vanessa from rolling. Swede slammed the door shut then pounded the side of the vehicle, yelling, “Go, go, go.”
And Markus gunned it.
Evan turned to look at Chase. “Is she okay?”
“She’s unconscious but I can’t see any other injuries.”
He ran his hands gently over her frame to make sure there were no bullet holes or broken bones. “We’ll take her to the doc to get checked over,” Cooper said.
“Is that a good idea?” Chase asked.
“She’s on standby already.” Cooper turned back to face forward and made a call. “No visible injuries, she’s out cold.” He nodded and hung up the phone. He turned back to Chase. “She wants to check her over to make sure.”
Markus changed direction, sending the SUV around the corner.
“I don’t want to bring trouble to your doorstep.”
“Not to worry, you won’t be.” Cooper laughed at the surprised look on his face. “Sasha is house sitting for a friend right now. They have three dogs and three cats so they wanted her to stay there with them.” His grin widened as he added, “You’ll understand when you see them.”
Chase wanted to make sure Vanessa was okay. He knew it was a bad idea to keep her close to him. This just proved it. Anyone in his vicinity was going to get hurt. Look at her. He leaned over her pale face and stroked the hair back from her cheeks.
“Come on, Vanessa. Wake up, honey.”
She didn’t answer. Her body rocked gently with the SUV’s movements, but she showed no signs of regaining consciousness. Markus slowed down as they entered a suburban area. After several more corners he pulled up into the front of a large Victorian house.
Cooper hopped out, walked up to the front door and opened it. “Sasha? You here?”
With his focus on gently removing Vanessa from the back of the SUV, Chase missed Sasha’s response. But he could hear the laughter and lighthearted voices, so he knew all was well.
He didn’t want to bring more trouble into his friends’ lives. Sasha had been through enough in her life. Hell, they all had. She was good people.
And Cooper was one hell of a lucky man.
Chase carried Vanessa through the open garage into the house, hoping none of the neighbors saw him. Sasha was waiting in the kitchen. “Lay her on the kitchen table please,” she instructed.
The kitchen table was actually a very long island. He gently laid Vanessa down and waited while Dr. Sasha checked her over. Sasha spent an extraordinarily long time on Vanessa’s head area where she’d smacked into the metal case.
Finally she straightened and nodded. “She’ll be fine. The head wound isn’t bad. She should wake up soon.”
“Is there a couch where I can lay her? I don’t want her sitting up in shock and then falling off the island.”
Sasha laughed. “Bring her in here.” She led the way into the living room.
In the background Chase could hear animals barking. “Where are the dogs?” he asked.
“I have them locked in the study for the moment.”
Sasha quickly hurried away and before he knew it three basset hounds came running at top speed into the living room area, barking like crazy. They raced toward him, and he put his hand down protectively to make sure they didn’t disturb Vanessa. The barking stopped at a command from Sasha. The first one sniffed the side of Vanessa’s face and the second one sniffed her hand. The third was checking out her legs. He wasn’t sure if he should pull them back or just leave them when Sasha came back and studied the dogs’ reactions.
“One of the reasons why I was asked to look after these dogs is they are training to find disease and other medical conditions in people. So for the dogs this is a training session.”
Eyebrows raised, Chase watched as the docs sniffed Vanessa from top to bottom then they turned and wandered back over toward Sasha.
“So…what’s the verdict?”
“They didn’t signal to say there was any kind of a problem, so that’s a good sign,” Sasha said cheerfully. “Now what the devil have you got yourself into, Chase?”
She walked over to stand in front of him. One thing about Dr. Sasha was she was very tiny but she had presence. It didn’t matter how big or how old one was you always stood at attention as if a teacher was about to scold you.
“Chase, what is going on?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toe lightly on the floor, reminding him of Vanessa’s earlier actions.
With a half desperate glance at Cooper, hoping he’d save him and realizing it was futile from the grin on his friend’s face, Chase admitted in a sheepish voice, “Something I was hoping would stay forgotten has risen to the surface.”
She shook her head. “Secrets always surface.”
“It wasn’t a secret,” he protested. “It was my history. I walked away and thought maybe I would be able to stay walked away.”
That intense gaze of hers reminded him of just how intelligent Dr. Sasha was. He fidgeted in place. Finally she gave a short nod and said, “Better that this happens now than later.” Then she turned and walked back to Cooper. “Are you on guard duty?”
Cooper nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He flashed his devilish grin at her, but she rested her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“What did I say I’d do to you the next time you called me that?”
His grin widened. “Something delicious, I hope.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to face Markus. “Markus, do you want coffee?”
“Yes please.” His phone buzzed then. He pulled it out of his pocket and took a look. “Tow truck has arrived. No other sign of trouble,” he read off. He walked a few feet away so as not to disturb everyone and made a call.
Chase could hear him talk to Swede. “Sasha has checked her over but she is still unconscious. There doesn’t appear to be any other injuries.” Markus nodded a few more times. “Right. I will meet you back at the house.” He glanced back over at the others and said, “You’d better pick up food too.” He put his phone away and rejoined them, his gaze on Vanessa.
“Looks like she’s coming around.”
Chase sat down on the couch beside her, his hand on her shoulder gently stroking his thumb back and forth across her collarbone. “Wake up slowly, Vanessa. You’re okay.”
Huge eyes stared at him under heavy lids as she tried to focus on his face.
He worried she wasn’t quite there yet when she said with more spirit than volume, “Says you. How come it’s my head that’s got a boomerang bouncing around inside of it and not yours?”
He chuckled. “Just lucky I guess.”
“What? Are you one of those super secret SEALs and went through some kind of fancy hard head training or something?” she asked lightly with one eyebrow raised. He saw the smile on her face and wondered if she’d hit the
truth accidentally. He’d have to ask her about it later.
“Hey, I resent that,” Cooper said from behind her.
She twisted to look up at him and gasped, falling back on the couch, a hand clutching her head.
Chase immediately said, “Don’t try to move yet.”
“You could’ve said that a few seconds ago. Have I met that man behind me?”
Chase searched his mind. Had she actually met Cooper yet?
Cooper stepped around so he stood at Chase’s side looking down at her. “Not sure if we’ve met,” he said cheerfully. “I’m Cooper. Nice to meet you. This wonderful lady over here who checked you over is Dr. Sasha, and she’s the most beautiful person I know.”
Sasha laughed as she looked down at Vanessa. “How are you feeling? Glad to hear you’re not letting these guys overrun you. They can be a little overwhelming. But they’re all good men.”
“The men have been wonderful,” Vanessa said. She struggled to sit up. The color washed out of her cheeks, and she rested for a moment. “I hate to say it, but I really need to make it to the bathroom.”
“Use my arm to stand up and I’ll help you over to it.”
Weaving slightly, Chase led her over to the bathroom, which thankfully was attached to the kitchen. At the door he asked, “Do you need any help?”
“No. I should be fine, thanks.”
And she closed the door firmly in his face.
Chapter 20
Inside the bathroom Vanessa leaned against the counter and took several deep breaths. She hadn’t been sure she was going to make it, but the thought of being alone for just a few moments was too intoxicating to refuse. She knew she didn’t have long before Chase opened the door to check on her. She went to the bathroom first then while washing her hands she splashed water on her face. Her temple ached but it wasn’t too obnoxious. There was a headache but it was no longer a sledgehammer trying to get out from the inside. All in all she didn’t feel too bad. She vaguely remembered something hitting the vehicle and it flipping.
That immediately started her thinking about the other men that had been with them. But nobody had seemed to be upset out there. Was it possible she was the only one who got hurt?
