As though Caroline knew her thoughts, she said, “Mom, don’t forget what the ER doctor recommended. You need to see a trauma counselor.”
Afraid that the tears would renew, she simply nodded. Grateful her daughter understood, giving her a few minutes to pull herself together, she sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Turning, she enveloped Caroline in another hug. “I need to get ready to go in today. And you need to make arrangements to get back to school.” Leaning back, she added, “Once I get things settled at work, I’m planning on taking some time off. If you think you can handle having your mom around, I’ll come to visit you near Thanksgiving and stay for a little bit.”
Caroline grinned widely. “I’d love that, Mom.”
Forcing her arms to release her daughter, she touched Caroline’s cheek before heading back to her bedroom. She had just enough time for a shower before going to work. Not having any idea what she was going to be facing today, she wondered if she was going to be seeing Eric, and her mind warred between the desire to be with him again and wondering when he was going to be leaving.
29
Eric met Lydia at the front of the building, unable to wait any longer to see her. As soon as they had arrived in Manhattan two days earlier, Caroline had whisked her away. Paul had contacted her to let her know what was going on, and Eric was grateful Lydia had her daughter there for her. His heart had been touched at the reunion between the two of them, both with tears streaming down their faces.
Still, he had not wanted to leave her alone. He wanted to be there for her, protect her, make sure she was okay. But Lydia was in a delicate state of mind and had needed her daughter with her. It had been difficult for him to back away, but he knew she needed some space. Unable to completely let go, he had insisted she see her family physician and was pleased when she had explained she had a trauma counselor recommendation she was going to follow up on. It was a start.
Now, as he watched her walking from the parking lot, he stepped directly up to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head.
He breathed easier when her arms encircled his waist, and she squeezed him back. He leaned away, just far enough to carefully look into her eyes, and asked, “Are you and Caroline doing okay?”
She nodded. “She’s worried. On the one hand, I wish Paul hadn’t called her and worried her so much. On the other hand,” she shrugged and smiled slightly, “it’s so nice to have her with me.”
“Is she going to be able to stay for a while?”
Shaking her head, she replied, “I don’t want her to do that. She has her studies. She has her life. I told her this morning that I want her to go ahead and make plans to get back.”
Nodding, he watched as her gaze shifted beyond him to the NBAF building behind them. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. I do want to see Beth and Jim, and I know Paul needs to talk to me.” She shifted her gaze back to his, and asked, “Will you be there for that meeting?”
“I won’t leave your side,” he replied, leaning down to touch his lips to hers gently. He had spent the last two days thinking of nothing but her and how his life had changed since she came into it. He wanted to tell her that if she wanted, he would sell his place in Vermont and move to Kansas, but he held back, feeling that it was too soon, and she was too raw from her ordeal.
Sighing, he forced a smile on his face before linking fingers with her and escorting her inside the building.
He felt her stiffen as the guard did a double take when she walked by. Eric squeezed her fingers, and she sucked in a deep breath, squeezing his fingers in return. Most of the other employees passed on by, but her body remained stiff as they continued walking.
“Ignore them, Lydia,” he whispered.
“I suddenly feel like a bug under the glass, but I suppose that’s silly. I don’t suppose anybody really knows.”
“I know Paul kept it out of the news, and I doubt they wanted the word to get out around here.”
Her feet stumbled just as they got to her lab area and he let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders. “Nobody but friends in here, Lydia.”
She nodded, then sucked in a deep breath and pushed forward through the doors. She was immediately engulfed by Beth, who practically threw herself at her, and he placed his hands on her waist to steady her. Jim joined the group hug and Eric stepped back, giving them a chance to greet her.
He had come to the NBAF the previous day to fill Jim and Beth in on everything that he could tell them so they would not ply her with questions today. He looked on gratefully as they stepped back after their hug, simply saying if she needed anything, to let them know. They moved back to their workstations, and she turned around to look at him.
“When do we need to meet with Paul?”
He linked fingers with her again and pulled her closer. “Let’s go ahead and get this over with.” Paul had told him that whenever Lydia was ready, to come to his office, but he did not want to put it off any longer.
She blew out another breath and nodded, and they walked down the hall toward the administrative offices. Paul’s assistant looked up as they walked in and offered a quick smile before immediately showing them into Paul’s office.
He felt Lydia’s entire body quiver, and he shot Paul a pointed look over her head, hoping to indicate that they needed to keep this quick and simple. He breathed easier when Paul gave him a nearly imperceptible nod before moving over and enveloping Lydia in a hug.
“Thank God you’re all right,” Paul said. He pulled back and held her by the shoulders, staring into her face. “Come and sit down, Lydia. I’m just going to give you the basic information that you need to know, understanding of course, that you have already given your official statement to the DHS.”
Eric held a chair out for her to sit and then shifted his chair close to her’s, putting his arm around her shoulder once again.
Paul moved to a chair near her as well and settled. Holding her gaze, he began. “DHS became aware of North Korea’s interest in developing diseases that could be spread amongst farm animals. Meat is a staple of many diets around the world, so you can imagine the ramifications if they were successful, especially in poor areas. Of course, they also wanted to know how to protect themselves while developing and nurturing these diseases. Even though they have doctors, scientists, and researchers, they lag far behind the work that we do here.”
He paused, as though to give Lydia a chance to absorb this information, and Eric looked to the side, seeing her offer a simple nod. He looked back at Paul and waited for him to continue.
“Since we opened this facility, we’ve had our eye on the local groups and the extremists, as well. As you know, their goal is to disrupt the research that we have here. Some information came our way recently that connected the two events. Basically, there have been suspicions of money coming in from North Korea to one of the extremist groups. On top of this, the seminar on African Swine Fever was already in place, with international journalists and researchers coming to see our facility. We recognized this was a prime opportunity for North Korea to make a move. Send someone in, gather as much information as possible and, if needed, the extremist group was here to back them up.”
Paul glanced toward him, and he nodded. When he talked to Paul yesterday, he informed him that he wanted Lydia to be aware of the entire scope of the mission, including his part.
Focusing on Lydia again, Paul said, “Eric was hired by someone at DHS to come here and pose as a journalist. His mission was to keep an eye on the other journalists, assess their behavior, ferret out any possible double dealers, that sort of thing. We also had assigned some of our DHS to be with the scientists who were in other parts of the facility here.”
“Ji-Ho…was he the only one who was an imposter?” Lydia asked.
“Yes,” Paul replied. “Eric had discovered that the money trail led back to a man named Hyun-Gi, but it wasn’t until we arressted him that night, and
you corrobarated his identity, that we discovered he and Ji-Ho were the same man. The scientists were all who they said they were, and so were the other journalists. He was the only one who came in with a fake South Korean passport and identity.”
“I still don’t understand what he was trying to do here,” she confessed, her gaze moving between he and Paul.
“That’s where I come in, I believe.”
He and Lydia swung their heads around and watched as Linda Hughley walked into the room. Lydia quickly stood as Linda approached.
“Lydia, I’m so sorry that there was confusion between us,” Linda said. She offered a hug to Lydia, before they both sat down.
Paul continued, “It appears that Hyun-Gi had multiple agendas here. For one, he wanted to gather intel on our security systems. For another, he wanted to get as much info on our research and procedures as he could. In the end, he decided their best course of action was to take Linda back with them. Which is where Robert came in. He had been paying Robert for some time and blackmailed him into kidnapping what was supposed to be the head of the African Swine Fever division, obviously Linda. Robert mixed up Linda Hughley with Lydia Hughes and made his fatal error in kidnapping the wrong person.”
“Unbelievable…it’s all so unbelievable,” Lydia said, shaking her head. “He told me that he had a way to get out of the country. That was what he was going to do with Linda. He was going to get her back to North Korea.”
Her voice had risen with each word, and Eric wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her close. He hoped his body was giving her strength and noticed her breathing evened.
Paul nodded. “He’s now in custody. What will happen to him remains to be seen, but, yes, he and his compatriots had planned on taking her back to North Korea. As far as we can tell, they had planned on taking a small boat out of the harbor in Washington state and then transfering Linda to another ship, probably keeping her drugged the whole time.”
Not wanting Lydia to relive her ordeal needlessly, since she had already given her report to DHS already, Paul and Linda stood and offered her hugs once more. Linda left the room, and Paul moved to stand directly in front of Lydia.
“I want you to take as much time off as you need. I know you’ve been given a list of trauma counselors, and we want to make sure that you start seeing them. I cannot begin to imagine the horror that you went through, but we at DHS and here at this facility, support you in whatever you need to do.”
Eric watched her carefully, glad when he did not see renewed tears. Instead, she smiled slightly and nodded. “Thank you, Paul. I…well…I have no idea right now what I want to do or need to do. I don’t want to just sit at home and do nothing, but I’m not ready to come back and work here right now. Caroline is going back east, and I thought I might join her for a little extended vacation.”
Paul smiled warmly. “I think that’s an excellent idea, Lydia. Take as much time as you need.”
Eric led Lydia back outside the NBAF, and when they reached her car, she stopped and turned, looking back at the building. He did not want to disturb her train of thought, so he remained silent for a few minutes. She slowly seemed to become aware of her surroundings again and looked at him, blushing.
“I’m sorry…lost in thought, I suppose.”
He stepped closer and reached his hands up to cup her face. “Don’t ever apologize for taking time to figure out what you need.” He leaned forward and, once again, placed a sweet kiss on her lips.
She stared into his face and whispered, “Will I ever see you again, after you leave here?”
He continued to cup her face and smiled. “I wanted to wait and tell you this when you were stronger, because I want you to focus on you right now. But, Lydia, I want to be with you. You’re in my heart and that’s where I want you to stay.”
She offered a tremulous smile, and said, “I care so much for you. I want to be with you also, but I need to get my life back on track. I was honest with Paul, telling him that I wanted to head back east and visit my parents and spend a little time near Caroline. She’s actually already looked up a trauma counselor near her college campus.”
He sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “I think that’s a good idea. Selfishly, I’m glad that we’ll be on the same side of the country for a little while. But I know you have a lot to think about. I’ll give you all my contact information. I hope that you’ll use it when you’re ready.”
Unheeding of the others in the parking lot, he held her face, his thumbs sweeping her cheeks. Bending, he kissed her again, this time with all the emotion he felt churning inside. Love and hope, desire and need. He felt her hands tighten on his waist and the burn of each fingertip was like a brand. One he did not want to extinguish.
Their tongues tangled as he memorized the taste, touch, and essence of her. Finally, leaning back a slight inch, he drew in a ragged breath. His heart ached, and as much as he hated seeing her cry, this time her tears were for him and that sent a sliver of comfort through him, knowing she was as affected as he was.
“I don’t know how to let you go,” she confessed, swallowing deeply, blinking as another tear slid down her cheek.
“Then, let’s not say goodbye,” he said, holding her gaze. “I know we've said we weren’t making promises, but I love you, Lydia. You take all the time you need. I’ll wait for you.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and she hiccupped a sob. “I love you, too.”
With a final kiss goodbye, he watched her drive away, his eyes never leaving her car until it was out of sight. He rubbed his chest, feeling heartache deep inside. She made him want things in life that he thought were over…a woman to love and cherish. One to wake up to each morning. One to laugh with, share with, grow old with. Closing his eyes for a moment, he wondered if he would ever see her again. He knew that once they were no longer together, her feelings could change. Sucking in a deep breath, he headed to his car.
He drove to the car rental store, dropped off his vehicle, and was picked up by Chris, who drove them back to the Kansas City airport. Chris was unusually quiet on the drive so, when they finally arrived, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Nodding, Chris replied, “I thought I was ready for fieldwork but everything that happened with Lydia…well, let’s just say that maybe I’m better off doing my computer work in an office.”
“Chris, I wouldn’t have found Lydia if it hadn’t been for you. If I had not had someone with your talent and skill along with us, this mission would never have been successful.”
Chris grinned, blush rising over his face, and he laughed. “Just make sure you’re doing what you want to do. You want to work in an office, that’s great. But if you ever want to do fieldwork again, I’m letting Silas know that you’re the man to have.”
He stuck out his hand for a shake, but Chris grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug. Saying goodbye, he bent and grabbed his bag and walked into the airport.
As the plane left the ground, he looked down and saw the vast Kansas vista spread out before him. Rolling hills. Large ranches. Green and tan prairies. As he contemplated the possibility of moving there, he realized that would be okay. If Lydia would have him, he would move anywhere to be with her.
Now, he just had to wait to see if she would have him.
30
Three Weeks Later
The sun had risen over Caspian Lake, the lights sparkling across the surface. Eric’s feet pounded a staccato as he ran along the path leading from the deep woods toward his house. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, remembering his visitor right after he returned from Kansas. Silas Branson had appeared on his porch, much like he had the previous time, now offering his congratulations for a mission well accomplished.
As they had shared a cup of coffee, sitting on his porch overlooking the lake, he had been reminded of how many changes had occurred since the first time they had done so. When Silas had asked him if he would be available for other missions, he had had to think for sev
eral, long moments.
“Silas, I’m not exactly sure how to answer that. I suppose if nothing much changes in my life, then I would agree to take another mission for you. But…”
Silas’ lips curved into a smile, and he said, “I assume the but, is whether or not you and Lydia Hughes decide to…well, decide to do something. Right?”
He nodded slowly, thinking how much he missed Lydia, but also knowing that he had not heard from her in weeks. “You’re right. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but I can still hope.”
“And, if you could lead a team from here? Not go into the field, but plan and coordinate?”
He swung his head around, giving Silas a pointed stare. “Like Logan?”
Nodding, Silas said, “Yeah, very much like him.”
His lips curved slightly as he gave it some thought, and he said, “That I could do.”
They stood and shook hands. Clapping him on the back, Silas walked back to his dark SUV and pulled out of Eric’s drive.
That was almost three weeks ago, and he had had no more visitors since then. As he continued jogging up the path, he saw a figure on his back porch again. He slowed his pace, his heart stuttering as he viewed who was there. Stopping, with his hands on his hips, he grinned upward. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Lydia Hughes.”
She leaned over, resting her palms on the wooden railing of the deck and smiled down at him. “Took me a while to find this place. You’re really off the beaten path.” She lifted her gaze and cast it toward the lake behind him. “But, it’s worth the search. The view is breathtaking.”
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, his eyes never leaving her. He jogged around to the deck stairs, taking them two at a time. When he reached the top, his feet did not stop until he was directly in front of her. “I missed you.” He realized how inadequate the words sounded, but they were the only thing he could think of.
SEAL Together: Silver SEALs Series Page 20
