by Dale Mayer
He laughed and returned the phone to Tabi. “There’s nobody in the world like Ice,” he said, in admiration.
“Your girlfriend?”
He looked at her in surprise and then smiled. “No, she’s married to another good friend of mine,” he said. “But they’re two peas in a pod, and I’m absolutely delighted. Actually I find that my faith in human relationships centers around what they have,” he admitted. “And I don’t mean to be metaphorical or anything, but what they have between them is very special. And they’re all good friends, even better friends of Bullard’s,” he said sadly.
“Well, there’s no way to know yet about Bullard,” she said. “You survived, so there’s a good chance he did too. That debris was scattered a long way.”
“Well, I’m really hoping so,” he said, “and I know, if anybody out there will get to the bottom of this, it’ll be him.”
“And you,” she said shrewdly.
He frowned. “And here I was thinking I could hide that need to get answers from you,” he joked.
“No point,” she said. “Besides, why would you want to? If somebody blew you out of the sky, then it’s pretty damn obvious you’ll want to find out who it was.”
“Exactly,” he said. “And that’s a hard place to even begin investigating from, as evidence is streaming across the ocean, especially when I don’t even know where the hell I am, in terms of my physical condition.”
“Actually I’m surprised you’re even allowing that to stop you from thinking along those lines.”
“I’m not allowing anything to stop me,” he said, feeling his irritation grow. “But stuck out in the middle of the ocean on a naval vessel limits my options, you know?”
“I guess it depends on how badly hurt you are,” she said, studying him.
“Besides, I’m not sure I want to leave Garret.”
“And sometimes we have to,” she said gently. “Just because there’s no way not to.”
He frowned and then gave a clipped nod. “If there was a way to go back, I would.”
“Can you think back to how somebody could have planted a device like that?”
“We stopped in Honolulu for gas,” he said. “So it’s quite possible, but I’m not sure that it was then. It could have been planted before that, even in Texas.”
“And triggered how?”
He gave her a hard look. “In this day and age, a phone call could have triggered it.”
“Did you hear a phone ringing?”
“It didn’t have to be up in the cockpit with us,” he said quietly. “Triggers are tiny, and a cell phone could have been put in, close to where the bomb itself was.”
She crossed her arms and stared at him. “The back end appeared to blow from my vantage point. So it would have been someplace around the back section of the plane, I would think.”
“And that’s important too,” he admitted. “Only three of us were on the plane, when we stopped for fuel. It could have been on the outside of the plane. We did get off and walked around to stretch our legs a bit and checked a few things, but I certainly didn’t go under the tail end, and I didn’t see anything suspicious on the inside.”
“But how big would it have to be?”
He frowned, thinking about that. “Not very,” he said. “Probably the size of a fist would have done it, if it were placed properly.”
“So then, depending on how it was covered up,” she said, “it could have been disguised quite well.”
“Unfortunately it was,” he said.
“So now that you have some idea of what, you really need to know now the why.”
“And,” he snapped, “I need to know how.”
“What would that give you?”
“Hopefully the person on the other end. The son of a bitch who placed that bomb.”
“Do you have that many enemies?”
“Yes,” he said. “And I don’t regret any of them.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Isn’t that something you should regret?”
“No,” he said. “That is definitely not something I would ever regret. Every enemy I’ve made was because I was helping the good guys take down the bad guys. But bad guys tend to have very long memories.”
“Ah,” she said. “Are you military? Or special ops or … something?”
“Or something, yes.”
Chapter 4
Tabi was back in her room and had gotten a good night’s sleep. She woke up, was currently sitting in her bed, wondering what time breakfast was. On a ship this size, she imagined it had already started. More sleep was impossible. She’d gone to bed early last night, after meeting and talking with Ryland, and even now she wanted to pick up coffee and take it to the sick bay so she could sit down and visit with him again. She knew that, as soon as they got to land, chances were, they’d be separated.
There was just something about him. Maybe it was the connection over having saved his life. Maybe it was the connection with almost having drowned with him. She didn’t know, but something was very compelling about him. Besides, she really wanted to check on Garret. But she also felt like she needed an excuse to go. Just then her phone buzzed. She checked out the text and smiled; it was a perfect opportunity to pass on news to Ryland.
She dressed quickly into her cleaned and dried clothes, which she found when she got back last night, folded on her bed. So, back in civilian clothes, with dry shoes this time, she made her way out of the room and slowly, carefully, proceeded to the mess area. She was delighted when she found it on her first attempt. As she walked in, a good thirty-odd sailors were dotted around at the tables. She didn’t see any breakfast food out yet. She walked over and asked somebody.
“They’ll have the hot food out in fifteen,” he said. “There’s coffee, snacks, muffins, oatmeal, fruit, and things like that over on the sideboard.”
She nodded, then went over and grabbed two coffees. She put cream in hers and left the other one black. Just something about Ryland made her think he’d take his coffee black. Then she moved out, as other people came in. Getting from the cafeteria back to the medical unit was a trick in itself, but, when she finally saw the double doors up ahead, she sighed with relief. She pushed open the swinging door, using her hip and shoulder, and walked on in.
The person she’d seen last night wasn’t here. Instead a doctor stood here with a clipboard in his hands. He looked up and frowned.
She smiled. “I came to deliver coffee for Ryland,” she said. “I have a message for him as well.”
He walked to the door where Ryland was and checked, then said, “He appears to be awake, so go on in.”
“Thank you,” she said, then stopped and looked at the doctor. “Any update on Garret yet?”
“No,” he said. “Not yet.”
“There was some suggestion,” she said, “that my services might be needed, if you had to do surgery.”
“Ah, you’re the surgical nurse. Chances of that are not good,” he said. “At least, not at the moment. As long as he’s holding on, we’ll leave him as is.”
“No swelling on the brain?”
He looked at her, smiled, and said again, “He’s holding on, and we’re keeping an eye on it.”
“Well, if it hasn’t gotten bad by now,” she said, “chances are you won’t have to open him up.” And, with that cheerful note, she walked into Ryland’s room.
He shifted, startled, and, when he saw her, his eyebrows rose. “What’s the matter, can’t sleep?”
“Well, I slept solid when I first went to bed,” she confessed, handing over the coffee and placing hers down on the night table at his side. “And then I woke up, thinking about Garret and the one doctor saying they might need my help in case of emergency surgery. But I just spoke with the doctor outside, and, so far, that’s not the case.”
“If it would be needed, wouldn’t it have happened already?”
“Yes,” she said. “It’s more a case of the brain swelling at the moment,
I think.”
She watched the wince on his face, and she nodded. “The brain is by far the biggest worry. Any internal bleeding must be abating, or they’d have gone in by now, and it’s something they can monitor.”
“Great,” Ryland muttered, as he shifted in his bed, the sheet falling to his waist. She looked away, reminded of how incredibly muscled and well-defined his build was. Granted, she had seen all that when she had cut away his clothes, but she was worried about saving him at that point. In her job as a nurse, she’d seen an awful lot of topless men in her life, and a ton of them in hospital beds, but this was the first time she’d reacted this way. Then again, she wasn’t on duty, and she was visiting somebody.
She motioned at the fresh stitches across his shoulder and more down the right side of his rib cage. “I see they did a lot of work on you.”
“Quite a bit, yeah,” he said. “Everywhere. I’m not even sure I can sit in this position very long.”
She smiled. “Your butt did take a beating.”
“Well, let’s just say, it’s not quite as nicely rounded and plump as it used to be.”
At that, she burst out laughing. “I hardly doubt anything on you was plump,” she said.
He grinned at her. “You never know.”
She just shook her head. “Pretty damn sure.” Just then she remembered her excuse for coming. She pulled out her phone and said, “By the way,” as she brought up the text message that she’d received and passed her phone to him.
He looked at it, made a small sound of delight, and said, “Now that’s more like it.” He looked at her and asked, “Is it okay if I answer?”
She nodded her reply, and he quickly typed out a response. When he handed the phone back, he said, “So I’ll be leaving here damn soon then,” with a note of satisfaction in his voice.
She looked at his heavily bruised and marked-up body and asked, “Are you sure you’re ready?”
He looked down at his most recent injuries and said, “Nothing here is major. Whereas, trying to find the trail of what went wrong is major, and the fresher the trail, the better.”
She shook her head. “You can’t go after them right now,” she said. “You’re too banged up.”
“Nothing is broken badly,” he corrected. “And the stitches will heal in a couple days, and the skin will close.”
“You look like, well, Frankenstein,” she said bluntly.
He looked at her, startled, then burst out laughing. “Thank you,” he said, with a big grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a compliment quite so nice.”
She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and said, “It’s not smart. Really. You should wait until next week. At least until the stitches come out.”
He gave her a hard look and said, “Not happening.”
“What about Garret?”
“He’s coming with me.” He stopped, looked at her, and said, “You want to come too?”
“Where to?”
“We’re heading to Perth,” he said.
She nodded. “Then I’m definitely coming because that’s home.”
“What about your stuff at the hotel?”
“I was staying with a friend,” she said. “I’ve already contacted her and let her know what happened. I used to live in Sydney and kept my sailboat there until I decided if I was staying in Perth long term or not.”
“And you don’t need anything from there?”
“I have my bag with me, so I have my basics. She’ll just pack up any of my clothing there and store it, until I go back again. Most of my things were in the boat.”
“Oh, sorry. Well, hand me your phone, and I’ll make sure there’s room for you on the helicopter.” She watched in surprise as he immediately sent out another text and shifted in bed. He looked around and said, “I need food.”
“I think breakfast is about to start,” she said. “When I walked through, getting coffee, they said fifteen minutes.”
“Good,” he said. “We could be off of here in two hours.” He looked at the clock over on the wall and said, “If not earlier.”
“You must have friends in high places.”
“That I do,” he said. “So I suggest you go pack. I don’t know if the doctor will release me to get my own breakfast though. I’m starving and don’t really want to wait until somebody decides to collect me a plate.”
“How about I get you a plate instead?”
He looked at her, assessing the offer. “I need a lot of protein, and, I mean, a lot.”
“Tell me what you want,” she said, one eyebrow up. “If I have to make two trips, I’ll make two trips.”
He grinned. “You know something? I like your style.”
“Your style isn’t too bad either, Ryland,” she said with a laugh. As soon as she heard his breakfast order, she just shook her head and said, “Most doctors would kill you for eating all that or would think your arteries would kill you.”
“Protein is very necessary to rebuild muscle,” he said. “And I’ve got to have energy to go on.”
“So you need carbs too.”
“Absolutely,” he said. Just then the doctor walked in. Ryland looked at him and said, “Any chance I can go get food?”
The doctor shook his head.
“Any chance I can go get him food?” she asked.
The two looked at the doctor expectantly. He raised his hands in surrender. “You seriously that hungry?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m starving.”
“Well, that’s a good sign. I’ll do my checkup, if you want to get him a tray,” he offered.
“Done,” she replied and immediately spun on her heels and walked out the door. Now a little more familiar with the pathway, it seemed like it was half the distance to get back to the mess hall. Once there, she got a tray, two plates, and headed toward the hot breakfast selections. There she grabbed him a stack of pancakes, loaded up the eggs, sausage, bacon, and ham. Then, on the other plate, she added more bacon, ham, and sausages. She placed syrup on the side, along with butter, juice, coffee, and a glass of water. She then added several muffins, so he could have something set aside, in case he got hungry in a little while.
Her tray was extremely full, and she moved very slowly, heading toward the medical center. She had to pull off to the side, when several people passed, because she was worried about dumping her load. Eventually she made it back to the medical center and pushed open the doors. When she walked in, the doctor took one look and said, “Oh, good, you’ll stay and eat with him.”
“Not likely,” she muttered under her breath.
But, as she headed toward Ryland, he was sitting up, looking like he was in a slightly less-painful position. She smiled. “What did he do, give you a shot in the butt for the pain?”
He grinned. “I wish that’s all he’d done.” Then he took one look at the plates and the tray in her hands and said, “Wow, you know how to follow orders.”
“At your command,” she said.
He reached out and moved the little hospital table across his lap, and she placed her very heavy load down.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think about how heavy that would be for you.”
“I’m the one who said I could make a second trip, but then I got stubborn and put it all on one tray,” she said with a laugh.
“How about you get your breakfast,” he said, “and come back and join me? Another hospital table is over there. We can bring it here, so you can sit and eat too.”
“I’ll do that,” she said, with a smile.
As she turned to leave, and the doctor walked in, he took one look at the two plates before Ryland and said, “I thought she was here to have breakfast with you.”
He grinned. “Nope, this is all mine, and I’ll be a while, eating it,” he admitted.
“Back in five,” she said.
She hoped nobody noticed, as she walked in with another plate on a tray, but nobody said anything, if they did. She quick
ly loaded up about half the mountain of food that he had, but she was terribly hungry too. With her full load and another cup of coffee, she walked back again, realizing just how many miles she was getting on this ship. By the time she walked in and sat down, she said, “I’m tired now.”
“It’s a lot to get used to, when aboard a navy ship, isn’t it?”
“It is,” she said, as she adjusted the tray table height, so that she could sit down and have it in front of her. She then picked up a sausage and bit into it. “What is there about a hot breakfast?” she wondered.
“Something very soothing to the soul,” he said, “about any hot meal. But, when you’re stressed and tired, it’s the best.”
“And I love breakfast anyway,” she said. “So there’s that.”
Only silence came for a time, as the two of them worked their way through the breakfast. Just when she was finished, and he was two-thirds of the way through his, the doctor walked back in and said, “Good, you’re almost done.”
“Is our ride here?” Ryland asked, lifting his gaze.
The doctor frowned, nodded, and said, “I’m not sure how you managed it, but your ride will be here in twenty.”
She immediately stood and said, “That’s my signal to go grab my stuff.”
“Meet right back here,” the doctor said. “The three of you are leaving from here.”
“Be back as soon as I can,” she said, leaving her dishes behind.
*
Ryland watched her go, appreciating her trim figure, as she bolted out of here. He understood how tired she was with her two trips to the mess hall. Life aboard a naval ship was something to get used to—the size of a ship like this and how many miles you actually log as you traverse it, from one end to the other. And she’d been doing the stairs a lot too.
The doctor motioned at Ryland’s two plates and said, “I figured one of those plates was for her.”
“Nope, both for me,” he said, as he worked away on the pancakes, thoroughly enjoying getting tanked back up again.
“How did you manage the ride?”
“Pulled a few favors,” he said. The doctor’s manner was a little stiff, and Ryland wondered if he’d stepped on his toes. “Sorry,” he said. “We’ve got emergencies happening all around, so I’m needed out of here. Not for lack of good care by any means,” he said hurriedly.
