Delta Recon (SEAL Team Phantom Series, Book 2) (6 page)

“Why was I restrained?” Her wrists looked chafed, but she couldn’t imagine she’d tried to hurt anyone.

“With your facial injury we need to keep you elevated as much as possible, and not put any pressure on the already injured area. You kept tapping your face, which is normal for someone who’s gone through a traumatic experience such as you. We didn’t have to do any reconstructive surgery at this time as the CT scan and X-rays showed your bones stayed in their normal position.” He looked at her with a question in his stern expression.

She had no clue what he wanted her to say, tiredness made it hard for her to think clearly. Licking her dry lips, she looked at the cup of water. “May I have another drink?”

He nodded, giving her more.

Once she didn’t feel like her mouth was drier than the dirt on a summer day, she finally asked a question that had been burning in her mind. “How long have I been here?”

Looking at his watch, Dr. Davalari’s brow furrowed. “Almost eighteen hours. Alright, you need to rest. See this pump.” He handed her a cord with a button on the end. “You are in charge of your medication. When you are in pain, you push the button and it’ll release your next dosage. Don’t worry, you can’t give yourself too much. Now, try to rest. We’ll get you moved to a regular room shortly.”

The tubes in her nose steadily giving her oxygen bothered her. “Can I take this out?”

With a shake of his head, he made a note in the tablet on the cart. “When you’ve had a facial fracture, even if you don’t need surgery, there’s a chance your nasal passage could become blocked. We don’t want to take the chance that you’ll stop breathing while you sleep. Why don’t you press that button and get some relief from the pain.”

Jaqui hated the thought of closing her eyes again, but the throbbing had become a sharp knife wrenching pulse, beating through her entire being. Her thumb hovered over the top, and then she pushed.

The nurse Molly flittered around, emptying bags and looking at Jaqui like she was a circus freak. The way she was looking, she was probably right. Maybe when she woke up next time she’d ask for a mirror. God, her hair had to be a complete mess. A pixie cut just might be in her future she thought as she finally felt some relief.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Doc.”

“No need to thank me, young lady.”

She wasn’t sure, but Jaqui thought he might have blushed, and even smiled a little. Her eyes became too heavy to keep open. “The rest of my team...are they okay?” God, she hadn’t even asked about them.

“I wasn’t given any information as it’s classified.” He looked at the nurse and then back to Jaqui.

Yeah, she was aware, but dammit, she needed to know if Kai and the others were alright.

“Sleep. You can’t do anything for anyone but yourself right now, soldier.” The gentle reminder gave her the push she needed to let sleep claim her.

****

T
ay sat in the seat of the plane, counting the hours since he’d handed Jaqui over. The last they’d heard she had woken only to mumble a few incoherent words, then she would pass out again.

“How the hell could he escape without anyone seeing him?” Sully’s unusual green eyes met his across the bay. They were sitting in the C-130 nicknamed Hercules, on their way back to Hawaii, while Jaqui was at Walter Reed.

“It’s not right. She’s part of our team. Do they have enough security to cover her?” Tay looked at the men he thought of as his brothers.

Kai ran a hand down his face. “Let me see what the Commander says.”

They watched in silence as Kai used the satellite phone. The grim expression had his gut tied up in knots. He’d disregard orders and take a commercial flight to Maryland if it came to it. With his mind made up, he sat back and closed his eyes.

Strapped into the seat with the harness around his shoulders and lap, plans formed of how he’d get from Hawaii to Maryland. The extra time would feel like years, but he consoled himself with the knowledge she was in the best place, with military personnel. Surely the Commander wouldn’t have left her without a few guards, knowing she would be a target.

“Alright, I got us cleared as Jaqui’s security detail. Not that it took too much convincing. I think Lee has knowledge he ain’t sharing with me, and that ain’t good.” Kai took the seat next to Tay.

“What’s that mean? You think he’s gotten intel the cartel is tracking her?” Tay’s hands clenched into fists.

Kai stared straight ahead instead of meeting his eyes. “I’d say that is a high probability. She’ll have us on her like stink on shit. No way in hell they’ll get their hands on her again.”

Tay didn’t say what was on his mind, and that she was under their protection the last time they got their hands on her. His friends already blamed themselves.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry man. None of us thought she was in any danger. Hell, she wasn’t even officially part of the team. Her role was research, and wasn’t even listed. Fuck, we’d only just left that morning. We weren’t even staying in the same location. She was staying at a luxury resort. Have we ever stayed at anything resembling luxury on a mission?” Kai finally turned toward Tay, remorse evident in every facet of his face.

The anger he held washed away. Not the fierce hate and anger at Jose Medellin, but at his team. They’d done exactly what he would’ve in the same position. Hell, if he’d been cleared, she wouldn’t have been his pseudo replacement. Even if she had been on the team while he’d been there, the fact was, it would’ve played out the same way.

“It’s not your fault, Kai. Let’s lay the blame where it belongs, and that’s with the bastards who took her, and then decided to use her for a punching bag. I only pray she lets me close enough to help her heal inside as well as out.” He leaned back on a sigh. Images of her bruised and swollen face, the pitiful sounds of her pain-filled moans would haunt him for the rest of his life.

“Hey, our women are tough. Jaqui will come out kicking ass and taking names,” Kai said with conviction.

Kai’s woman was one hell of a woman. She’d been beaten within an inch of her life by a crazy ex-boyfriend, then kidnapped by a crazy female. If she could overcome that, and still love Kai without fear, then maybe he and Jaqui had a chance.

The rest of the trip was made in relative silence. Once they landed at the Navy base, each of them cleaned up and changed. Feeling a little more human, they loaded up and headed to the hospital. He was too keyed up for small talk. His friends understood, keeping to themselves what they were all thinking. None knew if Jaqui had been violated in the worst way a woman could be. Physical injuries a body could heal from. It was the mental ones that only time could take care of, and even then, it wasn’t a given. No matter, Tay swore he’d be with her every step of the way.

“You need to put your game face on, man. That look right there will make children run screaming for their mommy and daddy,” Coyle said from beside him.

Tay raised his brows. “What the hell are you going on about?”

Coyle made a face. “See that? Did I just look like I was gonna rip your head off and shit down your throat?” He pointed at his own mug before continuing. “Well, that is what you were looking like. You go in the hospital like that, and not only will the hospital staff freak, Jaqui will get upset. You need to go in all chill and shit.”

“When did you become an expert on Jaqui?” Tay got in Coyle’s face.

“Back the hell off. Coyle’s right. None of us need to go in with anger, or pity showing. She’d kick us all out. Least of all you, Tay. You go in and be anything other than the man who she needs, and you could make whatever progress she’s done crumble. She’s one of us. Hooyah,” Kai yelled.

The other guys echoed his yell, but it took Tay a few seconds to pull himself together. In his mind he understood what his friends were saying was true. Hell, Kai had seen firsthand what his woman had gone through. However, all of that was before he’d met her. Taking a deep breath, he let it out.

“I’m sorry, Coyle. I fucked up with Jaqui a while back. If I don’t get a chance to make it right with her now...I,” he swallowed audibly. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and I walked away like a fucking pussy.”

Coyle punched him in the arm. “First step is admitting you were wrong and apologizing. Women love that shit.”

“Yeah, grovel and beg. They love it when you do that, too. Or so I’m told. Not that I’m ever wrong or anything,” Dallas Holt said from the driver’s seat. The demolitions expert was filling in for Oz, and had a wicked sense of humor.

They parked the large SUV in the parking garage, exiting the vehicle with caution. Each of them aware the cartel could already be in America. Since they already had Jaqui’s room number, they bypassed the information desk, and went straight toward the bank of elevators. The five of them made a few heads turn, but most people there were used to military men and women.

A little boy with a toy train stood with his mother by the elevator, looking up at Kai, the thumb of one hand in his mouth. When the elevator opened the mother stepped in, but the kid hung back, his gaze looking at each of them. Tay wondered if the boy’s father was a patient.

“Timmy, come on, baby,” the mother said, grabbing the little boys arm.

“Are you GI Joe?” The boy asked Kai.

Coyle laughed.

The woman gasped, trying to tug the kid into the elevator. Seeing her dilemma, Kai and the rest of them moved forward as well, leaving the kid no choice but to enter.

“Nope. GI Joe is in the Army. I’m in the Navy.” Kai ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Oh. I like the army.” The boy turned to his mom and held his hand out for her.

Tay nudged Kai. “I guess we don’t measure up, bro,” he whispered.

The mom looked embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. He’s obsessed with his GI Joe toys. They don’t make Navy ones.”

“It’s okay, really,” Kai assured her, giving his patent smile that charmed women over. “My fiancée has said the same thing.”

The elevator doors opened on Jaqui’s floor. Luckily the woman and kid stayed on, because Tay was pretty sure the woman would’ve wanted to continue to chat with Kai, while the other man had already dismissed her.

––––––––

J
aqui was going batshit stir crazy in the hospital. She’d been moved to a regular room a little over twenty-four hours ago, but wanted to go home. The beaches of Hawaii would be a much better place to rest and recuperate rather than beige walls, beeping monitors, and doors that opened at all hours of the day and night. Not to mention, having a guard at her door, because they were sure someone from the cartel was going to try to kill her. Yeah, she was ready to go home and have her own things surrounding her. Like her guns and knives.

“That does not look like a face of someone who is happy to see me,” Dallas Holt strolled into her room.

She jerked at the sudden deep voice, remembering at the last minute not to smile too big. “Why as I live and breathe, Dallas the snake. What brings you all the way here?” She looked behind the big Texan, amazed to see the rest of the Phantom Team filing in behind.

Her heart squeezed as Taylor Rouland came in last. It had been almost eighteen months since she’d given him her virginity, yet it seemed like yesterday. His blond hair was buzzed on the sides with a little more on top with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. At thirty-one, he was only four years older than her, but he had seemed so much wiser.

Kai walked up to the bed, his commanding presence undeniable. “What did I tell you about staying out of trouble?” He pulled on the braid she had lying over one shoulder.

“Well, you see, it just wasn’t my lucky day. Or rather days I guess. Imagine little ole me, minding my business, enjoying the parade. When all of a sudden I’m surrounded by thugs.” She closed her eyes on the memory. The frightening sensation of being powerless as she was in a crowd of people. “They walked right up, one on each side, and then a man stepped in front of me, blocking my view. When I looked up, he bent as if he was going to say something, then placed a cloth over my mouth, but made it look as though we were kissing. I’m not sure what happened after that. I assume I was drugged and carried out. More than likely, to onlookers, I looked like I had too much to drink and my boyfriend had to carry me home.” She shrugged although the thought of what they could have done to her still gave her nightmares.

“I figured it was something like that. We’ve been briefed on your injuries, but wanted you to tell us, if you could, about what went down.” Kai’s fingers tapped the railing.

Looking at the men surrounding her bed, she looked at their faces. Coyle’s hands were behind his back, but he looked her in the eyes. Dallas’s teasing grin was missing. Tay stood close to the door staring at his feet, hands fisted at his side. She knew they wondered if she’d been violated. Raped. Lord, how she hated that thought herself.

“I woke up in a concrete room on a dirty floor, fully clothed, guys. I was starved for days, then when I did eat, I got sick. I was beaten, yes. I was drugged and beat some more, but I was not raped. Promise. The last day...I think would have been a different story, but the compound I was being held in was attacked. I’d been released from my holding cell to shower and while there a gunfight happened. I stayed hidden and when I came out, I saw my chance to escape and did.” She explained her run through the forest.

“Tay carried you up while we radioed for a Helivac. You scared the shit right out of us, woman.” Kai glared at her, warmth lit his dark eyes.

She tried to make sense of his words. “You guys found me?” Her eyes searched out Tay standing by the door still. Finally he looked up, meeting her gaze.

Kai cleared his throat. “Well, we couldn’t let you just lie around all damn day.”

She covered his big hand with hers. “Alexa is a lucky woman. Thank you for carrying me out of there, Taylor,” she said without looking directly at him again.

Soft footfalls squeaked across the floor. “I was a damn fool. My heart nearly stopped when I saw you lying beneath that jaguar. For that moment in time, I swore to God that I wouldn’t make the same mistake again, and here I am standing by the door like a jackhole.” He paused and looked at Kai. “Could you guys give us a minute?”