Kincade's Rose (Megalodon Team) (14 page)

“Probably.”  Tyson agreed.  “Can’t you hear
it?”

“Hear what?” Jayde cocked her head to the
side.

“The chopper.  It’s coming,” he said,
smiling.

“All I hear is rain and thunder,” she
vocalized with a shrug.

“That is the chopper—the thunder you are
hearing,” Tyson clarified it for her.

“Oh.”  Jayde rolled over and watched the
direction they came from, gun in hand and ready.

They stayed still and remained silent for a
while until Tyson broke the silence with a question.  “What is that thing on
your necklace?”

Jayde smiled. “It is a karabiner, a locking
one to be accurate; I figured it would not be exactly a common thing for people
to have on a pendant, yet considering how much I love to rock climb…well…it
just fit.” It was an oblong metal ring primarily used to attach a freely
running rope to a piton, the metal spike used for securing rope when climbing.

“That’s true; it isn’t a common thing.  But
it’s cool.”  For a time he fell silent as they listened to the helicopter get
closer.  “Answer something else for me, Jayde,” Tyson said.

Flicking a glance at him, she waited for
him to continue.  When he didn’t she prompted.  “What?”

“That first day we met.”  He looked at
her.  “What were you thinking about to get that heated look on your face?  You
were drinking from your glass and you smiled before this passionate expression
took over.  What were you thinking about?”

Jayde blushed.

“Well?” he pushed.

“I was thinking about someone if you must
know.”  She shut her eyes, steadfastly refusing to look at the man beside her.

“Do tell.”  He had a hunch of who she meant
but wanted confirmation.

“No,” she denied with a firm shake of her
head.

“Now, now, you aren’t supposed to keep
secrets from your husband.”

“I’m not.”

“Was it a man?” Tyson asked.

“Yes.”

“Handsome?”

“That man took my breath away.  Now will
you let it go already?” she begged.

Before he could say anything in response, a
huge dark-gray chopper flew into view.  “Get ready,” he answered, all business
once again.  Tyson repositioned himself so he was squatting on his haunches and
Jayde followed suit just as the first shots rang out.

Five men in green fatigues jumped out of
the bird that had the word “NAVY” printed on the tail.  They were aiming guns
in their general direction as they moved swiftly towards them, eventually
falling into a staggered formation and keeping an eye on all their
surroundings.  Sooner than expected, their painted faces upon Tyson and Jayde. 
Three of them took up positions to defend while the other two dropped down
beside them.

“Long time no see, Cade,” one man said with
a grin that faded as he took in Tyson’s injuries.

“Too long, Baby Boy, too long.”  Tyson
answered him, already succumbing to the exhaustion and security in knowing his
Team would see to Jayde’s safety.

“Well, let’s get you moving.  Come on, man,
let’s go.”  The man dubbed “Baby Boy” pushed his gun to the side and lifted
Tyson like he were a flower being picked, despite the height difference in the
men: Tyson was much taller. Another man fell in close and they headed for the
chopper, Tyson’s legs dragging behind him as if he were a rag doll.  His teammates
and the rebels were exchanging shots, but the M-60 on the chopper was doing a
good job of keeping their foes at bay.

The last thing Tyson saw before he fell
back into unconsciousness Maverick lifting Jayde into the chopper and looking
too closely at her bared skin. Tyson vowed to himself that he’d kick his ass
for that as soon as it didn’t hurt to think.

The second Jayde’s feet hit the floor of the
helicopter, she scrambled over to where a medic was looking over a now
unconscious Tyson.  Without making a sound, he reached into the bag beside him
and worked silently over his fallen comrade as the chopper began its ascent to
the sky.

“Ma’am, you need to back away so I can get
in here,” the corpsman next to her said.

Jayde speared him with a glare; he hardly
looked old enough to shave and she didn’t trust him with her life, much less
with the life of the man she loved.

“Let’s get your injuries checked and then
you can come back and sit with him,” Harrier said as he materialized beside
her.

Jayde knew he was concerned for his friend
and teammate as well, so she reluctantly moved away.  The second she did, Baby
Boy had taken her spot and begun putting an IV into Tyson’s arm.

“Jayde,” the blond man spoke, jerking her
attention away from Tyson.

Her dark eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot
from stress and lack of sleep, but she clearly met Scott’s blue ones.  “Huh?”

“Let me see those wounds you have.” He
beckoned her with a wave of his hand.

Wordlessly she held out her arms.  With a
gentleness that she never would have expected from this man, Scott cleaned off
the blood and patted them dry before pouring a healthy dose of antiseptic all
over her arms and hands.  She clenched her jaw and jerked with a hiss.

“You all right?” he asked.

“That shit stings!”

“How’d you get them?”  He wiped away the
bubbles that had come out of the cuts.  “Not to mention that shiner on your
face.  Even the mud can’t hide that one.”

“Tyson,” she uttered even as her eyes
drifted back over to his body.  They were still working on him, but one of them
had picked up a radio and was talking into it, gesturing about.

“Care to explain that further?”  Scott
asked as he handed her a toilette for her face.

“Well, I got the shiner—as you put it—when
I dug the bullet out of Tyson’s shoulder.  The second I put the knife in him to
open the wound up further, he caught me with his elbow and knocked me back to
the floor.”  She gingerly touched the bruise, wincing at the contact before
moving on to the rest of her face.  “So having learned that lesson, after I
re-sterilized the knife, I straddled him and put my knee on his opposite
shoulder and used my body to help hold him in place.”  Jayde shrugged.  “I just
hope he will be okay.”

“He’s a fighter.  He is just very
dehydrated.  What about these?”  He nodded at her arms and hands.

“I had to pull him up the last hill, since
he lost consciousness.  So I tied that harness around him and used the other
blanket kind of like a sled.  But I guess I hadn’t counted on how heavy he
really was or how much the slick mud would want to pull him back down.  I had
to let go of the blanket and wrap the straps around my arms to make it up. With
all the pulling and sliding, I guess they just cut into me.”

She looked down and flinched in pain as she
tried unsuccessfully to make a fist with either hand.  Suddenly she stared
directly into the eyes of the man across from her, totally ignorant to the fact
all the men had heard what she’d done for their teammate.  “He will be okay
won’t he?” Jayde asked, scared.

Scott nodded.  “Yes.  We will get him to
the doctor on the carrier immediately. One of the best doctors. They’re waiting
for him now.”

“Carrier?” Jayde questioned, once again
confused.

“The aircraft carrier we are going to. 
Don’t worry; he’ll be fine,” Harrier explained.

“Good.”  Jayde tried to smile and failed.
“I heard you two in the room.  I know Carrie is waiting for him back home.” 
She shook her head when he started to interrupt her.  “No.  Don’t say anything,
please.  I think I will just sit with him and say my goodbyes now.”  She
reached out and tentatively patted Scott on the arm before moving back over to
the SEAL on the floor.

Scott wrapped a warm blanket around her wet
body and paused at the tears he saw running down her face.  “Jayde.  Please let
me explain…”

“No.  I knew our time together was only
temporary.  Don’t make a big deal over it,” she said, embarrassed he witnessed
her crying.

“But the things I said—”

“You were just looking out for a friend.  A
very admirable trait.”  She looked at him and added, “Thanks for coming to get
us.”  Then she withdrew into the blanket and watched as the lush mountains gave
way to the ocean, all the while keeping one hand on the man beside her.

The second the chopper landed, Tyson was
whisked away and taken to sickbay.  Jayde, still wrapped in the blanket, went
into another room where three men in khakis greeted her.  The men who escorted
her snapped out a salute and then left her alone with them.

“I must say first of all, Mrs. Kincade, it
is an honor to meet you.  I am Captain March, CO of the carrier.”  He reached
out his hand and shock filled his features as she dropped the blanket and very
gingerly shook his hand.  “Perhaps you would like a shower and a fresh change of
clothes before we continue talking.”

“Oh, that would be heavenly.  But please
call me Ms. Porter or Jayde.  Tyson and I…I mean, Lieutenant Kincade, and I
aren’t really married.  That was just to help him out.”  She smiled through her
exhaustion as a female officer came in and led her to an officer’s stateroom.

Jayde took a warm shower and washed a
week’s worth of sweat and mud down the drain.  Her body shook with emotion and
fatigue, telling her she’d reached the limit of her endurance.  After the pain
in her arms and hands got to be too much, she left the small shower and saw a
towel and a fresh set of clothes for her.

The clothes were a bit big, but since they
were clean, Jayde didn’t have any complaints.  In fact, she simply wore the
coveralls over the tank top and pair of shorts that were left for her.  She
also used the toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant provided and felt
semi-human again as she dried her hair with the towel before brushing it out. 
“Damn, I need to get in to the salon for my hair.”  She raised an eyebrow and
smirked at her reflection.  “And for my legs.  I am so due for another waxing. 
Maybe I should take a week at the spa.” Exiting the bathroom, she found that
same female officer waiting for her.  “Thank you for the clothes,” Jayde said
with a tired smile.

“My pleasure, ma’am,” the woman said.

Jayde looked at her and took stock.  She
was short, about five-foot-one with bright red hair and pale skin.  On the
collar of her shirt there was a gold rectangle.  “Please call me Jayde.”

“If you would follow me, the captain has
some food waiting for you,” The small woman said, opening the door and allowing
Jayde to walk through first.

“Real food?”  Her stomach growled at the
thought.  “What is your name?” Jayde asked.

“Ensign Miller, ma’am…I mean Jayde.”

“Thank you, Ensign Miller.”  Jayde waited
for her to pass and fell into step behind her.

“Watch your step here, ma’am, and mind your
head,” Ensign Miller warned.

Jayde’s sore legs screamed in anguish as
they maneuvered back up the four flights to a room with a closed door.  The
ensign knocked and waited for permission to enter before swinging the door in
and smiling at Jayde then leaving her there.

Remaining in the doorway, Jayde looked
around the room and realized she was the only woman present.  She recognized
Scott, Maverick, and the captain.  The rest she didn’t know.

“Come in, Mrs. Kincade,” Captain March
said, “have a seat and help yourself to some food.  I only ask that you go to
sickbay when you are done here and have your arms and hands checked out by our
Doc.”

Jayde walked towards the table but
hesitated when she got there.  She didn’t know where to sit.  Scott and
Maverick gestured to the chair between them and she took it.

One of the men set a bowl of soup down in
front of her along with French bread for dipping.  A cup of tea was placed near
her as well.  The men watched her as she ate holding the utensils carefully in
her injured hands.

Finally, she spoke. “Captain, I really
appreciate this, but I am feeling very awkward here.  I am the only one eating
and y’all are staring at me.  I am getting self-conscious.”

“Sorry.”  He gestured to the others and
they began to eat as well.

When she finished, the captain leaned
forward in his chair.  His peppered hair added an air of distinction to his
appearance.  “We are going to put you on a transport and fly you our Pensacola
base where you will be put on a flight to…Seattle, was it?”  He nodded to the
guy at his left; he was in a suit, not a uniform, “This is Director Nubo of the
CIA.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Jayde said.
CIA?  What the hell?
Tyson, I’m scared. Am I in trouble?

The man appeared to be in his mid-sixties. 
His dark skin was not very wrinkled, but his white hair made him appear more
severe.  He smiled at her, an action that seemed to take a lot of concentration
on his part.  “Nice to meet you, young lady.  Thank you for helping out our
man.  Now we just need you to understand you can’t say anything about this to
anyone.”

You have got to be shittin’ me!
 
Jayde slid her plate back.  The immediate hunger pains were gone and her hands
were too sore to eat anymore anyway; she’d barely been able to hold the spoon.

“And just who in the hell would I tell?”
she asked.

“Your family,” he said.  “We can’t let this
be known to the general public.  In fact, it won’t go past this room.  We have
told your family that your ability was enlisted in Belize and for that I
offered you a job in Seattle, which you took.  So far we have evaded their
calls to you, saying you were in meetings or on a business trip.”  He waved his
hand as if it weren’t all that important to him.  “Bottom line, your new cell
phone is waiting for you in Pensacola along with some of your own clothes.  I
believe your parents are waiting for you at their home.  Your secretary told them
you would be stopping in on your way back from Pensacola.”  He looked at her
with a serious stare.  “Just don’t tell them the truth.  As far as they know,
we deal with paintings.  You buy and sell them all over the country for us.”

I work for an art dealer.
Jayde was
having a hard time believing this whole thing.
“Don’t worry; I won’t be
telling anyone,” she assured him. “It’s not exactly believable anyway.”
 As
opposed to the art dealer scam.

“Good.  I am obligated to let you know what
will happen if you do tell–”

Jayde slid her chair back standing
abruptly.  “Excuse me.  Captain, if you could shove me in the direction of
sickbay, I think I need to have this looked at and then I will get ready to
leave.  Thank you so much for your hospitality.”  Pinning the CIA man with a
stare that would’ve made Jayde’s father proud of her, she said, “You know what;
I am just not in the mood to have any more threats put to my person.  I’ve just
been chased through the jungle by people who wanted to kill me. Don’t worry; I
will keep my mouth shut.”

Scott and Maverick had stood and offered to
take her to sickbay.  So they left the room, Scott leading, Jayde in the
middle, and Maverick bringing up the rear.  It took them about ten minutes of
maneuvering inside the floating city before they arrived at a door that had a
gold caduceus on it.

“Here we are,” Scott said and opened the
door.

It was much bigger than Jayde had been
expecting.  A voice announced to them, “Be right with you.”  A black woman
moved a privacy screen around a bed before she walked toward them.  “You must
be Jayde, the lieutenant’s wife,” she said with a smile, then her eyes moved
over the two men with her.

Jayde found herself smiling in return.  The
woman had a winning personality.  “Well, I am Jayde.”  She stopped as she
recalled what the CIA man had said.

“Well, Jayde, I’m HMC Rogets.  Why don’t
you just have a seat over there and we will look over your arms and hands, get
you fixed up in no time.”

Jayde looked to Scott and Maverick and they
nodded, then she did as she was told.  As soon as she sat on the exam table,
the men disappeared out the door.

Rogets was very thorough but gentle as she
cleaned out, sterilized, and dried Jayde’s wounds.  “I heard the corpsman say
what you had done for Lieutenant Kincade.  That makes you a hero.”  She smiled
as she turned her tender touch to the swollen cheek.  “Sorry,” she said as she
witnessed Jayde’s wince.

“I’m no hero,” Jayde said.  “Tyson is the
hero.  He saved us.”

There was a noncommittal sound from the
woman working on her injuries.

“He did.  I would have died long before if
not for him.” Jayde insisted.

Another mumble.

“Is he…is…Tyson…Lieutenant Kincade…doing
all right?” Jayde finally asked after hemming and hawing about it.

HMC Rogets smiled. “I was wondering how
long it was going to take you to ask about him.  Do you want to see him?”

The door opened and Scott walked back in. 
He smiled at them both.  Jayde looked back at the woman next to her.  “Maybe
just for a minute.  If that’s all right.”

“Of course it is.”  HMC Rogets gestured
towards the curtain.  “He is behind there, still delirious though, so he drifts
in and out of consciousness.”

Extremely nervous, Jayde slid off the exam
table and went to the pale curtain that was drawn around a bed.  She could hear
monitors beeping and raspy breathing.

A bit unsure Jayde moved the curtain aside
slowly.  She slipped in and stared down at the man lying there.  He hadn’t
regained much of his color and that scared her.  His face was still covered by
hair; his eyes, although closed, seemed tense around the edges.