Save Me (7 page)

Evan sighs and leans back in his chair, kicking his feet out.

“Are you talking to him?”

“We talk. He and Ryley talk more, almost every day. I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes it does. I’m jealous of their relationship. Her and I have lost so much time, and it doesn’t matter how much time we spend together now, things are different.

“When Nate’s around, they’re always laughing. They have these stupid inside jokes and I hate hearing ‘remember when’ because whatever it is they’re talking about, it’s usually something that happened while we were gone. And don’t even get started on Nate and EJ.” He stops talking and shakes his head. “I’m grateful my brother was there for them, but sometimes I want to ask him to disappear for a year and let us be. Each time I think I’m about to have a breakthrough with EJ, Nate shows up. I know he doesn’t plan it, but there’s a part of me that thinks he does.”

Evan and I often complain about the shit we went though and easily forget about how our families suffered. Each of us is hurting in different ways, and while Evan was lucky enough to get his family back, Rask and I haven’t been. That poor kid—his parents won’t even speak to him, even though a simple DNA test will prove he’s their son. They refuse to acknowledge he’s alive and yet, he hasn’t given up hope. He says he calls them each Sunday, just as he did before we deployed. He tells me that he leaves a message because they don’t answer and is waiting for the day he’s met with the operator recording stating the number has been disconnected.

“Nate’s good, though. I need to accept that he did what he did out of love for Ry and me. Him being with Cara helps, though. And when he does show up here, she’s with him, so I’m not always on high alert when he’s around.”

Since I’ve sat down I’ve been watching a set of lights off in the distance. The boat’s activities are strange. From what I can gather, when it shuts its lights off it’s speeding into the Sound. When the lights come on, I have a feeling it’s looking to see if they’ve reached their destination. It’s as if they want to get wherever they need to be unnoticed. If this doesn’t reek of something illegal I don’t know what does.

“He’s still enlisted, right?” I ask, lifting the night vision binoculars to my face. Now that the boat is closer I can make out three people onboard. It’s nothing but a fishing trawler without fishing poles.
Who takes a trawler out with no poles?

“Yep.” Evan lifts his binoculars. I have a feeling he’s looking at the same boat as I am. The Sound is quiet right now, except for this boat. “Cara wants him to retire. He wants to as well, but not until this mess is over. He’s joined the lawsuit Ryley filed against the Navy and says the bigwigs are fucking pissed, but he doesn’t care. He said losing me was the hardest things he’s ever gone though.”

“Worse than BUD/s?”

Evan chuckles. “Yeah, man, worse than BUD/s.”

“Shit, man, that’s hard.”

“Don’t I know it,” he says, as the both of us try not to laugh.

Laughing is rare for me these days, but when it does happen I appreciate the moment.

“What do you think is going on down there?” he asks, solidifying my instincts.

“Drug deal, Navy style.”

“What?” Evan scoffs.

“The lights are off now, and when they turn them back on I bet you the boat is parallel to us. They’re searching for something in the water, so either it’s a place to drop a body or they’re waiting for one to pop up. I said drugs because
that
would be the easiest for me to take right now.”

“No shit,” he mumbles as we watch the boat speed closer to us. “Man, why does everything have to be so fucked up? And why us? I mean, what the fuck did we do to deserve this?”

“I don’t know,” I mutter just as the boat’s engine shuts off. We both lean forward at the same time to watch whatever is about to happen unfold. The telltale sound of a bullet moving into the chamber has me looking at Evan.

“What the fuck?”

Evan doesn’t say anything as he rests his cheek on his rifle. He flicks the button that allows a red beam to project and steadies it on one of the men on the boat. Shouting ensues and the engine starts up. Their lights come on while they scramble for cover and speed out of the Sound. I shouldn’t laugh but it’s funny as shit.

“Dude?”

Evan shrugs as he puts his rifle down. “Just having a little fun.”

“What if they shot at us?”

He looks at me and I imagine his eyes are cold. “Then I shoot back. Pretty damn sure I’d hit them before they hit me.”

He’s right, but that’s not the point.

“Anyway, if it’s drugs, they need to find someplace else to smuggle. I don’t want that shit washing up on the shores where EJ plays.”

I nod, agreeing with him. “That was funny.”

As soon as I say it, Evan busts out laughing. Our moment of hilarity only lasts a few seconds before a hangar light comes on across the bay.

“That’s where Chesley likes to hang out.”

“He has a girl with him. She’s young,” I state, looking through the binoculars. Part of me is waiting for Evan to train his rifle on Chesley, but I know he’s not willing to do time, and I’m not willing to let him kill one of the men who can give us answers.

“Probably Abigail … the reason we’re in this mess.”

“I feel sorry for her,” I say out of nowhere.

“Me too. She gets kidnapped, raped, sent to Cuba to be a sex slave, then gets saved by us only to have her mother die. That kid is scarred for life thanks to Lawson.”

“Do you think Lawson killed her mother?” I ask.

“Yup, I do. Lawson is a sick fuck with all the answers. He started this shit and will likely die without telling a soul everything we want to know.”

Chesley and Abigail get into a car and it speeds off into the darkness. The rest of the Navy shipyard is quiet, except for a few sailors hanging around doing grunt work. It’s odd that no one was watching that trawler come in, in the middle of night. Unless, they were waiting for it and Evan scared it off.

When the sun peeks over the mountains, I stretch and yawn. I slept outside, finding it easier than sleeping in a bed. I don’t care how long I’ve been back, after living in the jungle for six years it’s hard to confine yourself to a box, regardless of how comfortable it is.

The bay is bustling with fishermen as they head out for their first or next catch of the day. I don’t know what time it is, but aside from needing to be close to the shipyard I understand why Evan loves this house so much. The way the sun casts an orange glow makes everything seem right in the world. I’ve heard that the Pacific Northwest has some of the most amazing sunrises and sunsets, and now I can confirm that. I could get used to waking up like this every day.

The sliding glass opens and Ryley steps out. She’s dressed in a Navy T-shirt and flannel pants with her hair braided. Behind me, EJ is knocking on the window, waving. He runs off, wearing nothing but his underwear and screaming at Evan.

“Morning.” After handing me a cup of coffee, she curls up in the chair that Evan sat in not a few hours before. If she’s leery of the rifle resting against the deck railing, she doesn’t say anything.

“Sorry for sleeping out here,” I say after taking a sip of the coffee.

“Don’t be. Evan does it often. I understand.”

I nod a thank you, grateful that she’s not only willing to open her home to me, but she accepts me with all my odd habits.

“Marley called this morning and would like you to come to her office around nine. I have to head that way, so I was wondering if you’d like to drive in with me.”

My body tenses. It’s only been a day since I met with Marley and I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not that she wants to see me so soon. Ryley places her hand on top of mine and squeezes.

“It’s going to be okay, Tucker. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but it will. We’ll find Penny and Claire and bring them home.”

“Where exactly is home?” I ask, hoping my voice doesn’t break. The last thing I want is for Ryley, or anyone else for that matter, to see me cry.

“For right now, home is here. It doesn’t have to be a place, or specific house. Home is where you hang up your coat and kick off your shoes. Home is where you sit down for a nice meal, and if you have your friends surrounding you, it’s so much better. You are welcome here for as long as it takes, and so are Penny and Claire.”

“Thank you, Ryley. You’re a good woman.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not, Tucker. I’m a woman who lost, too, and I know what it feels like to not have somewhere to come home to.”

I look at her strangely wondering what she’s talking about. She smiles sweetly and leans back in her chair, pulling her legs up. “When Evan died, the house we shared didn’t feel like the one we had bought together. Everything about it was wrong. The paint wasn’t what we chose; the furniture wasn’t what we bought. I hated it. I hated everything about it, but I stayed because he had eaten off those dishes and had sat on that couch. I stayed because the bed that I slept in was the same one he did.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I tell her.

“Sure it does. With Evan gone, I had to make it a new home with his memories. And that’s what it came down to … memories. And the best thing about memories is that you can take them anywhere.” She turns to me and winks, telling me that she’s always right no matter how confusing she may sound.

“I’m going to go shower,” I say, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Archer is a lucky man.”

“You’ll be lucky, too, when you have Penny back in your arms.”

Her words give me pause and hit me straight in the chest. I dream of the day when I can hold Penny again, when I can feel her nestled into my neck and her body pressed against mine.

The problem with my dream is that it seems to be quickly fading. The tick tock of the law is fighting against me.

I TAKE A DEEP breath after I get out of my car and tilt my head toward the morning sun before walking up the steps to the general store. This is my favorite time of the day, the time when everything is calm. When you can hear the birds chirp before traffic comes barreling down the road, and when you can still make out a four-legged friend who is grazing on the dewy grass across from the store. Everything looks fresh in the morning sunlight, which gives me hope that things are going to be okay. And I need a lot of hope these days.

Every morning, the same two men—John and Steve—sit on the porch in the white rocking chairs the store provides. They sip their coffee and carry on like two old ladies on a Sunday morning. They know everyone in town and absolutely everything that goes on. They are the unofficial mayors of Pittsfield. I say, “Hi,” as I pass by, earning a whistle and a wink. Some think they’re dirty old men, but I believe they’re being nice. They make a lady feel good about herself whether they mean to or not.