The Captain's Lady (18 page)

She attempted to stifle a yawn. Her eyelids fluttered, then ever so slowly drooped closed. He blew out a relieved sigh and watched her breathing grow even and slow. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Standing up and stretching, he strode to the phone. He'd just picked it up to call Petey when the door flew open.

Stunned, he could not believe that Gail Carruthers stood facing him. She pushed the door silently closed. Eric flicked a glance at Abby who was sleeping peaceful.

He listened for any sign that the guard was outside the room. Where was he? How had she gotten past him?

Gail's expression narrowed. It was clear she was daring him to do something, this declaration of a personal war spoken without words. The urge to confront her, here and now, was fast becoming something he couldn't ignore. His saving grace was a quick glance at the peacefully sleeping Abby. Before reacting any further to this volatile situation, he strode past Gail and ripped open the door, startling the guard who was standing post. “Kaskin, why did you allow her in here? I personally heard the doctor order you to keep her out."

"Sir, she said—"

"I want you to escort Carruthers out of sickbay and, until further notice, she stays out."

"Yes, Captain.” The guard stepped back to allow Gail out of sickbay.

Just then the doctor arrived and stood outside the door, taking in the bitter scene. Eric did not miss the volatile, angry look that Larry threw her. Inwardly he smiled, glad for that small comfort, and another witness.

"This way, please.” Seaman Kaskin gestured her to the door. No one moved for several seconds. A gamut of emotions played on Gail's face until finally she relented and left, the doctor and the captain following behind.

"Carruthers, you'll take yourself and report to the XO. You will be put on report. This conduct is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.” Holding his fury in check, he turned to Kaskin. “See that she gets there and doesn't get lost along the way, then return to your post. Tomorrow I'll deal with you disobeying orders."

"Yes, sir, Captain.” Eric dismissed him and turned to Larry. “What was she doing here? I thought you assured me—"

"I ordered her to the personnel office this morning and told her sickbay was off limits.” The frustration was etched clear in Larry's voice.

Eric narrowed his eyes at the retreating Gail. “Well, it seems Miss Carruthers has decided to balk at all authority. Just so you know, Joe has ordered a female guard to be with her at all times. Why she is not with her now I will find out. I will personally see to it that these orders are followed through, and there's no more disregard for authority on this ship. By anyone."

He turned and looked down the passageway in the direction that the guard escorted Gail Carruthers. Never in his experience of commanding a ship had his leadership ever been questioned, or orders so flagrantly disregarded. Why weren't orders being followed? This would be addressed first thing in the daily department head meeting; he would clamp down and regain firm control of this ship and all the departments. He sighed and crossed his arms. The passageway was empty of personnel for the moment.

"But just so you know, the guard will be dogging her every move from now on.” He offered a conspiratorial wink, all the while his lips twitching in amusement. “You know, for her protection of course."

Eric grinned at the solution they'd created. “Leave it to Joe to come up with something like that, but I feel I should warn you, I don't think any of us should underestimate that woman."

"I must apologize, this incident should not have happened. I gave an order to her; I had no idea she would pull this. When I found her with Abby in the passageway, she was on her way to personnel. Disciplinary action will be taken, Captain. I assure you this will not happen again"

Closing his eyes he let out an exasperated laugh. “I can't believe Abby slipped out, but that will be addressed, too, with her and the guard.” The candor and the control in the sharp but honest tone denoted his determination to tighten the reins and regain firm order on the ship.

Abby had been almost asleep when she felt Eric pull away. She leaned up on one elbow and peered around the corner, but was unable to see or hear much. All she knew for sure: Gail Carruthers was there. What was going on with that woman? Why was she being escorted away? What were Eric and the doctor laughing about? She'd already known that something serious was going on and Gail was behind it. Only now, this feeling of wariness and deceit was stronger.

Abby made plans with herself that as soon as she was able to be up and out of this bed, she was going to find out what was going on. No more secrets; she was done with that. Now was time for truth honesty and sharing, and, more importantly, protecting those she cared for and loved. Whatever it was, she would find a way to help. She was determined and unwilling to stand by while this woman tried to hurt him. “No way in hell."

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Chapter Twenty-One

Eric caught up with Joe in the wardroom for a late dinner. When the last officer left, Eric threw down the napkin and pushed the plate away. “So, did Gail find her way to you?"

Almost choking on his dinner, Joe laughed as he leaned back. “Oh yeah, she found me, escorted by the good Seaman Kaskin, who looked none too happy. From the glare she gave him, it appeared that he may have had to drag her."

Joe threw a sheepish look at Eric. “She's a piece of work, that's for sure. I spoke with her and gave her a choice between reassignment to headquarters or a female guard. She refused both, of course. So I assigned Chief Petty Officer Cindy Hawkins to her. I made her wait while I sent for Cindy.” With a smug smile he added, “Don't worry, she'll stick to her like glue."

"Joe, why did it take so long to talk with her? I understood when we spoke in my cabin you were going to have talk with her then."

"Sorry, she was off duty and asleep last night after we finished speaking. She was first on my list this morning to deal with, but an emergency from home came up for one of the new recruits. It's been handled, but it took longer than expected. Some of them are having a hard time adjusting with the extension in deployment."

Eric was aware that taking care of the sailors was paramount for Joe. Life at sea was not easy, especially for new recruits. Whenever there was a personal conflict, Joe did what he could to alleviate problems. As he said on more than one occasion, everybody needs to bond together as a team, or we all die. This is no place for dissension and petty conflicts.

Eric tossed his arm over the back of the chair and sat back, musing over what transpired earlier. He could hardly contain his astonishment over Gail's brash actions.

"Larry told me he banned her from sickbay. He said he also confronted her about the charge and the report she filed, that it was false and she lied. She, of course, denied it, was quite vehement that the charges were true. But they locked horns and he nearly lost it before sending her off to personnel for reassignment."

"From now on, Joe, I want a daily report of her actions. Unofficially, of course. And let's stay on top of this. It's a priority."

Flashing a smile, Joe laughed and then winked at Eric before pushing away from the table. He walked over to the coffee urn, poured himself a cup then turned completely around to face him. He raised a second cup in a silent offering. Did he want one too?

"Yeah, sure."

Joe carried both cups of the strong black brew across the room. He handed one to Eric before sitting back down at the large table across from him. “It seems that she never arrived in the personnel office,” Joe continued, “but you will be happy to note that her behavior was written up and she's been put on report.” Taking a sip of coffee, he frowned. “You know, Eric, there's one thing I've wondered about. I did a little checking this morning. Gail had help getting that report faxed off this ship without anyone finding out."

Stunned, Eric muttered a string of curses under his breath. It had been his distraction with Abby that kept him from checking this himself. If he'd been on the ball he could've ... could've what? Not much chance he could've stopped this proverbial snowball from growing out of control. He pulled in a breath and let it out on the words, “Who helped her? I presume you found out?"

"I sure did. Unfortunately it was another female in the administration department, Petty Officer Jennifer Hampton."

A muscle in Eric's cheek twitched. He had met Jennifer. As far as he knew, she'd never been a rabble-rouser. He'd never heard of any problems with her. She seemed nice enough, not a leader, but quite eager to please and she did her job well. “Why the hell did she do it, did you talk with her?"

Joe winced before speaking in a restrained voice. “You may not like hearing this, but your barbaric views on women have earned you somewhat of a negative reputation. She said Gail convinced her that you would block this if she went through regular channels. She begged her for help."

Leaning his head back over the high back chair, he looked up, shaking his head in disbelief.

"After Master Chief Bud Hansen was through with her, I kind of felt sorry for the girl. It was a bad decision on her part. You could tell she sincerely regrets what she did. She's been put on report for her actions. Even though she has no previous record, Bud said he would like to bring charges against her for misconduct if possible. To use her as an example."

Eric winced. That would hurt her naval career; she had a spotless service record and was due for a promotion. Perhaps he could get a feel for the situation. “I want to talk to her; set up a meeting for tomorrow. Tell Bud to be there, too. And tell him to hold off possible charges until after the meeting."

Joe downed the rest of the coffee and rose from the chair, pausing briefly beside the table before leaving. “I'll let you know what time we're meeting tomorrow.” Stopping at the door, he turned and took a couple of steps back toward Eric. “I realized I forgot to ask: how's Abby doing?"

He picked up his almost-cold coffee and swallowed the last of it. Just the mention of her name brought an internal smile. “She's doing fine, but she picked up on the problem with Gail and has been trying to find out what's going on. She's perceptive as hell."

Smirking at Eric's assessment of Abby, Joe offered a mock salute and hurried out the door.

Eric rose from the chair and stretched his arms high over his head. At least much of the tension had relaxed with his nap. For the first time in days, he felt physically able to cope. He decided to go spend some time on the bridge. Whistling, he went out the door in a lighter mood than he had been in all day.

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Chapter Twenty-Two

At breakfast the following morning the commanding officers from each department were present in the wardroom. Everyone was aware of the unsavory allegation launched by Gail Carruthers. The fact that she would stoop to that level of depravity, creating an allegation that threatened a man's livelihood, career, and reputation, was not lost on the men present. The discussion consumed them throughout breakfast and left a few barely able to control their outrage.

Eric decided he personally needed to address the Gail situation with the officers present. It was better for them to hear it directly from him. He proceeded to give a detailed review of the accusation while it was still fresh in his mind from reading the report in preparation for this meeting and added his account of what actually did transpire in the incident, along with succeeding incidents. He included how she'd enlisted the help of the young Petty Officer. He left nothing out.

Eric then deferred to Joe, allowing him to fill everyone in on the status of the investigation, along with how he had provided her with a guard. This last bit met with a resounding boom of laughter, as they all were awestruck by the creativity of the first officer.

When the laughter died down, Joe informed them he would be meeting with all relevant crewmembers to investigate this incident. Eric instructed everyone to give full cooperation and to send anyone with firsthand knowledge directly to Joe, to follow protocol to the letter on this one.

Eric closed the meeting feeling almost buoyant from all their support. When they finished their meeting, each one made a point before leaving either to offer words of support or a gesture as simple as a pat on the back. It was a strong bond formed within the boys club, where they were determined to help him beat this. He reminded Bud and Joe to stay behind for their meeting with Jennifer.

As the door clicked closed behind the last officer, Joe and Bud moved into chairs close to Eric. Bud was a stocky man in his early 40's. He'd worn his hair in the same crew cut style all the years Eric had known him. His large arms and chest resembled a barrel and he walked around with a perpetual scowl on his face, which made any new sailor wary of him. Bud had a terrible temper when he was angry and Eric could almost visualize the upbraiding that Jennifer had received. He was not soft spoken and he had a set of lungs on him that, when he yelled, shook the walls. He had this propensity to get right in someone's face when he was angry, within inches, noses almost touching, just waiting for the other person to flinch.

"So, Bud, I understand you want to bring Jennifer up on charges,” Eric said.

Without blinking, Bud nodded firmly. “You bet I do. She pulled quite a stunt, considering where we are. What she did could have serious consequences for everyone on this ship. There's no room for any crewmember to start picking and choosing what rules or procedures he or she wants to follow. If she wants to do that, she can get out of the fucking navy and go work for some poor schmuck."

Eric remained stone faced. “Let's reserve that decision until after we meet with her, but let me make myself clear, I agree with you, Bud. What these women did could have compromised everyone on this ship."

Turning in his chair to look at Joe, he indicated the door. “Where is she?” Looking down at his watch, he noted the time 0711.