Titan (Old Ironsides Book 2) (40 page)

Foxx slipped out of a snug leather jacket that she laid over the back of the sofa. Her sparkling metallic hair was cut short, her green eyes warm. Nathan realized that he rarely saw Foxx when off–duty and he noticed the simple shirt she wore, dark blue and opened at the neck, tight black pants and delicate heeled shoes.

‘Dinner’s not for another hour,’ he said as they sat down. ‘What brings you here?’

Nathan saw her glance at the Lucidity Lens as she sat down opposite him on the couch.

‘You.’

Nathan swallowed as his stomach turned over.
Man up, you idiot. Say something smart.
‘Me?’

That wasn’t smart, that was plain dumb. She already told you that.

‘Yes, you,’ Foxx said. ‘Captain Forrester is worried about you, and so am I.’

Balls. So it’s about work then, and the lens.

‘I told you, I’ve got this,’ Nathan replied. ‘I only use it two hours a day, one hour in the morning and one…’

‘It’s not the lens, Nathan.’

Really?

‘Really?’

‘Yeah,’ she said, and sighed. ‘People are starting to talk about how you’ve got a death wish or something.’

‘Really?’

‘Oh come on Nate,’ she said, ‘in the space of two days you’ve run down two armed criminals while under fire, purposefully entered a maximum security prison and stayed even when a full blown riot went off and, so we hear, head–butted the most dangerous criminal inside said prison and ended up with his entire crew gunning for you.’

‘We were targets anyway,’ Nathan said. ‘The warden…’

‘We know why the warden did what he did, to smoke Zak Ryan’s confession out,’ Foxx said. ‘That doesn’t change what you did. Even the warden thought you were insane.’

Nathan sighed, glanced again at the lens. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

Foxx thought for a moment before she spoke.

‘The lens was an idea, my idea, to help you while you got over the grief of losing everything and everybody that you knew. I thought that it might give you some comfort, but everything inside that thing is merely inside your own head. Outside, here, right now, there are people who care about you just the same as your family did.’

Nathan felt his throat constrict and the burning sensation pinch at the corner of his eyes once more.

‘I know,’ he said softly, ‘but they’re not my wife or my little girl.’

Foxx rested one hand on his forearm. ‘I know, and they never can be. I just want you to know, we all do, that you’re not alone here. The guys all know what you’ve been through and they’re behind you all the way, Nate. It’s only been six months and we know that you can’t just get over something like this that quickly, but putting yourself in harm’s way just for the hell of it won’t ease the pain.’

Nathan knew that she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier for him and he found himself lost for words. He looked down at the couch, wishing that he could think of something clever or insightful to say, but his train of thought had crashed to a halt, hitting the wall of his sorrow.

Foxx squeezed his forearm.

‘Of course, some of the others see you as a bit of a hero.’

Really?

The wall of sorrow weakened a little as Nathan looked up. ‘They do?’

‘Sure,’ Foxx shrugged and rolled her eyes. ‘Amy on Vice thinks that you’re, to quote her, “one hot maverick”.’

Nathan felt his heart quicken a little. ‘A hot maverick, eh? I can live with that.’

‘I thought you might,’ Foxx said, ‘although I think you’re just showboating most all the time.’

‘Nothing wrong with a little well–placed pride.’

‘Trying to get killed is just being a jerk, too, case you hadn’t noticed,’ Foxx pointed out. ‘If you go and get yourself iced on one of these crusades then I lose you too and…’

Nathan stared at her, saw her green eyes flare as she backtracked with a mumble.

‘…and the guys at the precinct will lose you and they won’t get over that in a hurry, y’know what I mean, ‘cause they’ve really grown to like you is all.’

Nathan felt the smile creep across his features as he looked at her. Foxx averted her gaze and glanced at the panorama surrounding them. ‘You always set the walls to transparent like this?’

Nathan figured he’d allow the change of conversation, desperate as she seemed to be to alter it.

‘I like the view – it’s all still new to me.’

‘Makes me feel exposed,’ she replied, ‘like everybody can see me too.’

‘You feel like people can see right through you?’ Nathan asked.

Foxx’s clear green eyes settled on his and for a moment he thought that she might fold, but suddenly she chuckled and her hand disappeared from where it had been resting on his forearm.

‘I just like my privacy,’ she replied, and then added: ‘and my distance.’

Nathan smiled. ‘I can understand that.’

‘Maybe you can, maybe you can’t,’ Foxx said.

‘You got to Tethys and saved my life, not for the first time,’ Nathan said. ‘I heard you disobeyed a direct order.’

Foxx sighed. ‘I did what I had to do to get you and Allen the hell out of there,’ she replied. ‘I did what…’

‘I would have done,’ Nathan said, cutting her off with a smile. ‘You risked your neck and acted like a hot maverick.’

Foxx watched him for a moment. ‘I did my duty.’

‘And I did mine.’

‘That’s what I’m saying,’ Foxx persisted. ‘There are people here who will go the distance for you. I just want you to give them the chance, to not risk your own life until you see that maybe, despite all that you’ve lost, there is still a future here for you.’ A brief smile flickered like a half–seen ghost across her lips. ‘If I could do it, so can you.’

Nathan felt a brief moment of guilt as he recalled that Foxx had lost her own family to an accident many years before, had been through something every bit as traumatic as he had done, and at a much younger age too.

‘I’ll try,’ Nathan said, and caught the brief expression of doubt on her face. ‘I’ll try,’ he repeated, ‘I promise.’

Foxx finally smiled properly, and for the most fleeting of instances Nathan felt a warmth inside of him, something that he had not felt for many long months, a sense of belonging and of hope that he thought might never return.

A gentle alarm sounded and Nathan saw Vasquez and Allen standing outside the apartment door.

‘Access granted,’ Nathan called out, ‘although I don’t know why.’

Vasquez and Allen strolled into the apartment, both of them lighting up with smiles as they saw him.

‘Hey, Ironside, you’re still outta jail!’ Vasquez greeted him. ‘What monumental screw up let that happen?’

Nathan shook the former Marine’s hand as he looked at Allen. The detective nodded once, and his voice was quiet as he spoke.

‘I owe you, man.’

Nathan clapped the detective’s shoulder. ‘You bet you do.’

‘Me too,’ Vasquez said. ‘You hadn’t saved this tenderfoot’s delicate little life during that riot, I wouldn’t have had anybody to moan at. We’re going to celebrate like it’s 2599 before dinner. There’s a bar called Macy’s on the corner of Twelfth and Arandale; sweet beer, cocktails, bar staff to die for. You in, old timer?’

Nathan hesitated, unsure if he felt like hitting the town in a city he didn’t yet fully understand let alone know.

‘I’m in,’ Foxx said as she grabbed her jacket and joined the detectives, then turned and waited expectantly with them.

‘You bet the hell he’s in!’ yelled a voice from the corridor outside the apartment. Betty
Buzz
Luther poked her head inside and waved at him. ‘Don’t worry honey, you’ll be well looked after. I’m driving!’

Vasquez and Allen closed their eyes in horror, and Foxx nudged them into motion. ‘Come on boys, the faster we drink the smoother the ride will seem.’

The three of them hesitated again, each awaiting Nathan. Nathan glanced at the lens on the table nearby, and he picked it up. He caught the look of disappointment on Foxx’s elfin features, but then he grinned at her.

‘I’d better put this somewhere safe,’ he said, ‘in case I come back drunk and sit on it.’

Vasquez and Allen grinned and turned for the door as Foxx slipped one hand in her pants pocket and stuck her elbow out for him. Nathan tossed the lens into a drawer and slid his arm through hers as she led him out of the apartment.

***

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dean Crawford is the author of twenty novels, including the internationally published series of thrillers featuring
Ethan Warner
, a former United States Marine now employed by a government agency tasked with investigating unusual scientific phenomena. The novels have been
Sunday Times
paperback best-sellers and have gained the interest of major Hollywood production studios. He is also the enthusiastic author of many independently published Science Fiction novels.