Out of Uniform (Wingmen Warriors 14)

Dee jerked. Buttons popped from her shirt. She backed away, her steps clumsy and haphazard, until she slammed against the soda machine. Her teeth jarred. She slithered to the floor and huddled, teeth chattering.

In her mind, other buttons popped loose. Coat buttons. She swallowed back the nausea and watched pearl buttons spiral across the tile until they blurred into larger, black buttons from her coat.

You’re not going anywhere with my kid. I’ll kill him before I let you see him again, Deirdre.

Pain slashed behind her eyes like a needle piercing her skin. White-hot, then frighteningly cold, like a deep sleep or even death. Through the pain emerged a suffocating gush of memories.

She remembered her name.

She remembered her child. Her son.

Both of which might have been cause for rejoicing. Except nausea choked her as, God help her, she remembered her husband.

Chapter 11

J acob tapped his thumb on the steering wheel, eager to return to the Lodge, to Dee.

The rescue operation had been canceled fifteen minutes out of Rockfish. The missing plane had simply been diverted because of weather. The pilot hadn’t closed out his flight plan, and the alert had gone up. Of course, ninety percent of all missing aircraft ended in the same sort of scenario, so Jacob wasn’t surprised. Just mildly annoyed at the waste of Civil Air Patrol time.

And the lost evening with Dee, a chance to explore whatever had started changing between them.

The urge to see her crept over him. A quick call to the Lodge to find Chase wouldn’t be out of line. Jacob pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and punched in the number. Five rings later, he disconnected. Why wasn’t Dee picking up? Could things be that swamped?

He stared ahead at the approaching lodge and the lot looked sparse as usual. Jacob slowed, headlights sweeping ahead as he pulled in beside Chase’s vehicle. Emily would be glad for the extra time together. Jacob looked into the lobby, but didn’t see Dee behind the desk.

Hmm…Odd. He opened the truck door.

A muffled scream filtered through the Lodge window. Followed by another. Then unending pain-filled cries.

Dee. Dread coldcocked him just before old instincts rammed into overdrive.

His boots slammed to the icy pavement at a dead run. He skidded toward the motel office. A couple of doors down, Emily poked her head out of her suite of rooms.

He vaulted up the steps two at a time, through the door and came chest-to-chest with Chase, who was leaving. “Chase? What’s going on?”

Jacob didn’t wait for the answer as he sidestepped to find Dee. Her screams dwindled to a low whimper. She sat with her back against the soda machine, her arms locked around her knees, hands fisted so tightly they trembled. Her eyes stared wide and unfocused.

“Dee?”

She fell silent, gasping big hiccuping breaths. Footsteps filled the silence. Chase shuffled his feet. Emily skidded to a halt in the doorway. Jacob motioned silently for her to stay back.

He approached Dee warily. She’d never looked so fragile, not even when the wind had swept her into the lobby for the first time.

Why had he ever left her alone? “Chase, what the hell’s going on?”

“I don’t know, man. She just freaked out.” Chase backed toward the door until he bumped into Emily, still waiting on the threshold. Jaw slack, she gawked at Dee.

Jacob knelt beside her. He wanted to haul her into his arms and reassure himself she hadn’t been hurt. Not the smartest move at the moment.

Go easy. “Dee, honey. Talk. You’re scaring me.”

She turned those wide, wounded eyes to him, but didn’t seem to see him. Never once had he seen her lose it, not when she had a truckload of reasons for turning into a basket case. Something bad must have gone down. Suddenly he wasn’t too steady, either.

“It’s okay. Just breathe.” Jacob stroked her hair, then tucked a knuckle under her chin. His hand bumped her fist—her fist clutching her torn shirt closed. Buttons littered the floor around her.

An opaque curtain of denial fogged Jacob’s mind. No way. He couldn’t be seeing what he thought. But Chase had been running away from Dee, not toward her.

Jacob scooped a button from the tile. “Chase?”