Out of Uniform (Wingmen Warriors 14)

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?”

The lanky teen glanced from the button, to Dee’s blouse and back to Jacob. Chase’s eyes widened. “Uh-uh. Not a chance. It’s not what you think. She flipped out, just the way I said. I tried to keep her from going outside without a coat. That’s how her shirt got ripped.”

“Then why were you running away when I got here?”

Chase hesitated. “Uh, I saw you drive up.”

Jacob wanted to believe him, but his instincts clamored that Chase wasn’t telling everything—shuffling feet, refusal to make eye contact, all the typical signs of lying. Jacob’s jaw clenched. He didn’t want to wrap his mind around the possibility that Chase had assaulted Dee, or even tried.

A glance at Dee told him she was still out of it. He needed answers from Chase before he could help her. Jacob pinned Chase with an interrogator’s gaze and continued smoothing a hand along Dee’s hair. “Be straight with me now, or you can talk to the police.”

Emily gasped, stepping forward. Jacob kept his eyes on Chase but directed his words toward his sister. “Emily, go back to your room and take care of Madison.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her wave the nursery monitor but didn’t advance deeper inside.