Page 41 of In Darkness Transformed
When the knocking started again, he yelled, “Hold your horses. I’m coming.”
He yanked the door open to find Jamison standing there with his fist ready to start another round of pounding.
“What took you so long, Sarge?”
Then he spotted Safara and stumbled back a step, his gaze ping-ponging between her and Eli. “Uh, Major, Sarge has company of the female persuasion. We should come back later.”
Mike joined him on the porch. “If this is a bad time...”
“No, it’s fine.” Eli stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
Once his friends filed inside, he performed the necessary introductions. “Major Mike Voss, Jamison ‘Doc’ Shaw, this is Deputy Safara Dennell from down in Ridgewick.”
Safara offered her hand to each man in turn. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Mike kept it quick and professional. “Same here, Deputy.”
In contrast, Jamison held on to her hand a little longer. “So, Deputy Dennell, what kind of trouble is our boy in? Do we need to arrange for bail? ’Cause I’m not sure we’ll be able to scrape up the money anytime soon.”
Then the jerk flashed his dimples that always attracted more than his fair share of women over the years. “Maybe the two of us can negotiate a better deal for him over dinner sometime.”
Eli considered punching his friend, but Safara only rolled her eyes at Jamison’s heavy-handed flirting. “Sorry to disappoint, Doc, but he isn’t in trouble.”
She glanced at Eli and then continued. “I stopped by to follow up on an incident that happened a couple of days ago. My grandfather was assaulted by persons unknown while he was hiking. Eli found Granddad and got him to the hospital down in Ridgewick just in time. Otherwise, we might’ve lost him.”
There was no mistaking the very real emotion in her voice. “I came to let him know Granddad is expected to make a full recovery, all thanks to him. The county sheriff’s department is handling the investigation, but I wanted to take a look around the site where it happened for myself.”
Mike glanced at Eli as he said, “We’re sorry to hear about your grandfather. I’m glad he’s going to be okay.”
Jamison nodded in agreement and added, “Your grandfather is lucky that it was Sarge who found him. Eli here has a real talent for saving people’s asses. I can’t tell you how many in our unit owe their lives to him.”
Eli appreciated the sentiment, but he didn’t deserve it. Not anymore. He sure as hell hadn’t done a damn thing for Montez and the others who died in the crash. Yeah, he didn’t crash the helicopter, but he still carried a shitload of guilt for walking away when they didn’t. He couldn’t imagine a time when the memory of their deaths would fade, when it wouldn’t still stab like a knife to his heart.
That was a worry for another day. Right now, he needed to figure out what was going on with Mike and Doc. It might not have been obvious to someone who didn’t know them well, but they were far more worried about what had happened to Safara’s grandfather than they should be. It wasn’t like they actually knew Halder.
“You guys park it on the couch while I make some coffee for everybody.”
Safara stopped him. “Why don’t I do that? I’m sure the three of you have a lot to talk about. While it’s brewing, I can check in with my office.”
“Okay. The coffee is in the canister on the counter, and the mugs are in the cabinet to the left of the sink.”
She headed for the kitchen, calling back over her shoulder, “I’ll manage as long as you don’t mind me rooting around to find what I need.”
“No problem.”
Meanwhile, Mike was edging toward the door. “It’s a nice day out, Eli, and I’ve spent too many hours shut up in the car with Doc. Can we sit out on the porch?”
“Sure thing. Give me a minute, and I’ll be right out.”
He’d noticed that both men looked a bit ragged around the edges. He wasn’t surprised that Doc was still sporting his ponytail, but he didn’t usually look like he’d slept in his clothes. Normally, the major looked pretty spit-and-polished even in civvies, but he hadn’t shaved and had dark circles under his eyes.
After his friends disappeared out onto the porch, Eli joined Safara in the kitchen. “I don’t know what’s going on with them, but it doesn’t look good. Can you give us a few minutes alone?”
She filled the reservoir on the coffeemaker. “Not a problem. I really do need to call Dad. Now’s as good a time as any.”
He checked to make sure Mike and Doc weren’t peeking in the windows to see what was taking him so long. Then he wrapped his arms around Safara from behind, pulling her back against his chest. Nuzzling the side of her neck, he said, “I’m sorry they interrupted our morning, but I can’t imagine that they’ll stay long.”
She angled her head to the side as she measured out the coffee, which he took to mean that she liked what he was doing and wanted more of it. He nibbled his way down the curve of her neck. When he teased the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue, she shivered.
