Page 30 of Silver Sanctuary
“This room here, on your right.”
Lacy opened the door, confusion immediately hitting her. The room had one chair, toward the back of the space, and a small counter top with a sink was covered in medical supplies, as was the exam table.
“Sorry. This is the only space we had available. Sit overthere.” She pointed to the chair and Lacy made her way over. “What seems to be the problem?”
“I was assaulted. I think there might be something wrong with my ribs. Can you… will you call the police for me?”
“Let me take your temperature and check your blood pressure. We’ll go from there.”
Lacy nodded, allowing her eyes to drift closed as the cuff around her arm pressurized and then released its hold. The next thing she knew, the door was closing, and once again, she was all alone. Her fingers drifted up to her side. Pain flared at her feather-light touch, so intense that her vision went white.
There was nothing left in her. She desperately wanted to cry out for help, but somewhere in the depths of her soul, she knew it would never come for her. The only thing she could do was surrender to the pain. And as soon as her eyes closed, her head resting on the cold counter, she did.
Ten
“What’s got you so down today? You did a great job with the crew on the range. I’d think you’d be floating on cloud nine.” Stone slapped Nash’s shoulder as he sat in the chair beside him in the simulator control room.
“Yeah. That was fun. You see Hawk nearly shit a brick when I shot three straight through the center and he missed his second and third?”
Stone laughed. “Yeah, don’t think I’ve seen him that shaken in a while. He said he’s staying late tonight to practice.”
Gage turned in his chair. “How the fuck did you come up into this control room and mope around for the lasthourand not tell me that story? Are you okay?”
Nash huffed out a laugh. “I’m fine. You know I’m not normally here on Mondays. But I get why, with the Rangers coming in this week and SAR being here next week, I need to be here too.”
“But?” Gage poked.
“I normally see Lacy today—at lunchtime. Mondays arewhen I go in to buy flowers for the office and I get to see her for a bit.”
Both men were silent.
“Well, shit. I wouldn’t have put my money on it being you, Wings. But congratulations!” Gage was now smiling ear to ear.
“Sorry, what am I missing?”
“I thought it would be Stone, for sure. I mean, we all know Mae is a ticking time bomb for getting him to commit. I thought for sure he’d be the next one to fall.” Gage chuckled.
“Mae is riding me hard?—”
“Don’t tell her brother that.” Nash snorted.
“For fuck’s sake,” Stone groaned, running his hand down his face. “This isn’t about me. Nothing is changing between me and Mae. I’ve got too much to figure out about going back to school and what it means for me here. She and I have talked it to death.”
Gage met Nash’s eyes. “Sorry, Doc.”
“It is what it is.”
“So.” Gage cracked a smile. “Things are getting serious between you and Lacy?”
“She’s a single mom. I think she’s scared to let me in, but I made it clear after the whole window-shattering situation that I will step up for her—that I want to. I don’t know… is it weird that, from the moment we met, all this”—he pointed around the control room—“just doesn’t seem like the most important thing in the world anymore?”
“Nah.” Stone crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “It sounds exactly right for someone who finally found theirperson.”
For fuck’s sake, his eyes were going cross reading over the report. Nash groaned as let the paperwork rest on his lap. That scenario had been a flop. The team needed at least two more weeks at the training facility before their leadership should even think about letting them work in the field, but Nash knew that, somehow, they needed to get every one of those guys up to their department’s standards within the next four days. It wasn’t going to be easy, it wasn’t going to be pretty, but they’d get it done.
A number he didn’t recognize flashed across his screen. Lord. Telemarketers were getting desperate if they were trying to call him at almost midnight. He declined the call and set his phone back on the cushion next to him.
But when the call came through again just a few seconds later, something about its persistence made his stomach churn with unease.
