Page 74 of Heston
Alex stood ready, his hands on Kelsey’s wheelchair grips. “Long as it’s warm, that’ll be fine. Kelsey’s body temperature is still stuck in the Arctic. Point me in the right direction and—”
“This way,” London interrupted. “It’s right here and… Here, let me move the clothes basket.”
“No problem,” Alex assured her, in his gruff, kindly way. Once he’d maneuvered the wheelchair down the short hallway and around the corner into Heston’s laundry room, he backed out, closed the door behind him, and said, “Don’t mind if I do. Make mine black.”
So Heston made coffee. By then, Alex had made himself comfortable on Heston’s front porch, which was nothing more than a four-by-four concrete pad with three steps to the walk. Heston handed over the mug of hot caffeine and took a seat beside his boss.
“She’s not going to leave you.”
Heston wasn’t going to argue. What did Alex know? Nothing, that was what. Not a damned thing about how messed-up their relationship had been and still was.
“She’ll come around. She needs a woman to talk with, that’s all.”
“You think you’ve got it all figured out, huh?”
Alex stretched one long, lean leg down the steps. “No, but Kelsey does. Once she knew what happened to London, there was no stopping her. She had to come see London.”
“This was her idea? To come here today? Not yours?”
Alex took a hit off the scalding brew in his hand. “I’d rather Kelsey was still in The TEAM’s hospital, where she should be, but, yeah. She wouldn’t have it. This is the first time she’s been outside since that day on Emmons Glacier, and she wanted to come here first. Let me rephrase, she needed to speak with London. It’s a coping thing.”
Heston stared at the fingers of vapor curling off his mug. He refused to divulge anything personal between him and London. All he said was, “Thanks.”
“The wives want to meet London. All of them.”
That was interesting. “Why? They don’t know her.”
“True, but they’re a nosy bunch of females, and a few of them have been through worse. If you ask me—”
“Worse?” Heston spat. “What worse than being beaten by grown men, then nearly gang-raped?”
Alex set his mug on the step between him and Heston. “Having your little girl stolen right out of your arms. Being buried alive and damned near freezing to death. Losing a race with a train and getting twelve inches of skin ripped off your hip and thigh. Being beaten by a Mexican drug cartel when you’re eight months pregnant. Watching the man you love get shot and nearly bleed out in your arms. Losing custody of your newborn son to your asshole father. Need I go on?”
“Some wives have gone through that? Seriously?”
“Starting with Kelsey.” Alex crooked his neck like he often did when he was tired, pissed, or stressed. “You know how I met her?”
Heston shook his head. “Sure don’t.”
“During the worst time in my life. I’d recently lost my first wife and daughter. Sara and Abby were killed in an accident with a… a delivery truck. Back then, I hated everyone. Then I got this hairbrained idea to start a business, like I knew anything about that. First damned thing, one of the guys I’d hired went rogue and I had to pay the Air Force millions for breach of contract. Decided I’d had enough shit and split. Abandoned my TEAM. Headed for a cabin I used to own east of Spanaway, Washington. Found Kelsey on the porch when I got there. She’d been beaten by her ex-husband. Worse, he’d killed her two sons. Drowned them. Only she didn’t remember any of that, and honestly…” Alex brushed a hand over his face. “I wasn’t any better than her ex back then.”
Heston set his mug aside and waited for the rest of the story.
“But things changed. The more I helped her, the more I treated her wounded fingers and knees, and God, her poor battered face... The bastard punched her before she got away from him. After he’d had the nerve to tell her he’d murdered her boys. She jumped out of his truck. Damned near got caught, and Nick would’ve killed her if he’d found her. But he didn’t, least not right away. Thing is, being with her every day, watching her cringe when I just wanted to help, and listening to her scream when nightmares got the best of her, damned near broke me. I’d dig Nick’s worthless carcass back up just so I could kill him again.”
Heston knewthatfeeling.
“I’m just sorry it wasn’t me who ended the bastard. But Harley sniped Nick after the bastard got hold of Kelsey and damned near killed her. Long story short, yeah, most of thewives have been through hell just as deep and ugly as what London survived. They know precisely what she needs, and Heston, she needs Kelsey. Kelsey knows what to say and what to do. Good women are like that. They get a little bossy, but they reach out to their sisters and hold them tight when they need it most.”
Heston shook his head. That might work for The TEAM’s wives, but London was independent. “She’s leaving, Boss. I screwed up. I killed Obermeyer in front of her.”
“Like hell she’s leaving. I know what a woman looks like when she’d had enough, but that woman inside looks at you like you hung the stars, damned if I know why. Right now, she’s hurting, Hes. Give her time. Talk to her. You might be surprised to know, but most women want someone to kill their would-be rapists. London might not be as upset about what you did as you think.”
“I’ve tried. I can’t get her to open up. She’s left me before and…” Shit. The story poured out. By the time Heston finished, Alex’s hand was a lump of hot iron setting on his shoulder.
“Women don’t think like men, Hes. Took me a while to understand all that encompasses. They process information differently, probably better than us guys. They look at the whole picture. They’re not task-driven. Sometimes they’re not even logical. They’re emotional and touchy-feely. We’re not. Which is why we fall in love with them. They… well, Kelsey anyway, sees right through me. Always has.”
Heston took a hit off his coffee. Mother had seemed okay when he’d ended Obermeyer. Heston had an idea there was more to her story, but he’d been too worried about London to dig into it. Not like he would. Mother was no pushover. She might take offense if he asked about the day she’d called him honey. The day he was positive she’d been crying while she worried about London.
