Page 41 of The Flame of Carson
Gage’s eyes snappedopened.The room was dark, Stacey sound asleep in his arms.So, what had woken him up from a dead sleep?Carefully, he slid from the bed.Pulling on the sweats he had thrown on after their first round of lovemaking, Gage quietly withdrew the gun in his nightstand and left the bedroom.His house was silent.Room by room, Gage checked the upstairs before heading downstairs to do the same.Everything was as it should be, all the windows and doors locked, his alarm still armed.Still confused as to what woke him, Gage entered the kitchen, flipping on the light and laying his gun on the counter.He grabbed a glass and filled it with water.
‘What woke me?’he thought, downing the water.‘Am I just getting paranoid because we don’t know who this guy is that’s after Stacey?Because he took a shot at me in my own damned house?’
Gage was the last of the guys from Blackout to start second guessing himself, but there he stood in his kitchen doing just that.Sighing, he sat the empty glass in the sink and turned to find Stacey standing in the doorway wearing his T-shirt.“You look good in my shirt babe.”
Stacey grinned a little, “Thanks.You alright?I heard you get up.”
“I don’t know.I mean I was dead asleep and for some reason just came wide awake.That’s not normal for me.”He sighed, raking a hand through his hair.
“No, it’s not normal for you.”She agreed with a frown, moving toward where he was now leaning against the counter.“I’m guessing you checked out the house?”
“Yeah, and everything is locked up and in place.The alarm is still set and active.I was thinking maybe I’m getting...”
“Paranoid?”She finished for him.
Gage nodded, “Yeah.I’m the last guy to get paranoid, Stacey.I don’t understand...”
Stacey reached up and cupped his face, “Gage, listen to me.There’s nothing wrong with feeling a little out of sorts.Okay?This asshat came to your house and shot at you.That would leave anybody a bit skittish.It’s only been what?A week?”
Gage wrapped his hands around her slender wrists.“Almost two.”
“Okay, two weeks.There’s nothing wrong with you.Do you hear me?This is your instincts being on high alert.Mine have been the same when I’m home alone after he came after you.”
“But I’m not one of those people Stacey.I don’t second guess myself.Well, unless we’re talking about you and me before you told me you loved me.”He said, grinning a little to lighten the mood.
Stacey giggled.“I do love you Gage and I know you don’t second guess yourself.I don’t think that’s what this is though.It seems more like you’re watching out for danger.Not being paranoid.”
Gage let out a breath and rested his forehead against hers.A sense of calm blanketed him, and his mind cleared.“Yeah.God, now that I think about it, it’s almost like...”
“Like what baby?Talk to me.”
“You know Ethan was injured in Iraq, right?”She nodded.“The day before that mission I felt the same way.Tense.Wound up and I wasn’t even going on the damned mission.I told Ethan to watch himself, that I felt something was off.Just like now.”
“See, that’s the soldier, the fighter in you.”She said.
“It’s been a long time since I felt this.Guess it threw me.”He replied, wrapping his arms around her.
Stacey held him back, her head laying over his heart.Should she tell him what she was thinking the last week or so?Should she wait?No, waiting never did anyone any good in these types of situations.“Gage, when I was talking to Walt today, he said something that I’ve been thinking about too.What if...what if this guy isn’t someone I know?”
Gage tensed and mentally sighed, “What are you talking about?”
“Not long after he contacted me here in Austin, I started rethinking the situation.Yes, initially we all thought it was someone I knew or who knew me.What if we were all wrong?What if this is someone who picked me at random?”Stacey elaborated.
Gage felt his blood freeze.Had he not been thinking the same thing since he saw that first email she got here?That would put a whole new light on things and could also explain why they were having such a tough time driving the bastard to ground.It also meant he and Stacey were in agreement.Unsure of what to say, Gage just pulled her back into his arms and held her.When he got to the office, he would run the idea by Ethan and Tony.His girl had good instincts and right now he wasn’t about to doubt them.Especially since they matched his own.
“Gage?”
“Yeah?”
She fidgeted a little as she looked up, “That night that Tony stayed over, well I woke up around midnight and stepped outside on the back porch.Tony found me and we talked.”
“Uh-oh, am I going to have to kick his ass?”
She giggled, “No.He asked me something and well since then it’s been on my mind.Yet, I’m kind of nervous asking about it.”
He cupped her face, “Baby, you can ask me anything you want.”
“Alright.Tony and I were talking about how after his first tour with MARSOC he had gone from a heavy sleeper to a light one.Somehow, we got onto the topic of how you guys dealt with what you saw or did.He asked me if I was curious about your time in the Marines.”
