Page 8 of Unstoppable

"Have some respect, she's not just some chick," Mike said, turning his anger towards Red.

Red took a step back, putting his hands up as a sign he meant no harm. "Listen man, it's not like we are on radio silence here. Just call her."

"And say what exactly? Sorry I ran out on you, but I'd love to see you again... oh ya, by the way, I'm thousands of miles away and I don't really know when I'll be back but if you could just wait by your phone I'd appreciate it?"

"Well, probably in not so many words, but ya, I guess. Do something, because the guys can't even stand to be around you right now. Everyone is taking bets on who you will scream at next."

Mike pulled out a chair and threw himself into it. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, he looked straight into Red's eyes. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? I don't know what is wrong with me. I mean, we were only together one night."

"Sometimes that's all it takes."

"That's like some bullshit from a movie."

"What do you want to hear, Mike? I know you were never the settling down type. I think you enjoy making fun of Jason for losing his balls to Christy more than you actually enjoy the women lately. But the truth is, it hits all of us someday. You just have to be smart enough to do something about it and not let it slip away."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"Me? Nah. But I've seen it happen to plenty of my boys. If I found it, I wouldn't run from it. I mean really, how long can we all keep this cowboy act up? My body fucking hurts... all the time. We are getting old."

"Point taken."

"Now can you suck it up and get over yourself? We have to figure out how we are going to get this guy out of here, and you still need to see the medic."

Mike looked down and realized he was bleeding through his shirt even worse than before. "It's nothing, I barely got grazed."

"Then it won't be a problem when I send him in here," Red said while he turned for the door, "Oh, and try not to yell at the kid. He's new, and he's already terrified he has to stitch you up while you're in such a bad mood."

Mike threw a notebook toward Red's head, but grunted when it pulled at his recent injuries. Bullets were a bitch, and yet his biggest concern was how he was going to explain a recent wound or scar to Andie. She didn't know enough about him yet, and he was scared if he told her everything she might run. His job wasn't one that was for the faint of heart, but Andie seemed to have it in her to handle his life. He knew he would need to explain everything so she would understand. Over the last couple of weeks, he kept thinking that may have been one thing that drew him to her. He reached for his phone and once again sat there staring at her number. Making a hasty decision to leave her wasn't one of his best, yet calling her when he had no idea what tomorrow would bring wouldn't help either. Once he got back, he would go find her. As much as he thought about her, they still had too much to learn about each other for him to feel confident she wouldn't put up a fight. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and yelled for the medic to come in and close his wounds. After that, he was moving his team to a new safe house to regroup and they would move on their target in the morning. This had gone on for long enough and he was ready to get home.

Chapter Seven

Thiswasn'tgood.Feelingsick beyond belief, Andie looked down at the four pregnancy tests lined up on the bathroom counter. Pregnant. She was pregnant with the green-eyed giant's baby and she had no idea what she was going to do. The same green-eyed giant that slipped away in the middle of the night to never appear again. The man who changed her life, and she didn't even realize how much until that moment.

It's not like she didn't think about him. He seemed to creep into her thoughts most days, and he was always in her dreams at night. A man who she knew for less than twenty-four hours was consuming her mind, and now she had his child growing in her womb. She was still picking up temp jobs to make ends meet and didn't even have medical insurance. The last few weeks had been harder than normal. She wasn't sure she could make her rent this month, and she was already considering she might need to move in with her sister. Avery was going to kill her when she found out how irresponsible she had been. Andie had insisted she was over Mike, but that was far from the truth, and now as she stood in the bathroom staring at herself in the mirror, all she could think about was him and her raising their child together.

She needed to make some smart decisions now that she was pregnant. Diane called when she could, but Andie struggled with the long hours she used to work. Tired and run down all the time, she found the late night functions more and more challenging. At the time she assumed she was coming down with something, but when the sickness wouldn't go away and her monthly friend was running late, her suspicions started creeping in. She had worked late again last night and didn't get home until after 3:00AM. Then she spent most of the night tossing and turning until she could get to a store to buy a test.

She'd been avoiding her sister because she wasn't feeling herself, and she knew Avery would tell her to slow down. Her twin's uncanny ability to see through her facade was too risky, and Andie couldn't slow down or work fewer hours. She needed the money. Now she wanted to see Avery more than ever, so she shot off a quick text asking her to call when she got out of work. Maybe Avery would have a lead on a full-time job. Andie's unstructured way of life had worked for her in the past, but not anymore. She'd always wanted to be a mom, but she never thought it would happen like this. In her mind, things went in order: get a boyfriend, get married, buy a house, then have kids. However, her reality wasn't proving to turn out that way.

This would be hard, maybe even impossible, but Andie knew this might be her only chance. She would do whatever it took to make sure her child had a perfect life. That's when it hit her. She would have to tell him. It was his child. Her heart dropped into her stomach at the thought. She couldn't believe she had gotten herself into this situation. She didn't even know his last name! Although she had thought about him, she had not tried to track him down. Now she had to find the guy who she kept calling the green-eyed giant in her head. The same guy disappeared weeks ago without a trace.

She didn't have much, but she had to start somewhere, so she headed into her kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper to write down everything she knew. His name was Mike, he worked at a security firm, and he drove a fancy car. Great, she would have his address and phone number in no time, she thought while shaking her head. That's when it hit her. Mr. Montgomery. He had said Mike had done some work for him. She needed to reach him somehow. She pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Diane! It's Christy, I have a favor to ask of you..."

About two hours later, and after a couple phone calls, she stood in front of a modest-looking storefront on the first floor of a high-rise building that had Calvano Security written on the door. Not knowing what to expect, she walked in and found a bubbly receptionist at the front desk asking her what she wanted.

"I'm here to see Mike Christenson."

"I'm sorry, he works off site. Is he expecting you?"

"Um, no, I'm here on a personal matter."

"Well, I will call his assistant and find out how she wants me to handle you. Please have a seat."

Handle me? She thought as she sat in the rather comfy chair in the lobby. She had never heard someone refer to her like that. She didn't need handling; she needed to talk to Mike and get this over with. The longer she was there, the higher the risk that she would lose her breakfast on their lobby floor. It seemed now that her little munchkin had made itself known, it wanted to make her even more sick than she had been over the last few weeks. She sat down and pulled her phone out of her purse. Scrolling through her social media feed, she could feel her eyes getting heavy. She was so tired, and the chair was so comfortable... before she knew it, she had dozed off in the lobby while waiting.

It startled Andie when a little woman with gray hair and soft features gently nudged her arm.

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