Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“There you go,” I said when she finally pulled back. Reaching up, I wiped the tears from her reddened cheeks. “What can I get for you? Coffee? Tea? Something cold? We can do something better than the hard ground, too,” I said, getting to my own feet, reaching for her hands, then pulling her to her feet with me.
She became aware of all the men at once, her head ducking so her hair curtained her face from their gazes as I led her past them.
“Want to go somewhere quiet for a few minutes?” I asked, thinking of my room. It would give her a chance to finish pulling herself together. And I could get a few minutes with the guys to share in our collective ‘What the fuck?’
“Okay,” she whispered.
I kept my hand in hers as I led her into the hall, then to my room.
“Help yourself to anything in here. Blankets, change of clothes. There’s a bathroom through there with anything you could need. I’ll come check on you in a couple minutes, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed, moving immediately to the chair in the corner of the room and lowering numbly down onto it.
“If you need me before then, call me, okay?”
“Call you what?” she asked, finally glancing up, those gorgeous gray eyes of hers all red from tears.
“Sully,” I told her as I stepped into the hall and closed the door.
The low chatter in the common area quieted as I moved into the doorway.
“Sull, man, that was impressive as fuck,” Perish said, shaking his head at me.
“Eh, been around my fair share of explosives in my day,” I said, shrugging it off. Because any other reaction was unacceptable. I couldn’t let myself go there again. I’d worked too fucking hard to get past that. I wouldn’t be dragged back. In Navesink Bank, of all places. “So, that was interesting.”
“Interesting,” Fallon repeated. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“I missed the beginning of that,” I said. “Anyone wanna fill me in?”
“I’d just walked in,” Callow said. “Was talking to Fallon. Then the door opened again. Didn’t think anything of it until Fallon’s face froze. Turned around, saw her standing there.
“Did she say anything?” I asked. “What?” I pressed when Callow and Fallon shared a look.
“She said she needed to see Sully,” Fallon said.
“And that’s about all that happened before you showed up,” Callow added. “What can you tell us about that vest? Typical suicide bomb vest, right?”
“Not really, no.”
“Why not really?” Fallon pressed.
“Because there’s no need for the visible timer on a suicide vest. That’s flashy and unnecessary. You’d normally have a handheld trigger. That way, the bomb is going to go off even if someone tries to take out the bomber first. The visible timer… that’s some movie-type shit.”
I was aware of the curious glances of some of the guys. It was expected. When I’d worked so hard to bury this side of myself, to mask it with all the lighter shit in life that I enjoyed a fuckuva lot more than my time in the service. Especially those last few months…
No.
Nope.
Wasn’t gonna let my mind go there.
But, yeah, it was easy for them all to forget that most of my adult life had been spent overseas, seeing and doing shit none of them could ever understand. Save for maybe Callow.
“Okay. So… What are your other observations?”
“I think it took a lot of work and effort to look more complicated than it was.”
“Meaning?”
“I think the builder wanted to look like his skills were more advanced than they were. It was basic, under all the frills.”
“She said she was here with a message for you,” Brooks said.
I bit the inside of my cheek and offered him a head shake.
“You don’t know what it’s about?”
“No clue.”
“What about the girl?” Fallon pressed.
“Bonnie, she said her name was. But no… I don’t know her.”
“You’re sure? Not even a one-night thing?” Brooks asked. “Club girl?”
Nothing about that woman said she was the sort to be a club girl.
“No. I’m sure. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen her before.” I was reasonably sure I’d have remembered all that pretty.
“We’re gonna need to talk to her,” Fallon said.
“I figured,” I agreed. “Think I can maybe bring her a drink first? Make her more comfortable? Won’t get anywhere if she’s too freaked to speak. And you might want to consider getting some women in here,” I said, looking around at the sausage fest.
It was enough to scare any woman, being surrounded by so many strange men. But something about this Bonnie chick told me she was more on the skittish side than most.
“Alright,” Fallon agreed, nodding. “That’s a good idea. See if we can get Chris down here from Hailstorm. And if Layna and Vi are in town…”
With them distracted by their plans, I took myself into the kitchen, grabbing a tray and making mugs of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate to bring with me back to my room. Everyone liked some sort of hot beverage. And they were universally soothing.