given it to him when he’d first made the SEALs, and he’d never taken it off. Not once in over twenty years, until that surgery when one of the nurses had given it to Emily to hold. Maybe that’s why she’d taken off so suddenly with the cryptic message of “having her own demons to face”
and flown back to Charleston. Finding out he still wore the thing must have been a shock for her.
The laptop suddenly beeped with an incoming email. When he opened the file from Bryn, he frowned. She was the cog in the wheel that joined 13
Kaylea Cross
him, his family, and most of his hand-picked team together. She’d just married a SEAL named Dec McCabe. Luke had enlisted him to track down Tehrazzi back in September when she’d been kidnapped.
Luke braced for bad news. If Bryn was back from the honeymoon already and e-mailing him at this hour on Christmas night her time, it had to mean Dec had been called out to join Dev Group.
Which meant either something big was brewing in the Middle East that he didn’t know about, or the top brass expected trouble in the immediate future.
Hey, Luke. Just got off the phone with Rayne.
Emily’s not doing very well...
His stomach dropped. Damn it, he’d known something wasn’t right with her.
Christa and Rayne are with her, but I’m heading to Charleston tomorrow, and thought maybe you should give her a call. Will keep you posted.
Bryn
Staring at the screen with an awful hollow feeling in his gut, all Luke’s focus was on Emily.
He’d known it had to be bad for her to leave the hospital in Vancouver before he’d come out of recovery, but if it was bad enough for Bryn to fly down there...
He remembered the e-mail from his son back in Afghanistan on the last mission in late September.
P.S. You might want to talk to mom ASAP.
Jesus, he’d been too chicken shit to phone her after their last conversation had ended so disastrously, so he’d let it slide. Seeing her at Rayne’s wedding was the first time he’d made contact since. She’d been pale, but he’d assumed it had to do with seeing him face-to-face and the fact their only child was getting married. But Christ, what if it was something way more serious?
Shit. Why the hell hadn’t Rayne called him to 14
Absolution
tell him? Luke snatched up his cell phone and dialed his son, but it went through to voicemail. He tried Bryn, but the same thing happened. He jumped up from the couch and went to the kitchen. It took some digging, but he eventually found his daughter-in-law’s cell number. He paced as he waited for the call to connect, then it rang once, twice, three times—
“Hello?”
“Christa, it’s Luke.” He didn’t bother apologizing for the late hour, but she didn’t seem groggy so maybe he hadn’t woken her.
“Hi! How are you?”
He was too worried to make small talk. “I just got an e-mail from Bryn about Emily.”
“Oh...”
When she didn’t offer anything further, Luke suppressed an irritated growl. “What the hell’s going on?” “Just a second.” He made out the sound of a door closing and then treads down wooden steps. She must be headed down the rear steps of Emily’s house, toward the garden. Luke knew every square inch of that property, so he had a good mental image of where she was as he counted the seconds. After another few moments she came back on the line.
“Sorry, just wanted a little privacy.”
So Rayne and Emily wouldn’t know who she was talking to. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s...sick.”
Yeah, no shit.
“We only found out yesterday when we came in to visit for a few days.”
Luke pictured Christa peering cautiously over the shrubbery to make sure no one in the house could see her. “Sick with what?”
“We’re still prying details out of her, and she doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Luke clenched his jaw. If Christa’s career as an 15
Kaylea Cross
Olympic softball catcher didn’t pan out, she could make a living working for the
and flown back to Charleston. Finding out he still wore the thing must have been a shock for her.
The laptop suddenly beeped with an incoming email. When he opened the file from Bryn, he frowned. She was the cog in the wheel that joined 13
Kaylea Cross
him, his family, and most of his hand-picked team together. She’d just married a SEAL named Dec McCabe. Luke had enlisted him to track down Tehrazzi back in September when she’d been kidnapped.
Luke braced for bad news. If Bryn was back from the honeymoon already and e-mailing him at this hour on Christmas night her time, it had to mean Dec had been called out to join Dev Group.
Which meant either something big was brewing in the Middle East that he didn’t know about, or the top brass expected trouble in the immediate future.
Hey, Luke. Just got off the phone with Rayne.
Emily’s not doing very well...
His stomach dropped. Damn it, he’d known something wasn’t right with her.
Christa and Rayne are with her, but I’m heading to Charleston tomorrow, and thought maybe you should give her a call. Will keep you posted.
Bryn
Staring at the screen with an awful hollow feeling in his gut, all Luke’s focus was on Emily.
He’d known it had to be bad for her to leave the hospital in Vancouver before he’d come out of recovery, but if it was bad enough for Bryn to fly down there...
He remembered the e-mail from his son back in Afghanistan on the last mission in late September.
P.S. You might want to talk to mom ASAP.
Jesus, he’d been too chicken shit to phone her after their last conversation had ended so disastrously, so he’d let it slide. Seeing her at Rayne’s wedding was the first time he’d made contact since. She’d been pale, but he’d assumed it had to do with seeing him face-to-face and the fact their only child was getting married. But Christ, what if it was something way more serious?
Shit. Why the hell hadn’t Rayne called him to 14
Absolution
tell him? Luke snatched up his cell phone and dialed his son, but it went through to voicemail. He tried Bryn, but the same thing happened. He jumped up from the couch and went to the kitchen. It took some digging, but he eventually found his daughter-in-law’s cell number. He paced as he waited for the call to connect, then it rang once, twice, three times—
“Hello?”
“Christa, it’s Luke.” He didn’t bother apologizing for the late hour, but she didn’t seem groggy so maybe he hadn’t woken her.
“Hi! How are you?”
He was too worried to make small talk. “I just got an e-mail from Bryn about Emily.”
“Oh...”
When she didn’t offer anything further, Luke suppressed an irritated growl. “What the hell’s going on?” “Just a second.” He made out the sound of a door closing and then treads down wooden steps. She must be headed down the rear steps of Emily’s house, toward the garden. Luke knew every square inch of that property, so he had a good mental image of where she was as he counted the seconds. After another few moments she came back on the line.
“Sorry, just wanted a little privacy.”
So Rayne and Emily wouldn’t know who she was talking to. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s...sick.”
Yeah, no shit.
“We only found out yesterday when we came in to visit for a few days.”
Luke pictured Christa peering cautiously over the shrubbery to make sure no one in the house could see her. “Sick with what?”
“We’re still prying details out of her, and she doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Luke clenched his jaw. If Christa’s career as an 15
Kaylea Cross
Olympic softball catcher didn’t pan out, she could make a living working for the
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