Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Thanks.” He muttered distractedly.
“Welcome.” I said around a big bite.
Sam finished his off in practically eight bites, and chucked the plate on top of his tool box. Handed me his Dr. Pepper which I promptly popped the tab and handed back to him. We’ve done this quite a few times before since his fingernails were never long enough to get under the tab. Sam’s fingernails were short on purpose. He kept them like that so he didn’t have to deal with the cleanup of having long nails and being a mechanic. Grease was a bitch any way it went, so it’s best to cut some corners when you could.
I was licking the icing that had dripped down my arm with my tongue when a cop car pulled up to the gate. Sam went to the switch on the wall and pressed the button that opened the gate, and we both stared as the cop pulled up to the front beside my truck and got out.
“Can I help you, officer?” Sam asked.
“Sam Mackenzie?” the officer asked.
Sam nodded and waited.
“And you are Cheyenne Allen?” the cop asked as he turned to look at me.
“Yes, sir.” I answered.
“Do you know a Leah Waters?” The cop asked authoritatively.
“Yes sir, she is my ex-girlfriend. Why? Is she in some trouble?” Sam answered.
“Where were you both last night between 2 and 6 a.m.?” He questioned.
“We were both in bed asleep.” Sam answered. “Is she okay?”
The cop seemed to come to some sort of conclusion, and he opened the flood gates.
“Leah Water’s was killed last night; she was shot in the back of the head. The baby was cut from her stomach and was lying on the ground next to her body with the umbilical cord cut. They were found by another guest who was out walking her dog at the hotel where she was staying. Looked like he saved the baby’s life while taking Ms. Water’s.”
I gasped and threw my hand over my mouth, suddenly feeling nauseous.
“Is the baby okay?” Sam asked gruffly.
“Yes, baby is in the NICU at Children’s in Dallas. Was flown there as soon as she was found. Are you the father?” he asked no bullshitting.
“No. As far as I could tell, the father was a man named Luke Roberts.” Sam answered quickly. “He was deployed in Iraq, the last time I heard from her.”
“Thank You, we will try to contact him as soon as we can.” He said. “Do either of you know what,” he said as he removed his notebook from the pocket of his slacks and read, “You don’t deserve a family, Cap.” means?
I quickly looked over to Sam to see that all of the blood had drained from his face. He took a deep breath, and then went in to an explanation.
“We have been working with an Officer Marsh, who has been also working with my former CO. We believe that a former member of our unit who was thought dead, went rogue, and is now targeting the former members of the team. Another possibility is that it is another member of our old team, who knows us well enough to use only things that we would know, and is just using Justin’s name. Cheyenne and her brother James, Blaine Master’s, and myself have all gotten threatening letters. A couple weeks ago we had a team member die, and it is suspected that he was responsible.” Sam explained quickly and efficiently.
The officer nodded throughout Sam’s explanation. He took a couple of notes and assured us that he would check into it. He also assured us that he would keep us updated on the baby’s condition. The officer left shortly after, and both of us just stood there watching him leave.
I turned to look at Sam once he was no longer in sight, and could see that he was struggling with what we just heard. I slowly walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him. His arms came around me and squeezed me hard, almost to the point of pain.
“That could have been you.” He said to me.
“It wasn’t. Are you ok, Sam? I know you have to be upset by this.” I said back to him.
“I’m sorry that it happened to her, and I am worried about her baby, but I’m just thanking God right now that it was her and not you.” He whispered. “Thank God.”
James came with me to work. Sam called a group meeting and explained to them all what happened. James decided that he would be my body guard for the day, and accompanied me to work after we dropped off Janie and Kayla at daycare. The bosses loved James though, and didn’t have a problem with him tagging along with me.
He used to be best friends with the owner’s son. Their son, Briggs, died in a car accident when they were seventeen. He was hit by a drunk driver and killed on impact. It was a huge deal for this small town, because he had just gotten a full ride to UT for football. The drunk driver was also killed on impact, he was a father of a girl that was in their graduating class, and the girl was shunned by the rest of the school for the sins of her father. Brigg’s parents and James went out of their way to be nice to the girl and help her, but she left when she turned eighteen and no one ever saw her again. James got quiet after that, staying to himself. He enlisted in the army as soon as he graduated, not wasting any time to get away from here.
When he was twenty three he met Anna. I didn’t like her as soon as I met her, but who was I to say anything when he was so obviously in obsessed with her? He got her pregnant not long after they met. I had a feeling that she got pregnant on purpose, but soon regretted the decision when she found out that pregnancy was not to her liking. Anna was a complete bitch after that, and I hated her more and more every day. James acted like a different person as well. His personality seemed to drain out of him every day until the man that was left no longer resembled by big brother I knew and loved. I thanked God when she left, even though James became even more withdrawn. But he loved Janie, and his light shines through when he is with her. The Ranger’s helped James a lot more than he likes to admit. James came back on leave, and he almost acted like his old normal self.