Breaking Free

“I called two days ago and arranged for us to go out with you guys,” Derrick said with a grin as he and Marjorie joined them.

  “That’s great,” Zoe said.

  Hearing the strain in her voice, Hawk gave her hand a squeeze. He wasn’t going to allow Derrick Armstrong to spoil their day together. If he said one thing about Zoe’s leg, he’d find himself backstroking back to the beach.

  “How’s it going, Derrick? Did you get the car up and running?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I had to have a new battery. The old one wouldn’t hold a charge.”

  Marjorie commented on Zoe’s bathing suit and while the women talked, Hawk took the opportunity to ask, “What about the other problem we spoke about? Have you had time to check into things there?”

  Derrick’s jaw tensed. “Yeah, I’m taking care of things.”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear it.” If he saw one hint he’d left another bruise on Marjorie, he was calling the MPs.

  “Marjorie’s wearing her bathing suit. You can check her out.”

  Marjorie turned to say something to Derrick, and upon seeing his sullen expression, her smile died and her features took on a tight anxious look.

  Hawk’s stomach tightened. He’d give Derrick time to decompress before they left them. That way he wouldn’t have an excuse for taking his anger at Hawk out on her later. Damn, this balancing act was the pits. He could only imagine what Marjorie had been going through.

  “We’re here to shake off some stress and have a good time. No worries today, ladies,” Hawk said, his tone light. “What do you say after our adventure on sea and air, we look for a good restaurant on land and pig out?”

  “What do you think, Derrick?” Marjorie asked.

  Derrick smiled, seeming to put his anger aside. “Sure, sounds like a plan to me.”

  The boat crew arrived, and after a brief introduction the three men did a safety check of the vessel, and handed out life jackets. Hawk guided Zoe to a seat on a wooden bench close by. Derrick and Marjorie sat down next to them.

  One of the crewmembers approached, his hair streaked white by the sun. He flipped a baseball hat onto his head and adjusted his sunglasses. “We’re waiting for a couple and their twelve-year-old. They called and said they’d be a few minutes late. If it’s all right with you four, we’d like to give them ten minutes.”

  “Sure, we’re not in any hurry,” Hawk said.

  “Thanks. As soon as they get here, we’ll do a small run through of how everything works, and get underway.” He wandered back to the boat.

  “How’s your brother?” Marjorie asked Zoe. The woman shoved her sunglasses further up her nose and tucked a long strand of brown hair behind her ear. Her windbreaker covered her modest one-piece bathing suit as well as her arms preventing Hawk from seeing how the bruise on her wrist was healing, or if she had any new ones.

  “Brett is doing well. His vitals and brain activity are normal.” The brevity of Zoe’s answer had Hawk eyeing her.

  If Derrick was the man responsible for Brett’s condition, and he found out they were trying to revive him with drugs, would he try something more to prevent it? Did Brett know something about one of his teammates that could threaten one of them or his career? The questions just kept circling in his thoughts with no answers. Damn it, why wouldn’t Cutter wake up?

  “Has Lang got anything off the tape from the hospital?” Derrick asked.

  Hawk said, “We’re supposed to go over to his house tomorrow and view the images he’s managed to freeze frame and enhance from the tape. There are none of the face, but we might be able to figure out who the attacker is by body type and movement.”

  Derrick nodded. “Sounds like a plan. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

  Hawk studied the man. Would he offer that if he were guilty? Or would he do so just to mislead them? Could they be suspicious of Derrick because of his anger management problems, and ignoring someone else who could be the real threat? Anxiety sliced through him at the thought.

  They couldn’t guard Brett twenty-four hours a day. The nurses were still on alert. He’d be all right. And Derrick was here with them.

  Tension tightened the muscles in Zoe’s body resting against his, and he looked down at her. He read worry and guilt in her expression. “You’re supposed to be relaxing today,” he murmured softly. “Brett will be fine, and he wouldn’t begrudge you one afternoon of pleasure, Zoe.”

  Her smile was a little forced, but she nodded.

  Marjorie touched her arm briefly. “He’ll wake up soon, Zoe.”

  Zoe smiled at her. “I hope so. How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine, been busy at work. I have to go to San Francisco in a few days on a business trip. I’m hoping Derrick can get leave to join me. It’s just overnight, but San Francisco is really interesting, and I think it would be fun.”

  How Marjorie could continue to try and build a relationship with someone who had physically abused her was beyond Hawk’s understanding. Where was her family when all this was going down? Why weren’t they trying to intercede?

  “San Francisco sounds great.” Zoe said. “I’ve heard it’s a beautiful city.”

  “Before you go home, you and Hawk need to make a trip there. It really is a special place,” Marjorie said, her tone enthusiastic.

  “As soon as Brett’s back on the road to recovery, maybe we will,” Hawk said. “There are some fantastic restaurants there.”

  “Have you thought about relocating here, Zoe?” Derrick asked.

  The pounding of running feet shook the dock and echoed across the water and back. Both the noise and the late couple’s arrival delayed her reply.

  Hawk studied her face. Would she want to relocate? Their relationship was so new they hadn’t even begun to consider that possibility. They’d just been so into each other, physically, and discovering each other in other ways, they hadn’t discussed anything serious. Did Zoe see him as someone she wanted to settle down with?

  Every time his job came up, anxiety crept into her expression, her body language. After losing her father, and Brett being injured, he understood why. But could she love him despite what he did for a living? Did he want her to? Could he stick it out with her? What if something were to happen to her while he was “in the real world”? His stomach knotted.

  The boat crew motioned them forward for a quick demonstration of how the parachute and harness worked and the safety procedures, and then they boarded the boat. Hawk kept his hand on her hip to steady her against the sway of the deck and guided her forward to a seat at the bow. Derrick and Marjorie followed with the other couple and the young girl.

  A crewmember shoved off, and the captain turned the boat into the bay. They idled past several large multi-million dollar houses, their back yards facing the water. A pelican, perched atop a private dock piling, stretched with a ruffle and flap of feathers that only hinted at the length and breadth of his wingspan. He opened his beak as though suppressing a yawn.

  Zoe laughed and pointed to him. “There’s the life. Hanging out in the sun all day, all the fish you can eat, and your only responsibilities are taking naps and impressing the lady pelicans in the neighborhood.”

  Hawk smiled at the comment. “How do you know it’s a male?”

  “He has that macho “come over to my post, baby,” look in his eyes.”

  Hawk laughed.

  On a jutting finger of land, two sea lions barked a greeting as they passed. The animals dove into the water, their brownish-gray bodies shiny, slick, and limber as they streaked through the liquid.

  “It seems the wild life is coming out just for you today. It’s rare for them to come this far into the bay,” Hawk said.

  “What are those bushes growing close to the water?”

  “They’re sea grapes,” Marjorie answered. “Their leaves are usually light green but they’ve turned dark purplish-red because we’ve had a recent frost.”

  “Marjorie knows all about plants,” Derrick said. “Sh
e’s been planting some flowers around the front of the house.”

  Hawk heard pride in Derrick’s voice when he spoke about Marjorie. How could the man care for her and hurt her?

  Hawk spread Zoe’s windbreaker over her shoulders and she turned to look up at him. “We’re getting ready to pick up speed. You might get a little chilly.” A smile spread her lips and brought quick heat to his skin. He helped her don the jacket over-top the life preserver and slipped an arm around her pulling her against his side. She leaned into him.

  The boat’s nose rose as its speed increased and they headed through the channel. To the right, Mission Beach came into sight. Palms etched a distinctive silhouette against the horizon, their frilly green tops in frivolous opposition to the long straight buildings that stretched in a parallel strip behind the beach.

  Turning to Hawk, Zoe raised her voice above the wind. “It really is a beautiful place.”

  “Yeah, it is. Just wait until you get up in the air.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. I want you to go up with me.”

  He studied her face. “All right. You’re not afraid, are you?”

  She shook her head. “I just want to share it with you.”

  He smiled and tightened his arm around her.

  The beach grew distant and the boat slowed as it neared a buoy. The metal float bobbed and weaved in the vessel’s wake. Perched atop the device, sea lions clung to it as though they were riding a carnival ride, and ignored the humans looking at them.

  “They’re so used to people they don’t pay much attention to us, unless of course you’re stupid enough to try and pet or catch one,” Derrick said. “You’d get bitten for sure.”

  The boat headed further out to sea.

  “Who wants to go first?” A crewman said from behind them.

  “We will,” Derrick said, raising a hand. He grasped Marjorie’s arm and the couple moved aft.

  “Have fun,” Zoe said.

  Zoe swiveled around to watch and laid an elbow on the back of the seat. Hawk turned as well. One at a time, Marjorie then Derrick stepped up on the slightly raised flight deck and were secured into a seat harness that clipped them to the parachute side by side. The two-toned blue and white chute already filling with air billowed behind the boat. As the vessel moved forward, a winch fed the rope out, and the couple rose slowly into the sky.

  Hawk cradled her back against his chest. “This really is easier than jumping out of the belly of a plane,” he said against her ear and fought the urge to nuzzle the tender spot beneath that he knew made her shiver.

  She rested her hands on his arms. “Have you ever had trouble getting your chute to deploy?” she asked.

  If he told her the truth, she’d freak out for certain. She might leave him...she might never give him a chance.

  “No. If there’s trouble with the main chute, there’s a back up.”

  Even with the danger involved, what he did was as much a part of him as who he was, he couldn’t change that. If she couldn’t accept his being a SEAL, he’d have to break it off. He’d have no choice. An ache settled just beneath his breastbone.

  Maybe he should break things off now and save them both from heartache. Before either one of them got in any deeper. He studied her profile. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t give up on her. Zoe wasn’t a quitter. He had to believe that. Even if he was setting himself up for a harder fall than a three thousand foot parachute jump.

  Her shoulders grew taut, the tension in her body mounting. She turned to look up at him and started to say something then changed her mind. After a pause she asked, “You’re really careful aren’t you?”

  The desperation he read in her face gripped him by the throat. “Yeah. We’re trained to be very, very careful and to stay calm during emergencies.”

  She nodded and rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder. Hawk’s lips brushed her temple with a sigh of relief.

  They had dodged a bullet, for now at least.