Dante stirred, coughed. Then he nuzzled the back of her head. Laurie stretched out her legs for a second and Dante moved his head so he was cheek to cheek with her.
“Morning.” She turned her head to kiss his cheek.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered back.
She chuckled at him, but she didn’t move.
He pulled her flush against his naked body.
“Isn’t the new guy supposed to come soon?”
“Yes.” Dante’s eyes remained firmly closed.
“Don’t you have to change shifts with John and Dean?” Laurie prodded him with her elbow.
“Maybe.”
Laurie chuckled, rolling over onto her back beneath him.
He growled at her.
“I’m trying to sleep, Ms. Shelton.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Dante opened one eye to survey her pointed expression. Then he opened both eyes and yawned, stretching out his limbs. Dante gave Laurie a lazy smile before he brushed her lips with his. Then he rolled over to look at the clock. It was almost 10:00 a.m.
“You’re right. Time to get up.”
He rolled out of bed and grabbed the jeans and t-shirt he had worn three days earlier. He buckled his gun into place and ran his fingers through his hair.
Laurie sat up on the bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She watched him, still wondering at how they came to be together.
He walked over to her. He ran his hand over her crown of sunlit hair. Then he bent down and kissed her forehead.
Laurie leaned back so he could brush her lips with his.
“Gotta go to work.”
She laughed.
Laurie dressed slowly, taking pains to look nice. She brushed out her hair, her thoughts filled with the man who just left the room. When she went into the living room, she waved a greeting at John and Dean. They were absorbed in their TV show.
In the kitchen, Dante was sitting at the table. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn’t hear Laurie come in behind him.
She took one look at him scowling at his phone and became concerned.
“Dante?”
His head snapped up. He straightened himself. Then he forced a smile.
“It’s nothing,” he replied to her questioning look. “It was just Rick calling to say the new guy would be here any minute.”
She looked him over for a moment, but decided to let it pass.
“What do you want for breakfast?” She came up beside him.
“Anything is fine.” He got up and went to the coffee maker, avoiding her completely.
Laurie stared at his back for a moment. Then she sighed and made her way to the refrigerator to get out the eggs and bread. She made them both omelets, while Dante stared at the toaster like it had offended him this morning. They sat down at the table. Before they started eating, Laurie reached over and squeezed his hand. As he looked up, she gave him a reassuring smile. It worked. The scowl on his face slipped away. He smiled back, and squeezed her hand before he let her go.
“Boss, I think the new guy’s here.”
Dante excused himself from the table and went into the living room.
Laurie listened from the kitchen, wondering what could possibly be bothering him.
“I take it you’re Jason,” said Dante.
“Yes, sir,” Jason said. He had a deep, booming male voice.
“Welcome. I’m glad you’re here. You can put your things in one of the rooms on the right down the hall. Then come back here. I’ll brief you.”
Laurie wandered in from the kitchen.
Dante introduced Jason to Laurie when he came back from putting down his bags, and then Dean and John decided to head to bed.
Jason was a quiet character, solemn.
Laurie sat on the couch reading.
Dante sat writing his report beside her.
Jason sat in the chair, reading a magazine or the newspaper.
Laurie did manage to draw Jason out a tiny bit. She learned he was from San Francisco, and he was divorced from his first wife. He had a four-year-old boy he showed Laurie pictures of on his phone.
“He told me yesterday he wants to be a police officer for Halloween.” Jason grinned, but Laurie thought of David.
Jason put his phone back in his pocket. He stood up from where he had perched on the arm of the couch beside her.
“Wonder where he got that idea from.” Laurie toyed with the remote.
Jason’s smile stretched up to his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. He excused himself, as he retreated into the hallway toward the bathroom.
Laurie stared at his retreating back as the young man strode away.
Laurie’s eyes fell to the cover of her book, sitting in her lap. It had worn edges and dog-earned pages, but Laurie saw none of it. She saw David’s face, then the picture of Mary he had shown her, and she thought of the son David would never get to see. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. Pain lanced her heart. She looked up and met Dante’s steady gaze. She looked back down at her book, then back to Dante.
“Can we try to call Cheyn and Max again?”
“Yeah.” He reached into his pocket for his cell phone.
He dialed what was supposed to be Cheyn’s number, she prayed for it to connect. It rang once, twice, three times. It just kept ringing until the machine picked up. She saw worry flicker across his face as he left another message. Max’s line just did the same. Dante’s concern transformed into her anxiety.
“We’ll reach one of them soon, Laurie. Rick said they’ve both been on a lot of painkillers, but they’re both fine,” he said.
Laurie nodded, but she didn’t meet his gaze.
“Are you calling the guys who survived?” Jason asked, as he re-entered and took his seat.
“Yes.” Dante looked up, his mouth set in hard lines.
“That’s bad business,” Jason said. “But with two former Marines, you’ll be just fine, ma’am.”
“That’s not what worries me.” Laurie shifted in her seat, looking at Dante.
“Maybe I’ll just try the hospital switchboard.” Dante looked up the hospital’s number.
He dialed. A machine picked up. Dante punched in the numbers to spell Cheyn’s last name. He jabbed at each number with his index finger, each hit increasing in vehemence and pure annoyance. The computer confirmed Cheyn’s name, but it gave him a different room number than the one Rick had given him. He hit one to transfer. The phone began to ring. Dante let out a breath in a whoosh of air from his mouth.
“Hellooo?” Laurie could hear Cheyn’s answer. She leaned towards Dante, her heart lifting. His voice was raspy. He sounded drugged or half-asleep or both, but to Laurie he never sounded better.
Dante smiled at Laurie.
“Cheyn! It’s Dante. How are you? I’ve been trying to call but Rick gave me the wrong room number.” Dante swatted at Laurie’s hand as she tried to take the phone.
“Dante, man. It’s so good to talk to you.”
“How are you doing? Are they treating you right over there?”
“There are some very sweet nurses here, man. They have me all patched up. I should be released tomorrow.”
“Good. I’m relieved. You had everyone pretty shaken.” Dante reached for her hand, surprising her.
She glanced at Jason, but he was reading his newspaper.
“How are you, boss? Did you make it out okay?”
“A bullet grazed me, but I’m fine. After they put you in the helicopter, I grabbed Laurie and got the hell out of there.”
“How’s Miz Laurie? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. We drove to the other safe house. She’d like to talk to you, too.”
“I’m so glad she made it out. I should be able to come back soon. Real soon.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. You can’t come back to active duty that fast.”
“Aww, come on boss. You know I live for the job.”
“I know you do, Cheyn, but you gotta rest up for the next one. I’ll take care of Laurie.”
“Yeah, I bet you will.” Cheyn let out a drug-induced giggle, and it made Laurie nervous. What if Cheyn said something to Rick?