Page 88 of Fire and Rain
A chorus of thank-yous followed Agent Santee out the door. Then there was only the sound of Auntie Evelyn’s weeping.
It was Eden’s grandmother who spoke next. “Sean, come sit over here so this old woman can get a good look at you.”
Sean stood, shared a glance with Eden, a smile tugging at his lips. “Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
“My grandma likes you.”
Sean brought Eden’s gear inside while she carried a sleeping Maverick. “You think so?”
“I know it. She said you have kind eyes.”
“I liked the way she stood up for you.” He set her stuff down near the door.
“She always speaks her mind.”
“Like someone else I know.” He waited while she put Maverick in his crib.
Sean had ordered a special toddler bed for Maverick, but it hadn’t yet arrived.
Eden quickly returned. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“So do I. Lock the door behind me, and stay indoors.” When she stuck out her tongue at him, Sean drew her close, held her tight. “I know that’s hard for you, but hopefully they’ll catch Charlie soon.”
“You stay safe, okay?”
“I will.” Sean kissed her. “See you tomorrow afternoon.”
He turned and walked out the door. He hated leaving Eden and Maverick alone with Crane somewhere on the island. Hopefully, the bastard was making his way toward Canada as Santee’s intel suggested. If not…
Desperate people did desperate, stupid things.
When he arrived back on base, he went first to the barracks to drop off his gear and change into his thermals. Then he made his way to the briefing and found Zeke and Trey already there, with Lt. Yamada as their operations duty officer once again.
Sean glanced at the time, saw that Spurrier was late. “Anyone talk to James?”
Zeke shook his head. “I haven’t seen him all day.”
This wasn’t like him.
The door opened, and James walked in, unshaven, his hair disheveled, dark circles below his eyes. “Sorry. I overslept.”
They got on with the briefing, focusing on a moderate low-pressure system expected to bring rain and forty- to fifty-knot winds to the Gulf and Shelikof Strait. A bigger system was headed their way, but that was almost ten days out and might not materialize.
After the briefing, Sean followed James, who hadn’t yet settled into his duty room. “Hey, Spurrier, are you okay, man?”
James opened the door to his duty room and motioned for Sean to enter. “Yeah. I’m … I just had a rough night.”
“Sorry to hear it. I’ll go and let you get some sleep.”
“No, it’s okay. I …” He was quiet for a moment. “Do you still have nightmares?”
“I did for a while. I haven’t had as many lately.” The realization surprised him. He hadn’t had a nightmare since he and Eden had gotten together. “I used to dream that I did something different, that I yelled at Justin to get off the boat sooner or raised the hoist line faster. But no matter what I did, Justin always died.”
James’ gaze was focused out the window, his jaw tight. “I keep reliving the crash—feeling the blast wave, losing the tail rotor, hitting the water… seeing that David was dead.”
“Have you told anyone?” Sean and James had both been cleared to return to duty, but Sean certainly hadn’t been completely honest about his nightmares.
