SEALs of Honor: Cooper (14 page)

“I’m leaving now,” she said to the last officer standing at the door. “You have my cell number. Please keep me updated. Otherwise I’ll become a nuisance asking you for updates.”

He nodded. “Will do. Stay safe please.”

She nodded. “I’ll try.”

“She’ll be safe,” Cooper said, appearing at her side, a protective arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him.

“I really appreciate that you came when I called.”

He laughed and reached out to pick up her hand and tucked it under his arm. “Good. I’m glad to hear that because I have a place where you can be safe. Come to my place,” he urged. “I have a spare bedroom, and the guys and I will keep an eye on you.”

She froze. Then shook her head. “Oh no. I don’t want to live on base again.”

He frowned that all too perceptive gaze, seeing more than she wanted. “Then come for the night so you have a place for now, and then we’ll come up with a better plan.”

She stared at him suspiciously. Then shook her head again. “Thank you but no. It’s better that I go to a hotel for the next couple of days. I need time to think.”

He stared at her, his gaze gentle. “You might need time to think, but no one said you had to do it alone.”

He knew.

She stared into his dark eyes and realized he understood. He knew she didn’t want to be alone. That the idea, in fact, terrified her. She wavered between feeling like she had to stand on her feet and wanting desperately to throw her arms around his neck and hug him close. Dear God, she didn’t want to be alone tonight. She wasn’t sure she could do it tomorrow either, but after a good night’s sleep things would look better.

They had to. They looked like shit from here.

*

Cooper wanted to
leave her car at her house and take her home in his, but she was clutching to her bit of independence with a fierce intensity he knew had more to do with the need to be able to flee then the need to stand on her own two feet.

He had seen her off and on in the months he’d been healing. The woman before him wasn’t the same one.

She was different now. Harder. Leaner. Wary.

Before she was all smiles and laughter.

But she’d been through a betrayal, an ugly divorce, then kidnapped and terrorized, and watched her friend get shot. And now she was under attack again – this time it was personal.

She might be putting on a brave face for the rest of the world, but he’d seen underneath.

He led her out to her car then handed her a small piece of paper with his address on it. “Do you know this street?”

She studied the address then nodded. “I do.”

“Good. Then follow me there and we’ll get you set up for the night.”

“I can go to a hotel.”

“No,” he said. “With me tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

She gave a shuddering breath and gave him a dipped nod.

He waited until she was buckled into her car and the engine on, doors locked, then he returned to his Jeep. Careful to keep her in his rear sight, he drove to his small bungalow, keeping an eye out in case they were being followed, but discerned nothing. Just to be on the safe side, he had her park outside a set of apartments at the end of the block and walked her back to his small house.

“You’re taking precautions,” she said, her gaze searching his. “Are you expecting trouble?”

“No, I’m not expecting it, but I don’t want to be unprepared just in case.”

Inside the house he showed her to her bedroom and then walked back out to the kitchen. As he put on coffee his cellphone rang. Markus.

“Anything?” he asked his friend.

“Not much available. The divorce was not contested. They had a prenup in place, Greg comes from a wealthy family who have since lost more than half of their net worth. She came from middle class but of course does well now. She was in school when they first met and married.”

“Did he put her through school?”

“No. Doc is gifted and was granted scholarships the whole way.”

“So she has no debts and doing well. Good for her.”

“And that’s where the problem comes in. He wanted her to pay him for having been there while she’d been going through school. Something about wanting a payment for his support against her future earnings. As in if they’d stayed married then he’d be expecting a higher quality of living.”

Cooper snorted at that.

“The judge said that if he’d kept his pecker in his pants then his complaints might have more grounds. As it was the assets since the marriage began were split as evenly as possible. She got her car. He got his Jeep. There was minimal cash but that was split as well.”

“All common in today’s world.”

“Exactly. Greg also broke off with his girlfriend a few months back.”

“So he’s reassessing his position and might want to try his hand with his ex-wife.” Cooper snorted. He doubted Sasha knew. Typical. “Where did you get this by the way?”

“A combination of public documents and gossip. He’s navy. Nothing is secret here.”

“So true.” He tried to keep his voice normal, but his tone ended up cool, detached. Maybe Markus would let it pass.

“Cooper…” Markus hesitated. “What’s up?”

Damn. Of course he’d notice.

Cooper hated to bring it up. Markus had lost his wife and they’d been terribly in love. He’d been devastated. That hit had taken him years to get over and said much about the relationship.

Cooper rubbed the back of his neck. “I just wondered, is this really the state of today’s marriages?”

“Not all of them but too many, yes,” Markus said. “You never got married?”

“No, I haven’t found anyone to go the distance. And I have no intention of getting married until I find one who will,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t believe divorce is the best or in some cases, the only answer, but I don’t want it to be
my
answer.”

The passion in his voice was hard for him to not hear himself. “I want to know she will be there for me, capable of handling the times I’m away, and not complain if I work too hard, that she’ll be there when I come back.” He sighed. “Sorry, didn’t mean that to come across so vehemently.”

“Understood. With so many of your friends finding partners the issue becomes a hot button.”

“In many ways.” Cooper groaned. “My brother has been divorced twice already, and he’s paying child support for four kids. Now, he’s looking at doing it a third time.”

“It’s more common than you’d think,” Markus, said. “Unfortunately.”

“I know and if he’s happy then good for him, but I want something different for myself.”

“I do too, but I have to admit to being concerned that having found love and lost it that there won’t be a second time around for me.” His smile came through the phone as he added, “But having known the joy once, I am definitely willing to try again.”

“There will be.”

The phone call ended soon afterward. As the coffee dripped beside him, Cooper stared out the window.

“Problems?”

He smiled and turned to face Sasha, giving her an improvised version of the conversation. “No, just one of those philosophical issues. Markus lost his wife in a diving accident, and he’s concerned that was his only chance at a perfect love.”

Sasha nodded and walked to the coffee pot. She filled the cups he’d set out. Cooper hadn’t even realized the coffee was ready.

“I’ve seen a lot of that. The shock and the fear after a traumatic loss. It’s always difficult to move on.”

“Do you agree with it?” he asked curiously.

“Agree that there is only one love per person?” She shook her head. “No, not at all. I think we have multiple chances at love. We also change and grow and what we wanted at sixteen is very different than at sixty. And the type of love or even our definition of what love is changes with time and experience.”

“So we can all have someone…”

“I’ve seen proof of that over and over again.” She smiled at him. “I might deal in the medical world and see death on a regular basis, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the good side of it as well.” She stared down at her cup. “People are resilient and the human spirit even more so. Given the right conditions we can all be crushed and the opposite is also true. We can all thrive.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

She laughed and walked through to his small living room. “I was always one to question the universe growing up. Medical school showed me we have so few answers, that all possibilities must be examined to find the right solution. Divorce taught me…” Shadows came into her eyes. “…that two people can have very different perceptions of the situation.”

“I’m sorry for that. I don’t know your husband.”

“Good,” she said. “One of the hardest things about a divorce is the friendships, and the splits that happen as a result of it.”

He nodded, having been a friend to various halves of relationships. “It’s hard on the friendships as well,” he said. “We visit both people. I have several divorced friends. We often did barbecues at each other’s houses, yet suddenly, we’re placed on a side.” He shrugged. “I’ve really liked several wives that put me on the husband’s side. It’s a rejection of us too. And it’s painful to watch friends split. Sometimes it’s easier to back away.”

“I found that as well. Greg was Navy with navy buddies. It seemed like everyone was uncomfortable around me so I’m the one who backed off.”

“And maybe they were uncomfortable because their friend had done wrong, and that’s something they had trouble with.”

She tilted her head to the side. “It’s possible. Several didn’t believe it, or not at first. I’m not sure when the details came out as I left.” She sighed. “If the details came out.”

“No regrets about leaving?”

She shook her head. “None. It’s over.”

“He’s broken up with his girlfriend.” He hadn’t meant to let her know. Still he found himself watching her face intently.

She laughed. “Okay, now that explains why he contacted my mother. I didn’t see why he’d give a shit if he was still with her.”

“You don’t think he’d care about you getting kidnapped?”

“Maybe. We were together for years so you’d hope he cared enough to be concerned. But if he’s broken up with Maureen then he’s looking for a replacement.” She grinned up at him. “I’m not it.”

“Good.”

He left it at that. But he could feel her speculative gaze. And ignored it.

He’d be a fool to not be interested. And he didn’t just want her…he wanted so much more.

S
asha filled their
coffee cups as Cooper’s phone rang. She carried hers out to the back deck to give him privacy. And to give herself a moment to just relax. She didn’t want to consider all that had happened so far today, and if the media found out about it, her life would get even more difficult.

That was not the way she’d like her mother to hear the news. She quickly dialed her.

And got no answer. She redialed, hoping her mother was out shopping and not hiding from reporters. When there was no answer, she left a voice message with a short message to call her back.

By the time she’d done that, she picked up her empty coffee cup and wandered back into the kitchen to refill it. And found Cooper still on the phone.

She topped his coffee cup up and placed it in front of him then refilled hers. She sat down and waited, her mind consumed with her mother. If it was any other day she’d not be so worried but after everything so far, well… She dialed her again. This time her mother answered.

Jesus. Sasha calmed down and had a short conversation with her, letting her know what happened. “I’m staying at a friend’s house. I’ll let you know what I decide to do from here on in.”

“And please call Greg,” her mother cried. “I know he’s been missing you. He called again this morning. He’s really sorry for what he did. Please phone him. You need help. Even after everything, I know he’ll look after you.”

Sasha rubbed her forehead. That was not going to happen. After saying good-bye she hung up and stared down at her phone.

“Problems?”

“No new ones,” she quipped. “My mother. She thinks I’m better off with a man. So she wants me to call my ex. She thinks he’s a great guy whose fall from grace is forgivable. Apparently he called just after I left her house.”