Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (236 page)

“Jordan might be
having some trouble adjusting to small-town life. The last letter I got from her she sounded so depressed. I know she misses me, but I’m hoping while I’m gone the people in town will be good to her.”

“As great as you say this town is, why worry?”

Scott’s ever-optimistic nature had him changing the subject. “I can’t believe you don’t have anyone special back home, waiting for you, Nick?”

Nick laughed. “As a matter of fact I have several waiting, but none that are special. They’re only special in the moment, Scott. Try to take a walk down memory lane and remember your single days. You haven’t always had Jordan. And I know for a fact before you met her you were exactly like me.”

That got a grin out of Scott. “That’s why I know what it’s like. Before Jordan, I was stuck in that kind of life. Now, it’s different. Jordan means everything to me.” But he couldn’t ignore how her e-mails lately had seemed to be hinting at how unhappy she was.

The sound of artillery fire broke the moment. A rocket exploded.

“Look out incoming.”

They heard the sound of another explosion and then watched as the truck directly in front of them exploded. Pieces of shrapnel hit the Humvee. Then all of a sudden the
Hummer became airborne. It didn’t take a genius to know they’d hit an IED. The smell of burning oil and fiery smoke filled the air. Landing on its side, Nick started to move, to crawl out of the vehicle. He turned to Scott. “Are you all right?”

“I think so, funny though, I can’t feel my legs. I think I’m pinned.”

From the back of the vehicle, the gunner, Jones from Sacramento, groaned in pain.

“Hold on, Scott, I’ll get you out.” Nick started working on freeing Scott, but he had difficulty getting a good grip. Blood was everywhere. Despite Nick’s best efforts, he couldn’t seem to get Scott to budge. Scott was bleeding badly.

“Nick stop. Stop. Help Jones. Get him out first. He’s in bad shape. Just look at his head.”

Despite the command, Nick continued to pull on Scott’s shoulders trying to wedge him out of the vehicle. “No, I’ve almost got
you loose.”

“That’s an order, Lieutenant Harris, Jones first, then me.” Nick crawled to the back, and kicked open the back door.

He easily slid out of the space before reaching back inside, pulling Jones, hefting him to his shoulders and out of the vehicle. Nick carried him away from the Hummer to the other side of the road to safety as quickly as he could. Running back, Nick got to the Humvee and crawled back inside, once again wedging into the small space beside Scott. Nick started working on getting the twisted metal away from Scott’s legs. It was slow going. He saw Scott start to lose consciousness. “I’m here, Scott, talk to me.”

Grabbing underneath his shoulders, Nick began to pull him up to no avail. He then went to work trying to bend the metal holding Scott in place. Only then, did Nick see how badly Scott was injured, how much blood he’d lost.

“Nick, listen to me. Listen to me. Stop. Promise me, Nick, you’ll see to it that Jordan and Hutton are okay? Promise me, Nick. She’s unhappy. Jordan’s been unhappy for months now.”

“Shut up, and help me get you out of here. Turn sideways a little more. Move to the damn right a little more, will you? The damned metal is everywhere. Turn the other way for a second.”

“Tell Jordan how much I love her. Nick, I want you to hold Hutton for me, okay? Are you listening to me? Promise me, Nick...you’ll hold Hutton. I so wanted to hold her just once. Take care of Jordan, Nick. Take care of them for me. See to them, Nick. Save Jordan, Nick. She’s unhappy. Don’t let anything happen to them. Promise me, Nick.”

“Shut up, will you? You’re going to make it out of this tin can if I have to…”

Just then, the gas pouring out of the tank ignited, causing the Hummer to explode in a fiery ball, throwing Nick out the back. Badly wounded, he tried to get up, but he couldn’t get to his feet. He started crawling in the sand toward the burning Hummer. He heard voices getting closer. Two soldiers ran toward him. It was the last thing he remembered before passing out.

Nick woke up inside a tent, a field hospital, with a doctor standing beside his bed, studying a chart. But as he did his best to focus on the room, the doctor looked as if he were far away. Through bleary eyes, Nick mumbled, “Scott, where is Captain Phillips. Scott Phillips where is he? Did he make it out?”

A nurse approached the other side of the bed. He heard her voice. “He’s asking about his buddy I take it. It isn’t the first time.”

The doctor nodded. “I’m sorry Lieutenant, Captain Phil- lips didn’t make it.”

Nick closed his eyes. Tears ran down his face. “I screwed up. I couldn’t get him out. I promised him I’d get him out of that goddamned tin can.”

Nic
k
cam
e
aw
a
ke
.
The
trembli
n
g
w
as
bac
k
.
P
e
r
s
p
ir
a
tion pooled
down
h
i
s
bod
y
.
H
e
ran
sha
k
y
han
d
s
through
h
i
s
hai
r
.

The
clock
by
the
bed
read
thre
e
-fo
r
t
y-fiv
e
.
A
f
t
er
g
o
i
n
g
wee
k
s
w
ithout
Sc
o
t
t
haunti
n
g
him,
the
dream
w
as
bac
k
.
N
ick
t
r
ied
t
o
shut
out
the
s
oun
d
s
and
s
me
l
l
s
of
that
d
a
y
.

H
e
could
n
’t
shake
the
im
a
ge
of
Sc
o
t
t
’
s
face
for
that
l
ast tim
e
.
H
e
remembered
e
ve
r
y
line,
e
ve
r
y
c
rea
s
e
on
h
i
s
fac
e
.
B
ut
it
w
as
the
look
in
h
i
s
e
y
e
s
that
would
haunt
N
ick
t
il
l
the
d
a
y
h
e
died
.
Sc
o
t
t
ha
d
k
n
o
w
n
h
e
w
a
s
n
’
t
g
o
i
n
g
t
o
mak
e
i
t
.

N
ic
k
looke
d
aroun
d
th
e
s
t
udi
o
apa
r
tmen
t.
The
lonelin
ess
hi
t
hi
m
l
i
k
e a
mo
v
in
g
f
reigh
t
t
r
ai
n.
H
e
y
ea
r
ne
d
fo
r
J
or
d
a
n.

H
ow
would
Sc
o
t
t
feel
a
bout
that?
he
wondered.
God help
him,
he
could
n
’t
help
i
t
, but
he
could
n
’t
shake
Sc
o
t
t
’
s o
w
n
wor
d
s.
H
ow
could
a
n
y
man
in
h
i
s
r
ight
mind
n
o
t
fa
l
l
in love
w
ith
a
woman
l
i
ke
J
or
d
an?
Sc
o
t
t
’
s
wor
d
s.
H
ow
ma
n
y ti
m
e
s
ha
d
N
ic
k
hear
d
hi
m
s
a
y
that?

S
uddenl
y
,
it
became
clear
what
he
had
t
o
d
o
.

H
e
dr
e
ss
e
d
quickl
y
,
ma
k
i
n
g
h
i
s
w
a
y
throug
h
th
e
d
a
rk
out
t
o
the
H
arle
y
.
A
s
quietly
as
he
could,
he
p
u
shed
the
bi
ke do
w
n
the
d
r
ive
w
a
y
and
then
as
far
alo
n
g
the
road
a
w
a
y
f
rom the
ho
u
s
e
as
he
could
before
jum
p
i
n
g
on
and
s
t
a
r
ti
n
g
the e
n
g
in
e
.
H
e
roared
of
f
,
headi
n
g
for
the
hig
h
w
a
y
.