Rescuing Emily (Delta Force Heroes Book 2) (9 page)

F
letch smiled
at Ghost and Rayne. Truck had been visiting Ghost, and since Fletch was on a beer run, he’d offered to pick the three of them up for his barbecue. He was thrilled beyond belief that Ghost had found the woman who’d had him in such a bad mood for so many months. He and Rayne were perfect for each other, and he couldn’t be happier for his friend.

“I still think you should’ve let me bring something,” Rayne griped.

Fletch shrugged. “Got everything I need. Nothing left for you to bring over.”

“But something…brownies? Chips? Something?”

Fletch laughed. “Nope. Got it all.”

They pulled into the driveway of Fletch’s place and Rayne looked toward the apartment over the garage. “Is your tenant going to join us?”

“No.”

The word was bitten out.

“Why not? I thought you said she was nice?”

“She
is
nice. But she’s busy,” Fletch said flatly.

“Oh. Did you ask nicely?” Rayne pushed. “Sometimes you can be a bit abrupt. You said she had a little girl. Maybe they both could’ve come over.”

“I
did
ask nicely. And she has a boyfriend, so get that matchmaking gleam out of your eye right now, Rayne,” Fletch warned, putting his car in park.

“That’s a bummer,” she sighed.

It
was
a bummer. Fletch had no idea what he’d done to make Emily dislike him so much. Yes, he’d told her it wasn’t cool to put Annie on the same diet she was on, but he hadn’t thought it was harsh enough for her to never speak to him again. Ever since he’d had her and Annie over for dinner, she’d gone out of her way to make sure she wasn’t alone with him. He’d hoped she would relent and let Annie spend more time with him, and then maybe she’d come around, but that hadn’t happened. If anything, he saw less of the little girl now than he had before he’d invited them over for dinner. It sucked.

It had been about three weeks since they’d had dinner, and he’d been gone for some of that time on a mission. But the colonel had finagled them all some time off, and Fletch decided it was way past time to have the team over to his place for a cookout. He’d knocked on Emily’s door earlier, biting the bullet, wanting to invite them over, but she hadn’t answered.

Fletch knew she was home, because her car hadn’t left the garage since Thursday when she’d gotten home from work. It was unusual for her to take time off, or to keep Annie home from school, but she’d made it perfectly clear through her actions toward him that it wasn’t really his problem.

He couldn’t help but worry about them though. He wished Emily would’ve answered, just to put his mind at ease.

As they all entered his house, joining the others who were already there, Fletch looked longingly back at the apartment over the garage, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman he couldn’t keep out of his thoughts, and the little girl he was beginning to care for much more than a landlord should.

A
few hours later
, Fletch looked around at his six teammates, and Rayne, in contentment. There was nothing better than being around friends, at least in his opinion. Ghost, Coach, Hollywood, Beatle, Blade, Truck, and himself had been to hell and back…and were still alive to tell their stories. Fletch had never trusted another group of men as much as he did this one, and he knew they all felt exactly the same way.

Rayne was a fun addition to their circle. Sometimes she brought her friend Mary to get-togethers, and it was hilarious to watch her and Truck go at it. Mary was a tough woman, had been through a scary bout with cancer, and she didn’t take shit from anyone. But for some reason, she and Truck were like oil and water. She’d snipe at the big man, and he’d just smile and take it, which only infuriated Mary more.

The dynamics of having women in their inner circle was interesting. In the past, when they’d all gotten together, they’d spent their time talking about hook-ups and sports, but with Rayne there, and Mary when she joined them, they had to curb that kind of conversation. The result was more personal exchanges about their lives, families, and what was going on at work.

Though tonight, no one brought up the ongoing feud with the group of soldiers, which still hadn’t abated. Any time the soldiers saw any of them on base, they’d say shit under their breath; every now and then, one of their cars would be egged or keyed. It was annoying, but they had no proof who was doing it. All they could do was report the incidents to the military police and hope to catch them in the act one day. But that was talk for another time.

“Uh, Fletch, I think there’s a little fairy spying on us,” Rayne said softly. She was sitting on Ghost’s lap, holding a glass of wine, relaxing against his chest.

Fletch looked at Rayne in confusion, and she gestured with her head to the side.

Turning, Fletch saw a little girl peeking around the side of the house.

He immediately put down his beer and held out his hand to her. “Come here, Annie. Does your mom know you’re out here?”

Everyone watched as Annie cautiously made her way toward Fletch.

“Um, Fletch, I don’t—”

Rayne’s words were cut off as Fletch stood abruptly in concern at getting a good look at Annie.

She was wearing a pair of sweatpants, and her hair had obviously not been brushed that day, or maybe even in a couple of days. Her pajama top had a large stain, as if she’d spilled something on it. In short, she looked disheveled, not a look Fletch had ever seen on her before. Annie resembled a little homeless child, instead of the cherished daughter Fletch knew her to be.

Ignoring his friends, who had all sat up in their chairs, ready to do something, even though they didn’t know what, Fletch kneeled in front of Annie. “Are you okay, squirt?”

“I’m hungry.”

“You’re hungry. Okay. We have some leftovers, if that’s okay.”

Annie nodded, but her eyes strayed to the men behind him nervously. “Do you want to meet my friends?” Fletch asked, keeping his voice soothing.

Annie nodded, but it was obvious she was uneasy. He took her into his arms and stood up, settling her on his hip. Her thin arms wrapped around his neck and she held on tightly. Fletch turned and walked the eight feet or so to the others.

“Everyone, this is my friend, and tenant, Annie Grant. She’s six, and the smartest girl in the first grade.” Annie smiled at him, but didn’t speak. She put her head against his shoulder and gazed at him with bright eyes.

“Annie, these are my friends. I work with them every day. I trust them as if they were my brothers. There’s Truck, Blade, Beatle, Hollywood, Coach, and Ghost. And sitting with Ghost is his girlfriend, Rayne.”

Annie picked her head up and regarded each of the adults around her for a moment, before leaning into Fletch and declaring in a voice that was anything but private, “Your friends have weird names.”

Everyone chuckled. Fletch ran his hand over Annie’s unkempt hair. “That they do, squirt. You said you were hungry? Where’s your mom?” He kept the words light, but deep down he knew something was wrong. Emily had been keeping Annie away from him, and there was no way she’d let her wander over here in the dark.

“She’s sleeping.”

“Sleeping? You’re sure? You didn’t sneak out?”

Annie shook her head. “She’s been sleeping all day.”

“All day? What do you mean?” Fletch could feel his friends perk up at her words.

“She said she didn’t feel good when we got home Thursday, and this morning when I got up, she was sleeping. She didn’t want to go to work and said she was too sick to take me to school yesterday. I tried to wake her up today, but she just moaned at me. I ate the leftover noodles last night and when I tried to pour myself a cup of juice this morning, I spilleded it all over.” Annie sniffed. “I ate our last apple and there wasn’t more food to eat. You said I could come over if I needed anything.”

“I did, and I’m glad you came over. Can you sit here with Rayne and Ghost and let them get you some dinner?”

“Where are you going?” Annie asked, even as Fletch was putting her down on her feet next to the chair Rayne and Ghost were in.

“I’m just going to run next door and check on your mom.”

“She’s sleeping,” Annie repeated, as if he hadn’t heard her before.

“I know, sprite, but I’m going to go and check anyway.”

“You aren’t allowed inside. No boys. It’s our rule.”

Fletch regarded Annie. She was smart and he needed to tread a careful line. He didn’t want to scare the little girl, but she had to know her mom sleeping all day wasn’t something she usually did. He kneeled down once again, so he could look her in the eye.

“I think you know this isn’t a normal case, right?” At her small nod, he continued, “Mommies usually don’t sleep all day. I just want to make sure she’s not
too
sick. Okay?”

“Okay,” Annie whispered, then leaned over and hugged him, bringing her lips to his ear. “I’m scared. She was talking funny when I woke her up before I came over here.”

Fletch hugged Annie back. “Stay here, sweetie. I’m going to take Truck with me and we’ll go and make sure she’s okay.”

Annie eyed the big man standing next to Fletch. Fletch opened his mouth to reassure Annie that Truck looked scary, but he really wasn’t, at least not to little girls like her, when she climbed up on the chair next to her and tilted her head at the big soldier.

As if she’d spoken, Truck took a tentative step toward her, but didn’t say a word.

Annie put her hand out and ran her small fingers over the gnarly scar on Truck’s face. She traced it from the middle of his cheek to his lip and poked at it. She pulled the side of his mouth up, watching how the scar naturally pulled it back down into the perpetual scowl he wore.

“Did it hurt?” she finally whispered.

“Yeah,” Truck told her honestly.

Her eyes met his. “Did Fletch help you when you were hurt?”

“Yeah. He did.”

Annie laid her hand flat on Truck’s cheek. It didn’t begin to cover that side of his face, but Truck turned his head into her gentle touch anyway. “You’ll take care of my mommy?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

And that was that. If Fletch hadn’t been standing there, he wouldn’t have believed it. More than once kids had run crying back to their parents after seeing Truck’s wounds. Not only did Annie not run, she had touched and caressed his face. She was an extraordinary little girl.

Fletch decided then and there that Emily’s time of avoiding him was over. He’d let it go on too long, but hopefully she wasn’t too sick and they could talk out whatever was bothering her once and for all. Anyone who raised a child such as Annie was someone worth fighting for.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can. Go on, go with Rayne and my friend Ghost. Okay?” Fletch asked, helping Annie down from the chair she’d climbed onto.

It was a measure of just how scared the little girl was for her mom, and how hungry, because she merely nodded at Fletch and allowed Rayne to take hold of her hand and lead her inside to see what they could find for her to eat.

Fletch immediately set out across his lawn, Truck close at his heels. Fletch had chosen Truck because he was the most proficient medic of them all. Oh, they all knew first aid, but if Emily was hurt, Fletch wanted to have the best care at her disposal.

He took the stairs up to her apartment two at a time and twisted the knob to the door. It opened easily, as Annie hadn’t locked it behind her when she’d left. Fletch glanced at the kitchen as he entered, seeing the wet paper towels on the ground from where Annie had tried to clean up her mess. Ignoring them for the moment, he went to the bedroom.

It was empty. Where the hell was Emily?

“Fletch, here,” Truck grunted in a gruff voice.

Fletch spun and looked to the couch. Truck was kneeling next to a small lump, covered in a tattered blanket. He immediately went to Truck’s side, satisfied when the other man moved to give him room next to her face.

“Emily? Can you open your eyes?” he urged, putting his hand on her forehead. When she didn’t move, he turned to Truck. “She’s burning up.”

“Get this blanket off her.”

Fletch didn’t argue, just helped Truck unwrap Emily so some air could get to her. She roused when the chilly air of the apartment hit her.

“Emily!” Fletch demanded, “Look at me.”

Her eyes cracked open a slit but it took her a moment to recognize him. “I gave your friend his money this week. Tell him he’ll have to wait until I get paid again for the next one.”

“What? Emily, wake up, you’re not making sense.”

She closed her eyes, shivering.

“She needs a hospital, Fletch,” Truck told him seriously.

“I know, but only as a last resort. I’m guessing she doesn’t have any insurance. Let me get her to my place and see if we can’t cool her off first. I trust you more than a random doctor at this point, Truck.”

Truck sighed, not completely happy with Fletch’s plan, but not disagreeing with him either.

Fletch leaned down and scooped Emily into his arms, alarmed at how thin she was. He knew she’d been losing weight, but he could feel her ribs under his hands as he held her to him. Her head rolled back and he hitched her up into his arms. “Emily, put your arms around my neck and hold on.”

Surprisingly, she seemed to understand and did as he asked. She weakly grasped him around the shoulders, buried her nose against his neck, and held on as he strode out of the little apartment and down the stairs. Truck held open the front door and they quickly headed down the hall to the master bedroom.

“Go get Rayne, but don’t tell Annie her mom is here yet. I want to see how it goes before we say anything.”

Truck nodded and disappeared, headed for the backyard. Fletch gently placed Emily down on his comforter and smoothed a lock of her hair off her forehead. “Don’t worry, you’ll be good as new in a jiffy. My friends’ll get you fixed right up.”

Surprisingly, her eyes popped open at his words and a panicked expression came across her face. “Not your friend, please, Fletch! Not him! I paid this week. I did! I’ll find a way to get the money for next week. Keep him away from Annie!”