SEALs of Honor: Markus (12 page)

She nodded. “That must be tough on your family. To know you might never come back.”

“Sure, but anything can happen to you – a car accident or even a kidnapping while at work,” he said with a smile to soften the reminder of what she’d been through. “There are no guarantees in life. Just the need to stretch and grow and live your life to the fullest.”

“True.”

He turned off the main road onto the parking lot of the diner. She stared at the building, catching sight of a man’s profile as he disappeared around the back of the building.

A truck ripped out of the alley as Markus parked. She caught sight of the rear bumper before it disappeared from sight.

That’s when she saw the flames.

*

“Oh my God.”

Markus shifted the truck gear and immediately reversed out of the lot.

“No wait,” she gasped. “I have to get my stuff.”

“No.” He hit the gas, pulling the truck even further back, then quickly texted Mason.

An explosion rent the air. She cried out, instinctively lifting her arms to shield her face.

The building sat in front of a large empty lot. If the wind picked up, the fire could travel, but either way the diner was a loss. As long as the fire didn’t spread next door, no other structures would be impacted.

Bree’s mouth hung open as she started at the huge fire now consuming the entire building. Tears filled her eyes.

“Poor Boomer.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Why?”

“This place was his life.”

That Boomer’s own life was hanging on by a thread didn’t seem to matter. He had to wonder, why torch the place? Make sure no one could prove they’d been there or had a connection to the place. Erase Boomer’s life. Or…he glanced over at the devastated woman at his side…make sure Bree didn’t survive.

What if she’d gone home earlier? She’d have been sound asleep as the place burned down around her. She wouldn’t have had a chance.

The sirens screamed in the distance. He waited until they’d almost arrived, then turned the truck around to get out of the way. He couldn’t help put out the fire. And he needed to deal with Bree. She’d twisted in her seat to watch the building burn and the trucks arrive. There was nothing anyone could do in this case – except make sure it didn’t spread.

He slowly drove away.

When she collapsed back again in her seat, he said, “Definitely time for the breakfast I promised you. I could use a coffee.”

She sniffled. “Did you see him?”

He sighed. “I’d hoped you’d missed it.”

“Missed a man running away from the scene with a gas can? No,” she whispered. “I didn’t miss it.”

“The police are searching for him right now.”

She snorted. “They can’t handle any more incidences to investigate.”

“They will manage and we can help if needed.”

“I saw you texting.” She gave him a watery sniff. “He just lit the building on fire and ran.”

“They’ll catch him. I sent them a description of the truck as well.”

“Did you tell them the LG in his license plate?”

He hit the brakes and pulled the truck off to the side of the road and stared at her incredulously. “Did you see that?”

She nodded. “I did.”

He quickly pulled out his phone and sent another text. “Mason is coordinating the information with the police. They are setting up road blocks.”

“Which only works if he’s leaving town. If he’s just going to go home and park in his garage, then he can change plates, paint his truck – he has options.”

He hated to see her go through more upset. He knew it was going to be a little harder to find a black beat up older Ford in a town full of them, but it wasn’t impossible. He’d let the cops do their job. And he’d do his. He needed to get Bree fed then stashed safe somewhere.

To that end, he reached across and clasped her hand in his. “It’s going to be okay.”

She turned to stare at him, tears still shining in her eyes. “I know it will,” she whispered. “I’m just…”

And she fell silent and stared out the window.

J
ust what? Shocked?
Terrified? Emotionally and physically exhausted. All of the above. She leaned her head back. It was just a building burning. An inanimate object. Why was it upsetting her so much? Other than yet another example of how shitty people could be to each other.

Yet, it held everything she owned, including her purse and few items of clothing. Even though it would be a pain in the ass, it was all replaceable. As soon as the bank opened she could withdraw cash and get new bank cards. She deliberately didn’t have much. She’d shut everything down when she’d gotten sick and did her best to clean up her existence so her father would have an easier time handling the paperwork after she was gone. A simpler life had held her in good stead. Much easier to look after one backpack than suitcases full.

But when you lost that single bag…

And maybe it had more to do with losing her home…

Her life had just hit the rocks again. She’d get through this. She wasn’t dying like Boomer or hurt like Jake, and she had nothing of value burning to hell right now. Just the bits of her life she’d been unable to avoid having.

But it hurt…was she more affected by the loss of her home, her car, her life, than she’d let on?

“What are you thinking?” Markus asked as he navigated through the streets.

“Just about life. Motivations.” She sighed and realized she’d been twisted around to look out the back window again. “Wondering if I’ve been fooling myself all this time.”

“About what?”

“About losing everything and living a life – not collecting shit again – maybe because I didn’t want to lose more.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. Let it just be what it was…what you needed at the time and forget about it. Don’t look for deeper meanings. You’d been to hell and back and somehow found yourself living a different life than you’d imagined.”

He pulled up in front of the busy restaurant, one she’d never been to before. She looked down at his jacket around her shoulders and her very dirty clothes underneath. Not her usual style but today, well it was too damn bad but there was no way to change it. This was what she had to wear.

“Do you want to wear my jacket inside?” he asked, opening the door for her.

She jumped and slipped it off her shoulders and left it on the front seat. “I know you intend on feeding me, and I appreciate it, but shouldn’t you be off doing something about that fire? Or the shooter? Or the kidnappers?” She slipped off the truck seat and landed on the ground. Her knees buckled. Shit.

But Markus being the guy he was, held her steady. “Easy.”

“All I’ve done is take it easy,” she muttered. “I wish I had a fraction of your strength right now.”

“Wish I could give it to you, too,” he admitted. “But I can’t so the best alternative is look after you until you can regain yours.”

“There isn’t enough hours in the day or days for that to happen.”

“I think you should go back to your father,” he said abruptly.

She glanced back from the front door to see shadows in his eyes. He pulled the door open for her then nudged her forward. The noise hit them immediately – even at that early hour it was busy and half full. Markus led her to a booth in the back. Thankfully their arrival didn’t seem to cause any commotion. She eased down onto the bench seat and realized she shouldn’t have done that. She’d just have to get back up again to go to the washroom. Without any water overnight her bladder had been easier to deal with but knowing there were facilities here, well it was screaming again.

She struggled back to her feet. “I need to go to the ladies’ room.”

He motioned right behind them. “It’s there.”

Relief surged through her. Thank God, she could manage that distance just fine. She gave him a small smile of thanks and made her way to the single bathroom. Inside she used the toilet then stood to wash her hands – and face. She was a dirty scruffy mess. Her shirt was filthy and her jeans dusty. Her shoes had holes in them and her arms were covered in scratches. She quickly reversed her shirt and sweater. That looked slightly more normal. Her face might have been in the same condition, but the huge eyes and black circles dominated, overshadowing everything else. She took a moment to wash up then tried to brush out her hair with her fingers. It wasn’t helping much. Sleep was about the only remedy for this and a shower would fix the rest. And food. Lord, she was hungry. She was also afraid it had been too long and she’d have trouble keeping it down.

Back at the table, she watched the waitress deliver two large cups of coffee.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked.

Markus nodded, his gaze on Bree. “Two of the big breakfast plates, please.”

The waitress disappeared with a smile. She probably figured Markus would clean up what Bree couldn’t eat, but it was going to be the other way around.

“Are those two plates just for me?” she teased.

“If you need them to be, then, yes.”

She laughed. “I need to make sure the food stays down first.”

“Did the protein bars give you any trouble?”

She shook her head.

“Right, so chances are you’ll be fine.”

She glanced around to see the same collection of hard working souls that she’d seen plenty of over the last few weeks dotted by the never-ending stream of tourists during summer. Thankfully. Those were the bread and butter people to the area. She couldn’t imagine how these businesses survived with just the locals for customers. Of course the oil and gas industry helped a lot.

The coffee was too hot to drink. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, waiting for it to cool.

“You ignored my comment.”

She knew he meant her father comment. “You’re a bulldog. Do you ever let up?”

“It’s a valid comment.”

“It is. But I’d hate to go home with my tail between my legs.” Still she’d been considering it. There’d just been no time to think the issue through.

“It’s all in the attitude. This is hardly a failure. You’ve survived – once again. Now maybe it’s time to get back to the land of the living.”

She opened her eyes and considered his words. “I’m too tired to even think about this right now. I have a few priorities like getting some sleep then going to the bank and the store for a change of clothes.”

He nodded. “True enough.”

“And you – are you going back to wherever you came from?”

He smiled. “In a few days I will be.”

Of course he would be. She’d rather he stayed close, but that was more because she’d started to rely on him. He made her feel secure, protected. Getting over having him there for her would take time. Regardless of how she felt about it… She liked him. He was a nice guy. A hell of a protector.

“I think I recognized him,” she said abruptly.

He froze, then leaned across the table. “Who?”

“The guy that took off.” She considered what she’d seen.

“How could you?”

“His profile.”

“Did you actually get a chance to see anything? It had to have been a split second.”

She nodded. “I have a very good memory but never thought to say anything about it before this.” She shrugged. “I didn’t understand what the connection was at first. I think I saw him at the diner. With the other kidnappers.”

“Think?” he pounced.

She leaned back. There hadn’t been much time to consider it. “You’re right. It was more of an impression. And that isn’t reliable.”

“No, but instinct can’t be discounted. It’s just not enough to pin something on someone.”

She nodded. “Good point.” She chewed her bottom lip and wondered if she was completely bonkers.

“If you think you see him again, don’t approach him. Just point him out to me, got it?”

“Got it.” She cheered up at the idea of seeing Markus again. She’d really hoped it wouldn’t be a one-off. She liked him. Like really liked him. And life needed to be enjoyed. Because it was too damn short.

That meant nothing in terms of a relationship though. He was good looking and a good person. There would be someone in his life already. He might even have remarried. Then, he deserved to be happy. And he was the marrying kind.