Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

“Okay, she’s gone. What doesn’t she know?”

The old man smiled at him. “You’re a smart man, Nick.”

He shrugged and crossed his arms together as he waited for his next bombshell. Lord have mercy, his life was sure being hit hard with a few twists and turns these past few days.

“I didn’t intend to keep it from her. You must understand, she was already so upset that I refused to take you to a hospital or call for help. Placing your ID on the man who tried to kill you did nothing to calm her anxiety.”

“She’s already explained all this to me. From what I understand you were a sniper in Nam. She tells me that you told her of a feeling that you had. Hairs standing up on the back of your neck and all that.”

The old man took a deep breath. He looked to be in some kind of pain, and Nick wondered if the morphine he was given was intended for Liam instead. Being that he was a marine, he knew better than to ask if he was all right or not. Even if he wasn’t he knew he would deny it and muster through it.

“Yes, that was all true. What she doesn’t know, what I didn’t tell her because she was already so worried and distraught over everything, was what I overheard right before I got to you and the man standing over you.”

Nick cocked an eyebrow. “What did you hear?”

“I only heard a small piece of it, but he was laughing at you. He said something about leaving men behind and you should have known better to let them die.”

He scanned his memory bank for information that could relate to such statements. Nothing was ringing a bell. Sure he’d saved many men in his day, but he’d also lost some men as well. It was the nature of the beast. War was an ugly son of a bitch that didn’t care who it hurt.

“I don’t know if I understand. So he was trying to kill me because I saved someone? Or because I didn’t?”

Liam shook his head. “I don’t know. It is kind of a mixed up puzzle in my head. I can remember bits and pieces but not really all of it.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure why, but at the time and the way the man said it, it seemed so significant. It was like you should have known exactly what he was talking about.”

Maybe he should know. Between being shot, the infection, and the painkillers, maybe his brain was still clouded.

“Colombia.” Liam blurted out the word.

A tumble of memories churned inside him. Of all the things he would’ve expected the old man to say, that wasn’t one of them. Colombia held a memory for him that he would sooner forget.

“Come again?”

“I just remembered. He said something about Colombia.”

Nick’s gut burned with acid. He could almost feel it boiling up inside him. “Do you remember what he said about it?”

The man’s eyes were growing heavy. “I’m sorry. Just what I told you.”

He watched Liam drift off to sleep. As he said his last sentence he looked to be exhausted. Only up and talking for a few minutes and he was too tired to continue. Liam was truly a man hanging on to his last bit of life. He forced himself to push that aside so he could focus on what he just learned.

What Liam had first told him meant little to him. Once he added Colombia to it though, that opened up some old wounds. Ones he thought were dead and buried. Literally.

Two Army Night Stalkers lost their lives on that mission. Two of his friends and fellow teammates, Jack Peyton and Rex Metcalf, had barely escaped with their lives. Had it not been for a rogue rescue mission led by Tom Drake with both he and his other teammate Adam Collins as backup they would have died.

Nick sat there shaking his head in both disbelief and amazement at the man lying before him. A former marine sniper who hasn’t served his country in forty years never lost that survival instinct and risked everything to save a complete stranger. As big of a shock as that would be, the most surprising was that the man was dead-on. Something about the ambush and assassination of Tom didn’t quite make sense to him. The whole time he was swimming away he kept playing over it in his mind, and something didn’t add up. Now it did.

Revenge
.

Some high-ranking fucks lost their careers after that cluster fuck of a mission almost cost them two of their men. After the court martial and all the testimony had been given, he’d heard little of what happened to the guilty parties.

He wanted to kick himself. That should’ve been his first clue. A quiet enemy was never a good one. His testimony as well as Tom’s had help prosecute the ones involved. He wasn’t the only one who testified though. Adam, Jack, and Rex had all given very compelling testimony.

He shot up from his chair and ignored the pain that shot through his side. If Tom was assassinated and he was a target, he was damn sure that his other teammates were next.

Moving at the quickest pace possible with his stiff muscles he ran from the room to find AJ. He didn’t get very far when she came around the corner and ran right into him. The plate carrying his sandwich fell to the floor.

“Nick? Oh my God! What happened?” She ran down the hall toward her father’s room.

Flustered he turned and went after her, annoyed at himself for scaring her. He came in the room to find her leaning over his chest.

“AJ, he’s fine. He just fell asleep.”

She swung her head around and came toward him. He could see the fear in her eyes, though she tried to mask it with anger. “Why would you scare me like that? I thought…” She covered her eyes and shook her head.

Fuck
. She was crying. Damn it to hell.

“Come here.” He didn’t wait for her to oblige. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

He stood there holding her for a moment while her tears ceased. Tears were one of the least favorite things he liked about a woman. Seeing AJ cry though, well, it hit him somewhere in his gut extra hard.

She pulled away, wiping her eyes and looking relieved. “Why were you so rushed?”

“Your dad heard more than he told you. He didn’t want to worry you, but…” He hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she could handle it, but he was really beginning to hate seeing her upset.

“What is it? Please tell me.”

He considered it. Her eyes were desperate and pleading.

“I promise I can handle it.”

Damn, the woman was a puzzle to him. It was like she was reading his thoughts.

“All right, I’ll tell you.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Your father overheard something the man who tried to kill me said. It…well, it makes sense now.”

She shook her head, clearly confused. “What makes sense?”

“I know who tried to kill me. And I know who’s next on their list.” He gripped her shoulders firmly before he hit her with the big one. “I need your help, AJ.”

AJ stared at him blankly. She must have misunderstood him. What on earth could he need her help with? It was only by sheer miracle and a bit of luck that she hadn’t completely lost it the past few days. Lord knew there were a few times she came close.

“I don’t understand.”

“The things your father overheard would have sounded benign to the average person, but to me and a few of my former teammates it explains a lot.”

“What did he hear? Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I already told you he didn’t want to worry you. He’s an intuitive man. That feeling he told you about, it was dead-on. I don’t know how he knew what he was hearing was so important, but I’m glad he did. If they find out I’m alive, I’m a dead man.”

She gave him an exasperated look and pulled away from him. “Can we please talk about this somewhere else? I don’t want to wake him. He needs his rest.”

He nodded, and they both proceeded down the hall toward the kitchen. He had picked up the sandwich, brushed whatever foreign substance he had seen off of it, and took a giant bite. She would’ve offered to make him another, but the truth was she wouldn’t be able to anyway.

They were running low on food.

She had planned on going to the small market in town the morning after they’d found Nick. That became impossible though. Her father was too weak to care for Nick on his own, and as weak as he was she didn’t want to leave him anyway. That didn’t even take into account what she feared may have happened to Nick if she hadn’t been there when his infection was at its worst.

She refocused her thoughts, not wanting to relive the past few days. Her nerves were shot, and she didn’t know how long it would be until she finally broke.

“I think we still have some milk. Would you like some?”

Through a mouth full of food she was able to make out a mumbled answer of “yes” from him as he sat down at the table. She poured him what was left of the cartoon into a glass, barely filling it half full. The food they had was not going to be enough for the next day. She was going to have to go soon. The idea scared her so much.

“Something wrong?” he asked her while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Food.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her and tilted his head. “What’s wrong with food?”

“We don’t have any.”

He stopped as he was about to put the last bite in his mouth and surprised her by holding the sandwich out to her.

“Here, you have it.”

She really couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. He hadn’t eaten for days and here he was willing to give her what he had.

“No, thank you. I ate earlier.”

His stare told her he didn’t believe her. “Honest, I did.”

Shrugging, he put the last bite in his mouth and washed it down with a big gulp of milk. Momentarily she was mesmerized by the way his throat moved as he swallowed. His head was tilted back, and it accentuated his masculine jawline and broad shoulders.

He set the glass down. “So, we need food?”

“I’m afraid so. I just…I don’t want to leave. What if something happens while I’m gone?”

He got up from his chair to come toward her. She noticed he struggled and used the table as leverage, but she had a feeling he didn’t want help. The fact that he was up and around and moving on his own was a very telling sign. For the first time in days she actually believed what her father had told her. She doubted that they’d be able to help him and was sure that he’d end up dead, leaving them responsible. Her father always was a smart man though. Tenacious, stubborn and all that went along with that. God how she loved him.

“I understand why you’re scared and what you’re scared of, but it doesn’t sound like I can go to the store, and your father can’t. You’re the only one that can go.”

He was right. She hated that he was, but it was true. She had checked the local paper the morning after they’d found him, and it had already been reported that he was dead. He couldn’t very well walk into the local market to buy eggs and all the essentials if his face had been plastered all over town following his death.

“I know. Damn it.” She ran her hands through her hair and paced the small kitchen. “Will you stay up here with him? Keep an eye on him?”

He nodded. “Of course I will. AJ, he just fell asleep. He might be out for awhile. He seemed really tired.”

She closed her eyes tightly, fighting the tears that wanted to seep through. He would be asleep for hours if the last few days were any indication. She hated how much his energy had diminished since that night they had the walk along the beach. They came here to take advantage of what little time they had left together, not for heroics. It was a selfish thought, but she couldn’t get this horrible feeling out of her mind that every time she spoke with him would be the last. Maybe cancer did that to everyone. Maybe what happened with Nick had nothing to do with his weakened state. There were so many maybes, too many to count.

“I suppose I can go now. I’ll be real quick. Do you need anything?” She grabbed a pen and a pad of paper from a nearby drawer and began making a list.

“Just food and lots of it.”

She listened to his request but was too busy jotting down all the things they needed to comment.

“Oh, can you pick up some ibuprofen while you’re there? The painkillers make me groggy, and I’m getting my strength back. If I’m going to start dealing with what happened I need to be on my game. Can’t be knocked out from morphine.”

She acknowledged his request and finished writing a few things down. She didn’t want to ask what he meant by “deal with what happened.” The truth was she didn’t want to know. Something told her it was dangerous, and it would only stress her out more.

Tearing the paper from its pad she grabbed her purse, which was hanging on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She did a quick glance of her wallet to make sure she had enough pesos on hand and wouldn’t have to walk even farther out of the way to the small bank, which housed the island’s only ATM.

Satisfied she had enough to cover all that they needed, she wrapped her bag’s long strap around her neck and crossed her purse over to the other side of her body. The island had a reputation for purse snatching, especially when the victim was American. She may have dark hair and tan skin, but it was obvious to anyone that saw her that she was not of Hispanic origin.