Stone held up his hands. “I went to Dolly’s. Hawk and Gage were with me.”
“Not at first though. I saw both of them leave here on their own.”
“I just had to see…” he started to explain.
“See what?”
“In front of Dolly’s.”
“Where you were shot? Don’t ever go sneaking out of this building like that again, Stone. Are you kidding me? You might not remember what happened the last time you left on your own, but I do! Are you trying to get hurt again? Are you trying to make me lose my mind?”
“Michaela, I?—”
“Holy shit.” Hawk laughed, and Stone realized he’d completely forgotten they were surrounded by their friends. “I haven’t heard anyone call you your full name since we were kids!”
“Shut up.” Mae pointed her finger at her brother. “Why the hell are you guys walking back in here with Max? Who’s this homeless guy?”
Max chuckled, clearly getting a kick out of her description of Limerick, but looking him over now, Stone would completely agree with her assessment. The man looked like he’d been living rough for a while. “Good to see you again, Mae.”
“You too, handsome. Please tell me you know who shot Stone. Please tell me you’re here to put an end to all this madness.”
“I wish I was. I’m just as confused about how things are playing out right now as you seem to be.”
“Come on,” Hawk’s hand landed on Max’s shoulder. “We better go get Gunner and settle in the conference room. Feels like today is going to be a long day.”
“I’ll run it by the guys,” Stone walked closer to Mae. “But I think we should probably close for the day. Why don’t you and the girls go upstairs.”
“I need to get Sage from Gunner,” Lily said.
“We’re not going anywhere, Stone. We deserve to know what’s going on as much as anyone else.”
He nodded in agreement. “Fine. Wait here then.”
Stone heard Lily’s footsteps behind him as he made his way down the hall. He was only a handful of steps behind the other guys when they made it to Gunner’s office.
“Max? Holy shit. What are you doing here?” Gunner was standing with a sleepy Sage draped over his shoulder. Her sweet, flushed face was filled with a smile as theguys walked in.
“I should probably be asking why you assholes have gotten yourselves dragged into my operation.”
“Swear jar.” Lily scoffed, as she moved around them to take Sage from Gunner. “I’m serious, Max. Twenty dollars. You can give it to Gunner.”
Stone kept his face straight, but Hawk choked on his laughter as Lily left with Sage.
Gunner took Max’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Didn’t know we were involved in anything you had going on.”
“I think this is probably going to blow your mind even more.” Gage moved to the side and Andy stepped out of the hallway, next to Stone.
“Limerick? What. The. Fuck.” Gunner stood with his jaw hinged open, staring at the SEAL they all thought was killed in action.
“Well, glad I’m not the only one who had that reaction.” Hawk chuckled.
“Look, I promise I’ll explain what I can, but I need the whole team here. Is Sebastian in town?”
“He’s in Bell Ridge. I’ll call him. And Nash. I guess it’s actually a good thing we had those cancellations this week.” Gage turned and disappeared.
“We breached the bunker door, and that’s when all hell broke loose.” Hawk scrubbed his hand over his face. “At the end, when we had all combatants either eliminated as a threat or subdued and ready for extraction to be questioned, Limerick, Landon, Wollworth, and Martinez were all shot to hell.”
“I triaged them myself with Gunner and a few guys from their team,” Stone recalled. It had been one of the worst moments in his life. There was so much blood, and notenough time. He’d spent hours that next day with his head in his hands, running through every decision he’d made in the field. Cap finally found him and set his head straight. But then they’d heard the guys hadn’t made it, despite their efforts, and it messed him up even more.
