His cheeks reddened as his arms dropped. He wasn’t a man who looked like he got turned down very often. “Yeah. Let me know if I can do anything to help.”
“I will.” He’d finished the dishes while I’d been on the phone. My mama’s colorful plates were stacked up in the drying rack and the counters sparkled. “Thanks for doing the dishes. I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?”
Shaking my head, I moved through the living room toward the front door. “I’m going to soak in the tub and see if I can come up with any last-minute ideas. I’m not sure what time you need to get up to feed the animals, but I’ll have coffee on by six if you need some caffeine to get you going in the morning. The kitchen door is always unlocked, so help yourself.”
He seemed reluctant to go, but I couldn’t wait for him to leave. I wouldn’t be able to hold off my breakdown much longer.
“I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
I nodded as he stepped onto the front porch and gently closed the door behind him. His boots clomped down the steps and I finally let the tears squeeze past my clenched eyelids. There had to be a way to stop Dartman and his evil plan. I’d come too far to let him take everything away from me now.
5
THORNE
It almost killed me to leave her when she was hurting. I could see the pain in her eyes and feel the heavy weight of her disappointment like a sucker punch straight to my gut. She might need to brainstorm some ideas, but I was a man of action. As soon as she’d rushed me out the door, I dialed up my buddy Dylan.
He answered before it even had a chance to ring on my end. “Gonzo. Hey, man. Have you made up your mind already about going back?”
Dylan knew what went down and the guilt I carried with me. He was the one who’d encouraged me to take my leave and think about things. I’d ignored him, figuring I knew better, but then my CO made it clear taking leave wasn’t as much of a suggestion as it was a direct order.
“I’ve got plenty of time for that. Right now, I’m stateside, trying to scare a bully attorney with big dick energy away from snatching up a beautiful woman’s land.”
“Dude, is that code for something? Is this connection compromised?” Dylan teased.
I gave him a quick rundown of the promise I’d made to Mike. The two of them never met, but they’d heard enough about each other through me that I trusted Dylan to give me some solid advice.
“So, you need to shut down his concert and divert everyone back to your girl’s flower festival,” he summarized.
“They’re bluebonnets. As in the state flower of Texas, dumbass.”
“That’s what I said. What do you have to work with?”
Straight to the point. That was one of the things I’d always appreciated about him. “I was going to head over and stake the place out. If they’re planning on setting up a whole stage area, I figure they’ll have to work through the night.”
“Knowing you, you’re probably tempted to blow shit up. I’d strongly advise against that.”
“Just because I’m the demo man doesn’t mean I think explosives are always the best answer.” Though our training had ensured we were well-rounded frogmen who could handle anything our opponents tossed our way, I’d developed an interest and an ability in demolitions. Plus, I wasn’t going to lie, sometimes it was a lot of fun to blow shit up.
Dylan laughed. “Remember that prank you pulled on our first deployment to Afghanistan?”
“When we got Bridger to dress up like a turkey for Thanksgiving?”
“No, man. When we spliced and diced the PA system to broadcast him having phone sex.”
“I was young and stupid then.” Damn, we’d done some twisted shit together. Same with most of the guys I’d served with overseas.
“I’ll give you younger, but I’m not sure you’ve gotten much wiser in your old age.”
“Aw, fuck off, Dylan.” I missed the guys, especially the ones who wouldn’t be coming home like Bridger. My CO might think he’d convinced me what happened wasn’t my fault, but I blamed myself more than anyone for the accident that had taken his life.
“Back to the slicing and dicing. Why don’t you fuck with the wiring?”
I’d thought about that, but it wouldn’t take an electrical genius to figure out what had happened and repair or replace the faulty wiring right away. “I need something better. Something that will make it impossible for the show to go on.”
“You think they’ll be running a generator to power everything?”
