She never finished the statement, crumbling to the sand once again. Quinn knelt over her, feeling for a pulse and nodded at the others. He lifted the woman, carrying her toward the team house. The house once owned by Faith and Ian was now a refuge for honeymoons, team events, and on the rare occasion, damsels in distress. While he walked, River called Priscilla to tell her they were coming with an extra person.
Priscilla opened the door and smiled at them.
“So, is the woman a retirement gift from the SEAL team?”
CHAPTER THREE
While Priscilla, Patrick, Margo, Major, and Elena waited for the men to return, Patrick and Major worked on some honey-do lists around the house. They’d come with the triplets in support of whatever might happen to them after meeting with SEAL command.
“What do you think will happen to them?” asked Priscilla.
“I think they’ll ask them to retire,” said Margo. “It’s normal for them. It’s happened to all of our men at some point. Most didn’t leave willingly.”
“I hate that,” she said quietly. Her phone pinged and she looked down at the message. “What in the world?”
“What’s wrong?” asked Major.
“River said they have someone with them.”
She opened the door seeing them walk across the street with the woman in Quinn’s arms. She was tiny, but then again, everyone looked tiny next to these boys. Her long dark hair hung over his arm in a ponytail, her slender body draped across his arms. Still in his dress whites, it looked like a movie scene.
“So, is the woman a retirement gift from the SEAL team?”
“Very funny,” said River kissing her. “Dad? Major? We need the medical kit. Is Adam here yet?”
“They should be here any minute. They were in L.A. doing something with a non-profit up there.”
“Did I hear my name?” called Adam walking through the backdoor. He looked at the woman and his eyes went wide. “Oh. Okay. Put her on the sofa.”
“So, how did you end up carrying a woman home?” asked Margo.
The three men told the story of what occurred, the others showing the concern on their faces. They looked down at the pale woman, her eyes still not open and then back at Quinn as he continued with the story.
“Did you get a good look at this guy?” asked Major.
“We did. We’re happy to give a full description. She’s not even from here. She said she’s from Pensacola. That could be why she passed out. Maybe he drugged her and got her here without her knowing it,” said Quinn.
“She’s got a quite knot on her head,” said Adam. “Fiona has reduced the pressure and swelling which should help but she also has drugs in her system. The kind designed to knock someone out for a very long time. Like maybe for a plane ride or boat trip.”
“Damn,” muttered Quinn. “We’ll see if we can find anything on the cameras for flights from Pensacola to San Diego.”
“It would pretty damn risky for him to drug her and try to get her on a plane,” said Finn.
“Maybe,” shrugged Adam, “but it could have easily been passed off as a nervous flyer or perhaps a skittish newlywed. We won’t know until she can speak to us. I think he gave her way too much for someone her size.”
“She should be waking soon,” said Fiona lifting her hands from the woman’s head. “The drugs are gone now but she’s probably still going to have a headache.”
“Thank you, Fiona,” said Quinn.
“I’ll get some food going,” said Margo, kissing her sons’ cheeks. “You boys go change.”
“Hey, Mom? Do you think you could stop calling us ‘boys’ now that we’re retired SEALs?” smirked River. She looked at the three of them with a straight face.
“Nope.”
The triplets laughed, shaking their heads as they stared at the young woman.
“I’ll call home and give a description of our guy to Hiro,” said Finnegan.
