Tim Holland came in wearing a lab coat over his green surgical scrubs. “Come on; her dad is with her.”
Julian’s brow rose, and he tilted his head toward Troy. Tim closed the door and sat. “Deep breath and talk to me.”
Troy leaned forward, his hands palms together between his knees. He explained the situation.
Tim shifted his jaw back and forth. “Seeing Gwen will take your stress down. You can visit with her for a few, and then you have an appointment. And we can take some time to work through this.”
Troy nodded. “My schedule is clear.”
* * *
“I’m goingto grab a bite; you visit for a little.” Tim slid open Gwen’s door. “General North, this is Troy Bremen.”
The uniformed Glenn North stood and extended his hand. His handshake was strong. Troy realized Gwen resembled her father. General North had silver-white hair with the same blazing green eyes as Gwen. He had an inch on Troy, and his shoulders were as wide as a defensive tackle. Gwen’s schoolmate was right. The man was huge.
“Please sit with us,” he said.
“How is she doing?” Troy’s eyes locked on Gwen’s sleeping form. A green mask blew humidified oxygen over her nose and mouth.
“Dr. Miller, he seems to take things personally. She has a concussion—three staples. He couldn’t save her right tube and ovary—the abscess surrounded them. He doesn’t think it’s cancer, but he’s having it tested. He thinks he washed out all of the infection,” her father said. “He hopes if her white count normalizes, she should be in the clear. Another repercussion of what was done to her. Your Doc Sommerfeld picked it up.”
Troy swallowed hard. “That’s good news.”Her tube and ovary? Infection.
“I didn’t want her to take this assignment,” the general said.
“May I ask why?” Troy turned in his seat.
“Mr. Bremen, what is your reserve rank?” The general swiveled to face him.
“Lieutenant Commander,” Troy answered.
“And a founding member of Chase Security. I’m sure with your return to duty, you would not promote someone to be at your side without a repeat background check. And I am also sure Ian and Kieran Chase wouldn’t leave you in the dark.” Glenn North raised a brow.
“No, sir.” He knitted his fingers.They almost did.
“San Diego is a tough place for Gwen to be. She told me she saw that sniveling, evil man, Will Cook. She said he goes by Bill now. And Boyle and Stacy. Gwen was so sick, she never realized they were playing good cop and bad cop. Both are bastards.” He sighed. “She took this position because of you. You’ve been good to her, and she didn’t want to let you down.”
Troy looked at his beauty. “She got that backwards. She’s very good to me. Sir, yesterday…”
“She told me you apologized for something you did. It takes a strong man to take responsibility for his mistakes.”
“Sir, I appreciate that, but my behavior hurt her.” His shoulders bowed.
The general placed his hand on Gwen’s. “Son, you may have helped her in the end. When she returned to the living, I had no doubt about her ability to do her job. Tango Team became her extended family. But after William Cook got through with her, as well as those evil men, well, she never looked at a man to develop a relationship—until you. The way she speaks of you…a dad knows.”
Troy kept his face neutral.
“The first call came in stating she was on a UA when she was in Kuwait. I thought it was a typical clusterfuck. At first, I didn’t worry. Not too much action and she was in a green zone doing logistics. Also, Gwen would’ve called if she was going to do something that drastic. When the second call came in, and it changed to MIA, I worried, and when I asked for more information, answers got more convoluted.
“I started to work my channels at the Pentagon. Scott, her brother, started to hear scuttlebutt, and when two of the Marines who were with her made it back, they reached out to him through back channels.Something had gone terribly wrong. Their team leader, Harry Desmond, reported she was on a mission and was hurt, but held her position against ISIS fighters for him and the target to escape.”
“General, did you say her team leader left her behind?”We never leave a man or woman behind.
Glenn North pressed his lips together, one brow rising. “Some turd from the state department told me the military believed she was kidnapped by an ISIS splinter group, confirming what her friends told Scott. No mention was made of any potential rescue attempt. When I called Will, he said they lost track of her, and it didn’t matter because there could be no negotiations. Not even for a prisoner exchange.” Glenn’s fists curled tight.
“It must have been infuriating considering the years your family has givento the service.” Troy’s neck reddened as he grew more and more livid.
“Not even close. I’m sorry to admit this: I know she is well trained and capable, but she’s my baby girl. I knew what those animals would do to a woman. It nearly broke me. My wife’s brother is in Little Creek. You may know him—Lloyd Warner.”
