They all hooted, and then Brain tilted his head. “Evans. Any relation to Dodge?”
Seth nodded. “His little sister. Ford’s here on the farm, too. Along with two of the Malssum brothers, Gray Santoro, and Nash Cooper.”
Johnny grinned. “Holy shit. You running missions out of rural Vermont?”
He laughed. “Not trying to, although we had a bit of one the other day.”
Laughter disappeared, and everyone turned serious. “You’re okay? Mara, too?”
He nodded at Clay. “We’re all good. But it was all connected to Maki.”
“Tell us.”
He nodded and continued to wander. “Maki’s brother blamed me for his death. He came here and stayed at the inn with a group of bodyguards training at a local facility. He went by Neil while he was here.”
Squid sighed. “Maki said he didn’t look anything like his brother, so you wouldn’t have had a clue that way. He was after revenge?”
Seth nodded. “Wanted me to suffer by losing someone I loved. Spent the week realizing Mara’s the most important person in the world to me.”
Johnny snorted. “I’m hurt, man. Devastated over here to learn I’m not your favorite human anymore.”
Everyone laughed, and it helped Seth swallow the fear at the memories rolling back. He talked it through as he wandered. The fear of realizing she was gone, the discovery of Blake’s identity, and the absolute terror of finding out he intended to blow her up with a homemade IED. And how Mara had talked him down. His conversation with Blake at the Phail Jail.
“Holy shit, Babs. You’re a lucky bastard for sure. And you’ve got yourself a hell of a woman.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“How’s Blake doing now?”
Seth wasn’t surprised at Brain’s question. They all knew that having a military member was as difficult for the families as it was for the personnel. “He’s better. Through the anger, and starting to deal with the loss and the pain.”
Brain nodded. “Good. I’m glad you went to see him. You’re going to see he gets some help?”
“I am. He needs to know he’s not alone in dealing with the loss. Doesn’t sound like he’s got a great support system, but that could be because he’s been holding it all inside.”
Clay nodded. “That shit never ends well.”
Seth nodded, knowing he’d done it himself. “Takes some of us longer to deal with it.”
Johnny grinned. “Like you. Glad to see you back on an even keel, man.”
Seth nodded. “Thanks. I focused so damn hard on walking that I didn’t give myself time to deal with the bigger shit. Thanks to Mara, I’m getting there.”
“When do we get to meet the lady?”
Seth stopped and looked up, realizing his steps had brought him to Chick Inn Time. “How about you meet Maki first?”
They all laughed when he turned the phone around again.
Squid shook his head. “I can’t believe you named chickens after us. Chickens.”
Seth grinned. “Seemed appropriate.”
He held the camera over the sheets, showing the names and pictures of the hens. He heard a few hard swallows as they read the tribute Mara had put at the top.
Then he showed the second sheet with the Star Wars names for the other hens.
That helped them all shove their emotions aside and laugh.
