Page 21 of Protected from Torment

There’s something special about Melissa. Something that makes me think I could fall in love with her one day. And that scares the shit out of me.

“What about you, Ty?” Indy asks.

Jolted out of my wandering thoughts, I meet his gaze. “What about me?”

“You going to go anywhere? Since we have the time for it.” He casts a quick glance around the table. “We can coordinate our trips. So we always have someone at HQ.”

Webb nods in agreement. “Absolutely. Granted, I haven’t even asked Noelle about it. But I’m sure she won’t mind when we go.”

“Maybe take a trip out to Texas,” Rafe suggests. “Pay a visit to the Bravo Team.”

I know they’re trying to make sure I don’t feel excluded—like the lone single guy of the team doesn’t need to go on a trip since he doesn’t have a woman to go with. But the suggestion feels empty compared to the trips they’re all planning—New York City for Webb and Noelle, the Caribbean for Indy and Bea—romantic trips meant for a couple.

I don’t say any of that, of course. Instead, I smile and say, “Texas isn’t a bad idea. It would be nice to visit everyone again. Maybe I’ll call Dante. See what he’s got going on.”

Dante is the team leader of the Texas branch, and one of my closest friends. We were on the same Green Beret team together, up until the accident that pulled me from it.

As the accident—well, if you could call a planned explosion an accident—comes to mind, I brace myself for the phantom pain that usually comes with it. In the six years since I lost my leg on an op in Afghanistan, it’s become easier to deal with. But there are still days when I feel like a faded shadow of myself. Like less of a man than I used to be.

But today, the pain doesn’t come. Part of it probably comes from the new prosthetic Ace’s genius fiancée, Yara, made for me—one so high tech, I feel like the Bionic Man when I’m wearing it.

It’s not just that, though. It’s where my mind wanders. Not to Texas, to visit with my old friend and his teammates, but to New York, instead.

What if I went back to see my parents again? And while I’m there, I could make a detour to Northville. See how Melissa is doing. Meet her dog.

“That’s a good idea,” Ace comments. “It would be nice to see those guys.”

“If Noelle and I go out to New York City,” Webb adds, “I think we’ll drive up to visit the New York team. I haven’t seen the new addition they put on. And—” He smiles. “Can you believe Nora and Jackson are expecting? How crazy is that?”

“Yeah.” I close my laptop, since it’s pretty obvious we’ve ended the business part of our weekly meeting. “I talked to Nora last week. She’s over the moon⁠—”

From beside my laptop, my phone vibrates with an incoming call. Normally, I wouldn’t answer it during a meeting, but since everyone is just shooting the shit and talking about travel plans, I don’t think it’s a problem. “Sorry,” I say. “I’m just going to check this. It might be something about the case.”

But when I lift the phone to look at the screen, it’s nothing close to what I was expecting.

The caller ID says, Amsterdam Memorial Hospital.

My heart stumbles.

That’s in New York.

Where my parents live.

My parents, who are both pretty healthy, but also in their seventies.

Time seems to slow as I punch the answer button and lift the phone to my ear.

Fearful questions jumble in my head.

What if it’s one of my parents? They don’t live near Amsterdam, a city northwest of Albany, but they like to take day trips for shopping and visiting friends. What if they got into an accident? What if one of them got sick? Had a heart attack?

I can’t lose my parents, I think desperately. Not yet.

It’s hard to speak with my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. But I swallow hard against it and try to keep my voice steady as I answer the phone. “Hello?”

For a second, there’s nothing on the other end of the line. Then a woman asks tentatively, “Tyler?”

It takes me a second to reconcile the voice with what I was expecting. But the instant I realize who it is, I jolt straight up in my seat. “Melissa?”