His Soldier Under Siege

“There was a week in Key West,” she said absently. She could hardly mention her secret trips with Derek every few months. “We all met down there to celebrate when my parents picked up their boat.”

Most of the time she filled her days off between short jaunts to the Rileys’ new beach house in North Carolina or rambling through nearby state and national parks with Derek. Surrounding herself with activity was the only way she’d found to mute the agony of that day and keep those vicious memories locked down.

“Your scattered days here and there aren’t nearly enough downtime to balance how much you give us here, Major Riley,” Bingham said. “Consider the extended time off a silver lining to this frustrating and inconvenient situation.”

“How long?” She blurted out the question before she had control of herself. “I mean, yes ma’am.”

Bingham narrowed her gaze. “If you want my opinion, no one who knows you is putting any stock in this. Still, the investigators are obligated to follow through.”

“Of course.” Transparency and accountability were the catchphrases these days. That logic was no comfort to her while her career deflated like a popped balloon and her heart cowered in her chest.

“I did try to keep you on the rotation,” Bingham said. “They wouldn’t have it. I anticipate you’ll be cleared and back with us just as soon as the initial interviews are over.”

Her head pounded. They were conducting interviews already. On a violent incident that had taken place on the other side of the world. She couldn’t think of a single person who would set her up this way or a single witness who might verify this outrageous claim.

“I’m free to go?” She should feel lucky she wasn’t in handcuffs.

Bingham nodded in the affirmative. “Major Riley. Grace Ann. You are a trusted, valued member of the Army Nurse Corps. I do not believe there is anything credible in this accusation. Take some time to yourself and let the system sort it out.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” It meant a great deal to be trusted, to hear that she was valued.

Unfortunately, the confidence and compliments wouldn’t change the sudden abundance of free time looming in front of her. Hours and hours with no distractions, no work to exhaust her physically or mentally, posed a terrifying and untenable prospect.

She couldn’t even invite Derek for a quick weekend away. He needed to be here with his brother.

Guilt and grief tied knots in her belly. She should be the one recuperating from spinal surgery—would have been if the Riley Hunter’s antics hadn’t kept her off that exercise. Now another storm cloud was throwing random lightning bolts into her life, threatening her career. She had no idea who she was without the army, without nursing.

Derek rubbed his palms together briskly, determined to stay awake. Overtired, now that he had a decent meal in his belly it was hard to keep his eyes open. He could sleep later. With so many things that could, and often did, go wrong in a hospital he was driven to keep watch over Kevin.

He and his brother held vastly different memories of the days their dad lingered in ICU after the car crash. Kevin had been old enough to understand the concept of serious complications but still young enough that Derek sheltered him as much as possible from the increasingly grim updates.

Yes, Kevin’s situation was different. Medicine had made huge advancements since they were kids. And unlike their father, Kevin had squeezed his hand once during Derek’s brief visit to the recovery area and periodically roused enough to remind Derek he’d be fine. Now, while Kevin slept, Derek had only his thoughts and the incessant beeping of various monitors for company.

The television had been more annoyance than diversion. He’d called his office in Baltimore and updated his assistant that Kevin would recover fully, explaining it would be a few weeks yet before he could manage day-to-day tasks on his own. She’d promised to pass the information along as needed and keep him up-to-date on issues at the office. He was in-house counsel for a medical supply company, so there weren’t any pressing cases to juggle.

Though it was selfish, he wished Grace Ann would come back. Her confidence in Kevin’s recovery made it easier to believe life would return to normal again someday. Just knowing she was in the building gave him something positive to think about when the clinical sounds and smells overwhelmed him.

Eighteen years ago Derek had changed up his life and adjusted his personal plans to stay home and get Kevin through high school. The few weeks or months ahead of them were simply another drop in the bucket. Derek would telecommute or...

His thoughts evaporated when he caught a glimpse of Grace Ann hurrying by the open doorway. He’d expected her to pop in again after she dealt with whatever had called her away, had been counting on her return. He started to stand up and follow her and forced himself to stay put. Though Kevin didn’t need him right now, he didn’t have to trail after her like a lost puppy.

He pushed to his feet again. He should apologize for being rude when she’d been trying to help. An apology was a valid, mature reason to interrupt her and it had nothing to do with wanting to spend another few minutes in her company to store up that soft scent of her skin. She was intelligent, witty and kind and she’d managed to make this never-ending day almost tolerable.

Although, as he hustled down the hallway, he had to concede everyone here had been nicer than expected. The weight on his shoulders lifted with the silent admission. Kevin frequently joked about Derek’s colossal bias against the military. His prejudice wasn’t even based on his own experiences or an inherent philosophy. No, Derek’s problem boiled down to a pervasive unease about Kevin’s inevitable deployments to dangerous and remote locations.

His little brother had no idea how much Derek didn’t want to be the last Sayer on their family tree.

At the intersection of two hallways, he looked around, having momentarily lost sight of Grace Ann. She was a little taller than average, a fact he appreciated whenever they kissed and when he spotted her dark head moving against the sea of scrubs. He almost called out her name before he remembered where he was and that shouting wasn’t a smart idea.

He rushed forward, determined to catch her before she reached the employees-only doorway. He skidded to a stop as someone wearing a combat uniform—he couldn’t be sure if it was a man or a woman—rounded the corner, grabbed her and shoved her into the stairwell.

What the hell?

Catching a glimpse of the shock on her face, he moved on instinct and bolted after them. Through the narrow window in the heavy door, he saw the uniform held Grace Ann in a chokehold, pressing her back over the railing. She fought back, twisting and straining to break the grip, while keeping one foot hooked around the back of the attacker’s knee for leverage. Or balance.

Derek’s heart slammed into his rib cage. He couldn’t lose her. Soldier or not, she wouldn’t deal with this alone—he wouldn’t let her. Shouting for help, Derek surged forward and grabbed Uniform’s collar and hauled him back.

The person under that boxy uniform put up quite a fight. Closer now, Derek could see it was a man by the big hands dusted with hair wrapped around Grace Ann’s neck. The edge of a tattoo on his inner right wrist peeked from under a sleeve. Derek struggled, pushing and shoving, determined to get the man off her.

She continued to scrape and grapple, using the distraction and shifting momentum to break the chokehold at last. In a lightning-quick maneuver, she pinned Uniform’s hands helplessly to his side and struck the man hard on the jaw with her elbow.

Uniform’s head snapped back, but he didn’t give up. Backpedaling, he thumped Derek into the wall with his body and lunged for Grace Ann again. The element of surprise gone now, she smoothly ducked under the attempt to corral her at the railing and raised her leg, tripping Uniform. He pitched forward, tumbling down the slope of concrete steps.

Uniform hit the first landing with a thud and a low groan before he scrambled to his feet and kept running, pinballing between the wall and the rail in his haste to escape. When Grace Ann moved to follow, Derek caught her, holding her back. “Let him go.”

“He can’t get away with this.”

“He won’t.” Derek hoped his promise wouldn’t become a lie. “Let’s take a look at you.” He leaned back so he could look her over but she turned abruptly into his embrace, her body quaking with shock as Uniform’s boots continued to pound against the stairs.

“We should call security.” He held her close, needing the assurance that she was alive and well. He kept breathing in the soft clove scent of her shampoo, imagining they were back at their last campsite, under the stars. Anything to block that moment when he was sure she was going over the rail.

“We should.” She didn’t move, her hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt as the sound of a door clanging open and closed echoed up the stairwell.

Would she now be in a heap at the bottom of the stairwell if he hadn’t come along? Jerking his gaze away from the unforgiving concrete at the bottom of the stairwell, he shifted them closer to the door and safety as the tremors rolling through both of them subsided.

“Thanks,” she said, stepping out of his embrace. “I’m better now.”

He wanted to believe her. His gaze fixed on the red marks circling her throat above the neckline of her scrub top and his heart lodged in his throat. “You sure?”

She suddenly bent over, her hands braced on her knees, and sucked in slow, measured breaths. “Just need a minute.”

“Take your time.” He stroked her back with his palm, soothing, willing her to be okay. “Did you recognize him?”

Still doubled over, she shook her head. “The name on the uniform was Smith. The rank was PFC—private first class. That’s all I got.” She coughed, the rough sound making him wince.

“He had a tattoo on one wrist.” Straightening, she arched an eyebrow. “I only caught the ink,” he explained. “Not enough to identify an image.”

“So he might as well be invisible,” she said, then fell into another spate of coughing.

“We need to call security,” he repeated. He patted his pockets, couldn’t find his cell phone. “They can pull more information from video feed.” He’d spotted surveillance cameras above the stairwell door and high in the corner. “And you need a doctor.”

“I’m fine.” She handed him her cell phone and rasped out the code for security. “I should have known this kind of thing was coming,” she muttered.

“What are you talking about?” he asked while he waited for someone at the security desk to pick up. If someone was harassing her, the hospital, with all of the protective measures, identity checks and people coming and going, seemed like an audacious place to launch an attack.

She reached for the door, held it for him. “It’s a long story.”

“Good thing I have plenty of time on my hands,” he said. “Which way to the base security office?” he asked as the phone kept ringing.

Her reply was interrupted by the person who’d finally answered his call. In low tones, he gave an explanation of the incident and promised they would both head straight over to give a full report.

“You need to stay with Kevin,” she said when he returned her phone. “I’ll go over and handle the report. If they have questions for you, I can share your cell number with them. Assuming that’s all right.”

Let her out of his sight after that? Not a chance. “You’re not going anywhere alone,” he told her. His heart hadn’t yet returned to a normal rhythm.

“But—”

He cut her off with a look. “Wait here. Please,” he added as he ducked into the room. Returning after grabbing his cell phone and jacket, he was glad to see she hadn’t left without him.

“This is silly. You know I can handle myself.” Her chin lifted in defiance, making the red marks on the delicate skin of her throat stand out in stark relief.

“You can,” he admitted. She probably would have hog-tied the assailant with her stethoscope and dragged him down to security by his bootlaces if Derek hadn’t interfered. Instead, he’d jumped in and the guy escaped. “You can,” he repeated. “But you don’t need to.”

“Derek.” Clearly exasperated, she made his name sound like an oath.

“You’ve said it yourself,” he pressed. “Kevin just needs time to recover. No one’s attacking him.” He leaned close. “From where I’m standing, it looks like you need me more than he does right now.”

“Fine.”

Relieved it hadn’t required more of an argument, he followed her to the employee area for her floor, waiting outside the door. She returned within a minute or two, a tote over her shoulder and a jacket zipped up to cover the marks on her neck. It only sent more questions rolling through his mind, but he held them all back for a later time. She was clearly irritable and he didn’t want to stress her voice any more than necessary.

“I wish you’d let a doctor look you over.”

She glared at him and shook her head. Her phone chimed with an alert and she checked the smartwatch on her wrist. The glare turned into a fierce scowl.

Whatever the message was didn’t improve her mood. “Problem?”

“My brother,” she replied with a dismissive shrug. “He’s mad I refused a formal protective detail.”

“More of that long story?”

“Yes,” she replied with a grimace.

At the security desk, a base police officer took their detailed statements of the incident in the stairwell. Though she refused medical evaluation, they swabbed her throat for any possible DNA from her attacker and took several pictures of the marks left behind. Before they left, the officer assisting them pulled up the video from the nearest cameras and promised to try to track down the soldier who had attacked her.

On the surface Grace Ann appeared satisfied, but Derek’s gut instinct told him there was something more going on. On their private trips, he’d learned to read her pretty well. The tension was there in the way she kept nipping at her lip and working her thumb over her index finger. Those little habits would fade during their time together, only to resurface when she had to head home.

Maybe the two of them should have been sharing more than superficial, steamy outdoor getaways these last couple of years. He’d kept secrets for both of them. Didn’t she know she could trust him with anything?

“What next?” he asked.

“I’m going home,” she said. “Hot tea and an ice pack.”

Whether he blamed it on the traumas past or present, he couldn’t bear the idea of her heading home alone. What happened if the anonymous soldier returned? “Let me help. At least until you’re settled.” He intended to stick close until he got the whole story out of her.

She shook her head. “That’s overkill.”

“Maybe I could use a friend,” he suggested. He’d been running on fumes before witnessing her attack. Time outside the hospital with her would be a welcome change of scenery.

“Uh-huh.” She rolled those big brown eyes and he could tell she was close to giving in. “You’d do better with a friend who isn’t in trouble.”

What kind of trouble? He’d been around the unit long enough to know that time and again she put others ahead of herself. It had been obvious from their first introduction when she’d left her meal unfinished to take over in the serving line so another soldier could eat with his parents. “Probably,” he said. “But you’re right here.”

“Convenient.” Her lips twitched into a shadow of a smile. “For both of us.”

Pouncing on the opportunity, he convinced her to let him drive her home. They took the base shuttle to his car and she programmed her address into his navigation app. During the short drive to her house, she sipped on a water bottle she’d pulled from her tote, staring at the neighborhood passing by.

He appreciated the silence as his thoughts were swirling with doubts and nerves about this move. Since agreeing to explore the potential of their first kiss, they’d deliberately avoided crossing the line between neutral-territory casual hookups and personal space.

Living in separate cities, about an hour away from each other, helped. Although they’d agreed dating other people was okay and that either one of them could bow out gracefully if a date took a serious turn, here they were. He hadn’t dated anyone else in over a year. So he kept circling back to her, and her to him, every few months for a long weekend of hiking or rafting or some other outdoor adventure. It was the perfect solution.

No one else captivated him the way Grace Ann did and few had shared his interests with the same intensity. Unique, confident and strong, she was practical with an unexpected side of whimsy that cropped up at the oddest times. Despite the inherent risks of her career choice, she lived life large. He admired that, though he couldn’t cope with it day-to-day over the long-term. On the rare occasions when he pictured his future wife, she didn’t wear camouflage or follow orders to assist in a crisis overseas.

Pulling into the last driveway on her block, he studied the clean lines of the redbrick house on the corner lot with a one-car garage and a cherry tree in the front yard. He wondered if she had help with the well-kept lawn. As long as they had been together, he should know if she enjoyed yard work.

“Nice place,” he said.

“Thanks. I’ll get the garage door so you can pull in.” She opened the door and slid out of the passenger seat, tote slung over her shoulder.

She punched a code into a keypad beside the door and a moment later the garage door rolled up. He put the car in Drive, but she didn’t move. He couldn’t pull in without hitting her and the garage interior was too dim for him to see beyond her. Turning off the engine, he climbed out of the car and walked up to stand beside her.

Shards of glass were scattered across the cement floor. His gaze followed the glinting trail to a broken window in the back corner. He reached for his cell phone, but he’d left it in the car. “Call the police,” he said quietly.

“No.” She swallowed. “It was just wind.” She dropped her tote bag to the floor. “I didn’t get the tree branches trimmed back when I should have.”

He hadn’t heard anything about damaging winds, having been indoors for the majority of the past two days. “You sure?”

“What else?” Moving forward with stilted motions that bore no resemblance to what he remembered as the fluid, energetic woman he’d gone kayaking with a few weeks ago, she walked over to the wall-mounted pegboard and pulled down a broom.

“Hold up.” Derek stepped into her path, noticed her eyes had glazed over and her knuckles were white where she gripped the broom handle. With a gentle shake of her shoulders, he broke through the strange haze. “Grace Ann, you need to call the police. Now, honey.”

A shiver rippled through her and her big brown eyes brimmed with tears. She blinked rapidly before they could spill over. “Why? I can’t tell them anything.”

Derek had never before felt this drive, this need to rescue a woman. Being there for Kevin had been his primary focus and he studiously avoided drama and troubling entanglements. Whatever Grace Ann was facing, he was determined to help.

“I’ll make the call,” he said. “We’ll report this as a possible break-in.” Thank goodness he’d insisted on bringing her home. “Take a look around,” he said, using her phone to look up the nonemergency number for the local police department. “Is anything missing?”

She was so obviously overwhelmed he wanted to cuddle her close and assure her it was just another lousy moment in a bad day. His mind on the attacker who’d escaped, he couldn’t help wondering if both instances were related. Briefly, he considered closing the garage door and taking her to a hotel. Preferably a hotel on the other side of the country.

Instead, he called the police department, gave her address and explained what they’d found. While she looked around, Derek took stock as well. There were a few items of value, but nothing other than the window seemed to be disturbed or vandalized. He glanced to the steps leading to the house, wondering if someone might be hiding inside. Although the hole in the window wasn’t big enough for a person to fit though, he wasn’t taking any more chances.

“Come on, we’ll wait in the car.”

She aimed a watery smile at him. “You should go. To your hotel or back to the hospital. I’ll be fine.”

Like hell he’d leave her to handle this alone. “Sure, I’ll go. Is there a neighbor you’d like to come over to wait with you?” he asked innocently.

“Just go.” Temper flared in her eyes. “I’m a big girl, Derek.” She paused to clear her throat. “This isn’t the first bad day I’ve had.”

He’d bet good money it was among the worst she’d had in a long time. At least he hoped days like this weren’t the norm. He moved her tote aside and tugged her down to sit on the steps with him.

“You might not have heard, but I’m coming off a pretty bad day myself,” he said, keeping his voice light. “The experts promised that my worst nightmare isn’t going to strike this time. Which gives me time to help you out.”

“What’s your worst nightmare?” she asked, pressing her hands together between her knees.

“Being alone.” It wasn’t a fear he’d ever confessed or tackled head-on. When had he come to trust Grace Ann so much? “I don’t dwell on it,” he added. He lived his life, managed his career and kept himself distracted with hobbies.

“Ah.”

“Ah?” he echoed. “Meaning?”

She exhaled, her breath fluffing her bangs away from her forehead. “You know I’m second of five kids,” she reminded him. “An army brat. My family seems to grow a little more every year through military connections alone. I’m not sure I have a grasp of the kind of loneliness you’re afraid of.”

Her answer painted a clear picture of how little he knew about her and filled him with a strange urgency to learn more. “Do you have a roommate?”

“No. I enjoy living by myself.” A wry smile curved her lips. “Of course there’s always a sibling or friend I can call, to vent or lean on when needed.”

He supposed that’s where he fit into her life. Someone she called when she needed a break from solitude or work. “Why don’t you call your family now?”

“I should.” Elbows propped on her knees, she rested her head on her hands. “I will once the police are done. No sense worrying everyone until we have more facts.”

“You’ll tell them about the attack in the stairwell, too?”

She rubbed her temples. “I hate to worry the family but I will tell them all of it,” she muttered.

“What else are you dealing with?” He smoothed a hand across the bunched muscles of her shoulders.

“Stupidity.” She picked up her cell phone, turning it around in her hands, lips pursed. “I got suspended today,” she said. “Someone reported me for misuse of Defense Department supplies and my security clearance is suspended while they investigate.”

Whoa. Work was everything for Grace Ann. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She picked at the knees of her scrubs. “Some guy was strangling me.”

“Your family can help with this, right?” She was the daughter of a highly decorated general. Surely he still had connections.

“They shouldn’t.”

He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. “You have to tell them.”

“I will.” She leaned into him. “Again, better to have all the facts,” she said.

“Do you need an attorney?” He didn’t have the right legal expertise, but he had friends in all areas of law practice.

She frowned. “I didn’t think you took private clients.”

“I can help you find someone,” he replied. He didn’t even have to think about it, though it meant calling in a favor with a friend or two with more experience in military law.