Chapter 1

Jasper raced toward the crowd as people called out in a frenzy, "Man down! Man down!" Up ahead, desperately trying to get to her husband, Tesla struggled to get through the masses. With her rounded belly, she was in danger of getting knocked over or injured in some other way. Jasper quickly came up behind her, and, wrapping his arms around her, swung her off to the side and whispered in a hushed voice, "I'll get to him and determine his status. You stay here."

She half buckled against him, as he gently put her on her feet, out of the way of the chaos all around them. Then he turned and quickly fought his way to Mason's side.

Mason, his eyes open, stared skyward, but it was obvious that he was in shock. Blood poured from the gunshot wound to his head, and Jasper caught a glimpse of shattered bone behind it. It seemed as if the bullet must have hit the bone, pushing the fragment outward, and then traveling through to the ground somewhere behind Mason. "Somebody find that damn bullet," Jasper barked, and others scattered.

Frowning, Jasper dropped down beside another man, who was working on Mason. "Are the EMTs on the way?"

The man, with his hand and a piece of cloth on Mason's head wound, gave a curt nod. "They are. We need to get him stabilized…" He let his voice trail off.

Jasper immediately checked over the rest of Mason. A bullet wound appeared on his lower abdomen. Jasper immediately ripped off part of his shirt, folded it quickly, and applied pressure to stop the bleeding from that wound too.

The other guy nodded at him in approval. "Nobody saw anything, of course," he said in a clipped tone, as he turned to look at the crowd that still remained.

Immediately everybody nearby shook their heads.

"From this angle, I would call it as a sniper atop that roof," Jasper said, pointing to the red building off to the side. "Get a team over there now."

With that, several men took off. He hoped that others had heard the shots and were already pursuing the gunman, so that the guys heading there now were just secondary assistance. Now, Jasper heard the sirens of emergency vehicles racing toward them. He looked over at the other guy, realized it was Masters, and asked in a low voice, "Chances?"

"It's Mason," Masters said curtly. "In other cases, not much chance, but it's him," he added, shaking his head. "And he's got everything in the world to live for," he murmured, as he cast a glance to where Tesla stood, still vertical, but barely, as she stared out at the crowd, her face white, shock and fear evident in her gaze. "I've got this, if you want to deal with her," Masters offered.

"I'll deal with her once we get Mason squared away with the EMTs," Jasper murmured.

"You are family, aren't you?"

He gave him a small smile. "Yeah, cousins by marriage."

"That's family, and she'll need it."

"She'll also need answers," he said, his voice determined.

Masters frowned at him. "You're not active military though, are you?"

"I am, although not exactly with a popular division."

"Oh, shit, are you upstairs?"

"Somewhat, yeah. Let's just say, an unpopular department." He chuckled. "Still, that could be exactly what we need right now."

Masters didn't say anything for a long moment, then he nodded. "Let's hope not."

"The sniper must have balls of stone on him." Trying to fight back the fear overtaking his thoughts as he stared down at Mason, Jasper murmured, "And I'm sure he's long gone now."

"Do you know something we don't?"

"Not yet"—Jasper glared around—"but you can bet I'll be hunting this one down myself."

"I'm sure you will," Masters agreed, checking Mason's pulse yet again. "If you need a hand, you let me know."

"I'll need a hand, guaranteed," he said, looking over at him.

"This won't be a one-person job." Masters shifted his hand pressure on Mason's head wound, looking around to see if help was near. Lowering his voice, he asked, "Any idea what's going on?"

"Not yet, but this was too well-thought-out. Somebody knew when he was flying in, what shape he would be in, and where he was going next, so…"

Masters sucked in his breath. "Are you seriously suggesting an inside job?"

"I'm not saying anything," Jasper replied, his tone hardening as the paramedics arrived, quickly moving the two of them back, so they could take over Mason's care. "I'll take Tesla to the hospital." Jasper noted her hovering close to the paramedics.

"You better clean up first."

"Tesla is tougher than that," he said, with a shrug. "She won't give a shit about my being covered in blood. She'll just want to be with Mason," he said, turning toward her. "I'll clean up at the hospital." And, with that, he raced to Tesla, who was now sitting on the ground, rocking, her arms wrapped around her belly, as she watched her husband get loaded onto a gurney. As Jasper approached, she took one look at him and winced.

He nodded. "Yes, it's Mason's blood, and it's serious. He's been shot twice. We don't know if there are more injuries. Let's get you and Mason to the hospital."

He reached out a bloody hand that he'd done his best to wipe on his jeans, but no way to soften the full effect of the fact that he was covered in her husband's blood. He knew more than most how Mason and Tesla had forged a close, tight-knit union and what it would do to her should Mason be lost.

Still, she reached up and grasped Jasper's hand firmly. "Just get me there," she grunted, her tone harsh.

"I'm planning on it," he said. "Let's go."

*

As soon asJasper settled Tesla into the passenger seat, he walked to the back of his vehicle. He pulled out a clean shirt and stripped off the bloody one he now wore. Using other medical supplies he kept on hand, he did his best to wipe off as much blood as he could, tossing it all back in the trunk. Then he got in the driver's seat and pulled out.

"What do you know about Masters?" he asked Tesla in a clipped tone.

With a sigh, she stated, "I don't know anything about him. He's just around."

"Was he supposed to pick up Mason?"

She thought about it but obviously was struggling to concentrate.

"Stay focused. We must collect as much information as we can, and fast. So I need you to tell me everything you can think of."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I hear you.… I do.… I'm just not sure I have an answer."

"Better than making one up," he replied, with a smile.

"Not something I would ever do," she murmured.

"You know as well as I do that we've got to get to the bottom of this—and fast."

"He was targeted, wasn't he?" She spoke in a whisper.

"Absolutely. He got off that plane with no opportunity to do anything but take a full hit," Jasper confirmed. "So the question is, who set this up?"

She shook her head, her bottom lip trembling a bit. "Everybody loves Mason."

Jasper wouldn't argue with her because obviously somebody did not love Mason, but Jasper knew what she meant. Generally Mason was highly respected by both those below and above him, but there would always be somebody crosswise for some reason. An outlier would work to make life miserable for him. And that was just the current way of the world. Whenever you had somebody who succeeded, somebody else chose to work against that success. Obviously somebody was determined to interrupt or to derail Mason's intentions.

Jasper glanced at Tesla. "Stay strong." Her back stiffened, as he smirked in response. "There's my girl."

She snorted. "Always the same Jasper. You might not know me as well as you think."

"I never claimed to. All I need to know right now is that you'll make it through this," he explained, "and that you'll do your darndest to not let Mason know how upset you are and how worried you are about his making it through this."

She continued to glare at him. "Mason knows that I'll be there for whatever needs to be done, no matter the outcome."

"Good. So I'll be straight with you. I didn't see anything close to his spine, so I highly doubt we'll hear of any paralysis or the like. I'm more concerned about his surviving. I won't minimize the damage. I saw a lot of bleeding." She swallowed and nodded. "Yet he'll get the very best medical attention available, and you can bet they are already on it."

"Right." She took a deep breath.

He listened cautiously, hoping that she wouldn't hyperventilate on him. Sure enough, she pulled herself back into a state of calm control. He gave her a small smile. "You're doing great. Let's keep it that way."

She didn't say anything to that and took a moment to take stock. "You will find out who did this, won't you?"

"I plan to. There'll be one hell of an investigation."

"Good." She turned to him, declaring, "You also know this was an inside job."

He winced. "I was hoping you wouldn't pick up on that quite so fast."

"Like hell I wouldn't. Shot on base, by sniper fire, with enough skill to take that shot and to not miss," she summed up. "So, even if it wasn't somebody who is currently on base, maybe somebody just not currently on active duty,… you must know perfectly well that somebody coming from that background had an intel contact inside."

"Potentially," he admitted, "but let's not rule out the fact that we could be dealing with a foreign entity as well."

She sat back, pondering it silently.

"You and I both know that, as Mason has climbed the ranks, he's also made enemies." She stiffened, but he shook his head. "No, this isn't a time to sugarcoat it. Enemies, they happen to all of us. That doesn't mean that Mason's any less of a man, any less of that perfect person you love so well," he added. "Enemies happen. We do our best, but they're still out there, and, God help us, somebody wanted Mason dead. That wasn't a casual shot. Somebody was deliberately trying to take him out."

"They won't succeed," she stated flatly. "No way in hell Mason would leave me right now."

Jasper half smiled at that. Mason had and always would fight damn hard to get to Tesla's side, and that wouldn't change. However, the fact remained that Mason wasn't necessarily in control right now. He had to wake up. He had to understand what the stakes were. Subconsciously he would probably know that he had been critically injured and that his team would all pitch in and help.

"Promise me," she began, her voice thick. He winced. "Don't give me any bullshit. Promise me that."

"I promise," Jasper vowed. "I promise that we will get to the bottom of this. I don't know if it will be me directing this case, but I will ensure that I am involved in some way or another."

She glanced over at him. "You haven't even had your department meeting yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't," he replied, "and they may decide that I'm too close to this case, too close to Mason. After all, we are related," he noted in a wry tone.

"I don't give a crap what they say," she snapped.

"Good, then you may want to apply some pressure yourself."

She frowned at him, then immediately pulled out her phone and started sending text messages.

"Keep in mind that you cannot come across as a completely overwhelmed. irrational and hysterical woman," he noted. After a moment of silence she shot him a look that had him grinning back at her. "Just checking. Not a person on base wouldn't allow you some leeway, after what you've just witnessed." He shut up under her stare.

"Doesn't matter whether they would or not," she declared, her tone determined.

"Who are you contacting?" he asked, as she went back to texting.

She shrugged. "As high up as I can go."

"Good, but what are you telling them?"

"That I want you on the case." When he sucked in his breath, she nodded. "You might not like that, but there's not much of a choice right now."

"You won't make me very popular, will you?"

"Like you give a shit about a popularity contest," she noted.

"No, I don't, and, yes, this is the work I do, so no doubt about my popularity status. However, that's not exactly the way to get started on a new base, and I don't know people here."

"Yet you seem to know Masters," she pointed out, a question in her tone.

"I knew him from way back. Plus I met him a couple days ago, when I was on base."

"Does he have any idea why you were here?"

"No, but I've come from a SEAL team that he knew, so we share mutual friends."

"Do you have a good rep or a bad one?"

"I have a hard rep," he clarified, yet his tone remained neutral. "I don't give a damn how they take that."

She burst out laughing at that, then immediately stopped. "God, I shouldn't be laughing at a time like this."

"Not much to laugh about right now," he agreed. "Yet, if laughter helps you to stay balanced, if it helps you to remain somewhat stable, and if it gives you a different perspective so you can handle what's coming," he shared, "then laugh. You hang on to anything that you can because, God knows, we will all need it going forward."

*

Nurse Amber racedto the ER, as the emergency call had gone out. The ambulance was just backing up, doors opening, and the hospital team already surrounding the gurney. Amber thought she recognized the face of the patient but couldn't be sure, not with so many bodies in the way. A lot of discussions were going on around her at this military hospital, with expert efficiency evident, as everybody moved to do their jobs.

Murmurs swirled around Amber, as well as the two paramedics, who gave them a rundown on the patient's condition and what had happened. Sniper rounds, two wounds for sure, possibly a third. One caused carotid bleeding. A second shot was abdominal. She winced because the head shot would be the worst and the biggest hurdle to get the patient over.

He was losing blood at a rapid rate, and they'd already called in to have a blood transfusion ready.

Amber knew all of this was good, but it would be a hell of a deal. She was called over and given a set of instructions, and she carried them out, watching the team move with the efficiency she would expect from them. When another emergency call came, she raced to join her team, where she quickly helped a pregnant woman, who had just been brought in, with complaints of contractions and vaginal bleeding. Amber winced at that one too, hoping it would be an easier fix than the other patient.

With the pregnant patient handed off to the nursing staff, Amber returned to see what the results were for the sniper shooting victim. She caught several doctors discussing it. One of the nurses stepped over to Amber and shared, "He's been sent up to surgery. He's stable. We've got transfusions happening, but that head wound is bad news."

Amber winced and nodded. "Did you hear who it was?"

The nurse shrugged. "Something about Mason. He's been here forever, and somebody apparently took him out on the base, right when he got off one of the flights."

Amber stared at her in shock. "Oh, my God." She looked around a little uneasily because, as soon as a sniper was found on base, things tended to shut down very quickly. "Have we been locked down?"

The nurse shook her head. "We haven't received any orders to that effect, but a military investigation team is coming over to hear the details on the victim's condition. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that." She gave a mock shudder. "Some of the guys on that team will be opening a can of worms," she stated, with an eye roll and a big knowing grimace.

Amber nodded and didn't say anything. She was much more concerned about the patient and about a sniper being on base. As she waited for a call to shut down the entire hospital, she went through the frantic motions of dealing with triage in the ER for the next hour.

When she caught a moment of calm, she noted a tall, square-set male, standing off to the side, a frown on his face, his hands on his hips.

She eyed him cautiously, but, like so many of the other men on active duty here, he was fit, strong, and capable. However, this one was incredibly pissed. She walked over to him and asked, "May I help you?"

He glanced around before speaking. "A friend of mine, a family member, came in here a little bit ago, with sniper wounds."

She nodded. "Mason. He's in surgery." Clear, soft-gray eyes, with a cutting edge, caught her attention.

"Condition?" he snapped.

"Stable, but critical," she responded. "We expect an investigative team to be here very quickly. Are you part of that?"

He gave her a clipped nod. "If I can get on the damn team, I will be," he muttered. "In the meantime, I'm family, and I would like very much to have updated information, as it becomes available."

"If you contact the front desk, they'll let you know." She hesitated. "Does he have a wife, family?"

"He does, and I have his wife here." He looked behind him. "She's pregnant and sitting down in the other room."

With that mention, Amber's mind returned to the other pregnant woman, still in the ER, where OPs and GYNs were checking her out. "Hopefully Mason will make a full recovery," she shared. "I can't imagine anything worse."

He gave an absent-minded nod, but his gaze still fully assessed the ER, and she wasn't sure what was going on here. In a low voice, she asked, "Will we lock down?"

He frowned at her. "You haven't already?"

She shook her head. "Not that we've heard."

He groaned. "I'll make a call." That being said, he quickly disappeared.

Amber stepped into the nearby waiting room, seeing him on his phone and off to the side. A pregnant woman, who Amber thought she recognized, sat off to the side, her head in her hands. Amber walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Are you waiting for an update on Mason's condition?"

The other woman brightened. "Yes, yes, please." She turned to the man on the phone.

"I just spoke to him," Amber noted, nodding. "The doctors will give you the official update, but I can tell you that Mason's in surgery. A fair bit of damage occurred to his skull, but they're hopeful they can piece it together. Now that the bleeding has stopped, the swelling is the next biggest concern," she murmured.

"Right." The pregnant woman, with a determined expression, gave Amber a half-hearted smile. "It's so hard to wait. We want answers, and we want everything now. I'm Tesla, by the way."

"I'm Amber," she replied, offering her hand. She looked over at the man who she had talked to first. "And is he family?"

"Yes," Tesla replied, with a nod. "He's my cousin, and he's been staying with us. He had driven me to the airport to pick up Mason." Tesla gave a half-gulping sob. "So, I watched my husband get shot, watched him drop," she shared, trying hard to get a grip. "I was still so far away," she murmured. "I couldn't get to him in time, and then, when I did get closer, he was completely surrounded."

Amber nodded sympathetically. "And yet those who surrounded him obviously had some combat medical training or the like and did a good job of assisting Mason, until he could be brought in."

Tesla nodded. "Yes," she whispered softly. "I know Masters was there and Jasper. I don't know who all else. At any other point in time I could probably tell you exactly who was there." Tesla blinked several times, then let out a soft groan.

Amber asked sharply, "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

Tesla rubbed her baby bump and nodded. "I think so. It's just been such a shock, and the baby hasn't accepted it that well either."

"Of course not. The baby knows that you're in pain and upset. So, of course, it'll react the same as you do. You might want to take it easy."

"Right, but there is never any good reaction in a situation like this."

"No, there isn't," Amber murmured, as she looked around. "I'm on duty, so I'll leave for now, but, if you need anything, you let me know."

"Thank you. What was your name again?"

"I'm Amber," she repeated, introducing herself a second time. "I'm one of the ER nurses here."

"I appreciate any information you can share."

"No information yet. For now, all we know is that Mason took two direct hits, and he's in surgery, where they're taking out one of the bullets. He's lost a tremendous amount of blood," she added. "Beyond that, they will deal with whatever they find during surgery."

"The second bullet?" Tesla asked hesitantly.

"Abdominal," Amber confirmed. "So a gut shot as well." She watched the color fade from Tesla's face, and Amber winced. "I'm a firm believer in family being better off knowing the truth," she shared, "but, if you want me to spare you the details, just let me know."

"No," Tesla replied. "I do not want the details sugarcoated, but obviously my condition is not the easiest. Plus, I must look after my baby as well. However, the truth I can deal with. Finding out lies and half-truths afterward would be much harder."

"Agreed. Can I get you some water or something?"

Tesla stared at her. "Hardly ER protocol."

"Don't you worry about it," Amber noted. "I want to ensure that you don't become a patient."

"Thank you," Tesla replied gratefully, "and some water would be lovely."