9. Aiden

9

AIDEN

Fuck, I hate leaving her. I really do. But I know she's not going to like it if I just sit in the nurse's station while she works all day. Plus, I know that I can get help from the guys at work. I drive back into Whiskey Run and pull into the compound. The guy at the gate flags me through, and I no sooner park and I'm out the door and running inside. I say hi to Brooklyn, Walker’s assistant and now wife, as I pass her and go straight towards Dylan's office. Dylan is the tech guy. He can find out anything. He's smiling when I walk in, but when he sees the look on my face, the smile disappears. “What’s up?” he asks.

“I need you to do me a favor.”

He shrugs. “Sure, anything.”

I bypass all the small talk and get straight to the point. “I need you to give me all the information you can on a Dr. Lassiter. He works at Jasper Hospital.”

Before I even get the words out, Dylan's typing into his computer. He goes through, scanning the screen. “On the surface, everything looks like it's on the up and up.”

I nod “Figured that would be the case. I need you to dig deeper, if you can.”

He doesn’t look up from his computer, but I don’t take offense. He’s like that. Once he has something he has to figure out, he stays on it until he’s completely satisfied that he’s gotten all the information. He mumbles, “Sure. No problem, man.”

“I'll be back,” I tell him as I walk out the door and go to the meeting that Nash, my boss, is holding in the conference room. I barely make it to my seat before he starts talking.

I’m thumbing through the file that was placed in front of me, and I can feel Colt staring a hole through me.

Nash is at the front talking about the upcoming mission, and he addresses Colt first thing. “I need you on this one. You've been to London numerous times, and you already have contacts in place... people that trust you. It's going to be a lot easier if you do it.” I can tell that Colt wants to say no, but he doesn't. Almost nobody tells Nash no.

Well, except for me, it seems, because the next thing I know, Nash looks at me, and I know that for where they’re going they’re going to need a pilot, and that's primarily me. Before he even asks, I tell him, “I can't go.”

There's a hush that falls across the room. I’m ready for it, though. I’ve never let my team down, and I don’t necessarily want to do it now, but there’s no way I’m leaving May right now.

Nash rubs his hand across his beard, staring at me. I can tell I’ve thrown him for a loop. Basically if I don't go then that means that Nash will have to pilot the plane. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal. He used to travel all over the country from what I hear, but lately he’s tried to stay in Whiskey Run and limit his time out of town.

“Why not?” he asks.

I put it out there, straight to the point so that everybody understands where I'm coming from. “May has a stalker, and I'm not leaving until I know she's safe.”

Nash looks at Colt and then back at me. “May? Colt’s sister?”

I nod and clench my fist just remembering everything May said earlier.

“And who's the stalker?” Nash asks, looking between Colt and me.

Colt cracks his fingers and leans back in his seat. “She won't say.”

I know that Colt is already pissed. I know that he's going to be even more upset that she talked to me instead of him, but I know the guys in this room, and we're all family; we protect each other, and that even means extended family. “His name is Dr. Mike Lassiter. He works at Jasper Hospital, and I already have Dylan looking into him. I met with Dr. Johnson this morning. He’s the administrator at the hospital, and he’s May’s boss. From what I found out, she talked to him the other day about everything, and he blew her off.” I look at Nash. “Sorry, but I threw your and Walker’s name around to make sure he knew that this is being taken seriously.”

Nash nods. “Of course it is. What’s he doing about it?”

I let out a sigh of frustration. I want it over, but with the asshole out of town, there’s no way of ending it yet. “He said that he and the board are going to do a full investigation. He won’t have May and him working the same schedule, and he promised that May would be protected. He also said that Dr. Lassiter is in Florida right now due to a death in the family.”

Nash nods with a glance at Colt. The tension in the room is palpable, and in our line of work, that’s not going to cut it. We all have to work together and trust each other, so Colt and I are going to have to get through this. Luckily, nobody calls us out on it, so they’re probably going to give us time to work it out.

The meeting continues, and Nash gives out assignments. Thank fuck he lets me stay in Whiskey Run for this one. I look over at Colt, and I can feel the rage across the table. I just don’t know if it’s aimed at me or if it’s because he’s hearing what his sister has been going through.

As soon as the meeting is over, I go to my office and open up my computer. I know that Dylan is the computer whiz, but surely to goodness I can find something out. I can't just sit here and do nothing.

Colt walks in the door of my office and crosses his arms across his chest as he leans into the doorway. “I need you to protect my sister while I'm gone.”

I nod. “I intend to.” There are so many other things I want to say to him, but maybe less is more right now. I don’t want to fight with him. I want to find May’s stalker and fucking end him.

Colt must not like my answer because he straightens his back rigidly. “I can't let anything happen to her. Just thinking about something happening to her makes me sick to my stomach, and I want to fucking kill someone. She’s not like us, Aiden. She’s good.”

He doesn’t have to tell me; I know how good of a person his sister is. That’s why I fell in love with her. She’s the kindest, most sincere and compassionate woman I’ve ever met. I grit my teeth. “Nothing is going to happen to her. I tried to tell you last night I love her. I've loved her for two years and haven't looked at another woman since then. She's it for me.” Colt uncrosses his arms and lets them hang to his side. I’m just waiting on him to punch me again, and quite honestly, I can’t say that I blame him. I know the reputation that I’ve had in the past, but I'm a different man now. May makes me want to be different.

He tilts his head. “Why didn't either of you tell me?”

I shrug. “Probably because of how you reacted last night.”

His face is grim. “She's all I've got left of my family, Aiden. It's been my job to protect her for a long time, and I don't want her hurt.”

I nod because I understand where he's coming from. “I know that she's your only family left, Colt, but she's my everything.”

Colt opens his mouth but then turns suddenly. I can hear feet pounding on the carpeted hallway outside my office. Colt sticks his head out and then jumps to the side as Dylan comes running into my office. “The hospital is on lockdown. May is being held hostage.”

“Fuck!” I scream. My heart plummets to my stomach. There's chaos all around because everyone at the facility is instantly on high alert. I'm out the door before anyone. I race to my car and drive as fast as I can to the hospital. The whole way to Jasper, I pray for her to be safe and for nothing to happen to her. I can't lose her. I wasn't lying when I told Colt that she's my everything. She is everything that I do, everything that I think, everything that I want out of life. If anything happens to her, I won’t survive it. Fuck, I can't lose her.