Saving Rachel (McCallister Military Brothers Book 2) by Leslie North

Author:Leslie North [North, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

11

“You seem agitated and distracted, Harris.”

Harris allowed his gaze to wander from the yellowing plant sitting on the radiator to survey the rest of the office. Mid-morning sun filtered weakly through the closed blinds, never reaching the plant on its gloomy perch. Between the lack of sun and obvious overwatering, no wonder it was dying.

Dull, cracked, dented, and worn furniture, compliments of government funding, filled the rest of the depressing space, and Harris couldn’t wait until his mandatory hour was done.

“Harris. I said you seem distracted.”

Harris focused on his therapist, sitting attentively in a freshly-pressed uniform. At one point, he’d been a door-kicking, first-one-in tango-chaser, but First Lieutenant Greg Martinez, Ph.D. had chosen a new path. He’d traded his crappy tent for a crappy office stateside, and now here he was, shrinking Harris’s head.

“I’m fine,” Harris said, tone carefully even. Liar, liar. His frustration was eating him alive. He wanted to scream.

“Master Sergeant McCallister.” Martinez leaned back, adjusting his tall frame in his ugly pleather chair. “You see me three times a week. Have I ever allowed you to bullshit me?”

Goddamn it. He didn’t need this on top of everything else. “No, sir.” He gave the only response he could, knowing Martinez outranked him. Martinez, stretched out with his notepad on his knee, his pen poised above it to capture all of Harris’s private thoughts and fears.

The silence dragged on between them, awkward and dry. Harris could wait it out, he guessed, but he’d have to talk some time.

“Last night,” he said. His voice caught and he swallowed. “Could I get some water?”

Martinez got him a bottle from the fridge in the corner. Harris took a gulp, then twisted the cap closed. He’d left Rachel to come here. Left her at the B&B, alone. The cops were damn useless—we’ll do what we can. But without prints, without evidence…

What would it take to get them to act? Rachel’s dead body laid out on the road? Her baby, their baby, dead in her belly?

We’ll question them, don’t worry. You got Darryl’s last name?

He’d been tempted to go question Darryl himself. But if he’d done that, his fists would have done the talking, he’d probably be in jail, facing dishonorable discharge and God knew what.

“Last night?” said Martinez.

Harris ground his teeth. Shit. “I had another flashback last night.”

“Were you awake or dreaming?”

“Dreaming.” He crossed his arms and pushed back in his chair. “It woke me up, but I remembered enough to know I was reliving the Colombian mission.”

The faint scratching of the pen grated on Harris’s nerves as Martinez took notes.

“Anything different in the dream from what you remember happening?”

“No,” Harris snapped. “I still gave the same orders, and Shawn still paid the price.” A pang ripped through his chest, and he sucked in air to keep it from tearing him in two. His damn intuition, his damn pigeon sense. Should’ve known it was a warning, not a green light.

“Shawn Ramirez was a veteran Marine with just as many missions under his belt as you,” said Martinez.

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