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She stared at him, felt the tears in her eyes, and gulped them down.
“All of the above,” she whispered.
“What?” he asked.
She lowered her eyes, pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, then exhaled. She looked up at Red as he stepped closer.
“Some tough Marine I am, huh?” she asked and almost cried. But she’d conditioned herself not to cry. Not to feel pain, not to break down.
He reached out and squeezed her shoulder.
“Why don’t we pop open some beers and sit down to talk about it? I’m here for you, Cass. You’re not alone.”
She hesitated and then Red raised one eyebrow at her, giving her that sergeant major-commander expression, and she chuckled.
“I only have a twelve-pack. We may need more,” she teased, trying to lighten up the intensity of the moment.
“Well then, we’ll just stumble over to my place and hit the porch refrigerator. If need be, the one in the house is well stocked too.”
She snickered and grabbed the beers then passed one to Red.
“So, let’s start at the beginning. That’s always the perfect place,” Red said, and she sat down, took a slug of her beer, and poured her guts out to her old friend.
* * * *
Red was beside himself. Cassidy was beating herself up over this. Meanwhile, it was something completely out of her control.
“Why not go to the police, the military, or get an order of protection?”
“As a Marine? How embarrassing would that be?”
“For crying out loud, Cass, the man isn’t sane. He’s become obsessed with you. He put a gun to your throat and threatened to kill you and himself. His buddies are protecting him to not give another soldier a bad rap. But that’s not the case here. He needs psychological help.”
“You don’t think I know that? Of course he does. I tried helping him. I tried getting him to seek psychological counseling, but his friends talked him out of it. His friends would track me down when I went out without Blaze. He was in a special unit. I know he did crazy shit and took out a lot of men. I think he held on to me and looked at me as his special object.”
“What do you mean?” Red asked.
“He would stare at the scars from the bullet wounds. He’d trace them with his finger and say things like I’d survived the devil’s wrath. I’d looked death in the eyes and won. Just crazy stuff that made me feel uncomfortable. But then he knew about that mission, the one you and I got caught in, and he minimized it. He made references to the things he’d done and how much stronger he was. That he had the power to give life or take it. I took that as a threat too. He was telling me that he could take my life if need be.”
“This is serious stuff, Cass. I can’t believe you ran from this. That you didn’t confide completely in me and explain what happened. I wou
ldn’t have thought any less of you. I don’t think any less of you. Nor would the police, the military, or my son and his team.”
She shook her head.
“Leave your son and his team out of this. I never should have let Cash kiss me.” She took another slug of beer.
He smirked. “Cash kissed you? Now that explains a lot.”
“That was the beer weakening my lips,” she said, and he chuckled.
“I had a feeling Cash had made a move. Thought Memphis and Coast had too, maybe even Orlando. They all like you.”
“Not Stryker. He basically accused me of sleeping with you.”
Red raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
“He’s filled with piss and vinegar. I warned you about him. But I’m surprised that he even stepped out of the cottage to walk. It’s what he needs. Exercise, better diet, and to care. I was hoping that you two would meet and that you might be able to help him. I guess that’s a big no.”
