Protecting Fiona (SEAL of Protection Book 3) (17 page)

* * *

Cookie slammed open the door to Caroline and Wolf’s house. They’d been knee deep in a “situation” in a not-so-well-known country in Africa, when Wolf had pulled him aside and told him about Fiona. It’d taken both Benny and Abe holding him back so he wouldn’t go running off half-cocked and getting both himself and his team killed. The team had talked it over and decided, with the blessing of their commander, to pull back and allow another SEAL team to take over.

They all knew how unusual it was for them to be even be
given
the chance to pull back. Usually when it came to Uncle Sam, there
was
no option. The mission came first, always. But apparently Tex had personally discussed the situation with the commander and convinced him for the need of an immediate withdrawal of Cookie and the rest of the team.

All six men had immediately agreed to get the hell out of Africa, and get back to California so Cookie could help his woman.

Wolf was right behind Cookie when he entered his house. Caroline and Alabama were there and Caroline immediately ran into Matthew’s arms.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Hunter. I should have kept a better eye on her.”

“Tell me what happened from the beginning, Ice.” Cookie’s voice was hard and even, as if he was holding on to his temper and sanity by his fingernails.

“Careful, Cookie,” Wolf warned, not liking the tone he was taking with Caroline.

“It’s okay, Matthew,” Caroline reassured him. Turning back to Hunter she told him what had happened at the store and what they’d done afterwards.

“It sounds like you did everything right, Ice. You got her out of the store and you and Alabama stayed with her.”

“But we got drunk and she snuck out.”

“I know, but remember she got away from me too when we were in Texas. She’s an adult, you couldn’t have watched over her all day and all night. Even if you weren’t drunk, she still could’ve left while you were sleeping. Desperate people can manage to do things that people who are in their right mind never can.”

“She took your car, and Tex traced her to San Francisco. She’s in a hotel up there.”

“Yeah, he debriefed me as soon as we landed. I’m headed to the airport to get her, I just have to make one stop first.”

“You’re stopping somewhere?”  Alabama questioned harshly.

Cookie turned to her and defended his actions, even though he didn’t really feel he had to. “Yeah, I’m collecting Dr. Hancock. I wanted Fiona to see her and talk to her about everything she went through in Mexico, but she obviously never followed through. I’m not giving Fee a choice now. I don’t know how to help her, but I know Dr. Hancock can. So I’m picking her up, I’ve already contacted her and she agreed, and we’re going to fly up there and bring Fiona home.”

“Sorry, Hunter. Jesus, I’ve been so worried about her. I know you’d never take her safety for granted. Go. Bring her home.” Alabama sounded so contrite, Hunter couldn’t help but take the two steps to her side and bring her into him for a quick hug.

“She’ll be home as soon as I can get her here. I’m taking Benny with us, but Dr. Hancock thinks it would be best if Fiona didn’t see him at all. He’ll drive my car back down here while we go up to the hotel room to get Fiona. We’ll fly back as soon as Dr. Hancock says it’s okay. Abe will be over here to the house as soon as he can. He and the others had to debrief with the commander.”

Cookie let go of Alabama and held her at arm’s length with his hands on her shoulders. He watched as she nodded and he squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.

“Okay, go get her, Hunter. Bring Fiona home”

Caroline, Wolf, and Alabama watched as Cookie strode out of the house, back to the car at the curb. Benny was behind the wheel. They were on one of the most important missions of their lives, and everyone knew it.

Fiona answered the phone after it rang only once.

“Tex?”

“Yeah, babe, it’s me. How’re you holding up?” Tex had kept his promise and called Fiona every four hours for the last three days. It had taken that long for him to get a hold of the commander, to convince him it was a life or death situation, for Wolf’s SEAL team to get back to the States, and for Cookie to get his ass on a plane headed up to San Francisco.

Fiona had answered the phone every time Tex had called. They were both exhausted, but she hadn’t missed one call.

“You eat yet?”

“Yeah, I ordered an omelet this morning.”

“Okay, that’s good. Today’s the day, Fiona.”

Fiona sucked in a breath. She’d been so confused over the last few days and Tex had been her lifeline. She vacillated between knowing she was losing her mind because she knew no one was after her, to being convinced the kidnappers were waiting downstairs in the lobby to snatch her if she left the room. Tex had called, just as he said he would, every few hours and helped calm her down.

“I’m losing my mind, Tex. I want to go home…back to Hunter’s apartment. No one’s after me are they?” The last was said in a sad whisper.

“Fiona, Cookie will be there in a couple of hours. Sit tight. He’ll be there, and you’ll be just fine. Don’t leave now, not right before he gets to you.” When Tex didn’t hear any response, he continued. “I’ll call you when he’s standing outside your door, so you know it’s him and you can let him in. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Fiona’s voice was small and wobbly.

“Okay, I’ll call back in a couple of hours. Stay in the room; take a nap if you need to. Cookie’s coming for you, Fee. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Tex hung up the phone and paced the room. His prosthetic leg, for once, wasn’t hurting. He could only think about Fiona and about her state of mind. She’d been through hell, and he’d been right there with her for the last three days. Tex never knew what her state of mind would be when he’d call. Sometimes Fiona seemed mostly lucid, like this last call, other times she was completely freaked out, convinced the kidnappers were right outside her door.

It was those times that had taken every bit of psychological training he’d ever had. He’d convinced her to do things like go into the bathroom and crouch down in the bathtub until they were “gone.” He’d lied and told her he’d tapped into the hotel cameras and had seen the men leave the hallway, even though no one had ever been there in the first place.

He’d talked Cookie into bringing the doctor with him when he went to Fiona. She needed the help, more than anyone he’d ever met. Well, he’d never
met
Fiona, but he’d spoken to her enough over the last seventy hours, that he felt like he knew her.

Tex couldn’t wait to hear from Cookie that he’d landed. It was time to end this.

* * *

Cookie clicked off the phone with Tex and waited for Fee to open the door. Tex had said he’d call Fiona and let her know he was there and that it was safe to open the hotel door. Cookie had said good-bye to Benny in the parking lot after they’d arrived in a taxi from the airport. Benny understood why he couldn’t see Fiona right now, and even if he didn’t like it, he knew it was for the best. He’d wrung a promise out of Cookie to be able to come over and see Fiona as soon as Cookie thought she was well enough when they got home.

It wasn’t even a minute after hanging up with Tex that Cookie saw the hotel door open an inch, then suddenly Fiona was in his arms. She’d opened the door and thrown herself at him after verifying it really was him at her door.

Cookie could literally feel every muscle in his body relax. He’d been so stressed for the last three days and it was all he could do not to dissolve into a hysterical fit of tears. One hand went around Fiona’s waist and the other curled around the back of her head and he held her to him as he backed her into the room and toward the bed.

Fiona could barely say a word. Hunter was here. He was
here
.

“You came.”

“I came. I’ll
always
come for you.” Cookie said the words as if they were the most important words he’d ever said and
would
ever say in his life.

They sat on the bed and after Fiona straddled his lap, Cookie rocked Fiona back and forth. They both needed the contact with each other. They’d each been through their own type of hell.

Finally Cookie loosened his hold, just enough to pull away to look into Fiona’s face.

“Fiona?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Cookie had to see where her head was at. Was she still in the midst of the delusion that she was running from her kidnappers, or was she lucid enough to know she’d imagined the entire thing?

“I…I’m not sure. I think I screwed up.”

Cookie shook his head and brought his hands up to Fiona’s face and held her face still while he spoke to her. His thumbs caressed the underside of her jaw and he spoke earnestly to her.

“You didn’t screw up, Fee.
I
did. I should’ve made sure I took care of you before I left. I was afraid something like this would happen. But I learned my lesson. I’m not going anywhere until I fix this. Okay?”

Fiona felt the tears start, but couldn’t stop them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so many problems. I just…they…I can’t figure it all out in my head.”

“Shhhh, we’ll figure it out together. For now, I want you to meet someone. She’s with me. Don’t be afraid.” Cookie gestured toward the door and a short, but kindhearted looking, woman walked in the room. She was wearing a pair of jeans and looked to be about five months pregnant. She waddled a bit as she walked, but the look on her face was open and friendly.

“This is Dr. Hancock. She came with me to help you deal with what’s happening. She’s with me.”

Fiona looked from the woman, who’d stopped right inside the door, back to Hunter. In a low whispered voice Fiona said sadly, “They weren’t ever after me were they? I dreamed it all up didn’t I? That’s why you brought a shrink with you. I’m going crazy.”

Cookie touched his forehead to Fiona’s and tried to think what he should say. Luckily, the doctor answered for him.

“Fiona, the mind is a powerful thing. I’m sure you’ve seen videos of people wearing those virtual reality goggles, right? They know they aren’t on a roller coaster, but with those goggles on they can’t stop their body was swaying and rolling as if they really
were
on a roller coaster. You’ve had an experience much like that. Deep down you knew those men you saw weren’t after you, but based on what happened to you, your conscious mind did what it had to do to protect itself. You’re not going crazy. You’re perfectly normal. If you hadn’t reacted as you had, I would’ve been even more worried about you.”

Fiona looked up at Hunter again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You were on a mission…”

“Stop. You’re more important than any mission. I told you that before and I’ll keep saying it until you believe it. I’d scale mountains for you. I’d quit today if you needed me. You. Come. First. Period. No more “sorry’s.” Let’s get home. Talk to Dr. Hancock. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

Fiona wrapped her arms around Hunter and sighed when she felt his arms surround her again. She nodded.

Cookie stood up with Fee in his arms. He’d swung her around so one arm was around her back and the other was under her knees. “Close your eyes, Fee. I’ll get us out of here. You just relax. Trust me.”

“I do, Hunter. I knew you’d come for me and I’d be safe.” She gripped Hunter tightly and buried her head in his neck, closing her eyes as Hunter had asked.

“You’re safe, Fee. Safe with me. Always.”

* * *

Cookie carried Fiona into his apartment while Dr. Hancock followed close behind. She’d talked to Fiona off and on while they’d flown back to southern California. The doctor wanted to get an idea of where Fiona’s head was at and the best way to go about getting her the help she needed.

Cookie wanted to cry when he’d heard Fiona tell Dr. Hancock that she’d tried to be brave for
him
. He hadn’t wanted Fiona to suppress her feelings, but he
had
told her over and over how impressed he was with her bravery and courage.

He carried her into their room and put Fiona softly on the bed. She didn’t stir. She’d been exhausted from trying to hide from imaginary kidnappers as well as answering the phone every four hours when Tex had called. Cookie knew he owed Tex everything. Anything the man ever needed, was his. He’d kept his woman safe. There was no way to repay that. Cookie wouldn’t forget it. Ever. He kissed Fiona on the forehead and smoothed her hair back from her head gently. God, she’d scared the shit out of him.

Cookie left the room and went back to where Dr. Hancock was waiting for him.

“What do you think? Do I need to bring her in to the hospital for in-patient treatment?” It wasn’t what Cookie wanted to do, but he would if the doctor thought it was what Fiona needed.

“I don’t think so. She seems more lucid with you around. You can’t leave her alone though, Hunter. If you need to go to work or if you’re called away, you’ll need to admit her for her own good.

“I’m not going anywhere. It’s already been cleared by the commander. If we get called out, the others will cover it. He knows Fiona comes first.”

“Okay, good. She’ll need daily sessions at first. Then, depending on how those go, we can slowly taper them off. The good news is that I think she
wants
to get better.”

“Of course she does,” Cookie said heatedly.

“There is no ‘of course’ about it, Hunter,” Dr. Hancock said sadly. “You’d be surprised how many women can’t move past what happened to them, what was done to them. They can’t get past the abuse and they spiral down into a life of drugs and sometimes prostitution. Even though they were sexually abused, they aren’t able to acclimate back into society.” Waiting to make sure Hunter understood her words, the doctor nodded, then continued. “Okay, stay with her tonight and bring her in to see me in the morning. I’ll probably start out meeting with her alone, then I’ll see if she’ll allow you to come in as well. Since you were there and a big part of her rescue, I think it’ll help.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Doctor. I should’ve called you long before now.”

“Yes, you should have. But what’s done is done. Fiona is getting help now. And if it’s any consolation, I think she’s going to be fine. You were right. She
is
tough. She
is
brave. That’ll get her through this.”

Cookie saw the doctor out and watched as she got into an SUV sitting in the parking lot. Her husband had obviously been waiting for her. Cookie stood there, as the car disappeared into the night, thinking he’d been lucky. More than lucky. Cookie turned around and headed back inside, to Fiona.