“What’s your location now?”
“End of the block. Just did a sweep. We look free and clear.”
“Roger. We’ll take your car. Grab us in thirty unless you hear from me.”
“Got it. I’ll map it out.”
“Good.” I hung up the phone and leaned back into the couch.
This whole operation had been one big clusterfuck from the very start. I’d gone in with too little backup, gotten too close to Tara, and ended up killing three men in front of her and her parents. Throw a baby in the mix and fucking nothing was going my way.
But it didn’t matter. I was a fucking SEAL, and we were trained to get the mission done no matter what obstacles got in our way.
And that was what I planned on doing.
I kicked my feet up on the coffee table and listened to Mason’s crying echoing down from upstairs.
“Buckle up, folks. This might be a wild ride.”
I grinned at Travis as we pulled out into traffic. Travis was about my height, thinner, with scruff on his face and short-cropped brown hair. His eyes were a bright green, and he had tattoos running up his arms. He was dressed in nondescript black clothing to better blend into his surroundings.
“Thanks for this, Travis,” Tara said. She was sitting in the back seat with Mason, trying to keep him calm.
“Thank the captain here. I just do as I’m told.”
Tara glanced at me but said nothing.
“Do babies always cry like that?” Travis asked.
“No,” I said, “which is why we’re making this trip.”
“Well, I’ll try and be quick. Can’t make a straight line there, though.”
Travis drove fast, his eyes concentrating on the road. I hated sitting shotgun with nothing to do, but that was my role. Travis was good at his job and would do his best to evade anyone who may have been following us, but there was just no way of really knowing.
Omar was very good. I doubted he knew where the safe house was, but I was betting he knew the general area where we were staying. If he recognized Travis’s car, we would be screwed.
Which was why we weren’t taking the Mustang. That car was a little too easy to spot.
It took us a half hour to get to the closest hospital. Travis took the long way, cutting back once or twice, running red lights, pausing at yellows and then gunning it, basically using every trick in the book. I could practically sense the worry rolling from the back seat, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
Finally, we pulled up out front of the hospital. “Good luck,” Travis said. “I hear our medical system isn’t the best.”
I smirked at him. “I’ll call when we’re done.”
“Later, cap.”
“Bye, Travis,” Tara said, holding Mason. “Thanks again.”
He waved and then pulled off.
Tara didn’t wait. She stormed right into the emergency room, a woman on a warpath. She marched right up to the lady at the reception desk and stared at her, Mason crying loudly the whole time.
“Fill this out and take a seat,” the woman said.
“Do you hear my son?” Tara asked her. “He’s in pain and has a fever. We need to see someone now.”
The woman was in her mid-fifties, with short hair, and looked like she hadn’t gone for a jog in several years.
“Fill out that form and take a seat,” she repeated.
I could tell Tara was about to explode on her, so I stepped in. “Excuse me,” I said, flashing her my best smile. “Do you have any specials for veterans?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re a veteran?”
“I sure am, ma’am,” I said. “I’m a Navy SEAL.”
“Wow,” she said. “Very impressive.”
“Thanks. I’m just hoping we can see someone about my son.”
She chewed on a pencil, looking at her computer screen. “Doctors are all busy with patients,” she said, “but I can squeeze you in maybe ten minutes from now.”
“That would be amazing.” I smiled big at her again. “Thanks so much.”
“Fill out that form and bring it back to me.”
“Of course.”
I ushered Tara over to a seat before she could flip shit on that woman. We sat down and I started filling out the paperwork using a false name.
“Thanks,” Tara said eventually.
“No problem. Women like that usually respond to the military thing.”
She just looked away.
I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Tara was so pissed at me that she couldn’t see the lengths I was going to to make this right. That was fine though. I couldn’t blame her. Mason was sick and she was worried as hell.
One form and ten minutes later and we were in a back room with a nice older doctor, his hair white as snow.