Page 34 of Sam to the Rescue
“I would prefer a face to face, but this will do.” Her warm laugh keeps me from hanging up.
Instead, I cross the private room in three steps and stare out at the storm. “I really don’t have time for this.”
“For what?” Her cheery tone is irritating as fuck.
My fingers tighten on the phone and my voice grows taut again. “Touchy feely nonsense.”
“Noted. We won’t do any of that.”
Huh. That was unexpected.“So what do we do? You want me to lie down or something?” I glance down at the mattress covered in plastic and sit.
“If you want but you don’t have to. Talk about anything you want.”
“If I agree to chit chat, you have to tell Lucky and my wife, I don’t need you. No offense.” Lightning flashes outside and as heavy rain beats against the glass, I sit.
“None taken. Let’s just do this and see where it goes.” Damn, she is insistent.
“Fine. First off, I’m not seeing things. Sam found out some woman was paid to stalk me.” I sigh dramatically, maybe overdoing it a bit because Blake chuckles.
“Suds, I understand you hold the world’s record for rambling. Why not pretend you’re at the police station and I am the investigating officer.”
I grin, remembering now, how I always liked Jack’s wife. “You don’t have that much time and even if you did, I couldn’t afford your hourly rate.”
“I’ll stop you before you need to take out a loan.”
“Fair enough. You be the bad cop and start me off.” This could be fun. I’m out of practice because I haven’t been arrested in weeks.
She lowers her voice, trying to sound gruff. “So, tell me, Sutcliff. What were you doing the day your SUV was blown up in Afghanistan?”
Holy shit. This woman pulls no punches. “Well, officer doctor, ma’am. Me and my buddies were havin’ a good ol’ time. Lucky, the newest member on the team, was drivin’. He’s Australian. It’s a long story how he became a SEAL. His dad was born in-”
“Sebastian, let’s keep it to the day in question. As you said, we only have an hour.”
“Fine, but you’re the one who told me to ramble. So, anyhow, my brothers and I were on a regular mission. It was no big deal. I mean, every job is important but this one didn’t seem overly dangerous and we were well prepared. Pops was up front, riding shotgun. Bear, Tiller, and Boston were in the back with me.”
A cloud descends into my dim hospital room and as the past becomes clearer, I take a deep breath. “It wasn’t a bulletproof hummer like they got nowadays. Maybe if it was, things would’ve gone better. It’s hard to say. So, we was driving along and this woman, holding a baby, steps in the road. She’s covered in blue fabric with only her eyes showing. We can’t see her face; nothing but a blob of material carrying a pile of blankets.
I pause and loosen my clutch on the phone. “Do you know, in nineteen-seventy-five, Italy banned face coverings in public to combat domestic terrorism? Germany also followed suit and Australia, too. Her damn burqa was the perfect weapon. You see, if you can’t see someone’s face, or read their body language, it’s damn difficult to know what they’re up to until it’s too late. It’s a fucking security risk.”
“Sebastian, I do believe you are skirting the issue.”
I calm my shaking so I can answer without her knowing I may be a mite shook up. “That’s the whole point of rambling ma’am.”
“I have to assume, when this happens in a precinct, someone tries to keep you on track.”
“Yes ma’am but generally they don’t succeed.” I chuckle, remember all the mighty men who tried to shut me down.
“As you said, we don’t have all day.”
“Right.” I check the time and remember the COGs. Maybe I’ve already blown my chances with them. At that thought, I am both relieved and disturbed.
Fuck feelings. I need to be done with this session so I can get back to work. “Where was I? Oh yeah. The woman with the baby. Lucky, curses and veers off the road to avoid hitting her. Then, he backs up. Now this is the weird thing. At first, he thought his rear tire hit an IED and blew us up but I remember differently. She wasn’t carrying an infant, it was a shit load of explosives. She opened her blankets, so we could see, a second before she exploded. Blood and guts-”
When Blake hisses. I change my mind about sharing the gory details. “We went airborne and I blacked out for a few seconds. Our vehicle ended up on its side and I found my gun. Maybe I never let go of it. Who knows? They’ve done studies on memories. Memories are weird as fuck. Sometimes they’re near the truth and sometimes they’re way off base which is really messed up, if you think about it. Courts use eye witnesses to put people away for years and a good percentage of the time, they are wrong. You still with me doc?”
“I’m listening. So, what happened next?”
“The bad guys kept comin’ for us. Me and Lucky kept on shooting. Our SUV provided cover and both of us were partially buried in sand. Whoa, well now. Look at the time. Will you please tell everyone I’m not going crazy?”