Frustrated doesn’t even come close to describe how I’m feeling right now. It’s been eight days since we all sat down at my house to put all the cards on the table. Eight long days with nothing. Not one fucking thing. The unsub hasn’t sent another letter, hasn’t called, no smoke signals… not a damn thing.
Dee’s doing her best, but I can tell she is worried. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her. My worst fear is that she will start pulling into herself again. I know from experience that PTSD doesn’t ever completely go away. Some people go their whole lives after treatment ends and don’t have a setback, while others have triggers. So far, I haven’t seen anything that leads me to believe that she is struggling. For now, I just have to wait and watch her. She’s promised me that if she feels like things are getting dark again that she will immediately call Dr. Maxwell.
Even through all of this, she’s staying strong, and fuck, that feels good. It’s probably the only damn good thing that’s come out of all this. I have my girl and she has herself back.
Sighing deeply, I toss my pen down on my desk and turn to the latest email from Maddox. Apparently, Adam’s last call on his cell has been traced to a few towns over. He doesn’t seem to think we should be concerned yet, but I know he feels the heat of the flames getting closer. We’re trained to trust our instincts. We didn’t spend years overseas fighting an invisible army not to have a fine tuned gut. Trouble is coming, and just like overseas, we have no idea from which direction things are going to blow.
The ringing of my phone wakes me up from my thoughts. Caller ID shows ‘Greg Calling’ and that earns another frustrated groan. He’s been calling for the last few days, wondering if he can swing by to talk to Dee. I’ve been trying to put him off, because with everything else swirling around us, I need him to focus. No matter what, when he and Dee have their talk, he’s going to feel that, and he’s going to feel it hard.
“Beck,” I bark.
“You doing okay, Brother?”
“About as good as I can be doing. Ready to pull my hair out if we don’t start getting answers soon. How is it possible for one motherfucker to be a complete ghost? And this Adam shit? He’s not even careful, and we still can’t fucking find him. We’re trained goddamn Marines and two idiots are besting us. I don’t even think frustrated comes close to how pissed I am.” Fuck, that felt good to get off my chest. I haven’t wanted to pile all of that on Dee. She knows I’m worried, but I don’t want her to take my shit on top of her own fears.
“I understand. These guys will screw up, and when they do, we’ll be there.” He sounds just as pissed as I am so at least I know I’m not alone here.
“Anything new on your end?”
“Not a thing. Maddox stayed at the office all night monitoring the computers. Unfortunately, that asswipe turns his phone off when he’s done making a call. Whatever kind of idiot he might be, he at least knows his shit when it comes to tracking.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Greg. He could be on my doorstep, and we wouldn’t fucking know.” I need to punch something. Pound the shit out of anything to get rid of all this stress and anger.
“You’ve got eyes on the place, and a security system that would make the White House look like child’s play. Try to take a breath for a minute.”
“Not that easy, Greg, not even close to being that easy. One day. That’s all that we have left until she’s supposed to meet some impossible deadline. And now I have her going stir crazy.” I know she isn’t used to being stuck inside without being able to leave.
“Why don’t you bring her down to the office? I know it isn’t the spa, but at least it gets her out of the house, and we can still keep an eye on things here.” The hopeful sound to his voice has me narrowing my eyes. I hate questioning his motives, but I know exactly why he wants me to bring her there.
“Don’t play me for a fool, Greg. I know you want to talk to her, and I’m not trying to stand in the way of that, but are you sure you really need to do this now? In the middle of all this bullshit, you want to open this can of worms?”
“I need to know, Brother. It’s killing me not knowing, and thinking the worst. If anything, knowing will be better than the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head. Melissa thinks the same thing as you. That I need to wait until this is over, but fuck me, I just can’t.”