Way of the Warrior (Troubleshooters #17.5)(116)

Truth be told, it was almost as hot inside the car as it was out on the road. Eden opened up the other two doors, hoping for a cross breeze that didn’t come. She now took inventory of everything in the car’s glove compartment and trunk. The only useful items were an old beach blanket and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. And that was going with a very generous definition of the word useful.

“I mean, Ben would want to go get help,” Jenn continued breathlessly as Eden scanned the road, hoping for an approaching car but coming up empty. “And then we’d have to worry that he was alone on the side of the road, and that he’d bump into some motorcycle gang of white supremacist survivalist skinheads, except wait. He could stay with me while you went to get help…” At Eden’s look, she added, “Well, obviously, in any fight between you and survivalist skinheads, you’d win.”

It was nice to know that Jenn had that much faith in her. But as another contraction started, and Jenn grabbed hold of Eden’s hand and attempted to breathe through it, Eden was hit with a massive wave of overwhelm that she quickly hid.

She knew she could help Jenn deliver this baby, even here in the back of the car. Her sister-in-law was healthy and strong, with nice wide, womanly hips. This baby would probably pop out of her easily—piece of cake. Eden hoped.

But Eden also knew that sometimes babies were born needing immediate medical aid, and she was full-on screaming terrified that this roadside delivery would turn into a horror show, with that baby gasping for air in her arms, God help her. Because there’d be nothing Eden could do to save it.

Her.

This baby was a girl—Jenn and Dan had found that out months ago when they’d had their ultrasound.

Eden let Jenn hang on to one of her hands as she used her other to try dialing her phone again. She’d gotten through to the senior chief once, surely she could do it again. But she couldn’t connect and she couldn’t connect. So she focused on Jenn and the fact that Senior Chief Wolchonok was a very smart—if slightly scary—man.

Still, if anyone had the brainpower to track them here, it was Izzy. And Eden found herself wishing she’d broken the rule and dialed her husband instead.





CHAPTER 7


    Lopez


Jay had the front passenger seat pushed all the way back and reclined, so that he could sit in the front with his knee brace on.

As Carol Redmond drove, he worked the GPS on his phone, not only trying to find the most direct road to Obsidian Springs but also attempting to figure out the route that Jenn and Eden might’ve taken. Luckily, there just weren’t that many ways to get there and back, so they weren’t going to have to crisscross the county, searching for the disabled car.

Also, he knew where Eden and Dan’s little brother Ben went to school. Odds were good the two women had headed east directly after dropping him that morning. Which meant they would have taken Route 78 for quite a few miles, before heading north on Obsidian Springs Road.

As they barreled east, as the last remnants of the San Diego suburbs fell behind them and the landscape became desolate and harsh, Carol put her little hybrid into warp drive. She was an excellent driver—confident and sure—and clearly unafraid to push the speed limit. She glanced over at Jay, no doubt because she felt him looking at her, and smiled.

“You ever deliver a baby before?” he asked her.

She shook her head as she turned back to the road. “No. You?”

“No,” he admitted. “I’ve stood by—assisted, but…”

“Not a whole lot of opportunities to practice delivering a baby for a Navy SEAL hospital corpsman,” she noted.

“Nope,” he agreed. “So, it’s been a while.”

Carol glanced at him again. “You scared?”

Jay laughed at her directness. “A little, yeah. This baby’s about a month early. So yes, scared and worried and a little freaked out pretty much covers it.”

Carol nodded. “So our plan should be to get her into the car immediately—get us all moving toward the nearest hospital.” She paused. “Where is the nearest hospital? It’d be good to know that going in.”

Jay was already using his phone’s GPS to find that information—but it was rough going because they were already in some kind of cellphone hell-zone. “Are you sure you’re not secretly a SEAL chief?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said. “But I’ve got a kind of major crush on one, so…”

Oh, be still his wildly pounding heart! “The feeling is quite, quite mutual,” he said.

“Really? Oh! Oh my God,” Carol said, but he didn’t get to hear the rest of whatever she was going to tell him, because his phone rang.

Caller ID presented him with a number he didn’t recognize, and he answered it hoping whoever was on the other end would have more information as to Jenn and Eden’s whereabouts. Coordinates. Coordinates would be nice. “Lopez.” He punched the speaker, so Carol could hear, too.

“Chief!” The voice on the other end echoed oddly, but otherwise was clear. “It’s Jules Cassidy. Where are you?”

“Heading east on 78,” Jay reported, leaning down to scan the sky out both the front and back windshield. “Where are you, sir? And please say in a helo soon-to-be over my head.”