Way of the Warrior (Troubleshooters #17.5)(119)

“Before we get Jenn to the helo,” Jay said, “let’s see what’s going on in the baby zone.”

“Oh, this isn’t awkward at all.” Jenn laughed, her sense of humor still intact despite everything. “When we’re telling this story to Danny, let’s skip this part, okay? We can focus on the helo rescue, and then just have the baby magically appear in my arms.”

“You want me to look? Would that be less awkward?”

Eden realized that Adam Wyndham, partner to Navy SEAL Tony Vlachic, had gotten off the helo with Jay. He was, oddly enough, dressed only in a bathing suit and flip-flops.

There was a woman behind him—the pilot, come to help carry Jenn since Jay was on crutches.

“She’s only dilated a little bit,” Eden told them all. “The only way the baby’s falling out is if she has some massive contraction while she’s walking to the helo. That’s why I thought we should carry her. I’d like to get her to the hospital, ASAP.”

Jay glanced up at Eden as he caught sight of the blood on Jenni’s skirt, and she nodded.

“Let’s do this,” he said, and Eden thrust both hers and Jenn’s handbags into Jay’s arms before helping Jenn up and out of the car.

But before they could create a six-armed, three-person sling, a car pulled up and then a truck and another car.

It was the cavalry, so to speak—friends, coworkers, and family of Izzy’s SEAL teammates, all of whom had apparently leaped into action and raced to Eden’s and Jenn’s rescue when they’d received the senior chief’s long-distance distress call.

Kelly Paoletti—a pediatrician, thank God—came racing out of the first car, followed more slowly by Lindsey, Navy SEAL Mark Jenkins’s also-pregnant wife, who’d been driving.

Lindsey had to lean against the car for a moment. She didn’t so much as have morning sickness as every-moment-of-the-day-and-night sickness, but despite that, Eden wasn’t surprised that she’d volunteered to come.

“You okay?” Kelly’s husband Tom, who was the former CO of SEAL Team Sixteen and the current head of the private security firm, Troubleshooters Inc., had been right behind them in that truck. He stopped to make sure Lindsey, who was one of his top operatives, wasn’t going to faint.

“I’m great,” Lindsey lied. “It’s Jenn who needs help.”

But Tom stayed close until Eden’s friend Tracy, looking pale from last night’s run-in with food poisoning, emerged from the third vehicle along with Eden’s brother Ben. Tracy was still moving slowly, so she hung back to make sure Lindsey really was okay while Tom and Ben both ran over to assist Kelly.

But Kelly had already taken command. “Hi, Jenni! Hey, Eden!” Kelly said with her usual good cheer, “Oh, good, Jay, I’m glad you’re here. Let’s get you into the helo, Jenn, get you to the hospital as quickly as possible, okay?”

Everyone rushed to carry Jenn, and it was easy with so much help.

“Ben, why don’t you take my seat on the helo,” Adam offered. “I’ll stay with Eden’s car and wait for the tow truck.”

“Thank you so much,” Eden told him and all of their friends, as both she and Ben climbed into the helo behind Jenn and Kelly and Jay.

The pilot got in, the others backed off, the doors slid shut, and just like that they were in the air.

Ben’s eyes were wide, his teenage ennui on a temporary hold. “Is Jenni gonna be okay?” he whispered to Eden.

She hugged her brother as they belted themselves in. “Yes,” she answered, and for the first time in hours, she truly believed it. “And the baby, too. They both, absolutely, will be okay.”





CHAPTER 11


    Izzy


Izzy was sitting next to Dan when the call came in.

He was watching for it—hoping hard it would come soon and be good news. So he caught the sudden movement when Senior Chief Wolchonok straightened up, then looked at his phone and brought it to his ear.

The senior was not prone to dramatics. Dude was steadfast, particularly in the face of tragedy—at least when he was on duty. And he was one of those stoically manly men, some years older than Izzy, who considered himself on duty the moment he stepped away from his family and out of his house.

His wife, a former Coast Guard pilot named Teri, had had more than her share of miscarriages as they’d attempted to start a family. She’d nearly died while giving birth, and they’d adopted their second and third kids.

But if Senior was feeling any sort of flashback to the night he’d nearly lost his wife and eldest child, he didn’t let it show.

At least not until after that phone call. As Izzy watched, Wolchonok went limp with what could only be relief—just for a fraction of a nanosecond—before he clenched his fist and made the international gesture for yes, complete with three implied exclamation points. Both his relief and that yes happened so quickly that if Izzy had blinked, he wouldn’t’ve seen it.

“Petty Officer Gillman,” Wolchonok intoned as he strode across the waiting area toward Danny.

Dan stood up, because you always stood when the senior came at you like that. Izzy and Jenk stood, too, on either side of him. It was clear Dan was clueless, because he shot both of them an Uh-oh, what did we do now look.