SEALs Of Honor: Mason Part 20

Hawk barked with laughter and she grinned. "What do you think? Should I go like this?" She motioned to her blood stained clothing.

"It would be unique," he said.

"But it would also be the truth. And I'm all about that."

It was taking a chance, but if someone in that room had given the order to pull Mason back off the house and leave Hawk vulnerable to the enemy then maybe they should see that they failed first-hand.

"Don't give them any warning," she said suddenly. "Just tell them we'll be on time."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Did you find out who ordered Mason off the protection detail?"

He shook his head. "I'm asking him that now."

"Find out before I go in, then find that man in the audience and watch him closely," she said as they entered the security checkpoint. She twisted to look at him. "Got that?"

He nodded. "I got it. Mason said he's looking for him." He was reading the next text that came in. They'd been steady for the last ten minutes. "He's in position at the demonstration. He's standing at the back door."

"That's nice, but I could be shot from anywhere in the d.a.m.n room. I'd rather have him beside me."

Hawk picked up the phone and called Mason instead of texting this time. Good. He quickly relayed the message. That made her feel better. Slightly.

Knowing Mason was waiting for her, lifted her heart. She needed to see him again. To be hugged. She'd had such a s.h.i.tty morning. And after the best night of her life. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, so hot and puffy now. She kinda blacked out at that point. She had to prepare for what was coming. It was going to be close.

In many ways.

MASON REALIZED SHE was safe if she was giving orders like she had been, according to Hawk. He could believe it. He needed to hear the details of the nightmare she'd been put through already and knew it was likely bad, but she was alive and that was what counted. She just needed to do this demonstration. And he was going to stand at her side and make sure she was safe.

Guilt ate at him. He'd hated the orders pulling him away from her. Had been working since finding out she'd been kidnapped on sourcing where the orders had come from. And why. He'd fought leaving her but on the a.s.surance that several other men were going to be there looking after her, he'd gone to make sure she'd be safe after leaving the hotel.

But instead she and Hawk had d.a.m.n near died. Again.

So much for those a.s.surances. But he was on it. And had his suspicions now. Then again Tesla's father had helped. Hawk had contacted him as soon as he knew.

The conversation still burned his gut. But at least he'd cared. After the first meeting Mason had wondered. This time there'd been no doubt.

"She's been kidnapped? Again?" The panic and incredulity in his voice had gone a long way to helping Hawk understand the man's emotions had been tightly banked before.

But not now. He hadn't wasted time with ripping Mason to pieces. He wanted details. And then gave him a little background on one of the men above Mason.

Check out...

No reason given. Just the name. Followed by, "Find her and bring her back to me."

When Mason had called back to let him know she was on her way home again, her father had gone silent. He'd released an emotional sigh of relief then had immediately turned businesslike. "Is she going to the hospital?"

"She's coming for the demonstration. She refuses to do anything less."

"Then I'll be there." And he hung up. He'd sounded like he meant it.

Mason hoped her father made it. For her sake and maybe his. Sounded like there was some healing needed.

That Tesla had been hurt again was something Mason needed time to get over. But she was alive. They could live with everything else.

He shook his head. How many more lives did she have? She was more cat than human at this rate. His communicator squawked. "She's entering the side door."

Mason raced to the door to be able to open it for her. He was attracting attention, and he didn't give a d.a.m.n.

The door opened and Hawk grabbed him, shoving him back a few steps and out of the doorway. "Mason. Man, you need to hold back when you see her."

"Why?" That was a h.e.l.l of thing to say. He glared at Hawk. "You look like s.h.i.t."

"She's been beaten. And she's got cracked ribs. And she's looking...a little rough."

Mason's fists clenched as he realized what Hawk was saying. "You said she's okay?"

"She is. In fact, she says she's fine." He paused and rolled his eyes. "And she's a h.e.l.l of a liar too. I know the ribs are cracked as I checked them myself. Her eyes are almost swollen shut and the wind coming back made them worse."

Her eyes and ribs. He got it.

"Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are dead." He turned, looking for Tesla, and caught sight of someone standing hesitantly, her back to him, in front of the entrance. Her long sweater had stretched well past her hips. Only it was ripped and b.l.o.o.d.y just like her jeans. As he got closer he could see her fingernails were b.l.o.o.d.y and torn. She turned to face him.

His fists clenched.

His gut heaved.

His heart died a little.

It was Tesla. And she'd been not just beat up. She'd been beaten.

G.o.d he was going to kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.d behind this.

Just then the announcer said, "Now let me introduce the creator of this program. Miss Tesla Landers."

There was a lot of murmuring going on behind him, but he was staring at Tesla, wondering what she was going to do. Then he realized what the problem was. When introduced, she'd turned and walked several feet forward to the base of the stairs leading to the podium. And stopped. She was looking at the stairs, but she was having trouble seeing them. Her depth perception was off. And she wasn't sure what to do.

Meaning she hadn't seen him.

He strode to her side, and in a calm movement, reached for her hands and held her swollen fingers in his gentle grasp. "Let me help you."

She gasped with joy and clutched at him. He smiled and held her close. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, knowing they had no time.

The gurgle of laughter bubbled up from her chest. "Good," she said. "You can make it up to me later."

He grinned. After all she'd been through... But she was right.

This was not the time. "The stairs are right in front of you," he said.

She nodded. "Oh thank G.o.d you're here. I'm so scared," she whispered as he helped her up the stairs.

"You, after being shot at, beaten, and survived being thrown out of a helicopter and a drowning. What could possibly scare you?"

He was genuinely puzzled. He'd yet to see anything rattle her. Stuff that would send normal men running had her sucking in her gut and facing the enemy.

"What if they don't like it?" she whispered as they walked the long road across the stage to where the mic waited. Mason knew he'd likely catch h.e.l.l for being on the stage with her, but there was no way he was going to desert her right now. He was also shielding her from the curious eyes staring at them. They'd see her soon. That would cause a h.e.l.l of a reaction.

He heard Hawk's voice on the communicator. Calm, dependable, powerful Hawk. Giving orders and moving into position as if he'd just woken up from a nap.

The table stood in front of them. "You don't have to do this," he whispered, his voice caught by the mic and reaching out across the room. He winced.

The audience shuffled uneasily.

"I'm fine," she said.

In a voice that reached to the back of the room, Tesla repeated, "Against all odds, I'm fine." Then she patted his arm, told him to stay close and stepped around him to face the audience.

A CRESCENDO OF cries filled the air. The announcer rolled over to her. She held up her hand to stop him. "Good morning. Some of you know that I am Tesla Landers. Some of you met me last night where I gave a presentation of my work. This morning I'm giving a demonstration of how it works and what it can do. However, most of you have no idea what I've been through to get here. What others have done to try and stop me. And to gain my work for their own use. So let me tell you."

In clear details, some Mason hadn't even heard yet, she stood tall and calmly told the ma.s.sive audience sitting rapt all the details of what had happened this last week.

Instead of appearing terrified, she was steady and convincing as h.e.l.l. When she came to the part about Hawk and fearing he was dead, Mason could feel the color bleaching from his own skin. Lord what she'd been through...

"Now let me tell you why I'm sharing all this..."

The audience was silent... "It's because what I have created will save lives. Our soldiers, men and women who stand for us each and every day their lives. For the lives of the men who have saved me every time this last week. I know SEALs aren't supposed to get the glory but these men..." she pointed to Hawk in the back of the room, Swede on the far side, Cooper in the front, and Dane against the left wall and Shadow, standing in the shadows on the right. Her final gesture was to turn and motion to Mason himself. "I have nothing of value to give them in thanks but to see that this program does what it's intended to do. Save their lives that they might in turn help someone else in need."

"So how does it work?" She turned on the projector. With all eyes on her, she lifted her necklace over her head and unhooked the cross she had dangling on the end. With a simple motion she proceeded to pop it into two pieces and plug one side into her laptop.

s.h.i.t. She'd been wearing that thing the whole d.a.m.n time. Mason's shocked gaze went from one of his men to the other and saw the same shock in each of their faces. No one had guessed. She'd been wearing that necklace the whole time she'd been captive in enemy hands and they never knew. He caught sight of his commanding officer and saw the same surprise on his face. But his second in command at his side...yeah, that wasn't a look he'd ever expected to see.

And d.a.m.n if Tesla's father hadn't called it. He lifted his communicator and said to Hawk, "Dodgson is looking ready to make a move."

"Swede is already on it. He saw the same d.a.m.n look."

Swede reached the man in seconds, who only at the last moment realized the threat bearing down on him. The man jumped up and bolted to the door. Hawk stepped in front of him, his fist connecting with the man's jaw.

The officer dropped like a stone to the floor. Hawk and Swede bent and lifted him and whisked him away, their actions only causing a small disturbance in the room. All eyes were on Tesla and her program as she led them through the process of what it could do and what her future plans for the program were going to be.

When she finished, she fell silent for a long moment. Then she said, "I lost my brother to the job. He knew I was working on this. For him, I finished it." She gave a tremulous smile. "I've called it Harry's Hope."

She straightened and looked around the room. "Are there any questions?"

And the place erupted.

In a calm orderly fashion, she stood until she looked like she couldn't stand any longer, and answered the questions as they were fired at her.

Finally, the room fell silent.

Mason stepped up and offered his arm.

She accepted. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if there are no more questions, I'm sure you'll understand if I leave you now to think about this while I go find a doctor to check out my broken ribs," she said in a dry, humorous voice and she withdrew her USB and clicked it back into a cross. As she replaced the piece on her necklace, she added, "And as long as Mason's taking me, I know I'll get there safe."

The audience chuckled.

Then she added, "Except if we're going on a helicopter. Then I'm going with Hawk."

And she turned and walked away. The audience stood and clapped as she left. She lifted a hand in acknowledgment and kept walking.

Mason had never been more proud of anyone in his life.

She was something.

And what she was was his.

She just didn't know it yet.

Chapter 27.

"NOW IF WE can keep you safe and out of trouble long enough to heal..." The nurse smiled down at her. "You just need to stay in bed for a couple of days and let your body get over this trauma."

She nodded and curled up under the sheets. She really hated hospitals. Although this was a nicer one than most. "I could go home and sleep."

"Maybe. Waiting on the rest of those X-rays first. If the doctor is good with them, then you can. But you have to rest. No more racing around the countryside."

"My racing days are done," she whispered, yawning.

"Good. Sleep a bit. When you wake up the doctor will be here."

She barely heard the rest of the nurse's statement as the warmth and coziness of being curled up in bed, all the nastiness of the last few days over and the stress of the presentation and demonstration gone, finally allowed her to relax.

Destress. Not that she knew what that was. Still, she needed downtime in a big way. Talk about surviving a week of h.e.l.l.

Mason had helped her off the stage, and she was ashamed to admit she'd all but collapsed on him afterwards. But he took it in stride, picking her up and rushing her here. She hadn't seen him since.

In fact, outside of the nurse she hadn't seen anyone.

She wasn't sure what was to happen next. Was her little house she'd been in prior to the latest kidnapping available to return to? Did she want to go back there? She was of mixed feelings over that. She'd loved Mason there but had been kidnapped as well. Not exactly a good balance. Later, she'd think of it later.