"His Salvation"
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Title: "His Salvation"
Author: Michelle Heath
Rating: MA for adult language and situations
Summary: He saved her. Will she be his salvation?
Date Written: November 24, 2010
(The night passes quietly but just as the sun starts to rise there is another message. This one is from Istanbul and is in an obscure Farsi dialect. Danny slips into Steve's room and finds Sam asleep in the bed with Steve. Both of them look more relaxed than they have in days, and Danny hates to wake them, but Sam is the only person available who speaks Farsi, so he has no choice and gently shakes Sam.)
"Hey, we've intercepted a message, Sam. Need you to translate it."
"Let me see it. . . . Somebody took Kasavich up on his offer. This message says the contract has been awarded. It also says there will be an additional contract should this one not be completed. "
"Completed when?" (This from Steve)
"Doesn't say."
"Damn!"
"I need to put some feelers out. I'm going to ask Uncle Mike to help, too. He and my father were on the same SEAL team, and did some work for the CIA years ago. He might know someone who can help. 'Cuse me."
(Sam heads to the room across the hall to use a computer and call Caroline's father. Danny has a funny look on his face and Steve can't help but grin.)
"What's the matter Danny? Didn't know Caroline's father was a SEAL?"
"It was bad enough the man's an Admiral. Now I find out he can kill me a hundred and twenty-seven different ways with his bare hands!"
"I think he likes you. At least, Sam seems to think so. Bringing him into the investigation might be a good thing; give him a chance to see you work. You can impress him."
Great. I'm going to end up spending more time with Caroline's father than with Caroline. This is seriously messed up."
"It'll be okay, Danny. Trust me."
"There you go with that 'trust me' stuff again. Did you visit the Great Beyond or something while you were out? 'Cause you sure sound like you've got the inside track on this thing."
"Just . . . Trust me, Dano."
"There it is! This day hasn't even started yet and it's already going from bad to worse."
"Today was supposed to my wedding day, Danny."
(The very quietly spoken sentence cuts right through Danny and he looks at his friend with a contrite expression on his face.)
"Yeah, sorry. "
(Sam comes back into the room and can tell there's just been some kind of serious exchange and looks from Steve to Danny but no explanation is forthcoming. She grabs the bag containing her clothes and telling Steve a nurse is coming to take out his I.V., heads into the bathroom to take a shower.)
"Today was supposed to be Sam's wedding day, too, Danny. I don't care who you have to work with to find Kasavich and whoever he's hired. Find them, take them down, or out, I don't care which, just do it quickly."
(By the time Sam comes out of the bathroom, the nurse has taken out Steve's I.V. and he's impatiently waiting to get in the shower himself. The nurse helped him put a protective, plastic bandage over his stitches, and he practically chases Sam out of the bathroom. She takes the opportunity to walk across the hall and talk to Danny.)
"Hey, what was going on with you and Steve a few minutes ago?"
"Nothing. He just reminded me that you two were supposed to have gotten married today."
"Steve and I will get married. It's going to happen. It just won't be today. Okay, Uncle Mike is on his way over here and I've put some feelers out to some of my contacts. Now we wait. And Danny, Uncle Mike's a really nice guy. It's Aunt Libby you have watch out for. Trust me."
"What is it with you two and the words 'trust me'?"
"Just . . Trust us, Danny."
(Any rebuttal he might have made is cut off by the arrival of Caroline's father and Tony Montgomery. In very short order, Steve wearing a pair of sweat pants and a dark tee shirt, joins the groups and they begin to map out a battle plan. Danny soon begins to relax as he discovers that Caroline's father really is a nice guy and that they work well together. Adm. Thrasher sends out feelers to his contacts and between him and Sam they have a wide coverage area. By the time Kono and Chin arrive, they are starting to receive information from a couple of different sources.)