Disclaimer - Not mine; wish they were. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.
Chapter Five
After dinner, the two couples strolled leisurely down the street to the jazz club. It was late March, but the weather was brisk and Bobby took the opportunity to put his arm around Sam while they walked. Sam relaxed into him and thought about what she and Stephanie had discussed. She had a few glasses of wine at dinner and her mood was mellow. She wanted to have 'the talk' with Bobby, but it excited and terrified her at the same time. When they reached the club, Ranger held the door for them and they stepped into the dimly lit atmosphere. They quickly found a table and ordered more wine. Stephanie stopped at one glass, but Sam drank two before Bobby asked her to dance. She followed him to the dance floor and melted into his embrace while swaying to the soft music. Sam looked over at Stephanie and she gave her a quick smile and a nod of her head. She and Ranger had stayed at the table and were quietly talking; mostly likely to give them some privacy.
"So," Sam began, "I really want to thank you for helping me today. The cost of physicals has really gone up, and I know that with you, I'm getting my money's worth."
"You know I'd do anything to help you Sam," he replied, "plus I get the added bonus of spending time with my best girl."
He smiled at her and Sam's heart fluttered. She was trying to build up the courage to say something when Bobby swept his lips over hers in an unexpected move. She was startled and Bobby sensed it.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to scare you. I guess I was just …."
"No, no, you didn't scare me at all. I just…. I was just surprised," she stumbled, "Please don't be sorry."
She looked up at him and saw the confusion in his eyes. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. It began slow and tender, but soon turned passionate. Sam felt Bobby's arms tighten around her and she felt a tingling sensation in her belly. When they finally came up for air, she said, "I guess we have some things to talk about."
"I guess we do," he agreed. "Do want to stay here, or go someplace else?"
"We can go back to my house, if that's okay?" she said hesitantly.
"Anything you want," he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. Let's tell Ranger and Steph we're leaving."
They went to the table and said their goodbyes. Stephanie hugged Sam and whispered, "Way to go, that was some kiss. I told you he felt the same way." Sam just blushed and nodded her head.
As they exited the club, Sam's cell phone started ringing. Knowing it was after 10:00 p.m. she thought, 'this can't be good.' The call was from Gator, her second in command, and manager of the drivers.
"Hey, Gator," she answered cautiously, "what's going on?"
Bobby watched Sam's face as it turned from caution to outright panic. She was gripping the phone for dear life. She was nodding her head and seemed unable to speak. He watched as the blood drained from her face and before he knew it, she dropped the phone and collapsed.
"Sam, Sam, wake up for me, baby. Come on, Sam, you're scaring me," Bobby yelled.
Ranger and Stephanie came flying out of the club.
"Brown, what's going on? What's wrong with Sam?" he barked.
"I don't know Ranger; she got a call from work and fainted."
At that time, Sam started to wake up. Bobby was holding her in his arms and when she looked up at him, she burst into tears.
"Jesus, Sam, please tell me what's going on. You're scaring the hell out of me," said Bobby.
"There, there was an accident." Sam hiccupped. "One of my guys, Slim, he's in the burn unit at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. They don't know if he's going to make it. His truck exploded and, and," she shook her head and buried her face in Bobby's chest and continued to sob.
Sam's phone began ringing again. It was Gator calling back. Ranger answered it.
"This is Ranger Manoso; I'm Samantha Field's security consultant." Ranger listened to Gator while Stephanie and Bobby comforted Sam. He only spoke for a few minutes and then placed a call. When he flipped the phone shut, Sam had calmed down somewhat and looked at him.
"Sam, we need to get to Grady and check on your driver," stated Ranger. "His family is there and you need to speak with them. RangeMan is going to the scene of the accident to gather information on what happened. We'll have an initial report in a couple of hours. Brown, you drive Sam, and Steph and I will follow you."
Bobby has his arm around Sam's shoulders on the way to the hospital, and she was slumped against him. She couldn't believe something like this could have happened. She was feeling guilty for yelling at Slim this morning when he came into the garage arguing with Rocky. She had been the last one to work on his truck and everything seemed to be in the right order. What the hell could have happened?
Bobby felt her tense up and pulled Sam closer with his free arm. "You doing okay?" he asked.
"I just can't figure out what went wrong. Everything with that truck checked out. Why would it just explode? I was the one working on it this morning because the regular mechanic was out sick. I know I went over every detail before releasing it for service; I always do. Oh, God, Bobby, what if I missed something and it's my fault? That poor man could be lying in the hospital all because of me. I'll never forgive myself."
"Baby, please calm down. We don't even have the report from the police or RangeMan yet. You can't start blaming yourself for something I'm sure was not your fault. Remember, I've watched you work and you're always very careful and thorough. You didn't earn your good reputation with half-ass work. I know the guys at RangeMan will be able to answer some of your questions, and then we can go from there, okay?"
Sam nodded her head. She needed to get her emotions in control. It wouldn't serve any purpose to show up at the hospital and be distraught. This was not the time to be scared and unsure. She was the owner of this company and she needed to portray herself in a way that people would respect. She needed to channel her inner Ranger.