In His Sights

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The deep rumble of Mason’s voice preceded him to where Noah sat on the gurney. When Mason popped his head inside the curtains, Noah did a double take. Mason’s hair disheveled, his complexion splotchy, and his breathing heavy appeared almost as bad as Noah felt. If Noah didn’t know the truth, he might’ve suspected Mason had gone a couple rounds with the guy, too.

“What the hell happened to you?” Noah asked.

Mason flinched. “What?”

“You look like s**t, Mason.”

“What? Are you kidding?” Mason shook his head. “You check out a mirror recently?”

“Yeah, well. I have an excuse. What’s yours?”

“You sure do.” Mason sounded annoyed. “What the f**k happened? Why didn’t you call me? What have the police found out?” His questions flew out, one after the other, not giving Noah a chance to answer.

It was Noah’s turn to pull his head back in confusion. Did Mason think the mugging was Noah’s fault? No, probably not. Mason was having a hard time dealing with the fact he had no control over what had happened—he was having trouble accepting it, just like Noah. That happened to Noah when he was on a mission. When things went t**s up, everyone felt it.

Noah couldn’t help but smile.

Mason noticed and scowled. “Why are you smiling?”

“Sorry. No reason.” He cares. Wiping the grin from his face, he answered Mason’s questions as best he could. “The police said they think the attack was a set-up. The chance the attack was random, during daylight, in a place usually deserted during a rainstorm, seems slight.”

“What the f**k? What kind of set-up?” Mason asked, obviously not understanding.

“They think someone was after me specifically,” Noah said.

Mason shook his head and stared at Noah. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Noah agreed.

“Who knows you’re here except for me?” Mason paced in the small area, his gaze continuously going back to Noah’s. “And if I wanted to take you out, I’d kill you with my cooking.”

“Come on. I want to get the hell out of here.” Noah was done with the coddling.

“Let’s go.” Mason adjusted to help Noah move into the waiting wheelchair.

Noah shooed Mason away and side-stepped the transportation. “I got this.” He hobbled toward the opening in the curtain.

Mason slid the wheelchair in front of Noah, stopping him. “Not so fast. Your ride’s here.”

“What the hell?” Noah’s stare locked on Mason’s. “No. I can walk out on my own.”

“No, you can’t.”

“The hell I can’t. I’m not crippled.” Noah went to move around the contraption.

Mason stepped alongside him. “Riding in this is hospital policy.”

Noah usually liked Mason’s smile, but the one he wore now, not so much.

“They rolled you in, you’ll be rolled out.” As Mason spoke, an orderly came in through the curtain, and slid behind the wheelchair.

“Fuck.” Noah slouched, knowing he was beat. With one last-ditch effort he said, “I can walk.”

“Watch your mouth, and sit in the damn chair.” Mason’s gaze bore into Noah’s, then Mason turned and peered at the orderly. “Do you mind if I push him?”

The orderly replied, “That’s fine, but I still need to walk with you.”

Noah glared at them both.

As they left the exam room, Noah took in his surroundings. Most of the curtains remained closed, and people in white jackets and scrubs hustled throughout the immediate area. Noise added to the room’s chaos. Noah closed his eyes trying to shut off some of the racket, people talking, and machines beeping and buzzing, from his aching head.

Now that Mason had stopped barking at him, Noah needed to ask. “What the hell happened to you? You really do look like shit.”

“Thanks.” Mason smiled. “Once I found out what happened, I went to the park and picked up the truck. I had to run, and by then the rain had come down in sheets—road’s kind of flooded. Lots of cars out, and puddles to be splashed.”

“s**t. Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” Mason stopped as they came to the exit. “Wait here while I bring the truck around.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I got this.” Except for his pounding head, anger and adrenaline still pumped through him, helping to keep the rest of the pain at bay.

Mason pushed Noah alongside the wall—out of the way, inside the entrance. “I had to park way out. This place is bopping. I’ll be right back.”

With no desire to fight, Noah kept his mouth shut and his gaze focused out the window, so when Mason pulled up, Noah could meet him. The orderly stood quietly next to him.

Mason parked the truck, hopped out, and headed back inside. Again, Noah tried to stand up.

Mason put his hand up. “Hold on a few seconds more, then you can go running if you want.”

“Yeah, that’s funny.”

Mason winked at Noah, then rolled him right up next to the truck. Mason positioned himself to help Noah stand.

Ignoring the hand offered, Noah got up and climbed into the truck. Once seated, he put on his safety belt.

Mason shook the orderly’s hand, ran around the front of the truck, then got back in. Once they made it back onto the main road, Mason glimpsed at Noah and asked, “You feel up to telling me what the f**k happened?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure. I was running, next thing I know, someone’s beating me with a big stick.”

“s**t. You didn’t see or hear him before?” Mason peered at Noah, his eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed together.

Noah knew what Mason was thinking. How was it possible this guy was able to sneak up on Noah, the former SEAL? The problem was, Noah couldn’t answer. Couldn’t tell Mason where his thoughts had been at the time. Instead of his head being on his surroundings, his brain had been on Mason. “No. Had my headphones on. Dammit. My headphones. Fucker broke them. I need a new pair.”

“Forget your headphones. From what that one detective said—Black, I think his name is—with what the guy hit you with, you’re lucky he didn’t crack your skull.”

“I guess. But no, I didn’t see him. Didn’t see anyone. The path was deserted until the fight started. Then out of nowhere, people came out of the woods, all of them thinking I was the one who instigated the attack.”

Mason laughed. “Yeah, I heard about that. Messed up, huh?”

“Yeah. Messed up,” Noah said, not finding the humor in it.

“You’re damn lucky the fight started over by the north side parking area. If the fight took place farther up the path, there is a good chance no one would have found you until it was too late.” Mason wore a pained expression. “And what’s with this s**t, the police saying the attack was a targeted hit? Is someone after you?”

“They just threw s**t against the wall. Wanted to see if it would stick. The last thing they want is some thug out there randomly targeting their citizens.”

Mason quickly glanced at Noah. “That’s a hell of a statement to make.”

“I shut their theory down as soon as I heard it. They’ll try to find the guy. Thing is, I didn’t use a stick, but still I’m in great shape compared to what I did to him. Told them to start their search at the area hospitals. Chances are, though, he’s probably long gone.”

“Maybe they’ll get lucky.”

They stopped at a red light, and all Mason’s focus moved to Noah’s face. “How do you feel?” Mason’s words, barely a whisper, were laced with concern.

Not wanting him to worry, Noah said, “Not bad. Just got a major headache.”

“Did they give you anything at the hospital?” The light turned green, and Mason’s focus turned back to the road.

“Yeah. They gave me a bunch of meds for pain. A prescription, too.”

“We’ll stop and get the pills on the way home? Or would you rather I drop you off first?”

“Na. I won’t need any meds.” Noah didn’t like drugs. Didn’t like being out of control.

“Stop being a tough guy. You’re going to be hurting later. Let’s fill the prescription, just in case.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Mason laughed again. “Now you sound like a baby.”

Noah laughed, too. A pain shot though his head.

“That’s better. More adult,” Mason commented.

The drive home took longer than Noah had expected. Driving in the back of the ambulance had made it hard to navigate how far they’d traveled.

Done with their one stop, they finally pulled into Mason’s driveway, and Noah relaxed. The bumping around in the truck had messed with his bruised body—a fact he chose to keep to himself.

Mason got out of the truck and ran around to Noah’s door, before Noah even got his safety belt off. Mason opened the door and held out his hand. Taking hold of Mason for a second, Noah jumped out of the truck. Stupid move—his bones rattled. He let go of Mason as soon as his feet settled on the ground. He didn’t want Mason worried about how bad he hurt. Then Mason would feel obligated to take care of Noah for the rest of the day. Noah wouldn’t be able to deal with that. He couldn’t handle anyone hovering over him as if he were weak.

There must’ve been something in Noah’s expression telling Mason to give Noah space, because Mason walked ahead to the door, giving Noah room to move up the walkway on his own.

Inside the house, Mason asked, “Do you want to go lie down?” Before Noah could answer Mason said, “Oh wait. You can’t sleep. How about we set you up on the couch in the living room for the day. We can kick back and watch some movies.”

That sounded like a crap deal. Noah didn’t want them to be stuck sitting in the living room all day. The rain had stopped on their ride home. “Let’s go fishing.”

Mason turned around to face him. “What, are you kidding? Negative. You’re not going anywhere. We’ll lay low for the day. s**t, you were mugged this morning.”

“You didn’t get a look at the other guy.” Noah laughed.

“No. But I do see you, and from what I see you need to take it slow today. If you’re up to fishing, we can go tomorrow before your flight.”

“You sound like my mother.” If I had one.

“Sorry. Just trying to be clear. I took you home from the hospital on the condition I’d watch out for you. And I plan to.” Mason headed to the living room, and Noah had no other option but to follow.

An oversized sectional sat off to the left in the room. Its size and shape made the couch appear as if it were custom built for the area. In the center of the couch sat a wooden table, which Mason moved. Next to the sectional, two oversized chairs, both with a brown and tan-checkered print, made the room seem homey. A stone fireplace graced the wall.

Three sets of French doors hung on the opposite side of the room, highlighting Mason’s back yard. Noah could imagine how cool having people over and leaving the doors open would be.

In the middle of the room, taking its place of importance, hung what looked to be a sixty-inch flat screen television. Noah laughed thinking about his thirteen-inch video player-television combo he had at his apartment. Yeah, this was slightly better.

Noah had failed to observe the floor until he stood near the couch and peered down. The brown area rug lay hiding a third of the room. But on closer inspection, Noah noticed red bricks, aged, with a hint of gray, done in a pattern that covered the whole room. “This floor is f*****g amazing. Never seen anything this cool indoors.”

“Thanks. My friend’s dad, growing up, used to collect muscle cars, and this was what he had in his garage. The whole thing was cool. But I couldn’t afford the cars, so I settled on the next best thing. The floor.”

“You didn’t do this?” Noah couldn’t keep the awe from his words. He gazed at Mason. “Did you?”

“I did. When I got this house, the place was beyond a fixer upper. Neighbors thought I planned to ‘doze the place and start new. But the bones were there, and that’s all I needed. Took some time off before starting at the FBI and fixed her up.”

Noah wasn’t sure, because they used the light from the still cloudy sky, but he thought Mason was blushing.

“That’s amazing. I should check into doing something like that. I definitely have the time.”

“If you like working with your hands, I highly recommend it. Working on this place was the best stress reliever. Better than meditation.”

“Better than s*x?” The words slipped out of Noah’s mouth.

Mason’s eyebrows rose, and his expression said he thought Noah was crazy. “Nothing’s better than sex.” Mason scrunched his face as if in thought, then before Noah could say anything else, Mason added, “Except maybe a good fight. Although in your condition, you might beg to differ.”

“Yeah.” Noah smiled.

Mason finished rearranging a few pillows, setting them up strategically, then pointed for Noah to sit. As Noah set himself up, Mason left the room. Seconds later, he came back in with water. He handed the bottle to Noah.

“I got to run to the bathroom,” Mason said. “I’ll be a sec.”

When Mason stepped out, Noah took a deep breath. Well, this sucked. He hadn’t planned to spend the day indoors, wallowing over getting into a fight. Not what he hoped to do.

Before long, Mason came back in the room with a big smile on his face. Why is he so happy? He’s stuck inside, too.

Mason carried towels and some small bags of ice. He padded over to Noah, who lay flat on the couch on his stomach, with a small pillow under his head. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as Noah prepared himself for.

“Here, let’s put these on your legs.” Mason carefully placed a bag on each leg. The pain was instant. Noah bit his tongue to prevent himself from crying out.

“s**t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Let me know if it gets to be too much.” Mason continued to fuss, putting another bag on Noah’s back. “Too cold, too heavy?”

The pain wasn’t nearly as jarring as it had been. “I’m okay. Thanks.”

Mason folded the remaining towel in his hands. “Are you comfortable in this position?”

“I’m fine.”

“Great.” Mason wrapped the last bag of ice inside the towel he was holding, then positioned it partially on Noah’s head and partially on the pillow. All set, Mason stood back up and surveyed his creation. “How’s that?”

“Feels okay. Thank you.”

“You sure?” Mason’s eyes squinted, and his lips turned down. He seemed uncertain as to whether to believe Noah. Noah would do anything to help Mason lose that expression.

Within seconds, Mason’s expression transformed into a brilliant smile. “Now just don’t breathe.” Mason was kidding.

At least Noah thought he was. “Thanks. Now sit down. Let’s start this movie fest.”

Mason sat down by Noah’s feet. His butt barely touched the couch when he asked, “You hungry?”

Noah wanted to say no. Wanted to give Mason a break. But, the thought of food caused a ping of pain in Noah’s stomach. “Last time I ate was last night. But I don’t want you getting up.”

“Stop. What are you in the mood for? I could make up a pizza, or if you’d rather something light, I can do a salad. Or pretty much anything else you’re thinking, I can order in.”

“Pizza sounds great.”

“Pizza, popcorn, and a movie. Perfect.”

Yeah, you running around like a loon because I’m broken. Not so perfect.

“What do you feel like watching?” Mason yelled from the kitchen.

“Not picky. Chick flick’s my only pass.”

“Oh damn. Thought we could do each other’s hair while we watched.”

Maybe we could do each other. Noah almost choked on the water in his mouth. Where the hell had that thought come from? He was finished all this s**t. He needed to be more careful. The last thing he needed was to slip—to have Mason, or anyone else, find out he was gay. Well, not really gay, it was just that he liked men and not women. Yeah—that’s not gay.

Noah snapped from his thoughts when Mason came back in the room. He peered up and found Mason staring at him. Noah’s skin heated.

When Mason sauntered over to a cabinet next to the television and opened the door without saying anything, Noah let out the breath he was holding. For some stupid reason he’d thought Mason had guessed what he’d been thinking.

Noah put his focus back on Mason, and what he was doing. Stacked neatly, one on top of the other, were hundreds of DVDs.

“That’s a hell of a collection,” Noah commented.

“This is my porn.”

It took a second, in which Noah’s body heated up again, for him to realize Mason was joking.

“What are you thinking? We have guts and gore, action and adventure, or psychological thrillers?”

“Any Bond?”

“Have them all. Any in particular you’re interested in?”

“Let’s start with the newest and head backward?”

“Sounds perfect.”

As Mason set up the movie, Noah said, “Listen, if there’s something you have to do today, you don’t need to stick around here and babysit me. I’m fine on my own.”

“Nope. Got nothing that needs doing today.” Mason finished setting everything to play. “It’s the perfect day to sit back and veg.”

Noah, stretched across the couch, noticed the lack of space for Mason to sit on there with him. The other half of the couch was better situated for watching the fireplace than the television. And while the chairs would do fine, they didn’t appear as comfortable as where Noah was. Noah went to scoot over and make more room for Mason, but as Noah started to move, Mason glared at him. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to give you some space.”

“Stop. I’ll fit in right over there.”

Mason sat directly in the middle of the L, up close to Noah. Noah’s stomach flip-flopped.

Mason popped up again. He walked over to the doors and closed all the blinds. “How’s that? Any glare?”

“All gone.”

Everything on and ready to go, Mason came over and sat back down. Even though he only sat by Noah’s feet, Mason’s body heat warmed Noah from the inside out. Every time Noah tried to sneak a peek at Mason, Noah fought to force his gaze back on the screen.