Mako (The Mako Saga: Book 1) (39 page)

“It’s just her way,” Reiser assured him. “You’ve gotta understand, you’re nowhere near the first guy to make a pass at her, nor will you be the last. Trust me. She’s dealt with that her entire adult life. You’d be a little jaded too if you were her.”

Glancing toward the track’s far end, Danny found his gaze transfixed on her as she trudged along—her long, galloping stride as proud and stoic as her demeanor. He knew he couldn’t deny that he was drawn to her, that much was evident. But what puzzled him was why. He was no stranger to beautiful women, which she clearly was, but there was something else about her—something in the way she carried herself, the way she moved. The style, the grace, the confidence… take away the subzero charm and one might even mistake her for royalty of some kind.

“So she’s hot!” Danny scoffed, breaking from his thoughts to return to the conversation at hand. “Hot girls get hit on. That’s just the way it goes. But just because she gets her pick of the litter when it comes to guys, that shouldn’t give her the right to treat all of us like crap, ya know?”

“You say that,” said Reiser, “but being the ‘pick of the litter,’ as you put it, isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.”

Danny lifted a brow. “Not following, Doc.”

“The truth is most men are way too intimidated to even approach her, much less pursue something romantically.”

This struck Danny as odd. “So what?” he laughed aloud. “Is there an unwritten rule around here that getting involved with attractive, successful women is some kinda taboo? C’mon, man! I thought you people were supposed to be enlightened!”

“Of course there’s nothing wrong with dating an attractive, successful young woman,” Reiser defended. “It has nothing to do with any of that.”

“Fine, then,” Danny jabbed. “Please… do tell. Why exactly does Little Mrs. Ice Princess over there have such a profound effect on the male persuasion around here, then?”

The doctor folded his arms. “Her father, for one.”

Never a fan of fatherly discussions, Danny’s face went sour. “I take that to mean that Papa Reynolds is some kind of heavy hitter?”

“Among other things… yes,” said Reiser, hanging on the statement for a moment, as if wanting to say something else, but thinking better of it. “He was a pilot in the fleet, and a pretty decorated one at that. If memory serves, he made Lt. Colonel before he retired, and he and the admiral go way back together. Katahl was actually his CO for the better part of six years on board the Kanaan.”

“No kidding,” Danny acknowledged. “Pops must really have some major league sway with the brass then, huh?”

“You might say that,” Reiser added, his tone still vague. “In any case, you wondered why a lot of the men around here aren’t lining up to ask her out. Well, that’s part of it.”

“I guess that sorta makes sense,” Danny admitted. “Still though, I’d think
somebody
would step up. I mean, not everyone is afraid of meeting the old man, no matter who he is. You mean to tell me that
nobody
around here gave it a shot?”

“Oh, there have been a few along the way,” said Reiser. “It’s not as if Madisyn Reynolds has never been out on a date before. It’s just that some of them—not all, but some—tend to view her as a career advancement, if not an outright trophy because of who she is.” Reiser’s mood darkened instantly. “Unfortunately, she found that one out the hard way when she was younger.”

Danny could relate there. “Bad breakup with an idiot boyfriend?”

“Bad divorce from a horrible husband,” Reiser answered. “Good old Johnny Reynolds… what a piece of work that guy was.”

“That bad?”

“Put it to you this way, Danny. Remember those two categories of guys I mentioned before? Career advancement or trophy?”

He nodded.

“Well, Johnny fell into both. What she ever saw in him, I’ll never know, but she obviously saw something. Call it naiveté, rose-colored goggles, or even teenage rebelliousness against her father—who hated the guy from the start, mind you. Call it whatever. But at the wise old age of 19, she married him.”

Danny frowned and dropped his eyes to the deck.

“And I sense that you can relate,” Reiser guessed, drawing a shrug from Danny.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea, yeah.”

“Your first marriage, I presume?”

Danny’s head whipped around in surprise.

“It was in your file,” Reiser explained.

“Yeah, the first one,” Danny said tersely, a little unnerved at having been outed for something so personal. “It was right outta college to a girl I’d known since high school. Everything was fine until I decided to become a cop. Suffice it to say, she wasn’t cool with that.”

“I presume it ended rather badly?”

Danny snorted. “Put it to you this way, Doc. That was 10 years ago and my credit score is still reeling.”

Then it hit him. If Reiser had read up on him, who else had? Spinning back around to face his host, Danny leered at the doctor.

“Did she—”

“No way to know for sure,” Reiser answered before he could finish the question. “But she does have the same access that I do.”

Danny’s face resumed its previous sourness. “That’s just great,” he grumbled. “Anyway, back to the story. So she married a self-serving, career-or bust assclown. Then what?”

“Right. Well, it might’ve worked out for the guy in the end, with the career part anyway, but there was just one problem.”

“Which was?”

Reiser’s lip twisted. “Other than the fact that he was a total ‘assclown,’ as you put it—great phrase, by the way—he was also a terrible officer. Couldn’t follow orders, couldn’t get organized, couldn’t get out of the way of his own oversized ego to lead. You name it and this guy would screw it up.”

“So what happened?” Danny pressed, drawing a look of dejection from the doctor.

“Who knows?” Reiser frowned. “I guess somewhere along the line, he figured out that his career was going nowhere, no matter who he was married to, and when it reached that point, he felt he had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted… that was when Madisyn showed up at the infirmary with her first set of bruises.”

“
Son of a bitch
,” Danny snarled under his breath—in part because he loathed any meat-headed bastard vile enough to lay hands on a woman; but also because he recalled how her eyes had jerked so awkwardly away that first night at dinner upon hearing his story of the domestic abuse case he’d worked while still a deputy on the road. Granted, there was no way he could’ve known this at the time, but it still left a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“How long did it last after that?” Danny wondered aloud, and Reiser heaved a sigh.

“Thankfully, not long,” he said. “Young and immature as she might’ve been at the time, no one wants to be a patient in their own infirmary. These ships are entirely too small for people not to talk, particularly when your name is Madisyn Reynolds.”

“How’d dear ol’ dad take all of this?” Danny asked. “I mean, were it my kid, they’d have found that guy in trash bags at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, but that’s just me.”

Reiser smiled wryly. “Are you kidding?” he laughed. “Once she finally gave in and told him, Rick was on the first transport out with a sidearm, a fifth of whiskey, and one seriously pissed-off attitude! He’d have probably used the former too, had the admiral not sent along a trio of MPs to keep the peace during Johnny’s move out of the house.”

Danny flashed a wry grin of his own at the thought. He didn’t know Reynolds’ father, whoever he was, but he was quickly getting the notion that he liked the guy.

“Anyway,” Reiser concluded, “last I heard, Johnny was finishing out his tour cleaning latrines on a sewage freighter somewhere out in the Farlyn system. That was…” he paused, “three years ago now, I guess? To my knowledge, she hasn’t seriously seen anyone since.”

“Hey, just out of curiosity,” Danny added. “Where was her mom through all of this?”

Reiser’s face turned pale. “She died during childbirth.”

Danny Tucker cringed. Losing his mom had been the single toughest time of his life, but as difficult as it had been, he was still thankful for the time he did have with her. Now to think of what life would’ve been like without even having that… he couldn’t imagine.

“That really was unfortunate,” Reiser murmured, removing his glasses and cleaning them with his shirt-tail. “Heather was a field medic in the infantry, and one incredible lady. It’s a shame Madisyn never knew her because they’re a lot alike— strong, driven, passionate, brilliant.” He slid his glasses back into place atop his nose. “Anyway, her father never remarried after that, which is why Madisyn is an only child.”

Nodding his understanding, Danny felt his eyes narrow as what should’ve been an obvious question dawned on him.

“Why are you telling me all of this, Doc? I mean, if I know our good Dr. Reynolds there, she’d be livid with you for divulging stuff like this to a stranger, much less me.”

Reiser shrugged. “I’ve known Madisyn and her family for years, that’s part of the reason why the president trusted me with this assignment. My father and her grandfather served together onboard the AS-Keystone, so I’ve known her dad, Rick, since childhood.” He laughed under his breath. “Heck, he and I competed together on the swim team at the university before he left for officer training school. Man, that guy was fast off the block,” Reiser recalled, “and even faster once he hit the water. Anyway, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go in Madisyn’s life, and whether it’s due to her demeanor or her family name, I’ve watched a lot of them misjudge her over the years.” The doctor shrugged once more. “I don’t’ know, Danny…. I just didn’t want you to be one of them. That and… well, frankly, I know there’s a lot about her story that you can identify with.”

Danny slouched against the wall and returned his gaze to Dr. Reynolds, who was well into her sixth lap, all the while battling with himself over exactly what he thought of this woman. On one hand, it wasn’t his fault that she’d been dealt a bad hand in life as it pertained to relationships. After all, who hadn’t in this crowd—particularly him? And yet, knowing what he now knew about her, he couldn’t help but empathize with what she’d been through.

Reiser had been right. There was much about her history that he could identify with, and as such, he made the conscious decision to give her the benefit of the doubt from here on in.

Saying goodnight to Reiser and stepping onto the lift, Danny paused once more at the sight of the bright red hair ahead. There was just something about this woman, he thought—something different—something hidden beneath the surface of that jaded exterior. At present, he couldn’t put a finger on what that was, but watching her run—alone as she’d been for so much of her life, as he had been—Danny found himself silently hoping for the chance to find out before they left to return home.

Chapter 21: Taking Flight

The next morning, as Lee sat on the edge of his bunk to finish getting ready for their 08:00 briefing on the flight deck with Captain Ryan, he heard another unexpected knock on the cabin door.

“Hey guys, it’s Dr. Reiser,” the voice called from outside.

With a final twist, loop, and pull of his bootlace, Lee stood up and walked to the door.

“Hey Doc,” he greeted. “You’re a little early. What’s up?”

Flashing a thin smile, Reiser gestured to a tall cardboard box on the ground beside him, marked “82
^nd
Logistical Squadron: AS- Praetorian.”

“And that is?” Lee asked.

“Just a little something that Admiral Katahl and Captain Ryan thought you’d need for the briefing later this morning,” said Reiser, his grin widening.

“Oh, well… thanks, I guess?” Lee managed.

“Alright, well I have a few things to take care of before meeting you guys on the flight deck so, until then.” And with that, Reiser took his leave and disappeared down the hall.

“That has seriously gotta be the single most cryptic man I’ve ever met,” Lee thought once he’d gone.

Kicking the door closed behind him, Lee placed the box on his bed and produced a pocket knife to cut through the tape. Lifting the lid, his face lit up with excitement at its contents.

“What do ya have there, Lee?” Hamish asked from his bunk.

Their interest peaked as Lee rummaged through the box, the others gathered around to see what the fuss was about.

“
Woooooowwwww,
” Mac said in awe.

Neatly pressed and packed, the navy-blue coverall-styled flight suit—one of five—was a stone-cold match to the ones they’d worn so successfully during their run through
Mako Assault
. Decoratively adorned with all of the usual patchwork, its myriad insignias included the familiar circular banner of the Auran Star Corps, as well as that of the AS-Praetorian, both of which were vertically arranged at the top of the left sleeve. Also, the name strips located just above the Velcro pocket on the left side of the chest had been custom designed with each of their call signs, this one reading “Daredevil” for Lee.

Spying four approving faces in front of him, Lee removed the top uniform from the box and displayed it to the group.

“If you think that’s cool, get a load of this,” he said, drawing their attention to the patch on the right chest, opposite the name strip.

“Oh now, that’s just plain sick,” Danny beamed.

“Dude, that’s
totally
my work!” Mac blurted in disbelief.

Defined by its classically themed, shield-shaped crest and elaborate flaming spear, the insignia was a dead ringer for the Squadron patch she’d designed for them so long ago, right down to the garnet and gold “Renegades” banner, which was now capped with their squadron designation (VLS-82).

Finally, at the top of the right sleeve, in the space normally reserved exclusively for the Auran national flag, were the familiar red, white, and blue stars and stripes of their homeland.

“Alright, now that’s just bad freakin’ ass!” Link exclaimed, lunging for the box. “Stop hoardin’ the swag, loser! What else you got in there?”

Tossing out their uniforms like Santa Claus at Christmas, Lee bolted to the corner of the room to change. Moments later, he reemerged as each of them—now fully clothed in their stylish new garb—stood admiring one another by their bunks.