Drake (Men of Versteck Valley Book 3) Page 27
She took the bag, looked inside and pulled out a cold meat pie. It didn’t take long to eat both pies and wash them down with a bottle of water.
“I uploaded those photos to the internet. Seems these men have been missing for almost two months. Got the names too, they match the dog tags. All accounted for.” He looked at his phone. “Major Moses Sanderson, he’s the big one in the worse condition, the one you were talking too in the van who needed stitches. Raoul Pence.” He looked at the five men. “That’s the Spanish looking one with the broken arm.”
She looked at the lean dark-haired man lying on the narrow bed with deep, dark eyes that spoke of pain but he never uttered a word or moan of discomfort.
“That one there,” he pointed toward another bed near the corner of the brightly lit room. “The blond-haired guy is Sylvester Nowles.” Her gaze followed his hand. He was blond, everywhere.
Accustomed to nudity when they worked she glanced at him and then at the dark-skinned male sitting near Moses. “Who’s he?”
“Captain Everett Jones. For some reason, they didn’t hurt him as much, which means he has no broken limbs, looks like a lot of bruises and superficial cuts.”
“Last one is Kamal Sorris. They took it to his ass. I guess he looked too much like the natives to accept he was born in America.” Travis shrugged. Taylor looked at Kamal, who lay on the bed with his eyes closed. Red, purple, yellow and black bruises were all over his body but seemed more concentrated on his head and face. She hoped he recovered.
Her gaze returned to Moses who lay unconscious on the table. While the doctor worked on Moses, the other men woke in pain, asking questions and looking around. The assistants worked on the others, administering antibiotics, cleaning and bandaging wounds and gave them pain medication through IV drips.
Dr. Garace focused on saving Moses’ life. Without question, he was in the worst condition.
“Please let him live,” Taylor prayed and then expanded the prayer to include all the men. It wasn’t out of patriotic duty, although she and Travis were both Americans and French, it was because these guys deserved a break. Fighting for your country and all you believed in shouldn’t leave you in a room with dead, decaying corpses. They deserved better, and she wanted them to have it.
An hour and a half later, wiping his hands, Dr. Garace walked over to the chairs where she and Travis sat watching.
“I’ve done my best for them.” He waved toward the resting men. “As you can see, none have died. Take them whenever you want and tell Turner I will not accept any other business from him. Not after you threatened me the way you did.” He inhaled with a look of indignation at them.
“That’s something you’ll tell him if he ever contacts you again. You know how Turner gets when someone tells him no,” Travis said standing slowly.
The doctor’s face reddened as he sputtered.
“Thank you,” Taylor said in a soft, even tone, as she stood. “These men are good friends of ours, and we were concerned about them, that’s all. I shouldn’t have threatened you. I knew you’d do your best.” She kept him in her gaze and offered a rare smile.
The doctor blinked and swallowed hard as he stared up at her. “You’re… you’re welcome. I don’t mind helping at all. It was five of them, that’s all. I had to think about what to do first and got confused. Thank you for helping me focus,” he said staring at her face.
Travis rolled his eyes.
Taylor smiled again as she gently touched Dr. Garace’s shoulder, keeping the man spellbound. “Turner was right to contact you, you’re the best. How long before they can travel? Is there anything we need to know about their treatment? Pain medication? Antibiotics?”
The doctor spent the next hour going over each patient, explaining what he had done, what else needed to be done and the names of the drugs he used while Taylor recorded everything.
She glanced at Travis who leaned against the wall watching with a smirk. No doubt he would tease her later about her handling of the older man, but sometimes she had to pull out her female wiles to get the job done. Plus, their father would be pissed if Garace stopped working with him.
Six hours later, they were on the road again. The men were stabilized, fed, clean and in decent spirits. This time Travis drove a passenger van to Paksis, a mid-size town with better health facilities and was friendly with Americans. After the uproar the photos of the men caused on social media, the military would send someone to retrieve them from there.
Later that day, still dressed as a male, Taylor whispered good-bye to Moses, who she now considered a super-soldier since he defied all odds and survived.
Grab Moses’ Story on Amazon for a great read.
Erosa Knowles has a love for the written word. Originally from Miami, Florida, Ms. Knowles now resides in North Carolina. Two older children are married and live in North Carolina as well. An avid reader since college, Ms. Knowles is one of those people who keeps her books as old friends and has re-read all of them at least once. Many have been read more often.
Please visit her website: http://www.erosa-knowles.com for other titles.
Other Books by Erosa Knowles:
Special Forces
Nikki’s Challenge
The Ultimate Breed
Letting Go
Lyon on a Leash
Promises Kept
Secrets
Have I Told You Lately?*
Ready for Love*
Where There’s Smoke*
Not This Time*
Run to You *
Loving a Bad Boy*
Double Trouble *
Lawked Flame
Jaleesa’s Pleasure
Jones Girls – Sabrina
Jones Girls – Melissa
Jones Girls – Angela -
* denotes Men of 3X CONStruction series
Reclamation – Murder at the Beach
Reclamation – Lies in the Morgue
Reclamation – That’s Not My Baby
Reclamation – I’ve Got Your Six
Protect the Seed
Legacy of the Seed
Children of the Seed
Men of Versteck Valley – Asher
Men of Versteck Valley – Moses
Men of Versteck Valley – Drake