Key Change: The Road to Rocktoberfest 2023 by Ari McKay

Author:Ari McKay [McKay, Ari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

“Hey, Goose, I’ve got those groceries you wanted.” Able’s tall, broad frame filled the doorway at the back of the house, darkened by the backdrop of sunset behind him.

Michael held open the door to let Able inside, since his arms were loaded with brown paper bags with “Piggly Wiggly” and a smiling pig’s face emblazoned on them.

“Great, thanks. I’m getting tired of soup,” he said, and then he pointed to the large island in the middle of the kitchen. “Just put them over there, please.”

Able crossed to the island and placed the bags down carefully. While he was a couple of inches shorter than Michael, he was much wider in the shoulders, and with the two of them being such big men, the spacious kitchen felt crowded.

Able looked at Michael, seeming to assess his condition. It was an occupational hazard of sorts, since Michael knew that some people, even bodyguards, didn’t do well in the hidden, shut-in conditions he was having to operate in at the moment, and Hercules Security people looked out for one another.

“You good?” Able asked quietly, after scanning the kitchen quickly and professionally. “Do you need to be relieved for a bit?”

“I’m good.” Michael drew an X over his chest before unloading the bags. “Thanks for checking in, though. My biggest concern right now is Devon. He’s not doing great.”

Over the past couple of days, Devon had been quiet and withdrawn, preferring to stay holed up in his room with the blinds closed and the lights off. Michael had coaxed him into eating regularly, but he didn’t have any genuine interest in food–or in anything else, no matter how much Michael tried to draw him out. There were times when he seemed to come out of his shell for a short time, but then he always retreated again, and Michael understood it. No one’s path through the kind of grief and guilt Devon was dealing with was ever straightforward.

Able nodded, and his expression was one of sympathy. “I get it. Been there, done that.”

Michael hadn’t worked with Able, whose real name was Hunter, prior to this mission. Able was based out of the Virginia training center, where his husband, Payne “Pita” Gibson, was heavily involved in training Herc’s people in psy-ops and in tracking the mental health of those who worked for the company. But Michael had heard stories about the severe case of PTSD Able had come into the company with, after his best friend had been killed while saving Able’s life in Iraq. He’d been a wreck, on the verge of shutting down completely, but Pita had been the one to help him recover. So it wasn’t surprising that Able could relate to what Devon was going through, which might be one reason Herc had assigned Able to this mission.

“Any advice?” Michael paused with a loaf of whole wheat bread in his hand and gave Able a rueful smile. “I’ve tried encouraging him to talk, if not to me, then to a grief counselor, but he’s just shut down.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.