too many, and she could feel a headache coming on. One more cup of coffee before the presentation began. She queued up the PowerPoint and hurried out to grab a cup from the reception area.
Kali rounded the corner towards reception and was almost knocked over by this mass of a man rounding the corner from the opposite direction. He caught her by her shoulders and brought her upright so suddenly she felt a little dizzy. As she looked up at him she thought maybe the dizziness wasn't just from being lifted back up so quickly. This man looked like a modern day action hero and had eyes so blue Kali felt like she might drown in them. She quickly pulled away from him, "I'm sorry," she blurted out and practically ran in the other direction back down the hallway towards the conference room.
Kali forced herself to take a few deep breaths and shake it off. What just happened? Kali had no idea why she was so shaken up. She replayed the scene in her head paying close attention to the way her body had reacted at his touch. His strong hands placed firmly on her shoulders and the look on his face when their eyes met. She hadn’t been touched by a man in any way since the last time Nate's hands were on her body.
Kali looked around the conference room, which was starting to fill up with people. She caught Tessa's gaze and read the puzzled look on her face. Kali immediately shifted into work mode and queued up the PowerPoint main slide. She sat down in her appointed seat and listened as Tessa gave the opening pitch.
Kali began her presentation, slowly becoming acutely aware of a specific set of eyes fixed on her. It was him - the man from the hallway. Her eyes caught his head on, and she began to stutter. Tessa shifted in her seat nervously as Kali fought hard to regain composure. As she came to the end of her presentation, she opened up the floor for questions. The man from the hallway stood confidently and introduced himself.
"Good morning, I am Colonel Carmichael with the US Marine Corps Surgical Research team. Running one of the largest active duty and veteran’s military rehabilitation and outpatient surgical units, I have the unique opportunity to tour many facilities around the US. I am not only impressed with your facility but also with the manner in which the doctors and staff here communicate, educate and work on rehabilitation services with your patients. I don't have any questions. I don't need to know anything more. Spending the past week shadowing many of you during your day-to-day operations on both the surgical and rehabilitation side has shown me everything I needed to know. I am recommending this facility for immediate military medical case overflow."
With that statement hanging in the air for all of the facility staff to soak in, Colonel Carmichael sat down. As he lowered his massive frame into the small, black conference room chair, Kali's eyes met his again. His blank expression was impossible to read. Years of military service had taught him to speak and observe while giving nothing away. That look left Kali confused and utterly perplexed by the feelings she had churning within her.
CHAPTER 9
San Diego, CA
September 5, 2011
Detective Paul Sutton pulled into the familiar parking structure in the 1400 block of Pacific Avenue, right smack dab in the middle of downtown San Diego. Although he had missed the work since his retirement in early 2010, he had not missed the traffic one bit.
It had taken exactly eleven days for Sutton to realize that he wasn't the type of man who could handle retirement. A day into it, he had booked a trip to Canada and spent a week hiking and touring the vast Canadian countryside. Once he’d returned home, he’d found some minor items in need of repair around his house and then sat for a day twiddling his thumbs and chain-smoking Marlboro Reds. His mind never left the Laura Carmichael case and being away from the job didn't change the deep sense of duty within him to fight evil. He
Kali rounded the corner towards reception and was almost knocked over by this mass of a man rounding the corner from the opposite direction. He caught her by her shoulders and brought her upright so suddenly she felt a little dizzy. As she looked up at him she thought maybe the dizziness wasn't just from being lifted back up so quickly. This man looked like a modern day action hero and had eyes so blue Kali felt like she might drown in them. She quickly pulled away from him, "I'm sorry," she blurted out and practically ran in the other direction back down the hallway towards the conference room.
Kali forced herself to take a few deep breaths and shake it off. What just happened? Kali had no idea why she was so shaken up. She replayed the scene in her head paying close attention to the way her body had reacted at his touch. His strong hands placed firmly on her shoulders and the look on his face when their eyes met. She hadn’t been touched by a man in any way since the last time Nate's hands were on her body.
Kali looked around the conference room, which was starting to fill up with people. She caught Tessa's gaze and read the puzzled look on her face. Kali immediately shifted into work mode and queued up the PowerPoint main slide. She sat down in her appointed seat and listened as Tessa gave the opening pitch.
Kali began her presentation, slowly becoming acutely aware of a specific set of eyes fixed on her. It was him - the man from the hallway. Her eyes caught his head on, and she began to stutter. Tessa shifted in her seat nervously as Kali fought hard to regain composure. As she came to the end of her presentation, she opened up the floor for questions. The man from the hallway stood confidently and introduced himself.
"Good morning, I am Colonel Carmichael with the US Marine Corps Surgical Research team. Running one of the largest active duty and veteran’s military rehabilitation and outpatient surgical units, I have the unique opportunity to tour many facilities around the US. I am not only impressed with your facility but also with the manner in which the doctors and staff here communicate, educate and work on rehabilitation services with your patients. I don't have any questions. I don't need to know anything more. Spending the past week shadowing many of you during your day-to-day operations on both the surgical and rehabilitation side has shown me everything I needed to know. I am recommending this facility for immediate military medical case overflow."
With that statement hanging in the air for all of the facility staff to soak in, Colonel Carmichael sat down. As he lowered his massive frame into the small, black conference room chair, Kali's eyes met his again. His blank expression was impossible to read. Years of military service had taught him to speak and observe while giving nothing away. That look left Kali confused and utterly perplexed by the feelings she had churning within her.
CHAPTER 9
San Diego, CA
September 5, 2011
Detective Paul Sutton pulled into the familiar parking structure in the 1400 block of Pacific Avenue, right smack dab in the middle of downtown San Diego. Although he had missed the work since his retirement in early 2010, he had not missed the traffic one bit.
It had taken exactly eleven days for Sutton to realize that he wasn't the type of man who could handle retirement. A day into it, he had booked a trip to Canada and spent a week hiking and touring the vast Canadian countryside. Once he’d returned home, he’d found some minor items in need of repair around his house and then sat for a day twiddling his thumbs and chain-smoking Marlboro Reds. His mind never left the Laura Carmichael case and being away from the job didn't change the deep sense of duty within him to fight evil. He
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