Free Deep Freeze: Protocol One, Book 2 (Protocol One Saga) by Jacqueline Druga Page A

forget them.
    I owed them. Even though they dismissed my praise and claimed it to be unwarranted. They would do what any person would do.
    Was that correct?
    I firmly believed and held onto that belief that people were good. That the good would outnumber the bad. I was ridiculed for thinking that and actually, with the theft of the Humvee was rather humbled in my thinking. But Larry and Gail brought a restoration to all that. At least a little.
    I went out to the Humvee and made contact with Peter.
    “They left hours ago, Anna,” Peter said. “Weather is bad. How much snow did you get there?”
    “Over two feet. You?”
    “Same.”
    “I wish I could tell you more. They’ll get there.”
    “How is Joie?”
    “Growing sad. We try to be optimistic with her, but it’s getting hard. I hate lying. I’m not a parent so I don’t know what’s best.”
    I was a parent. Ironically, Jackson died from a head injury and Tony, the man who made me live again, his life hung on the balance with a head injury like Jackson. Gail stated the other wounds were not her main concern.
    The head injury scared me because I was well aware of how deadly they could be.
    I thought about Joie. How she probably was coloring or cutting up magazines. Thinking of her father, believing he was fine and only stranded. How horrible it would be for her and shocking if something happened to Tony.
    The mother in me wanted to protect her yet, that same mother believed she needed the truth.
    “Peter, tell Melissa to break the news to Joie that her father was injured.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah. It doesn’t have to have all the details, but she needs to know her father was hurt. Just … just in case.”
    “Is it that bad, Anna?”
    “Yeah.”
    I would have never thought in a million years that Tony would have taken a fall. I needed him to get better. Joie needed him.
    After Gail’s second stop over, I told her I’d radio if there was a change. We decided on a channel, and while they couldn’t respond, they could hear. There was no need for her to trudge in the dark through the snow.
    I started to finally feel a little hungry, and I heated some soup on a wire rack I placed over the kettle.
    It was dark and the snow had finally stopped. The clouds parted and the moon lit up the area. It actually was quite beautiful in a desolate way.
    “You had me really worried,” I told Tony. “I thought you left me. Well, no, I didn’t. I’m, teasing. I knew you’d never leave me. I know you can hear me. You have to fight Tony. I think that’s why you shut down, so you can fight. You have me and Joie and we both need you. God … can you imagine if it was up to me to raise her. You know she’d end up a bleeding heart just like me. Or … to give you incentive, maybe Gil will help.”
    I set my spoon in the can and watched Tony for reaction.
    Nothing.
    It was a vain attempt to stir him.
    I was tired from the stress but wasn’t going to sleep. It was only eight PM, and it was gonna be a long night.
    Just as I started to have my one sided conversation with Tony again, I saw it.
    A reflection of light. It shined ahead in the snow and grew bigger.
    “Oh my God. I think they’re here.” I set down my soup, jumped up, grabbed my coat and hurried out the door.
    If it wasn’t Protocol One then I hoped it was someone who could help. As soon as I stepped out, I heard the loud motor sound and the scraping of metal on concrete.
    They were plowing?
    I had inched my way into the valet area and when I did, around the corner down River Road I saw the plow. They had taken the long way around and came in from behind the stadium.
    Immediately, I raced to the Humvee and turned on the lights.
    The truck turned up the driveway and stopped just before the canopied valet area. The passenger’s door opened and Spencer stepped out. I wanted to scream. They plowed their way here and certainly would plow us back home. As I raced to Spencer, I knew all would be better. Not only