Marcus

Chapter Thirty Two

Marcus ~

Knowing that Caroline was back on base and safe put Marcus at ease enough to go to the shooting range and take some target practice with his teammates, but something still felt off. For some reason Marcus' soul was restless and anxious as if something was wrong, but he didn't know what exactly.

"Everything alright Mac?" Grayson said as he dropped his bag down and set his weapon up on the stand.

"What's up Gray? Yeah I'm just havin' an off day. How's that arm?" Marcus asked, seeing that Grayson was out of the sling he had been sporting for weeks.

"Gettin' mobility and functionality back slowly, but I've still got no feeling from here to here." Grayson said, pointing at the side of his wrist down to the tip of his pinky. 

"Shit, man" Marcus said, giving Grayson a sympathetic look.

"I hear your physical therapist has been riding you pretty hard though." Pierce joked sticking his tongue down toward his chin at Grayson.

Grayson huffed out a breath then raked his palm down his face before throwing his hands up at Austin in disbelief.

"Fucking shit Austin, you told Hollywood? Jesus man he's got the fattest mouth here." Grayson growled.

"Calm down you big baby, it's not like you were gonna be able to keep it a secret for long. No one around here can keep a secret, Hollywood is just the most vocal about it." Austin chuckled.

"Yeah well it needs to stay a fucking secret from Kincaid. He doesn't need to hear about it from any of you, fuckers. If he finds out he needs to hear it from me." Grayson muttered.

"Who needs to hear what from you?" Kincaid asked as he walked over to a post and dropped his bag.

Grayson's eyes went wide and he lost the ability to speak as his mouth flopped open. Marcus tossed a playful elbow into his ribs trying to break his trance, but Grayson just stood there, slack jawed and stammering.

"Hunter. Hunter needs to hear from Grayson when he feels like he's ready for field work again." Declan said quickly.

Marcus grinned at his team leaders quick thinking, knowing Declan had been put in a similar situation with Lexi at the beginning of their relationship. He must have taken pity on poor Grayson who mouthed a quick "thank you" from behind Kincaid's back.

"Yeah I agree. That's a decision only you can make really. But Emma said you were making a lot of progress. She letting you rest at all or just working you to death?" Kincaid asked.

"I need to leave." Pierce said, turning red in the face from holding in his laughter as he stood to leave.

"Yeah I think so too." Grayson growled at Pierce's back as Pierce's shoulders bounced and shook on the way out the door.

"What's up with him lately?" Kincaid asked, motioning toward Pierce.

"Who fucking knows." Grayson said, trying a little too hard to stay on Kincaid's good side.

"I'll go check on him." Marcus chuckled, as he stood to leave and laugh with Pierce, but finding Hunter instead.

"Hey Mac, we've got a problem." Hunter said from the doorway.

The statement made Marcus' blood run cold and his lungs deflate. 

Caroline. I knew something felt wrong. 

"What kind of problem?" Marcus asked, picking up his pace to a light jog as he approached Hunter. "Is Caroline okay?"

Marcus' heart immediately sank and he felt his anxiety start to trigger and ramp up in his chest as his brain started running through worst case scenarios.