Grayson

Chapter Fifty Six

1 Month Later

Slater~

Slater sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He focused on his breathing to try to get his emotions in check, but it felt impossible.

A light knock on the door frame of his open office door pulled his gaze up to meet Logan's.

"You good?" Logan asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Yeah." Slater lied and Logan knew it, but accepted it anyway.

I need to take a walk.

"I'm gonna get some air." Slater said as he stood from his desk and headed down the hallway toward the front doors. It felt like the air in the office was too thick to breathe. 

He passed Natalie who was bringing up another tray of food for the men to eat.

"You tryin to fatten us up?" Slater joked, but his smile was forced and his tone was less than joyful.

As soon as Natalie's eyes met Slater's, her shoulders fell and she gave him a sorrowful look. Without saying a word she wrapped him in a hug, having to raise up on her toes to drape her arms around his neck.

"How are you doing?" She asked with sincerity in her voice.

"Been better." Slater said with a shrug.

Unsure of what to say or how to comfort him, Natalie gave him a sweet pat on the arm and nodded her head.

"Listen, I've been meaning to tell you. The uh...celebration of life ceremony for Gray and Emma was...it was really nice. You did a good job."

Natalie's lip quivered at his compliment.

"I hated every second of it." She admitted.

"Me too." Slater said back in a defeated tone.

Slater recalled the beautiful ceremony, but hated the idea of empty caskets. He swallowed hard as he recalled the teams scouring the jungle for weeks trying to deny the fact that Grayson and Emma were gone. Hunter exhausted every resource and the teams questioned and killed more rebels than Slater could count, but the fact remained...Grayson and Emma didn't come home after three weeks of searching.

Austin hadn't spoken much since they returned. He had been the one to find the remains. When questioned about it by Kincaid, Austin described the carnage. There was nothing left, just charred shredded pieces of Emma's clothing that Kincaid confirmed, and Grayson's jacket which we all recognized. Everything was covered in blood and it was a scene that had deeply affected the teams in the worst way possible. Especially Kincaid. 

"You seen Ice in the past 24 hours?" Pierce asked as he joined Natalie in the break room.

"Seen him? No, but I'm in constant contact with him via text."

"Charlie and Cam and taking turns staying at his place." Gunner offered as he joined the conversation, looking like he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Good." Pierce affirmed, his usual playful energy nowhere to be found.

Kincaid was in a dark place and hadn't left his apartment in days. It was the worst that Slater had ever seen and everyone was worried. 

Silence took hold of the room. There was nothing to say. Nothing to do. It was an awful, sinking feeling that was shared by all.

"You think Hunter wouldn't mind if I head out early today?" Slater asked.

"No, he wouldn't." Hunter said loudly from the adjacent conference room.

Feeling relieved that he could go home, Slater turned and gathered his things in silence. Knight had a dark cloud hanging over it and Slater couldn't shake the deep ache in his heart every time he passed Grayson's office or locker.

He drove in complete silence to his house, his thoughts foggy and his heart heavy.

Even the simple task of walking up the steps to his front door felt difficult, like his feet were too heavy to lift.

Putting the key in the lock and disengaging the alarm system, Slater entered his home and sighed. The only thing on this earth that could bring light to his darkness was curled up sleeping on his couch.

Olivia. 

**************

My sweet sad readers, I promise to always take care of your hearts. Trust that I'll put all the broken pieces back together. 

Slater's book is next in the series followed by Kincaid's. 

The timeline for Slater's book back tracks. His book will pick up as soon as he and Grayson split up in the jungle.