Raising a Cowgirl by Jana Leigh

couldn’t check emails or anything yet. A ccording to their plan, Jolie was out of state at a funeral right now. It didn’t
     stop her from looking at what was going on in the world.

    Gage could feel the anger rising in him. This is when he felt the effects of his
     tours . S hit, he already knew Marie was dead . He knew it, so did the rest of them. To think Sammi was in danger as well was enough to send him over
     the deep end .
    “What was she trying to say?” David asked.
    “When?” Alex asked.
    “The message to the Commander . W hat was she try ing to say?” David pressed, the guys needed to think. They were going to their house. The place Gage had crashed most of the time. Hell, he practically had his
     own room. The guest bedroom had some of his clothes in the dresser.
    They were all silent, finally Thane admitted , “Sorry , man, all I heard was she called in to take time off and no one knew where she was.”
    David nodded and pulled out his little pad of paper he carried and took notes on all
     the time. When they got back into the car, he told them exactly what the Commander said. “She said to the commander, ‘She had to go and
     pick up an impounded dog name Diego that was sent from overseas. She didn’t know
     how the baby would react so she had someone watching her.’”
    “It is some kinda code. I have never heard the name before. I think we need to find
     the baby, and Marie . We head back to the ranch and regroup. It is safe there. N othing is in any of our names , ” Thane said.
    “Agreed , ” Gage said his leg bouncing , anxious to get to the house and find Marie. Maybe this had all been a mistake and she was unconscious . His mind still had a hard time thinking of the sweet woman who had taken them all under her wing, and made sure they stayed on the straight
     and narrow.
    They pulled up to the base house and Gage grimaced a little before opening the door. It looked the same. The small house painted pale yellow. Marie planted flowers in
     her garden again making it look che e ry and welcoming. No matter what else she was doing , she had insisted on making sure her home was neat as a pin. They walked up the drive
     and Gage pulled out his keys .
    He had already attached the key he found in Raiders things, he already had a key to
     the house, in case he needed a place to crash. He opened the door silently and frowned.
     The living room was torn up. The couches torn and stuffing all around. As they walked
     from room to room, they swore at the sight of th e destruction .
    “How the fuck did this happen on base housing?” Thane ground out.
    The MPs finally showed up and began to call and process information immediately.
     Gage and David walked into the small nursery and Gage felt his anger build and explode.
     They had trashed the place. Gage grabbed a bag, without words he began to pull out clothes that were undamaged, and packing anything the child would need
     when the y found her. There was no other acceptable outcome.
    “Help me,” Gage asked briskly.
    “Sure, uh , what the hell do I pack for a baby , ” David said , standing and looking at all of the pink. It looked a little like Pepto Bismol had
     exploded in the room . The walls were white and pink , checked with flowers all over the m .
    “Uh,” Gage said and paused , holding a bunch of tiny little clothes in his arms. “All the clothes, then anything that looks useful.”
    “Okay, so the entire room — correct?” David said.
    “Yeah, we should probably have one of the guys come back and help us. There is this
     chair thing, the bed, this thing with wheels, and probably some crackers or something.”
    “Crackers? She is only like eight months old, right?” David asked confused.
    “Yeah, but I remember Marie saying she ate constantly when she was born. She will
     need snack s when we travel , ” Gage said.
    “I believe that will be a bottle with formula , ” David drawled.
    “Suuurrrreee, j ust grab it all. Marie