Read Troubleshooters 16.8 - Free Fall for Free Online Page B

persisted. “If my oxygen really did fail at thirty thousand feet—”
     “Not if , bro,” Izzy pointed out. “It failed. Really. But the system didn’t. The system worked.” He smiled, then, but he stayed dead serious for a change. “That’s what we tell Eden and Adam,” he continued. “Right? Not Whoops, we almost died so everyone freak the fuck out , but Good news, sweetheart, the system works.” He went on as if he were Tony talking to Adam, even going so far as to mimic Tony’s slightly lower voice, “ Hey, babe, yeah, so my equipment malfunctioned, but my teammates’ quick thinking along with their expert-level skill from years of training turned a dangerous situation into a technical problem that was safely solved. Boom. This could have been catastrophic. But it wasn’t because . . .” He held out his hands in a gesture that was half tah-dah and half gracious acceptance of imaginary applause. “SEALs. It’s actually a good thing, today’s malfunction, because it’s proof that despite the danger, we can handle anything that’s thrown at us .”
     Tony nodded, but then shook his head. “That last bit? A good thing ?”
     “Yeah, I heard that coming out of my mouth,” Izzy said, raising his voice to be heard over the approaching helo, “and I also thought, nope. I say good thing about anything like this and Eden’s gonna start narrowing her eyes. The message is We’re good at what we do and we’re not alone. SEAL team . That means something. And she knows it. Adam does, too.”
     Tony nodded again. “He worries. A lot.”
     “Best we can do,” Izzy said, “is just keep coming home.” He then held up his hand in a Vulcan salute, from Star Trek. “ I have been, and ever shall be, your friend . . . ”
     Tony must’ve looked surprised or maybe confused, because Izzy immediately explained, “The portable hyperbaric chamber looks like that white pod from Star Trek II, you know, Spock’s coffin, only it went down to the Genesis planet so he was reborn and—”
     “I know my Trek,” Tony cut him off. “But that’s what Adam needs to hear. Yeah, we’re good at what we do, and SEAL team , you’re right, but . . .” He looked from Izzy to Jay Lopez and back, “Bottom line is that I’m lucky as hell to have friends like you.”
     
    ****

Chapter Nine
     
     Ben didn’t have a concussion, thank the Lord.
     And the SEAL team—including Izzy, Danny, and Adam’s Tony—had returned to Coronado, but not without mishap.
     Jay Lopez had apparently landed wrong, and really messed up his knee.
     Plus, there had been some glitch that had put both Tony and Izzy into hyperbaric chambers. Allegedly “as a precaution.”
     Eden had stepped away from the latest round of wine tasting to take Adam’s call out on the winery’s porch. He’d been diligently texting with reports about both Ben and the HAHO jump, but now he said the words she’d been waiting to hear: “Tony and Izzy are fine. I’m looking at them both right now. They’re in my living room. Danny, too.” And then he said the words that convinced her that her husband truly was okay: “Izzy’s gonna call you in a second—because he knows I’m on with you he’s ordering a pizza first.”
     “Oh, thank God,” Eden said on an exhale. She looked up to see that Jenn had followed her outside. “They’re okay. Danny, too.” She asked Adam, “How’s Jay?”
     “Chief Lopez is getting X-rays and, I don’t know, maybe an MRI?” Adam reported. “He’s pretending his knee’s okay, but . . . I dunno. Mark Jenkins is with him. Danny and Izzy came here to pick up Ben and—”
     His voice cut off as Izzy, no doubt, took his phone. Because there was Izzy’s familiar, warm voice suddenly in Eden’s ear. “Hey, sweetheart.”
     “Izzy,” she said. “Hi,” and Jenn faded back inside to give her privacy.
     “How’s Napa?” he asked.
     “Beautiful and delicious,” she told him. “Jenni and I are only