Dad for Charlie & the Sergeant's Temptation & the Alaskan Catch & New Year's Wedding (9781488015687)

by Stewart, Anna J. ; Sasson, Sophia; Carpenter, Beth; Jensen, Muriel

  “You need to put me down, Luke.” Alessa’s voice was calm but the anger was clear in her tone.

  “I’m fine. We’re almost across.” Luke said. He couldn’t have her hurt again and at her height, she’d almost be swimming. That wouldn’t be good for her shoulder.

  They finally made it to the bank. “Now I know why even the smugglers won’t use this route.” Rogers quipped. He was shorter than Luke so he’d been soaked nearly to the neck.

  They took a second to find cover to change their clothes and bandage the scratches and cuts they’d gotten from the crossing. Rodgers and Luke were behind a rock. Rodgers turned off the comms system and faced him.

  “Listen man, whatever’s going on between you and Parrino, it’s got to end.”

  “Excuse me?” Luke glared at the other man. They were both shivering in their wet clothes but Rodgers didn’t back down.

  “I’m not an idiot. What you did back there… I don’t know what that was, but it wasn’t professional. She’s a soldier, that woman’s kicked me down, she could’ve handled it. If you think she couldn’t, you should have made her stay home.”

  “She’s injured. If your sorry behind was hurt, I’d have dragged you, too.”

  Rodgers shook his head. “Hey, that line isn’t working with her, and it isn’t working with me. I didn’t see you offer to carry me when one of those shards cut me up.” He pointed to his thigh where blood was still oozing out of his wound. Taking a breath, Luke forced himself to maintain eye contact. Rodgers was right, of course. Luke gotten several bumps and bruises along the journey and so had Rodgers. Soldiers were expected to get hurt during operations and he knew, logically, that Alessa could handle it. As Rodgers had pointed out, she was stronger than his men.

  “Look, I get it, you’ve got a thing for her. But you’re unit command and my life depends on you being focused.”

  “You’re wrong, Rodgers. There’s nothing going on between us.” Luke’s words sounded hollow even to him.

  “Maybe not physically—” he tapped his chest “—but in here, you’re totally messed up.”

  Rodgers spun away and began stripping his clothes. Luke did the same. His hands were shaking and it wasn’t entirely from the cold.

  They met up with Alessa, who didn’t have a second burka. Thankfully, hers was only wet from the hips down.

  Luke toggled the comms so only she could hear as they continued trekking their way into Pakistan. “See, aren’t you glad I carried you?” He meant for his tone to be light but it came out clipped.

  “Luke, don’t ever, I mean ever, touch me like that again. It is not okay to handle me without my permission.”

  This time he knew it wasn’t the cold that iced his veins. He had crossed a line.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CROSSING THE BORDER seemed far easier than it should have been. They simply walked across and only had to go another mile before encountering a rickshaw stand. They squeezed into the back of the bicycle-drawn carriage that delivered them four blocks from their safe house.

  All told, it was the most exciting mission Alessa had ever been on, but she knew without a doubt that this would be her last time with the unit. She loved the team, and she would never experience a more interesting army deployment without making it into Special Forces, but she would much rather go back and face Aidan than deal with Luke. Despite all that had transpired between her and Aidan, he had never touched her against her will. How dare Luke think he can take liberties with me? Of all the people she had worked with, Luke should have respected her boundaries.

  “Okay, Rodgers, you’re the journalist and I—”

  “Oh, come on.” Alessa knew she was probably crossing boundaries now, but there was no way she could pretend to be Luke’s wife.

  “Parrino, this is not up for discussion. You are my wife and Rodgers is the journalist.”

  “You don’t look Azerbaijani,” she said. Though they had dyed Luke’s golden locks and eyebrows to a dark brown and given him brown contacts, he didn’t have the right look. That’s why he’d been given the cover she had chosen for him. Why was he being so pigheaded? He was jeopardizing the mission, and for what?

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll make a joke about how I resemble an American.”

  “Luke…” Rodgers tried to interject but Luke cut him off. “That’s the way it’ll be.” Luke said shortly. Rodgers agreed to roam the streets for a few hours so they wouldn’t show up together.

  The building looked like any other in the surrounding neighborhood. A U-shaped mid-rise with apartments that overlooked a courtyard. There were six stories and Alessa counted eleven apartments per floor. Each floor could be accessed through an external staircase and the apartments were connected by long balconies. It reminded Alessa of cheap motels in the United States. The short, skinny business manager confirmed that each unit had its own “wet” bathroom, which meant it had a shower and toilet. The entire space couldn’t have been more than six hundred square feet and consisted of a galley kitchen, living room and small bedroom with one double bed. Alessa tried not to stare at the bed as the manager proudly showed them the roach-infested apartment as if he were giving them a tour of the Taj Mahal.

  Luke thanked him in Urdu and closed the door behind him. Alessa took off the burka, which had mostly dried off but was still damp. Looking at the local women on their way here, she knew she could get away with just wearing a hijab that covered her hair and neck but left her face exposed.

  Before she could formulate the words to let him know just how bad an idea it was for them to share a room. He turned to her. “Listen, I am sorry for what happened at the creek. I didn’t mean to… I mean I shouldn’t have… I was just…” He shuffled on his feet, unable to meet her eyes.

  “You do not have permission to touch me in any way,” she said flatly.

  He nodded. “I respect that.”

  “I don’t like these arrangements.”

  He straightened. “I’ll sleep on the floor in the living room. You can have the bedroom to yourself. I need you with me because I have some intelligence that could help us find Ethan.”

  That drew her attention away from wondering how she was going to avoid him in the tiny apartment.

  “I didn’t ask to change assignments with Rodgers because of what’s happening between…” At the glare she gave him he stopped and changed tact. “I changed the assignments because you and I are going to have to sneak out of here without the team knowing and go rescue Ethan.”

  Now her interest was piqued.

  “You have his location? How? When?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not discussing anything until we have you checked out by a doctor. I need to know you’re okay.”

  She rolled her eyes but couldn’t argue with him. Only she knew how she’d managed to complete the trek. While she hated that Luke had carried her across the stream, she had to admit that she might not have made it to Peshawar on her own. She had been dizzy with pain ever since they left the cave, and it was only Luke’s hand on her arm, constantly steadying her, that had given her the courage to keep going.

  “It’s highly unnecessary, but let’s get it over with just to make you feel better.” She was done showing him her Achilles heel. He was no different than any other man she’d ever encountered. He was kind until it suited him and then he used whatever information he had about her to his benefit. Not to mention making the most of the physical advantage he had.

  “I had Dan scope one out. The doctor seems legit and in it for the money. He has a small hospital a couple clicks away. Get dressed. I’ll check in with the rest of the team and then we’ll go.”

  The hospital was a glorified clinic. This particular doctor claimed to be an orthopedist, and they sat in his waiting room under the watchful eye of a white-clad nurse, Luke paced the room to silently sh
ow his irritation to the young nurse, who seemed to not notice. Two hours went by. This was also not uncommon.

  Alessa beckoned to her side. “Why don’t you go back to the safe house and I’ll meet you there,” she said in hushed tones.

  Luke had spent most of the time looking at his phone, no doubt taking care of details for the mission. He shook his head. “I gave the guys some surveillance work—they’re checking in via texts.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” she said angrily. She also knew that if Luke identified himself as her husband, he would have the right to be present in the room during her examination and make medical decisions for her.

  “I have the right to my privacy,” she said more firmly. He frowned but nodded. “Yes, of course, I’ll leave the room when the doctor is looking you over, but as your commander, I have a right to know whether you’re fit for duty.”

  So we’re back to that.

  She pressed her lips together. There was no reason she had to tell the doctor exactly what her symptoms were. The pain wasn’t that bad. Another hour slowly ticked by before the nurse finally led them to the doctor’s office. Dr. Abdul was of medium height, medium build with a medium-brown complexion. He spoke with a surprisingly light accent. Diplomas hung on his wall, and Alessa was comforted by the fact that in addition to having gone to Rawalpindi Medical College on the eastern side of Pakistan, he’d also completed a fellowship program at the University of Toronto in Canada.

  They all agreed to speak in English once it was established that Luke and Alessa were from Azerbaijan and did not speak much Urdu.

  “Kind sir, you are welcome to stay here with your wife, but I find it is most helpful if you could wait outside while I talk to her. Then you can be here for any tests I administer.” Luke looked like he might protest, so the doctor went on melodiously. “I will not examine her or touch her without you being present, and you can stand right outside the door so she can call for you if necessary.”

  Alessa silently encouraged Luke to leave and after a curt nod, he exited the room.

  “Yes, Mrs. Rashida, tell me why you are coming here today.”

  “I fell and hurt my shoulder.”

  “Okay,” he said. “How did you fall?”

  “I was doing some house cleaning and slipped on the stairs.” It took Alessa a second to realize that it was an excuse her mother often used. How easily it had come rolling off her tongue.

  “I see.” Dr. Abdul’s voice was neutral, but the not-so-subtle shake of his head told her he didn’t buy it. However, she knew he wouldn’t believe if she said that she’d dislocated it while hanging off a cliff on the Khyber pass.

  “What are your symptoms?”

  “Some pain, but otherwise I’m okay. Local doctor popped the shoulder back into place.” Alessa had thought about it and not indicating that anything was wrong would raise even more suspicion.

  “Anything else? Any other injuries?”

  Alessa suddenly realized this was not the first time she’d heard this conversation. It was how all her mother’s medical appointments went. The doctors would probe and try to get her to admit that she was being beaten. Her mother would provide short answers in clipped tones. Everything was always okay and there was always an explanation for her inexplicable injuries. Alessa had never understood why her mother lied. Why, not once, had she leaned forward to say, “Doctor, my husband is beating me.” Perhaps for the same reasons Alessa had continued to cover for Aidan. Why she’d taken the blow to her career that he deserved. I’m trained, all my life I’ve been taught to take the hits.

  “If that is all you want to tell me, I’ll tell your husband to come back in.” The doctor stood and paused, but when she didn’t react, he opened the door. If Luke was surprised at the brevity, he didn’t show it.

  Dr. Abdul had Alessa lie on the table and pull off her hijab. He examined her shoulder and arm.

  “I will do X-rays, but I am also thinking you should get an MRI. I have one here but it will be expensive.” He paused dramatically.

  “How much?” Luke said irritably.

  “Ten thousand rupees. That’s in addition to my fees.” Alessa could tell that Luke was trying hard to look serious. He paced the room, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. It was not uncommon in Pakistan to carry around bundles of rupees. The banks often just stapled them together so people didn’t have to count hundreds of notes. The American equivalent of the test was a hundred dollars. In the States, you couldn’t even pay the doctor’s visit for that amount, but for a Pakistani, it was a lot of money.

  The doctor looked pleased at the show of cash. “The nurse will get the machine ready.”

  It took another two hours for the MRI to be completed. The doctor also took care of stitching up her knee, for an extra fee.

  When the results came back, Dr. Abdul pulled them back into his office, which now smelled of fragrant cardamom tea. The nurse brought Luke and Alessa a cup, too, and she savored hers, enjoying the sweet, milky liquid.

  “I have bad news,” Dr. Abdul said. “The scan shows that you have a Hill-Sachs lesion.” Luke leaned forward. “I am surprised you are not having more symptoms related to pain like dizziness, maybe nausea. Frankly, I am shocked you are sitting here drinking tea without medicine to numb the pain.”

  Alessa was feeling quite dizzy right now. Did this mean she couldn’t go on with the mission?

  “What exactly is a Hill-Sachs? I thought she had a dislocated shoulder.”

  “That’s what the local doctor told us,” Alessa added quickly to make sure Luke didn’t accidentally contradict her story.

  The doctor pushed a piece of paper forward and drew a bad rendition of a shoulder and arm. “Your local doctor was correct. You dislocated your shoulder, meaning the normal structures that hold the ball at the end of the arm bone inside the shoulder socket are damaged.” He looked pointedly at Luke. “I would guess this is not the first time you have dislocated.”

  Alessa took a sip of her tea. The doctor went on when neither of them responded. He pointed to the little ball he had drawn on his picture. “As this ball dislocates from the shoulder joint, it strikes the edge of the socket like this…” He slapped his hands together with force.

  He lifted an MRI image and pointed to a little marking. “This is a compression fracture on that ball.”

  “What do we need to do?” Luke asked.

  “You are lucky, madam.” Dr. Abdul looked directly at Alessa. “It’s not that big, so I don’t have to operate. It will heal on its own.” Both Alessa and Luke took a breath.

  The doctor held up a finger. “But you need to be careful. Any more falling down stairs and your shoulder could separate or that fracture could get bigger.” He stood and retrieved a bottle from a shelf, handing it to Alessa. “These are painkillers. No more than three a day.”

  Alessa didn’t recognize the name of the drug on the bottle and had no plans to take the painkillers, but she thanked him anyway.

  The doctor let them go after one more lecture and some more instructions. Once again Alessa was struck by how similar his speech sounded to the ones her mother’s doctors used to give her.

  “Don’t worry, Doctor, I will take care of her.” Luke said quietly.

  Alessa wondered how she would deal with Luke if he followed through on that promise.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ALESSA, RODGERS AND STEELE stopped at a chaiwallah, a roadside vendor selling fragrant tea from a pushcart. He had a kerosene stove for boiling water and a steel container full of loose leaf tea. Cardamom pods were scattered on the cart and he grabbed a few and ground them with a stone, then threw them into the boiling water. He added milk and sugar to the pot and let it simmer to the top until it nearly overflowed, then picked it up. He repeated this a couple of times, then strained the tea into
three glasses and handed them out. The brew smelled wonderfully sweet and spicy, mixing with the dewy predawn air.

  The dust levels were still tolerable. By late afternoon, the cars and foot traffic would make the street noisy, hot and suffocating. The melodious azam, the morning call to prayer, rang out from the mosques.

  “Hey, if you close your eyes, I could pretend it’s reveille,” Steele joked. They had stepped away from the chaiwallah after paying him. Dressed in local clothes, they blended in some but none of them spoke enough of the language to even fake it.

  They had been tasked with following their target, a man named Azizi who was fast asleep in his home half a block away. The three of them had started attracting the guard’s attention by loitering most of the night, so they’d decided to move out and leave a small camera to record in case the target moved. Alessa had argued with Luke for the better part of an hour to let her go with him to check out the location he suspected Ethan was being held at, but he had insisted she go on the easier surveillance assignment. The doctor had suggested a pain pill that wouldn’t make her drowsy when she’d insisted she had too much housework to do. Still, she just took half the dose and it helped a lot. She didn’t feel dizzy anymore.

  Alessa’s phone chimed and she nearly dropped her tea glass. It was her emergency ring. She spilled some hot tea on her hand in her haste to pass the glass to Rodgers. “Hello?”

  “Is this Miss Parrino?”

  Her heart stopped. This was her operational phone and to reach it, someone would have had to call her US-based emergency number and convince the operator that this was a true emergency. Then that operator would have had to route the call to a non-army operator who would reconfirm details. Only then would her phone ring. She’d set up the system so the guys could be reached if there was an emergency with their families. Especially Dimples, who worried about his kids. She hadn’t been expecting her own ringer to go off.

  “Who is this?” she asked carefully.