Lethal Game

by Julie Rowe

  “Bossy.”

  “Shut up, both of you.” Max sounded fed up and looked it, too. “Here’s your cot, Sophia.” He dropped it on the floor. “In light of tonight’s events, you and your bodyguard can report in at 0900.”

  “Whoopee, we get to sleep in a whole two hours.”

  “Hey,” Con said. “Two hours of sleep is two hours of sleep. Don’t knock our benefactor.”

  Sophia rolled her eyes.

  “This is a terrible idea,” Max muttered as he shook his head and left. “They’re too much alike.”

  Con locked the door and smiled at her. “That was awesome.”

  She blinked. “I didn’t plan on being so irritating, it just sort of happened.”

  “I know, that’s what makes it so awesome.” He held out his fist toward her.

  She glanced at it for a second, then very slowly bumped it with her own fist. “We’re starting to think like a team?” she guessed.

  “Yeah.” For a moment he looked like someone had hit him in the back of the head with a bat. He turned away, picked up her cot and began assembling it.

  It only took him twenty seconds or so to have the cot ready. He put it against the wall leaving a space between his bed and her cot to walk.

  Too much space, and she was starting to shiver. When had she gotten so cold?

  “Connor?”

  He pulled the sleeping bag out of its sleeve and unrolled it on the cot. “What?” he asked without looking at her.

  “Can I sleep a little closer to you?”

  She hadn’t even finished talking and his gaze was on her face. Whatever he saw made him approach her and cup her cheeks.

  “You’re starting to feel the effects, aren’t you?”

  “If you mean shaking, nausea and dizziness, then yes.” She wasn’t sure when it had started, probably sometime after they arrived in Connor’s room, but it was getting progressively worse as the seconds went by.

  It was like her whole body was going haywire. Something short-circuited somewhere.

  Connor coaxed her to sit on his bed, then he pulled her cot right over so there was no space between their sleeping areas.

  The shaking got worse and she began to have trouble breathing. An invisible weight sat on her chest and she couldn’t seem to breathe around it.

  Connor sat down beside her, then pulled her right on to his lap and wrapped his long arms around her. He crooned into her ear, “I’ve got you, you’re okay. You’re safe now.” Over and over.

  She turned her face into his chest and began to cry. “What’s wrong with me?”

  He rocked her a little and said, “It’s your body coming down off the adrenaline high and the stress reaction to the ugliness of what you experienced all wrapped up in one nasty package.”

  “But, I wasn’t hu...hurt.”

  “The threat is often more than enough.” He sighed into her hair and kissed her temple.

  “You must think me a pretty po...poor partner, to fa...fall apart like this.”

  “Hey, none of that now,” he said in a stern tone. “Something similar happened to me during my first year of training.”

  “You cried?”

  “Like a fucking baby.”

  She lifted her head to study his face, but there was nothing closed about it. He looked at her, his eyes and mouth drooping with sadness.

  “And my battle buddy...” His voice died. After a hard swallow, he cleared his throat, then continued, “held me while I blew snot nuggets into his shirt.”

  It should be physiologically impossible to laugh and cry at the same time. It kind of hurt in a hiccupy, sneezy sort of way.

  It did help to calm her down, and she was able to stop after a few more minutes. She wiped her nose on his shirt and eased off his lap. “Thanks.”

  He looked askance at his shirt. “Anytime, partner.”

  “You said you were going to have a shower anyway,” she said, wincing.

  “You going to be okay if I have that shower?”

  “Yeah, I think I’m done blubbering all over you.” Now that she was calm, exhaustion made her limbs feel like they weighed ten times what they normally did. “I’m kind of sleepy.”

  He nodded. “I’ll only be a few minutes. Don’t open the door to anyone. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you’re not here.”

  She yawned. “I understand.” Sophia stretched out on the edge of his bed, intending to move to her cot in a second or two. “Go. Get clean.”

  He made little noise as he grabbed his toiletry kit and towel. She barely heard the door close behind him.

  * * *

  Con would have liked to have someone he could pound on, but a shower in the hottest water he could stand was all he had time for. He was finished and checking on her in three minutes. Clean and wearing only the towel around his waist.

  Sophia was fast asleep on his bed.

  One little push would have rolled her into her cot, but he found he didn’t want her even that far away. He put a pair of boxers on, then pulled on a pair of sleep pants. He slid in behind Sophia, spooned up against her, put an arm around her and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

  * * *

  A number of booted feet marching down the hall created enough noise to wake the dead. Con discovered himself held down in the most awesome manner possible. Sophia had rolled over in her sleep and somehow draped herself over his chest. One of her legs was thrown over both of his, effectively holding him down.

  He checked his watch. 0845. “Hey,” he said, giving Sophia a small shake. “Wake up.”

  “Why?” she mumbled.

  “Because we have to report for duty in fifteen minutes.”

  She groaned and sat up. She looked around, took in her position and his and asked, “Did I sleep with you on this plank all night?”

  “Yes, and it’s not a plank, it’s a bed.”

  “It’s barely a bed.”

  “It’s the same as yours.”

  “Ha,” she snorted. “I added another mattress to mine because it felt like I was sleeping on a plank.”

  “And you snore.”

  “I do not.”

  “It’s kind of like a purring snore. Cute.”

  “I’m going to cute you in the mouth,” she grumbled. “I need a shower.”

  Connor considered her for a moment. She seemed okay. “Sure, go ahead.”

  She got to her feet and took a step before he saw them.

  Bruises.

  “Sophia?” He was up and next to her before she got all the way around.

  “What?”

  He lifted one of her arms and took a good look at the bruise pattern on the skin of her biceps. A hand.

  She followed his gaze and sighed. “That’s not bad, actually.”

  He touched her face, stroked one finger along her jaw. “You have more here.” The sight of them made him want to beat the shit out of the two assholes who’d put their hands on her all over again.

  She shrugged. “I get new ones every day.”

  He could see them, the old bruises, some dark, some pale yellow and green. Her uniform would cover most of them up, keep them out of sight. Was anyone aware of how many she carried on her body?

  Was he responsible for any of them?

  “It looks worse than it is,” she said, a crooked smile on her face. She shrugged again and went into the bathroom.

  He stood there for a whole minute, thinking. Trying to figure out a way he could keep her safe.

  Safe. That was one state of being no soldier counted on.

  * * *

  Fifteen minutes later, they reported for duty only two minutes late. As soon as she said hello to Eugene, Max was in the doorway to his office.

&n
bsp; “Sophia.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  He didn’t reply, just looked at her for a moment, then went back inside. Wonderful, he was in a mood.

  She followed.

  Connor touched her arm and asked in a low voice, “You okay?”

  He asked her that now instead of when they woke up? Or was his complete avoidance of their sexual encounter his way of reinforcing the no relationship part of their relationship? “Of course, it’s just Max.”

  “If you need anything, you call me. Got it?”

  “What, like a cup of coffee and a muffin?”

  One eyebrow rose. “Funny.”

  Oddly, needling him made her feel better, almost normal.

  She went into Max’s office. He was reading something on his computer and didn’t look up when he said, “Close the door.”

  She closed it then sat down in the chair in front of Max’s desk. Good God her back hurt. Connor was wrong. That thing he slept in wasn’t just a bed, it was a bed of nails.

  Max turned away from the computer to examine her as if she were an interesting new disease. “How are you?”

  How are you? or how did this happen? The questions Max often began within his informational fishing expeditions. If she answered honestly, she’d probably be in therapy the rest of her deployment.

  “Tired and irritated.”

  Her answer seemed to surprise him. “Irritated?”

  “You’d understand if you had a six-foot-something guardian Green Beret watching your every move for signs of injury, distress or even worse, a paper cut.”

  Max grunted. “Good. The lone man who tried to gain entry to your room leaves on a flight later today.”

  “Good.” They stared at each other for another moment. Then Sophia said, “Anything else?”

  “Send Button in.”

  She nodded and left. “Max wants to see you,” she said to Connor. “I’m going to my office.”

  “See you there.”

  She kept walking, but Connor didn’t move. He was still watching her when she glanced back as she opened her door.

  Paranoid much?

  She flipped on the lights, made her way to her desk and logged in to her computer. After looking at all the lab results for all the tests completed this morning, she began reviewing blood smears.

  Everything about the day was normal, so why did shivers rack her body every few minutes?

  Connor stuck his head through the doorway. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes.” She looked him over. “You appear...” Perfectly lickable. “Undamaged.”

  He grinned. “Max is a professional. Roughing me up would hurt his reputation. I’ve got to pick up some additional gear. I should only be gone for a bit.”

  “I’m not your mom, you can go wherever you like.”

  He lost his smile and came all the way into the room, not stopping until he was crouched next to her. He put a hand on her knee and it felt so shockingly warm she jerked.

  His expression was so neutral she knew it was a lie.

  “When I get back,” he said in an easy tone. “You’re going to get another Tai Chi lesson.”

  “I don’t have time.”

  “It’s only going to take ten minutes.”

  “That doesn’t seem worth it.”

  “It’ll help with the shakes.”

  She wanted to tell him he was imagining things, but that would be a blatant untruth. She just nodded.

  He left and she managed to work another ten minutes before the nervous energy in her body forced her to get up and walk around. Might as well go to the bathroom.

  Jones was in there and she looked Sophia over. “How are you? It’s all over the base what happened last night.”

  “I’m okay. Kind of sick of everyone asking though.”

  Jones smiled. “Got it. Most of the women on the base will be showing some solidarity by sitting with you at meals today. Wave at me when you’re ready to go to lunch.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “You’re tougher than most people, Dr. Perry, but we need to do it for all of us.”

  “Okay.”

  A minute later, she and Jones exited the bathroom.

  When they reached Eugene’s desk, Jones said to Sophia, “See you at lunch.” Then she turned and smiled at Eugene. “Hi, Gene, having a good morning so far?”

  “It’s okay,” he said, his gaze darting between Sophia and Jones. “Got a lot of extra paperwork to do thanks to those assholes last night.” He focused his attention on Jones, looking her square in the eyes despite a blush heating his cheeks. “You’re being safe, right? Traveling in groups?”

  “Yes.” Jones’s smile deepened. “I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Catch you later, Gene.” She winked at Sophia and left.

  “She likes you,” Sophia told him as they both watched the woman walk away.

  “She likes me?” Eugene asked incredulously.

  “That’s what she told me,” Sophia said, then winced. “Was I supposed to tell you that?”

  Eugene threw his hands up in the air. “I do not understand women. That one least of all.”

  “I think she likes smart and you’ve got more brains than most of the men on this base.”

  “Thanks,” Eugene said dryly. “But I’m small fry compared to Sergeant Button. The guy could give lessons in interrogation.”

  “He interrogated you?”

  “Yeah, about you, Max and the whole team.”

  A cold ball of uneasiness settled into the pit of her stomach. “What did you tell him?”

  “About you? That you like solving puzzles that involve really small things and you want to make a difference.” He paused. “Should I have kept my mouth shut?”

  “I doubt he would have let you.” Sophia looked away for a moment, then said, “Thanks, Gene.”

  “Anytime. Oh, I almost forgot, Colonel Maximillian wants to see you again. General Stone and Connor are in there, too.”

  That can’t be good. “Okay.”

  Last night was a jumbled mess in her head. She’d been frightened, then almost overwhelmed with lust, then ridiculously angry. The only constant in all of it was a man who couldn’t let go of his ghosts.

  Now she had to face him, as well as her mentor and a general who could put an end to her partnership with Connor anytime he wanted.

  She slipped her focused physician mask over her, let it settle into place and prepared to deal with the coming interrogation.

  Chapter Nine

  “I’ll talk to Max first, thanks.” Sophia gave Eugene what she hoped was a businesslike nod and walked toward the colonel’s office. The door was closed, so she knocked.

  “Enter.”

  She found Max, General Stone and Connor in the room. Max and the general were seated, Connor was standing at parade rest.

  All three men wore grim expressions.

  Sophia stepped inside then closed the door before asking, “What’s wrong?”

  General Stone spoke. “We’ve interrogated the two men who accosted you outside your quarters last night. They’re part of the construction crew, and were already on the base when a man approached them and offered several thousand American dollars to grab any female American soldiers who have white-blond hair and deliver them to a truck waiting outside.”

  Her stomach turned and twisted. “How many women on the base have my hair color?”

  “Two. The other woman is one of our telecommunication techs and was on duty last night. They never could have reached her.”

  All three men stared at her, but only Connor’s mouth looked angry. Max and the general appeared more resigned than anything else. Or tired.

  “It was your idea to sleep i
n Sergeant Button’s quarters last night?” General Stone asked, one corner of his mouth tightening briefly in disapproval.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why?”

  “I trust him, sir.”

  This time the general allowed disapproval to take up residence on his face. “Just like that?”

  “He was there when I needed him and he let me cry on his shoulder afterward without making me feel like I was being a wuss. I slept in his room and he didn’t try anything remotely inappropriate.”

  Stone stood and said to Max, “I’m not in favor of this because it sets a bad example, but we’ve got an information leak, and I can admit that the situation is a unique one.” He turned his attention to Connor. “Are you keeping your head in the game?”

  “Yes, sir,” Connor promised in his deep baritone.

  General Stone stared at him for a couple more seconds, then looked at her again and angled his thumb at Connor. “Rumors will, without a doubt, go around. Can you deal with that?”

  “I can deal with that better than getting kidnapped.”

  Stone sighed. “Max, I thought you were being paranoid, but last night has changed my mind. I’m going to ask for help profiling Akbar, see if we can figure out what he’s going to do next, or at least come up with a short list of possibilities. We have to get ahead of this maniac before he starts World War Three.” He nodded at everyone and left the office.

  Max waited until the door was closed again before saying, “I need you both to write a report for that second event last night. Then I need you two to prepare for a last-minute departure.”

  “Are you thinking of sending me somewhere safer?” Sophia asked, stomach churning at the idea of being taken out of the field.

  “No, I think we’re going to have one, if not multiple, outbreaks. I think Akbar is planning to use another biological weapon soon, and he’s behind the attempt to grab you last night.”

  “To stop us from responding to an outbreak?”

  “Yes.”

  Sophia’s stomach twisted harder. “It makes sense in a sociopath sort of way.”

  Connor snorted, but didn’t comment otherwise.

  She fixed her gaze on her boss. “I don’t want to go through another night like last night, Max.”