by Cindy Dees
Tex dived in. “Well, then. We’ll hunker down and wait this thing out until you’re ready to go, Hoss.”
Annie looked at Tom. “Hoss?”
“My handle. And don’t ask.”
Tex and Mac grinned widely, but said nothing. Annie knew a challenge when she saw one. Sooner or later she’d get one of them to tell her where “Hoss” came from.
The conversation drifted into small talk. A few war stories were swapped, and Tex updated Tom on how the other members of the team were fairing.
Annie went to the refrigerator to get refills on drinks and was surprised when Mac joined her in the kitchenette.
“How much morphine is the major taking, Miss O’Donnell?”
“Call me Annie, and he’s down to two pills every twelve hours.”
“Do you happen to know the status of his injuries?”
“His ribs and the left forearm aren’t fully healed yet, and he complained about his right collarbone a little while ago. But beyond that, he seems to be mostly healed.”
“Hallelujah. We may just make it out of here alive, then.”
“You mean that’s in any doubt?”
He gave her a long look and then answered, his voice candid. “You were holed up in that hospital a long time. The situation has gotten very bad in St. George the last few weeks. There’s going to be bloodshed and lots of it before this is over, and the rebels are fanatically anti-American.”
“What about the government? Won’t they help the Americans get out?”
“They’re trying to gain support from the population and have taken up a new anti-American stance. Besides, they’re too busy covering their own behinds to worry about ours. We’re on our own.”
Dread burst forth inside Annie. “We’ve got to get out of here before the lid blows, Mac. How much time do you think we have?”
“Hopefully a few days, maybe no more than hours. If this rumored rebel attack on the coast highway pans out, it’s probably going to draw an all-out response from the government.”
Annie stared, wide-eyed, at him. “I had no idea it was so close. What are we going to do?”
He shrugged and gave her a grim look.
“Hey, what are you two whispering about over there?”
Annie turned away. Hastily she poured a glass of iced tea and carried it to Tom. “Mac was just telling me the rebels don’t like Americans.”
Tom nodded slowly. “That’s a fact. They certainly tried their best to kill us in the jungle.”
Tex commented, “You’d have thunk there was a big ol’ reward for our scalps, the way they came after us. ’Coon hounds couldn’t have chased us harder. Speaking of such things, I hear the American Embassy’s pulling out all its folks day after tomorrow. You gonna be leaving us, ma’am…I mean, Annie?”
The embassy staff was pulling out? The gravity of her situation hit Annie so hard it knocked the breath out of her.
Tom answered for her. “She can’t leave with the embassy personnel. Annie gave up her diplomatic immunity when she yanked me out of the hospital. She’s coming out with us.”
Tom’s men were silent, but a dismayed look passed between them.
She cleared her throat. “Look, guys. I don’t want to be a burden to you. Major Folly’s going to be enough for you to handle when you leave. I can make my own way out of town. I know the area pretty well, and I have some contacts. I’ll work something out.”
Tom was on his feet in front of her in the blink of an eye. He grabbed her by her upper arms and glared down at her.
“That’s enough of that. Don’t you even think about leaving on your own. Got it?”
“But…”
“That’s a direct order, Annie, with all the authority of the Uniform Code of Military Justice behind it. Do you understand me?”
Sheesh. He didn’t have to get so worked up about it. “I understand.”
“You’re with us, and this team doesn’t leave anybody behind. It’s why my guys didn’t get out seven weeks ago, and it’s why I’m not even bothering to ask them to leave without me now. We live or die together. Like it or not, Annie, you’re part of that deal for now.”
Tex and Mac murmured their agreement.
She looked at the grim faces of the three men. It obviously wouldn’t do any good to argue with them, but she was troubled by the arrangement. Their leader was already hurt, and she’d be yet another liability to them. But she had enough experience with stubborn men to know these three had dug in their heels and wouldn’t be budged on this one.
She sighed. “Well, I guess that’s settled, then. I’m going with you guys. But just for the record, there’s no way on God’s green earth I can swim twelve miles to get to a ship.”
Tom grinned down at her. “Wimp. I guess we’ll have to get you a boat and the rest of us will swim behind it and push you.”
“Gimme a break.”
Tex shrugged. “We’ve done worse before.”
The smile faded from Annie’s face. Holy mackerel. Tom wasn’t kidding. What kinds of superheroes were these guys?
Annie woke up abruptly sometime after midnight, unsure of what had startled her out of her sleep.
There it was again. A faint noise, like rain hitting a metal roof. Except it sounded like it was coming from far away. She lay on the couch for several minutes, staring at the ceiling. The refrigerator rattled and then settled down to humming quietly. She didn’t hear the noise again.
Restless, she rolled over a couple times, trying to get comfortable in her uncomfortable bed on the sofa.
A sharp noise jerked her upright. It was much closer this time. Much louder. And it sounded like…
That was gunfire! Right down the street.
And then another sound, one that caused her to leap to her feet. Tom groaned as if he were in pain.
Ohmigosh. Was he hit?
She raced into the bedroom and found him tossing on the bed, fast asleep. She sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to soothe his forehead.
This time she wasn’t quite as startled when he jerked her down beside him and whispered, “Get down, for chrissake, Jackie. They’ll shoot you.”
“Tom. Tom, it’s Annie. Wake up.”
Slowly he roused from his dream. His eyes opened, and his gaze locked on to her face. Gradually his eyes focused on her.
“Annie. What are you doing here?”
“You were having a bad…”
She broke off as a burst of gunfire sounded practically outside the window.
He rolled completely on top of her, crushing her. “Stay down,” he ordered.
Annie replied dryly. “I had that one figured out, thanks. Besides, I couldn’t move if I wanted to.”
With a flash of white teeth, he grinned and rolled off her and on to the floor before Annie could stop him. She watched him…slither was the only word for it…to the window. He eased himself up under the curtain and peered cautiously outside.
He slithered back to the bed.
“Get on the floor on the far side of the bed.”
Annie rolled off the bed, doing her best to imitate his liquid movements. It was harder than it looked. He started to drag the mattress toward the living room. As soon as she realized what he was up to, she crawled over and pushed the clumsy mattress from behind.
Once they’d horsed the thing into the living room, they stretched out side by side on the narrow double mattress, each lying very still in their mutual awkwardness. In the silence following another volley of shots, Tom pulled down her pillow and blankets from the sofa.
“We may as well get comfortable. Those snipers are going to be out there a while.”
“There are snipers out there?”
“Welcome to the Gavronese revolution, Annie.”
“What are you saying?” Her mind refused to grasp the implication of his words.
“Congratulations. You’ve just entered a war zone.”
“Maybe it’s just some of those drunks Tex was talking about.”
Tom fluffed the lone pillow and drew her close so they could share it. He pulled the blanket over them and tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder.
“Sorry. Those are government and rebel soldiers down there firing at each other.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“I chased a bunch of rebel uniforms through the jungle not too long ago, and I don’t believe the government has changed its markings recently. Yup, I’m sure.”
“Good Lord.” So. War had come. The realization was beyond sobering. It was chilling. Absolutely terrifying.
“Welcome to my world, angel.”
She didn’t know whether to laugh at the absurdity of finding herself in the middle of a war zone, or to cry at the tragedy of Tom living in this bizarre, dangerous world.
“What do we do now?”
“We rest, and we wait for morning. The shooting will stop when it gets light out. You may as well get comfortable. We’re gonna be here the rest of the night.”
“And you live like this voluntarily?”
He shrugged under her ear. “I don’t like war zones. But somebody’s got to do this job, and I’ve got the skills to do it safely.” He paused while another burst of gunfire exploded outside. “Or at least as safely as is possible under the circumstances,” he added.
Annie shivered against him.
“Relax and try to get some sleep.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, not at all. There’s nothing we can do but ride it out.”
“There’s no way I’ll ever sleep with bullets flying outside my window.”
Humor tinged his voice. “You’d be surprised. If you get tired enough, you can sleep just about anyplace, anytime, including the middle of a war. Besides, this isn’t that bad. There aren’t rockets and mortars exploding all around us.”
“Gee, that’s reassuring.”
A silent chuckle vibrated his chest. She snuggled closer to him, grateful for the solid feel of him against her. Just knowing he was beside her was reassuring. As long as she was with him, she’d be safe. He’d promised to take care of her, and he would keep that promise.
He rolled on his side and gathered her against his chest. “I have to say, you feel a lot nicer to hole up with than any of my guys.”
“You mean you cuddle with them like this, too?”
A snort of laughter escaped him. “Hardly. I may be close to my guys, but we’re not that close.”
“That’s a relief.”
The moment of humor subsided slowly as they enjoyed a lull in the shooting.
After a particularly prolonged and loud exchange of gunfire, Annie whispered, “Tom, are you asleep?”
“No.”
“Do you mind if we talk some? Maybe it’d help keep my mind off the shooting.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
She thought about it for a second. “You said the name Jackie in your sleep. Who’s he?”
Tom’s voice was ice. “She. Pick another topic.”
Wow. She must have hit a raw nerve, there.
“You seemed really upset by your dream. I’m just trying to look out for your health and well-being, here.”
“So you’re a psychologist, now, are you?” he challenged.
“It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to know when something’s upsetting somebody,” she retorted.
He exhaled hard. “You’re not going to leave this alone, are you?”
“Nope.”
His voice went dangerously calm. “Jackie is a woman who betrayed me and my team. She led us into a trap, and her father—a world-class drug smuggler—and his cronies shot the hell out of us. They killed one of my guys, ended the career of another and damn near killed the rest of us. We all got out of there with multiple gunshot wounds.”
“Was she beautiful?”
“Now why would you ask a question like that?” he challenged.
“Call it female intuition.”
She felt him shake his head in the dark. “Yeah. She was so beautiful it hurt to look at her. I think every guy on the team was half in love with her.”
Including him? Annie gulped. Wow. Being betrayed by someone he fancied himself in love with must have been awful.
Her arms crept around him of their own volition. He’d suffered so much in his career. It was too much for his country to ask of him. If only she’d known him before she had to make that decision over the jungle. Maybe she’d have chosen differently. And maybe he wouldn’t have been hurt. And maybe, a reasonable corner of her brain argued, they would all have died.
For all she knew, a stray bullet could ricochet into this room and she or Tom might die tonight. Nothing was certain in war. She cast about for another topic that would distract her.
“Okay. Here’s another one for you, Tom. How did you get the nickname Hoss?”
He grunted. “We’re not going there, no matter how scared you are.”
“Aw, come on. There must be story behind a name like that. Are you named after the television cowboy?”
“No, and I’m not going to tell you any more about it. It’s not fit for a lady’s ears.”
She couldn’t argue with that. If he thought she was a lady, far be it from her to disabuse him of the notion.
He interrupted her thoughts. “Okay, it’s my turn to ask a question.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” she replied.
“Why this career?”
“You mean why did I join the Air Force or why did I become a pilot?”
“Both.”
“I joined the Air Force to get away from home. I come from a teeny little town in Iowa. I was expected to marry my childhood sweetheart, become something safe and traditional like a schoolteacher, have some kids and die there of old age or boredom, whichever came first.”
“So you rebelled against your hometown?”
“I rebelled against my father. He’s a retired army colonel and controlled every detail of my life. He only had daughters, and he always complained about not having a son to follow in his footsteps. I suppose on some level I joined the military in hopes of gaining his approval.”
“And did you?”
Annie sighed. “Not hardly. Girls don’t belong in the military according to him.”
“Why did you choose to fly?”
She laughed. “I like roller coasters.”
“Come again?”
“I like being upside down and going the speed of heat with my hair on fire. Flying’s fun.”
He commented dryly, “Except when you’re getting shot at.”
His words were a cold slap across her face. Flying also was no fun when she was faced with life-and-death decisions that terribly wounded another human being.
They needed to change the subject. Now. She said lightly, “It’s my turn, again. So, tell me about yourself, Tom.”
“What do you want to know?” he asked cautiously.
“Where are you from?”
“Norman, Oklahoma.”
“Brothers and sisters?”
“One of each.”
“You’re the oldest.”
“How could you tell?”
Annie laughed. “You’re joking, right? You’ve got responsible eldest sibling written all over you. Let’s see. What else?” She adopted what she hoped was a breezy tone. “Are you married?”
“Nope.”
“Ever been married?”
“Nope.”
“Did you ever want to be?”
He answered indignantly, “You don’t have to ask that in the past tense. It’s not like I’m too old to get married, you know.”
“Sorry. Do you want to be married someday?”
“Maybe someday. I can’t see doing it with my present career. It’s not fair to ask a woman to love a guy who may die tomorrow.”
That silenced her. A girl would be foolish, indeed, to fall in love with a guy who might die tomorrow. But a guy like that wasn’t bad to be with on the floor of a dark
room, in the middle of the night, while a revolution raged outside the window.
Chapter 6
S unlight shone painfully in Tom’s eyes, bringing him abruptly awake. He shifted his arm under a strange weight and realized it was Annie’s head.
He ached from head to foot, as if he’d been worked over with a baseball bat. He was really going soft in his old age. Sleeping on a floor had never left him feeling quite this lousy before. For the first time in his career, doubt coiled in his gut. Was he going to be able to get his team and Annie out of this one alive?
He suppressed the thought violently. Thinking like that would certainly get them killed. There was no room for hesitation in his world, no mercy for those who looked back over their shoulders. They would make it out…somehow.
But meanwhile he felt like death warmed over.
He must’ve groaned because Annie popped up on her elbow beside him.
“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m just a little sore this morning.”
“I know the perfect cure for that.”
“Oh, yeah?”
She started to sit up but stopped partway. “Is it safe to sit up now?”
“Yup. The shooting stopped a couple hours ago. All the toy soldiers have gone to bed. They won’t come out again until tonight.”
“Tonight? You mean we have to go through that hell again?”
“’Fraid so.”
Her look of dismay was so cute, he nearly dragged her down on top of him to kiss it away. “Why don’t you tell me about this surefire cure of yours for all these aches and pains of mine? You don’t happen to have a bottle of whiskey stowed around here somewhere, do you?”
“No such luck. I had this in mind.” Her hands settled on him, and she began kneading the muscles of his shoulder and neck.
His whole left side went warm and relaxed under her touch, and his eyes drifted closed. He pushed away the guilt of being safe and comfortable while his men were out there dodging bullets. Just this once he would let himself enjoy the moment.
“I’ve died and gone to Heaven. You could do this to every inch of me and I wouldn’t complain.”
Her hands paused for a moment, but she didn’t answer.
He opened one eye to peer at her. There it was. That rosy shade her cheeks got when she was embarrassed. She looked down, concentrating on massaging his palm where it protruded from the cast. Who’d have guessed a hand was such an erogenous zone? But as her fingertips slid between the bases of his fingers and drifted across his palm, the tingly friction definitely influenced other parts of his anatomy.
