by Elle James
His hand tightened on her elbow. “I want you in my life, Beth. After you left, I realized I missed you.”
“Jonathan, I didn’t leave.” She stopped short of the camp and faced him. “You left me to go on another voluntary mission. Two weeks before our wedding.” She shook her head. “I just made it more permanent by ending our engagement.”
“I didn’t want to end our engagement. I wanted to marry you.”
“And I wanted a commitment. After you postponed our wedding for the second time, two weeks from the ceremony, I knew I would always come last.”
He frowned. “I thought you, of all people, would understand. When we’re called up…we go.”
She smiled into his face. “I’m in the Army. I know what it means to see your loved ones leave. I know the Army has you first. Family is second. But there’s a difference between being ordered to go and volunteering. You volunteered—two weeks before our wedding that had already been postponed.”
“Volunteered?” For such an intelligent man, he looked like a confused child.
“Yes. You volunteered. They had other doctors who could have gone and let you make it through your wedding before you headed out again.”
His lips pressed together. “So, it’s the voluntary part of this puzzle that got to you?”
She nodded. “You volunteered to put me second in your life. I would’ve been disappointed but accepting if the deployment had been ordered. I expected that. The fact that you willingly put us on hold for the second time was what made me realize we weren’t meant to be together.”
He reached for her hands.
When she stepped back, he let his arms fall to his sides. “I can work on that.”
“Why? This is what you do. This is your passion, more than any relationship you might have had with me.”
“But we’re good together.”
“As a doctor and nurse. But as husband and wife, we’d fail miserably. I want more than you’re capable of giving.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I did the right thing.”
“Beth, I love you,” he said. “I want to spend the rest of my life proving that to you. I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me otherwise.”
“Jonathan—” The sound of helicopter rotors pounding the air cut her off and made her turn toward the Black Hawk coming in for a landing. “Is it the Deltas coming back in?”
“Maybe.”
A single soldier hopped off the craft and ran toward a group of men standing nearby.
Beth’s pulse quickened when she recognized one of them as Doug Masters. Her core heated and a warm flush rose up her neck into her cheeks. “Let’s go see what’s happening.”
As they hurried toward the men, the group broke up and ran toward their sleeping quarters.
The only man left standing on the edge of camp was the one who’d leaped out of the helicopter.
“What’s happening?” Jonathan asked as they approached the Delta.
“We’ve run into a little trouble. The guys sent me back for reinforcements. You’ll need to stand by for casualties. Have your flight medical team ready to go. The chopper will be back as soon as we drop off the fresh meat.”
Beth flinched at his words. “Are our guys getting hit hard?”
“They weren’t yet, but they were about to go into a village the Boko Haram are razing. They outnumber us at least four to one.”
Beth’s heart squeezed tightly in her chest. She almost asked if there was anything they could do to help but realized by being prepared to move as a medical team, they were doing what they could. She lifted her chin. “We’ll be ready.”
Dawg and his team came running, carrying their weapons and extra magazines full of ammunition. They ran past Beth and Jonathan. Dawg cast a brief glance their way without breaking stride. They loaded onto the helicopter, along with the man from the other Delta team. The chopper’s blades beat the air as the craft lifted off the ground and rose into the air. In a matter of seconds, it was gone, carrying men into danger.
Her breath hitched in her throat as the Black Hawk disappeared. Then she turned and ran with Jonathan back to the hospital tent to gather supplies and equipment they might need when the shooting stopped.
Beth’s stomach knotted every time she thought about Dawg rushing into the fight. She hoped he’d keep his head down and come out of it intact. If this was what life as a Delta’s woman was like…she wasn’t sure she wanted any part of it. At this point, she didn’t have a choice. She was there. Dawg was one of the men she’d been brought in to support. She had a job to do, and she needed to leave emotions out of it.
Yeah. Right. Like that would be easy.
The pilot brought the helicopter as close as he could to the hot zone and touched the ground long enough for the men to pile out onto the ground. The door gunner provided cover for the men on the ground as the chopper lifted into the air and flew out of range of small arms fire and any rocket-propelled grenades the terrorists might lob their way.
The men had their headsets tuned to the same frequency as the other Delta team already on the ground.
Every building in the small village was on fire. The villagers were scattering, running out into the underbrush. Some had been captured, herded into the center of the fires and forced to their knees.
“Glad you made it just in time. We need to stop them from executing those people,” a voice said into Dawg’s ear. “We’ve set up a perimeter halfway around the settlement. So far, they don’t know how many of us are out here. As soon as we start taking out their men, all hell will break loose. The odds are four to one.”
“Easy,” Rucker said. “Let’s do this before they kill those villagers.”
“Got our best snipers ready. As soon as they pick off the assassins, we’re moving forward.”
“We’ve got your six,” Rucker said.
Hunkering low, Dawg’s team spread out and closed in on the village.
Gunfire was their cue.
The men holding the rifles to their captive’s heads dropped to the ground.
The ones gathered around spun in their tracks and glanced toward the edge of the village.
Delta Force snipers dropped two more before the terrorists dove for the ground.
The villagers they’d captured scattered, heading for the cover.
Dawg moved into the village ahead of Mac, established himself at the corner of a building and waited for Mac to leapfrog to a position ahead of Dawg. He made it to the next corner and waved Dawg on.
Moving swiftly, he ran past Mac to the corner of a hut and peered around the edge. Several men carrying AK-47s ran toward him.
Dawg swung his rifle out in front of him, stepped out into the open and fired.
Three of the four men dropped. The fourth had time to raise his rifle.
A shot fired from behind Dawg nailed the bastard. He fell to the ground and lay still.
Mac and Dawg grabbed the terrorists’ weapons, ejected the magazines and chambered rounds and slung the rifles into a burning hut before they moved on. Gunfire sounded all around them. The cries of villagers spurred Dawg on.
Dawg emerged near the center of the burning village as the other members of the team came out.
Trapped, the men of Boko Haram fired at anything that moved.
The villagers still around lay on the ground, either dead or too terrified to move.
Deltas fired, taking the men out, one by one, until the last three standing threw down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. Bull, Mac and Blade hurried forward and secured the combatants.
The sun sank below the horizon, and the shadowy stillness of dusk settled over the burning village.
“Deltas sound off,” Rucker’s voice came across Dawg’s headset. “Team Charlie.”
One by one the members of Team Charlie sounded off. “Is that all of you?” Rucker asked.
“Yes, sir,” a voice said. “Bodie took a hit to his left thigh.”
“Team Bravo, sound
off.”
Mac nodded from his position near one of their prisoners. “Mac.”
Dawg raised a hand. “Dawg.”
Bull gave a chin lift as he stood over his prisoner. “Bull.”
Blade straightened after applying a zip-tie to his prisoner’s wrists. “Blade.”
“Lance, on perimeter.”
A long empty pause made Dawg’s pulse quicken.
“Dash, sound off,” Rucker said.
He was supposed to be on perimeter, too,” Lance said.
“Sending Team Charlie out,” a voice said.
Bull nodded toward Mac. “You got these guys?”
Mac nodded. “Go.”
Rucker, Bull, Blade and Dawg spread out, heading for the perimeter of the village. The darker the sky got, the more worried Dawg became.
“Hey,” a voice sounded in his headset. “Where’d everyone go?”
“Dash?” Rucker’s voice came across. Where are you?”
“I’m not sure.” Dash’s voice sounded shaky.
“Can you stand?” Rucker asked.
“Don’t know until I try,” he said. A moment later he reported. “No can do. The world is tilting.”
“If you can sit up, do it. We’ll find you.”
Dawg reached the edge of the village and lowered his night vision goggles. It was still a little too light outside, but he hoped he could pick up Dash’s heat signature.
He scanned the corners of the buildings and swept his search out into the nearby tall grass. A light green lump appeared fifty yards from where Dawg stood. After checking for bogies, Dawg ran toward the heat signature.
When he arrived, he pushed the night vision goggles away from his eyes. “I found him,” Dawg reported. “Hey, buddy, what happened to you?”
Dash shook his head. “I’m not exactly sure. One moment I was fine, the next moment, I was swimming.” He moved to show a dark stain on the ground beneath him.
“Shit.” Dawg dropped to his knees and ran his hands over Dash’s leg. The blood was coming from the back of his thigh, and he was losing a lot of it. “Dash, I need to roll you over onto your stomach while I apply pressure to the wound.”
“Roll away,” Dash said, his voice weak. “I’d help you, but I think I’ll sleep.” He closed his eyes and lay his head on the ground.
Dawg rolled him over and pressed his hand to the wound.
By that time, Bull caught up with him. “Keep applying pressure,” he said. As the team medic, he took over, pulling a thick wad of gauze from his stash in the pocket of his trousers. He folded the gauze into an even thicker pad. Then he moved Dawg’s hand, pressing the gauze against the wound. “Now, hold that while I bind it in place.” From the opposite pocket, he pulled out a roll of elastic bandage wrap and wound it around Dash’s leg several times until he ran out of the roll.
The rest of Dawg’s team gathered around Dash. Members of Team Charlie helped their wounded guy over to where Dash lay on his belly on the ground.
The thumping sound of a helicopter approaching made Dawg feel more hopeful. The sooner they got Dash out of the grass and to the medical staff, the better.
Moments later, the chopper landed fifty yards from the village.
They’d be out of there soon, and Dash would get the care he desperately needed.
Across the field, a couple of men dropped down out of the helicopter. They unloaded a basket and carried it toward the men standing around Dash.
Colonel Parker and Beth brought up the rear, carrying what appeared to be medical tool kits.
The amount of relief Dawg felt at that moment made his knees weak. “Hang in there, Dash. The doc will have you up and running again in no time.”
Dash didn’t respond. He lay motionless on the ground, blood soaking through the bandage Bull had applied.
As soon as the medics arrived with the basket, Bull and Dawg helped get Dash into it.
Colonel Parker assessed the wound and had Beth start an IV of fluids. The medics, Bull and Dawg lifted the basket with Dash in it and carried it to the helicopter. Beth ran alongside them, holding the IV in the air.
They stowed Dash on the floor of the chopper and secured the basket. Colonel Parker had moved on to the other patient, performed a quick assessment and recommended he join them on the helicopter. The man from Team Charlie could walk with assistance and was able to be buckled into a harness, sitting up.
Dawg took Beth’s hand and helped her up into the helicopter. As he let go, he looked up into her eyes. “Take care of Dash. He’s family.”
She nodded. “We’ll do our very best.”
A moment later, the helicopter lifted off with the two wounded Deltas, the doctor and Beth.
His heart racing, Dawg watched, praying some escaped member of the Boko Haram didn’t shoot an RPG at the helicopter. That bird had two people who meant a lot to Dawg on board. Until he got word they were safe, he couldn’t relax.
Putting the adrenaline to work, Dawg helped the villagers gather their wounded and dead.
The buildings were a total loss, and what few possessions they’d owned had been destroyed. The villagers would become like so many others, homeless and refugees in their own country.
Frightened children cried, and women wailed over the loss of loved ones.
Too often, Dawg felt overwhelmed at the horrible things man did to man in the name of religion.
Less than an hour later, the helicopter returned. Rucker insisted Team Charlie go back to camp in that round. The remaining Deltas set up a perimeter in case the terrorists returned. Darkness settled over the land with only the burning embers of the fires and the stars in the heavens lighting the sky.
Dawg prayed Dash hadn’t lost too much blood. Not only was he a friend, he was his brother.
Thankfully, his brother was in good hands with Beth and Colonel Parker.
Chapter 8
“Are all the Deltas back?” Beth asked Corporal Ramsey, who’d returned when the Black Hawk landed the second time.
He shook his head. “Team Bravo is still out there.”
Beth’s heart turned somersaults in her chest. “By themselves with no backup?”
“The helo is about to go back to get them after they fuel up. I’m going back with them. Are you coming, too?”
She nodded, making the decision in that instant. She just had to clear it with her commander.
Beth found Jonathan with Dash in the hospital. “How’s he doing?”
“He’d going to be fine. Since we stopped the hemorrhaging, he’s stabilized and the blood transfusion helped restore a little of what he lost.”
“Are you good with the staff you have here?” she asked. “Do you need me?”
Jonathan looked up from the chart he’d been studying. “Of course, I need you.”
She gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain calm. “I mean, do you need me now. I’d like to go back to the village and see if there’s anything I can do to help.” And she wanted to make certain Dawg was okay. Until she saw for herself, she couldn’t relax.
“We can manage without you for a while. But are you sure you’ll be safe?”
She nodded. “I’ll take one of the medics. There’s still a Delta team there, helping the villagers with the wounded. I think I could be of assistance.”
Jonathan frowned. “I should come with you.”
“One of us should stay with our wounded Deltas,” Beth said. “Either you or me. I think it should be you in case you have to do emergency surgery on Dash.”
“But the villagers might need me to help them.”
“Our primary mission is to support the Deltas. If something happened to Dash while you were out helping villagers…” She trailed off.
Jonathan nodded. “I’ll stay. You can do just about anything I can out there, short of invasive surgery. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. Despite what you might think, I care a lot about you.”
Beth smiled gently. “I know you do. I’ll be okay. I’ll
stick close to the Deltas. They’ll make sure I’m okay. But I need to go before the helicopter leaves.” She grabbed a medical kit and raced out of the hospital and across the field to the waiting Black Hawk.
The pilot was just strapping himself into his seat when she climbed aboard and sat in the seat beside Corporal Ramsey. The gunner handed her a headset and buckled her harness for her. Moments later, the aircraft lifted off the ground and flew through the air. Before Beth could second guess her mad dash out to the besieged village, the chopper descended into the field beside the smoking buildings.
She climbed out of the helicopter, grabbed the medical kit and followed Ramsey through the maze of destroyed buildings.
Villagers were coming in a few at a time, searching through the rubble for their belongings or the food they’d stored.
Beth’s heart hurt for them. These people had had so little to begin with, to lose even that was devastating.
She worked her way through the village, searching for Dawg. She found several of the Deltas helping the injured or assisting the people in their attempts to salvage what they could. She stopped to treat burns, cuts and busted lips. Ramsey assisted when she applied sutures to a man who’d cut his hand when he’d been thrown against a building. The people she helped were poor, desperate and grateful for anything she could do to make their lives easier.
All the while she helped the displaced people, she searched the faces of the Deltas for one. Had their one night together been enough to build a relationship on? Hell, had she called off her marriage because of Jonathan, or had she come to the conclusion he really wasn’t the man for her? Did that make Dawg the right man for her? They’d only been out once and had made love twice. She couldn’t fall in love with someone that quickly. It had to be lust.
Whatever it was, Beth was determined to find the man and make sure he was all right.
She was cleaning a scrape on a woman’s arm when she spotted him helping a man bring bedding and clothing out of a smoldering building. He carried a flashlight and an armful of soot-covered belongings.
