The general barked a few more questions, but she could see that he was pleased with Aiden’s report. He was smiling and rolling his cigar around between his teeth. “Well done! The attack will commence at 0500 tomorrow.”
For several minutes, Mia had been thinking hard, and not just about warm water and soap bubbles. She spoke up even though she felt a little sick to her stomach. Her thoughts hadn’t been Happy Meals. “General, I’d like an extra word with you.”
The general turned to her. She easily detected the impatience shading his expression. He was an important, busy man with important business to take care of, after all. However, he was polite. “Yes, Dr. Haven? What is it?”
“I volunteer myself as the medic for this mission.” Mia saw the surprise on the general’s face, and she straightened her shoulders. Mia discreetly slipped the knife back up her sleeve. She didn’t think it looked professional to be toying with it. Not when she was making a serious pitch. “I am experienced at triage, probably better than anyone you have on the hospital staff.”
“No!” Aiden’s bellow was explosive. He started forward. “General, sir—”
The general waved Aiden back. The general’s fierce old eyes, cold and speculative, locked squarely on Mia. “While I applaud your dedication, you’re a civilian, Dr. Haven.”
“Yes, sir, but I am a civilian who is known to Cadero and also to your people. I feel that I am uniquely qualified, sir.” Mia could feel her heart beating fast. She wanted the general to say yes so badly. She didn’t look directly at Aiden, but she could see him out of the corner of her eye, and he didn’t appear happy. Correction—he looked furious.
The general nodded thoughtfully. “You have made some valid points, Dr. Haven. In addition, as you are temporarily attached to the base field hospital, it will not disrupt the regular hospital staff routine to move you into the slot.” He rolled his cigar between his teeth. “Very well, Dr. Haven! You will be the acting field medic on this mission. Smith, dismissed!”
“Thank you, sir.” Mia smiled gratefully at the general.
“Thank you, general, sir!”
It didn’t sound like Aiden was grateful.
While Aiden was still saluting, Mia turned on her heel and started walking quickly away. But she wasn’t quick enough. She heard rapid footsteps overtaking her and then felt a large hand circle around to tightly grip her upper arm. She was jerked to a stop.
Mia looked up, ready to blast Aiden. But whatever she was going to say shriveled under the fiery glare he leveled on her. Mia thought she actually heard his teeth grinding together as he growled at her. “We’re going somewhere we can talk, Mia.”
Before Mia could think of any really good excuse to avoid “the talk,” they had walked all the way to Aiden’s quarters. As soon as they were inside, Aiden pulled Mia around, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. “What the hell are you thinking, Mia?”
Mia twisted loose. She snarled back at him. “Do not manhandle me! I’m armed, and I’m cranky, and I know how to hurt you!”
Aiden threw his hands up into the air. He looked wild-eyed. “Mia! This isn’t a walk in the park that we’re talking about! This is a hazardous mission, a dangerous operation, a perilous task! You could be hurt! You might even be killed! Have you even thought about that?”
“Yes, I have! And ditto for you!”
He looked blank. “Well, yeah! But–but doing a mission—that’s my job!”
“And it’s my job to see that you don’t bleed out while you’re doing your job!” Mia folded her arms over her chest. She saw his gaze drop to the plumping movement of her breasts. She was outraged. “Aiden! Stop staring at my bosom! We’re having a disagreement, remember?”
Aiden’s gaze shot back up to her face. His cheekbones flushed. “I know what we’re doing! I won’t allow you to put yourself in jeopardy, Mia! That’s my final word!”
Mia stared at him. He did not just say that. He did not just go Neanderthal! She realized her jaw had dropped, and she snapped it back up. “You won’t allow me? Is that what you said, soldier boy?” She advanced on him and poked a finger into his chest. He didn’t even wince, of course. “You won’t allow me? Since when do I have to ask your permission for anything? I’m a grown woman. I’ve been making my own decisions. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time!”
“Taking care of you is my job now,” he said quietly. His electric-blue eyes were heated with certainty, but he was frowning at her, like he knew he was missing something.
Mia shook her head. She could see that he didn’t get it. She felt herself starting to shake inside. “No, Aiden, it isn’t. Not if you think you’re going to dictate to me. Not if you think you’re the only one who has a right to make decisions.” Her throat was closing up, and she barely got out the last part. “Not if you think I’m just a freaking job!”
He looked shocked. “Mia! I don’t think of you like that!” He reached out for her.
Mia batted away his hands and quickly stepped back out of his reach. “No, Aiden! This can’t be fixed with a rub and a tickle.” She backed up some more.
He looked confused and worried. He eyed the increased distance between them and then looked back up at her face. “Uh, Mia?”
“I’m going to bed! Alone!” Mia spun and ran into the bedroom and slammed shut the door. Her chest hurt, and her eyes ached from unshed tears. She covered her face with her trembling hands.
Mia bent over, gasping for breath. What had she just done? The Breakup. Le Divorce. Phantom of the Opera. Cold slid down her spine. She was suddenly very, very afraid. Action flicks had happy endings. Chick flicks didn’t. She was a chick, and her flick had flopped big-time.
She half wished that Aiden would come barreling through the door. She straightened. She waited, standing still in the middle of the bedroom, watching the door. But it didn’t open. She heard quiet, rustling sounds and then some creaking. She realized that what she was hearing was a heavy weight settling onto the sofa.
Aiden wasn’t going to follow her. He was going to sleep on the sofa.
Listlessly, Mia pulled off her clothes and dragged herself to the shower. Under the hot spray of water, the dirt ran down the drain, but the black cloud hanging over her didn’t. She toweled off and crawled into the bed. After she lay down, she pulled Aiden’s pillow into her arms. Mia buried her face in it. She could smell his masculine, musky scent on the pillowcase.
She cried herself to sleep.
* * * *
Aiden lay on the hard sofa, his muscular arms crossed under his head. Scowling, he stared up into the dark at the ceiling. He couldn’t wrap his head around what had just happened. What did happen? He and Mia had been talking, and all of a sudden she had blown up!
He had a right to be upset. She shouldn’t have volunteered for the mission. He brushed aside the established fact of her bravery and her medical qualifications. He knew all that. He just couldn’t endure the thought of her being in danger. He wanted her to be safe. That’s all. How could that be wrong? But Mia is Mia. I can’t hold her back. I don’t want her to change!
He heard the shower go on and then heard it shut off. A few minutes later, he heard a whimpering, sobbing kind of sound. The hairs stood up on the nape of his neck. He jerked up from the sofa, ramming his bare feet to the floor. Then he just sat there, making helpless fists out of his hands on his tight, bunched thighs.
He couldn’t go to her.
Aiden set his elbows on his knees and dropped his head, running his hands over his short hair. She had made it clear. She didn’t want him. It’s killing me.
He heaved a huge sigh. Slowly, he rotated his body, easing back down flat on the sofa, and settling his legs on the stiff cushions. Hundreds of memories of Mia, and of being with her, flashed one after the other through his mind. Aiden smiled to himself. His friend Caesar had gotten it wrong. Whatever time he and Mia had together, whether their relationship went on or it ended now, it had all been worth it. No matter what happens, I don�
��t regret one minute!
And suddenly he realized something. Mia had been trying to tell him that they were equal partners. They shared safe times, and they shared dangerous times. Nothing mattered except that they shared them together. That doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at her for volunteering for this mission!
Mia had been marked. She was too well-known to the enemy. That was what was bothering him so much. Even as a medic, she would be a prime target.
Usually he slept like a baby before a mission. He didn’t think he’d get much sleep that night. The air was cool against his nude body. He wished that he was wrapped around his warm woman.
* * * *
The dull roar of the helicopter enclosed them all. The troops sat on the hard benches on either side of the airship. They had black camo streaked over their faces, they had guns, and they were all waiting to jump into battle. Mia was deathly afraid. Adrenaline buzzed through her. One of her knees was jumping up and down all by itself.
Over the noise of the helicopter, Aiden shouted into his communication unit. “I’ve gotten word, Mia. Marti has been retrieved.”
Mia closed her eyes and nodded. She felt enormous relief. At least that part had gone right. “Thank you, Aiden.”
He pulled off his comm. unit and put his mouth close to her ear. “I wish you weren’t here!”
Mia glared at him. She didn’t take off her own communication unit. She didn’t care who overheard her. “I’m the medic, remember? I’ve been assigned to this mission, too!”
Aiden just looked at her. He put his comm. unit back on. Stoniness settled over his features. His chiseled lips were clamped tight. He didn’t have to say anything. Mia figured he was thinking about how she had made her case with the general. Their first really big argument. It hadn’t ended in make-up sex, either. Misery weighed her down.
Aiden was still staring at her, but he didn’t look angry anymore. His locked gaze looked sad. Mia sniffed. I am not going to cry. She turned away from the intensity in his baby blues. She couldn’t face him anymore.
She had other things to think about. Her heart thudded, hard and heavy. She was going into battle! He wasn’t the only one wishing she was somewhere else. But she felt like she didn’t have a choice.
Mia could feel the med kit under her fingers. Its familiarity was comforting. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. The problem was she didn’t know anymore what was supposed to happen in the movie. It had gotten all messed up. A lot of things had changed. Her being in the movie had made them change.
Killing off a minor character like her would be an easy way to get back on script.
If she was going to die, she wanted to be somewhere close to Aiden, instead of having a stupid accident offscreen and never seeing him again. And if Aiden’s number was up, Mia wanted to be there to try and patch him up good enough so that he made it back to the field hospital.
Aiden didn’t want her on the mission because he was afraid she would get hurt. That was what they had yelled at each other about. Well, that and a couple of other things, and things that neither of them had even said. The whole thing was stupid, stupid, stupid. Mia felt all ripped up inside.
At least she wasn’t snoring on her sofa, with television white noise buzzing in her ears and a cat curled up in her lap. For the first time in like forever, she felt intensely alive.
A voice blared in her comm. unit. “Get ready! We’re moving into target!” One of the troopers slid open the metal door. Air and noise whooshed inside.
Whump-whump-whump.
Mia didn’t mind the deafening racket this time. Her hair blew around her head and the communication unit over her ears. She held on tight to the strap above her head like she had been told. She wasn’t going to be jumping out or doing anything else Evel Knievel crazy. That suited her just fine. She’d stay in the nice helicopter while the troops did their thing. Her stomach was clenched so tight it ached.
On the ground, she could see the tiny figures of Cadero’s men flattened against the stone walls of the commandant’s fortified headquarters. They waited, their guns in their hands. The hot haze of the rising sun washed over them and made them look surreal.
Suddenly, tracer bullets splat-splat-splatted from all of the helicopters. Masonry exploded from the walls of the compound. Like frenzied ants, the commandant’s men scrambled along the walls, shouting and ducking. The massive doors in the wall took a direct missile hit and blew up. Shards of wood and metal burst like fireworks. Cadero suddenly leaped out of hiding and shouted, waving his men forward. He and his men plunged through the gaping, smoking hole that had been made of the doors.
The troops in Mia’s helicopter leaped out holding onto thin snaky lines, slithering toward the ground. She could see more Special Ops troopers jumping out of the other helicopters. Aiden was the first out of her helicopter. Caesar Thomas was second. Mia’s heart stood still as she watched them plunge toward the earth. She didn’t think she’d ever breathe again.
Pain radiated in her hand. Mia looked up. She had twisted her fingers so tight in the strap that it was cutting into them. She was glad. The pain kept her anchored. Otherwise, Mia thought she might throw up.
* * * *
The special effects were spectacular, even better than Mia remembered from the movie. The firefight didn’t last long. Their troops and Cadero and his men took care of the remaining resistance. The helicopter set down. Mia scrambled out, slinging her med kit over her shoulder. The airship lifted up again, heading toward the place where they would all meet up. Her hair whipped against her cheeks under the harsh whoosh of the rotor blades.
Mia ran into the compound courtyard, stumbling over the thick rubble. Smoke and dust stung her eyes. She swiped them clear, but her eyes only teared up again. She looked wildly around. Then through the thick, gray haze, she saw a big man with a big gun striding toward her. “Mia!”
Her throat tightened. She was so glad to see Aiden that she flew into his arms. He wrapped her up tight, almost crushing her against his chest. She had never felt anything so good in her life.
Aiden set her back on her feet. He grinned at her. Mia grinned at him. It was a perfect Technicolor-movie moment. The lovers safely reunited! She wondered if the music score was soaring, but of course she couldn’t hear it from inside the movie.
Cadero walked up. His black eyes were alight. He was grinning. There was blood splattered on his uniform, and soot blackened his face. “Ah, Dr. Haven! It is good you are here! You have come to see that we are safe, yes?”
Mia laughed. She had watched her first movie battle close-up. She was still alive. The adrenaline rush, mixed with high-octane fear, was still slamming through her. She felt giddy. “Yes!”
Cadero gestured wide. He looked proud. “As you can see, we do not have any casualties. We are very fortunate.”
“The surprise strike was a complete success.” Aiden smiled down at her. His eyes caressed her. “We sustained only minor flesh wounds. Not anything that you will need to worry about.”
Mia breathed deeply and nodded. Her hands were shaking. She couldn’t have applied a bandage if her life had depended on it. “That’s good.”
She looked around. Special Ops troops and Cadero’s men moved all over the compound. She saw Caesar Thomas emerge from the cell block, escorting a skinny little man dressed in rags. He led him across the courtyard toward the blasted doors. Some of Cadero’s men guarded the disarmed prisoners that huddled in a corner of the courtyard, squatting with their hands on their heads.
On the balcony above them, revolutionary soldiers shouted that they had found the commandant cringing behind a sofa under a wall hanging! There were a lot of crude comments about the commandant’s lack of manhood. “Bring him down!” shouted Cadero.
Two soldiers roughly manhandled the commandant down the stairs and into the courtyard toward Cadero. The commandant’s hands were tied in front of him. His hair stuck up at all angles, and his uniform looked rumpled. His boots were dusty.
Mia couldn’t help but remember how he had looked when she and Marti had been pushed into his office. He had been all spit and polish and shine, then. His huge wardrobe in that big clothes closet of his wasn’t doing him any good now. Mia yearned to hold a colossal mirror up in front of him. Give him one good look, and she bet he’d freak big time.
Cadero waited silently. There was no more laughter on his face, and his black eyes had turned opaque and cold. The two soldiers stopped the prisoner before him. He stared the commandant up and down. “We meet again at last.”
The commandant’s face grayed. He looked shocked and a lot like he wanted to wet his pants. “You! But-but—you’re dead!”
Cadero smiled. It was not a nice smile. He still looked sexy, though. He drew a very long blade out of a leather sheath at his hip. It glinted silver in the sunshine. “We are going to have a very nice talk together, commandant, about my sister and other things,” he said gently. He jerked his head. “Take him to the cell block.”
The commandant started struggling. “No! No!” The revolutionary soldiers holding him dragged him away. His boots left twin trails gouged in the dirt.
Cadero turned to Aiden and Mia. He smiled broadly. His dark eyes were alight with good humor. He slammed the knife home into the leather sheath and held out his big scarred hand. “Ah, my friend! Aiden Smith! How can I thank you?”
Aiden shook Cadero’s hand. Then he stepped back, adjusting the strap of his big gun over his shoulder. The black camo streaking his face made his expression hard to read. “No thanks needed, Cadero.”
“But of course I must thank you! You have given me a wonderful gift today. It is a gift that I will…enjoy…for a very long time.” There was darkness underlying Cadero’s voice. His eyes suddenly glittered hot. His lips tightened around his white teeth, hardening his smile.
Mia shuddered. He didn’t look sexy anymore. In fact, Cadero looked a whole lot like he had looked on the big screen as he had slit an enemy’s throat. It had been an impressive scene.
Roberts, Sarah - Action Hero Junkie [Movieland] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 13
