by S A Monk
She dug her water bottle out of the small waterproof knapsack that she had strapped over the handlebars of her ATV. Inside she carried what she always did on her excursions – her water bottle, her energy bars, and her eye glasses, which she didn’t need at the moment because she was wearing her contacts.
“Would either of you like a drink?” she asked Nick and Kurt. “I also have some chocolate chip granola bars.”
Nick smiled and took the water bottle from her out-stretched hand, while Kurt took a granola bar. She waved another one at Nick.
“Come on, Mr. Sweet-Tooth,” she teased him. “I know you want one, too.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, toss me one.”
She did, then got one out for herself. “I have more in my duffle bag.”
“You do come prepared.”
Nick’s comment made her smile. “I want to be useful.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You want to cook tonight?”
She laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
“Good, because this isn’t going to hold me long.”
Hanna looked over her shoulder to check on Kurt, who was again reading his GPS while he ate his granola bar. Since he wasn’t paying them any attention, she got off her ATV and walked over to Nick’s.
Smiling mischievously, she looped her arms loosely around his neck and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “If you’ll join your sleeping bag with mine, I’ll hold you all night. We’ve been camping together lots of times, but we’ve never done that, you know.”
Nick nuzzled his way inside the loose hood of her jacket and pressed little kisses along her wet cheek. “You’re right. We haven’t.” With the rough pad of his thumb, he rubbed her lower lip. His slate gray eyes were locked ruefully on her upturned face. “I’m afraid I can’t enjoy the pleasure tonight, though, Doctor. I need to do some reconnaissance.” The way he wiggled his eyebrows at her made her laugh. “I will need to get some sleep tomorrow, though, before we all go in. You can join your sleeping bag to mine then.”
Her laughter faded, and she lifted her gloved hand to his cheek. “Be careful tonight, Nick.”
His hand rose to cover hers. “For you, always.” Sliding his arm around her hips, he hoisted her up onto his thigh. His rain wet lips met hers in a long drugging kiss that sent his tongue deep into her mouth.
Shifting onto his lap, Hanna returned his ardor in full measure. A little moan of desire passed from her to him, and he swallowed it ravenously.
“Uhhh.... Excuse me, folks.” Kurt cleared his voice behind them. “We gonna set up camp sometime today?”
Nick started to set her on her feet, then changed his mind and gave her one more, way-too-short, but very tantalizing kiss before shaking his head regretfully. “There just never seems to be enough time for this, it seems,” he said in a low, husky voice. Then clearing it, he set her down and looked over at his friend. “Let’s find someplace sheltered and dry for the night.”
By dinnertime, they had set up their overnight campsite inside a low domed cave that was carved deep into the hill. The region around Quatsino Sound was dotted with caves. Most of them were underground, as was this one if they chose to venture farther into it.
Hanna was thrilled to be out of the rain and wind, but she had no intention of exploring the cave as Nick and Kurt did initially. She had never liked caving. It gave her feelings of claustrophobia. Aware of her dislike of underground places, Nick had Kurt help him park all three ATV’s deeper inside the cave.
In order not to attract unwanted attention, they used a small single propane burner to make coffee. Dinner was simple and needed little prep. From one of their backpacks, Nick chose three slender tube packages of chicken stew. Kurt called them MREs.
“What’s that stand for?” Hanna asked, tearing hers open with her teeth.
“Meals Ready to Eat,” Nick answered her.
“Or Meals Rejected by Everyone,” Kurt added with a laugh.
Hanna squeezed hers out into a metal bowl and took an experimental bite of the military field meal. “It’s not bad.”
“Some aren’t,” Kurt relented.
“Unless you’ve been eating them for twenty years,” Nick complained as he took his and sat down next to Hanna on the sandy soil of the cave floor.
Kurt dropped down across from them and tossed his buddy a look of rebuke. “If you’re crazy enough to spend most of your twenty years in the field, you deserve an MRE every night.”
Nick didn’t respond, but Hanna thought Kurt may have hit a nerve because he didn’t look too pleased by his friend’s observation.
Hanna leaned back against the wall of the cave and wished they could have had a fire to dry her clammy damp jeans.
As soon as it was dark enough, Nick packed his surveillance toys into his backpack and left for Chen’s compound. According to him, it was less than a mile away. After giving Hanna a brief kiss, he faded into the fog. Kurt stayed with her and took first watch. A couple of hours past midnight, after sleeping restlessly, Hanna relieved the FBI agent for watch.
Within fifteen minutes, he was sound asleep, snoring. Hanna sat just inside the entrance to the cave, her legs tucked under her chin, hugging her waterproof jacket around her damp jeans, staring out into the near absolute darkness. If there was a moon, it wasn’t visible. Fog shrouded the damp ground and rose into the trees. It wafted in thick puffs across the mouth of the cave. Just as she had predicted, it was as thick as pea soup. A wolf howled in the distance. A few moments later, another answered its lonely call.
In this remote wilderness of temperate rainforest, coastal mountains, and deep cold water, bears, wolves, and cougars claimed territory man only visited. Hanna shivered, from the cold as much as the isolation of the night. She wondered how Nick could even see, let alone find his way in the fog and darkness.
She fretted for a moment about him getting lost, but quickly realized how ridiculous that was. Kurt had told her that most missions involving stealth and reconnaissance were done at night. All Spec Ops men did their best work at night, in the dark. Nick had twenty years of experience and training at being a ghost. He’d welcome the blanket of thick eerie fog.
Before crawling into his sleeping bag, Kurt had also told her that Nick always did his own on-site intel, usually solo. And, any intelligence he received second hand, he always verified whenever he could. It was what made him a commander men wanted to serve under. He didn’t leave decisions about other people’s lives up to anyone but himself.
Loyalty. That’s what Hanna had heard in Kurt’s voice. Loyalty and respect. It had only confirmed for her what an extraordinary man Nick Kelly was. As she sat in the dark, she wondered yet again what was going to happen between them after they found Lance. Nick had been on leave for over three weeks now. Surely, his CO would want to reactivate him as soon as he heard Lance was home safe.
Where would he be sent this time? There were so many places in the world that a military man could be sent to these days— so many volatile, dangerous places for him to lose his life in. Rather than getting more peaceful, the world was getting more violent and dangerous.
Hanna wished with all her heart that Nick would just retire. She thought something special had developed between them these past few weeks. But he hadn’t brought up the future, other than to mention several times that they needed to spend more time together. How could they do that, if he didn’t retire and come back home to live?
And even though they had spent a lot of time loving each other the past three weeks, he hadn’t said he loved her. But then she hadn’t told she loved him, either. She knew why she hadn’t; she was protecting her vulnerable heart. But would keeping the words to herself really make the hurt less painful if he did leave her again? Not if, when, she reminded herself sternly. And that would probably happen within a week, so she had better start preparing for it now.
Tears slid coldly down her cheeks. Oh God, how was she going to watch him leave this time, then return to life as it had been before? She
wasn’t sure she could handle this next separation. If they weren’t going to have a future together, as more than just long-distance friends and sometime lovers, she really needed to give him up once and for all.
Originally, when they’d first made love again, on her boat in Seattle, she’d thought she could handle a long distance, once-in-the-while love affair with him. Now, she knew that was impossible. She loved him even more now than she had before. What she had desired all her life had finally happened, and it was too incredibly wonderful to lose.
If he went back to California, then overseas, and she didn’t see him again for another three years, she was going to have a terrible time coping with it. She had always worried about him and the dangerous life he led. But now? How could she bear wondering if he was dead or alive between letters? It really was better to desire something you’d never had, than to have something which you treasured and couldn’t keep.
CHAPTER 24
THE SUN WAS JUST BEGINNING to rise and cast its diluted light into the cave when Kurt crawled out of his sleeping bag and walked over to Hanna. She was sitting at the entrance, her knees drawn up to her chest with the side of her head resting on them.
“You were supposed to wake me after a couple of hours.”
“Hey, I’m a good sentry.” She smiled tiredly at him. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d let you.”
Kurt nodded toward the edge of the forest. “Here he comes, safe and sound, just like I told you he would.”
Hanna lifted her head and looked through the slowly evaporating fog to see a tall figure coming toward them. Carrying a small backpack over his broad shoulders, he was a truly welcome sight. With a big smile directed his way, she rose stiffly to her feet.
“Shall I make coffee?”
“No.” Nick attempted a smile in return, but exhaustion dulled it. Blowing out a breath through the side of his mouth, he massaged the back of his neck. “I’m beat. I need a few hours of sleep. Guess I’m getting too old for this all night stuff.”
Kurt caught his attention. “You might want to take her with you. She’s been awake most of the night waiting for you.”
Nick hooked an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head. “Yeah, she does that when she’s worried about me.”
“I’ll tell you, buddy, it’s damn nice having somebody care enough to sit up worrying about you like that.” Kurt gave his friend a meaningful look. “Makes you feel kinda special, you know.”
Nick grinned at Hanna. “Yeah, I’ve recently discovered that.”
He guided her to a spot deeper inside the cavern where their sleeping bags were unrolled on the ground. While Kurt proceeded to fix himself coffee and breakfast, Nick and Hanna zipped their sleeping bags together, then crawled inside. Nick used his rolled up jacket as a pillow, but Hanna used the muscled curve of his armpit. He helped her get comfortable and adjust her position. Finally, she turned toward him and settled close against his side.
The clean, damp, masculine scent of him mixed with the warmth of his body. His cheek rested atop her head, and she felt her hair catch on the stubble of his unshaven jaw. He stroked her arm and kissed her forehead, pushing aside wisps of her hair. Within moments, she heard his deep resonant breathing and knew he had fallen asleep. Exhausted herself after being up all night worrying about him, it wasn’t long before she joined him.
Hanna awoke to the smell of something being cooked over the single propane burner. Tipping her head back, she looked to see if Nick was awake.
He smiled at her lazily. “Feel better?”
“Yes. And you?”
“I’ve never slept so well on the hard ground before. Can I sneak you into my sleeping bag on every mission?”
“Absolutely.”
He rolled onto his side and cupped the back of her head to pull her mouth to his. His kiss was instantly deep and hungry, with absolutely no trace of sleepy lethargy. He was completely alert and focused on her. She gave herself completely to his kiss and barely stifled a moan. It was awhile before he eased back from her kiss-swollen lips and gently pushed his long fingers into her hair.
“We should get up. It smells like Kurt is fixing something besides MREs.”
“Ummm.” Pushing herself up on one elbow, she outlined the shape of his wide masculine mouth with the tip of her finger. His lips were damp from hers. She couldn’t resist just one more taste. Inside their double sleeping bag, her knee rose to rub against his groin. “Are you sure?”
“No.” He growled low and deep against her lips and rotated his hips against hers. “I’d rather stay right here, but we better get up while I still can.”
Hanna touched his cheek and tenderly caressed it. “Nick....” She wanted so very badly to tell him that she loved him. They’d be rescuing Lance soon. Nick was going to be putting himself in harm’s way. She wanted him to know how she felt about him, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She was still such a coward! What if he didn’t love her the way she loved him? What if this was just all about sexual pleasure for him? It would destroy her to open her heart and not have him return her feelings.
He gave her a quizzical look, then sat up and started to push out of the sleeping bags. She touched his forearm, stopping him. “Nick— be careful tonight.”
He rose to his feet, then pulled her to hers. Enfolding her in his arms, he hugged her tightly for a long moment. “Don’t worry, honey. Everything will be fine. Promise.”
Dinner was a surprise. While Nick and Hanna had been sleeping, Kurt had gone fishing in one of the numerous streams that flowed from the interior’s higher elevations into Quatsino Sound. A fat fully matured salmon was grilling in a fry pan coated with oil The delicious aroma drew Nick and Hanna to the edge of the cave, where Kurt was scooping dinner onto metal camp plates. Besides the salmon, they feasted on bowls of rehydrated rice and vegetables from the MRE kits.
Once they had finished eating, over second cups of strong black coffee, Nick filled Hanna and Kurt in on what he had discovered on his night reconnaissance of Chen’s compound.
“I found a way in, but we may have to find a way down to their dock and take one of their boats back to Stormy Harbour. It was tricky enough just getting myself back through their security fence. If Lance is in a weakened condition, it will be hard backtracking and getting us all out the way we entered. We’re going in around 2400 hours tonight, after the compound’s quieted down for the night,” he informed them.
“So I get to go with you and Kurt?”
Nick smiled ruefully. “It isn’t safe to leave you here alone. The guards do leave the compound to do perimeter searches. They might come this far. The only place it would be safe to leave you would be in the lower cave.” He saw the look of panic that briefly widened her green eyes and immediately relieved her of it. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do that. I know how you feel about being underground. We’ll leave the ATV’s here, though. I can arrange for someone to pick them up and return them later.”
“So, I’m going to help you and Kurt get Lance out?” Hanna checked again, wanting to clarify that Nick wasn’t going to leave her somewhere else.
“Yes.” She could tell that he was not wholly at ease with his decision. “But I’m keeping you out of any real dangerous situations, so if I ask you to stay put somewhere, you need to do what I ask. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she assured him readily, just happy not to be left behind.
“I hope I don’t regret this.”
Her smile was full of relief. She hadn’t really expected Nick to let her go inside the compound. “Did you find out where they’re holding Lance?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I did.”
“Did you have to search every building to find him?” Kurt asked.
“Pretty much.” Nick swallowed the last of his coffee. “I checked out the three barracks. It looks like there are about two dozen workers and another two dozen guards that live in them. The Quonset hut is the lab and warehouse. No one was in it
last night. I got in and looked around. Looks like a fully functioning refining operation. There were crates full of those fishing rod cylinders, by the way. It appears a big shipment is going out soon.”
Kurt nodded, rubbing his chin. “Seth said he thought something big was going down. Everyone in Vancouver has been getting their distributors ready for it.”
Nick grimaced. “Maybe we can stop it before it hits the streets.” Holding out his tin cup, he accepted the coffee refill Hanna offered him. “It was the middle of the night by the time I searched the main house. Everyone had gone to bed, except for two guards that sat inside by the front door and four that patrolled the perimeter of the house outside. I heard one of the guards talking about Chen. He’s definitely in residence. After that, I searched the guest houses. They were all empty, but one. The one closest to the main house was heavily guarded. I didn’t go inside, but I got close enough to use the directional mike. I heard someone, a guard probably, talking to Lance.”
“Did you hear Lance say anything?” Hanna asked, filling Kurt’s empty cup.
“No, just someone using his name, talking to him.”
“And?”
Nick wasn’t about to tell her that he had heard his brother getting the crap kicked out of him. It had been nearly impossible to leave him to his treatment. But a plan was only as good as how well you followed it. And he hadn’t made one just to abandon it in a moment of personal fury. Payback would come soon enough.
“It wasn’t real clear what they were saying to him,” he evaded. While he sipped his coffee, he outlined the evening’s operation. “We’ll get set up while it’s still light, wait for dark, then enter the same way I did last night. It’s a long trek across those footbridges, from one end of the compound to the other, and we should probably set charges so we can blow them if needed. Pack plenty of C4 and remote detonators,” he told Kurt. “We’ll have to get out fast after we rescue Lance, and it will probably help to have a few distractions.”
Hanna was listening intently, watching Nick, as she sipped her coffee from her tin mug. “Did you find a way down the cliff, to the dock and the speedboats?”
