“I can hang and play during the concert,” he said, “but that’s as far as it goes. T and I have to get back to our unit.”
“I’m working on a solution,” Forest asserted. “Calls are being made.”
“What does that even mean?” Ryker asked. “Our job is very specific. You can’t just replace us and send us on a USO tour.” No way in hell was Forest separating him from T. Not now. Not ever.
Forest arched a brow. “You’d be surprised.”
He wasn’t going to argue with Forest over the specialization of his career field. His team wasn’t the only one in the Air Force, but they were the only ones assigned to this combat zone. Bringing in others would mean putting them on deployment within a matter of days. He’d be pissed if someone did that to him; however, Forest seemed unfazed.
That decision remained far above Ryker’s pay grade, and he decided to focus on what he could manage. Right now, that was understanding the men of Angel Fire. He’d had an image of them as unapproachable rock legends, but after spending a few minutes in their company, they were just like anyone else.
Bent, Bash, Spike, and Noodles mercilessly ribbed each other. They acted like brothers, which he supposed they were. Playing in a band did that to a group of guys. He remembered his friends from high school and the tight bond they’d formed. Angel Fire was no different.
After a couple of hours of goofing around with the instruments, the band moved into the required sound checks. Ash hadn’t returned. Forest had mentioned the band would be taking a down day, but the men of Angel Fire seemed incapable of taking any time off from their passion.
Ryker felt the same way and excused himself to track down T.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, taking with it some of the heat of the day. He headed to the medical facility and asked around, even going as far to visit command and control.
No T. No Skye. No Ash.
Thinking she might have taken her friend on a tour of the base, he visited all the highlights of Bagram Airfield. No T at the hangar. No sign of her at the gym or anywhere else. He had no idea where she could have gone and decided the best way to get a hold of her would be to leave a note at her barracks.
After a quick search for Collins, he found where T had been assigned and headed to the rows of converted cargo containers. The dry air sucked the moisture from his body, and his lips cracked, but he enjoyed the heat, unlike many others. He stopped by a hydration station, filled his CamelBak, and then continued his search.
T’s lilting laughter stopped him in his tracks. At last, he’d finally found her. The other voice had to belong to Skye. He knew little about Ash’s wife, except she and T had a connection.
He made enough noise for the women to hear his approach. Their laughter died out, and T’s head poked out of the doorway to her barracks.
“Lyons,” she said, “what are you doing here?”
Someday, she’d be calling him by his first name rather than his last. That was the way with the military. Everyone reverted to last names in the field. T was an exception and probably because of her sex. Rather than the team calling her Meyers, they’d taken to calling her T. He liked the name. No one else but the team called her T. Even her close friends, Forest and Skye used her full first name. He liked having that little piece of her. He shared it with four other men, but all of them had wives at home. It meant nothing to them while it meant the world to him.
He glanced inside the converted cargo carrier. Ash was spread out on the lower bunk, his head in Skye’s lap. She finger-combed Ash’s hair while he snored softly. With a finger placed gently against her lips, she gave Ryker a smile.
“Shh,” she said. “He’s sleeping.”
“Obviously,” Ryker said. “Although I don’t see how.”
“What do you mean?” Skye asked.
“I heard the two of you long before I closed in on this…” He glanced around the makeshift barracks. “You know, I’m not even really sure what to call this thing.”
“The Ritz,” T said and then giggled. “I’m living in The Ritz.”
He loved the way her face lit up with the soft laughter. He’d seldom seen her smile, and her laughter was a rare and fleeting event.
“Well, it’s a far cry above where I’m bunking,” he said. He’d been shoved into a tent with seven other men but agreed with T. Compared to what they were used to, they were both living it up for the next two days. “Looks like I’ll be playing with the band tomorrow night.”
“Oh, that’s good news,” T said. “I can’t believe how well you played.”
“I have a few surprises up my sleeve.” He hoped to one day show her a few more.
His comment seemed to catch T off guard, and her hand strayed up to her pocket.
Skye laughed. “Should I leave you two alone?”
T’s brows pinched together. “No. Why?”
He had an answer. All he wanted was to slam T up against the wall, kiss her until she forgot her name, and do unspeakable things to her in one, or both, of those bunks. Instead, he tilted his lips into a grin and kept those thoughts to himself.
While more spacious than his accommodations, T’s converted shipping carrier was cramped with four people inside. He needed to get T alone, see where her head was at, and confirm his suspicions about her plans for the band. Although he had a solution for that. If he played with Angel Fire, he’d have a better chance at looking out for her interests. He’d be able to break anything up. She would hate him for it, but he didn’t care. His top priority was taking care of T.
“It’s almost time for chow.” He directed his comment to Skye. “Do they have something planned for the band?”
“I don’t really know,” she admitted. “Probably, but to be honest, I was kind of hoping to meet with your team. Tia’s told me so much about your job…well, at least those bits she can share. I have a personal interest in how you operate.”
“Operate? You mean, surgeries in the field?”
She shook her head. “Yes, and no. Sorry, I see how that might be confusing.” Her fingers brushed back the hair from Ash’s face. “This man can sleep through anything.” She shifted on the bunk. “Forest has a need for…well, I guess you could call it an insurgent team. I’m interested in how your team operates under such austere conditions. How much do you know about what Forest does?”
“Not much,” he admitted.
Other than the fact that Forest and Skye were filthy rich, he understood Forest’s business had to do with tech industries. There was little in the press about Ash’s unusual wife or her brother, although everyone knew about the story behind the marriage of Ash and Skye. They’d taken off on a three-day adventure, found themselves accidentally hitched, and somehow decided to stick it out with each other.
What he wanted to know was how Skye and T had met. All he understood was T had worked as a nurse in an emergency room where Skye was an attending doctor. From what little he’d gleaned from Forest’s comments, T had been involved as one of his rescue projects. He’d have to ask T to fill in more of those blanks, but other than that, he knew next to nothing.
“Do you know about Forest’s foster program?” Skye asked.
“No.”
She glanced at T. “It’s how we met Tia.”
T leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “Lyons doesn’t know that story. It’s not something I share.”
“Oh!” Skye’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spill your secrets.”
T vented a sigh. “Nah, it’s okay. I just tend not to talk much about myself.”
Unfortunately, that was true. Their team trained and socialized together as much as they could. It increased unit bonding. Family picnics, children’s birthdays, and holidays were well-attended events. He and T were the only unmarried members, and neither of them had any children. He never brought dates to unit events, and T had only recently started bringing Scott around. Ryker had hated the man on sight. There’d always been something not quite
right about Scott.
T’s focus landed on him, and her expression tensed. “I met Forest when I was sixteen,” she explained. “I was in foster care, doing okay but not. If that makes sense.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and wondered how to ask the delicate question of what had brought her into foster care.
“I’d just been placed in my second home,” T continued. “Foster care for teens is…difficult. We’re not as cute as babies and not as simple as toddlers. There are few families willing to take on a teen foster child.”
“You said, second home? How old were you when you went into foster care?”
“I was fifteen,” she said. “It was scary and traumatizing.”
“Do you have any siblings, or was it just you?”
A cloud of pain settled over her eyes. “I did.”
“Tia,” Skye soothed, “you don’t have to talk about it.”
“No, it’s okay.” She turned back to him. “There was an accident. My parents and brother didn’t survive.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, needing to go to her, to hold her, but Skye’s discerning gaze stopped him in his tracks.
T gave a slight shake of her head. “I came out without a scratch, but”—her lower lip trembled—“they didn’t make it, and no one in my extended family wanted me. My parents weren’t close to their families.”
For the first time since he’d known T, a deep vulnerability exposed itself. Screw Skye and whatever conclusions she drew. He closed the distance and pulled T against his chest.
“I’m sorry, T. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek and then did the unthinkable. For the first time ever, she leaned her cheek against his shoulder. He’d expected her to push him away. T always pushed him away, and while her arms hung by her sides, she allowed him to hold her tight. No more tears came, but she relaxed into him. There was no other way of describing it. She didn’t lean on him. She absorbed the strength of his hug. He held perfectly still, afraid to even breathe. But he did breathe. He took in the light floral scent of her shampoo. She smelled like lilac and rose with a light citrus weaved in between. He’d found heaven in his arms, and he wanted the moment to never end.
Skye seemed to notice the tender moment and took up the story, perhaps sensing T had given her tacit agreement to do so. He didn’t really care because he had T in his arms, willingly, for the first time ever.
“Tia lost her family in a car accident,” Skye said. “There was no family, and with her being fifteen, she was placed in foster care. Most foster parents are loving and amazing people, but some are there only for the paycheck a foster child brings. Tia was unlucky to be placed with that kind of family—not once, but twice. She ran away from the first and was taken away from the second.”
“Taken?” he asked.
“Yes,” T said, brushing her cheek against his shoulder. “I was removed by Forest.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t what you’d call a happy home,” T said.
He wanted to press for more answers but sensed now wasn’t the time. T shifted and pulled away. She kept her eyes down, and he prayed it wasn’t because she was embarrassed by that hug.
“Anyway,” she said, “I graduated high school and went into nursing school. Forest has a way of encouraging you to do what you’re destined to do. Skye helped me get my first job, and we worked for a time in the emergency room together.”
“And you had so much potential,” Skye said.
“And here I am now,” T said.
“And here you are,” Skye said. “A fucking badass CRNA!”
Ash snorted and opened his eyes. “Damn, did I fall asleep?”
Skye bent down and kissed him on the lips. Ash wrapped an arm around her neck, deepening the kiss, leaving Ryker and T with nothing to do but watch. Standing beside T, he was close enough that it wouldn’t take much to brace her against the wall and taste her lips. He shifted and caught himself before his need overtook his common sense. Fortunately, Ash let up on his kiss. He sat and rubbed at his eyes.
“Damn, jet lag is a bitch.” Ash glanced around, looking disorientated for a split second, and then spread a cheeky grin. “I hope we’re bunking in something nicer than this.”
T’s throaty laughter bounced off the narrow walls. “This is about the top of the line in Bagram. I’m sure they’ve put you in the VIP quarters, but all that buys you is a cargo container a little bit longer than this one.”
“Is that what this thing is?”
“Yeah,” Ryker said. “Converted shipping containers make excellent shelters.”
“Ah,” Ash said with a frown, “I knew not to expect five-star accommodations, but I’m not sure this counts as even one star.”
“In theater, these are the five-star living facilities,” Tia said. “You should see what we have to put up with in the field.”
“Yes,” Skye chimed in, “about that. I want to talk to your team.”
“You’ve said that,” Ryker said. “What do you want to know?”
He was still curious. The conversation had drifted from topic to topic without ever returning to Skye’s interest in a special ops surgical team.
“Everything,” she said with a wistful sigh. “Forest has me taking a look into what we could set up. Initially, I didn’t really understand what he wanted, but he has teams around the world who can get into trouble. Rather than relying on local medical care, he’s interested in seeing how portable we can be with our own specialized teams. I said not possible, but then he reminded me about Tia. As I understand it, you’re able to perform on-the-spot surgeries with nothing but what you carry on your backs. That’s of interest to us.”
“Those packs are pretty heavy,” T said. “I struggle to carry my gear.” She eyed the much smaller Skye. “No offense, but I don’t think you could handle what I do.”
“Well, I don’t exactly have to meet the same physical standards as you.”
“And I don’t want her on the team,” Ash interjected. He gripped her hand and raised it to his mouth. After laying down tender kisses against her knuckles, he continued, “I get you want to do it, but it’s dangerous.”
“I’ve never run from trouble,” Skye said.
“That doesn’t mean I want you running toward it,” Ash replied.
Skye rolled her eyes. “We’re going ahead with the team, Ash. You know this.”
He released her hand with a huff and scooted back on the bunk, drawing his knees up and hugging them tight. “Don’t I get a say?”
Skye bit her lower lip and looked like she was going to say something, but she turned her attention back to Ryker. “Conceptually, I have the pieces figured out, but I need more info.”
T spoke, “I can tell you whatever you want. Our training techniques aren’t classified. As long as we don’t discuss specifics of various missions, Ryker and I can tell you everything you need to know.”
“That’d be great. I’d like to talk to the docs, too. They’ll have perspectives different from yours. I was hoping maybe we could chat over dinner and while on the road.”
“Wait,” Ryker said. “What do you mean, on the road?”
“Oh, didn’t Forest tell you?”
“He said he was looking into something.”
Skye waved a hand. “Well, looking into something means he has already figured it out, planned it, and is acting on it. It’s the thinking about something that hasn’t been beaten to death. Once you get to know Forest a little better, you’re going to understand he thinks on a whole different plane than the rest of us.”
“The rest of us?”
T shoved him in the shoulder. “Forest has an exceptional mind. He’s big and tough and raw around the edges, but his mind is a thing of beauty.”
“I don’t care how damn beautiful his mind might be. Don’t you understand what this means?”
“If I know Forest, and I believe I do,” T said, “it means you’re
going on a very unconventional USO tour.”
“And what about you?”
She shrugged. “What about me?”
He couldn’t voice his thoughts, not without saying more than he should about his plans for T, but damn Forest. If that man thought for a second he could separate Ryker from T, he had another thing coming.
Chapter Eleven
Surprise
Ryker had dumped the laptop on Warren’s bunk and figured his friend would get it returned to its rightful owner in due course. He then hurried back to the chow hall, intent on not leaving T alone for longer than absolutely necessary.
Dinner turned into an event. Ryker found himself shoved into the same corner table as before, straddling the bench where he could see the room behind him and T in front of him.
Unlike lunch, the table was filled. Collins and the rest of the docs from his team sat at the far end where they engaged in lively conversation with Skye Dean. The diminutive woman looked too fragile to be an emergency doctor, and he wasn’t sure why that thought crossed his mind. It might have been because of his association with T. He expected the women he worked with to not only have the mental capacity for the job, but also the physical endurance to pull it off. He was well aware that made him a chauvinist, but he simply didn’t care.
After a few minutes of listening in on the conversation, it became clear that Skye had no problems holding her own against the physicians. Her questions were astute and precise without wasting time in being impressed by the rigors of the job. Collins in particular and Marks took to her immediately. Drummond kept himself apart, but he was always cold and hard to warm up to.
Warren had not shown up for chow, but Ryker figured he was either working out in the gym or had found that laptop and was talking to his wife and kids again. Warren wasn’t a small man, but he was the shortest of the team. He made up for the lack of height by pumping iron and running as many miles as he could before collapsing. They often ran together. Most times, Collins joined them, but their eight- and ten-mile jogs were nothing but a warm-up for the ultra-marathoner.
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