He counted to thirty and rolled the pain in his neck away.
“You don’t understand. You don’t have kids. He needs his mom. I can’t die. You have to help me make it home alive.”
Hunter stopped cold. How hard had she banged that empty head of hers? “What the hell are you talking about?”
Another drawn-out whine, and damned if she wasn’t bawling her eyes out. Hunter gave up counting. It wasn’t working for him.
“C-C-Courtney,” she finally spat out, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, tears running down her face. “I wanna go h-h-home!”
There was no way they were going anywhere at this rate. She couldn’t see to walk. Hunter took two impatient steps back to her, and, in one fell swoop, he scooped her into his arms and against his chest. Her arm curled around his neck and her ear landed over his heart. She was drenched and breathing hard, but damn it. They were going to stand there until he knew what she was talking about. “Who the hell’s Courtney?”
The saddest blues stabbed straight to his stubborn heart. Her fingers squeezed the back of his neck like he was her lifeline. “Courtney’s my son, Hunter. He’s all I’ve got in the world. I need to live. For him. Please don’t drop me.” A shudder heaved through her body. “D-d-don’t let me die out here. I have to make it home alive.”
She’s got a kid? A son? Courtney? Why’s he the only one she’s got to live for? Where the hell’s Welch?
Wham! Bright, flashing neon numbers finally lit up inside his hard USMC head. Red neon. The kind that said, ‘Listen up.’ Maybe he didn’t have her figured out. Maybe he never had. Swallowing hard, he begged to hear it again. “You... you have a son? Courtney, is it?”
Her head bobbed under his chin. “Y-y-yes-s-s. He’s three. Oh, I wish I’d never come on this stupid beta test. Everything’s gone wrong, and...” She set to hiccupping and sobbing, and what could he do? He’d already turned to humble pie.
Hunter held her close. He’d been wrong all along, but not only wrong. No. He’d been a flaming ass, needling her at every misstep, never giving her a break. Worse, never listening. Never once asking for her side of the story. He’d jumped to a hasty conclusion, marched off to war like a noble asshole, joined the Corps, and...
Oh hell. That was why she’d married Welch. She had a kid with him, but Hunter didn’t get the sense that Welch was still in the picture.
“Merry.” His heart beat louder than the rushing water around them. “Why’s your last name still Flynn?”
She tilted her face upward, her lips so close he could already taste them. “I tried to tell you before. Eddy didn’t want Courtney—or me. I’ve been divorced for years. I took my maiden name back, and I... and I just want to go home!”
“But Courtney’s three?” That was nearly the same amount of time he’d spent in the Corps. Hunter’s stomach dropped to his boots. What if she’d been alone all this time instead of carousing with Welch like Hunter had thought? What if—oh, God, I am so dumb—what if all the men in her life deserted her when she’d needed them most?
“Yes, he’s three.” She tipped her head back and wailed, “Eddy Welch is the biggest jerk on the planet!”
Despite the saddest, most adorable woman in his arms, Hunter tipped his face to the azure sky above, angry with himself. Welch wasn’t the biggest jerk on the whole planet.
He was.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“W-what now?” Seth asked, his teeth chattering nearly as much as Meredith’s.
Finally under cover again, she’d remembered that Hunter said he’d located one of his men, but poor Seth. He’d been sorely treated. The man needed stitches on his arms and legs, and she was scared. Still shivering from her near miss with the river, she was cold and wet, but he was in worse shape. Blood seeped from some of the cuts on his arms and legs. Others were dried and crusted. Some looked fiery red and infected. She sniffed one last time and forgot her problems. Seth needed her.
“I need to remove Teague’s bullet first,” Hunter stated, as if he did that kind of surgery every day. “But I have to go back and get the supplies.”
Oh, that. Meredith cringed. It was no wonder he’d distanced himself the moment they entered the cave, crouching between Seth and Teague. She’d caused Hunter nothing but grief and extra work.
He’d fashioned a dry bed for Seth, but Hunter could only get so far from her. The problem with the cave was the low ceiling, not to mention the limited space. “When I get back, we’ll operate on Teague and treat Seth. Are you up to helping me?”
“You bet,” Meredith answered, kneeling by Seth, determined to be strong. If Hunter wanted to play doctor, she was ready to assist. That thought raised another scenario in her mind, but she pushed the sexual innuendo away. Despite his current good behavior, anything intimate between her and this ex-soldier was so not going to happen. Facing death had a way of defining a woman’s priorities. All she wanted was to get home to Courtney. Besides, Hunter seemed unwilling to look her in the eye. He’d made it clear for days. She needed to back off. “What do you want me to do while you’re gone?”
He tossed her a bundle of the clothes from Teague’s litter. “Cover Seth. It’s chilly and damp in here. I’ll get some firewood before I leave. These men need to be kept warm.”
She bobbed her head. The bloody clothes didn’t bother her anymore. When Hunter stepped outside, Meredith unbuckled the belt holding the bundle together and shook out the clothing. Carefully, she laid the largest shirt over Seth.
He shivered, but politely ducked his head. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Are you thirsty? I’ve got a couple bottled waters left.”
“Yes, please.” He looked frail, his fingers clamped onto the thin material under his chin and shivering like he was. Without asking, she unscrewed the cap on the bottle and pressed it to his mouth. Seth swallowed noisily, licking his lips when he was done. “I never knew water could taste so good.”
“I wish I had something for you to eat, but I don’t.” She wanted to tell him how she’d nearly died in the river, but her troubles seemed insignificant.
“I’m back,” Hunter said softly at the cave entrance, his voice barely audible over the crashing falls. He’d brought an armful of dry branches. The cave didn’t seem so glum once he sparked a small fire near the wall opposite Seth and Teague.
He knelt alongside his friend while Meredith shivered alone. Her shirt still dripped. So did her hair, but she was just wet and a little bruised. Seth was badly hurt.
“How are you feeling?” Hunter asked, dragging the backs of his fingers across his buddy’s cheek. “I’m not detecting a fever.”
“I’m good,” Seth answered, despite his many knife wounds. “You got an extra gun on you?”
“Let’s get you into a better bed first.”
Meredith scrambled to fashion a thicker mattress out of the spare clothing.
“Thanks,” Seth murmured as Hunter eased him onto the dirty but dry padding.
Hunter reached into one of his cargo pants pockets and pulled out a gun and a handful of bullets. Wrapping Seth’s shaky hands around the grip, he placed the rounds on the ground where Seth could easily reach them. “There. Now you’re armed. Do me a favor, though. Don’t kill anyone ’til I get back. You might wake Teague.”
“Sure, Hunt,” Seth said, his teeth chattering. “Th-thanks.”
“No problem. I’ve built a handy arsenal with all these bastards I keep running into.” Hunter scanned Teague’s sleeping face to the other side of him before he pushed up from the ground. “And you,” he said sternly, his eyes finally locked on Meredith. “What am I going to do with you? You’re still soaking wet.”
She wilted beneath his direct scrutiny. Why did she feel like she was twelve-years-old and disobedient? Her hand went automatically to her hair, twirling a wet lock between her index finger and thumb. Mean Girl had no clever comeback. She must’ve gotten washed downriver with that invisible snake.
“You need a dry shirt.
Find something to wear.” He motioned to the other bundles tucked in alongside Teague.
“I will,” she agreed, an odd tone of obedience in her voice. He was right. She needed to change. She’d caused nothing but trouble, and right then, he was sounding all authoritarian and bossy, like he was in charge. Like yesterday when they’d camped. Like just before she’d kissed him.
“Can you keep these guys company while I go back for the supplies?”
Meredith touched her fingertips to her lips, her feet shifting and one ankle stroking the back of her leg. She looked from Teague to Seth because it was safer than looking at Hunter. “Sure.”
“And stay out of the water,” he added. “By the way, do you know Roger Teach?”
She glanced up at that question. “No. Should I?”
“Just checking. He’s McCormack’s competition, some corporate raider and the guy funding these assassins.”
“Hmmm.” Meredith paused to think. Jed McCormack always had stiff competition. “I don’t know anyone named Roger. I’m sorry.”
A hint of a smile tugged at Hunter’s stern lips. “But you do remember our code, don’t you?” he asked more gently, testing her once again.
She paused. So much had happened during the last twenty-four hours. She raked a hand over her forehead, pushing her wet hair out of her face. “Hotel Charlie is you. That’s what you’ll say, I mean, and I’ll answer with Mike Foxtrot. My initials.”
He offered a genuine smile and Meredith wanted to stand there and bask in the sight. It felt like the sun had just broken through a very dark storm cloud. Hunter Christian, the handsome kid she used to know in college was back in the house. Look at him. The elusive dimple she loved shadowed his left cheek. That dimple. The one he used to offer willingly instead of rarely. He almost looked like himself again.
“Catch you in a few, Mike,” he said almost coyly. “Stay out of the water.”
“Bye Hotel Charlie,” she whispered, wishing he’d stay.
The cave seemed chillier after he left, but Meredith had no time to feel sorry for herself.
“I’ve been worried about you,” Seth murmured. “Sure glad you and Hunter survived. Looks like you’ve been busy.”
She tucked a couple more shirts around Seth, hoping to stop his tremors. “It’s more like Hunter’s been busy. I’m afraid I’ve caused nothing but trouble this afternoon. How did you escape?”
“Good old Hunt showed up like he always does. The guy’s got a nose for trouble. Masters was gonna kill me, but the next thing I knew, Hunt was standing there like John Wayne coming to my rescue, like everyone better git out of his way. The next thing I knew, that Masters jerk-off—ahh, I’m sorry ma’am. I meant that butt-hole...” Seth looked up at the ceiling, his eyes brimmed and shiny. “Sorry, ma’am. I can’t speak kindly of the man who was cutting on me. I just can’t.”
One tear trickled down the side of his head into his ear, and Meredith wanted to cry right along with him. She crouched at his side. “It’s okay, Seth. I’ve known a few buttheads in my life and a couple assholes, too. What did Hunter do next? Tell me about it. I want to hear everything.”
Seth swallowed hard. “I ain’t never been tortured before. The Army tells you what to do in case it happens, but...” He bit his lip, blinking the moisture out of his dark eyes.
“Seth,” she whispered, smoothing her fingers over his brow. “You’re not there anymore. You’re here with Teague and me. You’re armed, and I’m going to do everything I can to take care of you. Can you keep a secret?”
He blinked and wiped his face with the back of a shaky hand, finally meeting her eyes. “Sure.”
“I lost my gun,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder as if Hunter might be listening. “I was in the shower at camp when I heard the first gunshots, but with Teague hurt and Hunter showing up and all the crazy racket, I set my pistol down. I guess I just forgot to pick it up again. Hunter’s been mad at me ever since.”
Seth frowned. “You lost your gun? Oh, man. That’s bad.”
She frowned in mock dismay. “Hey. You’re supposed to encourage me. I’m not a soldier, remember? I’m an amateur at all this combat stuff. I got frazzled when we retreated, and it—” She shrugged, “—just happened.”
A small smile tugged at his tired mouth even as he scrunched his nose. “But you lost your gun.”
She rolled her eyes as dramatically as she could. “You’re as bad as Hunter. I’m never telling you anything again.”
He coughed a quiet, little snickering kind of a cough. “You see, ma’am, losing a weapon is a big deal in the military. A guy or gal in a combat zone would get an Article 15. That means they’d lose a few grades, at least half their pay for a couple months, and they’d get sixty days’ restriction and extra-duty. That’s only if the top brass decided they liked ’em enough to keep ’em. Or they might send ’em packing to teach ’em a lesson. Didn’t you have a holster or anything for your weapon?”
She did a Vanna White maneuver, gesturing with her hands down over her soggy shirt and bare legs. “What you see is what you get, buddy. I was in the shower, remember? I was lucky to get out with my underwear. Hunter made me wear one of the guy’s shirts and a pair of boots that he, umm, acquisitioned along the way, but...” She cringed. “I lost the boots in the river, and I can’t bring myself to put on a pair of those dead guys’ pants.”
Seth smiled the most endearing smile, his eyes scrolling over her wet shirt. “Sweet.”
She punched his bicep very gently. “I was right. You’re as bad as Hunter.”
“Hey. Still alive here,” he reminded her. “Not dead yet.”
“Well, maybe I’d better cover up then.” She looked to the dry shirt she’d set aside for herself. “Do you promise not to look?”
“Scout’s honor,” Seth declared hoarsely.
She pivoted on her heel. “I doubt that.”
He shrugged. “A guy’s always gonna look. But if you’re worried, step around above me where I can’t see you. I don’t think Teague can neither.”
Teague was still out cold by the looks of him. Stalking back over to the pile of clothing, she selected the smallest pair of trousers she could find. A scrap of paper caught her eye. Tucked in between Teague’s litter and the bundle of clothes she’d been going through, it was facedown. Lifting it off the damp floor, her heart jumped. The photo was her high school graduation picture. What on earth was it doing there?
Rubbing the dirt off of it, she read what she’d written that crazy day when she’d found out she and Hunter were both going to the same college. Someday we’re going to be famous! Love you, Hunter Christian! Your best girl, Merry!
Ah, the overpowering need to end every thought and sentence with an exclamation point back then. The wide-eyed innocence of high school graduates who thought they knew it all. The gullibility of youth...
But why was her photo in this cave of all places? Hunter must’ve dropped it, but that begged the question—why? Was he cleaning out his wallet? Had he thrown it away? Was he looking at it again after all these years? The thought that he might have been doing just that, touched her. She secreted it in the pocket of the trousers she planned to wear.
Meredith made quick work of shrugging out of the waterlogged shirt and into another smellier, but drier one. Buttoned up into the trousers with her borrowed belt pulled tight and feeling a lot warmer, she sat cross-legged with Seth again. The dirty clothes might not fit or look good, but being covered went a long way toward feeling better. Darn it. Hunter had been right about that, too.
Seth latched onto her hand. “Where’s everyone else?”
“I hate to tell you, but Lyle and Dan were murdered last night. We still don’t know where Eric and Ky are,” she said somberly, not wanting to tell him about the body dump. “Tell me how you got caught.”
He gulped. “Me and Ky were headed back to camp. He had his flashlight and was maybe four steps ahead of me. All of a sudden, two guys jumped us. We never saw ’e
m coming. Before we could get our guns up, we were out cold. Least, I was. I woke up strapped to one of them metal tables like you see in operating rooms. Then they started cutting on me...”
She squeezed his hand tighter. “Why? What did they want?”
“You. They kept asking me where you were hiding, and what you knew about the ACS, and where you lived back in the States. Honest, ma’am, I tried real hard not to tell ’em anything, but they kept asking and cutting, so I... I...” He sucked in a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. I told ’em everything I knew.”
“But Seth.” Meredith placed her other hand on his forearm. “There’s nothing to tell. It’s not like I’m a spy or anyone important. I don’t know anything that isn’t already public knowledge.”
He swallowed hard. “I told ’em you’re as pretty as my old girlfriend, that you’re the gal running the beta test, that you work for MI. That Jed McCormack must like you a lot if he sent you all the way down. That... that...”
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “My friends already know that. I’m nothing special.”
He gulped. “Didn’t matter what I said anyway. It’s like they didn’t believe me. Like they figured I was smarter than I am. Then they taped my mouth shut.”
“Oh, my God, why?” Meredith shivered at that revelation.
“Guess they didn’t want me to make any noise.”
“Do you know what happened to Ky? Was he tortured, too?”
“I never did hear him. Course, I was making a lot of noise all by myself til they, you know.”
Meredith changed the subject. She couldn’t see Hunter leaving a man behind. If Ky had been in that camp with Seth, Hunter would’ve rescued him, too. “Listen. We’re both safe now. When Hunter gets back, we’ll get you cleaned up and bandaged. There are antibiotics in the medical kit—some painkillers, too. I’ll fix something for you to eat. I noticed you have a tattoo.”
“Ma’am?”
She nodded toward Seth’s bicep. She’d seen the heart and the single word in the center of it. Mom. Two raw knife slashes defaced it, but the message was clear. Seth loved his mother.
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