Sara dutifully continued to shoot the video, recording Jason’s mention of each item and exactly where it lay in the midst of ashes and other debris.
She was impressed with Jason’s meticulousness and attention to detail in the ruined Jeep. He pointed out the parts he recognized, those that were no longer recognizable but had qualities that allowed him to make assumptions, and more.
He occasionally asked for her to gently touch something, holding it out of the way so he could pry even farther into some inside area. She shot more pictures of each of those areas when her assignment was complete.
Eventually, after more than an hour, Jason was through.
“I know it’ll all be speculation,” Sara said, holding the camera on Jason, “but do you have any initial opinion about the origin of the fire?”
His handsome features grew even sharper as his expression hardened. “Nothing conclusive, nothing I can point to that proves it was anything but some odd mechanical failure or spontaneous combustion or unavoidable accident,” he said, “but despite finding nothing obvious during this first examination, I knew this Jeep well after servicing it for General Yarrow. I believe this was somehow deliberately sabotaged, set on fire. And I’ll do anything I can to find proof.”
Sara turned off the camera and looked at him, seeing the frustration and sorrow on his face. She wanted to do something to comfort him, but all she could do was to acknowledge her agreement. “That’s my belief, too,” she said quietly. “But since you didn’t see anything to hang that opinion on—”
“I will,” he said grimly. “Count on it.”
Chapter 6
Jason used his cell phone to call the head of the small base security team. Time for them to guard the car’s remains. It was getting late on this very busy day.
Sara waited with him, concern furrowing her brow beneath her short cap of blond hair. He’d never thought frowning sexy before. But, as unfortunate as it was, everything about Lieutenant Sara McLinder made him ache to touch her.
Everything including her light citrus scent.
And the way she’d jumped in to help him study the Jeep. Concentrated on taking videos. Essentially interviewed him to preserve his thoughts and actions in case they helped lead to what the hell had caused the vehicle to catch fire.
Everything including the way she now pulled her phone from her pocket often to check the time.
Yes, even that was sexy and taunted him to get up close and personal with her, encourage her to relax...and more.
Not that he’d ever give in to those urges. She wasn’t exactly the kind to appreciate them.
Soon, three men on security detail—all privates, none a member of either of the primary units at Ft. Lukman, and all vetted to be trustworthy—arrived.
No chances were to be taken with the Jeep’s carcass, even though Jason felt certain he’d done a pretty good job checking it over. There just wasn’t anything useful to be found.
But the general would want to see it once he was feeling well enough to return here. Maybe he’d examine the remains himself. And, most likely, he would call in his own most trusted military forensics experts to confirm Jason’s conclusions—or at least he’d have to consent to whoever was given the assignment.
“Let’s go report to my cuz,” he finally said to Sara as they left the garage. “We can show him the photos, see what he wants us to do with them.” He kept his tone casual, sergeant to lieutenant.
“Fine,” she responded in her characteristic clipped tone. Why did he find that sexy, too?
Sara kept pace with his long strides across sidewalks toward the building near the entry gate that housed the offices of the base’s commanding officers.
That included General Yarrow’s. Jason had seen his specially furnished office here on the senior CO’s earlier visits.
Drew had an office there, too. It was down the hall of the building’s second floor. That’s where Jason headed now, along with Sara.
But he hated having nothing conclusive to report. Especially since Drew had initially put him in charge of moving the damaged vehicle, but also agreed that he should start the investigation into the fire’s cause. Thanks to Sara.
Of course Jason wasn’t sure why she’d promoted the idea of having him check out the Jeep first. She clearly was uncomfortable with who, and what, he was.
They passed other soldiers on Ft. Lukman’s sidewalks, some from Alpha Force, some from the Ultra Special Forces Team and others among the few miscellaneous soldiers with high security clearances who also happened to be stationed there. Jason saluted appropriately. So did Sara.
Jason recalled his first days after enlisting, getting used to such stringent protocol. He’d wanted to rebel, but knew that being there, following the rules, would be all that could keep him out of prison. He’d kept telling himself it would eventually be second nature to him.
Even now, it wasn’t entirely, but he’d gotten used to it. He’d even gotten used to his own ambivalence about being in the military. Sort of.
Sara said nothing, not at first. But as they reached the building, she stopped and turned toward him. Her expression appeared troubled. He wondered again why such an unsexy look on her face made his downstairs body parts want to stand up and salute.
She shook her head then and tossed him a smile that seemed anything but happy. “You know, as we walked here, I kept looking at everyone I didn’t yet know, wondering if he or she was part of Alpha Force, and, if so, whether they were shifters. And you know I’d been fighting any belief in people...like you. Even though, having seen you, I now know the truth.”
He realized how much that stuff that she considered woo-woo, yet real, must really bother the by-the-book officer. Growing up the way he did, knowing that his kind needed to hide from most of the world to stay alive, he should have despised her.
He didn’t. Instead, he kind of understood. And wanted to help.
“A lot of Alpha Force members are away right now, either on missions or vacation, so you’ve probably met everyone in our unit who’s here at the moment. Tell you what, one of these days maybe we’ll have a little talk not only about Alpha Force but shapeshifting in general. It’s always been fascinating to me, even though I’m part of it. Maybe learning more will make it easier for you to deal with, too.”
She sucked in her full lips pensively. He wished for a moment that he could do the same...in a nice, hot, endless kiss. But he just waited for her response.
“I’d like that,” she said, then pivoted and headed toward the building’s front entrance.
They walked up the stairway to the second floor. General Yarrow’s office was right there, and Jason noticed Sara’s glance toward its closed door, with the CO’s name on it, before she accompanied him down the hall to Drew’s office. His cuz, too, had his name on the outside door. Jason knew that this office, a new one for Drew, was mostly for show and convenience.
Drew spent most of his time when present at Ft. Lukman in the downstairs lab area of the building near the outer edge of the base. His primary office was a small one there, too—the one where the recent Alpha Force meeting had been held.
Sara, who had slightly preceded Jason, knocked on the door, but he didn’t wait for a response. He opened it and walked inside, holding the door open for the lovely lieutenant.
She blinked at him in irritation but he turned immediately toward the standard-issue desk at the far side of the room. Drew sat behind it, also glaring at him.
“Come in,” Drew said through clenched teeth.
Jason just smiled. “Don’t mind if I do.” Again without waiting, he approached Drew’s desk and pulled out one of the two chairs facing it, both with gray tweed upholstery attached to a light wood frame, and motioned for Sara to sit.
She hesitated, as if not comfortable with the gesture, but then complied without comment.
“Okay, you two,” Drew said, and Jason was glad to see that Sara didn’t cringe at being grouped with him in Drew’s upcoming in
quiry. “I gather you didn’t find anything particularly helpful, but give me a rundown.”
Jason did, starting with the photos he’d shot before relocating the charred remains, then annotating the narration they presented when Sara ran her videos.
Drew was silent for a moment when they finished. “Maybe I am trying to make a bigger deal of this than it warrants. General Yarrow was injured, but he’s okay. In fact, I understand he’ll be well enough to return here as early as tomorrow. If there’s no evidence that the fire was deliberately set—”
“Then someone was damned good at setting it,” Jason interrupted. From the corner of his eye he saw Sara glance toward him. He caught her gaze, and they both gave slight nods.
“Then that’s what you think, too, Sara?” Drew asked.
“Until someone proves that it was just some stupid little thing like the sun shining on a piece of glass inside and heating a spot on the canvas cover till it ignited, or the general just unfortunately passed a smoker who happened to flick a butt at just the wrong angle—and, yes, I can see from your expression that you’re as dubious as I am about those—then I’m going to assume the worst. We’re not experts, but I’m sure you and the general can find some guys who do this all the time. I’d just request that you keep me informed about anything they find.”
“Me, too,” Jason said, wanting not only to support Sara but to hug her, as well.
She had expressed everything he’d wanted to, and then some.
* * *
If she let herself, Sara knew she would feel depressed as she left the major’s office with Jason.
They headed back toward the stairway that had taken them to this floor, then down the steps. Jason’s footfalls were light, sounded carefree as he took those steps a couple at a time.
Their discussion with Drew must have pleased him more than it did Sara.
The good news was that General Yarrow was improving, might even be there, at Ft. Lukman, tomorrow.
The bad? Well, nothing that she didn’t already know. No news wasn’t necessarily good news.
And now it was very late in the afternoon. Sara hadn’t yet formed any friendships with other officers at the base. She wanted to, at least with members of Alpha Force, and might be able to call on one or two and invite them for coffee or whatever to get to know them better.
She didn’t even want to try with any members of the Ultra Special Forces Team. She might have a lot more in common with them than with Alpha Force members, but the animosity between the two units remained almost palpable—and she had come here to help the general work with the unit reporting to him.
“Hey, Lieutenant,” Jason said as he held the building’s door open for her to exit. “What’re you up to now?”
Had he read her mind? Or was her dejection obvious?
She pasted a smile on her face as she looked at him. Then it turned more genuine. It was hard to stay depressed in the presence of a guy so great-looking, so cock-sure of himself, who teased sexily with every gaze of his golden eyes.
“Just thought I’d head back to the BOQ and do some reading. I’m tired of excitement for now.”
“Well, if you’d like just a little more excitement first—fun stuff, nothing heavy—you could join me. I’m heading over to the kennel to pick up my best friend.”
She tilted her head at him, slightly puzzled. “I assume, if you’re going to the kennel, that it’s—”
“Yep, my cover dog, Shadow. I’ve been letting him hang out with his buddies much too long lately. It’s time he spent some quality time with me. And with you, too, if you’re interested.”
“Cover dog?” She had thought Shadow resembled Jason in wolf form but still... What did that mean?
“You’ve been at the kennel, seen some of the dogs,” Jason said. “They’re mostly trained for K-9 uses, security and bomb sniffing and all that. But in addition—well, all of us shifters have a pet who looks like us in our animal forms. That helps confuse people who don’t really know, or understand, what Alpha Force is about. If they happen to see a wolflike dog, they’re much more likely to assume it’s a wolflike dog than a shapeshifter. Same goes for Colleen Hodell’s cougar-resembling cat. Smaller, of course. She keeps Puka in her BOQ unit.”
Fascinating, Sara thought.
“With all that was going on,” Jason continued, “I figured Shadow would be better off there, with company, than hanging out with me, but I miss the guy, want to spend some time with him.”
“Sure,” Sara said. “I’d love to play with Shadow.”
And you, too, she thought, but didn’t say it. Yet suddenly she felt much more lighthearted because she wouldn’t be alone, at least not for now.
Knowing she’d be in Jason’s company a little longer had nothing to do with it.
* * *
She loved it!
While Sara was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, she’d had a dog—a small one, a Shih Tzu mix named Sissy, who had loved to play fetch with nylon bones. She’d been a sweetheart. Sara had missed her as much as she’d missed the rest of the family when she’d left home to attend Kent State to study political science—and to join ROTC, since she’d known she wanted a career in the military.
Sissy was gone now, and Sara hadn’t gotten to know the dog her parents had subsequently gotten from a rescue organization very well, mostly because she visited so infrequently.
She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed dogs—until that afternoon.
Jason and she each had a dog leashed beside them as they left the building housing the kennel on its main floor. Jason’s was, of course, Shadow.
He had also gotten her a dog for companionship that afternoon. “This is Duke,” he’d told her as he handed her the leash of a large shepherd-wolfhound mix. “He’s the cover dog for the second in command stationed here at Alpha Force, Lieutenant Patrick Worley. Patrick’s been on vacation with his wife, Mariah. She’s a nature writer and they went back to Alaska, where they met, for a couple of weeks. They’re due back tomorrow, but we’ve all been exercising Duke in the meantime.”
And now, Sara was running with dogs and Jason on the neatly trimmed lawn beneath canopies of trees, and between some of the cookie-cutter low buildings that filled Ft. Lukman, including the one that housed the general’s, and Drew’s, offices. The one holding the kennel—and the lab areas below—was on the periphery of the rest.
Sara knew she was a bit out of shape despite all the calisthenics she performed as a matter of course nearly every morning at home, as part of her military regimen. But she hadn’t run like this for—well, forever.
“Please, wait!” she finally cried to Jason, who was ahead of her with Shadow. Duke tugged on his leash to catch up. “I need to rest.”
“Is that an order, Lieutenant?” Jason called. He’d turned and was running backward. At least his pace was slower now.
“That’s an order,” Sara gasped, stopping altogether. “Duke, come here.”
“Here, let me give you a lesson in training these guys.” Jason was suddenly right beside her, and the dogs, too, had stopped. Both large canines were panting heavily. So was Sara. Jason barely seemed out of breath, although Sara did see patches of perspiration near his armpits, and his forehead, too, was damp.
She must look awful, she thought—definitely sweaty and breathless and generally a mess.
So why, when Jason looked at her, did he smile so sexily?
Hell, she knew why. That was his usual look. But if he was totally turned off by her, he was kind enough not to show it.
Which in a way was too bad. Maybe it would make her stop lusting for this highly inappropriate soldier.
“Okay, Shadow.” Jason stood straight as he looked down at his dog. He raised one hand and pointed to Shadow’s rear. “Sit.” The canine obeyed immediately. “Now you try it with Duke. That’s elementary, and they’ve all been taught the same commands.”
Sara did so and found herself surprisingly pleased when Duke sat, stood and gave her his p
aw, all on command. “Is he trained for any of the K-9 things you mentioned, like sniffing out drugs or whatever?”
“Sure. They’ve all been taught some of that, too. A few are real experts, and they’re used when that kind of help is needed. But most of these guys are just excellent camouflage pets.” He paused. “Are you ready to take Duke back to his quarters? I’m keeping Shadow with me tonight.”
So he would have company, even though it was just a dog.
Sara would be on her own—which never used to bother her. She’d find male companionship now and then when she wanted some, but not here, of course.
“Tell you what,” she said. “I saw an outdoor eating area at the base cafeteria. Why don’t we grab dinner together with both dogs—part of their training, of course.” And definitely not fraternizing. Or at least arguably not, if anyone called her on it.
“Fine with me.” Jason gave her one of those hot grins again, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “You hungry now?”
“Hungry enough.” Under other circumstances, she’d go shower and change clothes before having dinner with a great-looking guy.
But now, it was better if she stayed grungy and unalluring. Much better.
Because even if she hadn’t yet been able to get her attraction to Jason completely under control, at least he couldn’t possibly find her appealing.
* * *
Jason kept the dogs company while Sara went inside to grab her dinner.
He’d have liked to have accompanied her, even paid for her meal, but it was better this way.
No way could it look like a date.
Especially since the cafeteria was filled with both Alpha Force members and those from that damned Ultra Special Forces Team.
Jason sat at a table for two, bending over and petting the dogs. Talking to them.
It kept him from having to speak with anyone nearby—who mostly seemed to be USFT guys. Too bad he didn’t know what their special skills really were. What the hell made them more ultra than regular Special Forces?
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