Reviewing the observations as I wrote, I noticed they were mostly bad traits, but some good slipped in here and there.
Before I finished the writing session, someone knocked on the door. I closed the laptop and stood, wondering who it could be and knowing I had to be ready for anything Afghanistan threw at me.
“Hold on,” I said out loud.
I turned the doorknob and saw Warren standing outside. His bulging muscles were about ready to rip his olive-green t-shirt in half. He grinned that cocksure grin of his.
“Hey, Warren. What’s up?”
“The CO wants to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
He glanced to the left, then to the right. “Do you have a sat-phone with you?”
“No. It’s against the rules.”
“We intercepted the signal going out. You’re dealing with the U.S. army, not a bunch of idiots.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I insisted.
“Can I give you a tip?”
“Sure.”
“Tell the truth, okay? If you do, he won’t restrict you in your quarters.”
“He can’t do that to me. I’m a private U.S. citizen.”
“Look, Rose—I’m just trying to help you out. He has a lot of power out here.”
“Yeah? What kind of power? Anything going on I should know about? Like those samples?”
Warren’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.
I pursed my lips together. “Yeah—just like I have no idea what you’re talking about with the sat-phone you said you saw me using. Right?”
“Come on,” he said, turning. “I have to bring you to him.”
I took a deep breath and stepped outside into the cool evening air. With dinner in an hour, Captain Jacoby wouldn’t yell at me long. Besides, making him upset might work to my advantage if he got heated enough to let something slip…
As I followed Warren across the central plaza in middle of the base, I planned out answers to the questions Jacoby would likely ask. No matter the situation, I liked to be prepared; it’s what had gotten me through college and made it possible for me to find freelance assignments around the world.
Warren slowed down as we approached the Captain Jacoby’s office. “Just be honest, okay? It’s for the best,” he advised.
“Like you’re being honest with me about the samples?”
He frowned. “Like I said—”
“Forget it,” I interrupted. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.”
We stopped and turned to face each other. I stared into his blue eyes, betting many women had fallen prey to them over the years.
“Suit yourself.” He pointed to the door. “I’m off to enjoy my downtime.”
“Good for you,” I said, tired of the back-and-forth with him.
I walked up to the door and opened it without knocking. Negan looked up from his desk, terrified. He was an easy man to manipulate.
“The CO wanted to see me?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Hold on.”
“I’ll go back.”
He looked at me like a frightened mouse as I walked past his desk and went into Captain Jacoby’s office. By the time he stood to stop me, I’d closed the door of the CO’s office.
“Sit down,” the grizzled commander growled.
“Is this about my phone call? I know it’s against the rules, but I had to call my father. He’s dying.”
Captain Jacoby leveled his icy stare at me. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s liars.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“You didn’t call your father.” He glanced down at a paper on his desk. “You called someone named Kimberly Tallis. Who is she? Your contact? Were you speaking in code?”
I crossed my arms over my chest as I stood in front of his desk. “You were listening to my call?”
“I said sit down.”
With a sigh like a miffed teenager, I sat down and crossed one leg over the other.
“You’re in a warzone, Ms. Bennett. I know modern journalist blogger types like you don’t respect the unspoken agreements between the media and the military, but you’re not going to endanger the lives of me and my men while you’re here. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” I mumbled.
“I can’t hear you, Ms. Bennett.”
“Yes,” I repeated louder.
“That’s better. If I could get you the hell out of here tonight, I would. But it’s not possible. The Taliban is making a move because of the firefight you caused yesterday.”
“That I caused?”
“Shut-up and listen,” he said. “You would be out of here tonight, but I can’t risk bringing a transport copter in to take you to the Kandahar airport. That said, you’re out of here in a few days. A week at most.”
“No!” I moved to the edge of my seat. “That’s not fair! The agreement said two weeks!”
“And you broke the agreement, Ms. Bennett,” he said smugly.
“Fine. I’ll just have to finish earlier. You can’t stop me from doing my story.”
“Your story on the villagers here in the province?” he asked, staring into my eyes.
I used my many years of practice to lie. “Yes. Why else would I be here?”
“Get out of here before I change my mind and fly you out over the enemy for the fuck of it.”
I stood and saluted, just because I knew he would hate it.
Outside, Warren stood a few feet away. “How did it go?”
“He’s making me leave a week early.”
He stared at me like he wanted to say something.
“Spit it out,” I said. “I’m running out of time.”
“There’re things going on here that you don’t know about.”
“Yeah? Tell me more.”
“I can’t right now.”
“Fine. I’ll ask Melvin and some of the others.”
“You need to stay away from Melvin.”
“I do?”
He nodded. “Trust me. He’s not a good guy.”
“I’ll have to decide that on my own,” I said stepping away.
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Rose, wait…”
I spun around. “What?”
“Just be careful, okay? Afghanistan is a rough country.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said and then turned to walk away.
Fucking men always trying to control me, I thought.
I had to admit though, he was hot.
CHAPTER 6
Rose
After Warren warned me about Melvin, I was even more eager to talk with him. I went to where I usually saw him—the makeshift outdoor gym on the south wall of the camp. He was on the weight bench, lifting some ridiculous amount into the air while a slightly smaller man stood behind him. Neither of them had shirts on and their bodies glistened with sweat.
“Hey, boys,” I said, strolling over.
Melvin grunted before placing the barbell back on the hooks. He sat up and stared at me, not bothering to disguise his lustful expression. While not afraid to apply my female charms when necessary, I never took it too far and only used it to acquire the information I needed. And looking at Melvin—I knew he could possibly help me break the story wide open.
“What’s going on, foxy reporter?” he said, standing up.
The other man wandered away, leaving me and Melvin alone.
“Your CO is making me go home early,” I said, pouting.
“Get out of here. We were just getting to know each other.”
“Do you want to be in the story I’m writing? It would be a profile piece online. You’d get a lot of fan mail from women all over the world.”
He stepped toward me. “Who says I don’t get that already?”
“Well, it would be even more with a nice story online. Maybe some photos…”
“You want to take
photos of me?”
“Maybe later. I just need information first.”
“Information?”
“Yeah. About what goes on here at the base.”
“What have you heard?”
Does he actually know something? I wondered. “Nothing specific,” I said. “It’s just—you’re the real big man on base.”
He smiled as he lifted an arm and flexed his muscles.
“Impressive,” I cooed, fighting back my revulsion. “So—do you have time to talk?”
“Not now,” he said. “Give me an hour.”
“Um, sure. How about we meet at the mess hall?”
“No, I’ll come to your quarters.”
“I don’t think…” But before I finished, he was walking away. “Dammit,” I muttered.
I wasn’t too concerned though. I figured I could handle him.
* * *
Well over an hour later, someone knocked on my door.
“Hold on,” I said, standing up. I crossed the room and stopped.
Be strong, I told myself as I took a deep breath.
I opened the door to find Melvin dressed in camo pants and a tight green tee-shirt, all standard issue. He grinned and stepped forward, giving me no choice but to step back and let him in.
“You made it,” I said.
“I keep my word.”
As he shut the door behind him, a sense of dread rushed came over me. I tried to ignore it and walked over to my desk. “Have a seat, and I’ll pull up my list of questions,” I said.
He stepped over and closed my laptop.
My eyes snapped up toward him. “What are you doing?”
“We can do the interview after.” He smirked.
“After what?” I asked, right as he lurched forward. I narrowly avoided his kiss. “Whoa. Hold on a minute…”
“The hard-to-get act is getting old,” he said, his voice thick.
“Are you drunk?”
He laughed. “Alcohol isn’t allowed on the base. How would I get some?”
“Smuggling,” I said, staring into his eyes and wishing I could read his thoughts.
“What do you know about smuggling?” he asked, moving in on me.
“It’s happened during wars all throughout history,” I said.
“Yeah? Well, Afghanistan ain’t no war. It’s a hell-hole all the time.”
As he spoke, I attempted to subtly move toward the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “You afraid of me or something?”
Or something, I thought. What have I gotten myself into now?
“Come on,” he begged. “You know you want this hot body.” He lifted his shirt, showing off his ridiculously huge muscles.
“Sorry, but you’re not my type,” I said, two steps away from the door. “No hard feelings, though.”
“Oh, I’ve got hard feelings,” he said with a nasty grin.
I reached for the doorknob, ready to make a run for it. But he lunged forward and pressed his palm against the door, holding it shut.
“Where you running off to, beautiful?”
“You need to leave,” I said firmly, determined to not show the fear I felt.
“Look, you fucking cock-tease,” he said, “you’ve been playing Warren and me both, and it’s not right. If you want information for your damn story, it’ll cost you. He’s not the man you think he is.”
“What do you mean?” I said, attempting to put on a brave face and ignore his threat. Instead, I latched on to his comment about Warren. “Is he involved in the smuggling?”
He sighed. “There you go with the damn smuggling again. All you do is ask questions. Time for you to give some up.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”
The moment he reached out to grab my arm with his hand, I screamed, hoping someone would hear.
CHAPTER 7
Warren
When I heard Rose scream, I immediately began rushing to her CHU. The lights were on, but I had no idea what was happening inside.
Had she seen a rat or something?
Seconds later, the door burst open and she ran outside with Melvin lumbering after her, a sick and demented smile on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked once within earshot of her.
“You need to teach your boy some manners!” she said angrily, glaring at Melvin.
I turned toward him and the sickening smirk on his face. “What did you do?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Nothing you don’t want to do with her,” he said, puffing out his chest.
I stepped forward, pressing mine against his. He stood a few inches taller than me, but I wasn’t afraid of him in the least; brain won over brawn every time. “What…the fuck…did you do?” I said.
“Nothing happened,” Rose said, grabbing my arm and pulling. But I didn’t budge.
“You like me, don’t you babe?” Melvin said, patting her ass.
“Hey!” she snapped.
“That’s it, you son of a bitch.” I swung and punched him dead on the temple. He bellowed and bent into a defensive stance, his fists up.
“Knock it off you two!” Rose cried.
“Too late for that,” Melvin said and then lunged for me, landing an uppercut to my jaw.
“Why are we fighting?” I asked, dodging his next hit.
“Because you need to know who’s the alpha around here,” he growled.
I ducked out of the way as he swung again, and then landed a punch on his forearm.
“What the fuck, guys!” Ryan yelled as he ran toward us.
“Tell him to get the fuck out of here,” I yelled, keeping my hands up as I bobbed up and down, blocking his additional hits.
Ryan stepped between us, while Rose stood off to the side, watching and looking dumbfounded.
“All of you need to leave,” she said.
I stared at Melvin, daring him to make a move.
He put his hands down, grinning like an idiot. “I’m out of here.”
As he approached the door, I stepped aside.
“That’s better,” Ryan said, following after him.
I hung back, looking across the sand at Rose. “Are you okay?”
As the other two men walked away from the quarters, she took a deep breath and shook her head.
“Well, I came because I heard you screaming. I guess I’ll go now,” I said.
“No, wait.” She put her hand on my arm.
“Yeah?”
“I’m leaving soon, and you seem to have little time for that romantic date you promised me. I need something to remember Afghanistan by.”
I smiled, my heart still racing. “Fine. I’ll stop by tomorrow. If you need anything, just yell and I’ll come running.”
“Clearly.”
“He won’t bother you again. I can promise that,” I said, seeing the anxiety in her eyes.
She removed her hand from my arm.
“Have a good night, Rose,” I said, already missing her touch.
“You too, Warren.”
I left her CHU, closing the door behind me. The half-full moon had risen in the sky as I walked to the sleeping quarters I shared with Ryan.
Melvin stood outside the door, punching his fist into the palm of his other hand and shrugging his shoulders a few times.
Do you want more? I thought. I’ll give it to you.
He tilted his head back and puffed out his chest.
I stopped in front of him.
“We can’t be fighting over pussy, bro,” he said.
“I’m not fighting over anything.”
He laughed. “Oh, so you didn’t sucker punch me?”
I sighed. “What do you want, Melvin?”
“I want to make sure you don’t open your stupid mouth to that reporter chick about what we got going on.”
“I’ve told you I want nothing to do with it anymore.”
His chest bumped against mine as he stepped forward. “And I’ve
said you don’t have a choice in the matter.” “Hey, Warren,” Ryan called from behind Melvin, “you coming in?”
“I’ll be there in a second,” I said. “Melvin and I have some stuff to work out.”
“All right, man. No more of that fighting bullshit.” The door closed behind Ryan.
I concentrated on my breathing. “Melvin, I mean it. I’m done. My tour is over soon, and I’ll be going home.”
“Then you’ll sign up again,” Melvin said, his eyes never leaving mine.
“No, Melvin, I’m won’t.”
His lip twitched.
“Look, I won’t say anything to Rose or anyone else. I’m implicated in this mess myself,” I said.
“Damn right you are,” he said. “Don’t forget that shit.”
“Go get some sleep. And cut down on the steroids. That shit is making you crazy.”
“Maybe, but I’m buffer than any motherfucker in Afghanistan.”
“Whatever, man. I’m going to bed. Lay off the reporter, okay? We don’t want any extra eyes on either of us right now. She’ll be leaving in a few days.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Captain is sending her home.”
Melvin grinned. “You had nothing to do with that, did you?” He patted me on the shoulder. “Later, man.”
I watched as he walked away to his CHU.
I briefly wondered if I needed to stay up to make sure he didn’t go back to bother Rose, but ultimately decided against it. I climbed into bed, trying to come up with something somewhat romantic for my date with the reporter.
With luck, I hoped to fuck her under the open sky on the foothills of the mountains. If nothing else, I would distract her until she left our camp and lives for good.
Then I would get out of the smuggling operation for good.
One step at a time, I told myself as I fell asleep. One step at a time.
CHAPTER 8
Warren
When I saw the smile and look of amazement on her face, all the effort and trouble I’d gone through felt worthwhile. I had even called in favors from three different people at the Savage Soldier base.
“This is so beautiful,” she said, looking at the valley below and the mountain range in the distance.
“Right? It’s a shame this country is besieged by so much war.” I sat down on the blanket. “Here, have a glass of wine and some cheese.”
Lawless Hero: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Savage Soldiers Book 4) Page 3