LITMIR.BIZ

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last night, or that she’d had to take a life, but that she was alone. Had been alone for months. He had Seth, Boone, Cade. They all understood exactly what it was to be a soldier. They knew what the risks were, how to cope with the unbearable stress of a mission that seemed to have no end. Even Kate and Christie were holding up their end. But Tam had been forced into a bubble, a tiny world where there was no one to lean on or to question or run her ideas by. She’d been flying solo since Kosovo, and she was exhausted.

      He nodded slowly, wondering briefly how he could justify kidnapping another biochemist to work with her. That was no answer. He had none. “What can I do?”

      “I’m not sure,” she said. “But you can start by taking off your clothes.”

      “Pardon me?”

      Her cheeks had blushed a vivid pink and her hands were twisted tightly together but she looked him right in the eyes. “I think, I hope, that I haven’t been wildly off the mark with you being attracted to me.”

      He thought she was going to continue but when she just kept staring, he nodded. “Yeah.” It was an understatement, but he wasn’t exactly at his best at the moment.

      “I’m attracted to you, too. And since the odds of us living long, happy lives is about one in a million, I think we should do whatever we can in whatever time we have that brings us pleasure. And happiness. And comfort.”

      He ought to have some kind of reasonable argument. He was the team leader. He was responsible for her, for all of them. Having sex would complicate things in ways he couldn’t possibly foresee. But all he kept thinking was thank you, God. Thank you, thank you.

      “On the other hand, if I’m totally freaking you out, we can pretend I never said a word.”

      “What?”

      She looked away, then back again. “Nate, cut it out. If you don’t want to, just say so.”

      “Don’t want to? Oh, Tam…”

      “Oh, Tam, what?” She looked down pointedly. “Naked here. Can we say vulnerable?”

      “Vulnera—Shit. I’m sorry. No. I want to. I just haven’t thought about us actually, you know…”

      “You haven’t thought about it? Wow. I have. A lot.”

      “You have?”

      She nodded. “I had a lot of time alone in that lab.”

      “That’s great,” he said. “Seriously, that’s great, because I have, too.”

      “But you just said—”

      “Don’t listen to me. I think I had a small stroke when you asked me to take off my clothes. I’m better now.”

      Her smile blossomed and it made everything in the world feel as soft and clean as the pretty white sheets. “You’re weird, but then I’ve always liked weird.”

      “Thanks.”

      She laughed. “So we’re just gonna talk about it?”

      “Huh?”

      Her eyes rolled, but she didn’t lose the grin. “I meant now.”

      “Oh. Oh!”

      She flopped her hands on the comforter as she shook her head. “How long has it been for you?”

      His shirt was already on the floor, and he was in the middle of toeing off his socks and undoing his belt. “Doesn’t matter.”

      “No?”

      He shook his head as he unzipped his fly. “Nope. None of it mattered until right this minute.”

      “Because…”

      He slipped off his jeans and his boxers then jumped under the covers. He found her hand and squeezed it gently. “Because now it’s you.”

      KATE AND VINCE HAD COME to Boone and Christie’s room at one-thirty. The new arrivals had already checked into the motel, using other names of course, and Seth and Boone had helped them put in the security devices on the front door, the windows and the telephone. Christie and Harper were working at their waitressing jobs. Cade was due in an hour via Greyhound. None of them had heard a word from Nate or Tam.

      “All he said was that she’d been compromised,” Kate related. She sat on the ugly beige couch that was the twin to the one in her room. Vince was next to her, close, touching from shoulder to knee. Milo, Christie’s golden lab, had curled up near her feet.

      Seth stood in the kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee and Boone sat by the small round table in the corner. Both men looked as if they hadn’t slept in a while, and she wondered what these nighttime missions were costing them.

      “Christie said he sounded tense.” Boone bent forward, leaning his elbows on his thighs. “She didn’t think Tam was taken, but maybe she was hurt.”

      “That might explain why we haven’t heard anything.”

      “Maybe.”

      Seth came back into the room. He seemed a lot more comfortable with his prosthetic claw, and Kate figured doing his job again had made the difference. Truth be known, she still felt guilty that he’d lost his hand fighting to save her life. It didn’t seem to matter that it was Omicron bullets that had blown his hand almost all the way off. The guilt was hers and his new ease with his prosthesis didn’t take it away. At least he had Harper now. Kate hadn’t seen them for a couple of weeks, but she’d heard they were doing great.

      “I don’t like it,” Vince said. “If we don’t hear soon, we’re going to have to make some decisions.”

      “Like what?” Kate asked.

      “Like what to do if they don’t come back.”

      Kate shook her head. “They’ll be here. Nate wouldn’t let them get her, not Tam.” She turned to Boone and Seth. “What do you guys need us to do?”

      Seth smiled. “Robbing a bank would be most helpful.”

      Vince laughed. “I could probably pull it off, but man, don’t let ’em send me to an L.A. court.” Vince had been a detective in L.A. for over ten years.

      “Seriously,” Boone said. “What we need most now is cash. Christie and Harper are working double shifts at that damn truck stop, but the tips aren’t that great.”

      “I suppose,” Vince asked, “that Harper can’t let anyone know she’s a doctor.”

      “Nope. Too chancy. We’re stuck paying for these rooms.” Seth got up again and poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked around questioningly, but no one else wanted any. “We thought about renting a house, but we haven’t found anywhere we could all stay that’s discreet enough. We’re too damn close to the Omicron plant to take any risks.”

      “We’ll find jobs,” Kate assured him.

      “No, wait,” Vince said, turning to look at her. “We’ve got some cash. I think we should put all our energy on breaking Omicron’s back. Waiting tables isn’t going to bring in enough to make a difference anyway.”

      “Are you sure?” Kate asked.

      “I’m sure.”

      Seth frowned. “What are we talking about here? A couple thousand…”

      “Over a hundred thousand,” Vince said. “And I can get it here without it being traced or reported to the government.”

      Seth’s brows lifted in surprise. “Good man.”

      “Selfish man.” Vince nodded at Kate. “I want her safe. That’s all that matters.”

      Kate squeezed his hand, but caught Boone looking suspiciously hungry.

      “So how long until the money can be here?” Boone asked.

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