Red, Hot & Blue 09 - A Prince Among Men (13 page)

How could she possibly love a man like that? More than that, how could she face losing him? Because she was pretty damn sure it was already too late to avoid loving him.

“Something’s up with you.” Ryan had eventually gotten done with TOC guard duty and all the other assorted crap he had to do. Finally, he had time to track down Vicki. He had found her alone, working on her laptop in his quarters. At last, they had some privacy. That was the good news. The bad news was there was definitely something going on with her. It was almost as if she had avoided him all day. Sure, he’d been busy, but he couldn’t catch her alone, not even once, and he had tried.

“Nothing’s up. Why do you ask?” Vicki hadn’t even turned to look at him when he’d entered. She stayed facing her computer screen.

Ryan frowned at her back. “You’re acting different. Strange. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“Yeah. Fine.” She finally turned sideways in the chair to face him. “When can I go out into the country with you and the squad?”

That was a big enough change of subject to cause mental whiplash. Unless this was what was bothering her, the fact she hadn’t gotten to research her story yet. Maybe she was afraid to now because of last night. That could be the problem, but Ryan still wasn’t so certain that was it.

“You sure you still want to go off base with us?” Ryan left the words after last night’s attack unspoken.

A look of determination settled on her face. “Ryan, it’s something I have to do.”

“I know. I understand.”

She looked surprised at that. “You do?”

“Yeah, sure. I know how important your story is to you.” Because he’d snooped in her computer and read the beginnings of it. Ryan hoped the guilt didn’t show on his face.

“So when do you think the squad will be going out to see the locals again? Is the moon bright and the flowers all bloomed, or whatever?” She made the small joke half-heartedly.

He smiled. “We’re not going to do any visiting today, that’s for certain.”

“Why not? Because of the attack last night?” Her voice sounded strange. Yeah. Last night had definitely freaked her out a little bit, not that Ryan could blame her. The shit hitting the fan might give him an addictive dose of adrenaline, but it had been a very different experience for Vicki.

“No, not because of last night. If we changed our plans every time there was an attack, we’d never get anything done around here.” Vicki looked even unhappier at that information, so he elaborated. “We got a supply drop earlier today. That’s why we can’t go.”

Vicki frowned. “I didn’t hear or see any planes or helicopters making a supply drop.”

“Exactly. The damn pilot missed the drop zone by a couple of miles. Our pallet full of supplies is currently spread all over the ground in the middle of the orchard on the other side of the river. We have to go out and get it and bring it all back.”

Her eyes opened wide. “For real? You have to go out there to get your supplies?”

“Yeah. For one, we don’t want the bad guys to get them. For another, we need them for ourselves. Those MREs may not be the best, but at least they’re something to eat. And there’s a rumor we’re getting actual cans of soda this drop.”

“So, you’re just going to tromp out there, where there are obviously men who want to kill you, and collect your supplies? Right out in the open? Unprotected?” Her expression clearly told him what she thought of their day’s planned activity.

“Of course not. We’re not unprotected. We have weapons.” Ryan assessed the possible source of the scowl on Vicki’s face. “There’s that look again.”

“What look?” Vicki avoided direct eye contact. That was not at all encouraging.

“The same look you’ve had all day. Actually, since last night after the attack.” He moved closer and ran a finger up and down her arm. He expected her to lean into him, like she usually did whenever they were alone and he touched her. She didn’t. “You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?”

“Mmm, hmm.” She nodded. He wasn’t convinced.

Ryan dropped his hand from her arm as the door to the hut swung wide and Wally’s form filled the opening. “Time to go, Pettit.”

“Okay, Wally.”

Instead of leaving, as Ryan had hoped he would, Wally stood in the doorway and waited. Ryan silently cursed him. Now he couldn’t kiss Vicki; he couldn’t even say anything personal. “See you soon, Vicki.”

She nodded silently, that strange expression still on her face.

With one last glance back, and a wink that hopefully spoke all the words that remained unsaid, Ryan turned and left both Vicki and the base behind him.

With half his mind still back in that hut, a very dangerous place for it to be since he needed it with him for this mission, Ryan joined the rest of the squad and headed out.

It was a long trip to collect supplies. A journey made extra annoying because the shipment should have been dropped in the correct spot. This happened all too often with supply drops, but Ryan had to admit the view was amazing. He never failed to notice the beauty each time the squad trekked through the mountains beneath the azure-blue skies.

The day was sunny and warm enough he would have to remember to keep drinking water or risk dehydration. Especially now that the ride in the back of the truck was over. They’d reached the supplies.

Crazy desert temperatures—cold at night, hot during the day. He was sweating like crazy, and they’d just started gathering the boxes of food, water and other assorted supplies.

Ryan readjusted the weight of his rucksack and weapons and went back to loading the back of the pickup that would transport the boxes back to the base while the squad walked.

Perimeter guards, men from Ryan’s squad put in place by Hawk, secured the area during the operation so they weren’t totally sitting ducks.

A few members of the British squad had come with them this trip. They’d ridden inside the truck instead of in the open back like the rest of them. In fact, it was Wales and Rumsfield from the hut collapse. Ryan shook his head, kept silent about it and kept loading.

At least Wales was loading his share of the recovered supplies into the truck, in spite of Rumsfield hovering around him like a damn mother hen again. There was definitely something strange about those two.

Next to him, Wally said, “I’m sure glad we traded TOC duty last night, Pettit, or else I would have been the one to miss all the fun instead of you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ryan wasn’t about to tell Wally that although he had missed the firefight, he’d traded it off for some pretty fantastic quality time and fun alone with Vicki. Time he hoped to repeat again real soon, if he could figure out what the hell was bothering her.

Wally grabbed a case and threw it in the back of the truck. “I can tell you one thing. Our air support is loving life lately. Each time we’re hit, they get to fly in here like the cavalry riding to the rescue. I’ve seen everything from Apaches to B1s as air support this deployment.”

Ryan grunted in response as he hoisted another heavy box onto the tailgate of the truck. “This stuff weighs a frigging ton. It at least better be something good, like that soda they promised us.” Man could only live on water alone for so long. Jeez. The military could at least send them some drink mix or something to break up the monotony.

“Could be worse, Pettit. We could have to carry it back to base instead of letting those pansy-ass Brits drive it there.” Wally grinned.

“Hell, yeah.” Glancing around to make sure the pansy-ass Brits weren’t in hearing distance, Ryan agreed wholeheartedly.

Deciding it was time to take a break, Ryan broke out his water. He took a hefty slug just as Wally asked, “So what’s up with the reporter?”

Ryan sputtered and almost choked.

Wally slapped him on the back. “You okay there, buddy? Go down the wrong pipe?”

Eyes watering, Ryan managed a nod. “Yeah. I’m good.”

After ducking down to peer at Ryan’s face beneath the combat helmet and dirt, probably to make sure Ryan wasn’t turning blue or anything, Wally perched his butt on the edge of the bumper and took a slug of his own water. Ryan hoped the coughing incident had distracted Wally enough he’d forgotten about his question. There was no way Wally could know about Vicki and Ryan. They’d never been seen alone together as far as he knew, so what was the question about?

Wally put the cap back on his water and glanced at Ryan. “I mean Hawk hates reporters. He doesn’t even let her take notes at the meetings or anything. She basically stays holed up in our room or in the TOC day and night. What’s she doing here anyway?

Apparently, Wally wasn’t ready to let the subject drop, but at least Wally wasn’t asking what was up with him and the reporter, just about her reason for being there. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief at that. “I think I heard she wants to interview some locals, but Hawk doesn’t want her out with us during patrols or missions. And we haven’t been out for social calls since she’s been here.”

Wally shook his head. “Little did my mamma know when she taught me the proper way to go visiting back in Alabama that I’d be doing it in Afghanistan, drinking chai tea and eating goat in a mud hut.”

Ryan laughed. The chai was okay except for the floating tealeaves the locals never seemed to strain out, but they also usually left hair on the goat meat. Talk about unappetizing. But he’d learned to smile and chew, and then pick the hair out of his teeth later.

He’d have to remember to warn Vicki about that before they ventured out and she ate her first gourmet goat meal.

“I did see her out taking pictures earlier today though.”

That got Ryan’s attention. “Who? Vicki? Was out taking pictures? Out where?”

“Over by the volleyball court. Me and some of the guys challenged the Brits to a quick game. We kicked their asses, of course.” Wally grinned.

Ryan’s protective mode kicked in gear. “She shouldn’t be wandering around the base alone.”

Wally shrugged. “What’s she supposed to do? Stay in our hut waiting for one of us to escort her to the latrines? I saw her coming out of the shower trailer too.”

He frowned. She definitely shouldn’t be alone in the two-stall shower trailer all the men on base shared. There was a privacy issue in addition to the fact that they could get attacked at any moment. Body armor or not, a mortar or a missile could do some kind of damage to a woman wandering around out in the open. He’d have to talk to her about that. No way was his woman going to take risks like that while he was around.

Ryan stopped mid-motion when he realized what kind of thoughts were running through his mind. His woman. He did think of her as his, which opened up a whole can of worms. Namely, did Vicki feel the same or was this just a fling to break her yearlong dry spell? And what the hell was he going to do without her when she eventually went home? After looking forward to seeing her face, hearing her voice, watching her smile and feeling her body beneath his, how could he go back to being without her?

“Well, that’s it. Time to drag our sorry asses back.” Wally sighed and readjusted his own pack.

At Wally’s words, Ryan glanced around and realized they were done. The truck was loaded down, no more supplies littered the ground and the squad was ready to head back to the base. He needed to get his head back on straight for the long walk back, even though thoughts of Vicki still filled it.

“Good.” Ryan couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to get back to his room, find Vicki and… Hell, he didn’t know what he would do when he found her. Question her until she told him what was upsetting her? Yell at her to be more careful around the base? Kiss her until she cheered up? Confess he was falling in…like with her? Maybe he’d just feed her an MRE and hope the excitement of that would do the trick.

The truck headed for home loaded with supplies, the driver and two passengers crammed in the front seat, while the rest headed out on foot with Hawk in the lead.

Ryan should have been vigilant, watching for an attack. But for the rest of the trek home he mainly continued to consider all the alternatives, including a few X-rated ideas, to break Vicki’s strange mood.

They reached the gate and someone came running out to Hawk. Ryan couldn’t hear the animated conversation until he got closer, and then he heard Hawk ask, “Has air support been called?”

The man nodded in response to his question.

Ryan jogged closer. “Hawk. What happened?”

His leader’s face when he turned told Ryan the news was not going to be good. “The frigging truck never made it back to base. The truck, the supplies, the driver and the two other Brits riding along are all missing.”

“If they’d gotten a flat or overheated, we would have passed them on the walk back.” Ryan shook his head. Even distracted as he was, he wouldn’t have missed seeing the disabled truck, and the rest of the squad sure as hell wouldn’t have either.

“We didn’t see hide nor hair of them. How the hell can a truck go totally missing?” Wally joined the conversation.

Hawk let out a snort. “That’s what I would like to know.”

Vicki sat at the computer and downloaded the digital photos she’d taken that day. She needed to keep busy. After the shocks from the night before, both the attack by the bad guys and her realization she was far more attached to Ryan than she wanted to be, Vicki had set to work, keeping herself as active as possible. Anything so she could avoid thinking.

She opened and replied to all of her emails.

That seemed to take less time than usual so she checked her favorite milblog. Disappointed, she found no new activity there. No posts. No new reply to her comments. Groundpounder must be busy. God, she hoped he was busy and not something else, like hurt or worse, dead.

Dammit. She really needed to stop getting involved with military men, even online. There was just too much to worry about when it came to them.

With now another new fear—what had happened to Groundpounder—to occupy her mind, Vicki grabbed her camera and body armor and headed for the door of the hut. She knew enough not to wander around too much outside alone, but she needed a few minutes in the sun and fresh air to clear her head. If she stayed inside any longer she’d lose her mind.