her up.
“Hey,” I said, looking into her eyes.
“Hey, you,” she replied. “You make a good pillow.”
“I’m glad you think so. I can’t feel my right arm.”
“I’m sorry,” Sarah said with a little smile. “You want me to move?”
“Not really,” I confessed. “This is . . . nice. A nice way to wake up.”
Sarah agreed. “Yeah,” she said, squeezing me a bit tighter. “So tell me. Why is it every time you almost get your ass shot off you end up in bed with me?”
I had no idea how to answer that. I just looked at her, mouth slightly open, and she giggled. “Um . . .”
“Yes?” she asked.
“Because you’re the Queen of Crazy Town?” I suggested tentatively.
Sarah gently pushed my face away and laughed. “I can see where I gave you that impression. What time is it, anyway?”
I shrugged. “My clock is still broken.”
“Well . . . they’ll call before they send a car,” Sarah said. “We could be here all day. They’re trying to limit traffic outside the compound during daylight hours or when the roads are busy. You know, because of the checkpoints.” Sarah trailed off and exhaled heavily.
“Listen,” I said. “You did good out there. You weren’t trained for that kind of job, but you held it together. You did what you had to do. No hesitation, nothing. I’m impressed.” I really was.
“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better.”
“I’m not,” I said sternly. “Your quick thinking is probably the reason more of us didn’t get killed. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. She kissed me sweetly.
Smiling, I turned toward her a little and gently brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She closed her eyes as I caressed her cheek. Her right hand slid up to my shoulder, pulling me closer to her. I scootched over a bit and kissed her, deeply. She made a very soft, pleasurable sigh and ran her fingers through my buzzed hair.
I rolled onto my back, pulling Sarah with me. Straddling me, she only stopped kissing me for a moment and pulled her shirt off over her head. She leaned forward again, kissing me passionately, her hair tickling my face and my neck.
Sarah and I made love for a long time, and, for a while, I was able to stop thinking about all the things that were bothering me. Like how horrible it was that we were fooling around like a couple of high-school kids on prom night just hours after we watched one of my guys bleed to death. Or how I treated her the night I got drunk. Or what was going to happen between us after this. However it played out, it was going to be
At that moment, though, with her in my arms, I didn’t worry about any of that. I was
VALENTINE
Fort Saradia National Historical Site
April 18
1230
I stepped into my room and closed the door behind me, looking down at the sheet of paper in my hand. Hunter had given it to me after Sarah and I returned from Safe House 5.
It was a BOLO, or “be on the lookout” alert, passed down from Gordon Willis. The photocopy was about a young woman named Jillian Del Toro. She had been an intern at the US Embassy in Zubara, on loan to the State Department from the Department of Agriculture. She was a low-level employee but apparently had access to one James Fiore, the assistant ambassador. Fiore had been killed by the enemy after the US Embassy was evacuated. According to the dossier I’d been given, Jill Del Toro was apparently selling embassy secrets to General Al Sabah’s intelligence people and had gotten Fiore killed.
Del Toro was still at large. She wasn’t considered dangerous, but she was a traitor, and Gordon wanted her brought in, dead or alive.
I studied the picture of the young woman. Miss Del Toro was twenty-five years old, fresh out of college. She was beautiful, with dark hair, bright eyes, and a very pretty face. Maybe it was just me, but she didn’t look like a traitor. I was probably being naive, I thought, but something about this whole thing didn’t sit right.
Of course, very little of what was passed down from Gordon Willis sat right with me. I tossed the BOLO on my bed and sat. As I did so, I noticed the strange key that I’d found in Adar’s safe, still sitting where I’d left it.
I reached over and picked up the ancient-looking trinket and examined it again. Turning the knob on the base caused dozens of tiny pins to pop out of nearly invisible recesses in the object’s shaft. I twisted the knob the other way, and the tiny pins smoothly disappeared.
Sarah and I hadn’t really gotten any sleep, and I was tired. I was off for the rest of the day and decided then that I was going to take a nap. Before I could lie down, there was a soft knock on my door. The door opened and Sarah stepped into my room, quietly closing the door behind her.
“Hey, you,” she said, smiling widely when she saw me. I felt a smile appear on my own face as I stood. She met me in the middle of my room, stepping into my arms and kissing me.
In some subtle way, Sarah was a different person to me now. At first, she was just some chick I thought was hot. Then we talked a bit, and then we slept together. But now we’d been in combat together, bled together, buried a friend together. We were more than friends and lovers now. We were
“Hey yourself,” I said, not letting go of her. “What’s going on?”
“What’s that in your hand?” she asked, indicating the strange trinket I was holding.
I held it up. “I don’t really know, but watch this.” I twisted the knob again, causing the pins and teeth to reappear. Another twist of the knob retracted them.
“Wow,” Sarah said, taking it from my hand to examine it. “Where’d you get this? It’s pretty.”
Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable. “I found it the other night,” I said, sitting back down on my bed. “It was in a safe in Adar’s house.”
Sarah looked down at the trinket, apparently not bothered by where I’d gotten it. “Why didn’t you report it?”
I shrugged. “Hunter didn’t ask about it, so I figured they weren’t looking for it anyway. It’s just some doodad I found. I’ve collected a bunch of crap since I’ve been here, you know. Besides, I forgot about it. That was kind of a bad night.”
The expression on Sarah’s face changed subtly. “Yeah, it was,” she said. All at once I felt butterflies in my stomach. Something was bothering her. “We need to talk about that,” she said.
I sighed, lowering my eyes. “Okay.” I patted the bed next to me so Sarah would sit down. “So let’s talk.”
“You hurt me,” she said, crossing her legs as she sat down. “I came in here trying to help you. You screamed at me, swore at me, and told me to get out.” Sarah’s voice was perfectly calm as she spoke. I felt like curling up into a ball.
“I was drunk,” I said after a moment. Sarah’s eyes flashed. I raised my hands in surrender before she got too upset. “I’m not using that as an excuse,” I said quickly. “I’m really not. It’s just a fact. I had a bad night. Seeing that girl . . . it just . . . I was still in shock. I couldn’t handle it. It doesn’t matter, though. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Like you said, you were trying to help me, and I pushed you away. I’m sorry. I’m not just saying I’m sorry, either, I really mean it. I . . . I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Well, you did,” she said coldly, fidgeting with the key in her hands. I started to say something, but she interrupted me. “But you know what? It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay, but it’s okay.”
I gave her a sidelong glance, not really sure what to say. Sarah laughed, lightening the mood in the room just a little bit. “Have I mentioned I’m crazy?” she asked.
“I gathered,” I said, allowing myself a half smile.
