Laura heard his words, saw beyond the intensity on his face to the sympathy in his eyes, but some part of her couldn’t accept the absolution he offered. “She was my baby, and I left her behind.”
“It’s
“You . . . really believe that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
Tears Laura had held back for what seemed an eternity poured from her, grief and regret as sharp as pain cutting through her. Strong arms lifted her up, carried her to her bed, held her together until pain gave way to numbness and numbness to exhaustion—and sleep.
UNABLE TO SLEEP, Javier lay in the darkness, feeling gutted, torn between his need to do all he could to help and comfort Laura and a bitter rage that simmered in his chest. Memories of the night they’d raided Al- Nassar’s compound moved through his mind frame by frame. Al-Nassar lying almost naked in the dirt. Women huddling together with their children, some holding babies. Laura looking fragile and pale in the helo.
Now he knew why she’d seemed so weak. She’d been only about eight weeks away from having had a baby and hemorrhaging.
What he wouldn’t give to go back in time and have the presence of mind to ask her if anyone else was being held captive. He’d take Laura’s baby and get them both safely on that Hercules. But that was just a fantasy. He’d barely had time to rescue Laura as it was. Had he delayed any longer, the combatants who had fired those RPGs would probably have hit them and brought them down. But what kept him awake was wondering what had happened
Where was Laura’s baby now?
JAVIER JOLTED AWAKE to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He opened his eyes to find Laura snuggled up against him and still asleep, clearly exhausted. He reached for his phone, saw that it wasn’t yet oh-dawn-hundred. He hadn’t even had three hours of sleep. Then he saw the number.
He’d known this was coming.
He muted the phone, slipped from the bed, and walked out into the hallway, shutting the bedroom door behind him. “Hey, Boss.”
“Want to tell me why I saw you on prime-time news last night playing bodyguard for Laura Nilsson?” Lt. O’Connell sounded pissed. “Word is all over base—hell, it’s all over town. I just got a call from the commander, who was out for his four A.M. run and wants an explanation.”
How in the hell was Javier going to explain this?
He decided to keep it simple. “Laura and I are old friends. I was in Denver to hang with Nate West, and when that car bomb went off, I just had to help her. I was there when the shooter opened fire and was able to save her life.”
“Let me get this straight. You violated OPSEC by fraternizing with a civilian you rescued while part of a classified mission, then you made matters worse by exposing yourself in the media when you decided to moonlight as her bodyguard. They’re going to drag you in—”
“No, sir, I didn’t.”
“You didn’t what?”
“I didn’t violate OPSEC. I knew Ms. Nilsson long before that rescue mission. To this day, she has no idea that I’m the one who pulled her out of there.”
“You expect me to believe you haven’t told her?”
Six years on the Teams together, and O’Connell had the nerve to talk to him like this? “Have I ever lied to you, man? Have I
Not that Javier hadn’t wanted to tell Laura. Last night, he’d had to bite his tongue to keep from telling her that he’d been there, that’d he’d carried her out, that he’d seen how terrified and confused she was. But he’d upheld OPSEC and kept his mouth shut, even when he’d known that telling her would have helped her forgive herself.
“So you’re friends with the Baghdad Babe.”
“
“More than friends, maybe. That’s the kind of thing a guy might tell his buddies, especially given how famous she was.”
“Some guys, maybe, but not me.”
“Did West know?”
Everyone knew that Javier and Nate were best buds. “Not till this week, sir.”
“Now I understand why you were gunning so hard for Al-Nassar.”
“That mission went off without a hitch.” No one could say that Javier’s feelings for Laura had compromised that op in any way.
“Did you know she was alive?”
“If I’d even
“How did you get mixed up in her shit? You’re supposed to be recuperating, preparing yourself for a return to active duty, not starring in the latest episode of
“Is there a reg somewhere that says I can’t help a close friend when she’s in trouble? I’m staying with her because she needs me right now. She’s terrified, man. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t pull her out of that compound just to let these assholes kill her on
“Ms. Nilsson has the Marshal Service and the FBI to protect her. It’s their mission. Your mission is to recover and rejoin your platoon.”
“True. But who saved her life last night? I did.”
Boss drew a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll call the commander back, explain it to him like you explained it to me. But I can tell you right now, he’s not going to like it. I just hope he doesn’t revoke your leave and haul your ass back here for a disciplinary hearing. You’ve been a huge pain in the ass lately, you know that?”
That sounded more like the O’Connell Javier knew.
“Thanks, Boss. Sorry he woke you up and chewed your ass.”
“You’d better be. And, Cobra—good work. The guys are proud. They’re kind of attached to Ms. Nilsson themselves.”
The call ended.
Javier turned to find Laura standing behind him.
“You’re in trouble for helping me, aren’t you?” She watched him through worried eyes still swollen from crying, her hair in long tangles, her feet bare.
How much had she heard? Not much. If she’d overheard him talking about rescuing her from Al-Nassar, she’d be staring at him wide-eyed and full of questions.
“Naval Special Warfare just doesn’t like its operators on prime-time news.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”
He drew her into his arms, held her close, caressed her hair. “Don’t apologize,
“Is everything going to be okay?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be fine.” He didn’t want her worrying about this. “The sun’s not even up. Let’s get some sleep.”
CHAPTER
17
