He woke when Anna shook him. “Dodger?” she said, and he came barely awake. She helped him out of the car, and they walked to the opening of the station. She shook him a bit. “I don’t know the code.” He focused blearily on the keypad and punched it in while Anna trembled and looked around.
As soon as the door opened, she ushered him inside. He tripped on the stairs, but Anna steadied him. “Mouse!” she called as Dodger’s knees buckled, and he went out like a light.
When he woke up, his arm was bandaged, and he was lying on his bed in his assigned room. He groaned as he sat up, pain snapping through him. There was a bottle of water on the nightstand. He cracked the lid and drank it down in several gulps.
He pushed off the bed and opened the door to the living area. Mouse swiveled around in his computer chair. “He lives. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good considering I’ve been shot two times in the last twenty-four hours.”
Mouse got up and went to the fridge. He popped a plate of food into the microwave and nuked it for a couple of minutes.
“Aren’t you supposed to be good at dodging?”
“Shut up, Mouse.”
“Eat,” he said as he set the plate on the table with a soft smirk. He went back to the fridge, got some more water and set it behind the plate. Dodger walked over and settled into the chair.
“Is Anna still sleeping?”
“Um…no, not exactly.” Mouse cringed.
Dodger’s fork hovered in mid-air at the sound of stress in Mouse’s voice. “Where is she?” Dodger slammed down the fork. “So, help me God, Mouse…”
“She went to get the iPad mini back from the Czechs. Don’t kill the messenger,” Mouse said hastily and held up his hands. “I tried to talk her out of it.”
Bloody hell. Anna went after them alone!
2-Stroke’s cell rang just as he was checking his weapon. He picked it up off the bed and said, “Go for 2-Stroke.”
“Two, it’s Dodger. I can’t reach Fast Lane.”
“He’s in the command center for some last-minute intel with Kelly. What’s up? You okay?”
“No. I’m not. I got shot twice—a skin and a through and through. Hurts like a bitch. Anna has gone off the reservation, and I’m royally pissed. Not just pissed, but royally, Queen-type rage.”
“Damn. You need us?”
“No. I can handle it. Anna is a professional and I have to trust her, but sometimes…mate…women….” He sighed and 2-Stroke completely understood. “You guys going after Bendarik?”
“Yeah, we’re about ready to pull out.”
“I just wanted to tell Fast Lane that Anna has a bad feeling about Kelly. She doesn’t trust her. First the crap that went down in Paraguay, and now Anna’s burned.”
“Wow, really? That’s big. We’re trusting her to keep our asses out of the line of fire on this op. That makes me nervous.”
“It should. Something’s going on. Something big. We caught a Chinese spy, and she told us as much. So, watch your back, brother.”
“Copy that. I’ll let Fast Lane know.”
“Cheers. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Stay cool, bro.” 2-Stroke hung up and slung his weapon over his shoulder, pulled on his packed tac vest, securing it, then left the room.
He headed for the front, but as he came around the corner, he smashed into a soft female form, knocking her against the wall. He took a breath and looked down into Chry’s eerie eyes and smiled. She was even more beautiful up close. He had to admit he was utterly fascinated with her face. It pissed him off. Considering he probably wouldn’t have any chance in this volatile environment to have one shred of personal time with her. But he should be glad. It was tough keeping an emotional distance from her to begin with.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she murmured.
She’d put her hair up, piled it every which way on top of her head and just let it fan out all over the place and trail down the sides of her face. A few loose strands drifted down her back, all shadowy gray silk against a hot pink top and a black leather choker around her slender neck. She was stunning and he was stunned.
Had the woman even aged? She looked ready for anything, and everything about her put him on overload, every hip-rolling stride, every dangling tendril, every breath she took.
“You seem to be the one crashing into me, lady.”
She smiled, perfect white teeth, perfect soft lips, perfect.