Page 84

That evening, my mind is still turning on the problem of this damned guy as I go passively about my duties – which honestly never change, so it’s not like they need the entirety of my brain.

I adjust my gun over my shoulder as I move slowly around the camp, scanning the desert all the way to the horizon and wondering what the hell I should do. Do I…tell Nadia that I know about him? Ask her for details? That would be the honesty route, though Iknowshe’ll be pissed that I asked and her friends spilled.

So, do I play it cool and wait for her to tell me?

Or just…let it ride? See what happens?

Or! Do I ask someone in dad’s secret ops to do me a solid and sneak into his room at night, have her scare the pants off him as a warning toneverto speak to Nadiaeveragain –

I shake my head at that thought, discouraged. Mom would be ashamed of me for that…

However, my mother would only be ashamed if I gotcaught. So, what if –

The thought slips my mind as my eye catches on a blonde figure waiting by a black jeep, her arms crossed, staring right at me. I go still, wondering…why the hell Rose is still here. I changed the schedule for this evening, taking one of Greg’s shifts and ordering him to be her escort to the Children of Solace. But they should have been gone an hour ago…

So, what the hell happened?

I sigh, turning to glance over the desert again as a precaution. When I find it utterly still, I walk over to the Jeep, wondering what the hell went wrong.

And how Rose managed to mess it up.

“Well?” Rose asks, holding up a hand and looking performatively around. “Where’s my guard? Since you socleverlychanged the schedule.”

“Not changed, corrected,” I murmur. It’s a lie but…whatever. “Greg never showed up?”

Rose slowly shakes her head, the answer obvious. “This is not going to be my fault, Cole. I’m going to let your father knowpreciselywhose fault it was andwhy–“

“All right, all right,” I mutter, sighing and turning toward the nursing tent, which is fairly quiet tonight – only a few straggling patients who found their way to us as well as some continuing cases, no big fuss. “Hold on. Let me get to the bottom of this.”

Rose nods sharply, turning away so I don’t see her smile.

I walk to the tent, where Tommy and Amory stand, guns in hand. They watch me come, looking curious.

“Where’s Greg?” I ask, looking around the camp for him. “He’s supposed to be on escort duty with Rose.”

Tommy starts a little and then shakes his head. “He left, man.”

“What?” I snap my head back to him.

Tommy scowls a little and then wipes his face. “He took Shayne ‘out’ for the night. Which, obviously, just means into some desert canyon with half a bottle of tequila.”

I frown at this because – I mean, I knew Shayne was flirting with basically everyone. But after last night, I kind of thought that she…

I frown, studying Tommy, but he just shrugs, silently letting me know that it’s Shayne’s choice.

And Greg is a good guy. There’s nothing toworryabout. Greg was supposed to have the night off, Shayne did too. In his excitement, he must have just failed to note the schedule change. Unless Rose…

“Damn it,” I mutter, looking back over my shoulder at Rose, knowing what has to happen next.

“Want me to do it?” Tommy asks, voice low.

“Nah,” I say with a sigh, knowing that as the floater on guard duty tonight, it should be me. The protocol should be followed, even if I find it unpleasant. “I’ll handle it. Just…can one of you take up doing sweeps?”

Being two guards down is nothing we can’t handle, even if it is non-preferred. Tommy and Amory both nod to me, Tommy still looking a bit glum.

I nod to him, holding his gaze for a second longer, sorry for him. But he doesn’t say anything, so I turn back to the Jeep.

“You’ve got the key?” I call, following the question with a sigh.