Page 43 of Breaking Danger (Ghost Ops #3)
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sophie was dreaming. She and Jon were dancing on a rickety wooden pier far out over the ocean.
The wind was still, the water calm, bright sun picking out diamond-like reflections in the water.
Each step they took made the pier rock and sway, made the wood creak.
Jon was kissing her cheek, over and over, a tender look on his face…
“Sophie, wake up. It’s nearly sundown. Time to go.”
Not kissing, tapping at her cheek.
She woke in a swoop, disoriented. She wasn’t on a pier out over the ocean. She was in a bed and the room was filled with shadows. Outside the windows the sky was the dark pink of sunset.
She sat up, still groggy, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She felt the muscles between her thighs, the tissues of her sex, complain. She was sore and she blushed a bright red when she remembered just how those muscles and tissues had become sore.
Jon was standing several feet away from the bed, face grim and tight. He looked like he’d been up for hours and he looked like a completely different man from the one who’d been in bed with her.
“We’ll go just as soon as it becomes dark enough to use night vision.
” His voice was tight, clipped, impersonal.
Team leader to teammate. “I made you sandwiches. Eat as much as you can, you’re going to need fuel.
I don’t want to stop unless we absolutely have to, it’s going to be a trek.
There’s time for you to take a shower if you want.
I’ve already taken mine. But I’d like to leave in half an hour. ”
Sophie watched his face more than listened to his words. He’d carefully erased any emotion from his face and looked and sounded like a robot. An incredibly good-looking robot whose manufacturer had given it ripped muscles.
“Okay.” She carefully matched her tone to his. Impersonal, matter of fact. “I’ll be ready in half an hour.”
He nodded and marched rather than walked out of the room. Mission-ready.
Sophie showered, rummaged in Mrs. Robb’s amazingly well-stocked closets and came up with a silk undershirt, a thick cashmere turtle-necked sweater, jeans.
Her own Nomex coat and winter boots completed the outfit—Apocalypse Chic.
In the kitchen she found the food Jon had set up, two ham and cheese sandwiches and fruit juice.
The Robbs believed in living right—the bread was whole wheat, the cooked ham and swiss cheese delicious.
Jon had even peeled two apples for her and quartered them.
Jon showed up exactly half an hour after he’d woken her up. He was dressed for battle, exactly as he was when he showed up at her door, the Nordic god who seemingly fell from the sky on top of her. She remembered clearly the huge emotions at the moment—terror and hope in equal measure.
And then, they’d made love. As if those emotions had cut right through the usual getting to know you phase. Strong enough to blast right through all the walls people put up.
She’d known who he was at that instant—a man who’d walked through hell to find her. Not much else was necessary to know. It had been enough, more than enough to get past her defenses.
It was sunset now, the sky outside the windows a darkening blue.
“I’ve checked the vehicle,” Jon said. “She’s good to go, fully charged and with a full tank of LPG.
With luck, she’ll last till we get to Haven.
I loaded her up with food. The Robbs have a full stock of staples and I stacked as much inside as the vehicle can carry.
I know Haven has ample stores but I checked with HQ and refugees are pouring in. The food will come in handy.”
“Did you track our route?”
Jon pulled a face. “Sort of.”
He showed her an expanded map with GPS waypoints.
“The satellites took photographs of the roads from here to Haven.” He traced a path with his finger from where they were on the coast eastward to Mount Blue, a desolate part of the state.
She’d never been there. “The Lynx has off the road capabilities and she’s strong but going off road will also mean increased fuel consumption.
We’ve got a map of where we can travel on highways and roads and where they are blocked by vehicles.
The thing is, the photographs were taken the day before yesterday and the satellites are down now.
Our drones are being used to scan for pockets of survivors, and they don’t know when they can assign some to us.
So, we’re operating essentially on old intel in a hostile environement. ”
He looked at her narrow-eyed, as if expecting something from her. She showed him her determined face. She was not going to slow him down in any way; she was going to do everything in her power to help.
“The scanner works, right?” she asked. “We’ll know where the infected are.”
“Oh yeah, it works all right. And as long as we keep moving, we won’t have anything to fear from the infected. They sure can’t outrun us. We just have to make sure we don’t run into trouble off-road.”
Sophie looked out the window at the rising darkness. “I’m ready when you are, Jon.”
“Okay,” he answered, but he didn’t move. He kept his face neutral but there was something, some strong emotion, quivering just beneath the surface. He looked tense, like the string of a bow before release. He looked like he needed something badly but Sophie had no clue what that might be.
“Jon?”
He suddenly lunged and wrapped his arms around her. His grip was so tight she could barely breathe, and beneath his clothes Jon was trembling, his breath quick and rough.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said, voice low, husky, strained. As if it were hard for him to get the words out. “That’s my promise to you. I’ll get you to Haven safely.” He swallowed hard. She could feel it and hear it. “Trust me. Trust me to get you to safety.”
Though his words were reassuring, somehow Sophie felt that he needed reassurance, as if he would fall apart if she weren’t holding on to him.
“I trust you, Jon,” she said softly.
He jolted, then settled down onto her so heavily she was bearing his weight. Just for a moment. Then he straightened, stepped back, holding her by the shoulders. “Good. We’re going to do this. You’ll get to Haven, you have my word.”
He dropped his hands and took another step backward, all elite soldier now. He all but saluted, face completely neutral, expressionless.
The robot was back.
Except he didn’t fool her. Jon was no robot. That tight hold he had on his emotions was because he felt them too keenly.
He wanted her to trust him? God, yes. Sophie knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would sacrifice his life for her, if it could get her to safety.
This went beyond getting the case back to the labs.
This was about her , Sophie Daniels. But she couldn’t let on that she understood that, not now, not when he had to show her he was all super-soldier, utterly emotionless.
Her only possible response was to stay neutral herself. “Okay.” She dipped her head. “So I guess we’re heading on out.”
The Lynx was a surprising vehicle. She’d never seen one in real life, only in ads.
Nobody needed a private vehicle in San Francisco.
She just rented a City Car from the city when she needed transportation, so she wasn’t up on the latest models.
This thing looked like a beast, like something she’d laugh at if she encountered it on city streets.
Huge, high and broad, a complete waste of material.
Except right now they were going to trust their lives to this beast and it looked like it was up for it.
Its size and toughness were welcome if they were going to have to go off-road.
“Bless you, Jason Robb,” she said as she ran her hand along the beast’s flank.
Jon looked up briefly from fitting her backpack into the rear compartment. “Yeah, we’re really lucky. I don’t think a normal vehicle could make this trip. We have something back at Haven that would be even better than this but it’s there and we’re here.”
Sophie looked the beast over, realizing it was something she couldn’t drive, not even on freeways, let alone in the wild. “Can I help you in any way, Jon? Can I navigate for you?”
Jon had come around to the passenger side and opened the door.
The floor of the vehicle was higher than her breasts.
The small step that appeared from the flank of the vehicle was absolutely necessary.
Jon gave her a quick boost and she settled into the seat.
Inside it was enormous, like a small room.
Jon had packed the back tightly, covering the windows to mid-point.
But the car would have sensors and video cameras for rear view vision.
“No. We’re going to have to travel with the lights off because the light would attract the infected. I have night vision goggles and the waypoints are on the GPS. But we’re going to have to be ready to change the itinerary at any moment.”
Jon’s comms unit crackled and she saw movement. He pressed a button and the hologram was projected. His teammates, Mac and Nick, and Elle.
“We’re ready to roll out,” Jon said. “Anything we need to know?”