Page 69 of Lucky Charm

“I backed to the doorway to get to Carter. The woman called to me. I turned to answer her question, then Carter was there.”

“I never saw the man,” Carter repeated.

Cait turned to Carter. “He left. Must have. Because I looked at the woman to answer the question, and when I turned back, he was gone, and Haquiri was coming at me like a missile. I went to you. Then Hunt came in.”

“I’m sorry, LT.”

Cait glared at Carter, exasperation on her face. “Why are you sorry?”

“I was supposed to be guarding you, protecting you.” The light blush spreading across Carter’s face many would suppose was embarrassment. But Hunt knew better. The man was angry.

Cait immediately defended. “You were supposed to be my medical help and take care of the kid. You couldn’t do both. If they’d wanted both, they should have sent a full medical team. A fact I’m going to be noting in my after-action report.”

Hunt handed the book off to Hernandez, dropped his hand from her neck, and gave in. He pulled her tight against him and slid his armsaround her. He couldn’t stand there like timber in a forest, and it had the added benefit of shocking her into taking a breath.

“Carter, we’ll talk about all this later. Doc, have you told your commander?”

Cait pulled back from his hold and laughed quietly, then stopped abruptly. “No.”

“Good. Don’t. Let me talk to my commander first.”

Doogie finally weighed in. “Think that’s a good idea?”

“This is still a classified mission. We’re going to treat it as such until we’re told otherwise. Scott decides if her commander can be read in.”

“CIA is going to want to talk to her.”

Cait’s eyes widened.

That Doogie brought that up in front of her told him two things. Loyalty lines were being drawn, and Doog didn’t like Cait not being in the know to defend herself.

Cait sighed. “I should have figured.”

Hunt weighed his options, then made a decision. “We’re here hunting IQS.”

Cait twisted to whisper in his face, her pissed as bad as Carter’s. “Well, gee, maybe you should have read me in. Then I wouldn’t have looked him in the face without knowing, and I could have rolled out a help-me flare. Lord, the man was close enough to me to snap my neck.”

She didn’t acknowledge that his hands tightened on her, and he had a horrific battle containing the what ifs.

She pulled away from him then, reaching for the notebook Hernandez held. “I’ve got to go. I need to check Baxter.”

“Can we see him, Doc?” The question came from Tommy who had shifted to guard the door.

“He’s going to be out a couple more hours. Grab a meal and come back.”

Tommy nodded and opened the door for her. “I can do that.”

She stopped, touching his arm. “We’ve got him. We’ll take good care of him. They know he’s mine.”

Tommy grinned. “Thanks, Lucky Charm.”

“Lucky Charm?”

He laughed. “Your new nickname. I think you earned it.”

“I have a nickname?” She looked from man to man before finally turning to Hunt. “You’re killing me here, y’all.”

“You should have never sewed up my ass.” Hunt’s face flushed, and he struggled against a tidal wave of something he didn’t know how to name. Fighting it off by turning to the men, he gave orders. “We’ve gotta report. Tommy, you stay with Baxter. Someone will relieve you in a few minutes for you to eat and get cleaned up.”