Page 83 of Lucky Charm

“I have a job to do, Commander. It involves putting people back together again, not trying to find the bad guy.”

“We appreciate your time.” He reached to shake her hand. She returned the gesture.

Hunt opened the door. “I’ll be back in a moment, sir.” He pointed right, and Cait followed. “I’ll take you to our work room.”

“How’d I do?” She whispered for his ears only. “Okay?”

“You were perfect, Doc. I don’t think Stocker knew what hit him.” He reached the door and opened it for her to precede him.

“You can work here. Stay in this room. Don’t wander around. I’ll have Doogie come your way. Give him the drawing when you’re finished, and he’ll walk you back to your quarters.”

Cait nodded her head. Her eyes filled with relief.

He stepped closer and lightly touched her cheek before dropping his hand. “I’m going to be busy for a while. I’ll be in touch when I can.”

“Keep your cool, frogman.” Her under-the-breath request made him smile inside, and he gave a slight view of his feelings on his face before he turned.

An ensign stood in the doorway, two pencils in hand. “Sir, pencils.”

Hunt took them and handed them to Cait. “Thank you, Moore. Find Mister Dugan and have him come to the workroom.”

“Yes, sir.” The ensign disappeared down the hall.

Hunt turned back to Cait for one last look. “Need anything else?”

All solemn, she shook her head. “Is this what it’s going to be like going forward?”

“Like?”

“Saying goodbye. That’s what we’re doing, right?”

Hunt took a minute to listen and look around, then stepped to her, cupping her face. He put his lips to hers. He couldn’t not. He wanted every goodbye to end in a kiss. Her hand touched his chest, but she didn’t lean in like she usually did. They both knew they shouldn’t be doing this here.Her lips stayed soft and willing beneath his. Short seconds later, Hunt pulled back. “Yeah, I’m afraid so. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“You know where to find me.” She gripped the pencils and turned to the desk. She didn’t look back. It was Hunt’s signal to get the hell out of the room and do his job.

Chapter Fifteen

November 18, 2019

Day 14

Five days out, they tracked leads and asked questions.

Four days in between, they napped in snatches.

All that should be catching up with him, but Hunt lay prone in his bunk staring at the ceiling that hadn’t changed since his first deployment here ten years ago.

Mackey Reynolds was running full teams of Army Special Forces through the areas in search of information, weapons, and people. Nothing actionable there yet, although they’d been fired on, too. Stocker was nagging the CIA team to the blowing-tempers stage. They were grinding through tons of digital and human information for any threads to pull.

Waiting for actionable intel was one of his stress points, and he was staying close to operations instead of using his usual workout routines to manage it. Consequently, sleep for Hunt was elusive and time stalling. Thoughts of Cait mere buildings away proved a temptation once thought couldn’t be dismissed.

Giving up, he dressed in athletic gear and found his gloves. Even though it snowed a bit, the ground had only two inches of hard crystal whitestuff. He should be able to make several circuits around the compound without stirring any interest.

At Doogie’s door, he knocked lightly.

“Come.”

The room was dark, but Doogie sat in a chair at the desk with a computer open. “Hunt?”