Page 43 of Storm Warning

“I want a bathroom exactly like that in my house.” Riley’s voice faded as she walked farther away from Elias and Andre.

Elias inclined his head in the direction Riley had gone. “How is she?”

“More upset than she’s willing to admit.” Andre dragged a hand down his face. “Part of it is my fault.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Freeing Riley from her captors required taking her out the way I came into the room where they were holding her.”

“Which was how?”

“Ventilation system.”

Elias stared. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. It was the best way to reach her without having a horde of terrorists on my six.”

“How did you fit in there?”

“Industrial buildings in that area have larger vents.” He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “I fit.” Barely, but it had worked. “I knew she would, too.”

“So what’s the problem with using the vents?”

Andre moved a step closer to Elias and lowered his voice. “I didn’t know Riley had claustrophobia.”

A soft whistle from his teammate. “Oh, man. How did she do during the escape?”

“She’s a rock. The only signs she was in distress were fast breathing and sweating. I was so proud of her and felt like a total failure for not realizing sooner what those signs meant.”

Elias was silent for a moment. “That explains why she never volunteers to crawl around in tight spaces.”

“And why Iona never sends her into those places. Her teammates know and work around her phobia.”

“They sent in Rayne instead.”

“Huh. I haven’t thought about that, but you’re right. I wonder why.”

“She was in gymnastics growing up.”

“And?” What did that have to do with her going into tight places?

“Rayne is still very flexible. According to Grant, she can twist her body to fit into those small spaces, and it doesn’t seem to bother her.”

Smart of Iona to use the strengths of her team members. Seth also used the skills and abilities of the members of Echo unit. None of them, however, could contort their bodies to fit into small places. Andre was lucky that he fit into the ventilation system this time to rescue Riley. “My brilliant idea to avoid conflict with the terrorists led me to stir up nightmares for Riley.”

“It will pass.” Elias glanced at Andre. “And if it doesn’t, have her talk to a counselor. He or she can help her compartmentalize and process. The point is, you got her out of there when the odds were against you. You saved her life, Andre.”

He gave his teammate The Look. “Come on. You know better than that. Riley was probably minutes from freeing herself. The women of Artemis are resourceful. The guys who kidnapped her weren’t the brightest criminals I’ve run into. They didn’t search Riley for weapons, and she had several of them.”

“While you have a point, Riley got out of that room sooner because you came to her rescue.”

The women returned. “The pantry and refrigerator are full of food,” Iona said. “We shouldn’t have to go to the store for a few days at least. You don’t cook, right?”

“Does grilling count?” Andre looked from one woman to the other. “I can grill like a champ, but put me in a kitchen, and I’m hopeless.”

“Same here,” Elias said.

“We can work with that.” Riley smiled. “Iona and I aren’t cooking every meal.”