Page 5 of Hearts Under Fire

Lt. Cross nodded in agreement. “If we can add an extra personal trauma pack to each individual team member's supply, that would be helpful, as well. We don’t need full-sized first aid packs. The pocket SABC first aid kits will do. Other than that, I have a few pieces of equipment we can’t afford to lose or break, and they’re going to be vital in saving as many of the injured as we can.”

Alexis hummed in thought. “Tell me what the injury list looks like.”

A frown marred Lt. Cross’s face. “One amputation for sure as well as a few minor cuts, so we can expect some infections and possible broken bones. The report’s sketchy. Could be an arm, or maybe an ankle. Not entirely sure. I also have reports of possible gunshot wounds.” She trailed off into silence.

“Dear god, listen to this: Possible gunshot wounds and/or internal/external hemorrhaging.”

Alexis grimaced. “Sounds like a tough guy is trying to avoid saying he got shot, it hurts like hell, and he’s scared he’s gonna bleed out.”

Lt. Cross let out a startled laugh, and Alexis grinned at her.

Kate shook her head in disapproval. “I expect there’s more than one hard case who will deny injury until they’re ready to pass out from blood loss. I see it a lot. I just hope we make it in time.”

“Okay, so we need to prioritize blood loss, which means time is certainly a factor. We shouldn’t go the long way around, but we can’t take the most direct approach, either. If we go in hot in a convoy straight through the valley we’ll attract unwanted attention to us and those we’re rescuing.”

Alexis tapped her fingers on her chin and stared off into the dreary afternoon out the back window. She pondered aloud, “We could take the southern entrance by helicopter and have them drop us in the most secluded section of the valley. We’ll have to ruck through the night, avoiding multiple enemies from any direction. But if we do it that way, we may get in and out undetected and retrieve our people.”

Silence reigned. Alexis smiled at Lt. Cross when she didn’t automatically give her thoughts on the plan.

“So, how do you feel about the idea? Is there an obstacle I’m not seeing?”

Lt. Cross’s perfect blonde brows skyrocketed into her hairline. “Oh. Well, this works for me. My med packs aren’t terribly heavy, so it shouldn’t be an issue to ruck through the night with them. The approach seems sensible, as the valley will be crawling with enemies during the day. Also, we’ll be much easier to spot during the day, and the heat may be an issue. If we can have our transport team drop us as close to the last known location of our troops, we should have ample time to reach any survivors who are still holding on and do any treatments necessary. How do you want to exfil?”

Alexis shook her head. “Not many good options. We’ll have to have multiple plans in place, just in case the first one or two extraction points aren’t possible to maintain. I’m thinking, in the ideal scenario, we just ruck back to where we were infilled by the helo, and they can return and pick us up with our extra cargo.”

A wry smile lifted Lt. Cross’s lips. “What’s the likelihood that the ideal scenario will actually happen?”

Alexis shrugged and frowned. “Honestly, I’ve only had two or three missions go ideally. Otherwise, we usually move to option three or four before we find a safe, successful exfil. But that’s why we make Plans B, C, and D.”

“Okay, so Plan B would be a different pickup location, still in a remote, relatively unpopulated area. In Plans C and D, we’ll need to hike up and out the northern exit and exfil either on the northern side, which increases the danger for our pilots tenfold, or we have to hike through the north exit only to swing around the mountain range and hike several days through the desert with wounded.”

Alexis nodded, impressed with Lt. Cross’s ability to fully grasp the situation. Colonel Williams hadn’t been wrong when she’d said it was shit storm. The location of their injured was incredibly inconvenient and inhospitable. There were insurgentsaround every corner, and Alexis wasn’t sure if therewasa good approach.

“We’ll have a satphone, and they’ll have GPS monitoring for us so they can track and monitor the mission from the TOC. We can attempt to do the southern exit and deal with the pickup location after that, but if the southern exit becomes impassable, we’re fucked. We’ll have to take the northern exit. There’s sure to be someone maintaining a presence at the northern exit route, so we’ll have to be extremely careful of another ambush if forced to make that exfil.”

Lt. Cross surveyed the maps again and hummed. Alexis watched, silent and transfixed, as she slid her slender fingers over the map of the valley. Cross spoke, not to Alexis, but aloud to herself.

“If it were me, and I’d been ambushed in the northern section of the valley,” she trailed off, her eyes narrowing. “Probably, I’d look for cover. But this location has none to speak of, unless they could find a cave or a well-hidden riverbed. This area is known for its dry riverbeds.” She pointed at the map, indicating a section of valley surrounded on the northern edge by cliffs.

Cross turned to Alexis, her eyes wide and questioning. “What do you think? Did they have any medical personnel with them, or would they have taken a different route?”

Alexis answered after searching through the pile of personnel files. “They had a medic. Normally I’d say the commanding officer or whomever was highest ranking would have taken charge in the event of an ambush, but the only person I know for certain who made it out alive is the combat medic. I know him personally, and he has more experience in hostile zones than the rest of his team.”

Finding the file for their medic, Alexis offered it to Lt. Cross. Without looking up, Cross reached out to take the file andmissed. Instead, Alexis felt Cross grasp her hand and she heard a soft gasp escape Kate’s lips.

Their gazes collided, and Alexis realized how close they’d gotten. Their breaths mingled, and she could smell roses in Cross’s hair again. The thought derailed her. Her mind blank, she leaned down toward Cross, their hands still grasped together, and her eyes locked on Lt. Cross’s lips. She was curious if they tasted like roses, too.

“I think you should call me Alexis.” She exhaled softly, leaning closer.

It was as if she’d dumped a bucket of water over Lt. Cross’s head. Her eyes widened in surprise, her jaw clenched, and her nostrils flared. She took a step back out of Alexis’ reach and yanked the file out of her hand.

“You’ll call me Lt. Cross, and I’ll address you as Lieutenant or Lt. Cole.” Her voice rang out with an edge of steel, but Alexis heard the tiny break at the end.

She’d unnerved the unflappable Kate Cross! The thought made her giddy, and excitement bubbled in Alexis’s chest. This was turning out to be interesting, and Alexis was more than just curious. The sensation was akin to having just taken a drug for the first time. She didn’t want to consider what it would be like to get addicted to that woman.

A lopsided grin stretched across her face and Alexis put her legendary charm on. Despite the fact that Cross was only a few inches shorter than her own six feet, Alexis felt as if she was arguing with a tiny, adorable pixie.

“Well it looks like we’ve got a live one. See you later, Little Lieutenant. Call or text me if you need me. My info’s in the file.”

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