Page 53 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

He chuckled. “Maybe some, but not you.”

“What do you mean not me?”

“You’ve got a good heart, a kind soul.” He patted her knee. “You protect people. You don’t hurt them.”

“But I have JD, I have.”

“Is it really a sin to defend yourself?” he asked, his gaze as sharp as a well-honed knife.

“I...don’t know.” She slowed the Jeep as they approached her house. “How did you know?”

“You weren’t the first one to be put in a situation like that, and you sure as hell won’t be the last.”

“But how did you know?”

“Whenever you think no one is looking an expression comes over your face, like someone shot your dog then kicked you in the gut.”

“You’ve been spying on me, JD?”

“Of course, it’s part of the drunk, homeless guy’s job description to keep an eye on everyone.”

“That is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard.” She parked the Jeep in her driveway and got out.

JD opened the passenger door, but when he moved to get out, he ended up in a heap on the ground.

She came around the vehicle and crouched down next to him to see if he was okay. “JD, are you all right?”

He looked at her, his face stone, cold, sober. “Ghost is here.”

“Oh yeah?”

He nodded.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road then.” She stood. “You need a hand getting up?”

JD reached out to take her outstretched hand and yanked her down to his level again. A bullet hit the tree behind her.

Anger roared to life inside her, the heat of it so high it fried her nerve endings.

She snatched her hand away from JD’s grasp, stood, and stomped to the middle of her front lawn. “That’s enough of that,” she said, raising her voice loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear her. “Ghost, or whatever your name is, I didn’t find the mine. I found some old dynamite. That’s all. I don’t expect you to believe me, so I’d like to show you where I got it.”

She paused, hoping for some sort of response, but none seemed forthcoming. “I’m going to go there now, so please hold off on the shooting. I’m never going to be invited to visit anyone anywhere at this rate.”

She walked back toward the Jeep. “Come on JD, you’re coming too.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Too bad. I’d rather be doing just about anything else, so welcome to the pity party.” She headed for the backyard, JD shuffling behind her.

The side gate to the yard wasn’t obvious, as it was hidden by a slightly overgrown shrub, but Abby managed to get it open and slip through.

“It’s back here?” JD asked, surprise making him sound slightly drunk.

“Yep. Grandma told me about it in a letter she left me in her will.”

“Told you about what exactly?”

They walked to a small stone garden shed that had been mostly taken over by vines, flowers and a couple of apple trees.

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