Page 49 of D-Day

She tipped her head, no smile, no inclination of her thoughts, yet a glitter of anticipation sparkled in her eyes. “Yes, but that’s not going to help us.”

“Why?”

She nudged her head with resignation. “They’re in the safe.”

He sent her an arched look. “And you don’t have the combination?”

With only the lightest dip of her head, she sighed. “Sadly, no, but the NPA cannot get to them either, which helps. They also can’t, obviously, blow the safe if they knew it was there, which they don’t.”

“Why do you care?”

“She works for China,” Helen said, her sweet body locked with tension as she stepped out and pointed her gun at the woman.

“Oh, so you’re not just a pretty face,” the woman murmured. “Yet I can’t believe you’re CIA.”

“I’m an aid worker.”

The woman’s eyes flashed. “Are you? Caught up in all of this, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“You can call me Dragonlady.” She dropped her arm and slipped her gun behind her. He bet it wasn’t the only weapon she had on her. “Let’s just say that my country would prefer that the NPA not be in possession of said triggers.”

“Watch her,” he said, as he lowered his weapon and set it against the wall. For better or worse, they were in this together with a foreign operative. He walked over to the place where he saw Lando remove the diamonds. Pulling up the floorboards, he examined the safe. “Touch keys. What the hell could be the combination?”

“Something that was easy to remember, and personal,” Dragonlady said.

Helen gasped softly, and he looked over at her. She was staring at the ceiling and appeared to be doing math in her head. “Try six-two-five-four-six-two-eight-four-four-seven-three.”

He punched in the numbers, but the door wouldn’t open. “Nope.”

“Wait.” She swore. “I messed up. Try six-two-five-four-four-there are two i’s inmaliit-six-two-eight-four-four-seven-three.”

He imputed the string of numbers again with the added four, and the safe whirred, and the door released. He looked up at Helen and grinned. “You’re amazing. How did you know?”

“He called Taer his little tiger in Tagalog while rocking his body after he died. It’s personal, very personal to Lando, easy to remember, and most key locks are set up with both alpha and numeric.”

Dragonlady laughed. “Again, not just a pretty face.”

Helen shrugged with a smile. D-Day reached in, pushed past the wad of money, and snagged the small gray case. Pulling it out, he unsnapped the latches, and a surge of relief went through him. The triggers.

“Excellent. Now we get out of—” Her voice cut off as they heard voices outside. “NPA. Let’s move. I know a secret way out of here.” He grabbed his M4, tucking the case into his ruck, then hefted it over his shoulder as he and Helen followed the Chinese operative into the kitchen where she hit a hidden release, and a door slid open. She ducked inside and they followed. She touched another button, and the door slid closed without a sound. He followed her down the stairs through a tunnel and they emerged yards away from the compound. The sound of angry, disgruntled voices filled Lando’s house when they found his body. She turned to him. “You head back to Manilla, and I’ll get a pat on the back for a job well done.”

He didn’t wait around for the NPA to start looking for them. He grabbed Helen’s hand and started running. The first thing he would do when they got close enough was to radio TOC. He wanted to find out if Buck and Zorro had made it back safely and in one piece and give them the good news that he had the triggers. He was going to request a helo, because the longer they were in the jungle, the higher the odds were that they would run into unfriendlies.

They could go to ground until it got dark, and as he ran, he looked for a suitable blind in which to hunker down. He found it after about ten minutes of running hard. Feeling exposed in the daylight, even in the dappled sunlight of the jungle, he veered toward a particularly thick growth of brush, knelt down and dug, pushed and heaved at the thick debris until he’d made a hole, then he pulled Helen in, and they settled in for the remainder of the day.

He pulled her close. “We’re going to lay low until nightfall.” He pulled out some MREs and water. “We’ll eat, then sleep. Be prepared to do some running,” he said. She nodded, and after they had eaten, he asked, “How are you holding up through all of this?”

“To be honest, better than I would ever have imagined. Maybe it’s true what Buck says that I’m part of the same DNA that makes him so resilient as a SEAL.”

“You are a SEAL babe, darlin’, for sure,” he said, fighting a grin, feeling the pride swelling inside him. Helen had exceeded even his expectations. He kicked himself for underestimating her. “I’m so proud of how you’ve handled yourself through all of this, although I was royally pissed when you agreed to become a NOC. You facilitated the recovery of the triggers with invaluable information. You deserve a freaking medal, lady.”

He noted the shadows under her eyes and suspected that sleep had been scarce in the last forty-eight hours.

“I’d rather be your…what was it…SEAL babe?” She played with the ends of his hair, her gaze soft and sweet. “Do I get anything for that?”

He lowered his head and slowly moistened her bottom lip, then he took her mouth, taking great care to do it well. He released a soft sigh, and she slid her free hand up his torso, finally cupping the back of his head. He deepened the kiss, and Helen yielded fully to his questing tongue. Finally, D-Day broke the kiss, holding her with infinite care.

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