Page 1 of Lethal Pursuit

ONE

“TRY THAT AGAIN, and I’ll break your freaking arm.”

At the menace in her growled words and the way she wrenched his arm up behind his back, the drunk soldier beneath her abruptly went still. “Okay,okay, dammit. Lemme up!”

“Not a chance.”Asshole.Security Forces Lieutenant Maya Lopez dug her knee harder into the back of his neck, pressing his face flat into the dirt while she secured his hands behind him with a plastic zip tie and pulled tight.

“Ow!” He twisted, only to stop when she leaned more of her weight against his neck.

She bent until her mouth was close to his ear. “You don’t really want to mess with me right now,” she warned softly. “I’ve just worked a twelve-hour shift that included taking down a bunch of insurgents trying to plant an IED in the road less than five miles from here.” And the chatter said more activity was imminent, maybe even more attacks on the base like there had been before Thanksgiving. Everyone was extra vigilant these days. “Don’t make me kick your drunken ass all over again, because I promise you, this time I won’t be so gentle.”

The man grunted, his face sweaty and red, but wisely decided not to fight. The sweet reek of alcohol poured from his skin. Had he been bathing in beer, for Christ’s sake? The alcohol ban on base hadn’t stopped him and his buddy from hoarding their stockpile.

Satisfied he would stay on his belly this time, Maya pushed to her feet. She rolled her shoulders to ease the soreness from where his elbow had caught her in the middle of her back during the initial scuffle. Her right hand was already banged up from her altercation with the insurgents earlier. If she hadn’t been ready for it, this guy might have knocked the wind right out of her instead of merelynailing her between the shoulder blades with his elbow. Her cheek throbbed from where he’d managed to catch her with the edge of his hand in the struggle. It proved danger didn’t exist exclusively outside the wire.

Beside her, Randall, the other Security Forces member she’d been paired with for this shift, hauled his own impaired suspect to his feet and looked at her with amusement. “You need a hand?”

“No.” The bruise on the front of her ribs from when she’d blocked an insurgent’s kick a fraction of a second too late ached with each breath she took. Her pride hurt worse though. She’d underestimated the slender, quiet teenager when she’d taken him into custody. A constant reminder that she couldn’t afford to ever drop her guard, though she’d surprised the hell out of him when she’d suddenly taken him down. This drunk guy too.

“Didn’t look like it, but thought I’d ask,” Randall said with a chuckle.

Pausing only long enough to brush the dirt off her ACUs, Maya reached down and unceremoniously hauled her prisoner to his feet. The man stumbled and weaved a moment before finding his balance. His blood alcohol level had to be off the charts. Facing a possible discharge or criminal charges would sober him up quick enough.

“I didn’t do nothin’ to deserve being arrested,” he grumbled, his words slurred.

“You got drunk, started a brawl in the middle of the MWR and busted someone’s face open,” Maya shot back. “Then you resisted arrest and tried to tangle with me. Now do us all a favor and just get in the vehicle without causing any more problems.” She gripped his beefy upper arm and forcefully steered him to the waiting Humvee she’d just ridden in on. Stuffing him in the back beside his buddy, she slammed the door shut and climbed into the passenger seat.

Randall slid behind the wheel, wearing a big grin.

“What?” she demanded.

“That was so awesome.” He shook his head. “Felled the guy like a two-ton tree. All five feet of you.”

“I’m five-four-and-a-half.” People always underestimated her because she was small. She took pleasure in making sure they only made that mistake once.

“Yeah, okay.” Chuckling, he drove to the detention center. After dropping off the prisoners where they would sleep it off in a holding cell until they were dealt with in the morning, she headed across the base on foot toward the B-hut she shared with three other women. Well, technically two now, since her buddy Ace hadn’t returned to Bagram yet.

One of her roomies, Honor, was reading on her bunk. She sat up and drew her shoulder-length red-gold hair to one side, eyeing Maya’s face with curiosity. Her cheek must be swelling. “What happened to you?”

“Somebody took exception to me arresting them,” she muttered, angry at herself for not blocking the blow quicker.

“Apparently. Want some ice for that? I’ve got a cooler with bottled water and sodas I brought in last night.”

She flexed her right hand, which pulsed in time with her face. Was gonna be damn sore in the morning. “Nah, I’m good. What time does your shift start?”

“In another hour. I’m finishing up an overhaul of a hydraulic system on yet another old Chinook.”

“Sounds like fun,” Maya said dryly. She liked Honor and their other roommate, Erin, well enough, but it wasn’t easy for Maya to get close to people. Ace had been her best friend, her only real friend. She missed her like crazy.

“Hey, don’t knock it ’til you try it.” Honor tossed her book aside. “By the way, any word from Ace yet on when she’s coming back?”

“In her last email she said it looks like they’re gonna have her come back in another few weeks to finish her tour. They wanted to let the last of the media interest around her story die down before then.” God knew the media had hounded her ever since word got out that a senator’s daughter and her gunship crew had gone missing in enemy territory just before Thanksgiving.

“And what about Ryan?”

Ace’s man, a CCT with the ground team that fateful night, was ultimately responsible for getting her out of a lethal situation alive. “He’s still here. I saw him last week over at the MWR.” Maya nodded at the cooler at the foot of Honor’s bunk. “Can I steal a water before I go?”

“Sure, help yourself.”

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