Page 6 of Lethal Pursuit

The urine sample was easy enough. Salar thought it was hilarious to pee into a cup. The blood sample, however, didn’t go so well. In the end, Maya had to pin the child down while Fila held his free hand and stroked his hair, speaking to him in a calm voice. A sudden memory slammed into her brain. Of her sister taking care of her during that awful, violating exam after their uncle’s nocturnal activities had finally come to light. The tenderness Fila showed her brother reminded Maya so much of Pilar, a hard lump formed in her throat. She quickly swallowed it down and pushed the painful recollections from her mind before they could tear into her.

Samples in hand, the doctor left the room and returned a half hour later with the news that Salar had a bacterial infection that required IV antibiotics. That procedure didn’t go so well either.

Two hours later with tears drying on his cheeks, a bandage on the back of his hand and a lollipop in his other, Salar was ready to go home. Fila had a little vial of pills for him, and the doctor checked twice to make sure she understood how the medication was to be administered.

None of them could get out of there fast enough. Stepping outside, Maya pulled in a deep breath of air, that uncomfortable pressure in her chest easing the moment she exited the hospital. After grabbing Fila and her brother something to eat, Maya took them back toward the main gate. Salar was getting sleepy, and Fila was obviously tired too. Maya held out her arms and gave Fila a questioning look. The girl immediately handed her brother over. Maya expected him to squawk but he never made a sound, just looped his arms around her neck and settled his head on her shoulder. Her heart squeezed at the feel of him nestled against her.

On the way across base, they spotted a group of soldiers playing soccer with some local kids. Salar craned his head around to watch. The ball hurtled past the players and bounced toward them. Maya paused as it rolled near her feet.

“Hey, little help over here?”

Startled by that deep Texas drawl, she glanced up into a familiar pair of smiling dark eyes. He wore a bright orange Texas Longhorns ball cap.

A sharp pang of excitement flashed through her and her heartrate picked up as she turned around fully to face the man who’d haunted her fantasies these past few months.

* * *

JACKSON GRINNED ATthe flare of shock in Maya’s eyes and set his hands on hips as he waited for her to respond.

“You have time to run soccer clinics?” she asked in that Latin-tinged accent he was coming to crave the sound of.

He grinned wider. “Now and then, yeah. Who’s that with you?” He indicated the two children with a jerk of his chin.

“Friends of mine.” She made the introductions, and Jackson stepped closer to offer his hand to them both. Fila shook his shyly, blushing and avoiding eye contact, but Salar quickly buried his face deeper into the curve of Maya’s neck. Not at all offended by the rebuff, Jackson smiled. He knew from personal experience just how good Maya smelled up close. The lotion or whatever it was she used was scented with vanilla and the tart bite of tangerine. He’d love to lean in and nuzzle the side of her neck to get more of it, but the boy was getting to enjoy it instead.

She shifted Salar on her hip. “We’re just leaving the hospital. Poor little buddy has an infection that needed some needles. It wasn’t fun.”

“Sorry I didn’t see you earlier. I’d have been happy to help.”

She looked started for a moment, as though she wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Thanks, but we managed okay.”

“I’d say you did better than okay. They both seem pretty attached to you.” And damn, that maternal side looked good on her, too, confirming what he’d suspected about her all along. Beneath that tough exterior lay a big heart she didn’t seem to want anyone to know about. He’d bet that very few people ever got to see that softer side of her. What would it take for him to earn her trust, get her to let him in that far?

Maya glanced down at Fila’s hand twined with hers and smiled a little. It softened her whole face and lit the pilot light on Jackson’s protective instincts. “Yeah. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we, guys?”

This had to be the girl Maya tried to protect the day the base had come under attack in November. Ryan had told him Maya had charged the fence to shout instructions to her young friend. Apparently Maya had stayed there through automatic gunfire to make sure Fila was okay, only moving when Ryan had forcibly ripped her away from that fence and hauled her behind cover. Jackson had no difficulty whatsoever imagining her standing her ground to protect the girl. Maya might be a badass, but he was on to her now. There was so much more to her than that tough-chick image she preferred to show the rest of the world.

By the increase in noise behind him, the youngsters were getting restless to resume playing. He indicated the stalled game behind him with a jerk of his thumb. “Care to join in?”

Her expression turned startled, those big sea-green eyes staring up at him. “I don’t...” She glanced down at Fila, gestured to the ball at her feet and said something in Dari. The girl shook her head shyly. Maya met his gaze. “I think they’re both done for the day, but thanks. I’m going to find us a ride back to their village.”

“You going with them?”

“Well I’m not letting them walk all that way again, especially without an escort. This little guy has a death grip on me anyhow, and I don’t want Fila to have to be alone with any other soldiers.”

Something flashed in her eyes at the last part. A spark of buried anger. That and the fierce way she said it made him think there was something more than protectiveness behind her words. Had someone abused Fila? The idea made him feel sick. He shifted his gaze to Maya’s hand, locked with the girl’s. “How’re the knuckles?”

“Good.”

They weren’t. He could see the bruising and swelling from where he stood. He’d bet money she’d at least cracked one of them, yet she held Fila’s hand without complaint to offer reassurance to her young friend. That sweetness pulled at him. “Your cheek looks better.”

She nodded, her expression closing up. “Yeah, I’m fine. Here.” She nudged the ball toward him with the toe of her boot.

“Thanks.” He didn’t want her to go yet, but navigating this situation was tricky. Their difference in rank didn’t seem to bother her though. Thank God for that. Technically she could have reportedhim for rounding on her that day in the hospital. He’d been on edge, just back from a mission where he’d lost a patient on the way back to base. Normally he had a long fuse, but she’d managed to push every one of his hot buttons within the space of a few minutes. “By the way, I apologize for the way I spoke to you that day.”

She shook her head, looking straight into his eyes. “I deserved it. Never realized you spoke Spanish. Guess I’ll have to swear at you in Dari from now on.”

Her response startled him so much that he chuckled. “No, those words I know.”

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