Page 5 of Lethal Game

Must’ve hurt.

“This is who you found to babysit me, Max? A fossil?”

Damn, she came out swinging. Maybe he’d let her win this bout. Con managed to keep a straight face and said in a hesitant voice, “I’m only twenty-nine.”

“Would you rather I pair you up with someone who followsallthe rules and regulations?” Max asked her, irritation showing in his rigid posture. “This guy—” he pointed a thumb at Con “—hates inside-the-box thinking as much as you do.”

“Oh yeah?” she said, looking Con full in the face. A challenge. Why was she so pissed off? Because she didn’t think she needed a babysitter?

He shrugged, then coughed to hide a chuckle. If he laughed now, she’d think he was laughing at her. “I don’t like boxes. They’re never big enough, and they’re too...square.”

She blinked at him, then narrowed her gaze. “What did you do to draw this duty? It had to have been bad.”

Max opened his mouth, but Con didn’t want to escalate things, so he spoke first, and went with the unvarnished truth. “I got blown up. I spent almost seven months in hospitals and physical therapy. The last three or four months I’ve been instructing and getting back into shape.” He smiled at her. “When I found out what my first mission was going to be, bodyguarding some army doctor, I thoughtwhat the fuck?I sure as shit didn’t wanteasyduty. But having talked with Max here, I’ve changed my mind.” He shifted his gaze to Max’s face. “This isn’t easy duty, is it, sir?”

“No. It’s not a matter ofifthere will be another biological weapon attack somewhere in this part of the world, it’swhen.”

“My role isn’t just to bodyguard Dr. Perry, is it?”

“No.” Max began pacing back and forth between Con and Sophia. “We have intel that points to the Biological Rapid Response Team as a specific target. I don’t want you to just protect Sophia, I need you two to be a team. All of us are being paired with Special Forces soldiers, even myself.”

“Assassination?” Con asked. The idea of it made the back of his neck itch.

“Very possible. Sabotage is another danger.”

“Have any attempts been made?”

“Yes. Dr. Samuels and her partner, Sharp, were nearly killed in a trap I believe was set for them. We have an enemy who is intelligent, ruthless, and has nothing to lose. He might even have a death wish.”

“Can I get everything you have on this guy?” Con asked.

“My assistant will have it ready for you in an hour or two.” Max turned to him. “Have you been assigned quarters?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to have you moved to the room next to Sophia’s.”

The woman in question opened her mouth to say something unpleasant—he was sure from the way she’d screwed up her nose—which is why Con spoke first again. “Are you sure that’s necessary?” He looked down, like he was thinking hard. “Do you want to advertise to the whole base that I’m her bodyguard or would you like to keep it below the radar?”

Max gave him a dirty look. “Whose side are you on?”

“Hers, sir.”

“Fine,” Max said, with bit of an impatient edge to his voice. “I’ll check to see where you’re housed now. If it’s not too far, you can stay where you are.” Max pressed his lips together, glared at them both, then stomped off.

Con looked at Sophia.

She looked back at him, snorted and went back to her microscope. “Nice attempt to come to my rescue. Again. But I don’t need anyone to rescue me.”

She needed to talk to someone about the moron. To prevent fear and anger from getting too deep a hold on her brain.

Despite how fast things had happened, the human mind had a way of warping events so the memory of them seemed to take a thousand times longer than the reality had.

Hell, he was a walking testament for how three seconds of hell could totally screw up the rest of a man’s life.

Or take it.

Listen to him passing judgment on her mental state, when he’d done his level best to keep the shrinks out of his. Right now, he just had to convince her he was on her side. Hewantedthis assignment. “I know.”

---