Page 128 of Viral Justice

She grabbed a rifle and put it in his hands. “Watch the door while I bandage you up.”

He didn’t say anything—he didn’t have to—his hands putting the rifle into position as competently as hers would have done.

Hot damn that was sexy.

She found wound pads and bandages in the pile of supplies Akbar wanted to destroy. “Now, where are you?” she muttered as she found the hole in his pants and tore open the fabric.

The wound was in his thigh and was bleeding freely, but not so fast as to make her suspect an artery had been hit. She slapped the pads on the entry and exit wounds, then wound the bandage around them to keep them in place and add pressure to stop the bleeding.

He was okay. He’d been shot, but he was focused and ready to go. There was no reason to panic, yet all she wanted to do was hold him.

Max grunted once, but didn’t take his attention off the doorway.

When she was done, she picked up one of the other rifles, inhaled a calming breath and asked Max, “Got a plan?”

“Wait for the next bunch of militants to show up with people they’re going to shoot?” It sounded sarcastic, but she gave it serious thought.

“I don’t think we have that kind of time,” she said after considering it. “We need to get our guys out of jail and armed if we hope to stop that bag of dicks.”

“Suggestions?”

“Walk up like we’re in charge and kill the bad guys.”

“How refreshingly direct.”

“Got a better idea?”

“No.”

“Then let’s go. I’ll take point.”

“If I argue you’re going to complain, right?”

“No, I’m just not going to follow that order.”

He looked like he was going to argue anyway, so she added, “By the way, I loved how you kicked ass just now.”

“You...approve?”

“Approve? You delivered a textbook punch that killed your assailant. Boom. I’m so proud it’s disgusting.”

Max shook his head. “I don’t understand you, not even a little.”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to.” She loved him, but it was obvious he was having trouble with her rationalizing the lives they’d taken.

So, she tucked away the sadness of that realization, smiled and asked, “Ready?”

“What exactly are we going to do?”

“We’re going to fake it ’til we make it.”

“Oh. That.”

She grinned. She didn’t like his sarcasm, she loved it.

They left the room and walked the short distance to the room where the children had been sleeping. It was empty.

“They took the children?”

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