Page 14 of Close Pursuit

He announced grimly, “I’m going to get as much sleep as I can while we have a break. You should do the same. We won’t get many chances to catch up on rest while we’re out here.”

She untied the hide door and let it drop over the opening. Out of the darkness, she asked, “Are you always so sure of yourself?”

“If you’re asking if I’m always right, most of the time, yes.”

“Some people would call that arrogance.” A match flared as she lit the propane stove and turned it down to a low glow. This tent made of yak hides held heat remarkably well.

“Just stating the facts.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Odds are you won’t get much sleep tomorrow night. Therefore, you should sleep now.”

Her mouth sagged open. Amused at the burgeoning outrage snapping in her eyes and disinterested in enduring a lecture from a ruffled female, he laid down on his cot, presenting his back to her.

“Someday, Alex Peters, something or someone is going to come along and knock you off that perfect pedestal of yours. I sincerely hope I’m there to see it.”

He snorted. That had been taken care of a very long time ago. But she had no reason to know it and he had no reason to tell her. The past was over and done with.

They’d told him to start a new life. To move forward in this new identity.

Too bad no one had told him how.

* * *

Katie listened to quiet sound of Alex’s breathing. Every minute or so, it was punctuated by an explosion of one kind or another from outside. She identified ground fire and artillery. Even if it was still several miles away, bit by bit, it was moving closer to their position.

What if Alex was right? What if this area was about to be overrun by the low-intensity brush war raging across this barren region? She’d heard war stories around her family’s kitchen table for long enough to know that no war was low-intensity to a person caught in the middle of it.

A new sound outside sent her to the door of the tent. It was a high-pitched engine, like a fighter jet, but too quiet for an airplane. Still, it sounded close. Perplexed, she scanned the sky. Whoa. That was a drone. It was big—the size of a small airplane with a bulbous protrusion on its belly that looked like a radar dome.

She ducked back into the tent. Alex had thrown their gray tarp over the top of the tent when they’d arrived, and when she’d asked him about it, he’d explained the tarp had metal fibers woven into it that prevented various surveillance systems from seeing through it. Apparently, the tarps were standard gear for D.U. staff and helped them avoid detection when they were treating patients in a hostile area.

As the noise of the drone retreated, she poked her head back out to watch it. At the head of the valley, it made a big one-eighty turn and commenced flying back down toward Karshan village. That looked like some sort of search pattern.

What was it looking for? And more to the point, who was flying it? Who had an expensive military-grade resource out here, and what were they doing with it in this remote corner of the world?

She was tempted to wake Alex, ask him to pull out the satellite radio, and have him get an intelligence update from D.U. headquarters. Her in-briefer had mentioned the organization worked with a private intelligence firm and had excellent contacts at various major governmental intelligence agencies around the world.

But Alex struck her as the type who wouldn’t be asleep right now if he thought any imminent threats were nearby.

She’d sent her brother, Ian, an email from Karachi when she’d first met Alex, asking Ian to do a quick background check on him. After all, she was going to be alone with him in the middle of nowhere for a long time. If he was a creepy stalker or something, she wanted to know.

Ian’s reply had taken two days, which was glacially slow for him. He’d said there was very little background on Peters and the guy kept an extremely low profile, but he’d found no red flags in his history.

But then her brother had gone on to give her oddly specific instructions regarding her new partner. She should earn Alex Peters’ trust. Find out if he was up to anything besides delivering babies out here and let Ian know what she learned.

She’d responded to Ian, asking him what he suspected Alex of, but her brother’d fed her a bullshit line about not wanting to taint her impressions of the doctor. He’d added a line to the end of his email telling her to stay in touch, but she’d gotten the impression it was less about brotherly concern and more about wanting to keep tabs on Alex.

The sounds of battle waned after an hour or so. Whether the fighting had moved away from them or wound down, she couldn’t tell. Alex continued to sleep, but he’d been working nearly around the clock since they got to this village several days ago. His prediction that people would flock in from all around to get medical care had turned out to be correct.

She hoped tonight’s lack of patients meant they’d gotten through the locals’ most pressing medical problems and not that urgent patients were simply unable to travel because of the fighting.

Although not tired, she stretched out on her cot and closed her eyes. Sleep refused to come. Instead images of her and Alex naked and in each other’s’ arms danced through her mind, unbidden and unwelcome.

Sex with Alex Peters? The notion had her tied in so many knots she could hardly see straight. Surely, he wouldn’t make her go through with it if he won the bet. Thing was, she’d been raised to keep promises and honor her word. And he struck her as the kind of man who would demand no less of her.

What had she been thinking to agree to such a crazy wager? Of course, the answer was shehadn’tbeen thinking. Her impulsive nature had gotten her into a pickle like it always did. Would she never learn?

Although how bad could sex be with the good doctor? He’d been genuinely shocked when she’d chosen ice cream over sex. Did he know something about it that she didn’t? Did they talk about sex in his medical school? Hers certainly hadn’t.

Had someone else taught him the secrets of fantastic sex? Knowing him, he’d studied the subject and had applied his formidable intellect to mastering the art of lovemaking.

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