Page 44 of Vaquero
Chapter Seventeen
“We can’t just leave Pepe or Agent Juarez,” Meg told Charlie. Again.
“Hand it over,” he answered, his big, callused hand stretched out, his palm open.
Oh, that.Meg had forgotten. Tugging Julio’s sat phone out of her jeans pocket, she gave it to Charlie.
He stuffed the phone into the gear bag slung over his shoulder. “You do realize Sullivan has no way to contact his agent now.” Heavy innuendo laced the comment.
“I know. I argued against taking it, but Julio insisted. He did that, so I could hook up with you.”
Charlie growled. “That man’s going to be the death of me.”
That sounded promising. “You’re going back for him?” she breathed. “I’m going.”
He shook his head. “No way. My op. My rules. You stay with the kids and—”
She let her crusty Army persona loose. “Bullshit. I may be a woman, but I’m capable and you know it. I need to find Pepe. He’ll listen to me, but you’ll scare him.”
Charlie’s big chin turned square. “This has nothing to do with gender inequality, and you know that. Damn it, woman, you’re a liability.” Raising one hand to her face, he ticked the reasons off his fingers. “Can’t run. Can’t keep up. Can’t carry one damned one of us bigger guys if we’re unlucky and get injured. Can’t even carry half the equipment we carry. Am I right?”
By then her heart had lodged high in her chest. She was breathing heavily. “Yes, but—”
“But what?” Charlie cocked his head, his eyes as hard as a drill sergeant’s.
‘But I wanna go,’seemed like such a crybaby answer, so Meg swallowed past the rock in her throat instead. The Army didn’t care what any one person wanted, not during dangerous operations like this one, and going back into Brazil would be risky. Brazil was no third world country. That day was long past. Their armed forces were the third largest in the Americas and the largest in all Latin America. The current president had to know by now that his airspace had been breached and precisely which county had done it, his pushy neighbor to the north. He aggressively defended his country against foreign threats. There would be diplomatic consequences.
But Meg didn’t care. Squaring her shoulders, she said, “I’ll stay in the Blackhawk then. I’ll be your corpsman.” Aka, medic. “You know, in case anyone gets injured. In case you find Pepe. You need me and you know it.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. His lips pinched thin and unyielding.
Darn. She could tell by the way he’d shifted his stance, his legs spread wider and his chin stuck forward. She wasn’t going. She wouldn’t be there if he and his guys found Pepe or Julio. If there were a gunfight, Pepe could be hurt. Julio might already be dead, and she’d never know, never see either of them again.
“This guy means that much to you? That Juarez fellow?”
Meg pursed her lips, not sure precisely what Julio meant to her. She didn’t know him, not really. One day in the life of a woman on the run from a psychotic, ruthless killer was not how to meet men. And Julio was so damned timid. No, not timid, but…
She struggled to describe him. Her dad would’ve said he needed a swift kick in the pants. But Meg thought, hoped, maybe Julio just needed someone like her in his life. Wouldn’t that be something, a big, strong, capable man like him needing a damaged woman like her? Her confidence faltered. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
“You’re right. I’m not any use to you—”
“Damn it, Duncan. That’s not what I meant, and it’s not what I asked.” Charlie leaned down and into her face. “Listen up, Corporal. I know the kid’s important to you, but does this Juarez ass mean enough to you that you’d put yourself at risk to save his life, too?”
She nodded, afraid to speak. More afraid to admit to this brash Ranger that she cared for a stranger she’d just met almost as much as she cared for the boy she’d mothered this past year.
Charlie shook his head as if he were shaking off an annoying horsefly. “Grab your gawddamned gear, Duncan. Guess you’re going with us.”
She couldn’t help it. Meg rushed Charlie and hugged him. “Thanks. I won’t be any trouble.”
He relaxed around her, his chin on her head and his arms a sturdy cage she knew would always protect her. Charlie was like Julio. Born that way.
“I sure hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” he murmured into the top of her head.
“I’ll bet you said that the first time you jumped out of an airplane.”
His chin bobbed against her. “What you feel for this guy feels like that?”
“Yes. It does. I know it’s bizarre, but I have to see this through. It’s important to find Pepe, but it’s also important to help Julio.”
