Page 15 of Fatal Love
She wasn’t even halfway down when one of her ankles turned and she went sideways, jerking her into a pencil roll.
Except there were too many tree trunks in her way and she smacked into one with a grunt.
“Sabrina!” Connor hauled himself up the embankment, cursing and sliding two steps backward for every one he took.
“I’m okay,” she said, pushing herself into a sitting position. She held up a hand to him. “Stay there.”
Gaining her footing, she held onto the tree and began making her way at a slower pace down to him. As she neared, he managed to hike several feet up and held out a hand to her. “Grab on.”
They finished the last few yards to the bottom of the embankment together. “You hurt?” he asked her.
“I’ll have a bruise, but I’m fine. Let’s go.”
They started running again, this time across an open field. “Zeppelin, Coldplay, this is Slash. If you can hear me, we’re four hundred yards out and closing in. Over.”
Static responded. Which could be good—maybe they could hear him even if he couldn’t hear them.
Off to his right, a nocturnal creature jumped from its hiding place and tore off. Connor glanced over his shoulder and saw Sabrina twenty feet back, her body listing slightly to one side.
She’d banged up her rib, he’d bet on it. His constant guilt reared its ugly head.
She’d insisted on coming with him, so really what could he have done? He couldn’t exactly handcuff her to the helo.
Althoughthatwas an idea he could get onboard with.
He shoved away the fantasy, his woody already making it entirely too hard to run.
Shaking off the grin that surfaced, he slowed his pace ever so slightly, giving her a chance to catch up. He hated not running full out in order to get to Beatrice and Cal, but he had to take the situation with his unwanted teammate into account. Beatrice would skin him alive if he let anything happen to Sabrina.
Not to mention what he’d do to himself if she got hurt.
Which now she kind of was.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
His fucking life story.
“Why’d you leave the SEALs?” she asked, bending at the waist and breathing deeply. “Why’d you join Shadow Force?”
Now wasn’t the time to get into his lousy life story, but he knew what she was trying to do. Slow him down a notch and catch her breath so she could keep moving through the pain of her ankle.
He’d loved being a SEAL. Loved being part of his unit. He hadn’t loved the torture he’d endured at the hands of 12 September, but he’d survived it. Spit in their faces and refused to give them the details about the accountant and his family that Connor and his unit had been sent in to sneak out of Germany. The accountant on the run from Hezbollah, ISIS, and practically every other terrorist organization out there. He had information that would cripple them all.
But the man and his family had ended up dead. Connor’s buddies had too.
He’d been the only one to get out alive.
Most days, he wished he’d died with his teammates.
“Not much to tell,” he lied. “I had some…health issues after my last mission. Recovery took too long, so I bailed from the SEALs. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got out, but my friend, Colton Bells, put me in touch with Beatrice and SFI. Next thing I knew, I’m making coffee and answering phones.”
“You do more than that,” Sabrina said, gingerly rolling her ankle.
“Why don’t you head back to the helo? I’ve got this.”
“Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve had in months. Lead on, Conmeister.”
“Red…” Tough, stubborn woman.
