Page 86 of Freedom Fighters
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Garrett stepped to one side of the faint trail. He didn’tlet go of her hand.
Carmen looked at the clearing ahead of them with amusement. “This is the five star hotel suite you promised me?”
It was a tiny clearing. In the middle of it was an even smaller tent made of dark green nylon. It had weathered the hurricane surprisingly well. Three of the ropes had come adrift, making it sag in the middle. The nylon draped over an irregular, angled mound ofequipment and supplies that had been heaped inside. The pile of gear had kept the tent from blowing away. A ring of stones blackened by fire sat in front of it. There was nothing else in the clearing.
“It even has running water,” Garrett said, with a smile. “Listen.”
From the other side of the clearing, farther into the trees, a little creek trickled. It was storm run-off and would dry up afterthe worst of the hurricane flooding ceased. “A bath!” she sighed, as if the creek was really a hot tub in disguise. “I think I might faint!”
Garrett pulled her to him. “Daniel said he’d stay point man for the unit for another twelve hours and offered me this tent in exchange. It’s not the Astoria but it’s ours and we have twelve uninterrupted hours all to ourselves. No audience. No media. Noone.”
Just before they had leftLas Piedras Grandes, the media had descended upon the disaster area in droves, aboard commercial and private helicopters. Someone had tipped them off. Carmen had been sitting in the open door of the Blackhawk, letting the painkillers Garrett had given her kick in. Calli had produced dry clothes, that were only one size too big. With the painkillers and change ofclothes, Carmen felt almost human again.
She watched the first of the helicopters hover to land, a cameraman hanging out of the open door, filming. She headed for the nose of the helicopter, intending to hide behind it. Garrett had been right behind her and she bumped up against him.
“They’re not here for you,” Garrett said softly, his arm going around her. “They don’t even know you’re here.”
“It’ll take them five minutes to figure out who I am. Then theywillbe here for me.”
Duardo, who stood just to one side giving orders to a group of soldiers, dismissed his men and turned to them. “Why don’t you get out of here?”
“How?” Garrett asked sharply.
Duardo whistled and a private came running up to him. “Sir?”
“Slide over to the Blackhawk, Calderon. Give the pilot my compliments andtell him he’s to drop these two wherever they want to go.”
“I know exactly where that is,” Garrett murmured, but refused to tell her, except to say it was a five star hotel suite.
The Blackhawk had touched down on a deserted strip of road, a mile away from here. Garrett led her through the woods to this tiny clearing.
Carmen linked her arms around his neck. “It’s better than a honeymoon,” shesaid.
“You mean that, Escobedo?” he asked, his eyes warming.
Her heart ached. “Oh, yes.” Happiness bubbled through her. “I have you alone and you want to be here. It’s perfect.”
His lips touched hers. “I’ll find other times like this,” he told her. “Lots of them. As many as I can.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart.” His eyes met hers, the green filled with heat and rich with emotion. “Wait, you’vealready done that.”
He kissed her and Carmen sighed with contentment. She was home.Reallyhome.
