Page 114 of Casualties of War
Nickstudied her, weighing options. Probabilities.
Then he mentally shrugged. She was a grown woman. Who was he to talk her out of it?
He prodded the start button for the little motor and glanced at her. “At least make yourself useful. Cast off.”
* * * * *
They returned the dinghy to where they had found it and covered it over with the seaweed and netting. As they worked to return everything tothe way it was, including removing drag marks from the sand, Parris shouldered her pack and thought about next moves.
Adán came and stood in front of her. She looked up at him, startled. He had never openly approached her in this way, not in the three days since they had found him.
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “You have something of mine I’d like back.”
The necklace.
Parris glanced ather men. They were focused on what they were doing although she didn’t for a moment think they weren’t listening. They were trained to pay attention to every externality, to monitor their surroundings at all times.
She dug into the pocket of her shirt and pulled out the chain and held it out to him and was dismayed to see her hand was shaking.
Adrenaline, she told herself. She had stopped movingand the adrenaline was still dissipating, so the excess was making her shake. That was all.
Adán took the chain. His hand closed over hers, the chain caught between them. He squeezed her fingers.
“Thank you,” he said in a normal voice and moved away, detangling the chain.
“Back to the gulley, sir?” Locke asked.
Parris hefted her pack. “Yes. Hot drinks and food for everyone and an analysisfor me.” She looked at her watch. “We might still be able to move on, after that. It’s early. Everyone needs a break, first, though.” She didn’t voice her belief that calories would helpherfeel normal once more. She had never had this reaction while still operational. She had always clocked off before letting herself think about and react to a mission.
They walked in single file back to thegulley, with flank lookouts. Everyone was silent. Locke tapped two of the four who had stayed on the beach and sent them to the top of the gulley as lookouts. Everyone else moved into the chasm and dropped their packs and relaxed.
Parris looked at her watch. Three a.m. It was too early to contact the base and she had nothing to report except they had found where the core hadbeen. Stricklandwas only interested in results. He trusted her to get the job done and not trip him up with useless reports.
She dropped her pack in the sand and sat on it. Everyone did the same.
“Jonesy, fire up a burner and get water boiling,” Locke said, as he settled beside Parris.
Ramirez was digging in his pack, a pen torch in his mouth so he could see what he was doing. He grunted and pulled out a flat,folded dark green bundle. “Yo, Caballero. Here.” He tossed the garment at Adán.
Adán was standing just behind the tight circle of men. He caught the fabric and held it up. Cargo pants.
“You’re my size,” Ramirez said. “Your jeans are wet, which means you can’t move silently.”
“Should probably bury the jeans, anyway,” Odesky said.
“Thanks,” Adán said. He looked around for somewhere to change.
“Better just shuck ‘em here,” Locke said. “Sentries aren’t monitoring anywhere else. We’re all friends.”
Adán kicked off his shoes. “Whoever has their cellphone out, this is your big chance. Photo like this you could sell for a few thousand.” He dropped his jeans, which made a soggy, heavy sigh as they dropped.
No one moved.
He thrust his legs into the cargo pants and fastened them. “I feelthirty pounds lighter,” he admitted with a grin. He picked up the denim and tossed it into the surrounding shadows.
“They really pay a couple thou’ for a shot of your butt?” Donaldson asked as he shifted in the sand and pointed to the space he’d made.
Adán settled in the space and crossed his legs. “I had to pay three and a half thousand to get a photo of me changing my shirt taken down froma gossip site, because the shirt had a brand name on it and the company objected.”
