Page 19 of Only Her (K2 Team)
Cody nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
The door was unlocked, and Cody followed Ryan in, both coming to a stop just inside. Justin Tramore had his back to them, and appeared to be chopping something, while Megan beat on his back.
“I want to go home!” The boy kept chopping. “Are you even listening to me, Justin? I’m cold, hungry, and bored.” She pounded on his back again.
“We can’t go home, dammit. You forget I’m wanted for robbery?”
“Well, I’m not going to jail. I told you not to do it.” She let out a sob. “I thought running away with you would be fun, but it’s not. I’m going home. You can stay here and hide for the rest of your life for all I care.”
Cody glanced at Ryan and rolled his eyes. Stupid kids.
“You said you loved me.” Justin turned, and his eyes widened. “Who the hell are you?”
Megan glanced over her shoulder, and at seeing them, she screamed. Justin pulled her against him.
“Easy.” Cody held up his hand. “I’m Cody Roberts and this is Ryan O’Connor. Megan, your parents sent us to bring you home.”
“We’re not going.” Justin brought the knife up to Megan’s neck. “If you don’t leave now, I’ll do it. I swear I will. Then I’ll slit my own throat.”
Megan whimpered.
A buzzing sounded in Cody’s ears, increasing in volume until it seemed as if a million bees had made a home in his head. His vision blurred, and he cursed the dusty room for making his eyes water. He wouldn’t let them kill her, not this time. Asra snared his gaze, fear and pleading in her eyes. The insurgent holding her sliced a thin line across her throat, and her small, trembling hands rose to her neck. Tears streaked down her cheeks, leaving clear lines through the dirt on her face. Dark red blood oozed between her fingers.
Distant rifle fire broke the silence. “It’s a trap,” he heard someone yell, and he thought it might have been him.
“Roberts!”
Didn’t his teammate get it? “It’s a trap, Doc,” he said, trying to make him understand. “I have to save her.”
“Jesus,” Doc said. “Stand down, Dog! That’s an order. Wait for me outside.”
Cody was forcibly pushed out the door. He stumbled across the floor of a porch—where the hell had a porch come from?—and down the steps. Cold hit his face, and he sucked in the frigid air. Why was it cold? The temperature had been over a hundred that day. He clearly remembered sweat dripping down his spine and into his eyes. Everything was fucked up.
He sank to his knees, drawing the biting air into his lungs. Where the hell was he? He blinked his eyes in an attempt to see past the haze. When his vision cleared, he scanned the area around him and saw a forest instead of the desolation of Afghanistan. He covered his face with his hands.
Christ, what have I done?
Riley took Cody’s dogs to the park on her lunch break, bringing Brooke with her. The first thing she saw was that all her warning signs had been taken down. Had the person trying to kill people’s pets done it or the city? She kept Pretty Girl and Sally on their leashes until she’d checked under the three bushes and around the four trees. Not finding anything suspicious, she unclipped them. Both sat at her feet as if awaiting her command.
“Go play.” She took out the two balls she’d put in her purse and threw them. Expecting them to chase the balls and return them to her to throw again, she instead watched in amazement as they tossed them up in the air, catching each other’s.
“Wow,” Brooke said. “I’ve never seen dogs entertain themselves like that. You sure I can’t have Hot Guy? I like him and his dogs.”
So did Riley. “He’d eat you alive.”
Brooke collected her long, blonde hair and pulled it so it fell over one shoulder. “And I would have a problem with that because?”
Riley laughed. “Because you’re too innocent for him.”
“And you’re not?”
She hadn’t been innocent since the day she’d entered foster care. “I don’t think it matters. He’s not looking for a relationship.”
Brooke’s blue eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to stare at Riley. “You know this how?”
“It’s just a feeling, okay?” She’d not told Brooke or Michelle that Cody was her neighbor. She hadn’t mentioned how he sat in the dark and played his sad songs on his guitar. She’d certainly not told them that he’d spooned his big body around hers to comfort her. And that he’d kissed her? That one was her special memory, not to be shared.
“Pretty Girl. Sally. Come.” They each mouthed a ball and raced to her. “Is that trick what your daddy said he’d show me?” she said when they dropped their treasure at her feet. With her thumb and a finger, she picked up the balls, one in each hand. The two dogs danced in anticipation. She threw the balls, but this time they ran back to her and dropped their toys for her to toss again. Had their first game been a fluke? When they came back with their saliva-slimed balls, she repeated what she’d said the first time.
