Page 20 of Indirect Attack
Greg wasn’t going to budge, and I added this sorry behavior to the catalog from yesterday—he really hadn’t changed one bit since we’d broken up.
Idiot.
Ben watched Greg for a long moment before he asked, “And so, who are you?”
“I’m the assistant to the site supervisor.”
Another glance shared between the two Marines showed a level of amusement I hadn’t expected to see.
“How many supervisors are there here? Does anyone do any work, or do y’all just stand around supervising each other?” the second Marine asked, a mocking note to his voice, which wasn’t anything Greg didn’t deserve.
The comment only received a glare in return.
I was close enough now that I could stop the interaction if needed. I waited just beyond their lines of sight, trying to gauge whether to step in or not. On the one hand, I didn’t want anything to escalate. On the other, I had to work with Greg for the next following months, and I didn’t want my first dig to be entirely miserable—or worse, career-ruining. I wouldn’t put it past Greg, in all honesty.
Ben’s chest inflated with a deep breath, his expression narrowing as his hands dropped to his sides.
“I need to know where the excavation director is. I need to speak to him about some very sensitive information that just came to light.”
I saw the way Greg took in Ben’s imposing figure, the way the Marine shifted from polite stiffness to something more commanding, something that wasn’t going to take any argument. It was a side of Ben I hadn’t seen, and I felt my pulse quicken.
Unfortunately, I knew the side of Greg that would come out in response. Predictably, he reacted the opposite way he should have.
“You think you can come in here and act like the big man in a uniform?” he snapped. “I know you’re just trying to scare me. You want to get back at me by showing me my place.”
The second Marine perked up at the words, and his attention turned sharply to Ben.
“This has nothing to do with what happened in the past and everything to do with the fact that there is chatter about a credible threat against this dig.” Ben had been patient up to this moment, but I saw the warning signs that he was close to losing his cool. I didn’t blame him, but it wouldn’t end well if he lost it on Greg. The guy was too much of a weasel.
“A threat?” Greg rolled his eyes. “You seriously expect me to believe that? I’m sure we would have heard about it by now if there was an actual threat.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed. “I’m part of the intelligence community, and I’m telling you the threat is credible. I’m trying to keep everyone safe in a dangerous situation, including you.”
As he spoke, Ben took a step toward Greg, who took a step back despite himself—a misstep that only made the man angrier. His face clouded over, his hands clenched into fists by his side, and I knew it was time to step in.
“Ben, hey.” All three men looked in my direction, as well as a few heads of our teammates who were starting to cluster around to watch the drama. “Look, the site director will be here tomorrow morning. I know you want to talk to her, but—”
“Stay out of this, Jasmine,” Greg snapped.
Despite myself, I stopped, surprised by the venom in his tone.
“Don’t talk to her that way.” Ben’s tone dropped to a dangerous quiet that sent chills up even my spine, his eyes glinting with a warning light. But unlike Greg, who still only played war on video games, Ben was trained to fight and kill, and I didn’t want to see where this argument was heading.
“Okay, that’s enough.” I moved to get in between the two men, looking to the other Marine to communicate that I needed help. From the corner of his eye, I saw him moving closer to Ben, ready to hold him back if necessary.
“Look. This isn’t—” I started, but Greg cut me off, his furious gaze training on me.
“Your stupid obsession with this jarhead is why we didn’t work out in the first place,” he spat.
The second Marine’s gaze snapped to Ben again, eyes wide with surprise and questions. But Ben saw none of it. Instead, he gathered himself, his hands clenching into fists at his side.
“We didn’t work out because you’re an egotistical idiot,” I snapped in reply, stepping fully in front of Ben to face Greg head-on. “And you’re still an egotistical idiot. You’re an archeologist. You’re not in the military. So maybe you should shut up and listen to the guy who is, when he says something is going on?”
“You’re full of it if you think you were any good to me,” Greg countered nastily. “You were just a stepping-stone, a placeholder. Your friend Stacie was a better lay than you ever were.”
Ben loomed behind me, an ominous presence, and I could still feel the anger coming from him in waves. It said a lot that he hadn’t hauled off and hit Greg by now, especially since I was contemplating it myself.
“I’m the head of the squad set to protect this place.” His voice was a low rumble in his throat as he addressed Greg. “And I’m good at what I do, so I’m going to keep things professional here. But any time we’re back in the States, I’ll be happy to settle the score between us.”
