Page 2 of Savage Reckoning
Except, there wasn’t one.
Bamforth, Banning, Brooks…
She paused, went back and checked again. Still no Baker number two.
This can’t be right. She scrolled through the list more slowly, starting again with Ed’s record. The details flickered on the screen just as before, but this time something else caught her eye.
Next of kin : Christine K. Baker (wife).
Megan did a double-take. It must be an error, someone input the wrong data, it was easily done.
Except, it wasn’t. The army was meticulous in its record-keeping about military personnel, especially with details such as this. In their line of work, it was vital to know who a soldier’s next of kin was, that information was checked and double-checked. She’d had that drummed into her during initial training.
Numb, she closed down the record and logged out. There would be an explanation. Perhaps Ed was widowed or divorced. Maybe he’d left his ex-wife’s name in the records because… Well, just because.
She let herself back into her room, not able to remember walking across the base to get there. She sank onto her bed, her head reeling. It was the soft knock on her door that dragged her from the confused fog. She looked up as he entered.
“Babe. Beautiful as always.” Ed bent to kiss her, his hand sliding to the back of her neck in that possessive way that always turned her knees to jelly.
He smelled of woodland, mint, and just the faintest trace of leather. His familiar, sexy scent filled her nostrils, invaded her senses with the promise of pleasure. This was her cue to open to him, to wrap herself around him and welcome his presence, beg for more.
He eased her backwards to lay her on the bunk, and she went without protest. Muscle memory was in charge. She parted her lips to kiss him back, reached for him, held on to him as though he would vanish at any moment. It was only when he slid his hand beneath the cotton of her army-issue shirt that her shattered senses regathered.
“Wait.”
“Meggie?” He broke the kiss, raised his head. “You okay?”
That sensual Texan drawl washed over her. She could drown in the seductive rumble of his voice.
“No!” she blurted, more to herself than in response to his question. “We need to talk.”
“Later,” he muttered, palming her breast.
“Now,” she asserted. She untangled her fingers from his hair and shoved at his shoulders. “Let me up.”
“What the hell…?” He rolled onto one elbow and regarded her with irritation. “We’re both on duty in half an hour. Can’t it wait?”
Megan sat up, dislodging his hand as she shifted. She righted her clothing. “No, it can’t wait. I… I need you to tell me about Christine.”
“Who?” He sat up beside her. “What’s the matter, babe?”
“What’s the matter?” She glowered at him, her temper starting to sizzle. “Your wife is the matter. Does she know about you? About… this?”
“What wife? What are you talking about?”
Could she blame him for trying? Maybe not, but Megan’s temper soared anyway. Suddenly, she had no doubts. There would be no benefit given, no pathetic excuses or avoiding her questions. No lying denials. Hurt, disappointed, betrayed, humiliated, she leapt to her feet and rounded on him. “I’m talking about Christine. Your wife, your next of kin. I saw your medical records.”
He met her gaze, but his expression was unreadable. Closed. His affable, sexy demeanour shut down before her very eyes. “Babe, let me explain. It’s not what you think…”
“Do you or do you not have a wife called Christine?”
“Well, yes, she’s in my records, but—”
“Then it is exactly what I think. You’ve lied to me. From the beginning.”
“Not lied, as such. It’s more a matter of—”
“Fuck you, Ed Baker.” Megan was sobbing now, screeching at him. All the shattered dreams and wrecked plans, her ruined future cascading about her ears, she hurled her bitterness and frustration in his face. “You let me think you loved me. You said that, actually fucking said it. To get me into bed.”