Page 21 of Talk to Me

It was still early in the States. Despite being near midnight here. She sounded American, so I assumed that was where she lived. I didn’t ask, she didn’t tell.

Though I had been looking for clues. The last time, I’d told her I wanted to send a Christmas card and she laughed at me.

I’d figure it out sooner or later. Still, I made myself shower, pack, and leave the hotel to drive to Paris. I wanted to drop off the armbands with Felix so he could handle the clearance. Then I could get a drink at the airport before I flew home.

Professionalism kept me focused until the next day when I was at the airport and waiting for my flight. I called, and told myself it was because I was bored and not because I wanted to hear her voice.

She didn’t answer.

That was weird.

I called again.

She still didn’t answer.

Patch always answered.

When a third call went unanswered, I pulled up my laptop, turned on my firewalls and VPN, hopped on the airport net and went looking for an email. She always responded.

I’d found a way to message her in a game once and she gave me a way to send her a request to play. I had to agree to never use it for work and sometimes… I messaged her jokes.

Fuck, it was stupid to have a crush on a woman I’d never seen, but she had rules for a reason. Still, I sent her a request and waited.

The lack of any answer sent sweat prickling over my skin. Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

I was still more than ten hours from the States. I needed someone on the ground and I needed a way to find her.

What if she wasn’t in the States? Would I be even farther away?

Fuck.

I had a favor I could call in, but pulling the trigger would blow a lot of capital.

Fuck it. I needed to know where she was and if it turned out she was fine—well… like I said, a guy needed goals.

And I needed her.

Chapter

Seven

MCQUADE

Rockets lit up the night. The impacts sending plumes of flames, debris, and screams into the skies. Heat from the fires that were already burning left a sheen of sweat on my face. A half-broken sob from behind me had me shifting so I could glance at the half-dozen kids huddled with their teacher.

Seniors in high school on a trip of a lifetime. The last thing they expected was for a war to erupt all around them. The hot air ballooned out from the impact force. We were far enough away that it was just a hot breeze against my already sweaty face.

The choked sound of a sob reminded me that this was the last place these kids should be. The problem was, the situation had blown up from bad to worse to fucking insane in a matter of hours. Standard evacuation routes weren’t available, civilians in country were in danger, much less out of country, and two hospitals had been hit in the forty-eight hours since I hit the ground.

“Listen to me,” I said. “We have a plan. Do you guys remember the plan?”

The teacher, a guy who had his own asthma inhaler, but had rallied to keep the kids between us and kept them moving, nodded. “We do—Marcus?”

“We stick together, no one moves alone.” The kid had athlete written all over him, but fear didn’t care about your hobbies.

“Kendall?”