Page 56 of Dangerous Mission
“People are mean. It wasn’t your fault.” She slides out of the truck and stands before me. Close but not touching. “Besides, Memphis is a good name, a strong name.”
The compliment doesn’t escape me. Why is this woman so damned nice to me?
I realize I’m frowning extra hard, and that says something. This particular expression feels different.
She’s still looking at me curiously. “How did you get that nickname?”
This is not the time to be standing around talking, and here I am again.Shit. We’ve got work to do, and here I am telling her my story.
I step back. “It was a map thing. I’m good with maps, always have been. It was kind of an obsession to find my way in the woods when I didn’t want to be in my screwed up home.”
Those deep brown eyes melt. She rolls her lips inward. Holding something back.
A solid concrete lump lands at the base of my throat.
The energy between us changes, and not in a good way.
I’m equipped for conflict, not…
Tenderness.
“You were right about us.” I chew the inside of my own mouth as I look away. “We do owe each other the truth since we are about to go into a cave where we could die.”
As if she knows I’m not done, or she’s baiting me to continue, she just watches me with her brows lifted and drawn together. Curious concern.
But when I try to speak I can’t.
I’m not able to admit to her what happened on the patio or in the laundry room. Because I’m not ready to hate myself any more than I already do.
Instead, I offer an apology. “I’ve probably handled things wrong.”
Fuck.That wasn’t an apology. It was an admission of guilt. A pathetic one at that.
She stops me by lifting a delicate hand. It hovers in the air, but doesn’t touch. “You handled things the way you do. I handle things the way I do. We’re not the same person.”
Rory plows around the corner of the truck, stopping to drop his hands on his hips. “Guys, we might have a situation.”
Jesus Christ. I clench my hands inside my pockets “What now?”
He’s looking across the opening at a cluster of men standing by a truck. “Look what’s on the ground over there.”
I’m already in motion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Once again Scout left so abruptly, my head is almost spinning.
Rory pushes a duffel bag into my hands. “Come on. He can deal with that. We can go down to the cave entrance and get set up.”
“What’s wrong?”
Rory’s unreadable exterior is harder than usual. “Don’t worry about that. Scout and Justice can deal with it. You just need to go over your dive gear.”
I blow out a breath, fist my hair in my hand, and follow him around the back of the truck. “You’re right.”
It’s not my job to worry about whatever political mess is swirling around the missing woman’s case. I’m here for one job. To dive.
Rory and I spend the next few minutes going overeverything and deciding what gear needs to go down to the cave.