Page 265 of 5+Us Makes Seven

“Thank you again,” I said, holding out a hand.

He gave me the box. I got to my feet.

“I will return soon with money and an order,” I said.

“Fine. Safe travels.”

As I walked out of the room and his simple house, I thought about my apartment back in New York City and how much I missed it. It may have been small and overpriced, but year in Afghanistan made me realize how much I had loved the space.

Outside, I saw Jade standing nearby. She walked over.

“How’d your meeting with Aamir go?”

“Fine,” I said, hating tha

t she was so damn curious. “You get to talk to the villagers?”

“Some of them, yeah.”

“Great. We should get back.”

“This wasn’t very romantic,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

I tilted my head as I stared at her.

“You called this a date yesterday, but it wasn’t very romantic.”

“I guess not,” I said, grinning. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“No worries. I was just observing.”

I motioned toward the Humvee with my hand.

“After you.”

She walked away. I watched her ass sway back and forth.

Why does this damn woman captivate me so much?

On the ride back to the base, I failed to come up with any logical answers.

FIVE

Jade

Once we arrived back at the base I went directly to my sleeping quarters. They had given me an entire double-room dwelling because they did not want me bunking with the men.

I sat at a plain wooden desk in the room and stared at the blank page on the laptop screen for a few minutes. Memories of the villagers running through my head.

What had Aamir meant about showing Cooper samples? Were the rumors about soldiers running a drug smuggling operation true? They had to be, but I needed proof.

As I waited for inspiration to strike, I heard two men laughing as they walked outside. It reminded me of the seriousness of my situation. I banged out a few words.

The questions on the page laughed at my ignorance, but I wasn’t ready to give up on solving the mystery. With only two weeks, I needed to make progress.

I sighed, unable to work, and dug my expensive satellite phone out of my messenger bag. The debate over whether to call my dad or my best friend Laura lasted about two seconds.