Point of No Return by Susan May Warren Read Free Book Online

tight, as if she might be trying not to hit him again. He’d vote for that. In fact, he should probably be ecstatic that she was heading in the opposite directionof the embassy, that she’d bought his reasoning that the government would only send them packing stateside. Unfortunately, he’d expected—no, hoped was more accurate—that she’d actually be happy to see him. That her eyes would light up, and maybe she’d throw her arms around him.
    He’d been jostled around the cargo hold of the C-130 harder than he’d thought.
    She looked better than the image his imagination had conjured up. Her auburn hair had grown, and she wore it in a sloppy, curly, tantalizing ponytail. Despite trying to hide her figure inside a pair of baggy cargo pants, a green T-shirt and a canvas jacket, she took his breath away. She still looked like she had the day he’d met her—about ready to bullet a group of disrespectful teenage boys with gooey tortilla wraps.
    They’d deserved it. He would have helped her, even. Something about her—the spark in her eye, the pride in her jaw, the way she turned away, hiding her pain—stirred his respect. Of course, he knew the story—thanks to his pal David Curtiss, one of Mae’s college buddies—of how she’d risked her life for her friend Roman and rescued him from a Siberian gulag, and just what it had netted her.
    No pension. No job. Stripped of her very identity as a soldier.
    Seeing her pain had made him suddenly long to make it all better. To make her smile.
    Just another person he’d managed to disappoint.
    At least he hadn’t gotten her killed.
    Yet.
    Unfortunately, it might be easier to reason with a rhinoceros than with Mae when she was in this kind of mood.
    He dashed to catch up and was on her heel when she whirled. He plowed right into her and had to grab her to keep them both from going over.
    She shook out of his grip. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Glared him into a pile of ash.
    â€œStill not using our words, are we?” Chet stepped back and held up his hands. “Okay, I’ll fill in the blanks. I’m here to help you find your nephew. And the runaway princess.”
    For the first time, her expression flickered. He leaped on it.
    â€œYep, I said princess. From a Caucasian tribe. Did you know she’s pledged to be married in a few days, and guess who ran off with the bride?”
    Mae’s expression drained and she rolled her eyes—or perhaps looked heavenward for help. Which he was all for, at the moment.
    â€œThe bottom line is, your nephew is in big trouble, and I’m here to find him.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a plane ticket. “Alone. You’re headed back to the states, Mae.”
    Before you get killed.
    â€œIn your wildest dreams, pal.” Mae turned on her heel.
    Well, uh, yes, actually. Because in his nightmares she stuck around to get tortured and killed by Akif Bashim.
    He grabbed her wrist. “I’ll drag you to the airport if I have to.”
    She snapped her wrist away. “I never thought I’d actually be glad to say this, but…you’re not my boss.”
    He flinched a little at that. “No, but I do know this country and what happens when people get caught in the crossfire. Which, if you didn’t happen to notice, isexactly what’s happening in that little hot spot of the world Josh and his girlfriend seem to have gone walk-about in. So, yes, honey, you’re leaving.”
    Mae, as if deaf, kept walking.
    â€œOh, nice, Mae.”
    She ignored him. And where exactly was she going? He sped up behind her, matching her long strides. “I thought you might be glad to see me—after all, you called me. ”
    She stomped along in silence.
    â€œC’mon, Mae, listen to me. I am on your side here, believe it or not. It’ll be better for Josh if you go and let me track him down. I can travel faster,