Warrior Mine by Megan Mitcham Read Free Book Online Page A

him. For her. And finally, the shot. The air it stole from his lungs. The strength it zapped from his legs. The cold.
    “Yeah,” he squawked.
    “Where the hell is that nurse?” Khani slapped the fringe of her dark bangs from her forehead and shot to her feet. “Good, hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
    He tried to call her back, but he’d completely run out of everything. Saliva. Energy. Brain power.
----
    H is eyes opened without melodrama . The same white room, ugly chair, and knotted Khani greeted him. But this time a half-melted cup of ice sat on a tray hovering over the edge of the bed. He stared with a wiggle of fingers. When they obeyed he moved to the wrists, rolling them and stretching his forearms. The things burned as though he’d walked a mile on his hand. And boy, hadn’t it seemed that way. It had taken extreme effort to gain only inches in his attempt to reach the door.
    All or nothing. Vail reached for the cup, levered the thing over his lap and then to his lips like it were a ninety-pound dumb bell. Sweet relief washed over his stale tongue, down his abused throat. He reached the end too soon. The ice sloshed forward.
    He cursed softly, but still Khani jumped, her right hand automatically going for her sidearm. “Go home,” he ordered. “You’ve done enough.”
    “Answer me one question, and then I’ll go,” she yawned.
    “Ask.”
    “Last night, you didn’t say much, but you said, ‘Don’t kill her.’ So, I’m assuming your shooter was a woman. A highly skilled woman breaks into the Base Branch’s US headquarters, places a bullet so the shot won’t kill you, escapes undetected, only to turn around and leave a note on my car, telling me to save you, but not let Carlos Ruez know you’re alive…why?”
    In the minutes leading up to the bullet in his belly and during the trudge across the never-ending floor, he’d thought a lot about the who’s, how’s, and why’s of that night.
    “Because Carlos has leverage over her. She attempted to get it back.”
    “But failed?”
    “Yes. He has the one thing she can’t live without.”
    “What?”
    “You said one question, Slaughter, and you’ve surpassed that limit.”
    “Fair enough. You need some rest almost as much as I do.” She stood and grabbed a red plastic bag.
    Vail hauled the cup back to the table and set it at the edge. “Do me a favor. Don’t let anyone interrogate Carlos until they release me, and have a courier drop his file and all related this afternoon. Also—”
    “Not to be insubordinate, but you’re in no position to give orders, Commander.”
    He hitched a brow, or he tried to. “See, that title says I give the orders.”
    “I see your sense of humor has returned.” She walked to the bed and placed a hand on his forearm. She felt a thousand degrees hotter than him. “You need to stay out of sight and recover. You’re looking at four to six weeks here.”
    “Those words hurt worse than the bullet hole.”
    “Trust me, I know.”
    He sighed as much as the burn in his side would allow. “One order then. Have dogs run the building. She had a detonator and said the building was rigged to blow. I don’t know if the threat is real, but check anyway.”
    “I’ll get it done before I go home.”
    “Well, looks like you have a Base Branch to run, LTC. Just keep me in the loop on this.”
    “You know I will.” She patted his arm, slipped behind the curtain, and then he heard the latch catch on the door.
    Six goddamned weeks. They’d be lucky if he relaxed at all. His brain certainly wouldn’t comply. Not even to his own directives. He appreciated Khani’s help. Was only alive because of it. But now he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Like newbies fresh out of the recruiting office, they wouldn’t fall into an orderly line. One second he whirled about memories best left covered in dust. The next he envisioned beating Carlos Ruez to death with his fists. More than anything though, Carmen