The Heart's Shrapnel (12 page)

Damn! I wanted to ask about Phillip. He could be anywhere. He also could just show up here at some point . . . or have to come here because he’s injured. God, I hope not.

Once I’m sure they’re headed in the right direction, I find one of the ground ambulances and schedule transportation for the one patient. They assure me he will have a ride home in a few hours and so I take my lunch.

“Hello, Jane.”

All the air leaves my lungs at the sound of the familiar, haunting voice.

No, it can’t be. Not Kevin. Not here.

I keep my back turned and stare at my food while trying to calm myself.

“Did you miss me?” he asks, sitting down next to me with his back against the table. When I don’t answer, he leans backward, bringing his face into view. “Answer me,” he commands in a deep tone.

“What are you doing here?” My voice quivers.

I hear him inhale. “Is that what I asked you? You better thank God we’re surrounded by people right now, or that response would have earned you a beating.”

“I’m sorry,” I placate him. I don’t want to cause a scene either.

“That’s my girl.” He runs a finger down the side of my arm. My body feels like it’s trying to crawl inside itself, and I get the urge to vomit, but hold it in. “To answer your question, though, I am a soldier. Or have you forgotten?”

Why are you at the mobile hospital
, I want to ask but clamp my mouth shut.

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” I quickly answer while angling my shoulder away from his disgusting hands. His hand freezes in place, but he doesn’t say anything.

“You trying to tell me something, Jane? Are you seeing another man?”

I remain silent.

“Yeah. You are, aren’t you? I can tell,” he continues.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not seeing anyone.”

He slowly leans closer. His mouth is so close I can feel the hot air on my ear. It repulses me.
He
repulses me.

“Liar.”

Grabbing my plate, I rush it over to the designated area and hurry as fast as my legs will carry me to my work station without being too obvious.

Kevin is here, and my life officially just got more complicated.

Wes

I can’t sleep. I never can. The cot grinds into my back. I’m sure the lumpy mattress will cause aches tomorrow, but tonight the discomfort barely registers.

Seeing those women traded in front of our own eyes is something I will never forget. I can still picture their faces in my scope—raw fear. That was four days ago. The night of the tradeoff, CID Headquarters got feed on army property and a breach in the system. HQ looked at everyone’s background and couldn’t find a single file that was tampered with—except for General Mayfield’s file, which indicated someone had tinkered with it. The user that erased files couldn’t be traced—evidence of a hacker. Dylan is using his skills to find the source.

“You still up, man?” Ryan whispers through the darkness with only a lantern between us.

“Yeah. Can’t sleep.”

“Me either. I keep thinking about those women. They have to be scared shitless. If that were Mandy . . .”

“Relax man. You can’t think like that. She’s safe in Germany working at the hospital. Those were all locals, and we already have search teams looking for them.”

“I think I love her.”

“You just met her,” I whisper in astonishment. I shouldn’t be surprised. From stories my brother told me, Ryan has always been a family man. Always talking about finding the one, settling down, and having kids. Yeah, he’s a huge flirt and sometimes a huge pain in the ass, but he values the family lifestyle. I knew from the first day Ryan and Mandy met at Francesca’s something serious would come of it.

“When you know, you know, right?”

“I guess.”

He sighs and his cot creaks. “You think they will find them in time—the women? They can’t wait too long, or they’ll lose any chance to find them.”

Dylan stirs awake. “What are you two blubbering about?”

“The women being held hostage,” I answer.

“Why?” Dylan asks. “It’s been reported. HQ will be doing something about it, I’m sure. We can’t do it all,
Phillip
.”

I don’t miss the warning in his voice. “I still want to help. We’ll go in at midnight tomorrow, stake out the place, and find out where they’re being sent and to whom.”

“Wait a minute. Didn’t you say you’d be on another assignment?” Ryan asks Dylan.

What the hell is this?

“Could you please excuse us, Ryan?” I ask not taking my eyes off Dylan.

“Sure.”

When he’s gone, I ask, “This something I should be concerned about?”

“No, some stupid stake out to see if I can learn of any specific plan of attack. Timing and all of that. Just hate that I won’t be able to go with you guys now.”

“Why the hell is he sending one of my men . . . again, for that matter? I need you.”

Dylan shrugs. “He thinks I want the extra training. The higher the rank, the higher you get paid, man. I figure I’d use that as part of my cover.”

I mull over Dylan’s cover plan. It could work. Mayfield seems to be taking a liking to him. It’s perfect. This will help us get closer to Mayfield and find his weaknesses so we can crack this case.

“Good. Get as close to Mayfield as you can. Butter him up. Make him think you’re on his side.”

“That’s the plan, boss. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“All right. I’d better get Ryan back in here,” I say getting up.

“Everything okay?” Ryan asks quietly as we near our beds.

Dylan nods and whispers, “Yep,
mi amigo
. Sorry about that. We just had to clear something up.”

Sitting back down on my cot, my thoughts travel to Jane. Recently, all my thoughts return to her. I don’t know why, but her staying in Baumholder has been a major load off my shoulders. I’d be worried sick if she were here. I picture her stubborn pout with her bottom lip begging to be kissed.

“Dude, you all right?” Ryan asks. With the three of us whispering to each other, we’re bound to wake some of the others. Leonard hasn’t budged one inch.

“Yes, why?”

There’s a slight pause. “You’re . . . smiling.”

I bark out laughter and hear the disapproving grunt of Leonard before lowering my voice. “And that is a reason to be concerned?”

“It’s Jane, isn’t it? That seems to be the reason every time something is up with you. Well, not the only reason. I still think something else is going on. Why you won’t spill it is beyond me. We used to share things with each other, after all . . . Anyway, Jane has you hooked. That’s one thing I do know.”

I shake my head. I love Ryan like a brother, but he’s fishing for something that doesn’t exist. Any hope I’ve had, ever, about settling down with someone was taken from me eight months ago. How many times do I have to spell it out for him?

“Nah,” I lie.

“Dude, you need to seriously wake up and smell the coffee. Jane isn’t your ex. In fact, I couldn’t picture her any more different.”

He’s talking about the real Phillip’s ex, but what he doesn’t know is I had someone like that as well.

“Enough already, Ryan,” I say irritably. “She’s back in Germany. She’ll probably be back in Baltimore within a month or so as it is.”

Ryan keeps silent as he and Dylan glance between each other.

“What?” I ask.

“What? I didn’t say anything.” Ryan shrugs.

I squint, trying to make out more of his body language. He’s no longer looking at me.

“I swear Ryan; you had better start talking or I’ll—”

“All right, all right. Jeez, calm down, Rocky.” He lets out a deep breath. “I went over to Mandy’s before we were shipped out. You can guess why. Anyway, I saw Lily there, but no Jane. It seemed odd to me for some reason. But, I thought maybe she just was late, because of a patient or whatever. So, I asked where she was . . .”

“And . . .” I sit up straight on my cot. I’m all ears and I grip the edge of the thin mattress.

“I’m getting there.” He holds up a hand. “Anyway, Jane took that job she was offered.”

My heart takes a dive. Maybe I didn’t hear him right.

“What job? Jane is here in Afghanistan?”

Ryan nods. “I’m sorry, man.”

I rake a hand down my face in denial. Shit. I don’t need this. How could she do that? How could she lie to my face? Yes, I’m lying, but I have to lie to everyone. It’s my job. My lies could save hundreds of people, if not thousands.

“Has she been in contact with any of the girls?”

“Nah, Mandy said something about her not being allowed to make personal calls. Jane didn’t even tell them. She left without saying good-bye.”

“This is bullshit. Who told her she couldn’t make personal calls?” I bark out.

“I don’t know. Maybe the general for whatever reason. I mean, she is a surgeon. Maybe they don’t want to risk her telling people what’s going on over here. I don’t know man.”

I warned her. I
warned
her, and she basically spit in my face. Damn her stubbornness.

I jump up.

“What are you doing?” Dylan gets up.

I ignore him as I throw on my jeans and a shirt.

“Man, don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m not.”

“You’ll blow our cover,” he whispers in anger.

“I know what I am doing. You stay here. If the general asks, tell him I went to check up on one of my soldiers. A few went in with the flu a couple of days ago, so he’ll believe you. Check to see if you can find out anything about Jane with Mayfield.”

Tucking my shirt into my pants, I head out into the night. One of our vehicles sits away from the tents, and so I take it so I don’t disturb anyone. I need to get to her. I need to see if she’s okay.

***

Wes

It’ll be light soon. I make my way through town and down a long stretch of dirt leading to the field hospital where Jane may or may not be staying. There’s no possible way of me knowing since it’s too early to contact anyone, but I have to try. Odds are she’s at the closest site here.

Two officers stand at the main entrance. Pulling up, I take out my ID and hand it to the officer at my window.

“Checking on a soldier of mine,” I explain.

He looks over my ID and hands it back. “Very good, sergeant.” He taps my vehicle, alerting the other officer to let me through.

I park under the row of trees that shield the view of the land. I don’t want to disturb anyone aside from Jane. When I get my hands on her . . .

This place is smaller than I thought. Shouldn’t be too difficult locate her.
What if she isn’t here?

I start looking for my men in the tents with numbers on them. It turns out three is my lucky number.

I head to Joe, careful not to startle the others. Joe is lying on his side facing the tent wall. He was supposed to come back to base once he dropped the other two men off, so why is he still here?

I grasp his shoulder and stir him awake. “Private Luskee,” I whisper. Joe immediately responds as I knew he would. He’s my top guy in training and shows the most potential. He’s going to go far, though I hope to be done with this job before I get the chance to witness it.

With several lamps surrounding the beds, there should be enough light to make out who I am. Joe rubs at his eyes before opening them. Once he does, he shoots off the bed and stands to attention. We salute each other.

“Sergeant McClintock,” he greets while coughing.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I need to know if someone named Jane works here.”

Joe ponders my question. Jane must not be here, or he wouldn’t have to think. Damn!

“There’s a surgeon named Jane who is in charge of this tent. Very pretty woman.”

“Brown hair, brown eyes?” I inquire.

“Yeah, that’s her. Why? She in trouble?”

That’s a loaded question, but not for him to worry about.

“No. Just needed to speak with her. Do you happen to know if she stays here overnight, or if she leaves at the end of the day?”

Please say she stays.

Joe rubs the back of his neck, looking unsure. “I think she stays. She’s always the last to leave and the first to arrive.”

“Where? Show me.”

Joe nods and leads me back the way I came. “Straight down to the left. There might be others in there as well.”

“I understand. Thanks. Sorry for bothering you.”

“No problem, sergeant.”

“Wait a minute,” I halt him.

“Yes, sir?”

“Everything all right with you? You were just supposed to bring the other guys in and head back.”

He gets a huge grin on his face. “That would be the surgeon you’re inquiring about. She made me stay. It turns out I had the flu, too.”

Sounds like Jane. Glad to see she hasn’t lost her fire in a place like this.

“Go back to sleep. I hope to find you in better health soon.”

A few night lamps lit the base just enough to see where I’m going. As I approach the tent Joe directed me to, I start to wonder if this is the best way to handle the situation. If someone were to spot me, I could jeopardize my whole alias and make a mockery of the CID. No, I won’t do that. But, damn it, Jane pisses me off. If I don’t take care of this now, I won’t be able to concentrate.

Waiting outside her tent, I stop breathing and listen for any sounds coming from inside. Nothing. Deciding it’s safe, I poke my head in and take a look around. There are a few people in here like Joe said. Their faces are to me. Perfect. Nothing is ever easy. My eyes quickly scan around the room, and something catches my eye, causing me to go back—long brown hair in a braid. It’s her. It has to be.

I move in confidently and with a purpose until I reach her. Being this close, I’m able to make out her face—angelic. Why do I feel like shit for waking her? When do I ever care about the consequences when it leads to results? No. I can’t let her get to me like that.

“Jane,” I whisper while lightly touching her shoulder.

Jane snaps awake instantly on high alert as she sits up on the bed, her eyes scanning the room. Finally, shocked eyes turn to me. She looks afraid. Of me? She should be. I had to talk myself out of the things I really wanted to say.