No matter the reason, the mercs seemed to want Sierra alive, which he could use to his advantage.Still, there was no way of knowing how far they were willing to go to accomplish their mission, and until he could get Sloane back to safety, it was better to stay far away and avoid engagement.
Inevitably, his thoughts drifted to Jackson, Garrett, and Rosario.Up until now, he hadn’t allowed himself to even consider the possibility that they hadn’t survived the crash.That Jackson’s wife was now a widow, and two young agents would never have a future.Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.
Man, what a clusterfuck.Stuck in the middle of nowhere, at a serious tactical disadvantage, and saddled with a civilian with no survival training.It could be worse, but it could also be a hell of a lot better.
For now, his only course of action was to play the hand he’d been dealt and make the most of a bad situation.One way or another, he’d come out on top.His steadfast refusal to accept defeat was one of his best traits.
Everyone else just said he was stubborn.Potayto, potahto.
The incline grew steeper as they neared the crest of a hill.With each step, Navarre could feel the growing burn in his quads and calves.It triggered a memory from years ago, on a very different mountain range halfway around the world.Back then, he’d frozen his ass off on a rocky crevice for nearly a week until he finally got a clean line on a warlord who’d spent the better part of a year attacking coalition troops.One shot, one kill.Same as it ever was.Then he’d evaded enemy forces for two long days and three longer nights until he finally reached a place where a Blackhawk helicopter could extract him and the rest of his team.
He glanced at Sloane, who clearly wasn’t accustomed to this type of exertion in these types of conditions.To be fair, not many people were.Her face was flushed, her brow damp with sweat.The hair that had once been expertly styled was now tucked behind her ears and plastered against her head.
All things considered, she’d done pretty well, and without much in the way of complaints, not even when she’d stumbled and made the hole in the knee of her pants bigger.That earned her points in his book.
“Let’s take a quick break,” he said as he came to a stop.It was a good location for it.They had the high ground, which allowed him to spot anybody approaching from a fair distance away, while the dense vegetation provided cover.If he were on his own and didn’t have to worry about another person’s welfare, he would have used this spot to lay in wait and pick off their pursuers one by one.When given the choice, he’d much rather be on the offense.
Relief bloomed on Sloane’s face.She sat on the ground with her back against an oak, closed her tired eyes, and let out a soft sigh.
Navarre chose a spot a few feet away, and he had to admit that it felt pretty good to be off his feet for the first time in hours.He spared a moment to study her profile, noting the graceful curve of her jawline, the straight slope of her nose, the pout of her full, lush lips.The tiny hole along the side of her nose that a diamond stud usually adorned.Her makeup had worn off long ago, bringing back each subtle feature that made her unique into focus.
She really was quite beautiful, and he wasn’t thinking that because of her resemblance to Sierra Page.To the contrary, he wished her hair was back to its normal brown with red highlights, because they suited her so much better than the garish platinum blonde.
“What is it?”she asked when she caught him staring.
He averted his gaze.“Nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing.”Her eyes narrowed.“Is something wrong that you don’t want to tell me?Whatever it is, I can handle it, I promise.”
“I’m sure you can.Everything’s fine—well, fine considering the circumstances.”He reached into his pack for the bottle he’d filled at the stream an hour or so ago.By now the purification tablets had rendered the water safe for human consumption.The stream had looked clean and clear, but it never hurt to be careful.Another lesson he’d learned the hard way.“Here, you need to keep hydrated.”
She accepted the bottle with a simple “thanks” and took a long drink, and the way her throat muscles moved when she swallowed shouldn’t have had that kind of effect on him.But it did.And when she pulled the bottle back and licked her lips, he couldn’t help but wonder how they’d feel wrapped around—
He slammed the door on that line of thought.Nothing good could come of it.
Annoyed at himself for the lapse in discipline, he shifted his attention to the lower elevations, searching for potential threats, human, animal, or otherwise.He knew better than to think about Sloane that way, especially now that he needed to be at his absolute best in order to keep them both alive.He couldn’t afford to allow emotions to get in the way of cold, hard pragmatism.
“What’s wrong?”The sound of Sloane’s voice did a better job at cutting through the fog in his brain than his shitty internal pep talk.
Reluctantly, he returned his focus to her.“Nothing.Why?”
“It sounded like you were growling.”
That couldn’t possibly be true.“I don’t growl.”
“Could have fooled me.”She held out the bottle.“I only drank half.You should have the rest.”
He shook his head.“I’m fine.You drink it.”
She made one of those soft huffing sounds to signal her disagreement.“You’re the one who keeps harping about how important it is to stay hydrated.”
“I can survive without water for three days.Don’t ask how I know.”It was a long story, not very pleasant, and one he didn’t like sharing.
She stared at him as though he were the kind of guy who needed to be told not to clean his ears with a power drill.“I have no idea if that’s true or not, but why would you want to do that to yourself when it’s not necessary?”
She had a point.It annoyed the shit out of him.Since when was she the one who made the most sense in the field?Maybe he was getting dehydrated, and it was making his brain fuzzy.He took the bottle, drank the last of its contents, collapsed the container, and stuffed it into his pack.He’d refill it the next time they came across a body of water.
According to his map, there was a small lake not far from their position.Of course, it meant going down one steep hill and up another, but forward movement also kept them beyond the reach of men with guns.He had no idea how much distance separated them, so their best bet was to keep moving as far and fast as possible for as long as possible, until they either reached Sierra‘s estate or a Six Points team found them.By now, Austin had to know things went sideways and organized a search and rescue group.
