Turkey, Nine Years Ago

Daz stayed only one step behind Renee to watch for signs that her injury would catch up to her. There was still time for her to faint, though that was probably unlikely. She’d handled the bear and her injury as well as one of his own men. But once the adrenaline wore off, there was always the possibility of a collapse.

Gabe had already slowed his pace to accommodate her. Daz suspected Renee would be pissed if she noticed they were being so careful with her. She’d think she was letting them down.

Let them down? She and her dogs had saved him.

He couldn’t get that image of her facing the bear with a damned stick out of his mind. No hesitation, no visible fear, she’d just jumped directly in front of a charging bear to defend her dog.

He’d worked with freakin’ SEALs who’d have hesitated in front of an animal attack. Now there she was hiking ahead of him, on what she worried might be a wild goose chase, on the off chance she could still help someone because helping people was a good thing.

No wonder she was hard to impress. She set some damn high standards for herself. And he’d thought her wearing the Wonder Woman T-shirt was silly. From all he could tell, she was Wonder Woman.

They stopped in another hour and ate, mostly in silence, preserving their strength. He could easily go longer even with carrying two packs but Gabe was showing a few signs of fatigue. The rookie needed more muscles on those bones. Renee petted her dogs and insisted she was fine to go on.

Gabe headed them in the right direction and they trudged on. Nice place to hike, he thought, and he would’ve appreciated these mountains more if, twice now, something here hadn’t tried to kill him.

They halted at the crest of a ridge. Daz put his hand up. “Hear that?”

“Engines,” Renee said.

“That’s the road down there,” Daz pointed. “Let’s back up and figure out the next move.” No telling who was on that road. And soon, they’d have to decide what was next. Stop for the night, go on in the morning or even head back? Renee, despite being stoic, was moving slower and slower with each step.

She took the break as a chance to sit and settled on a tree stump. He handed her more water and an energy bar. “Drink and eat some more. Otherwise, you might go into shock.”

“Hah,” she said but did as ordered. The dogs had already refreshed themselves by tromping through a stream about an hour ago. Gabe knelt down to look at Thor’s back.

“How is he?” Renee asked.

“So far, so good,” he answered.

“We need to decide which way to go, when to stop or if we’re going to head back,” Daz said.

“We didn’t come all this way to go back,” she said.

“You’re the one in charge, Lieutenant,” Gabe said.

“Yep. So, tell me, how close are we to the last known location?”

Gabe help up his gizmo. “Within a mile, as the crow flies.”

They’d made some damn good time, all things considered. “Okay. Let’s get closer to the road and see who’s on it. I might spot some local who heard the crash or saw the plane go down.”

“Didn’t you say there were guards on the road?” Renee stood. “I think we—”

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by loud barks from Thor and Loki. He and Gabe raised their guns.

Renee put her hand on his elbow. “Those are friendly barks.”

“Friendly? Who do your dogs know out here?”

A bark sounded from a distance. “Another dog. One they know.” She rose to her feet. “It’s got to be one of the dogs from Jake’s team.” She shaded her eyes, straining to see into the distance.

Gabe raised his binoculars. “Looks like a black lab. He’s running along the crest of the ridge headed straight for us.”

“Let me see.” Renee snatched the binoculars from his hand. “That’s Sirius! Sirius! Here, boy!” She pulled her dog whistle from under her shirt and blew it.

“Sirius?” Daz asked.

“Sirius is one of Jake’s dogs.” She grinned. “He must have survived the crash, just like I hoped.” She handed over the binoculars and knelt down, apparently to greet the dog at his level.

The black lab nearly bowled her over as he arrived, licking her hands and face, and making nuzzling noises. Daz grinned and wondered if she ever offered humans the same affection as dogs.

“Oh, good boy, Sirius.” She hugged him. “Good boy.” She glanced at them. “He seems in good shape. No injuries that I can find. That’s good, right?”

“Absolutely,” Daz said, though all it told them for certain was that a dog survived the crash.

Thor and Loki gathered around the new arrival, sniffing and wagging their tails. Renee tossed Sirius some treats. He snatched them up faster even than the German Shepherds.

Daz knelt down to get a good look at Sirius. He sniffed.

“He smells pretty damn healthy for a dog that’s been in a plane crash,” Daz said. “No gasoline or smoke traces.”

Renee grinned. “Yeah, he does, doesn’t he? Maybe they landed safely.”

“Maybe.” But if so, why hadn’t the plane radioed for help? There was more to this story. “So what now, search-and-rescue expert?”

Renee stood. Sirius head-butted her knee. “He’s trained to seek and retrieve help back to his original location. That’s the signal that I should follow him. And that means someone sent him out and that has to be Jake.”

“I can’t argue with that logic but why send the dog out and not a person?”

“They have some injuries and can’t spare a person?” Renee guessed.

“Maybe,” he said again. He scanned the ridge with his binoculars. No one was in sight. “Sirius came over the ridge and I don’t see anyone in that direction, so that route should be okay.”

“Should be,” Gabe said. “Doesn’t mean it is.”

“I know.” Too many questions, but all they could do was go forward with extreme caution. “All right, let’s get this wild goose chase back on the road.” He clapped Renee on the back. “Good job, Wonder Woman.”

“Thanks.”

Renee knelt again and whispered something in Sirius’s ear. The lab glued himself to her knee. “He’ll stay with me and lead. It might be faster for him to run ahead but it’s starting to get dark and I don’t want to lose track of him.”

“You’re the SAR expert, Renee. We follow your lead, so long as it seems safe. Just go slow. We want to be sure of what we’re walking into.”

“Me too,” she said.

They set off bunched together, Renee flanked by her two armed protectors.

“Wouldn’t Sirius have been safer with his owner?” Daz asked. “Why send him out? They have to assume people are already looking for them.”

“This is what he’s trained to do,” Renee answered.

“Yeah, but you usually search with your dogs, right? This Jake sent his dog alone.”

“That’s a good question. It could be Jake is injured.”

“Sorry to have to bring that up,” Daz said. If he could have spared her that kind of worry, especially after today, he would have. But they all needed to be prepared for what might happen.

“I understand. I have to be ready for anything.”

“You have been so far.” He curled his hand lightly around her forearm, hoping to comfort.

“Thanks.”

Point made, Daz let it go. But his mind ran through possible scenarios. Only a desperate man would send his dog out blind like this. Injured or menaced? Either way the end of this journey was going to hold some nasty surprises for Renee. And she knew it.

They picked their way over the spiky terrain on the edge of the ridge. Daz kept them under the cover of the trees, though Sirius obviously seemed to prefer the cleaner trail in the open as he kept roaming over to it.

“They must need help, fast.” Renee took out her radio. “I’ll going to call Kim and let her know that I have Sirius with me and she can zero in on us. That will decrease their search radius once the helicopters are in the air.”

“Don’t,” Gabe said.

“Why not?”

“Because if we do have hostiles out there, they could be monitoring all radio frequencies.”

“That’s paranoid,” she said.

So she still held out hope this could be a regular crash rescue. He hoped so too but his job was to be ready for the worst-case scenario.

“Paranoid is when you have no reason to fear,” Daz said. “We had rocket launchers used against us out here two days ago, one of us was shot less a day ago, and a plane went down out here for no reason less than twelve hours ago. We’ve plenty of reasons to fear trouble.”

“Damn. You’re right.” She clipped the walkie-talkie back to her belt loop. “But any more delay could be fatal for injured survivors.”

“Give us a chance to find the site and make sure it’s secure,” Daz said.

“Okay.”

But he could tell she wouldn’t be patient for very long.

Sirius began to vibrate, a sure sign that he scented someone ahead. Thor and Loki sniffed the air and came to full alert as well, their heads held high, their noses in the air.

Sirius barked, three times. “Quiet!” she told him. Daz obviously wanted them to stay quiet and his paranoia had infected her too.

“They’ve scented people,” she informed Daz and Gabe. “We’re close.”

Daz put his finger to his lips, signaling for silence. They viewed the situation as hostile and she’d go along for now. She prayed they were wrong.

They crept to the top of the ridge, just above the tree line. Daz lay down on his belly, crawled to the edge pulled out his binoculars and looked over the valley below.

“Shit,” Daz said.

Dammit. She crawled up to join him.

In the valley below, armed guards surrounded a small cargo plane sitting in the middle of the road. A steady stream of people were offloading boxes from the plane and loading them onto several nearby trucks.

The plane was intact. That meant it had at least landed safely. The people being guarded must be the plane’s passengers, meaning they survived. But why were they being used like this? How had the plane landed intact? And who were the guys with the guns?

“What the hell is this?” she whispered.

Daz handed her over binoculars. “I’m not sure. Tell me if you recognize anyone down there.”

She adjusted the lenses and focused on the prisoners. She spotted Jake with one of the heaviest boxes. His other rescue dog, Orion, was at his heels.

Jake was alive. Thank you, world.

She shifted the view from Jake to the guard. He wore fatigues and he carried what she thought was a snub-nosed machine gun. Other guards seemed to have full-size automatic weapons. Another scan revealed Butch, Kim’s fiancé, also alive.

Relief and fear mixed in equal parts made her throat go dry.

“Well,” she rasped out. “I can see we have good news and bad news.”

“I didn’t expect an intact plane but it makes sense,” Daz said.

“How?” she asked.

“It’s hard to make a plane disappear, but one of the easiest ways is to have the cooperation of the pilot.”

“Damn good pilot too to land that plane on this road, in that deep a valley,” Gabe added.

“You’re sure the pilot is in on this?” Renee asked.

“Yeah,” Daz and Gabe answered.

“Kim did say she had to find a new one at the last minute,” Renee said. That hadn’t seemed ominous at the time. But she supposed it should have. “But why would someone kidnap a whole plane of relief workers?”

“They didn’t want the people. They wanted the supplies,” Daz said.

“They’re awfully organized for thieves,” Renee said.

“That’s for damn sure,” Daz said. “But those trucks look familiar. I bet it’s the same crew that shot Zach.”

“So who are they?”

“That’s what I would love to know.” Daz shook his head. “Let’s get off this ridge, regroup and assess. We need a plan.”

Once back in the forest, they settled under the shelter of a tall pine tree. Renee relaxed with her back against the trunk, sick to her stomach. Her hand injury throbbed in a steady beat with her heart. The pain pulsed in and out with it. “I thought—no, I hoped—that we’d be dealing with a downed plane and injured survivors. Not this. I never expected to have to deal with armed men.”

“You expected danger. That’s why you brought us. Which was a very smart move,” Daz said.

“But there have to be at least ten guards down there and there’s only two of you.”

“Thirteen guards that I spotted, plus they have two trucks, some of which could be hiding men,” Gabe said, sounding unconcerned.

“So why don’t you seem worried?” she asked.

“Because we’re SEALs. This is what we do,” Daz said. “Just like SAR is what you do. First step in a plan is information. So, Renee, tell us everything you know about who and what was on that plane.”

She closed her eyes and searched her memory for everything Kim had ever said about the supplies. “The drugs are mainly antibiotics and painkillers, along with splints, bandages, sterile surgical materials, and ordinary items like Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment.”

“Painkillers?”

“I’d expect there to be a lot. What we’re doing at the relief camp hospital is stabilizing people and then evacuating the seriously injured to a better facility, and that requires morphine.”

“Anything else?”

“Food and clothing, supplies for temporary shelters.”

“Okay. Tell me about the passengers,” Daz said.

“There’s Jake. He’s a retired Marine who taught me SAR work. There are four to five members of Doctors Without Borders plus some International Red Cross specialists.”

“And then we have the pilot and whatever crew from the plane, who might be hostile,” Gabe said.

Sirius head-butted Renee. The poor dog was vibrating with tension, eager to finish his mission.

“He knows his owner is down there. Sirius wants to go back to him and complete the mission. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep him quiet.” She scratched his ears. “It’s okay, boy, we’re figuring out the best way to help him.” She sighed. “What will the guards do to the passengers once they have all the supplies loaded from the plane?”

Daz took a while to answer. “I’m not sure.”

That was an answer all by itself. “You think they’ll kill them?”

“That would be the easiest way to cover this up. Then again, they could have killed them already and just taken the supplies. They haven’t. I’m not sure why.” He shook his head. “It’d be easier to form a plan if I knew who these people were and what they wanted.”

“We have to do something and soon,” she said.

“Absolutely,” he said. “First, we prioritize. People over supplies. Agreed?”

She nodded. “Obviously.”

“So here’s my idea. The easiest way would be to take control of one of those trucks, load everyone up somehow and take off,” Daz said.

“Sounds simple when you say it that way,” she said.

Gabe snorted.

Daz continued. “But we do it that way, that leaves them with the other trucks and a means to pursue. Now, if I knew how to fly a plane, we could organize the passengers, get them on board and take off. Once we neutralized the guards.”

“Neutralizing the guards would have to be a pretty necessary part of the plan,” she said.

“Lieutenant, any direct attack on them could be suicide,” Gabe said. “And they might kill the hostages at the first sign of us.”

“Absolutely,” Daz said again, as if this was a small matter. “We’ll have to do it under cover of night. Renee, can you drive stick shift if those trucks have a manual transmission?”

“I own a truck with a stick,” she said.

He smiled. “Naturally.” Daz pointed to her hand. “And you can still handle it with your injured hand?”

“Oh.” She’d forgotten about her hand. “Luckily, it’s my left hand that’s hurt. I’ll be fine.”

“Good, that’s the best option: you drive the truck, Gabe and I handle the rest.”

“The rest?” Gabe asked.

“I’ll explain later. But the first thing is we need to do is let the hostages know someone is out here so they can be on alert to move.”

“I could send a note with Sirius to Jake,” she suggested.

“They might read a note,” Gabe pointed out.

“Right.” She looked over all three dogs. “What if I switched collars between Sirius and Loki? They’re both black collars, but Loki’s has his name on it. It’s something that only Jake would probably spot. Once he sees it, he’ll know I’m out here.”

Daz nodded. “Good idea. You don’t happen to know what your Jake did in the Marines?”

“A gunnery sergeant. He’s got combat medals.”

“Excellent,” Daz said. “Then we can count on him to keep his head and also organize the rest of the passengers when we attack.”

She grabbed his arm. “Daz, you’ll be killed in a direct attack!”

“Which is why we don’t attack directly. Trust me, Renee.”

“I do trust you.” She squeezed his hand. His rough calluses rubbed against her palm. “But you’re outnumbered at least six to one. What if we call in help with my radio?”

“We have to assume they’re monitoring frequencies. And that means they’ll be alerted and your passengers will be screwed.”

“Hell,” Renee said.

“Yep,” Daz said. “But, like I said, this is what we do. We even the odds. We keep the guards busy with a few surprises and you get the passengers on the truck and book on out of here.”

She glanced between Gabe and Daz. They sat under a tree, ready to risk their lives against crazy odds. Hell, her too. And Daz understood that. He was making her part of the plan.

He got her.

Daz brushed pine needles away from the ground to reveal the dirt underneath and began sketching out the plan. “Here’s what we do.”

The whole plan seemed organized chaos. “You two have the more dangerous part,” she said. “All I have to do is get to the truck and drive.”

“It’s all dangerous.” Daz stared at her. “You get everyone on that truck then you go, you go like hell, you hear me? You don’t wait for me or Gabe if we’re not there.”

“Daz, I can’t—”

“You go like a bat out of hell and that’s an order.”

“I’m not under command. I’m not leaving you behind.”

“You sure are. You agreed to be under my command when we started out. You get those people out. That’s the whole point of all of this. If I’m not with you, I’ll make the camp in two days. I’ve no plans to die today. And, besides, it’s less dangerous than facing a bear with a stick.” He grinned.

“Bears don’t fire back,” she snapped. She swallowed down a sudden lump in her throat. “But, okay.”

“Good. Now, the darkness is going to be our friend. I didn’t see anything down there that suggests night vision goggles. We have them, they don’t. Renee, you send back Jake’s dog, giving the hostages some warning we’re out here, we get close enough to make a move and you and Gabe go for the trucks.”

“But what are you going to do?” she asked.

“Provide a better, more interesting target,” Daz said.

They crawled closer to the camp once it was full dark. The passengers had been herded into a circle to rest. Four guards watched over them while two others conferred off to the side. Renee wished she were close enough to hear what they were saying.

What were these people planning to do with relief camp workers? Ransom them? That happened sometimes, though usually in areas a lot more lawless than this. She dug her fingers deeper into the soil to stop the slight tremor that had developed in the last five minutes.

What the hell was she doing?

What no one else was in a position to do. And this was no more dangerous than anything else she’d done. SAR efforts in remote areas, especially at night, were full of hidden hazards. She’d gone into a mudslide area once after Loki had scented someone alive, despite warnings from the firefighters on-scene that the ground could collapse under her feet. That had ended well.

Of course, mudslides couldn’t shoot at her.

Beside her, Sirius whined quietly, still straining to get back to his master. She’d swapped the collars but Daz told her to hold off on sending the dog until they were closer to making their move. He was afraid Jake would be questioned if Sirius showed up out of the blue.

Renee heard Jake speak to Orion, his other dog, who was whining louder. Obviously, Orion knew Sirius was nearby.

“The dogs are going to start barking at each other soon if I don’t let Sirius go,” she whispered.

They were flat on their stomachs in a depression off the side of the road, their heads barely peeking out to see.

“Just a couple more seconds for me to double-check positions,” Daz said. “I count ten. You?”

“Two,” Gabe answered. “Wait, right, three. One is hidden near the plane. So our count of thirteen was correct.”

She wished she could see, but they only had the two pairs of night-vision goggles and she definitely agreed that the two men with the guns should have them.

“Good,” Daz said.

“Okay.” Daz held out his wrist. “I go one way, you two go for the trucks in exactly five minutes.” He and Gabe put their watches next to each other, synchronizing them.

“Remember, whatever you hear, you keep to the timetable, got that?” Daz said. “Your priority is hostage rescue. That goes for you too, Wonder Woman.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” She mock saluted him. “And be careful.”

“Careful’s got nothing to do with this. We do this right.”

She reached out, grabbed the back of his neck, pulled him closer and kissed him. His lips were cold and she suspected hers were as well. But despite the initial chill, she warmed in an instant. It was all she could do not to curl against him.

By the time she pulled away, cold was the last thing on her mind.

“Damn,” Daz said.

“For luck,” she said.

“Ho-rah,” Daz said.

“Man, where’s my kiss?” Gabe asked.

She turned her head. “You can have one too.” Why not?

Gabe tapped her shoulder. “Not from you. From him.”

“Kiss the retired Marine when you’re done if you’re so eager for military tail,” Daz said. “Remember, five minutes.”

“Yes, Sir,” Gabe said.

And Daz vanished into the night. Leaving them to wait. The camp voices became muted as everyone presumably began to sleep or settle in. She counted the stars overhead to pass the time.

“Four minutes,” Gabe whispered.

She switched to counting seconds. The first sixty seconds seemed like hours. Thor and Loki rested near her feet, content for the moment. After such a long day, they were exhausted. Beside her, Sirius whined softly. She scratched his ears. Such a good dog.

“Three minutes,” Gabe said.

“Okay.” She wrapped her arm around Sirius. “So, you’re gay, then, Gabe?” Ack. What a stupid question to ask right now. But it kept her from screaming in terror at what they had to do next.

“Yep,” Gabe said.

“And that’s not a problem in the SEALs?”

“Not in Daz’s command,” Gabe answered. “Two minutes.” He put his hand on her shoulder.

“Right.” She reached down to tap her dogs and bring them to alert. Thor crawled up next to her. Loki set himself next to Sirius and nuzzled the other dog’s neck.

“One minute,” Gabe said.

An explosion of dirt and wood echoed from their left, near the plane, scattering dust over everyone. The guards shouted, swore and scrambled toward the origin of the mess.

“Thirty more seconds.” Gabe settled himself into a crouch and tapped his helmet. “Daz has cleared them out. All but one guard headed over there. Stick to the plan and this will work.”

The pop, pop, pop of gunfire echoed from the left. She curled her hands around Thor’s and Loki’s collars. They’d been taught not to react to gunfire. But this was their first real exposure to it, their first real test.

Hers too.

Daz, be careful.

Someone yelled in English. Jake, she thought. A dog barked. Sirius barked back.

“Let him go,” Gabe said.

“Go find Jake, Sirius. Go!” She pointed toward the passengers.

Sirius zoomed away, a big black shadow in the starlight. Gabe tugged on her shirt. “It’s time. Do what I do.”

They ran for the trucks in a crouch. Her hand pulsed, every instant a new slice of pain from the wound. Thor and Loki stayed at her heels.

They jumped to the road, next to the front of a truck, using it for cover. She put one hand on the truck’s hood and steadied herself. Gabe peeked inside the cab.

“Jackpot. Keys,” he muttered. “Time for us to split. Get everyone in this truck. Now.”

And he vanished into the dark just as another explosion split the air.

“Thor, Loki, go. Retrieve,” she ordered.

They rushed away, leaving her to creep along the side of the truck, her back flat against it, telling herself not to flinch at the gunfire and yelling that was now a constant refrain out there in the dark. She felt for the back edge of the truck with her one good hand, the cold metal stilling her sweaty palm. Now was the moment of truth. She had to show herself to everyone. She took one deep breath to steady herself and stepped away from the shadows of the vehicle.

Something pinged into the ground at her feet. A dog snarled and a man screamed but it was cut off in mid-cry.

“Jake?” she said into the air.

“Here, kid.” A tall, broad shadow holding a rifle took familiar shape in the dark. Jake. “Loki knocked over one guard and I took care of the other. What’s next?”

“Everyone in the back of this truck. Now. We’re booking out of here.”

“Perfect.”

Jake waved his arm and pointed at the back of the cargo truck. The other passengers scrambled inside, though far too slow for her comfort.

Jake was the last. “Go,” she said. “I’m driving.”

He gave her a quick hug. “What the hell, Renee? You turn a real superhero on me?”

“No, the real heroes are out there still. Just get in the back and tell everyone to hold on!”

He grabbed her forearm. “Won’t they follow in the other truck?”

“We got that under control. Get in!”

Jake jumped in with his dogs. She ordered Thor and Loki inside with him too.

She sprinted to the truck’s cab. The driver’s side door was slightly ajar and she leapt inside. Her hand hovered over the ignition. No sign of Gabe or Daz. Dammit. Daz had said to run like hell. But…

No, she couldn’t wait. She had a responsibility now to Jake and the others now. She took quick stock of the stick shift and the dashboard. Yeah she could do this.

Something tapped on the passenger side window. She flinched and smacked her head on the back of the seat.

“Easy, Wonder Woman,” Gabe said. “Let’s roll! Go, go!”

“Daz?”

“Go!” Gabe said. “I’ll provide covering fire from out here. Go!”

She turned over the ignition, shifted and wished she could go right into fifth gear. Unfamiliar voices screamed in a language she didn’t recognize. The pop of gunshots joined the screams. Something pinged off the passenger door. She kept accelerating, shifting gears as fast as she could without risking a stall.

The truck rumbled forward. The speedometer needle crept higher and higher. The roar of the engine drowned out all other noises. They lurched sideways as she hit a pothole. She gripped the steering wheel with two hands, yanking it back to solid ground. Agony blossomed in the bandaged left hand. She ignored it.

Please, please, don’t break down.

She flicked on the high beams, kept her eyes glued on the road, her hands tight on the wheel and pushed the speed as high as she dared on this rough, twisty road. Escaping the bad guys would do them no good if she drove the truck over a cliff.

Sweat drenched the back of her shirt as they roared down through the hills and out of the valley. The speedometer hit the red area. Careful, back it down. There had to be some nasty twists and turns coming up on this mountain road. Her focus narrowed to the road, her hand on the wheel and her foot on the gas pedal.

Every now and then, she caught sight of Gabe, standing on the ledge outside the passenger door. She thought about stopping to let him in and dismissed it. He was out there for a reason.

She checked the time on the dashboard. Twenty minutes had passed since she began this wild ride. She wished for water, swallowed hard, and kept going.

Another fifteen minutes and Gabe opened the door and fell into the cab.

“Are you okay?” But she kept her eyes on the road and the darkness ahead.

“Swallowed too much dust.” He spat out the window. “Other than that, okay. I never saw any pursuit after the first five minutes.”

“Daz?”

“Probably still leading them around by their asses in the dark.” Gabe grinned.

He could grin. His job was over. Hers wouldn’t be until they were safe at the relief camp. She rolled her shoulders. Up, down, around the turns. Watch out for cars coming her way on the narrow road.

A car. That meant they were getting closer to civilization.

Hours, days maybe, she drove on. Okay, it only felt like that long. The dashboard clock told her only sixty-five minutes had passed.

She wiped sweat off her forehead with her sleeve.

The sun was breaking over the mountains behind them as she entered the valley and caught sight of the relief camp. She pumped her fist in feeble triumph. The right tire hit a rock and she had to grab the wheel to steady the vehicle.

So much for celebration.

But, damn. Sonofabitch. They were here and alive. She slowed, parked among the other relief vehicles at the outskirts of the camp, and slumped back into the seat.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, as her mother would have said.

Gabe stirred.

“We’re here,” she said.

“Fucking A.”

“Yeah.” She should get up, check on her dogs, check on Jake and the others but not moving felt so good right now. Behind her eyes, her head pounded with tension. Her injured hand had gone numb sometime around the last downshift.

Gabe opened the door and saluted her. “Nice driving. But one favor.”

“Anything.”

“We were never here.”

“What? How do I explain what happened?”

Gabe gestured her closer to him. “You tell everyone that a couple of locals saw what those guys had done and offered to help. You never got their names because you didn’t speak the lingo. Got it?”

From the back of the truck, she heard raised voices, yells and the sounds of triumph as it became apparent they’d stopped at the relief camp and were safe. Thor and Loki barked happily. They were okay, too. She swallowed back a lump in her throat.

“But you guys were heroes.” She grabbed his arm, afraid Gabe would disappear before she made him promise. “You have to let me know if Daz is okay.”

“If I can.”

She curled her hand around his sleeve. “I have to know, Gabe. Please.”

“Okay.” He nodded, turned and vanished out the door.

She climbed out of the cab. Her back and leg muscles screamed at her. That was what happened when muscles locked up from tension.

Thor and Loki rushed up to her, tails wagging, barking happily. She hugged them, they kissed her and she was quickly enveloped by Jake and the rest of the rescued passengers, including Kim’s fiancé.

It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of her, to thank her, to hug her. Warmth soothed her aches and pains. I love these people.

“Fucking damn,” Jake said. “You shoulda been a Marine.”

“I had to do something,” she stammered out. Wonder Woman, Daz had called her. All she felt was tired and drained.

Jake lifted her off her feet and spun her around. “You did great, kid!” Everyone cheered.

She laughed punched his shoulder. “Put me down! I was terrified the whole time, you know.” Daz and Gabe had taken the bulk of the risks.

“Everybody is terrified when they do something like this.” He set her down, grinned and kept his arm around her shoulders, shielding her from some of the more enthusiastic hugs. She relaxed under his protection. Jake, barrel-chested and sturdy, had always been a rock. He’d taught her all she knew. He was the toughest there was, or so she’d always thought.

Until she’d met Daz.

“Who was it helping you and causing the distraction that allowed us to get away?” Jake asked.

“C’mere.” She pulled him aside as people from the camp, alerted by their celebration, rushed over. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kim drape herself all over her fiancé.

Once they were away from the group, Jake tilted his head down to her. “What’s wrong, Renee?”

“I can’t say who helped, Jake. I can’t. Okay?”

“Ah.” A pause. “You know, the explosions were caused by U.S. military-issue grenades.”

Is that what the explosions had been? She hadn’t asked Gabe and she’d no idea Daz had grenades with him. There had been no time to go over those details.

“My helpers were your type of people but not exactly authorized to do what they did, if you know what I mean.”

“Ah,” he said again, nodding. “Got it.”

“Good.” She nodded. “As far as anyone knows, it was two locals who joined me during the hike because they’d seen the plane and the armed guards and wanted to help. I couldn’t understand their language, so I never got any information about them.”

“I read you, five by five.” Jake clapped her on the back. “Now, let’s go to the med tent and get your hand looked at. What’s wrong with it anyway? Did it happen when Thor was injured? Because his wound looked like some sort of animal scratch.”

“Uh, would you believe a bear?” She held up the hand. “While we were hiking out there.”

“No shit? And how did you stop it?”

“With a big stick.”

“Uh-huh. Well, you’ve got a helluva story. Not sure I believe it but it’s a helluva story. I want more.”

“How about you tell me how that plane landed in the mountains and who the heck was holding all of you hostage, and we’ll call it even.”

“Deal.” Jake put his arm around her and they joined in the celebration.

Hours passed before Renee found the way to her tent and the enticing comfort of her cot. She’d offered to vacate the tent for the night so Kim and her fiancé could have the place to themselves for a reunion but Kim insisted their “hero” needed to sleep somewhere quiet. Since Kim seemed like she had another private place in mind to spend time with Butch, Renee agreed.

After the last twenty-four hours, she wanted silence and calm.

Her dogs snored quietly under the cot. The doctors pronounced Thor’s cut properly treated and concluded he would recover just fine. She held up her re-bandaged hand to the light. She might have a scar, but it wouldn’t be bad, the doctor said, and he’d complimented the person who’d stitched it up for her.

She’d spotted Gabe in the med tent, next to his wounded buddy Zach, acting as if he’d never left the encampment. He’d changed clothes and she saw no sign of his weapons or his combat gear. She stared at him, hoping to get some answer about Daz but he’d avoided her gaze. Damn.

Would she ever know if Daz was okay?

Not to mention a zillion other questions. Who were those guys with the guns? And why if they just wanted the supplies, had they let all the passengers live?

The whole thing made absolutely no sense. Jake’s theory was that these guys were human slavers and planned to sell the entire cargo, human and otherwise, in Eastern Europe; the men to hard labor, the woman as sex workers, the drugs on the black market. She supposed that was possible.

Jake had confirmed the pilot was in on it. He’d been bribed to land on that remote strip of road. The pilot had simply switched off communication and, poof, instant missing plane. But why go to such trouble to grab a relief plane whose absence would surely be big news? People noticed doctors dying, especially if they were Americans. Jake and his dogs tended to draw press too.

Kim said the Turkish authorities were sending a team to check out the scene of the gunfight but Renee doubted anyone would be left to find.

Daz and Gabe knew more than they were telling, she guessed. Maybe they’d let her know if she ever got close enough to them again to ask.

Dammit.

She tossed off her covers. Screw this. She was going over to the med tent now to talk to Gabe. He had all that radio equipment. Surely, Daz had checked in by now.

“Hey, long day like this, you should get some rest.”

“Daz?” She snapped to her feet. Thor and Loki stirred. Was she dreaming? She had to be. There was no way he could be here already. Or could he?

“Yep.” He stepped into the light of the portable lantern. He was clean-shaven, dressed in fresh jeans and T-shirt. His short-cropped hair glistened, wet from a recent shower.

Yummy.

“What? I mean, how…?” Great, garble her words. Argh.

He grinned and grabbed her around the waist. She pulled his head down and kissed him. Really kissed him. He lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

“It really is you,” she whispered into his ear.

“Yep.” He nuzzled her neck. “You smell great. Like vanilla and strawberry.”

“I washed up, like you did. But how did you get here? Where did you change? What’s happening? Are you in trouble?” She put her hands around his neck.

“Whoa, you’re going too fast with the questions.” He set her down. “Last question first. I’m not in trouble. I had to give the brass the whole story but since we won’t be connected to the rescue, I think my C.O. was grudgingly impressed. He was certainly pleased we’d rescued Americans. But we would never have been able to do it without you.”

He drew her close again.

“I just drove the truck.”

“There was the bear thing, and following the rescue dog to the hostages, and having enough presence of mind not to crash the truck.”

“Are you telling me that I impressed a Navy SEAL?”

“I’ll admit it if you admit I impressed you.”

“What?”

“You definitely weren’t impressed the first time we met.”

She shrugged. “I’ve met arrogant military guys before. I was wrong that you were one of them. Or maybe you just have reason to be arrogant because you’re damn good.” She grinned. “But how did you get here so fast? Daz, what happened?”

He brushed her hair back from her face with his fingertips. She shivered. Oh. Yeah. It had been a long time since a simple touch sent her body racing. Of course, the kisses had helped too.

“The explosions lured the guards away from the passengers, as I planned. The night-vision goggles were a definite advantage. I originally intended to draw them into the woods and pick them off individually but then I decided to circle around behind them and make sure you’d all gotten off safe.” He smiled again. “Would you believe the idiots were so worried about your escape and the slashed tires on the remaining truck that they never noticed me sneak onto their plane?”

She hugged him. “You didn’t.”

“I did. I snuck into the cockpit and waited. I guessed that sooner or later they’d figure getting the hell out was their best bet and the pilot would show.”

“And?” She placed her hands on his chest. Solid. Warm. Alive.

“That’s nice. Really nice.” He picked her up again. She kissed his neck, licking the dip where the shoulder met neck.

He smelled so good, all soapy clean, but still so male. “And the pilot showed?”

“Yep. I forced him to use an excuse to get everyone else out, locked the doors behind them and ordered him to fly me out of there. He protested, I told him I’d let him go at the other end, but if he didn’t cooperate, I’d just shoot him. He protested for about five seconds and then did what I asked. He landed at the makeshift airfield you guys have going here.”

“Which was the plane’s original destination.”

“Yeah. I reported in via the phone there, washed up, and grabbed a ride in a Jeep headed this way. That’s when I heard the whole place was abuzz about how you drove like a maniac and rescued everybody.”

She laughed. “I felt good about everyone being safe.” She stilled. “But I don’t feel like a hero. I’m just relieved that everyone is alive. Especially you.”

“No hero ever feels like one. But you’re the real goods, Wonder Woman.”

“So are you, Batman.”

“I’ll tell you a secret.”

“What?”

“While I was waiting for the pilot, I distracted myself thinking about you and all the things I wanted to do once I got you in my arms again.” He tumbled her onto the cot.

She slid her hand under his T-shirt. Her fingers quivered. He had just slight wisps of hair in the middle of his chest. She curled one strand around her finger.

“Like what?” she asked.

He pressed her down on the cot. “Easier to show you.”

She stirred when she felt his absence, cold where there should have been a hard, warm body. “Daz?”

“Sorry, I was trying not to wake you.”

She sat up, not caring about her nakedness. “Trying to sneak out and leave me with only a memory?”

He traced his fingers over her nipple. She moaned.

“Are you kidding? I want a repeat, if you’re up for it. I have your number, remember?”

“Oh, right. So when will I see you again?” she asked.

He kissed her. She kissed him back. Maybe he’d stay a little longer…

He broke the kiss and put his forehead against hers. “I’m not sure. I’m due leave but I never know for certain if I’ll get it until the papers are signed. How long will you stay here in Turkey?”

“Another week, maybe less.” Thoughts of the rest of the world crowded in. “We’re at the recovery of bodies stage, unfortunately. There’s not much left for SAR to do.”

“Text me before you fly back to the states, okay?” He laced up his boots.

“Sure. Absolutely.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” He reached over to the desk that held Kim’s paperwork. “Here, I made this for you.”

He handed over a piece of paper folded into a bear. “Origami.” She brought it up to her eyes. “A bear. It’s cuter than the one that attacked us.”

He laughed.

“Where did you learn origami?” she asked.

“My dad was stationed in Japan when I was a kid. I learned it out of boredom one summer. It comes in handy now and then.”

“I love it.” She very gingerly set the little paper bear on top of her suitcase. “Thank you. That was very thoughtful.” Her voice caught. It was just a folded piece of paper. But they both knew it was much more.

“You’re welcome.” He kissed her again and left.

But after he walked out, she lay back on the cot. Thor head-butted her dangling hand, reminding her she had responsibilities, the first being getting him and Loki something to eat.

But damn. Daz.

She supposed she should be worried about what she’d gotten herself into.

But she wasn’t.