Desperate Situations (18 page)

"Yeah? Come in
," came sleepily from inside the room.

Megan swallowed as she opened the door.

The room was darkened with a blanket over the window but it wasn't completely black. There was enough light to see Jake push up on his elbow, rubbing his eyes. Due to the heat, he was sleeping without sheets and only in his boxers. His stomach muscles were six-packs―lean and tight. Tanned.

Megan's eyes automatically panned the length of his body.
Damn.
Yummy.
The heat rose throughout her body as her eyes stopped on Jake's obvious reaction to being awakened from a deep sleep. Her lips parted ever so slightly. Her tongue tip just showing itself.

Jake chuckled slightly. "And what's the occasion of this unexpected visit, Chief
?"

Megan blushed at having been caught admiring his body. "Uh, yeah." She swallowed. "We got a medical transport call. I need someone as crew chief. Everyone else is gone."

Jake swung his legs over and sat up. "What's up?"

"Two kids were playing on the outskirts of town in an area just cleared by the dogs of landmines. They missed one." Her eyes met Jake's as he grabbed his pants. "Uh, we'll be waiting in the hanger."

Jake stood swiftly and grabbed Megan before she could leave. He gave her a breath stopping kiss, both hands holding her head still, tongue gently touching hers, then let go. "Thanks for the great ending to a delicious dream."

"What?" Megan asked catching her breath.

Jake spoke as he dressed. "You ended my dream in exactly the way I wanted it. Thanks." He grabbed his black T-shirt. His words were muffled by the shirt as he asked, "Do I need hot mission gear?"

"What?"

"Chief, hot mission gear?"

"Uh, what? Uh, no. It's right outside of town. Won't take us but a couple of minutes, an hour at the outside."

Jake leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Let's get going, Chief."

"Uh, yeah," Megan said with another blush as she hurried out the door.
What a fucking bubblehead. Stupid. Like a fucking school girl. Get a grip, you idiot.

A chuckl
e followed her down the hall as he was gathering the rest of his equipment.

***

Waves washed over him as he rolled onto his back, drawing a naked Megan on top of him. Her lips warm and succulent as her hands played at his chest, rubbing and massaging his chest and stomach muscles. She lowered herself onto him...

A turbulent air pocket caused Jake to return to reality and the fact that he was in a helicopter. He chuckled as he adjusted his once more hard member to a more comfortable position in his pants.
What a delicious dream!

Jake smiled again at the thought of Megan standing in his room looking at him. He had been dreaming of her in a seaside cove. The temperature in the dream was just right as
was the water tickling their legs in the surf. Jake almost sighed. It had been a long time since he'd had an erotic dream that gave him a reaction that lasted so long.

The flight had been uneventful. They picked up the hurt kid and flew him to the army base hospital. Jake was pretty sure that the ten year old would loose his leg. There was not much holding the leg at the knee, several slivers of muscle and some flesh but not much else. Part of the foot was missing and it looked to Jake
like the tibia was broken too. The other kid was dead.

Megan explained on the trip over that this was not unusual. Every year White Pine did at least eight or nine of these transports. The military did more. Even after the land was cleaned by machines, bomb experts and lastly, and most effectively, the canines, there would
occasionally be a landmine left. This sort of accident usually happened during spring with frost heave. Worse, since the mines were getting old and corroded by weather, they were more sensitive.

Many people died each year due to Russian landmines. They had done a
thorough job of it, too. Whole areas that could be used for agriculture and buildings had to be left empty because of the threat of mines. Military and civilian contractors were working around the clock to find and disarm mines. Megan said that even with that big of a resource concentrated in just the areas near the city, it would be another couple of years before they could be used.

Jake had asked about the red rocks that they occasionally saw near roads. Megan informed him that there were mines in that area
, but they hadn't been cleared yet. Also, the schools gave classes to every kid about land mines. The Afghanistan government even paid adults to take classes to learn about mines. Still, many people died each year or were maimed. Everywhere there were people walking without limbs.

As they neared the White Pine base, Jake turned on the intercom. "Hey Ghost, there's lots of blood back here. Where's the disinfectant we use to wash it out?
The usual bottle is empty. Where's the main supply?"

"Inside the hanger, near the fire apparatus," Megan replied. "Is it bad?"

"Shouldn't take long. I can handle it," Jake said with a smile.

"Good thing, Cupcake. 'Cause that's why we fly. No clean up duty."

Jake chuckled. He could tell that Megan was smiling from the tone of her voice. That almost got another rise out of him.
Damn, she's driving me insane.

It wasn't long and the helicopter landed. Jake jumped out, opened both doors to air it out, and hurried toward the hangar. As he bent over to dump the disinfectant into the smaller bottle, he noticed a stranger heading toward Famine.

This guy was older, maybe late fifties. His gray hair was speckled with black and he wore black sunglasses. Not unusual in Afghanistan, almost everyone wore sunglasses. The thing that caught Jake's attention was his bearing and single-mindedness in heading to the chopper.

Jake stopped what he was doing and headed back toward the hanger doors.
What is going on? And who is this guy?

Cowboy entered the big open doors and stopped Jake at the entrance. "Clean up the bird later."

Jake's gaze came back to him. "Who is that?"

Cowboy turned to look out the hanger doors. "An old friend of her family, according to Megan. Come on." He took Jake by the arm.

With a quick move, Jake broke the hold on his arm. "What's going on?" Jake thumbed toward Famine.

Megan was staring at the approaching man. The look on her face was neutral, yet she had turned pale. Gently, she placed her helmet inside the back of Famine. She jammed her hands into the pockets of the flight suit as she waited for the guy striding toward her.

"Who is that guy?" Jake asked again.

"I don't know his name," Cowboy said lowering his voice. He looked around quickly, noticing
that Jake did the same, then looked back with Jake to the two on the runway. "But I'm thinkin' he useta work with Megan's Dad."

"Doing?"

"With The Company."

"Company? White Pine?"

"The CIA."

The scene by the helicopter stopped their conversation. The man took her by the arm and the two of them slowly walked
farther down the runway away from the hanger. Seconds later, Megan squatted down, one knee touching the runway. Head bowed.

The man stood there looking down at her, a frown on his face. Then he looked in all directions. Finally, his gaze came back to Megan. He squatted next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

Jake glanced at Cowboy, who shrugged. "Bad news," Jake guessed.

"Probably."

"Her dad?"

"That would be my guess, pardner."

The two men stood in the hanger entrance but neither of the people in the bright sunshine moved for a couple minutes. Finally, Megan nodded at the man and stood with him. She walked back to the helicopter with her head bowed then sat in the open door of Famine, her back to the hanger. The man spoke to her for a few seconds, then with a brisk step headed toward the main office building.

Jake took a step out of the hanger.

Cowboy grabbed his arm. "Leave her 'lone, Jake."

Jake looked at the hand on his arm then back at Cowboy. "She needs a friend right now."

"Ya don't know what was said."

"It doesn't matter. She needs a
… Let go of the arm, Kelly."

"Look pardner
…"

"Let go of my arm before this turns ugly."

Cowboy dropped his hand.

Jake started walking toward Famine.

"Jake."

He half turned to look at him.

"Don't take advantage of her."

"I would never do that," Jake said
, then walked with a quick stride toward the helicopter. As he neared Famine, he slowed down.
What the hell am I doing? I'm not good at this sort of thing.
Despite his gut twisting, he knew he had to do this.

Jake stopped several feet from the helicopter to see Megan crying. Not sobbing, just tears flowing down her face. She held her helmet in her lap, tapping her fingers in a steady rhythm.

Megan's eyes rose to meet his, then lowered just as fast.

Jake hesitated
, then slowly walked up to Famine. He sat down next to her and looked out over the runway, watching the birds fly in the distance. He folded his hands on his lap and waited. He didn't know what to say but maybe just his presence would comfort her. If not, he was sure she would tell him to leave. He didn't know how long it was before she spoke, her fingers were still beating a tempo on her helmet.

"Dad shot himself."

Jake said nothing.

She choked on the next word then cleared her throat and tried again. "He… He shot himself in the head. Didn't want to face brain cancer."

Jake nodded with a glance.

T
ears flowed unchecked down her face. Her eyes followed the birds as they swooped down and up in air currents. The heat was oppressive, but neither of them felt it.

Jake reached into the back of Famine and grabbed a water bottle from the small cooler. He knew the water wasn't cold but was better
than nothing. He opened the bottle and handed it to her.

Megan took it with a shaky hand. After taking a drink, she poured some of it over her head, then handed it back.

Jake poured the rest over his head.

"Guess he found his own answer."

"I'm sorry, Megan."

"Stubborn, old coot."

Jake reached out and patted her leg. He left his hand resting on her thigh and gave a slight squeeze. Megan's hand covered his and curled around his fingers. They sat for a long time, sweating and watching the birds.

***

The next night Jake found Megan sitting alone on the roof sipping from a water bottle. Grabbing a chair, he sat next to her. "Hey."

Megan grunted.

"Everyone else is in town."

Megan's brown eyes flicked to him then back to the setting sun.

"I was a little worried that you were nowhere to be found," Jake said with a smile. He got comfortable in the chair. The temperature was already starting to drop.

"I wanted to be alone."

"Do you want me to leave?"

Megan turned to look him in the eyes. She returned her gaze to the mountains and took a while before she answered. "No."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." Jake crossed his ankles.

The sun was down and the stars out before the silence was broken. Megan tossed her water bottle across the rooftop in a burst of anger. "I hate this."

Jake looked at her but said nothing.

With a wave of her hand, she continued, "I shouldn't have signed the last contract. I have more than enough money." She took a deep breath.

Jake watched her closely. She was trying desperately to control herself. He could see tears threaten to come, but this time she didn't let them.

"I shouldn't have. Something told me not to. Damn it."

"Then why did you?"

"I can't even go home for his damn funeral. Not that he would care. He'd understand. He's missed plenty of my important dates. Why the hell should I care about his dead body?" She shook her head. "
'Listen to your gut, Meg.' He once told me. 'Forget the head. Listen to your heart and your gut. They'll always lead you down the right path.' But did I? No!" She slammed her flat hand down on the arm of the chair. "I shouldn't have… I should have stayed in the States like my gut was telling me. No. One more tour. One more, he said. 'Just one, Meg. We need you to do this.' Damn him." She shook her head again. "Nah. I agreed. It wasn't his fault, the bastard. No. I shouldn't have. Why did I? Huh?" She turned to Jake as though he could provide the answer.

"Why did you?" Jake repeated, not knowing what she was talking about.

"Why do we do anything?"