Pushing Up Daisies (21 page)

She finally found it lodged between two rocks. She knew when she touched it because it warmed to her touch. House sat up when she left the pool and rubbed his eyes. “We gotta go,” he said. “I called for a pickup. The bird will be here any minute.”

He stopped and stared at her naked body. “You're coming with me,” he said. “When I get debriefed, you better be there to back me up.”

Sarah had to think for a moment. What did she want to do? She thought of going back to her U.N. job and shuddered. She didn't think she could face all the questions she would be peppered with. What could she tell them? A giant werewolf had saved her and fallen in love with her? She'd fallen in love with a woman, who died saving her and who also just happened to be a werewolf? “I'll go,” she said. “I don't want to stay here.”

House grinned. “What? Don't want to go back to normal life?” He scooped her into his arms and kissed her. “Do you love me even a little?”

She pulled away. “I think I need some time to sort out how I feel. I do love you. I just don't know what it means.”

He nodded. “I can understand that.” House found his pants and pulled the phone out of one pocket, the phone he'd taken from the al Qaida leader. He checked the time and leaped to his feet. “I can't believe we slept so long.”

She struggled into her filthy undergarments wishing she'd thought to grab some clean clothes from her room. The dress went on and she dropped the idol into its pocket. House took her hand and they ran out into the bright light of day.

The sound of a helicopter in the distance reached them just as they entered the U.N. building. Coop met them and a dark shadow passed across his face. Sarah blushed. He knew where they'd been and what they'd done.

“I need to change,” she said to House and bolted for her room before Coop or anyone could say anything.

Anna rose on one elbow. “Where did you go?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“I'm going with House,” Sarah said without answering. She stripped off her grungy clothes in front of Anna's startled eyes. Shy Sarah was gone forever. With new, clean underwear on, she yanked trousers, a t-shirt and boots on. Fully clothed in suitable garments for the first time in days, Sarah ran out of the room. She'd tucked her idol into the cargo pockets of her khaki pants.

House had changed, too. One of the U.N. soldiers close to his size had provided him with desert-camo pants and a black T-shirt that bulged around his massive arms. She had to stop when she saw him. He was so beautiful. His silver eyes stared into her soul and he smiled a crooked grin that lifted one corner of his perfect, manly mouth. “Now you look ready for anything.”

When the bird arrived, Coop and the U.N. medic helped carry Berry on a stretcher to the helicopter. He was loaded into the cargo area and House leaped aboard. He reached for her hand and pulled her into the bird with him.

She kept her hand resting on the idol in her pocket as they flew over the dry land to the airfield at Mogadishu. Her heart was heavy. She missed Daisy so much. When the bird landed, House jumped out and helped her down. They walked hand in hand across the tarmac toward a row of metal buildings.

Suddenly, a familiar figure ran out of one of the buildings. Sarah would know him anywhere by his cocky walk and his aloha shirt.

“Gopher!” House yelled. “Gopher!”

Laughing they ran toward him. He had something fuzzy and small in his arms. When he reached them, he stopped and looked into Sarah's eyes. There was a long moment of strange recognition. “You were in my dreams.”

She smiled. “I thought you were a ghost. We thought you'd died.”

He shook his head. “Nah, I was in a coma. Man, I had some weird-ass dreams.”

The bundle of fur in his arms whimpered. He held it out to Sarah. “One of the guys found this little girl wandering outside the office. I couldn't let her starve.”

Sarah took the puppy. It was all black except for a reddish stripe running from her eye over the top of her head. The little animal looked like a wolf…looked like Daisy. She hugged it close to her chest and remembered Daisy's promise to watch over her.

“What have you got, Sarah?” House asked.

“It's a wolf puppy that looks just like…”

“It's not a wolf. There are no wolves in Somalia.” House tried to take the puppy. When he saw the strip of red fur, he pulled his hand away. “Daisy,” he whispered.

“What? Where is Daisy?” Coop asked as they slowly walked toward the buildings.

“She didn't make it,” House said. “She's home.”

“Did you recover her body?”

“No, we'll have to go get her. We left her with the Rizeigat.”

“The who?”

“Don't worry,” Sarah said as she hugged the soft furry bundle in her arms. “Daisy will always be with us. She's in our hearts forever. I'm going to name this little girl Daisy.”

House pulled Sarah close. “Do you think?” he whispered.

Sarah just smiled.

Melanie Thompson

I grew up the oldest of a large family. After years of torturing my younger brothers and sister, I left home to make it on my own. Now I'm a mom with three kids working nights as a bartender. I love the nightlife baby.

I read a lot and I love people. As a bartender, I use my photographic memory to remember people and their names. I never forget a drink.

For fun, I like to hike, read and shoot automatic weapons. I'm deadly accurate with a bow.

I wanted to get into writing so I partnered with my mother, a published author, and together we came up with
Erotic Flights of Fantasy I and II
and
the Saga of the Stea
m
punk Witches
. All are available from
www.amazon.com
and
www.torridbooks.com

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