ChapterTwo
Quinn could practically feelthe crosshairs brush over his skin as he crept through the bush. He was confident in his ability to stay camouflaged, but he was equally confident in Henderson’s ability to find him through the sight of a Mk.13. His competitive nature drove his pulse higher and tightened all his senses as he sank lower into the underbrush. He was the enemy force this morning, and had been outsmarting the sniper for two hours already. Anothertwoand—
“Please be advised we have an unauthorized intrusion in the training area. Halt allactivity.”
Son of a bitch. The calm drawl that crackled through his radio headset was the last thing Quinn wanted to hear. It effectively meant that the last two hours had been wasted—if someone wanted to be competitive, which healwaysdid.
From a purely training point of view, it didn’t matter if they hit the pause button. It would give someone else the chance to take over and be the pursued subject once they dealt with whatever army jackass had ignored the fact this part of the base was off-limitsrightnow.
He rose from his position, shoving his face covering aside as he squinted up at the early morning sun. Well, at least he could have somecoffee.
“Damn, I nearly had you,” Henderson growled in his ear through theradio.
Quinn tapped his comms button. “Nearly doesn’t count for much, though. Butgoodtry.”
Even though Henderson was a mile away, Quinn could swear he could hear him laughing. Grinning, he headed for the high ground. But the smile fell off his face when he reached the ridge, because a truck was barreling toward him. So he did the only thing that made sense and stood initsway.
The driver screeched to a halt, then his door flew open and the jackassjumpedout.
Shit.
Even with her honey blonde hair twisted up in a bun, there was no disguising that Leah from the night before was nohe. Nor did he want to think she was a jackass, but coming into an active training area was pretty damnstupid.
Instead of yelling at her, which was his first instinct, he gritted his teeth and waited for her to come to him and say her peace. She’d come this far, might as well let her get whatever was bothering her off herchest.
Don’t look at her chest.Meh, too late. Even in her uniform, Leah was curvy and sweet on the eyes. And the pissed-off fire in her eyes didn’t douse his interest,either.
“You!” she spitathim.
He just raised hiseyebrows.
“You’re the reason why my troops don’thavefood?”
“Probably not, since I’ve been in the bush sincebeforedawn.”
“I was directed down this road to the commander, and you stood in front of my truck. Ithought…”
“You don’t belong hererightnow.”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I’m the duty NCO today, and your training was scheduled for the range on the far side of this ridge.Notthis road, and not the forest inbetween.”
“The training we’re doing today requires more than arange.”
“Then you should have considered the resource conflict you would create by encroaching—” She cut herself off as an engine grew louderbehindhim.
He glanced over his shoulder. Henderson. Great. He’d made such a stellar impression on her lastnight.
Quinn rubbed his forehead, his fingers probably smearing dirt across his skin as he tried to rub away the tension gathering there. This was interfering with his plans for kicking ass and taking names today. Starting with Henderson, and then the Canadiansniper,too.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hendersonbellowed.
Leah’s eyes widened, and Quinn winced. That was unnecessary static theydidn’tneed.
She stepped to the side so she could address them both. “What is going on is I have troops beyond here that didn’t get their breakfastdelivered!”
Henderson laughed. “Well, I haven’t had breakfast yet, either. How about you,Quinn?”
No fucking way was heansweringthat.
