“Damien needs the same,” Mila piped up.“He’s barely slept.”
Her brother raised his eyebrows at them both, but said to his sister, “He needs to report in first.Come with me.”
Mila looked at Dobby and he nodded though he wasn’t ready to let her go.“I’ll catch up with you later.”Their private time was over.
She nodded and followed her brother into the ship.
“Where did you get the dog?”Connor asked, crouching down to stroke the uncertain animal.He glanced up, his blond fringe falling into his eyes and he pushed it back with impatience.
“It was the kidnapper’s.It followed us into the ocean while we were escaping and Mila made me rescue it.”
Connor grinned.“Like you would have let it drown.”
If it had threatened Mila, he would have.“It’s got training.”
Connor nodded.“I’ll check her.She’ll need quarantining from the rest of the dogs, but I’ll work something out.”
Dobby smiled.He knew he’d have an ally with Connor.
“What the hell happened?”Joker asked as Dobby’s team moved into the ship to the communal room they’d been using.
Before he could respond a corporal came to the door.“Sergeant Dobson, the Major wants to see you immediately.”
Christ.That was the last thing he wanted right now.“I’ll fill you in when I get back,” he told his team and followed the corporal into the bowels of the ship.
Major Hammond was a humourless, by-the-book man who expected absolute perfection from his men.
This wouldn’t be fun.
He adjusted his uniform, checking the buttons on his shirt were done up correctly and tucking it in.He was still filthy, but it was the best he could do without a shower and fresh clothes.
The room he entered contained not only Major Hammond but also the Colonel and the Major-General, unfortunately not Mila’s mother.
Shit.
Dobby saluted.
“At ease,” the major said.
“Did you extract Mila Watkins?”the Major-General asked.
“Yes, sir.Her brother is taking her to the infirmary and then to get cleaned up.”
“Would you like to explain why you thought it important to abandon your mission to rescue her?”the colonel asked, his tone deceptively mild.
“She helped us rescue Ethan Ward and lured Vance Bradley’s kidnappers away from their home so we could be evacuated.Vance exposed her parentage to the kidnappers, which made her a valuable commodity.”He paused to let that sink in.“I deemed she was at risk of being taken hostage and as she is an Australian citizen, I saw it fit to offer my assistance to extract her from the island.”
“Explain in detail,” the Major-General barked.
Dobby gritted his teeth.This was going to take some time.
Chapter 16
Mila glanced back at Damien as Jared took her into the ship, but he was already talking to his teammates.It was harder to leave him than she’d anticipated.Foolish, she hadn’t prepared herself for it, but she hadn’t considered what would happen after they arrived on the ship.
At least her brother was here.She squeezed his hand as she limped down the corridor.She hadn’t heard where he’d been going on his latest deployment so seeing him had been an incredible shock.
“Are you OK, Milly?”he asked.
