“Think she’ll do it?” Shane asked his friend, who’d already looped Shane’s arm up and around his neck, so he’d have to put the least amount of weight on his injured ankle as possible as they scrambled and slid down the steep path to the still burning Quonset hut.
“Probably not until the news of your court martial goes public,” Magic said helpfully. “Or maybe it’ll be the ceremony where they strip you of your rank that’ll convince her you’re on her side. Particularly if they keep the cameras rolling and catch the part where Ashley returns your engagement ring.”
“That’s not going to happen. Ashley loves me,” Shane said, although even to his own ears he didn’t sound completely convinced.
“I know I’ve given you endless crap about her,” Magic grunted as he kept them both from falling as his boots skidded on some loose gravel that bounced down the trail ahead of them. “All my conspiracy theories and predictions of doom? That’s just because I’m a jealous piece of shit. She’s amazing. And she definitely loves you, man. But Daddy’s not going to let her marry you. Not after the CEO-in-Chief chews you up and spits you out. Ashley’s got a lot of really great qualities, Shane, but a backbone made of steel isn’t one of ’em. You know this as well as I do.”
Shane couldn’t argue with that.
“She’ll cry,” Magic continued as they left the hillside behind. “And she’ll be heartbroken and devastated. But when it’s all said and done, she’ll do as she’s told.”
“I still think I have a chance,” Shane started to say.
But Magic wasn’t done. “You know, it’s not too late for me to—”
“Jesus Christ, just shut it, Kozinski.”
But Magic didn’t. “Seriously, Shane. With you gone from the Teams, what’s the point of my staying? Have youseenthe new officers in the SpecWarGroup HQ? They haven’t gone through BUD/S, but now they’re leading SEAL teams? They’re not qualified to wipe my ass.”
Shane could feel the heat from the fire on his face, hear the screams of the wounded and grieving. “Then I guess you’re finally going to have to get your shit together and go through OTS. Make the jump from enlisted to officer.”
“Fuck. Me,” Magic said. “Can youseeme in Officer’s Training? I won’t make it through one week, let alone twenty-six.”
“Play your cards right,” Shane said, “and maybeyou’llmarry Ashley.”
“That’s not funny.” Magic’s voice was tight.
“I know,” Shane said. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”
But then they rounded the corner and found Rick’s makeshift triage—which included an area reserved for the unsavable and the already dead.
Magic stopped short. “Fuck. Those bastards killed Buttercup. Shit,” he said.“Shit.”
Nothing like a dozen dead children as a visual aid to drive Shane’s point home. Or two dozen wounded, with more still trapped inside. “You’ve gotta stay in,” Shane said quietly. “Or we’ll never find out who’s responsible for this.”
Magic didn’t answer. He also didn’t pretend that Shane would stay out here and assist Rick. He just helped him into the burning building and then let him go. Apparently it was okay with him if Shane had to use a cane for the rest of his life, if it meant he’d saved children’s lives.
Shane moved past the civilians—mostly women—who were helping with the evacuation. He went right toward the heat of the flames, where he scooped up a little girl who’d been stunned from the blast, who was coughing and vomiting from the thick, toxic smoke. His ankle was starting to scream—the local was wearing off. But he carried her out and gently put her down near Rick, then went back inside for the next, and the next, and the next.
Chapter Five
The body count included the full six-men rogue team of former CSO agents, or whoever the hell they were.
Senior Chief Salantino hadn’t kept anyone alive to ask questions. He’d just dropped them like the terrorist scum they’d proven themselves to be. And he’d made sure the bodies would not be recovered.
He stood now, his clothes covered with blood from nearly twenty-four hours of assisting Rick with emergency medical aid. The SEALs had only left their improvised hospital when word came down that a Corporate Nation Medical Team was on its way, due to arrive within the hour. That meant there’d be CN mediators tagging along, which meant there’d be a full company of contractor-run security forces as well.
And neither Salantino nor Shane wanted to be anywhere in the vicinity whentheymade the scene.
Magic, Owen, Rick, and the senior had to hump it back over the border, on foot, for their story to line up.
Only Shane could wait here for the helo extraction.
But Magic in particular was loathe to leave him there alone.
“Time,” the senior said.
“Last chance,” Magic told Shane.
