“You two seem like you’re tight,” Tanner observed.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Angelo said. “We went through a lot of crap together in Special Forces. Before he got pulled into the DCO.”
“Looks like you’re still going through a lot of crap together, regardless of the fact that he’s in the DCO.”
Angelo chuckled. “You got that right. Although it seems like the crap’s a lot weirder now.”
“Amen to that,” Tanner agreed. “I saw a lot of strange stuff while I was in the army, but nothing like this.”
Angelo swallowed some water from his canteen. “Landon told me you used to be in the Rangers. How long were you in for?”
Tanner was slow to answer, and when he did, the words were so soft Angelo had a tough time hearing him. “Eight years. But it was so long ago it sometimes seems like it was all a dream.”
Landon hadn’t told him why Tanner left the army, but Angelo was familiar with the story of how Stutmeir had grabbed the former Ranger from the forests of Washington State and turned him into the hybrid he was now. It wasn’t too hard to imagine how a soldier could go from the battlefield one day to being an outcast in his own country the next. Unfortunately, Angelo had seen it far too often in the past few years. He loved serving his country, but facts were facts. The military was good at a lot of things—killing people and breaking things being at the top of the list—but taking care of soldiers who couldn’t fight anymore wasn’t one of them. Veterans like that usually ended up on the street, where they didn’t fit in and weren’t understood. If the Veterans Administration safety net didn’t catch them—and there were a lot of holes in that net—they ended up like Tanner. Alone and on their own.
“When did you get out?” Angelo asked.
Tanner’s brow creased as he tried to remember. “Maybe two years ago? With all the hybrid crap, and the other stuff, it’s hard to remember the details. But I do remember spending a full summer and winter out in the forest before I got grabbed by those bastards.”
Angelo wanted to ask Tanner if he’d ever talked to anyone from the VA, but he guessed things had progressed a little bit beyond the point where they could do anything for him.
“The DCO is helping you, though, right? With your hybrid problem…and the other stuff?”
Angelo didn’t know for sure, but if he had to guess what that “other stuff” was, he’d say it was probably PTSD. He’d seen a lot of that, too.
“The DCO probably thinks they’re helping, but I’m smart enough to know that some of the people there are only interested in how I can be turned into another weapon in their arsenal.” Tanner shook his head. “Nah. Most of the real help I get comes from Zarina.”
Angelo didn’t miss the fleeting smile that snuck across the hybrid’s face as he said her name. He’d be damned. Tanner had a thing for Zarina. He couldn’t blame the guy. Zarina Sokolov was a beautiful woman.
“She doesn’t exactly fit the image I have of a cold, detached Russian scientist,” Angelo said.
Tanner’s grin broadened. “No, she doesn’t, does she? Underneath that beautiful exterior is the smartest person I’ve ever met.”
Angelo screwed the cap back on his canteen. “Does she know you like her?”
Tanner’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know?”
Angelo laughed. Did Tanner really think he could hide something like that? Anyone could see it. “Well, for one thing, I’ve met her, and it’s hard not to notice how attractive she is. And then there’s that goofy-ass grin you get on your face every time you say her name. It’s sort of a dead giveaway.”
Tanner looked stunned, but then he gave Angelo that aforementioned goofy-ass grin. “I guess I do smile a lot when I think about her. It’s hard not to. She’s amazing.”
The poor guy had it bad. But at least Tanner had one thing going right in his life.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Angelo pointed out. “About whether she knows how you feel.”
Tanner grimaced. “As if a woman like her would be interested in a screwed-up mess like me.”
“You’re a basket case for sure, and she’s miles out of your league,” Angelo agreed. “But women seem to have their own set of criteria when it comes to evaluating men.”
“You sound like you speak from experience.”
“Me? Nah,” Angelo said. “But I have two sisters, and the guys they date sometimes make me scratch my head and wonder what the hell they’re thinking.”
Tanner snorted but was silent as he considered that. “Sometimes I wonder if Zarina is spending so much time with me because I’m such a scientific curiosity—a genetic freak of a hybrid with the barest modicum of restraint.”
Angelo chuckled. “It’s nice to finally meet a man who’s even more clueless about women than I am. Dude, women like Zarina don’t waste time playing games with men they’re not interested in. They don’t have to. If she’s taking a personal interest in you and all the crap you’re going through, it’s because she’s into you.”
Tanner grabbed his canteen but didn’t open it. “I’d like to believe that. She’s sure as hell the best thing in my life right now. But even if she was interested in me before, she won’t be after I took off to come down here with you guys.”
