Ryker foundhimself torn between staying with Bent and chasing after T in the same way Ash had pursued his wife. In the end, the decision was taken from him when Forest slung an arm around his shoulders and tugged him toward the band.
“Sounds like you’re up for this.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.
No backing out now.
“Maybe if I understood what I was volunteering for?”
He had the same concerns T had raised previously. His team kept a heavy ops tempo. They supported a special ops unit operating far forward, doing things that didn’t exist. It wasn’t a job he could step away from. It wasn’t a job hewantedto step away from.
“I can hang and play during the concert,” he said, “but that’s as far as it goes. T and I have to get back to our unit.”
“I’m working on a solution,” Forest asserted. “Calls are being made.”
“What does that even mean?” Ryker asked. “Our job is very specific. You can’t just replace us and send us on a USO tour.” No way in hell was Forest separating him from T. Not now. Not ever.
Forest arched a brow. “You’d be surprised.”
He wasn’t going to argue with Forest over the specialization of his career field. His team wasn’t the only one in the Air Force, but they were the only ones assigned to this combat zone. Bringing in others would mean putting them on deployment within a matter of days. He’d be pissed if someone did that to him; however, Forest seemed unfazed.
That decision remained far above Ryker’s pay grade, and he decided to focus on what he could manage. Right now, that was understanding the men of Angel Fire. He’d had an image of them as unapproachable rock legends, but after spending a few minutes in their company, they were just like anyone else.
Bent, Bash, Spike, and Noodles mercilessly ribbed each other. They acted like brothers, which he supposed they were. Playing in a band did that to a group of guys. He remembered his friends from high school and the tight bond they’d formed. Angel Fire was no different.
After a couple of hours of goofing around with the instruments, the band moved into the required sound checks. Ash hadn’t returned. Forest had mentioned the band would be taking a down day, but the men of Angel Fire seemed incapable of taking any time off from their passion.
Ryker felt the same way and excused himself to track down T.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, taking with it some of the heat of the day. He headed to the medical facility and asked around, even going as far to visit command and control.
No T. No Skye. No Ash.
Thinking she might have taken her friend on a tour of the base, he visited all the highlights of Bagram Airfield. No T at the hangar. Nosign of her at the gym or anywhere else. He had no idea where she could have gone and decided the best way to get a hold of her would be to leave a note at her barracks.
After a quick search for Collins, he found where T had been assigned and headed to the rows of converted cargo containers. The dry air sucked the moisture from his body, and his lips cracked, but he enjoyed the heat, unlike many others. He stopped by a hydration station, filled his CamelBak, and then continued his search.
T’s lilting laughter stopped him in his tracks. At last, he’d finally found her. The other voice had to belong to Skye. He knew little about Ash’s wife, except she and T had a connection.
He made enough noise for the women to hear his approach. Their laughter died out, and T’s head poked out of the doorway to her barracks.
“Lyons,” she said, “what are you doing here?”
Someday, she’d be calling him by his first name rather than his last. That was the way with the military. Everyone reverted to last names in the field. T was an exception and probably because of her sex. Rather than the team calling her Meyers, they’d taken to calling her T. He liked the name. No one else but the team called her T. Even her close friends, Forest and Skye used her full first name. He liked having that little piece of her. He shared it with four other men, but all of them had wives at home. It meant nothing to them while it meant the world to him.
He glanced inside the converted cargo carrier. Ash was spread out on the lower bunk, his head in Skye’s lap. She finger-combed Ash’s hair while he snored softly. With a finger placed gently against her lips, she gave Ryker a smile.
“Shh,” she said. “He’s sleeping.”
“Obviously,” Ryker said. “Although I don’t see how.”
“What do you mean?” Skye asked.
“I heard the two of you long before I closed in on this…” He glanced around the makeshift barracks. “You know, I’m not even really sure what to call this thing.”
“The Ritz,” T said and then giggled. “I’m living in The Ritz.”
He loved the way her face lit up with the soft laughter. He’d seldom seen her smile, and her laughter was a rare and fleeting event.
“Well, it’s a far cry above where I’m bunking,” he said. He’d been shoved into a tent with seven other men but agreed with T. Compared to what they were used to, they were both living it up for the next two days. “Looks like I’ll be playing with the band tomorrow night.”
