"Come here," she says.
I come.
Sit on the edge of the bed. She pats the spot next to her and I get in. She pulls the blanket over me. Then she leans into my side. Head on my shoulder.
"Couldn't sleep."
"Perimeter check."
"In your boxers."
"Fully armed boxers."
She laughs against my shoulder.
Silence a second.
"Who was Aisha," she says.
My whole body goes still.
"You said her name. When you were telling me why you stopped."
"Did I."
"You saidthe last person I was supposed to protect.I read between the lines. And Marcus, a long time ago when I asked why you left the service, he saida detail went wrong."
I breathe out.
"Tell me if I'm not supposed to."
I look at her a long second.
Then I tell her.
"Jordanian journalist. Aisha Khoury. Thirty four. Two kids. Husband was in Dubai for work. She was working a story about weapons trafficking and her name landed on a list. Our unit was asked by a private firm to run her and her kids out of Amman to the embassy. I was lead on the detail."
"Okay."
"We had three cars. She was in the middle one with me. The kids in the lead car with two of our guys. Four miles in, two SUVs blocked us on a dirt stretch. Ambush. Clean. They knew our route. Somebody inside had sold it."
"Gray."
"We lost the lead car first. Drivers got hit. I got the kids out the back. Aisha, I put behind me. Took a round in the shoulder. Another in the thigh. One of our guys pulled up in the third vehicle and laid cover. I got her to it. She was with me when we were pulling away, hand on mine. Then a second round came through the window. Took her in the neck."
"Oh my God."
"I held pressure. I kept her talking. She kept asking about her kids. I kept telling her they were safe. They were. She wasn't."
Simone's hand finds mine under the blanket. Threads her fingers through.
"She died about nine minutes from the embassy. I carried her inside anyway because I didn't know what else to do."
"Gray."
"I got a medal I threw in a drawer. I got two months of medical leave. I got a settlement that I gave to her kids. And I got out. Because I decided the cost of being trusted with someone was too high."
"And then Marcus called."
