Page 25 of Her Wicked Hero

She was right. Zed took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

She nodded her head. “Thanks.” She peered up at him in the gloom of the night. “What’s your name, anyway? Are you a Ranger?”

“Master Chief Petty Officer Dante Zaragoza at your service, Ma’am,” Zed held out his hand.

He watched her frown for just a moment. Then her face cleared. “You’re a SEAL.” She took his hand, hers small and dainty in his.

“And you’re smart. Most civilians don’t know the different military ranks for the different branches of service.”

“Yeah, well most people don’t spend time in Harold Brockman’s house. How’s Mr. B., Debbie, and Christie? When Zed didn’t immediately answer, she continued, “I know Mr. B. was bad this morning. Is your team going to be able to get him help in time?”

“Men are double-timing him out right now. They won’t stop until he can be evacuated by helicopter. There is a surgeon waiting for him on the aircraft carrier. With this team taking care of him, he’ll live,” he assured her.

“Well okay then,” she gave a sharp nod. “What can we do for Hana?” Zed was already shrugging out of his backpack.

“I’m going to make a call and verify what we can do for her.” Zed looked over at the mother who was cradling her child and eying Zed warily. He gave her his warmest smile. She didn’t respond in kind. He couldn’t say he blamed her, considering her baby had just been injured by an American man. He grabbed the satellite phone out of his pack and called Dex.

“Have you tracked her down? Is she okay?” Dex immediately asked.

“Yes and yes,” Zed answered. He saw Marcia’s smile, it was obvious she could hear Dex.

“Thank God. Did you kill that son of a bitch?”

“Nope, but Marcia shot him.”

“Is he dead?” Dex asked hopefully.

“Nope. I think the bullets might have hit his body armor, but I sure as hell don’t want to get on her bad side.”

Dex chuckled. Zed looked over at Marcia. Good. She was grinning. She’d been clear-headed and strong, but it was good to see her smiling.

“How are you planning on getting back?” Dex asked.

“First, I have a bit of a problem. It’s a good one. Marcia managed to rescue a mother and child from that asshole, but not before he broke the kid’s arm.” Zed peered over at the child. “Dex, the kid is between one and two years old.”

“Motherfucker!”

“My thought exactly. I hope to hell one of Marcia’s three shots were in Raymond’s balls.”

Marcia snickered.

“Why isn’t the kid screaming his head off?” Dex asked.

“She already has for the last forty-five minutes. She’s down to just whimpering.”

“How can I help?” Dex asked.

“You know the medication I have with me. Can you find out what is safe to administer to a kid who is…” again Zed looked at the toddler. “I’d say she is probably twenty to twenty-five pounds.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Marcia, are you or the mother hurt?”

He watched her brown curls sway as she shook her head.

“Dex, Marcia and the mother are physically fine, except Marcia has a hell of a bruise on the side of her face. Can you get me the coordinates to the nearest outpost?”

“I’m on it. I’ll call you back as soon as I have answers.”