Liz Johnson - Navy SEAL Noel

Her hair brushed across her forehead and her eyebrows pulled together, leaving three vertical lines in the center.

“Where’s the rest of your team?”

“Stateside.”

With stilted movements, she crossed her arms, matching his stance. Her gaze swept from his head to his toes and back again, her eyes shifting from pale green to the color of the sea in a typhoon. The scrutiny made him feel like a kid who’d been called into the principal’s office.

He resisted the sudden urge to flex his arms against the seams in the sport coat to remind her that he wasn’t a boy any longer. This wasn’t about how much either one of them had changed. This was about getting her—and her bioweapon—back to San Diego. Back to a lab where they would both be secure.

“Why’d you come alone? Don’t you usually stick together?”

He lifted one shoulder. “Usually. But this isn’t exactly an authorized op.”

The corners of her mouth turned down, confusion washing across her features. “What does that mean?”

“I’m...freelancing.”

“So my dad just asked you to rescue me, even though we haven’t seen each other since we were eighteen? He asked you to drop everything and come to...to—” she waved her hand toward the yellowing walls “—wherever we are?” She paused, staring hard into his eyes. “And you did?”

For the first time in years, he didn’t know what to say, so he spit out the only word that came to mind. “Panama.”

“What?”

“We’re in Panama.”

She clenched her slightly crooked teeth and shook her head, long brown locks falling over her shoulders. “That’s not— I didn’t mean... We’re in Panama? No, that’s not what... Why are you here?” Her words were a jumbled mess, and ended in a weary sigh. Not harsh, just confused.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how to answer. But she deserved something more than a pat response. Taking a deep breath, he let it out through his nose before offering her what he hoped was a white-flag smile. “We were friends once. You meant a lot to me.”

“But you disappeared. You never called or responded to my emails or even came back to visit. I had to find out from your mom that you’d joined the navy.” Her voice picked up volume as memories seemed to fuel her ire, and he pressed a finger to his lips. She immediately dropped her volume, but she couldn’t hide the vibrato of her voice. “You left, and suddenly you’re back when I need someone the most? I don’t understand.” Her hands shook and her eyes glistened as her emotions jumped to the forefront.

True. Everything she’d said was true, but this wasn’t the time to rehash his immature stupidity. They needed to make a plan, but he had a feeling she was too exhausted to think tactically. That was fine—he needed at least a day to get the lay of the land, anyway. And meanwhile, she needed sleep and to know she was safe enough to truly give in to it.

“Jess, I’m sorry. You’re right. I do owe you an explanation. But maybe that can wait. For now, can you trust me enough to believe that I will find a way to get you out of here?”

“And the Morsyni powder?”

“Yes. I’ll get you both out.”

The features of her face were still pinched as she pointed toward the outside wall. “How? You can’t exactly climb over that fence. And there are guards everywhere. How are you going to get us out of here?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll come up with something. Just give me some time.”

Her eyes grew wide. “We don’t have time. I don’t know what they’re planning to do with the toxin, but it’s going to happen soon. All day my guard has been muttering to himself that he only has to deal with me for eight more days. I think they brought me here to release the Morsyni. What if they get impatient? What if we don’t even have that long?”

A slow grin spread across his face, and she stopped her frantic speech. “What are you smiling about?” she demanded.

“Nothing.” But it wasn’t nothing. Jess had said we. She was going to stick with him. She trusted him enough to think of them as a team. And the rest of the trust he had to earn back...well, that would come with time. “I will find a way out, all right? And until then, I’m going to be by your side as much as possible. You just have to pretend that you don’t know me.”

She uncrossed her arms and leaned against the sink, her palms resting on the lip of porcelain. It looked as if it took all of her strength to stay on her feet. “Why?”

“The powers that be inside this drug cartel think they brought me here to help you release a bioweapon. They think I’m an engineer.”

“But you’re not, are you? What do you know about science?”

“About as much as I picked up in our sophomore-year chemistry class.”

“So why do they think you can help me?” She squinted, the turning cogs in her mind nearly visible beneath the fair skin of her forehead.

“A friend of mine in the DEA used one of her undercover contacts to spread my name—well, the name William Darrow—around as an expert on Morsyni, and this cartel took the bait. They hauled me in—just like they did you.”

She blinked fast, pressing a palm against her forehead and swaying slightly. It was a lot of information to take in at one time. A lot to think about on severely limited sleep. He got that. “So we don’t know each other,” she finally said.

“Right. They’re going to drag me to your lab tomorrow and introduce us. I need you to act like you’ve never met me before in your life.”

“All right.”

He rubbed his palm up and down her arm, either to steady her swaying form or to see if this time she’d accept his touch, his comfort.

Definitely the first.

Probably.

No, it had to be the first because there could never be anything more than friendship between them.

“We’ve got to stay under the radar and keep the guards off our scent,” he said. “Can you help me maintain my cover until we get out of the country?”

“Panama.” Her tongue slurred the word, her eyes squinting into the space over his left shoulder.

“Right.” With a gentle hand, he held on to her elbow, keeping her upright. Some of the tension in her face eased, and she leaned toward him slightly. “You need to get some sleep,” he said. “Tomorrow we’ll try to work out a plan.”

“What kind of plan?”

Will glanced toward the ceiling, hoping to find answers there. But all he discovered were big patches of green mold marring the once white tiles. For a multimillion-dollar drug lord, whoever was running this cartel sure had let his compound fall into disrepair.

“Probably something like tonight. I’ll break into your room and we’ll get out of here.” He rubbed his shoulder, which would have a bruise the next day. In a lighter tone, he added, “Maybe next time try not to hit me with your wrench.”

The teasing was lost on her, but she nodded.

“Listen, when we leave here, I need you to have the strength to run and the presence of mind to think on your feet. This sleepwalking bit you’re pulling isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to get some rest.”

Her eyes flew wide open, her head whipping from side to side. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he recognized his stupidity. She’d been waiting for him, weapon in hand, when he’d crept into her room. She had been prepared for anyone.

Because it might not be him sneaking into her room.

His stomach rolled at the thought, bile rising in the back of his throat.

He squinted at her, trying to guess what she’d endured at the hands of these monsters. Her guard had laughed at her when she’d fallen into the mud that afternoon. How much worse had it been? Will tightened his grip on her elbow, but she didn’t shy away, instead leaning more heavily against him. “Have you been— Has there been—” Words failed him at first, but he pushed on. “Has someone else come in here?”