Page 18 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

“The church is in the business of protecting all innocents, particularly those who cannot protect themselves. Father Ambrose has brought dozens of orphans from war-torn places all around the world to the United States and found them permanent homes. He’s a remarkable man.”

“And you work for him?”

“Something like that.”

Yet again, he sensed evasion, but he chose not to push. “Do you rescue orphans from war zones often?” The idea of her bombing around in other places as dangerous as this one twisted his gut with distress. An urge to go with her, to guard her from all danger took him by surprise. He was not in the business of protecting God’s lambs, thank you, very much. At least not in the same way she was. He took a more…aggressive…approach to making the world safe for innocents like her and her kids.

“This is not my full-time work,” she answered belatedly.

“What is? You aren’t one of those terrifying teacher-nuns with a ruler and a thing for knuckles, are you?”

She rewarded him with another laugh that pealed across his skin like heavenly bells. “Good Lord, no. I’m a nurse. I work in emergency rooms, supplementing staff when they get short. But mostly I make house calls to people too poor or too illegal to seek health care through official means.”

“Well, well. Aren’t you just the crusading rebel?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I help people. I don’t care who they are or where they come from. It’s deeply satisfying work.”

And for the first time, he saw the passionate zeal for service that he would expect from a nun. Disappointment coursed through him. Apparently, at some subconscious level, he’d been hoping she wasn’t really committed to the whole nun thing and could be talked out of her habit and into his bed. What a cad he was! Appalled at himself, he fell silent.

They drove for several hours, the interior of the Jeep wreathed in grim silence. He pulled into a village in the late afternoon to fill up both his gas tank and the spare gas can strapped to the back of the Jeep. He was intrigued to see Elise reach up and slide the wimple off her hair as they pulled into town. It was a smart move. A nun would be noticed, but just some woman in the company of a man would be practically invisible in this traditionally male-dominated culture. Her hair fell in waves to her shoulders and looked as soft and strokable as a mink pelt.

“Hungry, Sister?” he asked, surprised at how hoarse his voice was all of a sudden..

“Yes. But I’ll be okay if you want to press on. The sooner I get to those children, the better.”

The road had been in worse condition than he’d been told to expect, probably the result of torrential rains the past few weeks, and they’d gotten a late start, compliments of his Sleeping Beauty routine. All of which added up to the fact that they weren’t going to reach Acuna tonight. Regret that her orphans would have to wait another day for their rescue registered vaguely in his brain before he cut the feeling off cold. He was not going to get involved with her crazy project!

Except he was already involved, like it or not.

“It’ll be tomorrow before we get there,” he told her regretfully.

Deep alarm passed across her face. Afraid to be alone with him for the night, was she? He supposed he couldn’t blame her. He’d been sniffing around her skirts like a rutting stag for far too long.

He sighed. “We can try to find a couple of beds for rent in this village, or we can drive until dark and camp in the jungle.”

“Which is safer?”

“It’s about a wash either way. We’re in drug-cartel country, and saying the wrong word in a place like this will get you robbed at best and killed at worst. But the jungle has its own dangers, not the least of which being the wildlife and disease. And then, of course, the drug cartels are active out there, too. Your call.”

She blinked, looking genuinely startled. “You’re actually asking my opinion on something?” she blurted.

“I’m not that bad,” he protested.

“Hah.”

“Hey!”

“The jungle.”

“Excuse me?” He had the worst time trying to follow her train of thought sometimes.

“I vote for continuing on and spending the night in the jungle. We’ll be less visible. Less rumors will circulate about us. A nun and an arms dealer traveling together are bound to cause a bit of a sensation.”

He grunted. True. And both of them would benefit by staying as low under the local drug lords’ radars as possible. He was still convinced the kids she was here to rescue were far from average, anonymous orphans.

After ordering her quietly to stay in the car and out of sight, he walked next door to top off his store of supplies. He wasn’t the kind of man who usually had trouble in places like this—apparently his decades of training in hand-to-hand fighting showed through in the way he carried himself—but he wasn’t about to take any chances with Elise’s safety.

They headed out as the sun descended slowly into the west. Thankfully, the jungle was still thick enough to block it from his eyes for the most part. Now and then, clear patches were starting to appear where areas of jungle had been slashed and burned to make way for food crops or the insanely valuable coca plants that were the primary source of income—and violence—in this region.

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