Page 4 of The Lost Soldier
The barely paved road weaved through the jungle on the outskirts of Seoul, heading north toward Paju, where they’d be stationed until they could pinpoint the location of the missing team and bring the men home. The further they got from the city, the thicker the brush and the bigger the bugs. Growing up, she’d loved the outdoors, but she’d never seen insects the size of her hand.
An hour into their journey, she could no longer take the silence.
“You look good,” she said, rolling her eyes. What a lame comment. Not even a very good icebreaker. Her parents always told her to lead with a question when starting a conversation.
“So do you.” He turned his head. “How’s the shoulder?”
“It aches.” She rubbed the muscle near where the bullet had torn through the outside of her shoulder, tearing through her skin. It was more of a graze than a wound, but it hurt none-the-less. “The glue stuff the medics put on it seems to be holding it together.”
“You’re lucky the bullet didn’t do any real damage.”
She nodded, glancing out the window, the sun still high in the sky. Small talk was just as bad, if not worse, than the deafening silence. Only she had no idea what to say. Their love affair had lasted only a few months, but it had been filled with intense heat and passion. Deep down, she knew Chad to be kind, loving, sweet, even though his rough exterior projected a bad-ass military man with a chip on his shoulder. He’d kept her at an arm’s length the entire time. At first, she thought maybe another woman had hurt him, or that he just didn’t give his heart freely. But as their desire deepened, she realized he blocked his powers and was afraid of hers.
“How’d you get tangled up in all this?” he asked.
“I was used by the North Koreans to find a missing kid, who was really an operative. I came across the SEAL team when Iwent looking for the kid. Once I was kidnapped, I realized I was being used to get a location on the team. I tried to keep the team safe, but obviously, I failed.”
“You didn’t. I did,” Chad admitted, taking a turn onto a pebbled road. According to their GPS, they were a few miles from the remote cabin. “They were my responsibility, and I lost them.”
Instinctively, she reached out, curling her fingers around his strong biceps. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but they homed in on my remote viewing abilities, tapping into my view, and I think I ended up leading them right to the team.”
He glanced in her direction with an arched brow. “If I believe that, I have to believe that you can project your mind to places far away and all the rest of it, and I don’t.”
“You’re here, working on this special project that is all about psychic abilities, and you’re going to tell me you don’t even think it’s possible?” Pushing his buttons had never gone well in the past. It only served to make him defensive, angry, and closed off. “After everything that has happened in the last couple of days, you’re going to continue to ignore what is staring you in the face?”
“I’ve been ordered to be here, with you; if I refused, I’d be court-martialed.”
“That’s the only reason you’re doing this?”
The Chad she remembered questioned authority, though always respectfully. He loved the military. Loved serving his country. However, he didn’t give blind orders, nor did he follow them. He’d gotten where he had in his career because he thought and walked outside the box. He took risks. Challenged the status quo.
But he never once accepted the idea that physics were an integral part of his world both personally, and professionally.
“I have a bad feeling that most of my men are dead or dying,” he said flatly as he pulled the Jeep in front of a small cabin. “When I close my eyes at night, I can hear the thumping of a faint heartbeat. I don’t know if it’s just one, or many, but I need to find whoever is still alive out there and make sure we bring them home.” He rammed the gearshift into park, shifting in his seat, stealing her gaze. “I’m not saying that I believe entirely that this psychic shit can help save whoever is out there, but I’m accepting that right now, it’s all I have to work with, and I’ll do anything to get as many of my men back as possible.”
“Fair enough,” she managed.
His eyes held a world of pain and suffering behind the blue-grey swirl of his irises. They were also a gateway into his lonely soul. A man who pushed everything and everyone away.
But why?
She wanted to palm his cheek, drawing him close, kissing his soft lips. The need to love him and hold him was so deep, it chilled her bones.
“Let’s get to work.” She jumped from the Jeep, sprinting toward the door of a wood cabin that had seen better days with its faded and probably rotted wood exterior, and some kind of grass for a roof. She looked up, thankful to see power lines. They’d passed a small village about five miles down the road, so hopefully they also had hot water.
She needed a shower, a change of clothes, and a strong cup of coffee before she started working with Chad. Developing dormant skills wasn’t as simple as pulling the top off a bottle and letting the liquid spill out. Psychic powers needed to be cultivated; it had taken her years to master hers, and she was still learning.
Grabbing the door, she tried to push it back. “It’s locked.”
“No shit.” Chad stepped next to her, a rucksack in his one hand, keys in the other. “Scottie had this place set upthis morning for us, filled with comms equipment, computer, STATphone, food, and other supplies.”
“Did he happen to supply us with shampoo, deodorant, and a change of clothes?”
“I hope so, you smell.” He pushed open the door, waving his hand in front. “Ladies first.”
She narrowed her eyes, but stepped into the cabin, stubbing her toe on the uneven floorboard. A couple of folding chairs were placed in front of a folding table that had all sorts of military equipment displayed, ready to be fired up and used. On the far side of the main room, a beat-up, old sofa and matching chair with a couple of end tables were perched over a rust-colored rug, which she couldn’t decide if the shade of brownish-gold was dirt or the original color.
She opted for the former.
