Page 50 of Nikolai
Nick looked up.He had an M1 Garand in his hand, which had been wrapped in oil cloth.In perfect condition.He lifted it one handed so he could peer down the sight.Then he picked up an FN FAL rifle, chambered in NATO rounds.
“Checking them.They are in prime condition.They work and cannot fall into the wrong hands.”
She nodded her head.“Not to mention the nukes.”
He put down the rifle.“Not to mention the nukes,” he agreed.
Okay.He was going to try one last time.“Listen, I think if I stacked two boxes and got on top of them, I could boost you right out of here and?—”
Parker rounded on him, blue eyes crackling fire.“Could you boost yourself?”
Could he boost himself?Nick measured distances with his eyes and felt his way through his body, which he knew inside out.“Maybe…not,” he said.She just stared at him, arms crossed.“OK.Probably not.”
“We’re either both getting out or nothing.I thought I made myself clear.I’ve been told I express myself clearly.Few people have difficulty understanding what I say.”Her jaw muscles moved, she was clenching her teeth in exasperation.
God.She was filthy, she’d crawled through dirt which clung to her face, hair and clothes.That crawl had ripped her blouse and pants.She looked like she’d been through a war.
And she was so beautiful it hurt to look at her.But that wasn’t it.It wasn’t just her beauty.She was proving to be the best possible partner—steadfast and helpful, even when she was mad at him.She’d come back for him when she could have just kept going.She didn’t want to be rescued unless he could be rescued too.
He’d been fascinated by her and had had the best sex he could recall last night.But this was more.This felt like having a partner.This felt like what his parents had, an unbreakable bond.His mother could no more leave his father in a dangerous situation than she could fly.
Nick had been falling since he first laid eyes on Parker.Easy thing to do.She was fascinating, classy and gorgeous.But it was right now, with her glaring at him, covered with dirt, dinged and angry, that he slid all the way.
He gave in with a sigh, recognizing that his life was going to be fundamentally different from here on.Everything had changed.And he also recognized that Parker very definitely had a will of her own and had no hesitation in speaking it.
He reached out and touched her shoulder.“Sorry.I wasn’t listening to you.You told me over and over again you didn’t want to leave me, and I let my emotions get the better of me.I hate the thought of you being here, in the rubble of an earthquake and in an Operation Gladio arms cache.A lot of things can go wrong, and I’m trained to think in terms of worst-case scenarios.But to tell you the truth, I’m really glad you’re staying.”
Her body language had changed.Her arms weren’t folded tightly against her chest now, and she wasn’t glaring at him.“You mean that?”
He nearly sighed.“With all my heart.”
She rushed into his arms, jostling his wounded shoulder.Pain shot through him like a bolt of electricity.He gritted his teeth.It was a small price to pay to have her in his arms, not angry at him.They’d escaped death by a miracle.He’d been given a second chance.
“Oh,” she mumbled into his torn shirt.“Now I can say how scared I was and still am.I couldn’t say how scared I was and then run away like a rabbit.”
Nick held her more tightly, head resting against hers.“Couldn’t have that, no.”
Parker sighed and relaxed into him, and they stood there, holding each other tightly.Parker was the first to step away.She sniffed, put a finger under her eyes where a little moisture had gathered—she’d absolutely reject the idea of that moisture being tears—and straightened.
“I think you’re going to have to call Aunt Caroline.”
“Yes.”This was tricky.Because the Consul General didn’t necessarily have the right to confidential military intel.There would be no protocol against it, but there wouldn’t be a protocol for it.
But she’d be worried about Parker and that decided him.
He dialed her cell.
“Hello?”There was heavy background noise.She was either on the street or at the consulate with repair work going on.“Who is this?”
She wouldn’t have the satphone’s number in her cell’s address book, only his regular work phone.
“Caroline,” Nick said slowly.“This is Nick Garin.Please listen carefully.We have a Broken Arrow situation.”
Silence.
Caroline would know exactly what that was.
“Where are you?”
