Page 40 of Turn the Tide
“On my boat. Just east of the island.”
“So, where’syourboat?” she asked Zoe. Leo had one of those minds that was always calculating. Add to that the daredevil thing, and she made the perfect helo pilot.
“Don’t know.”
“Well, hell.”
For a few moments, all five of them stood in a circle, considering.
“You’re in charge. What are we doing?” Von said to Eric, and for a second or two, he let that old feeling overtake him—that thing where he’d risk his life for his team and they’d risk their lives for him and they had each other’s backs, all in a day’s work. That support, that confidence, was something he missed like a drug.
“I wanna take ’em out. As painfully as possible,” he said with a grim smile before turning to the woman by his side. “But it’s not my decision. Zoe? What doyouwant us to do?”
“We’re here to help,” Leo chimed in, her voice cocky. And damn if Eric wasn’t happier tonight than he could remember ever being before. Which was odd, considering this wouldn’t be his team’s first rodeo.
His eyes returned to Zoe, and the difference was clear as day. This wouldn’t be like any other mission he’d been on.
Eric slipped his arm around Zoe’s shoulders and pulled her to his side. It was so easy, so natural, and the smile she gave him was so…rightthat it hurt his chest.
“You’re the boss, Zoe.” Von spoke as if she was just another squad member. “You wanna head home?”
Ans stepped closer, full of that manic energy that made him such a force to be reckoned with. “Or are we pulling an oil-platform assault?”
“Whoa, hold on.” We? When had it gone fromustowe? When Ans put it like that, everything shifted. Those words—platform assault—brought back a slew of memories Eric would rather have left in the past. A mission to seize a platform off the coast of Cyprus had gone terribly wrong, and they’d lost two team members. He couldn’t lose Zoe, would rather die than watch her bleed to death the way Schriff had that night. And he’d been a pro. “Zoe, I can’t risk you coming with us.”
Everyone stilled as if frozen in time for what seemed like forever, though it was probably only a few seconds.
“Um. What?” Zoe didn’t sound pleased.
“Zoe.” Eric couldn’t keep the hard edge from his voice. “I’ll worry about you. You get that, right? These guys have fought with me. We know each other. We’ve been trained. You’ll be…I hate to say this, but a liability.”
“I’ll be a bigger liability here.” Christ, he could feel her anger. She was almost vibrating with it.
Leo shifted closer to Zoe. Was she choosing sides or preparing to restrain her?
He kept his eyes on Zoe. “How do you figure?”
“Because, Eric Cooper.” She closed in on him, her voice getting lower as she approached. “If you leave me behind, I’m swimming over to the rig by myself. Imagine how muchthat’llworry you.”
Shit.He should’ve known she wouldn’t go for it. He had known it deep down, but that didn’t make it easier to accept. He pressed his fingers to eyes that were gritty from lack of sleep. “You serious?”
“As a heart attack.” Her chin went up, and he could see, even in the meager light of the moon, that the woman had a stubborn streak a mile wide.
“Why?”
“Why do you think? The painkillers are wearing off, my headache’s coming back, and I’mpissed. You get that?” When he nodded, she kept going. “But, above all, that’smyrig and those people, whoever they are, have messed withmyanimals. When that company decommissioned, we were the first ones here. Not only did the platform’s owners give us permission to use Polaris, but it’s in international waters. Whoever claims it gets it. And that’s me. No one else was willing to protect these animals, so I did. Iwill. You can’t keep me out of this.”
Something that felt like another dose of happiness welled up inside Eric. Maybe pride. Possibly a different emotion—bigger and deeper and scarier than all the rest—but he wasn’t quite ready to face that one yet. He broke out into a smile and didn’t have to look around to know he wasn’t the only one.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She squinted at him distrustfully, her eyes flicking around at the others. “What’s with all of you?”
“’Cause there’s no one else like you. No idea what most women want, but this one wants oil rigs.” He leaned in, feeling closer to whole than he’d ever been. “Youloveoil rigs.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “I love marine life. Rigs, not so much.”
“You have any idea how attractive that is? Your willingness to fight for those creatures?” He stepped close enough to touch her and lowered his voice. “When we’re done here, I want to take you back up to our rock and—”
“We’re standing right here,” Leo said with a smirk in her voice.
