Page 45 of Holiday Hostage
“The whole thing was enough for a court-martial. Mav received an honorable discharge for medical reasons. All that time without a heartbeat caused irreparable nerve damage. And Reed…”
The lines appeared between his eyes again. “Reed confronted our commander in the middle of the court hearing. He called him a coward who willingly sacrificed part of his team because he was jealous of Maverick’s ability to inspire loyalty. He punched our commander in the face and was dishonorably discharged.”
Poor Reed. “He deserved better.” It didn’t matter what I said, I doubted Tarron heard me.
He was lost in the past, and I didn’t know how to help him come back.
My feelings for them grew deeper as I absorbed their story.
Every breath of crisp Alaska air solidified one thing for certain: I would never be the same after meeting these three men.
They’d changed me for the better.
“I’ve never known anyone as honorable and selfless as the three of you.” Their fearlessness and loyalty to each other inspired and overwhelmed me. “You saved Mav’s life. You both did.”
“We did. Mav’s one of those men who is born to lead.” He shrugged like he’d not done anything extraordinary. “You wouldn’t believe how loyal everyone in our unit was to him. Evenmore loyal to him than to our commander. He always seemed jealous of Maverick.”
“You think that’s why he did it?”
The weight of the situation hammered into me.
They were heroes, and even when they did everything right, things went wrong.
A moose bellowed from nearby, the sound sending my heart into overdrive.
I cursed beneath my breath and fisted a hand over my heart.
Tarron stopped to examine the land around us. “We’re almost there. Few more hills. We can take a break here for a few minutes.”
He backed us beneath a large pine tree so the limbs and trunk protected us from the worst of the wind. “Yes, I think our commander left Maverick to die because he was afraid our men were more loyal to Mav. I don’t know if they were. Reed and I were, of course, but I can’t speak for the others.”
“If they had the choice between a man like Maverick and the asshole who’d risk all of you, I know who they’d pick. Unless they were all assholes like your commander.” My staunch defense rushed out with heated breath that made Tarron’s coat useless.
My anger fueled my body better than any furnace. “What about you? Mav and Reed were discharged. What made you leave?”
“I nearly took off as soon as they were discharged.” He grimaced. “Probably should have, but I stayed until my contract ended, then I left to join them. By then, Mav had already started hisprivate business, and he and Reed had a few assignments going on. Best choice of my life.”
He brought my hand up and kissed the inside of my wrist.
My pulse fluttered at the soft touch, and I locked my arm around his waist, being careful not to press too tightly on any of the weapons.
“You’re a hero. All of you are. That commander can kiss my ass and go to hell. The three of you are too good to be shackled with someone like him in your past. You saved Maverick’s life. I’m sure he’s grateful for that.”
No matter what kind of nerve damage he’d suffered, he had to be grateful for another day to live.
“You sound like Reed.” Tarron shook snow from his hair and peered toward the hill we needed to climb. “No wonder the two of you get along so well. You’d probably have kicked him in the balls, then punched him in the mouth.”
“Without a doubt.” I pulled in a series of long breaths that helped energize my body for the remainder of our journey. “I still hate that we left them behind. I hope to hell that they catch up soon. Because I’m not going any further than the snowmobiles until they do.”
13
MAVERICK
Son of a bitch. My strides shortened to accommodate Reed's extra weight on my shoulder.
He heaved forward, grunting and cursing. “Of all the fucking shots, I had to take one at the end.”
“Better the end than the beginning.” I tossed him ahead, dragging him over a snowdrift as we ducked beneath an overhanging limb that might provide enough shelter to keep us out of sight for a second.
