Page 5 of SEAL's Spitfire
Another surprisefrom his little spitfire. She’d gone from defender of women to comforting a stranger in a matter of seconds. It was obvious she’d picked up something from his demeanor. He must be tired normally he hid his emotions better.
“Thank you,” he said as he gazed at her small hand over his. It wasn’t much larger than his ten-year-old niece’s hand.
“You looked sad for a minute.”
“I’m really just tired. We got back to base late last night, and I haven’t had a lot of sleep lately.”
“That sucks…”
He didn’t know what if anything she was going to say next because in the space of a heartbeat she was out of her seat and standing in front of the television in the bar.
“Can you turn that up, please?” Her voice sounded strangled in her throat. He put his hand on her shoulder and it was tight as a board. What the hell had just happened. Then he looked up at the screen as the bartender turned up the volume on the TV.
“We’ve just received word that there has been a bombing in the village of Bamyan. There are several dead and wounded, but we’ve also learned that a group of missionaries who were there to build a school have been kidnapped. No one has claimed responsibility, but this area is widely known for Taliban infiltrations.”
“No, no, no.” Meghan’s shoulder shook underneath his hand. He doubted she’d even noticed he was touching her.
“Meghan?” He squeezed her shoulder a bit harder. “What’s wrong?”
“My brother.”
“Brother?”
“Yes.” Finally, her focus moved from the screen to him. Her eyes swam with tears and her cheeks were white as chalk. “The Taliban kidnapped my brother.”
What were the odds? Pretty shitty obviously. If it was true, then he didn’t know how she was still standing at the bar. Not one of the tears spilled out and she hadn’t even raised her voice. But she was clearly in shock. He knew the signs way too well.
“C’mon let’s go sit down.” She didn’t answer but didn’t fight him when he led her back to their table. The waitress hurried over and he ordered two whiskeys, he needed it and she sure as hell did.
“Here, drink this,” Rafe said as he handed her one of the glasses of amber liquid.
“What is it?”
“Scotch. Just take a drink. It will help, I promise.” She looked at the glass in her hand like it was some kind of beast but lifted it to her lips and swallowed. If the situation was different, he would have laughed, because as soon as it hit her throat she choked. Not the reaction he’d been going for, but at least it shook her up a bit.
“Holy crap…” Meghan’s voice was raspy from coughing. But she was back with him.
“Sorry, but you needed something. You were going into shock.”
“I was? Yeah, I suppose I was. Thank you. I think.”
“You’re welcome. Now, how about you tell me what’s going on? And why you think the Taliban kidnapped your brother?”
Rafe wasn’t sure she’d heard his question. Maybe the scotch hadn’t shaken her up enough. Then she lifted the glass to her lips and took a tentative second drink. No coughing this time, and she no longer looked like a corpse. It also meant she was thinking not just functioning. He’d give her as much time as she needed but patience wasn’t one of his virtues and one that his boss, Jake, constantly ripped him about. It wasn’t like they were getting out of there anytime soon. There was no rush, but damn he wanted answers.
“My brother is in Afghanistan with his missionary group.” His stomach twisted, he didn’t need to hear her words to know what was coming next. Fuck.
“They raised money and went there to help rebuild a school that had been destroyed. It has to be his group.”
“It’s possible it is, but there could be other groups there,” Rafe responded. It was his turn to reach across the table to comfort her. When he touched her hand, it was ice cold and sent a shiver down his spine.
“I don’t think so. I mean yes, there are others. But I’m almost positive that the village they said is the one he’s in. I need to call my family. I need to find out what we can do.” As she rummaged through her purse for her phone, he thought about calling Jake to see if they could get any intel at least for her. But that would be pushing it. Nope, not Jake but he knew someone else he could call who worked outside the boxes.
“What are you going to say to them?”
“I don’t know. I’m calling my sister. I don’t think my mom can deal with this.” Before she had a chance to make her call, her phone rang. He’d bet it was the sister but prayed it was the brother saying he was okay.
“Lizzie. Damn. You saw it too? I’m stuck in the airport. It’s a long story. Does mom know? Good. Try to keep it that way until I get there. We’ll get him back if I have to go there myself to kick some Taliban ass. Okay. Love you too. Big hugs to the kids. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
