Chapter 6 #2
He knew the odds of that ever happening were slim to none.
And he couldn’t help but wonder where she would go when they got out of Somalia.
Would she go back to the States? Take another assignment immediately?
If she took time off, it didn’t sound as if she had any family or close friends to hang out with until she was ready to start work again.
But instead of asking him how the hell he’d gotten from coffee to her future, he felt her shrug against him. “I don’t know.”
The short answer didn’t make him feel any better.
“I need to talk to my coordinator at Food For All, see what my options are. For all I know, I don’t have a job anymore.”
“That’s bullshit,” Midas said angrily. “It’s not like you were gallivanting around the city causing trouble when you were taken. You were with one of the head honchos and were outside their headquarters. If you don’t have a job, you should sue.”
Lexie patted his stomach as if trying to calm him down. “I was just saying it’s a possibility. I don’t really think they’d fire me because I was kidnapped.”
“They better not,” Midas growled.
“The thing is, I like what I do,” Lexie said.
“I like helping others get back on their feet. It’s so satisfying to see the men, women, and families I work with be able to make it on their own.
To not need Food For All anymore. I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing…
but I think I’m ready to choose my assignments a little more carefully. ”
Midas closed his eyes in relief. “Good,” he said.
He felt more than saw her looking at him. “You’ll go back to Hawaii, huh?”
“Yeah,” Midas said as he opened his eyes and saw the same damn boards above his face that he’d been staring at for hours.
He tucked his chin and looked down at Lexie.
Her hair was in disarray around her face and he could feel some of the strands sticking to the stubble on his face.
“Any chance Food For All operates in Honolulu?”
The question came out without thought, and he desperately wished he could see the look in Lexie’s eyes.
“I don’t know. But I would think so. I mean, they’re in a lot of the big cities in the States. New York, Chicago, Detroit, Orlando, Houston, LA… I would think Hawaii has its share of homeless and hungry families.”
“It does,” Midas confirmed.
They stared at each other, neither saying anything.
Midas wanted to tell her how much he’d love it if she came to Hawaii, but wasn’t sure how she’d take it.
Yes, they’d known each other in what seemed like another lifetime, but they were both very different people than they’d been back in high school.
And Lexie seemed to be content with her job.
And she was good at it. She could help the needy in Hawaii, but would she want to settle in one place after all the exotic locations she’d lived and worked?
He wanted to ask, but instead, Midas kissed her forehead gently. He let his lips linger on her skin, wanting more, but not wanting to take advantage of the situation.
He felt Lexie’s hand on his stomach move. It skimmed up his chest, brushing over his Kevlar vest and the various tools that were attached to it, and then her fingers were on his cheek.
“Lex?” he whispered.
She didn’t respond verbally, but he felt her shift against him. Her chin lifted and then their mouths were only inches apart.
God. He wanted to kiss her. Wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. It was as if his soul was crying out to taste her. To make her his.
That was crazy. They were still in danger. He was a SEAL who lived in Hawaii, and she was a hostage he’d rescued.
But she was so much more than that.
Lexie licked her lips, then moved her head closer.
Their lips brushed against each other lightly. Once. Twice.
Midas growled. He hated not having more room. Hated not being able to touch her the way he longed to. With her hand still on his face, Midas licked against her bottom lip, asking permission for entry.
She gave it immediately, but instead of waiting for him to make the first move, her tongue pushed into his mouth.
Midas smiled even as he kissed Lexie back.
She kissed as she did everything else…with enthusiasm and damn the consequences. Their kiss was more emotional than passionate, but it was no less life altering for Midas.
After a minute or so of the best, most intensely emotional kiss he’d ever had in his life, he felt Lexie pull back. She stared at him as her thumb brushed back and forth over his cheek. He wasn’t sure she was even aware she was doing it.
Midas ached to touch her, as well. To cup the back of her head, tangle his fingers in her untamed hair and devour her. But all he could do was meet her gaze and make sure she knew how much he admired her and wanted to keep in touch.
He took a breath to say the words, when the back door opened and someone entered the store.
And just like that, the mood shifted. Midas’s hand tightened on his rifle and all his attention was on the footsteps above them. But instead of continuing into the store, they stopped. Scraping sounded on the wood, and Midas tensed further.
He felt even more protective over the woman in his arms now. No one was going to take her from him. No way in hell.
One of the boards above them shifted a fraction, then whoever had moved it stepped back.
“It’s okay. Safe,” a deep voice said from above.
Midas didn’t move. And when Lexie shifted against him as if to push the boards back, he shook his head sharply. She settled back down.
“Lexie? It’s Shermake.”
“Shermake?” she asked, loud enough for the person to hear.
Midas pressed his lips together in frustration. He remembered that Shermake was the name of Astur’s oldest son, but he had no way of knowing if it was really him above them. If he was on their side or the side of the kidnappers.
But he had no choice now, the person in the store obviously knew they were there, so he needed to act.
In one swift movement, he sprang upward. He knew he’d jostled Lexie way too hard, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d rather her be bruised than dead.
The boards above them flew out of the way as he exited the small space under the floor. Midas’s muscles protested after being in one position for so long, but he ignored the insignificant pain. He pointed his rifle at the young man in the small back room as he stood.
Shermake immediately raised his hands, showing he was unarmed.
Looking around, Midas saw that he’d come into the store alone, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others outside waiting to ambush them.
“Friend!” the boy said quickly.
Midas felt more than saw Lexie coming up to her knees at his feet, and he said, “Stay down, Lex.”
“Shermake?” she asked again, ignoring his warning.
Then she stood all the way up and sat on the edge of the hole.
“It is me,” the boy said with a small smile for Lexie.
She tugged on Midas’s pants. “It’s okay, Midas. I know him. He’s Astur’s son. We’re good.”
Midas couldn’t be completely sure of that, but he did lower his rifle so it wasn’t pointed straight at the kid.
“Don’t—” Midas said, but it was too late. Lexie had already climbed out of the hole they’d been in for hours, taking the few steps to reach Shermake. Then they were embracing as if they were long lost friends, separated for years.
“You’ve gotten so tall!” Lexie said with a small laugh.
“And you short,” Shermake retorted.
Midas did the math and realized the kid in front of him was less a boy than he was a man.
He was probably closer to seventeen now, and around here, that meant he had way more responsibilities than a kid the same age in the United States.
He was a few inches taller than Lexie, would probably be over six feet tall when he finished growing.
He had on a black T-shirt, brown shorts that went to his knees, and a tattered pair of sneakers on his feet.
His hair was cut short…and he was looking at Lexie as if he worshiped the ground she walked on.
It was that look that made Midas relax. He saw nothing but worry for her in the boy’s expression.
“What are you doing here?” Lexie asked.
Shermake looked down at her as if she was crazy. “Helping you,” he said. “Mother said you were here. Had to wait for dark. So happy you okay. Sorry my people steal you.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Your English has gotten really good,” Lexie praised.
“I be practicing,” Shermake said. “Come, we go. I know where American and Denmark soldiers are.”
“And Dagmar?” Lexie asked. “The man who was kidnapped with me?”
Shermake shook his head. “I know not.”
“Wait,” Midas said, not quite ready to fully trust this young man yet. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you. How do we know we can trust you?”
“Midas,” Lexie protested, but he didn’t take his gaze from Shermake’s.
“You trust me,” he said. “I know men who watch for Lexie. They not good. Lazy. No want to work for money. Abshir Farah. He was in desert. Not killed. Came back here to tell story about desert fight and get friends to try to take Lexie again. Want money. I can get you back to friends. Trust me.”
Midas pressed his lips together. It was always a possibility that they hadn’t killed all the kidnappers, but it was surprising how fast this Abshir person had gotten back to Galkayo and gathered the troops.
He and his team had made an error in coming back.
They should’ve gone straight to the ship.
But the Jaeger Corps had talked them into agreeing to Magnus’s plan.
Money talked, and it was obvious the Brander family had some serious power to be able to influence the special forces the way Magnus had.
“I swear on my family life, Lexie is safe with me,” Shermake said in a low, earnest tone.
Midas finally nodded. He still didn’t one hundred percent trust the kid, but it would be preferable to have a guide through the streets of Galkayo. Especially if he knew where his team was holed up.