Top Gun Tiger (Protection, Inc 7)

“I don’t feel good,” Destiny said. Before Justin, a paramedic, could offer to poke and prod her, she added, “I’m fine. It’s a female problem.”

Fiona’s worried expression cleared at that; she’d seen Destiny’s pills many times before, starting at the time when she’d stayed at Destiny’s house before she’d joined the team. “Female problems” tended to cut off discussion, even among women. But before her teammates could decide everything was fine and leave, another blast of alarm hit Destiny like a fist to the gut.

Ethan! Go help Ethan!

Destiny once again clutched at the sink, and once again looked up into her teammates’ concerned faces. If she didn’t let them do something, they’d never let her alone. “Could you drive me home?”

“Of course,” Fiona said. “Justin, can you tell everyone Destiny and I had to go? Just say she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Got it,” Justin replied.

Fiona escorted Destiny to her own car and got behind the wheel. Destiny was relieved to find that the sense of urgency faded once she got in the car. She could tell that it was still there, but it seemed to be abiding its time so long as she was taking some kind of action. She closed her eyes, hoping to discourage questions. But when the car stopped and she opened them, she found that she was at Fiona and Justin’s house, not hers.

“I know it’s nothing serious, but you don’t look good,” Fiona said. “I thought you’d better stay where someone can keep an eye on you. The dogs aren’t allowed in the guest bedroom.”

Destiny couldn’t think of any reasonable objection to that, especially since the entire problem was unreasonable. She followed Fiona into the yard, where they were greeted by an overjoyed pack of dogs.

“Sit!” Fiona commanded. “No jumping!”

All six dogs obediently sat as Fiona took Destiny to the no-dogs-allowed part of the house, which consisted of a guest bedroom, Fiona’s art room filled with paintings and strange glass sculptures, and Fiona’s tech room filled with computers and electronics. Sit Fiona in front of a computer, and she could find out anything.

She could find anyone.

Ethan, Ethan, find Ethan!

Without intending to say anything at all, Destiny caught herself blurting out, “Could you find a Special Forces soldier on a classified mission? I mean, if you wanted to.”

Fiona studied her like Destiny was a computer she’d just started hacking. “If I wanted to. Sure. Like a Recon Marine, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Destiny admitted.

“Why? Ethan’s been on classified missions before. What’s special about this one?”

For the first time in her life, Destiny lied to a teammate. “Before he left last time, Ethan told me something that makes me think he might be in trouble. Because… because he should be back by now, and he isn’t.”

Fiona’s leaf-eyes seemed to see right through her. “This sounds like something you should take to Hal.”

“No!” Floundering, Destiny went on, “Uh, Ethan said it was classified, and not to tell the rest of the team, because he might get in trouble, and—

Fiona held up a slim hand. “Destiny. Stop. Don’t lie, you’re not good at it. What in the world is going on?”

Destiny bit her lip. Fiona was a close friend, but that only made it worse. A teammate whose opinion you respected was the last person you wanted to have find out that you weren’t the steady, dependable woman she thought you were. She couldn’t bear the idea of Fiona, of all her teammates, thinking Destiny was a freak and a lunatic.

The silence stretched out between them. Then Fiona said quietly, “I am the last person who should object to you keeping secrets. Pull up a chair.”

Fiona sat in front of a computer and got to work hacking into military databases. Destiny, very conscious of her lack of a classified clearance, did not pull up a chair. Instead, she fell back on her training as a soldier and averted her eyes.

“Found him!” Fiona exclaimed. “He’s in Pakistan, near the border of India. I’ve got the exact area here… Hmm.”

“What’s the ‘hmm?’” Destiny inquired.

“That’s all I can get,” Fiona replied. “His team must be involved in something top secret. It looks like a lot of stuff about them was never even entered into a database.”

“To protect it from people like you,” Destiny said drily.

Fiona gave her a catlike smile. “Guess we’ll have to investigate in person. Do you want the whole team—” Destiny frantically shook her head, sending her box braids flying. “How about just me, you, and Justin? Or just me and you?”

“Just me,” said Destiny. Most likely she’d lost her mind out of sheer broken-heartedness, and she didn’t want to drag Fiona into that. Not to mention that she didn’t want witnesses to her embarrassment when Ethan turned out to be absolutely fine. “It’s probably nothing. I’d feel weird dragging anyone else into it. I’ll fly into India, and then see if I want to try crossing the border. If it nothing, I’ll stay in India for a while. Sightsee, clear my head. You know.”