Power (Special Tactical Units Division 1)
Page 39
The question was simple, but something in his tone sent a shiver down her spine.
“Does it matter?”
“It does, if we run into them again.”
Alessandra opened her eyes. She stared at her rescuer. He didn’t like her. She didn’t much like him. Still, that question just now, the male assertiveness inherent in it…
“And your wrists…” He clasped her hands and turned them over. His mouth tightened at the sight of the raw, red flesh. He looked up, his eyes narrowed. “We need to deal with all this.”
“All what?”
“Your cuts and abrasions. Otherwise, you run the risk of infection.”
There was no point in arguing. He was right and she knew it. Plus, her face and lips felt better already, thanks to the ointment he’d put on her lips and the way he’d cleaned her face.
She watched him as he rummaged through his backpack.
He was a puzzlement, this man. Tough. Tender. Intense. And, not that it mattered in any way whatsoever, he was also what any woman in her right mind would call a hunk.
Who was he, anyway? All he’d given her so far was name and rank. Would his serial number come next?
“Okay.” He took her right hand in his, bent his dark head and touched an antiseptic pad to her skin. “This might sting a little.”
“Lieutenant?”
“Yeah?”
“Who sent you?”
“Take a guess.”
The sarcasm in his voice was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“The FURever Fund?”
“Try again. And give me your other hand.”
“I’m not in the mood for guessing games, Lieutenant. It’s a simple question. Who sent you to find me?”
“Your father.”
“Who?”
“General Wilde. Your old man.”
“Stubby and Skinny contacted him?”
“They sent a ransom note to your pals at that wildlife place.” He finished cleaning up her left wrist, tucked the used antiseptic pads into a small baggie and stuffed it into his backpack. “Now take off your shirt.”
“What?”
“Take off the T-shirt.”
“Excuse me?”
“Protocol requires a wounds assessment.”
“Protocol requires you to answer my question. Are you telling me the coalition contacted the general? Because there’s no way that could have happened. Nobody’s aware of the—the connection between the general and me.”