Lethal Game (GhostWalkers 16)

“That’s your job?”

The smile faded and he nodded. “They’re wounded soldiers. Our men. We’re not going to leave them behind or leave them for the enemy to get. We sometimes have a couple of escort helicopters who try to keep the enemy off us. More often than not it’s a hot zone, so we know ahead of time there’s going to be bullets coming at us. When we have soldiers down, they need care immediately and some have to be flown to Germany or other places to be operated on, although a few of the docs have had to do that kind of thing right there in order to save a leg, an arm or a life.”

“You aren’t anything like I thought you’d be.”

“What did you think?” He was curious. He noted a couple a few tables from theirs arguing, but very quietly. She was upset, insisting that she wanted to “tell” the cops, and he shook his head adamantly and said he didn’t want to get involved. They really didn’t know enough to “tell” anyone. He wanted her to shut up and change the subject.

“You look tough. Your body could be a bodybuilder’s although you have definition. You don’t have the large bulk; still, you’re in very good shape. There’s a look about you that says not to mess with you.”

He gave her a faint smile, allowing his gaze to drift past the arguing couple and touch on others. He recognized the three from the bed-and-breakfast who had been in the hallway. The two men were talking about the best place in San Diego to surf, while the woman looked bored. A trio of men in suits with briefcases sat at another table. They’d been at the bed-and-breakfast working in one of the rooms designed for just that purpose.

“That’s implying you think medics can’t be tough. We have to be. We’re doing fieldwork with bullets flying around us. We’re sometimes packing the wounded out by ourselves. Running with them while carrying blood and fluids in bags to helicopters and leaping in as they’re already in flight.”

“That sounds so crazy. I never thought about the men and women who rescue the soldiers when they’re wounded. In my mind, I guess I equated rescues with Rangers and SEALS, teams like that.”

“I’m trying not to be insulted.” He gave her his full attention. “We rescue them.”

The sun shone down on her hair, turning the streaks of colors wheat, caramel and a silvery snow. She even had a little gold mixed in. Her hair color was as intriguing as her eye color. He loved both, but he thought her eyes were just a fraction ahead in the race. The more he looked into them, the less he thought she wore contacts.

She gave him a smile that melted his insides and told him it wasn’t a good idea for him to fall too hard for her because one smile like that and she’d get her way in all things. He’d never hear the end of that shit from his brothers or fellow teammates.

“I wasn’t intending to insult you, it’s just, I never actually thought about it. Medics seemed to be held out of harm’s way, at least in the movies. They come in after all the fighting is over.”

Malichai shrugged. “I never thought about how we’re portrayed in movies, nor does it matter to us. It’s about the soldiers and getting them home in one piece and alive if at all possible.”

He indicated the three businessmen. “I saw those three at the bed-and-breakfast as well as the two men and woman at that table. They were arguing in the hall and they still seem to be arguing. Are they always like that?”

“The three businessmen came in the day before you. They all work for the same company, Lanterns International, but each came in from a different country. One is from Texas, one is from Hong Kong and the third is from India. They apparently meet in person every six months. They’re waiting for a fourth and fifth member, one from Switzerland and the last from Japan. They’ve met here before. The company is called Lantern International because it’s all about bringing together ideas to spread peace and understanding among people of various countries. People with opposing beliefs and politics.”

“That seems like a very unattainable goal,” Malichai stated.

She drew back a little. “But surely you can see all the unrest in the world. Maybe if people weren’t so busy judging one another and tried to be more understanding . . .” She trailed off with a little frown on her face.

Without thinking, he reached across the table and rubbed the pad of his fingers over her lips as if he could erase her frown. “I didn’t say it wasn’t an admirable idea, only that it seems unattainable, which it does. There are peace talks going on all the time, and no one seems to get anywhere.”