Free Fall (Elite Force 4)

Her feet grew roots as she stared, stunned. She blinked. Looked again. But her weary eyes didn’t lie.

Jose sat in her seat, waiting for her.

***

Jose wasn’t sure why Jones had given him the okay to sit here by Stella, but he wasn’t arguing. Being with her here in the hangar was better than sleep. As long as he had his eyes on her, he knew she was safe. He couldn’t give her what she needed in the long term, but he could damn well protect her now. So he sat and watched while she worked. A low hum of activity swelled over the cubicle walls.

His PJ buddy Data would have understood more about the intricacies of the programs she input. Jose just studied her face and gauged the success of her efforts by every nuance of her expressions. The way she scrunched her freckled nose, furrowed her forehead, chewed on her bottom lip…

Shit, it wasn’t going well.

Was there anything even there on that second cloth? Or was this all some crazy coincidence? This part of the world had been in chaos for so long maybe there wasn’t a bigger plan. He swiped a hand over his face, then reached for his cup of coffee. Getting philosophical wasn’t going to solve anything. Today, his primary goal, his mission, was to keep Stella safe.

He set down his lukewarm coffee. “Any good news to share?”

“I wish.” She sagged back in her chair, her red braid swinging. “I’ve already tried the original code that worked on the first cloth and ruled that out. I’ve run dozens more, even programs I’ve written. I’m convinced there’s something here. But more complex, which makes me all the more certain I’ve got a lead, some kind of list. I just wish I had more time…”

“Keep working it.” He tugged her braid lightly, then paused to thumb down each curve. “I have faith you’ll find the answers.”

Her laugh came out choked, stressed. “I wish I had your faith, but my confidence is a little shaky today. I should have known about Harper. Damn it, when I think of you risking your life to get him out of there…”

She squeezed her eyes shut, then turned back to the computer, jabbing keys.

“You did everything you could. We didn’t suspect him either. You’re the epitome of chill in the workplace. The last thing you should do is second-guess yourself.” His hand slid up her braid to cup the back of her neck reassuringly. He could offer her this, now.

“Chill? Hardly.” She launched a new scan then turned her chair to face him. “I get upset.”

“Like when?” He rested his hands on her knees.

“Well, I didn’t much enjoy being held hostage or running away from a building blowing up.” She counted down with fingers. “And the whole tetanus bio toxin thing still creeps me out.”

“You never showed a sign of nerves through this whole crisis.” He squeezed gently. “You’ve been damn amazing, Stella.”

“That would have been a waste of time when seconds counted.”

“That’s called not losing your cool.” He kissed her on the nose, fast, unable to resist her. Hell, when had he ever been able to resist her? “I rest my case.”

Her nose scrunched and she pulled her knees away. “I’m a trained professional. It’s my job. That’s different from being freaked out.”

Actually, now that he thought about it, his vision of her shifted. “You’re a code breaker. I would have expected you to stay in a vault somewhere listening to clicks and reading bizarre printouts. That’s what you’re wired for, but you came here to put your mother’s ghost to rest. That’s admirable.”

She looked at the computer, then back at him, half grinning. “There’s no sunlight in a vault. My serotonin levels would be shot all to hell.”

He laughed along with her, her smile tapping some of the tension from him. “Things are tough right now, worse than tough. You can take the stress out on me if you want.”

“You’re propositioning me?” She cocked her head to the side. “I don’t know. Seems like maybe I’ve made this relationship too easy for you.”

“What in the hell gave you that idea?” he barked in surprise.

She linked fingers with him. “Our relationship was too simple. I just fell into your arms and told you I loved you.”

“What planet are you living on?” Following this woman’s “logic” was damn near impossible sometimes. “From where I’m sitting, nothing between us has been simple or straightforward. I still don’t understand half of what went down.” He lowered his voice to a whisper, talking about so much more than just how they’d met, how they’d fallen love. “The parts I do understand are tearing me up inside.”

She squeezed his hand with surprising strength. “Even if I make this easy for you now, it’s only going to get complicated again, then we hurt each other. I know that. But after what happened today, when things got truly tough, when I could have lost you…”

Her voice dwindled off with a strangled sob.

He gathered her close to his chest, grateful for the privacy of their cubicle in a corner, but wishing they could be in a room alone so he could hold her all night long while the rain washed away the horror of this day.