Turning his head to the side, he realized Tony had fallen behind him, standing with his hands on his thighs and gasping for air.
Sprinting back, he lay a hand on his back, concerned his friend had overexerted himself. “You okay? You need your inhaler?”
“No, just give me a sec.”
“Take a load off. I need a break, as well.” Gavin dropped to a sand dune, resting his arms on his knees.
“Fuck you. I don’t need you babying me.”
“Waa … waa … Then quit sounding like one,” Gavin mocked. “Rest. When you’re ready, we’ll walk back. I need to get a shower and call Lacey to see what time she wants me to pick her up.” He boasted, confident that she would say yes.
He was relieved when Tony sank down onto the sand and leaned back on his elbows.
“I have to hear that—”
Gavin also leaned back on his elbows to stare up at the sky, letting the last rays of the sun hit his face. He saw a small plane flying past.
“It’s kind of low, isn’t it?” he asked absently, interrupting what Tony was saying.
“Yeah. Maybe they’re looking at houses on the beach?”
“I don’t think so. It’s heading the wrong way.”
Gavin stood, watching the plane continue its flight over the ocean until it was out of sight. Brushing off the strange feeling seeing the plane gave him, he turned and gave Tony a hand. “You rea—”
Gavin nearly stumbled as Tony started to rise when the sudden feeling of weightlessness overwhelmed him. Disoriented, it was Tony who kept them from crashing back down to the sand.
“Dude, you trying to kiss me?”
Gavin had to shake his head as goose bumps traveled up his arms and the hair on the back of his neck rose up, as if sensing danger was about to strike. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he righted himself.
Turning to stare back at the waves rolling toward the beach, he took a step forward, narrowing his eyes on the water, trying to understand why he wanted to run into the water and start swimming.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You’re freaking me the fuck out!”
“I don’t know ….” Gavin ran a hand through his hair, feeling as freaked out as Tony by his own behavior. He had never experienced anything like it before and couldn’t explain it to his friend.
“You must have stood too fast.”
Gavin nodded, not taking his eyes off the water. “I guess you’re right.”
“You ready? I need to find a date, unlike you I can’t pull one out of a magic hat.” Tony started walking back the way they had come. “You coming?”
Gavin had to force himself to move. “I’m coming.”
When they were back alongside each other, Tony gave him a crooked grin. “You know I was just joking about the kiss part, right?”
Gavin grinned back. “Don’t worry; you’re not my type.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Dude, you smell. You need a shower.”
Sidestepping the elbow that his friend tried to bash into his ribs, Gavin gave one last look at the ocean before taking off after his friend—instead of running into the water like he wanted to. Tony would think he’d lost his mind, and Gavin would agree with him. How in the world could he explain the feeling that had every nerve ending in his body on fire? If he told Tony the truth, he would really freak out. Hell, he wanted to and it was happening to him. His brother would laugh his ass off if he told him. He could practically hear the pretend conversation in his head.
“So, why in the fuck did Tony have to fish you out of the water?”
“I was chasing goose bumps.”
* * *
The team of men walked silently through the jungle, their determined expressions indicating the deadly seriousness of their mission. Lives were at stake, the fact two of those lives were children kept the men from engaging in their typical back and forth banter.
Raising a commanding hand when they reached the spot he previously scouted, the thick foliage and huge palm trees providing cover from prying eyes or satellites, the team readied themselves. Then two moved forward, inflating the two RHIB boats that had been airdropped a week before.
The boats had been configured to his specifications, including dive doors so if any of his intel was wrong and they were spotted, no one from the isolated beach would be able to see what was going on in the boat.
However, he wasn’t worried about being seen; the intel wasn’t wrong. He had taken care of it himself, just as he had handpicked the men.
His nine-member team was the best of the best from each branch of military, specially trained to perform rescues on land and water. He had commanded each of the members before and had chosen those who not only had the capabilities he needed to make the mission a success, but ones who had never screwed up, either personally or on assignment. They would give their own lives before accepting failure.