“After my husband cut himself out in the field with a machete, I started stocking freeze-dried human plasma. I’ll get that all ready, do an IV, and start the midazolam. I have a digital X-ray machine.”
“Blood pressure cuff?”
“Yes, I had one I used on my dad before he died.”
While Carolina was getting him prepped, Renata checked his blood pressure and was satisfied with the readings. She used the X-ray and immediately located the foreign matter in his body as well as the bullet. The damage was minimal. The bullet lodged in the skin of his waist just below his last rib, missing vital organs. She could see the rib was definitely cracked, but not broken. Thank God the bullet ricocheted away from his torso. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s a good sound.”
“Yes, I’ve located what we need to remove and where. So less invasive.”
“He’s all set,” she said. “We can get scrubbed up in here.” Carolina led her to a small room with two sinks, surgical gowns, gloves, and masks. Renata hadn’t done this in more years than she wanted to count. She’d quit medicine for a reason—not because of incompetence, but she just didn’t enjoy it. Her family had pushed her and pushed her, but when she realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do, she’d bailed and had never been happier. But Max’s life was on the line. She had suspected there was foreign matter in the wound, and it would need to be extracted. There would be damage, but a low-powered round would slow faster and definitely do a lot less damage.
She scrubbed for two minutes, and Carolina helped her don the sterile scrubs, mask, and gloves, then dressed herself as best she could.
“I disinfect the operating room after every surgery.” Her voice was muffled, but clear.
Together, being careful not to touch anything, they walked back out to the operating room.
Renata didn’t normally allow nerves to affect her performance. She’d always been steady and calm in a crisis. It was why she’d made an excellent doctor, but the thought of making a mistake here with Max made her nervous. She hadn’t brought him all this way to lose him. That was for damn sure.
She took a steadying breath and walked up to the table. Carolina rolled over a steel table full of surgical tools, along with a suction machine.
She looked down at his face, her heart doing that little skip she couldn’t seem to stop. “I’ve got you, Max.”
4
“Exactly why do you need to go?” Dodger asked, his voice like a crack of gunfire in the silence since she’d delivered her jaw-dropping answer.
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed, her chin raised because apparently his voice was challenging and angry and Anna was pissed at him to begin with.
Well, she could stew. He didn’t have to answer to her. He wasn’t rocking the boat with Max sitting there, judging every move Dodger made with his beautiful sister. But he knew Max’s reaction without ever having to see the big man in action. He would be off the bloody rails. Dodger would die inside if anything happened to Anna on his watch.
“You’re all going to become National Geographic members with credentials. It will keep us incognito so we can search for Max.”
“Bollocks!” Dodger said, and Fast Lane and 2-Stroke turned to look at him. Fear like he’d never felt before worked under his skin, the wound tearing and burning to anger. He drew in a lungful of air. “You’re not suited to go traipsing around in the jungle with who knows what hostiles we’ll encounter. This is a bloody cock-up!”
“Dodger—” Fast Lane said in that steely voice no one on the team could ignore. Dodger ignored it. This was Anna’s life they were recklessly playing with.
She held up her hand. “Like it or not, Petty Officer Graham, I’m your go-between for the men in black. Deal with it.”
She tried to move around him, but he shifted to block her path. “This isn’t some photoshoot, Anna. This is life-in-danger, middle-of-nowhere, no-backup, physically challenging shit!”
“This is the only way to go after Max, and I’ve been in some hairy situations. Don’t you judge what I do or what I’m capable of. I’m not going to refuse to help because this is dangerous. Max is out there, and this is a good plan. I can pull it off.”
He reached out but she quick-stepped back out of his reach. “Anna—”
“You have no say in this, Oliver.” Her unwillingness to hear what he had to say was obvious in the tense set of her jaw and the way her hands had curled into fists at her sides. “So, butt out and do your job!” She gave him a Fast Lane steely-eyed glare, something he realized the National Geographic photographer had perfected as a matter of survival. Or she just hated his guts.
He didn’t budge an inch.
She set her hands on her hips. “Don’t make me make you move,” she said between clenched teeth, her tone uncompromising.
Before he realized what she was going to do, she whipped out her foot, hooking it around his ankle, and used his body weight against him to send him to the ground. Classic move and very effective.
She stood there, glaring down at him. “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do.” A deep breath unraveled out of her. “It’s been almost two years that you’ve been avoiding me and my family. So, don’t pretend like you care.” Suddenly there were tears along with the pain and longing in her gaze, and it shredded him to see her hurting so much. He looked up at her helplessly. He wanted to tell her that what they had shared so briefly left him wanting more, but he couldn’t get involved with her because he wanted more and…she…was…Max’s…sister. It was better to let her think she and her family meant nothing to him than to have him lose not only the respect of his team, but himself. He could get lost in her, and it scared him like nothing downrange ever could.
Beyond the complication of Max being his teammate, Anna deserved more than a man who only had carnal pleasure to give her because he just didn’t do long-term commitments.
“Be ready.” She walked away, and he heard the sound of an engine, then a car roar away.
Dodger dropped his head into his hands and sat there. He couldn’t let Max down. That was the bloody bottom line.
Fast Lane cleared his throat, and Dodger looked up at his commander and 2-Stroke, sighing.
“That is one pissed off female. What the hell did you do to her, Dodger?” 2-Stroke asked, extending his hand.
“None of your bloody business.” Dodger slapped his palm against 2-Stroke’s and rose when his teammate tightened his hold and pulled. Back on his feet, he steamed, realizing that he was going to have to deal with this untenable situation. Anna was going with them when they went after Max.
“I don’t like this any more than you do. Max will skin us alive if anything happens to Anna, but you don’t think three SEALs are enough to protect her?” Fast Lane asked.
Dodger just stared.
Fast Lane sighed and shifted. He didn’t like it when there was dissension in his ranks. “Look, Dodge, I’ve read reports about this Muhammad Angar Said that will keep you up at night. He’s worse than Bin Laden. Ten times. He’s younger, healthier, and intends to do damage to the US. We can’t let him get away. The CIA wants him bad. They’re giving us a hand, and we’re going to do what they ask so we can get out in the field and complete these two vital missions. Nothing is going to stand in the way of getting Max back. We are certainly not going to let our teammate be used as a bargaining chip. The stakes are way too high and negotiations too unpredictable. Nor are we going to let Angar Said escape. I need you fully on board, no matter your objections against Anna’s participation.”