Reckless Endangerment Read Free Page B

the menu as she remembered sharing a protein bar with Michael as they hid in a bombed out shell of a home.  She’d stitched up the gash in his head with the thread in her bag, the same bag she carried now.  He’d given her that stone then, told her that they would be leaving and taking that with them as proof of survival.  And she had prayed that he wouldn’t die…she had prayed and prayed and prayed.
“Hey, Hope, what’s clicking away in your brain now?  You look far too serious.  What were you thinking about?”
She shook the images from her mind, folded the menu and struggled to regain focus.  Sighing, she rubbed the center of her chest with a closed fist.  “An old friend and a shared dinner, if you could call it that.”
“The war?  How come you never talk about it?”
“I was a war correspondent, Dev, I talked about it every day.”  She exhaled a long breath. “Think I’ll have the veggie skillet.”
“This idea of yours is going to mean a lot of work.  Feature stories, investigative reporting, research…lots of work.”  Despite her words, Devon’s face flushed with shared excitement.  “So when do we start oozing charm and good will?”
“Now,” she answered through a smile as she looked up to greet the waitress. 
Hours later, and one feature story on the diner done and canned, she rested her elbows on her desk and closed her eyes.  The newsroom buzzed around her with tip tapping on computer keyboards, ringing of phones and loud conversation.  She preferred noise to silence.  Couldn’t handle silence. 
“Hope, there’s a Marine in the lobby asking for you.”  Devon tapped her on the shoulder.  “At least I think he’s a Marine--looks like one, but dressed like a civilian.”
    Marine.  Her heart stopped at the word.  It couldn’t be him.
“That’s the second time today you’ve disappeared on me.”  Devon propped her hip against the desk.  “What’s going on with you? C’mon.  You’re off.”
She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and ripped her gaze from the doors. “What’s his name?  Is he in a wheelchair? Who did he ask for?  Hope Shane or…Cedars?”
“Cedars? I said he was here asking for you.”  Devon glanced over her shoulder before leaning close to her.  “Do you have another name I should know about?  An alias or something?”
“Can you get rid of him for me?”  She reached into her desk for a piece of gum.  Panic clenched at her throat.  Her fingers struggled with the wrapper.
“Are you scared of the Marine?”  Devon squinted at her, a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth.  “Did you break a heart or two over there?  Think it’s some long lost lover stalking you now that he’s back in the States?”
    “My life is not nearly as exciting as you think it is. I’m not scared of any Marine.”
Her gaze darted toward the newsroom doors.  “How tall is he?  Is he wounded?  Is he walking?  Does he have a scar?”
    “Geez, I don’t know.  I didn’t think I needed to sketch the guy.  Go find out.”
“Right.  Find out.”  Gum snapped between her teeth.  Heartbeat raced as if she’d finished running a marathon. 
“I’ll tell him that you’ve left for the day.” Devon’s face softened with pity.  “I’ve never seen you look like this, absolutely terrified.  I didn’t mean to joke about it.  I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”
“No, I’ll go.  I can handle this.”  She stood on wobbly legs. Nerves skittered beneath her skin as she walked from the newsroom to the lobby.
The only Marine she cared to see had banned her from the hospital in Frankfurt, Germany.  From Germany to Walter-Reed, she’d tried to see him, had been denied access, and had been humiliated more times than she could count. 
Her heart sank like a deflated balloon at the sight of Captain Scott McGee, US Marine, standing in the lobby looking at her framed picture on the wall.  The last time she’d seen him, he had