White Dawn: A Military Romantic Suspense Novel Read Free Page A

how warm the day, was appealing.
    She shucked off her backpack and put it
on the ground next to her sleeping bag. Sleeping on hard ground was
another thing she never thought she would find herself doing, but
now, her measure of a cozy bed was a sleeping bag for warmth when
she needed it, a mosquito net and something to keep the rain off.
She didn’t have the net yet, but sleeping close to the fire kept
most of the mosquitos away. Bliss was relative.
    It wasn’t home, just like everywhere she
had lived for nearly ten years wasn’t home. Even the apartment in
Boston she had rented for over five years while completing her
degree hadn’t really been home. The air had been too cool and
crisp, the sun too weak and the accents she heard all day too
foreign. Too English . But, for now, this was her space.
    She pulled off her jacket with some
trouble and hung it over a brick projecting out of the wall above
her gear, then untucked her shirt from her jeans and flapped it to
get it to unstick from her body. The fire beckoned.
    But before she could get there, Garrett
intercepted her. He’d removed the hat, which made his gray eyes
stand out and the anger in them more evident. “A word,” he said
shortly and headed for the far corner of the ruins. Daylight was
running out fast and the corners were full of shadows. No one
lingered there when the fire was available for all.
    Carmen sighed and followed him. “What
have I done now?”
    He pulled her into the corner, his
fingers over her wrist. “Keep your voice down.” He’d removed the
poncho. It would have been as sodden as her jacket. The shirt he
wore underneath was a button-through cotton garment that stuck to
his body as much as hers did. The open collar showed the start of
more scars. Carmen always wondered how far the scars went, when she
saw them. But there was no way she was ever going to ask. Garrett
didn’t welcome personal questions.
    “Did you check that the electronics
survived the downpour?” he demanded.
    She lifted her chin to look him in the
eye. Garrett was taller than her, which made him very tall. “Of
course. They’re fine. The backpack is water proof.”
    “Water resistant ,” he corrected.
“That doesn’t mean moisture can’t leak in.” He tried to push his
hair off his face, but it was soaked and didn’t cooperate. He
dropped his hand with an impatient gesture. “We risked exposing
ourselves in town because you insisted we set up an Internet
connection. I hope you think it was worth it.”
    “It will be,” she said defensively. “We
can’t go on shooting random Insurrectos and hijacking trains. It’s
not getting us anywhere. We need a strategy, one that will align
with whatever the Loyalists have planned. For that, we need to talk
to them.”
    Garrett shook his head. “The Internet is
the most insecure network in the world. Anyone can use it. IP
addresses can be figured out by a three-year-old.”
    “It’s not perfect,” Carmen said. “But it
works and there’s no other alternative.” She raised her brow.
“Unless you’ve got a secure, untraceable satellite phone stashed
somewhere you haven’t told me about.”
    From closer to the fire, loud metallic
banging sounded. Angelo and Efraín and the others were crouched
around the metal box. Ledo had a chisel and hammer and was working
at the locks.
    Garrett ignored Carmen’s question. “We
wasted a whole day on this computer business. Just make sure it all
works. And check with Abbot Sergio to see if they will let you
charge the battery with their current. And another thing….” He
glanced around to see who was listening. “Tell your boyfriend to
stop feeling you up when we’re working.”
    Carmen could feel her mouth dropping
open in surprise. Then fury wiped away the surprise. “Are you
implying that either of us was unprofessional?”
    “Not you. You’re the cold-hearted
princess. I saw Angelo’s hand on your shoulder. I won’t have it,
Carmen. Not on my unit.”
    “Oh,