Free Secret Guardian by Jill Sanders Page B

him. Sitting up quickly, he jolted when he heard Ann say from behind him.
     
    “I’m over here. Don’t worry, I didn’t go far. Just had to clean up.” She dropped her bag next to him and smiled. “You look like you could use a couple more hours of sleep.”
     
    He’d actually been having a nightmare about a job he’d done a few years back. He’d woken still able to hear the men chasing him, and the client, an old friend, screaming his name as he slowly died. It had been almost seven years ago, but it still felt like yesterday. His back ached where the long scar covered his spine; he’d barely made it out of Afghanistan alive.
     
    Having another close friend literally stab you in the back made you reevaluate your friends.
     
    Javan had been there for him. He’s the one that had nursed him back to health until he was well enough to fly home. He’d actually thought about retiring then, but had stuck it out a few more years. He’d been sick then and had slept for a week. Now he felt like he could sleep at least that long, which was totally throwing him off. His head hurt, his back hurt, his feet hurt. Hell, everything hurt. He frowned and tried to assess why he wasn’t feeling so hot. He quickly tore off his clothes and started checking himself.
     
    “Not that I’m going to complain about you getting naked, but what’s with the strip show?”
    “Help me check for small bites.” He motioned to his back. “They’ll be two small red spots, maybe with a white circle around it.”
     
    She started running her hands over his shoulders slowly. “Nothing,” she said and he stood up and dropped his pants quickly. She gasped and said, “Here.” She circled a small section on his upper thigh. “But it’s red and swollen, not white.”
     
    He relaxed a little. “Okay, whew. That was a close one.” He started to pull up his pants.
     
    “What? What does that mean? Shouldn’t you put something on it? Do I need to suck out the poison?” She tried to keep him from pulling his pants back up.
     
    “No,” he chuckled, “it’s just a small snake bite.” He pulled the pants up.
     
    “What would it have been if it was white?”
     
    “Spider bite,” he said and zipped his pants.
     
    “So, snakes are better than spiders?”
     
    He frowned. “No, not normally.”
     
    She crossed her arms and looked at him, obviously waiting for more information. “I was bit by a snake a few years back. Same kind of thing, I felt achy for a day or two then was back to normal. Most likely it’s the same thing this time. But once I was bit by a poisonous spider, and I spent almost a month in the hospital. Almost lost my foot.”
    She gasped, and he could see her cringing, trying to make herself smaller and looking around.
     
    “Don’t worry, Princess. It’s very rare to get bit. I just happened to sit on a nest while I was on lookout a few years back. The guys in my group never let me hear the end of it, though.”
     
    He bent to pick up his shirt and shook it out, then put it back on. He thought he heard her sigh when he was fully covered again.
     
    “Let’s see what else you’ve got in this bag to eat.”
     
    He sat next to the bag on the soft sand and started rummaging through the items she’d grabbed from Javan’s shelves.
     
    “This will come in handy.” He pulled out a small medical box and opened it. Then he popped two aspirin into his mouth and swallowed quickly. Hopefully they’d take care of the aches. Then his hand hit another box and when he pulled out the silver case, he was shocked and happy. He’d lost his weapon when his bag sank to the bottom of the river. “Wow, I’m impressed, Princess.” He smiled at her as she sat next to him.
     
    He opened the small case and smiled at the .45 and was even happier when he noticed a box of bullets sitting beside it in the waterproof case.
     
    She reached past him and dug into the bag and pulled out a sealed bag of energy bars. Handing him one,