Free Around-the-Clock Protector by Jan Hambright Page B

bird-watching. I spotted a yellow-rumped warbler. He’s too far east. I had to stop and try to get a shot.” He deliberately raised his camera to add validity to the story. “But he took off. We gave chase. My wife stepped in a hole and fell. I’m sure she needs medical assistance. If we could just get a ride back to the main road, we’ll be out of your hair.”
    Carson braced for a positive answer. The alternative wasn’t pleasant, and it might draw attention along with a detail of armed soldiers, which he wasn’t prepared to battle at the moment.
    The senior officer glanced over at his second in command, then back at Carson. “Where’s your wife?”
    “At the edge of the tree line…she’s pregnant with our first child.”
    He saw the senior officer pause. “How far along?”
    “Just four months, but I’m worried.”
    The officer was already moving past him, and hejogged up beside him. “I hope this doesn’t cause any trouble. I mean, we never intended to enter a restricted area. And it’s a damn good thing you guys were here, because my wife could be in bad shape.”
    “Take it easy, man. My wife just gave birth to our first child. We’ll get you out to the main road.”
    “Thank you.” Carson slowed a bit, catching his breath. The ruse was almost a done deal. If Ava did her part, they’d be in the clear.
    “Over here.” They paused on the edge of the shallow ravine and Carson located Ava sitting in the grass where he’d left her. She was dressed in civilian clothes, the stuffed backpack on the ground next to her.
    “She loves to bird-watch with me. We try to get out every couple of weeks. Last week we discovered a black-billed cuckoo over in Maryland.” Carson prayed Ava had been listening to his spiel. They closed in on her and he watched her try to stand up. She made it up onto her feet just as he moved in next to her and put his arm around her waist for support.
    “He’s in that tree, Drake. If you hurry you might get the shot.”
    Carson smiled at her, warmed by her acting abilities as much as the feel of her body next to his. “Always the zealous one, aren’t you dear? But the warbler will have to wait. These officers are going to give us a ride to the main road.”
    She looked at the two officers and smiled sweetly.“Oh, thank you. I’m not sure I could have gotten very far on this ankle.”
    “You’re welcome, miss, but we’d better get moving before command gets perturbed. Officer Gracowski, take a hike and bring the Humvee over. I’ll follow in the jeep.”
    “Yes, sir.” The officer turned, quickly covered the distance to the vehicles, climbed in and fired up the engine.
    In a matter of minutes, Carson and Ava were seated in the Hummer they’d ridden to the ground and were being driven to the main road.
    Carson tried to relax as he mentally went over the layout of the military reservation.
    “There’s a pullout on the northeast corner about a mile from here. That’s where our car is parked.”
    “You hiked a hell of a long way.”
    “Anything for a snapshot of that bird.” Carson expelled a chuckle he didn’t feel and watched the officer smile. “Do we need to fill out a report or something…I mean, we’re not in trouble, are we?”
    “Not today. The captain didn’t see fit to run you in.”
    “Thank goodness,” Ava said in a grateful tone.
    “But I wouldn’t be caught out here again,” the officer warned.
    “No problem. We plan to steer clear of this place.”
    “Here we are.” He applied the brake and came to a stop next to an expansive pullout in the road.
    Carson hoped he’d been right in his recall of the place.
    Sure enough, five vehicles sat in the lot at various angles. “There’s our car.” Carson focused on a gray sedan, not because it was the best-looking rig in the pullout, but because it was the one he figured he could hot-wire the fastest.
    “Do you need help?” the officer offered.
    “No, thanks. We can take it from here. Thanks for