Free Double Vision by Vicki Hinze

arrived, the outpost was attacked by a small cell of insurgents.” He let his gaze rove the inside of the tent, over patches and small holes in through which sand slid inside. “As you can see, the mortar was pretty heavy. The photo frame deflected a bullet meant to kill me.”
    “Would it have?” Kate couldn’t even think it. A world without Forester? Even a toothache would be missed. He was a pain, but he had a special mystique.
    “Yes.” He swiveled his gaze from the photo back to Kate and tapped his chest. “Instead, I caught a flesh wound. Different angle and it would have penetrated my heart.”
    Kate swallowed hard, her stomach turning flips. Why was she having such a strong reaction to him? The man was married, a senior officer, and for both reasons, totally off-limits.
    “GRID?”
    He shook his head. “Local insurgents that stumbled onto us.” He walked over to a squat table that served as a desk. A tall bottle of amber liquid sat atop it. “I need a drink. Do you want one?”
    She turned her attention from the photo of his wife to him. “Yes, please.” God knew it’d been a long enough day. She’d like to just go for the bottle.
    He poured a finger’s worth into a drinking glass and then passed it to her. “It’s rotgut, all the way. But it’s the best we’ve got at the moment and, believe it or not, we’re grateful for it.”
    The outpost definitely wasn’t in Saudi, Kate thought, taking the glass. Not six months ago, her mouthwash and cough syrup had been confiscated on entering the country because they contained alcohol. She took a sip from her glass. It singed her tongue and burned all the way down her throat. Definitely rotgut . “Whoa, that’ll get your attention.” Her eyes were watering.
    The corner of his mouth curved up, hinting at a smile. “You get used to it.”
    She cleared her throat. “Would that be before or after it burns out the lining of your throat and stomach?”
    “Just before.” He sat on the edge of his cot. “You have no idea why Douglas sent for you, do you?”
    Recalling Colonel Drake’s “trust no one” warning had Kate stalling, but then Drake herself had brought Forester into the loop on this, which signaled he had the needed clearance to be told whatever proved necessary. “Not a clue.” She sat on a stool beside the cot. “Do you know?”
    He rubbed at his nape—clearly a habit when mulling something over—and held her gaze for what seemed an eternity. “I think I might have most of it figured out.”
    Progress. Progress was good. “Well, would you care to enlighten me?” By the skin of her teeth, she stopped short of reminding him they were on the same side.
    Another hesitation, though shorter this time. “I can’t tell you where we are. That’s classified.”
    “So is everything I’ve told you about GRID.”
    “Yes, but you have authorization to tell me those things.” He drank from his glass, dabbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. “I don’t have authorization to tell you.”
    “Fair enough.” She leaned forward, bracing her forearms on her knees.
    “This region is mountainous,” he started, setting his glass down next to his wife’s photo. “Beneath the surface is a Swiss cheese maze of caves that extend out into the knuckles and toes of the water for miles.”
    “I’m aware of that,” she reminded him. “I’ve spent three days exploring.”
    “We’ve been here two months,” he said. “Exploring the caves.”
    “What exactly are you looking for?” Kate felt confident she knew, at least in part, but she wasn’t at all certain if he would tell her, and if they were going to work together, she needed to know his boundaries.
    “Terrorists, weapon caches and all relative intelligence.”
    Pleased and more than a little surprised, she nodded.
    “Douglas has been diving south of the outpost for two weeks.”
    “And this is significant because…”
    “It’s not,” Forester admitted. “What is significant