Free WARRIOR (CROSSFIRE SEALS, #5) by Gennita Low Page B

stared back at him, not at all sure what this all meant.
    “Sleep on it,” he continued. He turned his attention back to his tablet and tapped a few times. “We have time.”
    From then on, he appeared to be immersed in his work and Kit didn’t feel like asking more questions in loud whispers. The two interpreters were sleeping in the far end of the van, where they had arranged their sleeping bags over the longer seats. The cameraman and photographer were sitting in front with their guide. She could hear the murmurs, indicating they were still awake. Their own quiet conversation was a normal thing for the others because they had to conduct many of their meetings this way. Once they were out of the more touristy areas, being seen together in public too much would only invite trouble since none of them were married to each other, nor did they have any chaperones. All they had were international guides who arranged their meetings and were expected to sit in as “chaperones.” So when necessary, they had mostly used their laptops and cameras as a way to hold their more private get-togethers about details they had gathered, but that still hadn’t felt secure enough.
    In the morning, they would be exchanging vehicles, going in two, rather than one, so as not to offend the Pashtun elders who were at the camps set up by the Red Cross and international peace organizations for displaced Pashtuns. These people were without homes due to the many bloody skirmishes in the region. Kit and her team’s plan was for the men to stay in the male side of the camp and take photographs while she and the female interpreter met with the women bringing the young girl. They were told there was a small building where they could set up a formal interview too.
    Kit got up, pulling out a small pillow from her rucksack. She made herself as comfortable as she could. Letting her mind wander as she relaxed into sleep, it went to her favorite topic of fantasy these days—Lucas Branson. She wondered where he was—must be somewhere civilized, since he mentioned soap. Of course, he could have been lying. Sleepily, she hoped he was just kidding about someone soaping his back since that would mean a woman was around to do that. She didn’t think he would let Mink or Dirk soap his back. She grinned in the dark at that image. Now, that would be a great blackmail photo for Lulu.
    In spite of the challenges of being in a long distance relationship, she and Lucas had grown to know quite a bit about each other. They’d planned on meeting again as soon as he was able to take a few days off and this time, they were going to spend some private time without their gang of friends. She looked forward to that a lot. It was crazy, but she missed touching him.
    She’d learned quite a bit more about him through their communication too. He always asked her what she was doing at that moment. When she’d asked why, the answer was, as usual, simple and direct.
    Want to see you in my head, especially doing something normal.
    Why? She’d asked again.
    It relaxes me after a day of shooting at someone.
    Kit yawned, letting go of consciousness with a final thought. Whatever would he think if he knew she was in Afghanistan among government insurgents and mountain warlords? He wouldn’t be so relaxed then, she would bet.

CHAPTER SIX
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    L ucas looked around. The war room was crowded, with two teams coming in—four or five actually, if one counted the contract agents—and seemed more so once the large screen filled up with the bigger-than-life video feed of Admiral Madison. There were only two women in the room—termed contract operatives over here, since some of the men weren’t familiar with them. Amber Hutchens and Vivi Verreau-Zeringue, members of the Joint Task Force which Admiral Madison had formed some time ago to get better Intel for his SEALs, were there. Ever since compromised Intel from the CIA had caused a SEAL squad to be killed in