Free His to Cherish by Christa Wick Page A

crying over Reed's lost child a long time ago. I had moved on from the frequent replay of images in my mind, Katherine's screams and moans echoing in my head. I had taken my lesson from the tragedy, too.
    You can't protect what you can't control.
    Reed hadn't been able to control his lovely, willful wife. They had both suffered for it, long after the original loss. The damage from the explosion and the hours before medical care could be received had left Katherine infertile.
    Three years passed before she formally left Reed, but the dissolution of their marriage had started in a Baghdad hospital and intensified with each visit Reed took stateside to find her more and more withdrawn.
    He lost his mind when he got the papers, the sounds coming from his throat eerily reminiscent of Katherine's howls as they bounced off the rubble trapping her. Emergency leave denied -- he went AWOL. Who wouldn't -- you give the Army your blood and that of your wife and child and the gratitude comes back as a piece of paper with a thick, red DENIED stamped on it, no officer in the company having the balls to sign the form.
    We nursed Reed back to sanity, Kane and me. We shredded our re-enlistment papers when they came, overturning the commander's desk before finding that stamp and marking the man and his walls.
    DENIED DENIED DENIED
    We had laughed about the vandalism afterwards, but never in front of Reed. We were always respectful around him, wanting to protect him against the memories. That's why I wanted the medical staff in Dubai to lie to Mia -- to make the loss seem less than it was. I wanted to protect her then -- and now.
    Knowing I couldn't do that on my back, staring up at patches of blue sky as the last of my tears streaked down my temples and into my hair, I took a final rough breath and stood up.
    It was time to neutralize Evan Morris.
    By any means necessary.
     

His to Cherish
     
    "For the last time, I'm not getting a gun." I stabbed the key in the Mazda's door and unlocked it before looking over my shoulder at Gillie. "I'd just as likely blow my own hand off."
    "Stark said you'd be obstinate about--"
    My head whipped from side to side, freezing Gillie's tongue before the next word could foolishly escape. "I told you, I don't want to hear any more about your conversation with him."
    A bald-faced lie except for the fact I didn't want to hear either man recounting it. If someone handed me a recorded version, I probably would have listened to it a dozen times since Gillie showed up at the hardware store as my shift ended and told me about Collin tracking him down. I had expected some conversation between Stark and the police after Gillie made me file a complaint on Evan with all the ugly details and Collin's rescue of me, I just hadn't expected Stark to initiate the discussion.
    "Fine." Gillie held his hands up in surrender. "No gun, no talking about Stark. But what about a taser until you've got enough time in at the firing range to feel comfortable shooting a gun?"
    My shoulders dropped. If I'd had a choice between a phone or a taser that morning when Evan started to bust in my door, I would have taken the taser.
    Unready to relent gracefully, I rolled my eyes at Gillie. "Is there a secret taser shop in Keeling I don't know about?"
    "Got a spare at my place." He cleared his throat, a dark maroon spotting his tanned cheeks for an instant. Reaching between my body and the car, he opened the door and nodded for me to climb into the driver's seat. "Follow me."
    I complied, if only to shut him up and not appear totally ungrateful for all the assistance he had given me. He lived on the west side of town, the last real street of houses before the city limits gave way to woods and farms. His parents lived a few more miles out, growing hay and other crops when the rain cooperated.
    I waited outside while he fetched it, relieved he didn't ask me in like I expected him to. When it took him less than five minutes to emerge, I imagined some