Free Wounded Courage (Lucky Thirteen) by S.M. Butler

was gravelly, though it carried through the room.
    “Last time I checked. I fingered the necklace I wore, rubbing my thumb along the back of the locket. This man made me feel about twelve years old. I almost wanted the Giroux family to come and get me right then.
    “Good morning. I’m Master Chief Stephen Collins.”
    Okay, this was nicer than I expected. Chris shut the door behind Collins, and surprisingly, came back to stand by me. I had expected him to go be with his boss. Collins carried a folder with him, and reading glasses in his hand. He wasn’t in uniform either, which made me wonder exactly what this team did. Seemed they weren’t regular military any longer, or at least, they were authorized not to behave like regular military? I didn’t know for sure what it was. And where was Murphy? Was he watching behind the glass?
    He was obviously waiting for me to speak. Maybe introduce myself? I don’t know. I didn’t say anything. He sat down in the chair across from me. “Do you know what you’re doing here?”
    “Healing? I got shot, you know.”
    Collins chuckled, which surprised me. Chris and Murphy were so serious, but this guy… He cracked a smile. “And how are you feeling now?”
    “A little better. Didn’t realize that getting shot would hurt so much.”
    “Yeah, it’s not that pleasant,” he agreed. He held up the folder in his hand. It was a plain manilla folder, nothing special about it at all. But it still sent my stomach down into the abyss. “In this folder, I have my guys’ report on the incident at Alex Giroux’s house.”
    Incident? The military always made it seem like these things were so ordinary. Incidents. Reports. My word would have been nightmare.
    “However, you would have a completely different view from them, and that’s what we’re here for. To complete the picture.”
    Okay, that didn’t seem too bad. Nothing I couldn’t handle. 
    “We have the statement you gave Hardy and Murphy your second day here. Let’s start simple. Is there anything you’d like to add to it?”
    I remembered vaguely filling out the statement for them, but I’d been angry at the time, and not feeling particularly cooperative. “No, there’s nothing I’d like to add.”
    “I’ve instructed SO3 Hardy to remain here during our talk for your benefit. He is your immediate family here, and I felt that you might be more comfortable with him available for you.”
    Ha. Little did he know. Chris and I had been close once upon a time, but three years was a lot of distance. He wasn’t the same brother who had left for boot camp. And we’d done nothing but fight for the last two weeks.
    But the master chief wasn’t finished talking. “Our goal here is to get you home. Let you move on with your life. But for that to happen, we need to know what you know about Simon Giroux and his family. They want you. And I need to know why.”
    Oh, how I wanted to tell him, if only to taste freedom. But as long as Giroux Enterprises was out there, I wasn’t safe. If these guys let me go, it would only be a matter of time before a Giroux goon picked me up. But maybe that’s what needed to happen.
    “What was the nature of your relationship with Alex Giroux?”
    I blushed. “It’s personal.”
    “Were you involved with him?” Didn’t I answer these questions already?
    “Involved with him, how?”
    Master Chief smiled. “Sexually? Emotionally?”
    “I said it was personal.” My feelings over Alex were so complicated, even more so since Murphy had popped back into my life.
    “Was there a sexual relationship?”
    “That’s none of your business, Master Chief Collins. What is your fascination with my sex life?” I spoke evenly, hoping my face was as even as my voice had managed to be. 
    “It’s important that we have all the facts, Ms. Hardy.” Did they really need to ask obvious questions? I was 21, red-blooded, and Alex was a very good-looking man. Or he had been, when he was alive. Not to