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“Your voice changes when you speak about Nik,” he noted. “He kind of grows on everyone over time,” and Nate grinned mischievously.
She felt heat flood her face. Daria didn’t want these men to know about their budding relationship. It didn’t have a place here at the table. “He’s a nice guy, but you all know that,” she said lightly, smiling over at Nate. There was care in this man’s eyes, just like she’d seen in Nik’s. “Are you close to him?” she asked, putting the conversation back on them, away from herself.
Nate’s smile widened. “Yeah, he’s almost like a brother to me. Teases the hell out of me whenever we get to meet up, which isn’t too often. He’s got a good heart, and it’s in the right place. Did you find that out about him?”
Daria about choked but kept a poker face. “I found him to be very caring. He took me over to the Healing Hands Charity orphanage for a day.”
“Yeah,” Nate murmured, “Morozov does a lot of work over there. And really? He’s the only lifeline for these ten villages. There is no medical help out here for any of those poor Indians.”
“Well,” Daria said, changing topics and pinning Kilmer with her gaze, “To continue to build my cover as a botanist, I’m going to be ranging out to all those villages Korsak holds sway over. I’ll gather orchid specimens at each of them. I know Nik’s contact in each one, as well. We have comms with one another and I wanted to give you my schedule for the next month.” She pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Mace.
He studied it. “Nik made this out for you?”
“Yes. He’s guessing, of course, where Korsak might go, but he created this based upon past patterns. It’s a bit of a shot in the dark.”
“Always is,” Kilmer grunted, folding the paper and placing it in his cammo pocket. “You need to be careful out there, Daria.”
“Oh, the jaguars?”
Merrill snorted. “No. If you happen to walk into a village without knowing that Korsak and his team are there, that could prove to be a problem for you.” His eyes grew to slits as he studied Daria. “Korsak rapes any young girls and women he wants. You need to be real cautious because he could go after you.”
Her mouth flexed. “They know I’m Nik’s woman. At least, it appears that way and Nik is banking on that to make his team accept me as off-limits.”
Nate grunted, “Don’t bet on it, Daria. You need to keep your guard up.”
“I don’t think, with Pavlovich along,” Merrill said, “that Korsak is stupid enough to go after an American woman. That would bring all kinds of attention their way they don’t want. An American woman who is raped would bring the US embassy ambassador from Lima up into the area, the Marines’ diplomat guards, and the CIA. Korsak knows that.”
“I don’t think he’s that bright,” Mace muttered, shaking his head. He peered at Daria. “Let’s hope, for your sake, that your visits to these villages do NOT coincide with Korsak and his team coming into them. I don’t like it.”
“Understood,” Daria said. “But Nik will be there, and we’ve had five days to cement our cover. The team thinks he’s in a relationship for the first time in five years and they’ve bought it from what Nik could see. Besides,” and she opened her hands, “with Pavlovich showing up out of the blue, Korsak’s entire focus is on his new boss now, no longer on us.”
“All of the Alexandrov old teams,” Mace told her, “are little more than sociopaths. Nik is one of the few who isn’t like them.”
“Him and Alex Kazak,” Nate reminded him. “Alex was a medic with Alexandrov’s team for years. He and Nik worked together there.”
“I know Alex well,” Daria said, her voice growing warm. “He’s safe, married and happy up in Alexandria, Virginia.”
“Lucky bastard,” Mace said, grinning around at his cohorts. “We met Lauren Parker when she and Alex Kazak were down here on a mission. She was a good, strong woman and Alex is a damn fine soldier,” Mace said, getting serious. “Nice to know Alex and Lauren got a happy ending.”
“Unlike us,” Nate said cheerfully, standing and brushing off the damp seat of his pants. “We’re going to be just like Kilmer: not fit for society anymore, covered with fungus and mold, and no happy endings. We’re part of the Petrie dish down here,” and all three of the other soldiers laughed quietly, nodding their heads almost simultaneously.
Daria’s heart went out to this team. She knew their sacrifices, knew that none of them had any real, lasting relationship with a woman. They spent three month stretches out in the jungle, with a few weeks in Cusco to catch up on badly needed downtime, before going back in to hunt their current HVT, high value target. “I always hold out hope for the hopeless,” she told them gently, giving them all a caring look. “I know you lose a lot of your social veneer out here, but from where I’m sitting, you’re all great guys. Heroes, in my eyes.” She saw all of them suddenly perk up, turn shy, and avoid her gaze, eyes downcast and mouths pursed to hold back all the sudden, unspoken emotions. They all needed a little TLC, just as Nik did. They were human. And Daria knew the aching loneliness out on an op for month with little or no human contact. It was a brutal existence, hard on anyone, whether they admitted it or not. She was silently grateful Nik had walked into her life, never regretting any of this. Not ever.
“Where are you off to now?” Nate asked.
“Back to Aguas Calientes, after I find a few orchids to put in my sack,” she said drily.
“Bet you’re learning more about orchids than you ever wanted to know,” he chuckled, peeling open a packet of Butterfingers.
Daria figured all the junk food would be gone by the end of this day, the guys stuffing themselves with it. She made a mental note to try and always bring them more whenever she had a chance to meet up with them again. Teams tended to stay away from civilization in general, operating unseen in the jungle during those three-month stints. This meeting was a rare one. “You could say that, but I love flowers, so it’s not too much of a stretch.”
Merrill unwound his tall, hard body. “Watch for snakes. Fer-de-lance are deadly and, in this area, in big-time abundance. They are one big, mean, aggressive snake.”
“Oh,” Daria replied, standing, “I’ve seen photos of the damage they can do.” She lifted one of her legs. “These are Gortex snake guards.”
“Fer-de-Lance go for the boot you’re wearing, first,” Nate warned, “and your guards have the tops of your boots protected. That’s a good thing.”
“Where are your snake guards, then?” she asked them. None of them were wearing any.
