Page 51 of Hot & Heavy

They're releasing her? Wow! "Do you plan on relocating her… somewhere?"

"No. Why would we?"

Because she's lost. Because she'll never get to her destination from here. Because it's the right thing to do. "Well, maybe because we are responsible for her being here."

" We are not responsible for her being here, Rambo. You are."

Don't hit him. Do… not… hit… him. "You can't just dump her here in Baghdad. It's a snake pit right now. And she doesn't have a clue about this city and its dangers."

"We offered to transport her back to northern Iraq, but she refuses to go there. Something about milking camels and harems and camel spit."

Ian barely stifled a grin. So, he wasn't the only one being subjected to her wild stories. "Then find her a safe house here," Ian demanded.

"I don't think so. We'd rather drop her and see where she goes."

She wont last a week. With her mouth… and, yeah, her beauty, she'll be raped or dead in no time.

Probably both. "She's not my responsibility."

Dan raised his eyebrows at Ian's vehemence. "Who said she was?"

Yas… Maddie, that's who. She's like a barnacle on my backside, determined to make me feel guilty. Well, I won't.

"Of course, the word is already out. Even if she's not affiliated with any terrorist cell, I suspect they'll want to talk to her. Just in case."

And we all know how tangos talk. Ian suddenly recalled a woman they had found in an Afghan terrorist camp last year. Her breasts had been cut off, and a vile object stuck into her vagina… all while she was still alive and before they chopped off her head. "You would subject her to that?"

"We'll be watching her."

Just like you took care of the Afghan woman? "Bullshit! You and I both know that the tangos might get hold of her anyhow. Did you see that Arab girl we brought back? Her only crime was having a powerful father. What do you think they might do to a woman they suspect has spilled some secret information to the feds?"

Dan shrugged.

Ian blinked several times and unclenched his fists. Life sucks, and I am not friggin' Superman. "I'm outta here tomorrow. She can be toast, or not toast. I don't care."

Oh, God! Yes, I do care.

I shouldn't care.

Yes, I should.

A numb feeling came over him as Dan swaggered away, off to needle someone else. The prick!

His teammates came up to take Dan's place. Apparently, they had overheard it all.

"Are we really going to leave her here?" Geek asked. He was an innocent, despite having been blooded on this mission. He still believed the good guys always won, Prince Charming rescued the princess, all that crap. Not that Ian was a prince, not by a long shot.

"Hell, no!" the other team members said as one.

Then they all looked at him.

And JAM took a piece of paper out of his pocket that Ian knew without being told was a marriage license.

Ian was not a wuss. He could very easily hop on that plane tomorrow… actually today since it was two a.m. There had been many times in his career when he'd had to make decisions for the greater good, even when something or someone had to be sacrificed. But in those cases, there had been no other choice.

Besides, there was something about this woman… something that tugged at his memory. He could swear he'd seen her somewhere before. And, honestly, she drew him to her, even when he had thought she was an old hag. Hell, she thought he was prettier than Pretty Boy. He made her flutter. There were worse things in the world.

His shoulders slumped with resignation.