Page 113 of Her Wild Warrior

“You have a point.”

“How’d he hold up?” Zed asked Jase as he nodded his head toward Ryker.

“Not too bad. He caught some signs I missed. If it weren’t for the two sinkholes he fell into, I’d say he’d get full marks.”

Zed’s eyes twinkled as he looked over at Ryker.

All three men were now leaning against their backpacks as the moon rose. It was hot and humid in the swamp, so no need for a fire.

“What’s been going on with your team? Anything interesting?” Jase asked.

“Lulu has been bugging her mother and me for a baby brother,” Zed chuckled. “Luckily her Uncle Hunter and Aunt Lia gave her a baby cousin who has filled her need.”

“That’s awesome! What’s his name?” Ryker asked.

Zed pulled out his phone and showed him a picture of his dark-haired daughter holding a blond-haired baby.

“They’re cute. She looks like you. So, what’s his name?” Ryker asked again.

Zed rubbed his hand over his mouth and mumbled. “Dante.”

Jase and Ryker laughed. “That’s great your brother named his son after you, man,” Ryker said.

“Yeah, well, I was honored.” Changing the subject, Zed asked, “How about you two and the rest of the team? I heard that your lieutenant got engaged to a hotshot reporter.”

“She’s something else,” Jase enthused. “She’s tackled some subjects that needed a spotlight. The favelas down in Brazil are a disgrace, and before her, only Brazilian reporters tackled the issue, so she brought international attention. And international money.”

“An American woman went down there? I hope she had a team guarding her.” Zed frowned.

“It was minimal, and a lot of the time she left them behind because she knew that people wouldn’t talk unless she spoke to them one-on-one.”

“Does she speak Portuguese?” Zed asked.

“Pidgeon. She got someone from the favela to act as a translator.”

“You’re talking about the big slums in Brazil, right?” Ryker asked.

Jase nodded. “Were you close to them when you lived there?” he asked Jase.

“My sister Angelica was from the favelas. She was only two and homeless. She was half-Asian, so she was shunned. Even the Church was having trouble keeping all of the kids fed and clothed.”

“I read all of Lark’s articles when she got engaged to Kostya, including her five-part series in the Atlantic on the favelas. They were heartbreaking. It’s nice to know that somebody got a happy ending.”

Zed gave Jase a curious look. “Are you Brazilian?” he asked.

“Not sure,” Jase shrugged. “I was left at a hospital in Springfield, Missouri when I was a couple of days old. Sharon and Christos Drakos fostered me, then adopted me. I came after their daughter Eleni, when Sharon found out she couldn’t have any more children, they decided to adopt because they always wanted a big family.”

“He’s not kidding,” Ryker grinned. “He’s one of seventeen,” he told Zed.

“That’s fantastic. And your sister Angelica is one of your adopted siblings?” Zed asked.

“Yeah, and Gustavo and Bruno are also from Brazil. I picked up Portuguese while I was there. The rest come from all over. There are four others like me from the U.S., but Dad was a construction project manager, so we traveled the world with him. It was great, we picked up a lot of new languages, and sometimes we ended up with a new brother or sister. Mom was a soft touch.”

Zed whistled. “I can’t imagine. Lulu keeps me and Marcia on our toes. The fact that Marcia is pregnant again scares the piss out of me.”

“Congratulations, man,” Jase grinned.

“What about you two? Do either of you see families in your future?” Zed asked.