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She tossed the towel on the counter and crawled back into bed and into Antony’s waiting arms. She sighed and nestled into him as he lazily trailed his fingers over her back. The silence was comfortable, and Lesley was halfway to dozing when her stomach grumbled loudly.
“Glad to have helped,” Antony said, laughing. He untangled himself and stood. “I’ll go heat the food up. Stay here.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Lesley hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d been on light duty for the last week and a half, and the CSM had taken it upon himself to call and make sure she was abiding by the rules. The first day it happened, she was a little charmed. Now she was annoyed. She had shit to do and having her work day cut off four hours early was dragging this course planning out well beyond what she’d originally planned.
The project wasn’t only important to the entire community, but also to her at that moment. She needed to be working on something removed from her personal life. Getting lost in a project, being able to dig in and focus deeply, often kept her grounded when everything else in her life seemed to go wrong, and now, in the shadow of one of the worst things that had ever happened, she didn’t have that ability to process.
The team had been quiet since her return to the office. Smith’s absence had caused waves, not because anyone actually missed him, but because there had been complete silence from him since his disappearance. His phone was off. People were on edge, and the emotions had ranged from anger to outright fear of something happening to anyone else. One young Soldier, Private First Class Rankin, had taken things especially hard. She trudged in late for shift that morning, and the dark circles under her eyes, combined with the continuous trips to the coffeepot, told a story about an extremely stressed young woman. Lesley made a mental note to speak with her the next morning.
The bright spot in all of this was her relationship with Antony. Once she’d gotten him over treating her like she was fragile, they’d settled in together in a routine not unlike her own. The only difference was how they’d fall asleep, exhausted and wrapped around each other. She had never been so satiated and content in her life.
Except for the night before. Antony had a night terror, and she’d woken, gasping and unable to breathe because of the hold he had on her. He finally came to after she slapped his cheeks a little and then he wept because of hurting her. After they calmed down, he opened up about his experience in Afghanistan.
They’d finally drifted off and woke up a few minutes late. Antony made her even later when he pushed her up against the vanity and took her hard and fast while they watched each other in the mirror. Lesley smiled and absently rubbed the bite mark he’d left on her shoulder.
But she missed her own space and her own things. She wanted her fireplace and her books and the privacy that living off post afforded her. If she was honest, she was also a little uncomfortable and how comfortable she was with him. Ever since her chat with Stina in the hospital, an undercurrent of something big ran through her brain. She needed some time alone to process.
What she needed first was a break. She stood and stretched, feeling the muscles in her thighs strain. She’d been sitting too much for too long. The doctor had said nothing about her not exercising, only to hydrate and to avoid getting overtired. A couple miles on the treadmill in the garage at home sounded like a good plan for after work.
“Hey,” she called. “Let’s go for a walk around the building.”
Seconds later, Stina appeared. “Good lord, yes. Need to get out of this morgue for a few.”
Once they cleared the gate and stepped outside, Lesley looked around. “What’s the scoop with the mafia?” she asked.
“They’re fucking scared. Someone got him from on post, so whoever did it has access and can get a hold of anyone.”
The women went silent as they approached a small gaggle of Captains on their way to the building they were walking by. They saluted and waited until the officers were out of earshot.
“But why would they? Smith wasn’t some random target.”
“Oh, he wasn’t, but you know how those barracks are. Someone knows something.”
Lesley’s brow furrowed. “Rankin. What do you know about her?”
“Good analyst. She’s been looking run down lately. She know something?”
“She lives next door to Smith. I’ll mention her to Antony later. Was thinking about talking with her tomorrow, maybe getting her to take a walk with me for PT.”
“Speaking of Antony,” Stina said, laughing when Lesley groaned. “You’ve been right across the courtyard from me for the last week and I haven’t even seen you at all.”
“Yeah, well.” Lesley shrugged and failed to hide her grin.
“Yeah, well, nothing.” Stina nudged her elbow into Lesley’s side. “My jealousy talking. When are you heading home?”
“Today. I’m gonna go home and get some stuff done around the house. Take a run on the treadmill. Process.”
“Process, huh? Everything good?”
“Everything is fantastic. Amazing. So very comfortable.”
Stina gave her a sidelong glance. “And you’re waiting for shit to hit the fan.”
Lesley stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “No! That’s the thing, there is no shit to even hit the fan. Not even Vicky.”
“Wait, she’s still around?”
