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Neil couldn’t quite believe the chaos and confusion that had ensued after the explosion. But choppers had arrived less than an hour later and had taken the injured airmen as well as Captain Matthews to the hospital in Germany where previous arrangements had been made in a prestigious burn treatment center for exactly this kind of emergency. The injured gunshot victims would be transported to another hospital nearby.
And there had been that startling moment of amazement watching Anna Drummond zeroing in with a rifle on each of the attacking insurgents. This was his fourth tour, and Neil had never seen anything like it. He couldn’t recall anyone having close to the skills that she had.
Unfortunately, since it was an undisclosed assignment in his undercover work, he would have to mention her competence to his superiors, so that she could be reassigned to a position where she could be used the most effectively.
He suspected they would want her as a sniper.
Neil studied her closely. Could she handle it?
Studying the seriousness of her face even now, as well as recalling her poise under difficult circumstances, he suspected she could. There was only one thing he was concerned about.
She was so damned attractive. Anna didn’t look like the typical well-trained airman that he knew she had to be, otherwise she would’ve never been chosen for this mission.
Of course, her looks could be used advantageously if she was assigned undercover work. Neil would rather see her as a sniper. Working undercover in Iraq or Afghanistan could be a death sentence with the way the natives treated women.
“Are you doing alright, Ace?” Neil asked, as he and Anna watched the final gunshot victim being airlifted from the ground in a chopper.
“As right as I can be in the circumstances,” she answered. “Ace, huh? You’re the first person to tag me. What do they callyou,Harrison?”
He grinned. “Neil—most of the time anyway.”
Anna snorted as they began walking back towards the hangar. “No call name?”
“Yeah, well, Handler is it for me,” he muttered.
Giving him a side glance, she raised a brow. “What for?”
“I’m the only one here in the squadron who’s actually married. I’m the designated rounder upper if any of our team runs into trouble.”
Anna grinned wryly. “That’d be hard to keep up with.”
“No kidding,” he grumbled. “Let’s grab something to eat before reinforcements fly in. The sooner we begin the cleanup, the sooner we’ll get out of here.”
Anna frowned, staring at the remnants of the plane, where the fuselage was still burning. “I can’t believe Hawk is gone,” she said quietly. “He was such a great guy.”
“Yeah, he was,” Neil answered grimly. “He recently became engaged, and his fiancé is going to be devastated.”
“Oh, no,” Anna moaned. “I know Melinda, but I didn’t realize they were engaged.”
Anna and Neil grabbed some of the leftovers laid out from their earlier lunch and settled beside each other at one of the tables to eat. More food and supplies would be arriving later in the day.
Neil gave Anna a side glance. “You’re engaged too, I hear?”
Anna grimaced. “Yes.”
“Brent Phillips?”
Anna’s eyes went wide. “How’d you know that?”
“I make it my business to know a little about everyone I serve with.”
Anna nodded, taking another bite of the sandwich she was eating.
Neil looked at her thoughtfully. “He doesn’t seem your type.”
“How’s that?” she asked, looking startled.
“He’s too full of himself.”
