Page 35 of Her Tempting Protector

“Thank you.”

Carys sank back against the seat. Little Adam gave a whimper. His wet diaper had soaked into the fabric of the hijab while she’d been holding the gun. Even when she changed him, the scent of urine would still permeate the air around her. The relief she felt at the fact that he was hydrated enough to pee through his diaper and cause such a wet stain on her hijab thrilled her.

Carys smiled and pressed her face into Adam’s neck. “You’re such a good boy, I love you so much.”

* * *

“You sure did a number on this diaper, didn’t you?” Cullen grimaced. Who would have thought this mission would have called for him to be changing diapers with psychedelic African patterns? Carys had used the children’s bedspread to make up additional diapers for the trip. Cullen used some of the precious water to ensure that Adam was thoroughly cleaned up.

He missed Pampers and Wet-Ones, he just thanked his lucky stars that there were two safety pins to use. He carefully pinned the cloth. He wished Carys, with her small, delicate fingers, was performing the task, but she was caring for Shada.

He put his face close to Adam’s, watching as the little guy attempted to focus. “You ready to get going again? We’re going on an adventure, but first, we must call one of your uncles. What do you think, will Uncle Raiden answer this time?”

He picked him up and rocked him in the crook of his arm like a football as he pulled out his satellite phone.

“We have a big problem,” without any preamble.

“What?”

“I have one traumatized little girl.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cullen’s blood pressure rose. “You better not be talking about Aamira or Leila.”

“It’s Leila,” Raiden confirmed. “A man dressed as an orderly at the hospital was caught trying to take her. He got as far as the parking lot before one of the nurses raised enough of a commotion that we got her. It turns out that he was working with the rebel forces.”

“I don’t get it, why in the hell would they be interested in Leila?”

“She said that her dad was a rebel soldier, but when Kane and I got her to describe his uniform, we realized that he’s not just a foot soldier, he’s a fucking major. We’ve got a real problem. He’s going to be after his family.”

“What about his wife? Does he know that she’s not at the hospital in Khartoum?”

“Yeah, Leila told the phony orderly that she was left behind with you and Carys. Now that they know we’re going to be protecting the kids here, I don’t think they’re going to make another attempt. But you? Yeah, they’re going to be coming after you with guns blazing.”

“Fuck! Carys was already on their most wanted list, this just makes the stakes that much higher.”

“The good news is that maybe they’ll try to take you alive.”

Cullen thought about Carys’ dream and shuddered. She wouldn’t think alive was better if he had to guess.

“They’re not going to get a shot at Carys or Shada.” Cullen’s voice was deadly. Adam started crying. It had to have been Cullen’s harsh words. Cullen shoved the phone up between his ear and shoulder, then started to stroke his finger down the baby’s forehead to the tip of his nose again and again. Then the little stinker opened his mouth like a fish.

“Are you listening?”

Cullen didn’t trust that his finger was clean enough, so he just kept stroking the little boy’s face.

“I’m listening. I’m listening. How long ago was this?”

“Only two hours ago,” Raiden said. “It would take three and a half to get to their house. How far have you gotten from there? You’ve been driving for five or six hours now, right?”

“Shit, Raiden, we’ve only gotten twenty kilometers, tops. We’ve had to go slow so that Shada’s incision doesn’t open up.”

“Hold on.”

There was a hell of a long pause. Cullen peeked around the bed of the truck and saw that both doors of the back passenger seat were closed. Carys must be done administering to Shada. He didn’t find her in the front seat, where had she gone?

He opened his mouth to call for her, then shut it. He’d just gotten the little guy calmed down. He saw her footprints in the red clay. She’d gone deeper into the trees. Maybe it was a call of nature. He’d give her sixty seconds, then he was tracking her pretty ass down.

He said the numbers out loud in a sing-song voice, figuring it would continue to soothe the little guy since he was still puckering up like he needed food. When he said number fifty-eight, Carys came out of the trees no longer wearing her tan hijab.