Page 88 of Her Unflinching Warrior (Omega Sky)
“She’s with Lark, at my place.”
“For fuck sake’s, how long have I been here?”
“Since yesterday.”
“And they let her out of the hospital already?” Gideon was pissed.
“She wouldn’t stay. She was sick of hospitals.”
“You’re telling me that Lark is the only one who is with her?”
Kostya raised his eyebrow.
Gideon laid back on the pillow. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Of course you wouldn’t have left them alone. Who’s with them?”
“Nolan, Jase, Ryker, Jonas and Lincoln. Lincoln and Jonas are up in the trees with their rifles. Jase is patrolling outside, Nolan is inside watching her condition and Ryker is inside for comic relief.”
Gideon nodded. It’s how he would have deployed the men.But…
“Isn’t Commander Clark crawling up your assh having so many of our menz babysitting Jada?”
Did I just slur my words?
“Gideon, you’ve got to take a rest. The docs want you to stay at least one more night.”
“Fuck that noise. I’m leaving now.” He pushed against Kostya.
“You’re in the same shape Jada was in, in Oregon. You have a bad concussion and—”
“And nothing. Don’t make me slug you. Simon isn’t going to be impressed when you show up to the base with a black eye, and you have to explain you were fighting with me while I was in the hospital.” He stared at Kostya and his friend could see he was serious.
Kostya tried one last ditch effort.
“Gideon, think about it, you’re slurring your words, you’re having trouble walking and you’re getting Miles Albright confused with Kendall Douglas. Stay in bed.”
“I’ll give you the first two, but the third is true; it’s a mindfuck, but it’s true.”
Kostya gave him an incredulous look. “Explain.”
“Kendall’s aged twenty-five years. He shaved his head, and he’s had some plastic surgery. But his eyes and voice are the same.”
“Are you sure you’re not imagining things?” Kostya asked carefully.
“Damn sure. He called me his protégé, then he said he was sorry my dad died. It was him all right.”
“Holy hell! But why would he be pretending to be Albright? Why would he kidnap Jada and you? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“He’s a madman, and trying to understand what goes on in his twisted mind is impossible for someone sane.”
“Should we ask Jase his opinion?” Kostya suggested.
Gideon laughed for the first time since he woke up, thinking about their less than sane teammate. “We’ll keep that option open.”
Then Gideon sighed. “Kendall was intent on making me suffer. That’s why he took Jada. I think that’s why he took her before. We never could figure out a good reason for the first time they abducted her; I think it was to get to me.”
“You think he would really become Miles Albright, just to set you up?”
“No, I think that’s something else, but I think he always planned to come after me, and when he found out about Jada and saw he had an opportunity, he took it. So, I think Kendall/Miles has something else going on, something bigger planned.”
