Page 15 of Finding Lexie
“I’m probably not the person to be having this conversation with, as the last serious relationship I had was…oh, that’s right…never. But after watching Mustang and Elodie dance around each other, and how stressed out he was when he didn’t hear from her after we left that cargo ship, all I can say is, make sure you get her contact info. And give her yours.”
“I’m not Mustang,” Midas insisted.
“You aren’t. And Lexie isn’t Elodie. But I know you, Midas. If she’s gotten to you, you’ll need to figure out why. And you can’t do that if you don’t communicate with her.”
“I’m sure it’s just the situation. And the fact that I know her,” Midas argued, not believing his own words. “And as soon as we land on that Navy ship, we’ll be separated and that will be that. This isn’t exactly the time or place to try to get to know each other. A few hours, tops, and she’ll be just another mission.”
“I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to dismiss her, but no one can force you to get to know her if you’re determined not to. Though, you know as well as I do that things happen for a reason. We’ve been through too much shit and seen too many damn miracles for this to be a coincidence.”
Midas pressed his lips together. Slate was right. They’d even talked about this exact thing, coincidence, more than once. What were the odds he’d be sent in to rescue someone he’d known in his youth? Slim to none.
“What can it hurt to get her email?” Slate asked. “I don’t know if she has a phone, but if she does, exchange numbers as well.”
“She works for an international aid organization,” Midas protested. “It’s bad enough that my job takes me all over the world, but it’s not like I can move to Africa to be with her if we click,” he argued, doing his best to talk himself out of getting in any deeper with the intriguing woman upstairs.
“Excuses,” Slate said unsympathetically. “If she’s the one for you, she’s the one for you. You’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
“Fuck, you’re annoying,” Midas told his friend. “I can’t wait until you meet someone and come up with all sorts of reasons why you can’t be with her.”
“That’s highly unlikely. I’m a grump who sees the worst in humanity. And unlike you, I’m cool with keeping things casual with a woman I’m seeing. I’m not looking for some deep connection and wanting to immediately move a chick in with me and get married.”
“You meet the right woman, you might change your mind,” Midas said.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Slate told him.
“Hey guys,” Jag said as he walked toward them. “I’ve been trying to get you on our radios for a few minutes.”
“Dammit! These things are a piece of shit,” Slate said, shaking his head and tapping the receiver in his ear. “I knew we should’ve brought the longer-range radios.”
“Too late now,” Jag said.
“What’s up?” Midas asked.
“Looks like we’ve got about an hour before we’ll be heading out,” Jag said. “Dagmar’s physician finally gave the green light to move him.”
“We going to the ship?” Midas asked. “Or the airstrip?”
“The airstrip,” Jag said. “Magnus Brander finally got his way, and he’s paying a shitload of money to get his brother out of here. The helo will pick us up there and take us to the ship, then we’ll head home shortly thereafter. How’s Lexie?”
“She’s good. Sleeping upstairs in an examination room. I’ll wake her up in about forty-five minutes and we’ll meet you guys down here so we can head out. Any issues from the locals?”
“Not so far,” Jag said. “Pid and Aleck are keeping their eye on the neighborhood. I think we got Dagmar and Lexie inside before most people realized we were here.”
“I’m assuming not all the kidnappers were at camp,” Slate added. “We had intel that there were around eighteen people coming and going from the desert. We only took out about a dozen. We need to keep our wits about us until we go wheels up.”
Midas and Jag both nodded.
“Yeah, that’s why Aleck and Pid are keeping watch,” Jag said.
Feeling uneasy about Lexie being left on her own, Midas said, “I’m headed back upstairs. Let me know if the timetable gets moved. The sooner we’re out of here, the better I’ll feel.”
“Same,” Slate said.
Midas didn’t even tease his friend about his legendary impatience. Right about now, he was one hundred percent in tune with Slate. He gave his friends a chin lift and headed for the stairs.
He slipped into Lexie’s room, nodded at the nurse as she left, and was relieved to see Lexie right where he’d left her. She’d turned onto her side and the arm with the IV was hanging over the edge of the table. Her hair was mostly dry now, and even more out of control than it had been when he’d first seen her in the desert.
Midas smiled. He had no idea why he found her hair so fascinating. Maybe because it was wild and crazy, and she was anything but. It was an odd dichotomy.
