Page 19 of Finding Lexie
She hadn’t dropped the last board over their hiding place a second too soon, as the door to the alley flew open with a crash.
Midas tensed and curled his finger around the trigger of his rifle. This was it. Astur could easily give them up right here and now, and if the men had weapons of their own—and if they were smart—they’d shoot first and ask questions later.
But no shots were fired. What sounded like several men stomped into the back room of the store and began speaking in Somali. Midas had no idea what was being said, but Astur didn’t seem afraid to speak her mind. Their voices raised and, at one point, Astur stomped her foot. At least, he thought it was her. In outrage? In anger? In frustration? Midas didn’t know, but he was as tense as he’d ever been. He could feel every breath Lexie took, as she was literally plastered against him.
Her head was resting on his shoulder, one arm tucked against her side, and thus his side, with the other flung across his lower belly. He could feel her gripping the edge of his tactical vest and their legs were tangled together.
It could’ve been five minutes or fifteen, but after a very tense wait, with more foot stomping and more yelling, the men finally left the small room, heading back into the alley from where they’d come.
Silence greeted their departure, and even Astur left the back room, presumably heading to the front of the store.
“Holy shit,” Lexie whispered.
“Shhhh,” Midas warned in a barely there tone.
He felt her nod against him and, one by one, her muscles began to relax.
Then they lay there in that cramped hole under the floor for what seemed like hours.
The heat rose, and Midas’s legs started to cramp. Still, neither he nor Lexie moved. He’d been trained to stay in one position for hours, but Lexie hadn’t. And she still wasn’t one hundred percent after her ordeal. Midas had been impressed with her before, but with each minute that ticked by, his admiration rose.
The back door had opened twice more, and each time, Astur went head-to-head with whoever had entered, until they eventually left. Midas was aware that they were one cough, one sneeze away from discovery, and he prayed the dirt falling through the cracks didn’t set either one of them off.
Before long, the shouts and yelling from the alley stopped and silence filled their hiding spot and the back room of the store. When Midas was fairly confident it would be safe to speak in hushed tones, he whispered, “You okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Peachy. This must be how sardines feel in a can.”
He felt more than heard Lexie’s snort of laughter against his shoulder. Then she said, “How can I be laughing? There’s nothing remotely humorous about this situation.”
“Embrace the suck,” Midas said.
“Pardon?”
“Embrace the suck,” he repeated. “It’s something we said back in SEAL training. It means the situation is bad, but deal with it. Accept the shitty but unavoidable situation, in order to move on.”
“I’m not sure that’s very inspirational,” Lexie said. “What else you got?”
“The only easy day was yesterday?” he joked.
Surprisingly, Midas was enjoying this. Probably because Lexie wasn’t freaking out or hysterical. This was the kind of conversation he’d have with one of his teammates in a similar situation.
“Yeah, no. Because yesterday wasn’t easy,” Lexie said in unequivocal terms. “Try again.”
Midas chuckled softly. “How about…you’re amazing. And there’s no one I’d rather be in this situation with than you.”
“Right,” she said with a small shake of her head. “And I’ve got an ocean-view house in Kansas to sell you.”
“Seriously, you think I’d want Mustang in here with me like this?”
It was Lexie’s turn to laugh softly now. “Um…that might be a little uncomfortable. I mean, it can’t be fun to have me in here with you. We don’t exactly fit.”
“I’d say we fit perfectly,” Midas said before thinking twice about his words.
“I guess it’s a good thing I was able to shower. You wouldn’t be as happy with me practically lying on you like this if I still smelled like I did. Three months is a long time to go without soap.”
Midas did something then that he’d been wanting to do since he saw her lying on that examination table. He turned his head and buried his nose in her hair. It didn’t exactly smell like sunshine and roses, but the strands were soft against his face.
