Page 3 of Finding Lexie
“Sorry,” the deep voice said from much closer. “Are you all right?”
Lexie lifted her head once more but made no move to get up. She was so used to having to get permission to do anything, she didn’t even consider sitting up or standing. Even when the person talking to her wasn’t yelling and didn’t sound pissed off.
She couldn’t make out the features of the man standing above her, but she could see he was wearing a desert camouflage uniform. He had on a vest with all sorts of gadgets attached to it. Lexie’s neck hurt from craning to look up at him, but again, she wasn’t going to move until she was given permission.
“Lexie? Were you hit?”
That’s right. He’d asked her a question. “No. I mean, I don’t think so,” she said softly.
“Can you sit up?” the man asked.
Lexie nodded, even though she wasn’t sure she could. She’d never been as scared in her life as she’d been in the last few minutes. But not one to shy away from doing something difficult, Lexie did her best to shift so she was on her knees, sitting on her heels.
“How are they?” another man asked as he walked over to them.
“Lex is good. Not sure about Dagmar.”
Dagmar!
Lexie quickly turned toward him and saw he was laboriously rolling onto his back and blinking rapidly. His right hand was massaging his left chest, which wasn’t a good sign.
“Shit,” the second man swore, then turned his head and whistled. Before she knew what was happening, three more men had approached their little tree and were crouching next to Dagmar. She could hear them talking to Dag in Danish…but he wasn’t answering.
“Come on, Lex, let’s get you out of the way,” said the man who’d first approached her, reaching down and putting a hand under her elbow. She let him help her stand, leaning on him as he walked them a little bit away from where she’d been peacefully watching the stars a short time ago.
“Are you really all right?” the man asked.
Lexie glanced up—and realized for the first time how tall the man was. She’d never really felt all that short; at five-seven, she was a fairly average height for a woman, but this guy towered over her. “You’re really tall,” she blurted, and immediately scrunched her nose at her inane statement.
But the soldier merely chuckled. “I am. Six-four. It’s a pain in the ass being tall when trying to sneak up on someone. I don’t exactly blend into my surroundings.”
Lexie wished she could see better. There was something about the man that seemed…familiar. But that was crazy. They were in the middle of an African desert. There was no way she knew this guy. “I don’t know,” she said. “No one in camp saw you or your friends until you yelled at them.”
“True. It’s good to see you again.”
Lexie frowned. “I’m sorry, do we know each other?”
“Sorry. Yeah, we did at one time. I’m Pierce Cagle. We went to the same high school our senior year.”
Lexie blinked in surprise. Talk about a blast from the past.
Even if it wasn’t dark, and she wasn’t in the middle of the desert, she didn’t think she’d have recognized him. This wasn’t the halls of their old high school, and he was the last person she’d ever expected to see again. Especially on the other side of the world.
“Midas!” one of the other men called out. “Chopper’ll be here in five!”
The man in front of her gave his teammate a chin lift, then looked back down at her.
“You still go by that nickname?” she asked. There were so many things she should be asking right about now, but that was the question that popped out. She remembered the kids at school called him Midas because of all the gold medals he’d won when he was on the swim team.
He chuckled, actually looking a little sheepish. “Yeah. My mom thought she’d be funny and send me a package when I was in boot camp, addressed to me by my nickname. It stuck.”
“Too bad there’s no water around here for you to show off your swimming skills,” Lexie mused inanely, then immediately regretted it. She was such a dork. Always had been.
But amazingly, Midas just grinned. “Got plenty of that back in Hawaii where I’m stationed.”
“You’re in Hawaii? Really? I’ve always wanted to live there,” Lexie said.
Midas reached for her elbow again and pulled her out of the way of the three men who were carrying Dagmar.
