Mercy and Mayhem Men of Mercy(16)

And up there in the tree, she'd gone completely still like she'd been frozen with fright.

It's not possible.

Pilots simply weren't afraid of heights. And yet her dilated pupils and pale face said otherwise. Dammit. He couldn't just throw her over his shoulder and haul her around like he would one of his own men. No matter how sturdy or capable, she looked to be about five seconds from going into shock.

"Guess it's a good thing you're with me then, huh?" Instead of scowling at her, he winked, trying to put her at ease with some light joking.

His attempt had the exact opposite effect, however. He'd never seen a woman go from scared out of her mind to straight-up furious in such a short amount of time.

"I'll have you know I've been through survival training and passed at the top of my class. So no, in response to your statement, it's not necessarily a good thing-" she threw up her fingers and did air quotation marks, "-that I'm stuck in the middle of the Congo with you."

Riser chuckled at this fascinating conundrum of a woman before them, and Mack snapped out, "What is so funny?"

Riser's grin disappeared instantly and he backed up. "Absolutely nothing, Sir."

Marley spoke up. "Don't snap at him for your irrational behavior."

Her pale cheeks had flushed a deep rose that he found completely alluring. They now matched the color of her plush lips, and suddenly his mind was focused on an altogether different plan. What would her lips taste like? How would she respond?

Wait-she'd just insulted him.

"Irrational behavior?" Maybe she'd hit her head on one of the tree branches on the way down. The only irrational thing he'd done, in his opinion, was to save her ass.

She crossed her arms and let out a huff.

"Sir, should we go look for the rest of the men?" Even though Riser's question was an obvious ploy to distract him from the cute little pilot, Mack went for it. He really didn't have any time for a distraction-least of all in the form of a woman he'd only met a few hours ago. For all he knew, she was working for Jack Mankel, too. 

"Fine. Let's go." Mack walked off, randomly choosing a direction. Once he located his crew, he'd have Ethan use his communication system to radio their situation to base. Ethan would also have their GPS, so he could pinpoint their location and map a trek to the nearest safe house.

"Colonel?" Riser asked, his voice hesitant.

"What?"

"I heard Hunter calling out from the other direction before I found you."

Mack spun to see Riser standing with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze locked on a tree past Mack's shoulder. Marley didn't bother trying to hide her glee at his misstep-she stood right where she'd been the entire time, smiling with triumph.

He thought long and hard about chewing Riser's ass out for not telling him this critical information sooner. Instead, he clamped down on his control and said, "Lead the way."

Riser gave a quick salute, did an about-face, and marched off in the exact opposite direction from which Mack had been heading.

"Looks like you should be glad he's here, huh?"

Mack had never been more eager to put distance between himself and another human being as he was in that exact moment. But he'd had enough years of training to effectively mask his emotions and rob her of the satisfaction of getting another rise out of his long dormant temper. "If you don't want to be left behind, I'd suggest you follow me." Mack strode after Riser, forcing himself to keep from turning to check and make sure she was behind him.

For a few seconds, there was no sound except for his own footsteps and Riser's up ahead, and he feared he'd miscalculated. And then he heard a swish, swish, swish as Marley caught up with them.

She might not want to admit it, but the terrorized expression on her face said staying out here alone terrified her. It should.

They continued in silence until Riser called out, "Top?"

The term top was what soldiers often used for their team leader.

"Over here," Hunter's voice came from directly in front of them and slightly to the right. A few seconds later, they stepped out of the evergreen undergrowth into a tiny clearing where the rest of the team waited.

"Sound off," Mack said.

Hunter and Ranger, both standing without even a smudge of dirt on them, responded with an "All right." Aaron, Merc, and Reaper sat next to them on the ground, sifting through their backpacks. They all responded with an affirmative.

Hoyt and Jared sat off to the side like they always did, silent but deadly, which made them the two best snipers in the entire special forces. They both gave a wave to indicate they were okay.

"Where is Ethan?"

"We just located him, Sir." Hunter pointed up and Mack followed the direction of his finger.