Jade

Matthias didn’t show up at my bungalow the next morning. Sure, he sent maintenance to fix the leaks in my roof, but that wasn’t what I wanted. Somewhere around eight, I got tired of waiting for him. I said good-bye to the black and white colobus monkeys frolicking on my deck, packed my backpack and trekked across the station to the ranger’s camp. It included a cluster of small and large tents raised on wooden platforms around an improvised sports track, a rustic outdoor gym and the stark, concrete block building that served as administrative offices. The camp reminded me of a military field outpost, down to the barbed wire fence and the guards patrolling the perimeter. Yep. I would’ve expected nothing less of Matthias.

The ranger staffing the office informed me that Matthias was out on patrol. Great. He’d left and gone after Kumbuyo without me. I suppressed a surge of anger and returned to the station, silently cursing him for leaving me behind. He was probably still mad at me. Now what?

I made my way to the main lodge, a grand, airy space with a soaring thatched roof and high beams that overlooked the river. The lodge had been lavish in its eco resort days, but in its current reincarnation, it was a utilitarian catch-all space. It housed the kitchen, dining room and lounging area where staff, researchers, and rangers took their meals, got their Wi-Fi, and socialized.

Breakfast was in full swing, but I sneaked into an alcove and set up my laptop in a corner that offered the strongest Wi-Fi connection, put on my headset and placed a video call to Hannah. Her round, freckled face looked like a shifting mosaic on my pixelated screen.

“There you are,” Hannah said in place of a greeting. “I tried calling you several times yesterday. You’re late checking in.”

“Wi-Fi was down,” I lied.

“I know for sure they’ve got a satellite phone at Pacha Ziwa.”

Hannah was always well informed.

“I didn’t want to impose,” I said. “Besides, they’ve got better uses for their satellite phone than you babysitting me.”

“Hogwash.” Hannah scolded me with her brown-eyed gaze. “You’re just doing that thing where you go away and cut everyone out of your life for no reason at all.”

“Oh, please.”

She wasn’t totally wrong. It was hard to explain, but every so often, I needed space, lots of it. I loved Hannah. I loved my true parents. But sometimes, I needed to be away from love, where I didn’t have to love anybody back.

“We agreed you’d check in every other day,” Hannah reminded me. “I expect you to follow through. I don’t need to be frantically looking for you all over Africa. Are we clear?”

“Clear as the Mara River,” I murmured.

“I happen to know the Mara River is a muddy mess.” The sound of a baby crying rose in the background. “Hang on.”

Hannah stepped out of the camera’s range, leaving her chair turning slowly on its axis. When she came back into the frame and sat down, she had squirming four-month-old Rosemary in her arms blaring like a freaking trumpet.

“She’s got lungs of steel.” I winced and grinned at the same time, leaning over my screen to get a better look at the little marvel. “How’s my gorgeous goddaughter doing?”

“As cantankerous as ever.” Hannah unbuttoned her blouse, pushed her bra aside, and put the baby to her breast. “She’s got her godmother’s beastly temper.”

“Excellent, nobody will mess with her.” I laughed as the baby latched down on Hannah’s engorged boob. “By the looks of it, she’s got my appetite as well.”

“Voracious,” Hannah agreed, flinching.

The sight of my friend nursing her baby softened my heart. It was a wonder to watch Hannah, the tough, no-nonsense badass she’d once been, interacting so tenderly with her kid. It was even more amazing when I considered how terribly Hannah had been injured—torn to pieces—and how difficult her recovery had been. There had been so many times when I’d wondered if she would survive, if she would recover and have a “normal” life.

And then Ian had come around, swept her off her prosthetic feet, and loved her like Hannah deserved, with the power and passion of a smitten warrior. He’d loved her when she’d thought of herself as broken and unlovable, and he’d stood by her through the good, the bad, and the ugly. To top all of that, he’d given her little Ian and Rosemary. I’d witnessed firsthand how he’d given Hannah the one thing she thought she’d lost in the explosion: a future.

I loved Ian for loving Hannah and I loved Hannah for teaching me resilience. She’d found the peace that eluded me and I was thrilled for her.

“What’s this you mentioned in your email about breaking another body cam?” Hannah’s face scrunched in a scowl. “Should I start buying body cams by the dozen?”

“Only if you get a bulk discount.”

“Your parents wanted to know how you broke it.”

Oh, shit. “Did you tell them?”

“No way.” Hannah hugged the baby to her breast. “I like your parents. No need to tell them you got way too close to a son of a bitch wanted for crimes against humanity.”

I puffed. “Did you want the pictures or not?”

“Not at the expense of your freaking life!”

“Get off your high horse, girl. I’m fine and I got the job done. Plus, I packed a backup body cam as always. You can’t even imagine the kind of shit you got me in by placing my report all over the net and the news. I almost got thrown out of here before I began.”

“Right.” She poked a prosthetic finger at me. “I don’t believe for a second you wanted me to hold back on posting those pictures. You would’ve wanted that stuff public ASAP.”

She was so damn right.

“The ratings are going through the roof,” Hannah said. “Traffic on Mission Protect’s website has spiked, Nat Geo wants more, and the Pacha Ziwa foundation is set on keeping the fund raising momentum.”

“I’m trying over here,” I said. “But there’s some pushback, a tad of an inconvenience.”

Hannah raised her eyebrows. “What’s his name?”

“Why do you have to go all ninja on me and assume it’s a ‘he’?”

“’Cause if you’re gonna have an issue, that issue is gonna have a dick.”

“Shut up.” I looked over my shoulder and lowered my voice. “You know I gave up dicks a while back.”

“Total waste of time, if you ask me.”

“Hannah!”

“What?” She deftly shifted the baby from one breast to the other. “I’ve told you before. One asshole doesn’t mean the whole species stinks.”

“One asshole?” I scoffed. “It’s more like a collection.”

“Whatever,” Hannah said. “Billy wasn’t so bad and I liked Jorge.”

“Billy was an idiot and Jorge’s IQ topped at ten. In any case, I didn’t call you to chat about my sex life.”

“Oh, goody, because if you had, there’d be nothing to talk about.”

Point made.

“So I’ll ask again,” Hannah said. “What’s this inconvenience’s name?”

“Matthias Hawking.”

“The reserve’s game warden?”

“The one and only.”

She gave me a hard stare. “Really, Jade?”

“It’s not my fault,” I said. “He’s not entirely reasonable.”

“How about you?” Hannah quirked her mouth. “Are you being reasonable? Because I know you. You’ve got some serious issues with authority figures.”

“I made it through the Marines, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Hannah said, “but only because of my good influence.”

That was a little true. Okay, a lot true.

“Mommeeeeee!” Little Ian’s voice screeched in the background, piercing my eardrums.

Hannah let out a weary sigh. “Break’s over. Got to go do mommy duty.”

“Are you running out of mommy juice?” I teased. “Or maybe you want to be in Africa, with me?”

“Yeah, I’m tired all the time, and I do want to be in Africa with you, at least a little, but…” She flashed the smile I thought I’d never see again on the day I fished out her hand from a pool of blood, still clutching her weapon. “I’m good, Jade. No, I’m great. I wish I could explain. I wish you had what I have.”

“Me? Husband? Kids? Ha!” I laughed. “Now you’re talking crazy talk. I like your kids. On loan. They’re cool, but at the end of the day, they go back where they came from. Plus, you won’t let me screw them up. Ideal.”

“Maybe you’re not ready yet.” Hannah leaned into the screen and looked me in the eye. “But some day, you will. In the meanwhile, get your act together, and don’t be a bitch to the game warden, okay? We’re not going to get this done if you piss him off.”

“Too late.”

Hannah groaned. “And to think I worked so hard to get you into Pacha Ziwa.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll fix it.”

“Yeah, right, because you excel at diplomacy.” Hannah shook her head. “Maybe I should call the guy, smooth things out.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “I can handle it.”

“You sure?”

“Consider the mission accomplished.”

“Mommeeee!”

“Got to go.” Hannah removed the baby from her breast, snapped her bra and T-shirt in place, and cradled Rosemary over her shoulder. “Report in as scheduled. Make peace with the game warden and establish a professional relationship with him. And call your parents. You know they worry when you go on assignment.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I grinned. “Have I told you lately that you sound like an old lady?”

“At least I’m a happy old lady, instead of a pissed off broad, like you.”

“Go do the active duty mommy thing and let me be.”

“I’ll do that,” Hannah said. “But Jade?”

“What?”

“Be careful.”

* * *

I loaded my tray with a huge mug of coffee, a plateful of scrambled eggs, and a banana. I took a deep breath before I turned around and faced the dining room. My stomach squeezed with a pang of dread as my gaze roamed over the people having their breakfast on the terrace. My hands tightened around the tray.

A flashback of me at age seven in the school cafeteria hit me without warning. I saw the skinny, tall, disheveled little girl I’d been, dressed in clothes that bordered on rags, and worn down shoes. The same fears that had plagued my school days pummeled me now. Twenty-five years later, I could almost hear the other children’s voices, whispering behind my back.

She stinks.

She’s dirty.

Her Mom’s a whore and a junkie.

What’s a junkie?

She got sent home last week.

They said she had fleas again.

The shame. The pain stabbed through me all over again. I forced myself to breathe. By the time I got to Afghanistan, I’d already suffered from PTSD for most of my life. It got worse before it got better, but I was fine these days. Mostly.

The tray felt slippery between my sweaty palms and my nerves were stretched taut like rubber bands about to snap. Battlefield? No problem. Dining hall? Problem.

I reminded myself that I was not that helpless, neglected little girl anymore. I was me, grown up Jade, a marine, independent and self-assured, even if I was a work in progress. Deal with it. I’d done it all my life.

“Jade!” Sarah called from the long table by the old pool, where she sat with Lara and Cara. “Over here. Come sit with us.”

Saved by the kindness of others.

I set my course toward the girls. Once there, I put down my tray, slung my pack over the back of my chair and found safe haven in the chair next to Sarah and across from the other two. I noticed that all three women wore grim expressions on their faces. So unlike their usually cheerful selves. Lara’s frown pulled down on her lips and Cara’s face looked particularly pasty. But before I could ask, Sarah jumped on me.

“What’s this I hear about you and a bunch of poachers?”

I reprised the whole story quickly, to get them off my back. When I was done, the three of them stared at me with wide eyes.

“That was dangerous,” Sarah noted.

“But very brave,” Cara said, staring at the dry toast on her plate.

“Of the dozen species of rhino that once roamed Africa, only five remain,” Lara stated as if she was reading from a chart. “Up to 35,000 elephants were killed last year in Africa alone.”

“Thanks for those helpful stats.” My gaze flicked between Sarah and Cara. “Okay, I have to ask. Does she always talk in percentages and shit?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “Homeschooled. Graduated at fourteen. Young EQ. Three PhDs.”

“I’m a scientist,” Lara said defensively. “I like my facts.”

“No shit.” Cara groaned, bent over her belly and settled her forehead on the table. “Oh, God. I think I’m going to die.”

“Are you sick?” I asked. “Or are you due to write that check on the student loans you complain about so much?”

“I’m sick.” Cara said in a miserable whimper. “And it’s not just from looking at the balance from my empty bank account.”

“She might’ve indulged a little too much last night,” Lara offered.

“Is it coming out at the top or at the bottom?”

“Both.” Cara moaned.

“Don’t worry.” Lara squeezed Cara’s shoulder. “An estimated fifty percent of travelers to developing countries are affected by gastroenteritis. Of those, up to seventy percent of the cases are caused by viruses. Only ten to fifteen percent are caused by parasites.”

“Parasites?” Cara blanched, turning even paler than before.

I supposed that was one way of comforting the sick.

“Are you taking anything?” I asked.

“I took some stuff I brought from home.” Cara winced. “But it doesn’t work. I’ve been here for a whole freaking year and yet when it starts, it doesn’t stop. What am I going to do?”

Sarah traded a worried look with me. “She’s scheduled to go out in the field today.”

I wished it was me who was going out in the field, but I also understood Cara’s problem. I grabbed my backpack and rummaged through my first aid kit. “Here you go.” I handed Cara a pair of tablets. “This will have you up and going in no time.”

“Are you sure?” Cara examined the tablets.

“Marine field-tested, Jade guaranteed.” I looked through my pack some more. “You’ll be ready for action in twenty minutes.”

“Really?” Cara downed the tablets with a glass of juice and got up from the table, eyes sparkling with hope. “I better go get ready then.”

“Yep, you better. Here, catch.” I tossed a couple of packages of electrolyte tablets into her cupped hands. “Dissolve in bottled water. Drink often. These should keep you hydrated for the rest of the day.”

Cara gave me a grateful smile. “Thanks!”

“Go get them, tiger.” I gave her the thumbs up as she left.

Sarah flashed her toothy grin. “Are you always ready for everything?”

“Comes with the territory.” I turned to Lara. “What’s got you looking so worried?”

“Oh, nothing.” Her downturned lips disagreed.

I looked to Sarah.

“The short of it?” Sarah winced. “Doctor Andrew Stoats, her new boss? He asked her for a blow job, on day one.”

“Ah, shit.” Fire flushed through my veins. There was always one of those in a crowd. Stuff like that pushed all my buttons and not in a good way. “What did you do?”

“That’s the worst part.” Lara wrung her hands and glanced over at the next table over, where a middle-aged professor, dressed in Indiana Jones garb, sat with a woman I hadn’t seen before, slobbering all over his oatmeal. “I didn’t know what to do. I read that over fifty percent of females experience some sort of sexual harassment, but something like this has never happened to me.”

Talk about leading a sheltered life and having no coping mechanism to fight off the beasts.

My stare fixed on the scum. “I’m assuming that’s Doctor Andrew Stoats over there?”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “He works with the Schumers on the rhino project and he’s Lara’s direct supervisor.”

“Who’s the woman with him?” I asked.

“Pat Schumer,” Sarah said. “She finally got in early this morning.”

Since Pat was the Schumers’ daughter, I didn’t think Stoats would dare harass her. As soon as she got up and left the table, I pushed back my chair and stood up.

“No, Jade, no.” Sarah shook her perfect bob and her hands in unison, blue eyes sparkling with alarm. “We don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Trouble my ass.” The trouble was already caused. “You guys wait here.”

I marched over to Stoats and plopped down on the empty chair next to him without waiting for an invitation.

“I’m Jade Romo.” I forced a smile to my lips. “I’m here documenting the work at the station.”

“I’ve heard about you.” The man’s small brown eyes reminded me of filthy mud pits as his gaze oozed down to my breasts. “Nat Geo explorer and all that jazz. You’ve got the looks to go with the reputation.”

“Hey, up here buddy.” I snapped my fingers next to my face. “This is where my eyes are.”

“What can I do for you?” The murky stare bounced up from my chest. “Would you like to interview me?”

I kept the smile pasted on my face. “I’d only be interested in interviewing you if you wanted to address the allegations of sexual harassment that are going around the station.”

His mouth dropped open, giving me a disgusting view of all that oatmeal floating around his gums. “What?”

“Don’t even think about jerking me around.” I spoke in a low, even voice. “If you ever harass anyone again at this station, you will become the exclusive subject of my investigation. Sexual harassment in academic research environments. It’s a topic that could quickly become dear and near to my heart.”

A spark of arrogance lit his gaze. “Are you accusing me of—”

“Shut up and listen.” I wasn’t in the mood for arguments. “Your new research assistant? She’s out of bounds. Understand? Leave her alone. She’s here to do scientific research, not to suck your pitiful dick.”

His mouth moved, but it made no sound. Clearly, no one had put this asshole in his place before this moment.

“So back off,” I said, “And don’t even think about taking it out on Lara or her career. If I so much hear a whisper of shit like that, I’m going to dig out every woman you’ve ever harassed and end your stay here on a really sour note. Got that?”

He nodded, because dirt bags like him had long histories they wanted to keep buried under metric tons of sand and he knew someone like me could end his tenure in no time.

I stood up, smile frozen on my lips as I walked back to our table. People like him made me sick. I picked up my backpack and saluted Lara and Sarah before I made my way out of the dining room. I didn’t like having to do that sort of thing, but crap like his demanded immediate action from the bitches of the world, and that meant me.

* * *

Matthias

I spent another endless night directing night patrols at the reserve’s northern border, scouring the Serengeti for signs of Kumbuyo and his poachers. It was all for nothing. Kumbuyo had vanished into thin air and after three days of extended night shifts, my rangers looked like a filthy, exhausted, ragtag gang.

I usually enjoyed my time in the field. The thrill of operating in the African wilderness was the one joy I allowed myself these days. Just being out on the Serengeti fired my blood and left me in wonder of a world that seemed pretty shitty otherwise.

But driving back in the deep, solid, pre-natural darkness that pervaded the moonless night, rattling inside the truck until my aching bones felt like bridle sticks, I felt ancient. The lack of sleep combined with the wear and tear to destabilize my knee, which was now officially hurting like motherfucking hell. But I wasn’t gonna stop searching for Kumbuyo. I couldn’t, especially not now that Jade was involved.

Word from the station was that Jade was looking for me with a vengeance. I tightened my grip on the wheel and smirked. Of course she wanted to be out in the middle of everything. Better to stay the hell away then. She was as relentless as they came. Sooner or later she was gonna catch up with me. By the time she did, I had to have my professional and personal strategies firmly in place. Otherwise, she was gonna steamroll over my best resolutions and I was gonna be dead meat.

I stepped on my brakes and eased my way around the tail end of an African buffalo herd, wandering in the night. They were a bunch of big suckers, each male around fourteen hundred pounds of raw muscle, eyes glittering green under my beams as they stared down my Land Rover. Widow makers, the locals called them, hoofed brutes that’d been known to gore both people and lions with their massive horns.

I liked buffalos. They were thick skulled and stubborn, a lot like me. They weren’t Africa’s flashiest celebrities, but they were fierce fighters and sturdy survivors that stood up to claws and fangs, not only for themselves but most impressively, for the sake of the herd. Yeah, I dug the beasts. They reminded me of the teams. Hell, I missed the teams.

I left the herd behind and sped down the dark road. My mind drifted back to Jade, where it seemed to be stuck lately. Jade Romo was a pain the ass, but she was also the most intriguing woman I’d come across in a long time. Her energy made me buzz. And that kiss on night one…damn. I was getting hard just thinking about it. Yeah, I had to stay the hell away from her. Another kiss and there was gonna be no chance in hell that I could keep the mission on track.

Easy soldier. I wanted to do a lot more than kiss her. A woman like her was a once in a lifetime find. She was, well, Jade. Unique, strong, unstoppable, and yeah, really nice to look at. She had a gift to fascinate and drive me insane at the same time, which could explain why she’d etched herself so deeply in my brain. Hell, but I was screwed.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was gonna do next. Had to make some phone calls, figure out some basic advantages for myself. If I were smart, I’d find a way to put myself on ice, and return her back to sender before she blasted my mission to hell. But she wasn’t gonna let me send her home until she did her job. And when all of this was said and done, I wanted—no—I needed a fair chance at her.

It would help if I could be nice to her, expedite her assignment, please her somehow, do the nice things a guy could do to woo a gal to his corner, that sort of thing.

But I wasn’t just any guy and Jade wasn’t just any gal. She was fierce and she didn’t exactly like me…yet. So, best I could do was flush out the violent beasts from the bush and clean up the Serengeti for her, so she could have the run of the goddamn place. Kumbuyo had to be close by, watching and waiting. She would be in danger for as long as he was around and that was unacceptable to me. When it came to Jade, my heart was still negotiating the terms of surrender with my brain. But her safety? Hell, no. That was non-negotiable.