Zach slid down the picnic table bench, and his big arm came around Rowan in a comforting gesture. For some reason, this time she didn’t pull away.
“It’s okay, Ro. What could little ol’ you do against three grown men? You did the best thing you could possibly do.” Ro looked at him, completely confused by his words.
Zach smiled at her and clarified, “You came straight to us.”
The girl, Rowan, looked at him, and then Graham, and then back to him, before asking, “Who are you? And where the hell am I?” Her earlier attitude seemed to have drained away, leaving her sounding young and lost. She glanced around her, and in the pale glow of solar lights, Zach could see her trying to make out her surroundings.
He was about to answer her questions when Graham spoke.
“You’ll get your answers when we’re satisfied with yours. Your story sounds like complete bullshit to me.”
Her attitude flared back to life. Zach wasn’t sure what Graham’s angle was. It sounded like she’d almost had an unfortunate meeting with their inbred neighbors. For years, Jonah had been telling the rest of the team about the family that lived a few miles from their fence line. With no obvious form of income, Jonah suspected they were deeply involved in the rural meth trade.
“You think my story is bullshit? Then go out there and fucking get her. Go be all Rambo badass commando, and you’ll see that I’m not fucking lying.”
Okay, someone had issues with being called a liar. Interesting. But Graham was a total hardass. It was embedded in the man’s DNA. It was what had made him a great leader of their Force Recon team for six years. But Graham was solidly in the camp of seeing before believing. Zach had zero facts to base his conclusion on, but his gut said she was telling the truth. She looked pretty busted up over the fact that she’d left some stranger behind when she didn’t have a chance in hell of being able to go up against three armed men. That type of reaction didn’t seem like it would be easily faked. But Zach knew damn well that Graham wasn’t going to leave the security of the ranch to chance. This interrogation was just beginning.
“G,” Zach said firmly, giving Graham a hard look. “The questions can wait.” It wasn’t often that Zach countermanded Graham’s orders, considering it used to be insubordination, but the girl was still freaked and obviously in pain, if the way she cringed every time she moved was any indication.
Graham clearly interpreted Zach’s back the fuck off look and returned one that said this goes bad, it’s on you. But Graham backed off and took a seat on the bench of the picnic table that was parallel to the one where he and Rowan sat.
“You hurt, sugar?” Zach left the bench to go to his knees in front of her, lifting her ankle carefully. She flinched.
“I don’t think it’s broken. At least, I really hope not.” She sounded like she was panicking at the thought.
Zach heard Graham speak into his radio, “Beau, need you at the mess ASAP.”
“Copy that. On my way,” Beau, the group’s SARC—Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman—replied within seconds. As a Navy medic, Beau was the only non-Marine on their team. But since he’d actually gone to med school before joining the Navy and had saved most of their asses at least once, they didn’t hold it against him.
Graham stood and gave Zach a long, hard look. “Don’t move her until I get back.”
Ro watched as the two men shared a look that carried an entire conversation. Both nodded before Conan stalked off.
Ro was relieved he was gone. Except for a few brief moments, his intensity had completely unnerved her. She looked at the man kneeling in the dirt before her. He was almost as big as Conan, but didn’t emit those I’m-a-badass-mofo-and-you-better-watch-yourself vibes that Conan did. He still looked like a badass mofo, but somehow he was more approachable. Strange, that.
“We’ll get you all fixed up, darlin’. Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing,” he said, smiling up at her. Definitely more approachable.
“I’m not the one you should be worrying about. That other woman ...” Ro paused, replaying the scene she had witnessed in her mind. “You need to get her away from them. You don’t understand, they were ... disgusting ... and the way they were treating her ...” She shook her head, stomach twisting at the memory.
Zach gripped her calf with his big hand.
“Babe, put it out of your mind for now. We’ll handle it.” Ro was well aware he was trying to soothe her, calm her down, because it must have seemed like she was gearing up for a freak out. Accurate assumption.
“Seriously—”
Zach cut her off, and this time his tone was stern. “Listen to me. There wasn’t a thing you could have done, and you’re lucky your pretty little ass made it here in one piece and without holes.”
“But—”