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“In the meantime,” Diesel tossed over his shoulder, “any suggestions on a place around here to hide a van and eight people?”
Angela thought hard. For the most part, she’d been confined to the hospital tent, working nonstop with masses of people living in the terrible conditions of the refugee camp. But there was one time she and Brenda had been asked to help a village elder in another small town nearby. She glanced out the window. They were headed that direction. “I know of a place.”
Leaning through the gap between the two front seats, she watched the road ahead, trying to remember where they’d turned to get to the village.
Brenda squeezed in next to her. “Are you taking them to Abu Hanafi’s village?”
She nodded. “The turnoff to the village should be coming up soon.”
“Remember, it was where the abandoned tank tracks were,” Brenda said.
“Right.” Angela turned to Diesel. “There should be some buildings coming up soon and a field beside the road with what looks like a pile of junk metal. It’s actually the tracks from an army tank.”
Diesel nodded. “I’ll be on the lookout.”
Angela glanced back through the van’s rear window, her pulse pounding. As she turned back to the front, her gaze skimmed across Buck. Her heart did a backflip. When she’d first realized who’d plucked her out of the middle of the protest, she’d been too angry to fully appreciate what had happened.
In this totally different part of the world, why had fate brought Graham back to her? At that very moment?
He was the same Graham she’d known and loved in medical school, yet different.
His body was honed, his muscles tight and strong, and his eyes...those gorgeous blue eyes she’d fallen into on their first group project were somehow different. Although still the same blue, they appeared to see more and have more depth than before. The lines around the corners of his eyes added character, and the scar on his chin made her want to reach out and touch it.
As quickly as the thought sprang into her mind, she pushed it away and returned her attention to the road in front of the van.
Ahead, on the left, was a field of long grass with a patch of dirt next to the road. Rusted metal lay in a heap in the middle of the dirt.
“There!” Angela pointed to the dirt road past the tank track. “Turn there.”
Diesel only slowed enough to negotiate the turn and then sped along the bumpy road, barely more than a rutted track.
Big Jake’s brow crinkled as he glanced her way. “Are you sure this is the way?”
“Positive.” She nodded toward a blue tin shack. “I remember that blue building.”
“And the one with the orange roof,” Brenda added, pointing to the structure.
“The village is another mile or more along this road, and it’s tucked into the side of a hill.”
“As long as the dust settles before the rebel attackers get to where we turned off, they won’t have a clue we came this way.”
“If the dust settles,” T-Mac said.
Angela glanced back at the cloud of dust rising up behind them.
Buck touched her arm. “It’ll settle.”
She gave him a hint of a smile and turned away. So many forgotten emotions welled up inside her. Why did he have to come back into her life? Why now? But if he hadn’t, she might be dead. The protest she’d staged against the local government could have ended a lot worse. She prayed the women who’d gone along with her had made it back to safety.
Leaving behind the refugees she’d grown to care for was killing her. But like Brenda had said, she couldn’t help people if she was dead.
Soon, they came to the little village tucked into the side of a hill. Shacks and huts lined the road, with barely clothed children playing outside.
“Let me out,” Angela said. “I’ll speak to Abu Hanafi. He might not want us in his village if we bring trouble with us.”
“Tell him we won’t stay any longer than it takes to get airlifted out,” Big Jake said. “And we’ll arrange pickup away from his village so as not to draw too much attention to it.”
Angela nodded and hopped out of the van. Buck followed.
“It might be better if I go alone,” Angela said.
“Not happening.” He gripped her elbow and marched forward.
Angela shrugged free of his hand. Every time he touched her, that same jolt, like an electrical current, ran through her, reminding her of the connection they’d had when they were much younger.
She tightened her jaw. That was the past. “I got along fine without you for six months in this country. I can do this on my own.”
“Then do it on your own, just with me. I won’t say a word. You’ll barely know I’m there.”
She snorted. “You’re over six feet tall. Much taller than many of the people in this village. I think I’ll notice you. And I won’t be the only one.” As much as she protested, she did feel protected when he was around.
Angela led the way to the mud-and-stick building at the center of the little village. A woman wearing a faded red-and-gold dress with a red scarf draped over her head and shoulders stood in the doorway with a toddler on her hip.
With a smile, Angela addressed the daughter of the village elder. “Uluru, how are you and your children?”
She knew from the last time she’d been here that Uluru spoke perfect English she’d learned at a missionary school when she was much younger. At twenty-one years old, she had three children, the youngest of which she was holding.
“They are well. I am teaching Kamal his letters. He will go to school one day.”
Angela nodded. “Your children will be smart as well as beautiful, like their mother.”
She snorted softly. “If they live that long and are not stolen away by Koku’s army.” Uluru moved out of the doorway. “You are here to see my father?”
“Yes,” Angela said.
“And this man with you, who dresses like one of our men?”
“He is my...” Angela almost said boyfriend, but that was so many years ago.
“I’m her fiancé,” Buck said and cupped Angela’s elbow. “We are to be married soon.”
Angela swallowed hard to keep from disagreeing out loud. Now that he’d said it, she couldn’t deny it without appearing wishy-washy in front of Uluru and her father.
Uluru’s gaze swept over Buck from head to toe before she nodded. “As the doctor’s betrothed, you are welcome in our home.”
Inside, the structure was cast in shadow, with no electrical lighting in use.
Uluru passed through the house and out into a small courtyard where an old man, dressed all in white much like Buck, sat cross-legged on the ground in the shade of a tree.
Angela waited for the man to invite her forward.
When he did, she sat cross-legged across from him, and Buck sat beside her.
Uluru joined them, setting the toddler on his feet. The child wandered off to play with a stick.
Angela studied the man, searching his face for any signs of illness. “You are well?” she asked.
Abu Hanafi nodded, his gaze going to Buck and back to Angela. “Who is this white man who dresses like one of our people?”
Buck sat up straight, meeting the man’s gaze with a strength and confidence Angela had to admire. “I am Dr. Vega’s fiancé.”
The elder continued to stare at Buck for a long moment, as if sizing him up. Finally, he gave a single nod. “Why are you here?”
Angela realized the elder wasn’t speaking to her, but to Buck. In deference, she let Buck respond.
“There was an attack on the government building in Bentiu. We believe it was Koku. Then his men attacked the refugee camp,” Buck said. “My men and I got Dr. Vega and her nurse out before they could be harmed. We all need a place to hide until after the sun sets, at which time we will leave.”
Abu Hanafi’s brow furrowed. “You have brought danger to my village?”
“We hope not,” Buck said. “But we will leave as soon as we can.”
“Or we could leave now, if you think we have endangered your people,” Angela said softly.
A long silence stretched between the elder, Angela and Buck. Finally, Abu Hanafi nodded. “You will stay until dark. However, if trouble follows you, you will leave sooner. Too many of our children have been stolen by Koku and his men.”
“Koku has taken children from your village?” Buck questioned.
“He takes our young boys to fill his army,” the elder said. “We are forced to hide them in the bushes when Koku is in the area.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Angela said. “I wish we could do something to stop him.”
“You have to know where to find him,” Buck said, “in order to do anything to stop him.”
Once again, Abu Hanafi studied Buck. “You are not a doctor.”
Buck shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You are an American soldier?”
Buck tensed beside Angela. “No, sir.”
That penetrating gaze pinned Buck to his spot. But Buck wasn’t giving the man any more than he already had. “Sir, we should move our vehicle before Koku’s people see it and report back to him.”
Abu Hanafi waved his hand. “Go.”
When Angela rose to her feet, he touched her arm. “My people owe you a debt we cannot repay.”
“You owe me nothing,” Angela assured him.
The elder dipped his head. “I can only repay you in friendship.”
“Which is the most important payment of all.” She held out her hand to the man. He took it in both of his. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
Uluru led them through the house and back to the van. “You can park in the trees at the base of the bluff,” she said.
“Thank you.” Angela strode back to the van, anxious to get away from Buck and the chemistry he seemed to be stirring up inside her. The faster they resolved the issue with Koku, the quicker she could get back to helping others.
She hoped it happened sooner rather than later, because all those old feelings she’d had back in medical school seemed to be bubbling up inside. Losing him the first time had been bad enough. She feared the more time she spent with Buck, the more dangerous he became.
To her heart.
Chapter Three (#ulink_06382241-6ec6-58b1-8ae7-2857d80dc565)
Buck and Angela returned to the van, where several of the SEALs stood outside the vehicle.
Having taken over the conversation with Abu Hanafi, Buck allowed Angela to take the lead this time.
“We can stay only until after dark,” Angela jumped in without preamble. After informing them of where Uluru had indicated they could park the van out of sight of the road, Angela announced, “I’ll walk.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Buck said.
The only hint she wasn’t happy with his announcement was the tightening of her lips. “Suit yourself.” And she started toward the hillside.
Diesel cranked the van’s engine, the SEALs piled in and the van passed Angela and Buck on the way to the hiding place.
Angela waited until the people in the van were well out of hearing distance before she said, “Did you ever consider I might not want you to walk with me?”
“Yes.” He lifted a shoulder. “And I ignored it. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you anywhere alone.”
“You left me in Chicago,” she shot back.
The anger and hurt in Angela’s voice twisted a knife in Buck’s gut. “We’re in South Sudan, a volatile nation filled with murderous people” was all he could push past the tightness in his throat.
“Like Chicago?” Again, she was quick with her comebacks. Sadly, she was right.
“I had reasons for leaving when I did,” he said.
Angela spun around in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. “I wouldn’t know, now would I?” She poked a finger at his chest. “Because you didn’t bother to tell me what they were, or even that you were leaving. I had to find out from your roommate, after you were long gone.” She smacked her palm flat against his chest. “You’d think any kind of man would have the decency to tell his girlfriend he was skipping town, quitting college and joining the navy. But then, you weren’t even decent—”
Buck grabbed the woman’s arms and yanked her against him, crushing her lips with a bruising kiss. He’d never wanted to leave her, would rather have slit his own throat than hurt her. And now, seeing her in front of him, her eyes alight with fury, her cheeks blooming with righteous indignation, he couldn’t resist.
This was the woman he’d never been able to forget. The kiss started out raw and angry but quickly turned hungry and desperate. He remembered her lips, the way they felt beneath his mouth, the curve of her body against his and the way she leaned into him when she gave her whole self to the kiss.
At first she was stiff in his arms, her palms on his chest. But she didn’t push him away. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she loosened up until she was leaning into him, giving back every bit as much as he gave.
When at last he was forced to surface for air, he drew in a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers.
