also made Maddie wonder what her poor twin’s fate had been. She was certain Mary Beth had to have seen the soldier jump out of the aircraft and seize her. Was it possible Mary Beth was already in the commander’s office now pleading for her release? Or had Mary Beth gone back to Roswell to enlist the help of local authorities?
Which might not be a good thing, Maddie reminded herself with a frown. The local sheriff probably wouldn’t be any more lenient about her trespassing than the captain had been. A convicted felon certainly wouldn’t be a prime candidate for a federally-funded research team. Although making the research team was the least of her worries at the moment. Thanks to her own stupidity, she could possibly end up with a new wardrobe of striped prison clothes and staring out at the world from behind bars.
Maddie was still mentally kicking herself for being such an idiot when Sergeant Baker stopped in front of a door, opened it and pushed her inside a darkened room.
She blinked when he switched on the light.
The captain’s living quarters were certainly nothing like the barracks Maddie had seen portrayed on TV and in the movies. “How does Captain Hawkins rate his own suite at this inn?” Maddie wondered aloud.
As usual, Baker refused to answer.
She took another look around the room. The accommodations certainly weren’t elaborate. The walls were cement blocks and painted a puke-green, and to her dismay there wasn’t a window in sight. The main room was large enough for a sitting area, but the love seat and matching recliner had seen better days. A sagging bookshelf to her left held a TV, VCR and what looked like a CD player. A metal table and two metal folding chairs sat on the opposite side of the room. There was also a small apartment-size refrigerator. Instead of the standard military-issue cot, Maddie could see a double bed in an adjoining room.
She assumed the closed door off the bedroom led to the captain’s private bath. And a bathroom was certainly something she could use at the moment. Not only was she covered in dust and grime from head to toe, but her scrapes and scratches shouldn’t go long without attention. The way her luck had been going, gangrene could set in at any moment.
Maddie glanced at her bodyguard. “Does Captain Hawkins have his own private bath?”
“Off the bedroom.”
“And may I use that facility?”
Baker nodded.
“Alone?”
Baker blushed.
“Don’t you need to search the bathroom first?” Maddie jeered. “Make sure I can’t shimmy out a window or something?”
She’d only been joking, but to her surprise Baker motioned her in the direction of the bathroom. Only when they were standing side by side and peering into the small bathroom did he nod his approval. “Help yourself,” Baker said with a goofy smile. “I didn’t think there were any windows in this old block building, but thanks for reminding me to check it out.”
“You aren’t welcome!” Maddie stomped inside the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She could hear the sergeant chuckling to himself as the sound of his footsteps left the bedroom. It irritated her that the big buffoon thought the situation was funny, but at least he’d had the decency to allow her a little privacy. Reaching down, Maddie locked the bathroom door just to be safe, then stood staring at herself in the small mirror above the sink.
Completely covered in dirt, Maddie decided she looked like one of those old Vaudeville comedians in black face makeup.
“God, I’m a mess.” She bent forward and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. The sand that peppered the basin made her yearn for a hot shower. The thought of stripping naked in the captain’s private bathroom, however, made Maddie more than a little apprehensive. Especially with the off-the-wall scenarios that seemed to spring to mind every time she thought about the handsome devil.
Like now.
Maddie could picture herself waterlogged and withered after spending hours waiting naked under a spray of water that had long since grown cold. Waiting. Hoping. Praying her mysterious kidnapper would finally burst into the bathroom to see if she had somehow managed to escape. He would throw back the curtain and grin wickedly when she only halfheartedly tried to cover herself. And then he would step into the shower with her and pull her naked, quivering body…
You, my dear, are a certifiable nut case!
Hoping to cool herself off from that mental image, Maddie jerked a towel from the towel bar, wet it thoroughly, then mopped it slowly over her dust-splattered face. The amount of grime and dirt she was leaving behind on his own personal towel made her smile.
After cleansing her injuries as best she could with a basin-type bath, Maddie studied the medicine cabinet above the sink. She had never been one of those nosey people who secretly went through other people’s medicine cabinets.
But under the circumstances?
Well, it was the captain’s own fault she needed medical supplies, she reasoned.
Boldly reaching out, Maddie opened the door and peered inside. The usual male toiletries stared back at her. His toothbrush and toothpaste told her even a big, strong soldier like him was just as concerned about the threat of gingivitis as everyone else. There was a can of shaving foam and a fancy-looking razor for that heavy stubble she had noticed earlier. And he evidently preferred aftershave to cologne, though his brand wasn’t cheap; Ralph Lauren would have been proud. Picking up the bottle, Maddie’s intention was to take a quick sniff.
She froze the second she saw the box of condoms.
Shoving the bottle back in place, Maddie slammed the cabinet door and stood staring into the mirror wondering how such a promising day had turned crazy on such short notice.
Instead of aliens, an overzealous Air Force Captain had snatched her out of the desert, destroyed her precious film and was holding her captive in his own private living quarters. Yet, was she fearing for her own safety? Was she worrying that her abductor might be summoning up just cause to put her behind bars?
Nope. She wasn’t even thinking up ways she might strangle Captain Hawkins for all the trouble he had caused her. Instead Maddie’s newly liberated mind kept flirting with the possibility of how much fun it might be to wrangle him out of those camouflage fatigues purely for her own pleasure and amusement.
“Who are you?” Maddie demanded of her reflection.
She hurried from the bathroom when the woman Maddie no longer recognized sent back an imaginary wink from the captain’s bathroom mirror.
BRAD STEELED HIMSELF against the long stream of curse words coming from his commander’s bared lips. With a grimace, Brad said, “With your permission, sir, I’ll beef up security. Now that the sister has involved the local authorities, it’s only a matter of time until the media starts questioning whether we’re really out here on routine maneuvers as we claim.”
“Well, let them question all they want,” Gibbons bellowed. “Just don’t let anyone step foot on this base.”
Brad nodded, feeling completely chastised.
The old man, as he was respectfully called by the men who served under him, had asked for Brad specifically on this final assignment that would take Gibbons into
