Surprisingly, she had been enthralled by Jason’s glib tale about the quaint small town and its foibles. Not that she’d liked hearing about murders and strange shapeshifter groupies, but the way Jason had described the amazingly squirrely people had captured her interest.
But on the way back, it seemed as though he’d exhausted his interest in the town—and her.
Even so, their being cooped up in the small cab of that truck hadn’t seemed uncomfortable.
Sara hadn’t let it.
Her verbal encouragement hadn’t spurred Jason to tell more stories about Mary Glen, or even himself. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to her about his shapeshifting. Maybe then he would have had to explain what Alpha Force was really about.
And Sara would have enjoyed hearing it. Been relieved, in fact, to learn the secrets.
She had other questions about him, too. Why had he joined the military at all? He didn’t seem enthralled by it. Was it simply to join this team of military shapeshifters?
But he was a noncommissioned officer, and many other members of Alpha Force whom she’d met so far were lieutenants and above. Why was he different?
She didn’t ask. Not now. And when Jason stayed quiet, Sara had started talking about herself—and how she had become General Yarrow’s aide. She’d first gotten her undergraduate degree in political science at Kent State University, where she’d also joined ROTC. She’d always wanted to give back to her country, plus she loved the order of the military. She’d planned early on to make it her career.
She didn’t mention, though, that Alan, her college boyfriend, had thought her nuts and kept trying to get her to do things outside the box. All he did was make her feel uncomfortable.
One night she’d joined Alan at a party and found him drinking, indulging in “recreational” drugs—and making out with another woman. That ended their relationship. And Sara hadn’t been seriously interested in another man since then.
Which was a good thing, especially now. She would never get involved with someone like Jason. She was superior in rank to him. She had the honor of being an aide to a general, and Jason fixed cars.
And, worst of all, he was an amazingly genuine shapeshifter.
His sexy, amusing demeanor didn’t make up for any of that.
“I’d really like to know more about Alpha Force,” she finally finished. “And what makes it tick. General Yarrow is really proud to be the unit’s commanding officer and always hinted broadly at its...unusual characteristics. One thing I do like is the camaraderie among its members.” Although she knew she’d have to remind herself more than once that it was okay to call other members here by their first names instead of their ranks, as she did sometimes in private with her mentor, Greg Yarrow. She’d slipped, though, out of fear for him earlier today, but she wouldn’t do it again.
Alpha Force was military, but its members clearly were less formal than any other unit she had associated with.
Jason shot a quick glance at her then—just as he flipped on the truck’s turn signal.
They were back at Ft. Lukman, and he was about to enter the part of the road nearest the entry—just beyond where they’d first seen General Yarrow’s car on fire.
Jason slowed down again, as if seeking clues. Or avoiding those stones on the road. Or both.
Sara couldn’t help it. She looked around, too. The area was surrounded by trees similar to those they’d passed all along the drive. Could someone have shot something from the cover of the forest that set the Jeep’s canvas on fire?
But wouldn’t the guard in the kiosk have seen it?
Maybe it had been completely accidental. Maybe the people studying what was left of the vehicle would find an indication of what the general had been storing in the back that caught fire. Or maybe he was a closet smoker—though she’d been around him a lot over the past months and had seen, and smelled, no indication of that. And surely the vehicle would have been designed, for safety, for its canvas cover to withstand being hit by a lit butt, just in case.
Still, it seemed awfully coincidental for it to start burning in earnest, however it caught fire, just when the general entered Ft. Lukman.
Jason stopped at the kiosk. As he showed credentials to the guard who greeted them, Sara jumped as she heard a rapping on the passenger window beside her. She looked over.
It was Major Connell. She immediately pressed the button to roll the window down.
“Good,” said the major. “You’re back.”
Sara felt herself quiver in anticipation. Had something else bad happened? Before asking, she looked around.
The hulk of General Yarrow’s car was still there in the spot ahead of them. A couple of soldiers stood by it, rifles at their shoulders, obviously guarding the vehicle’s corpse.
With the truck she rode in, there was a means of moving it to an out-of-the-way spot for further study before official disposal.
For now, though, Jason would have to steer around it.
But not immediately.
Sara stared back out the window toward Drew. “Is the general—” she began.
“He’s doing okay. He wants to see you and me at the hospital ASAP.”
“Fine.” But Sara darted a glance toward Jason. “Only—”
“I’ll get some of the guys to help me move the damaged car onto the ramp back there,” he said, casually gesturing toward the back of the truck. He didn’t seem at all perturbed that she’d be deserting him this quickly.
Which shot a bolt of unanticipated sorrow through Sara.
She hadn’t planned on being with Jason for this amount of time.
She certainly hadn’t planned on enjoying it.
But this just might be the only opportunity she would ever have to spend time with this appealing, sexy—and unattainable—man.
Ever.
And now it was over.
Chapter 5
General Yarrow’s hospital room didn’t impress Sara as looking any more exciting than any other hospital room she’d ever visited, except for its privacy. It was compact, with a single bed—which the general occupied—and two windows along one wall where the blinds had been opened, spilling light inside. The illumination struck the small chest of drawers where patients or their families could stow belongings. A TV hung overhead on the far wall. There were chairs—four of them, occupied now, including the one where Sara sat nearest to the general’s right hand.
Appropriate, she realized.
It was all she could do to prevent herself from taking that hand in hers. To reassure him that everything would be okay.
Ridiculous.
