Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(7)

Anger stirred in Zara’s chest. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to feel any kind of emotion. “I do. And she will.”

She felt more than heard Meat sigh against her back. She felt his arm relaxing around her at the same time Daniela moved. She’d obviously gotten tired of watching and waiting, and now she leapt into action.

Daniela karate-chopped Meat’s ankle, and he roared in pain, immediately letting go of Zara. But instead of grabbing her again and using her as a hostage, he did something she didn’t understand.

He pushed her away from him.

And instead of lunging forward and slamming his huge fist into Daniela’s face, he tried to get away from her. But he didn’t move fast enough.

Because of situations with previous patients who’d been out of their heads with pain, she wasn’t about to back down, more than willing to defend herself and Zara.

She hit his ankle again, and Zara watched as Meat gasped in pain, then his eyes rolled in his head, and he fell backward.

Zara could only stare as Daniela stood, her chest heaving with adrenaline. “Are you all right?”

She nodded.

“Good. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that. Come on, help me get him back into the trailer, and you can dump him in the nearest barrio.”

Zara gasped in surprise.

“Come on! Don’t just sit there, help me.”

Zara found herself moving in front of Meat, blocking Daniela from touching him again. “No.”

“What?”

“He’s hurt. He won’t last an hour in his condition if we leave him out there. He wasn’t hurting me. Just holding on to me as he tried to make sense of his situation.”

Daniela studied her for a long moment, then finally sighed. “I’m not thrilled with this, Zed. If he hurts you, remember I said I told you so. I don’t like being threatened.”

Zara nodded. She understood that, but she’d counted on Daniela’s innate need to help others. She was relieved she hadn’t been wrong.

“Fine, then help me clean his wounds. The last thing he needs is for them to get infected. We’ll splint his ankle, put his shoulder back into place, and we’ll have to make sure to wake him up every hour because of his concussion. I don’t have any painkillers for him, so he’ll just have to go without until he’s well enough to stand up on his own. We’ll get rid of him as soon as possible. I’m guessing two or three days.”

Zara’s heart lurched at hearing that, though she couldn’t understand why.

Meat was a connection to a past she didn’t really remember, didn’t want to remember. She didn’t understand why she felt anything about him or his situation. Especially when she had no doubt that, as soon as he was able, he’d go back to his friends and America.





Chapter Three

Meat woke up yet again in excruciating pain. But this time, he was more aware of what had happened and where he was. He kept his eyes shut after he woke, trying to get as much information about his situation as he could. He’d been stupid, underestimated the Peruvian doctor.

He’d also been strangely distracted by the doctor’s English-speaking helper.

He’d said his name was Zed, but the name didn’t compute with what Meat’s senses were telling him. Yes, he was short and skinny, like a teenage boy would be. He had short, messy brown hair and an attitude that would make him fit right in with most teenagers back in the States.

Meat had initially been confused when he’d heard the assistant’s name was Zed—but his suspicions were confirmed when he’d put his arm around the kid’s neck.

When Zed had been pressed against him, Meat had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that he, in reality, was a she.

Even though she was covered in dirt and wearing a T-shirt three sizes too big and sweatpants that covered every inch of her legs, he’d known.

He wanted to open his eyes, stare into hers, and flat-out ask why she was pretending to be a boy, but he kept very still, taking in as much information as he could before letting anyone know he was awake and aware.

He heard the doctor talking, and then felt what he instinctively knew was “Zed’s” hand against his forehead. She was cleaning his face with a washcloth. She didn’t talk much—he’d noticed that about her even in the few moments he’d spent in her presence—but her voice, when she did speak, also gave her away. It was low, but not low enough for most young males. Her English was only lightly accented, and he wasn’t even sure she was a native Spanish speaker.

Nothing about her added up, and she had his curiosity piqued, to say the least.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to find out any new information by listening, since he didn’t understand Spanish, Meat pretended to slowly wake up. By the time he opened his eyes, both Zed and the doctor were standing across the room from him. They’d obviously learned their lesson about getting too close.

“I need to get out of here,” he said softly.

He saw Zed look at Daniela before turning back to him. “You’re too hurt. Daniela says it’ll be about three days before she thinks you’ll be well enough to fend for yourself.”

“Three days? No fucking way,” Meat said with a shake of his head. “Just drop me off near my team, and I’ll be fine.”