Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(8)

He saw Zed’s eyes narrow, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Meat’s gaze dipped, and he wasn’t surprised to see nothing. He’d felt the bindings around her body. He wondered if it hurt to make herself look as flat as a boy.

“Stand up and walk across the room to prove that you can do it, and I’ll take you back.”

Meat stared at her, wondering if she was telling the truth. Deciding to call her bluff, he nodded. He sat up very slowly and scooted until his back was against the wall behind him. He brought his good leg up and pressed his hands against the crumbling plaster.

Pushing to his feet, Meat swayed. He closed his eyes, trying to get his equilibrium back. His head was pounding so badly, blackness threatened to overtake him. Taking two deep breaths, he managed to beat it down.

When he opened his eyes, he saw both the doctor and Zed still watching him.

The doctor, Daniela, looked smug, and Zed looked nervous. She was chewing on a plump lower lip and wringing her hands in front of her now.

He very slowly moved his right leg forward to take a step—and the second he put weight on it, he crumpled to the floor.

His ribs and shoulder screamed in pain, and he couldn’t stop the vomit from moving up his throat. He puked on the floor, then stilled in a combination of embarrassment, pain, and frustration.

“I’ll clean it up,” he heard Zed say softly, but he didn’t see her come toward him until he felt her hands on his shoulders.

“Come on, shift over to your butt. That’s it. Now lie down. I’ll help you.”

Knowing he’d probably just made his situation worse, not better, he gave himself over to her care. He allowed her to assist him, and he lay there quietly as he tried to overcome the excruciating pain in his head and ankle and ribs.

He was aware of Zed cleaning up his puke and was ashamed that he couldn’t do anything to help. But she didn’t rail against him. Didn’t tell him she was disgusted or in any way make him feel bad for what had happened.

When she was done, she moved his pallet over to where he lay and got him settled once again. Meat finally opened his eyes and looked around the room. Daniela was nowhere to be seen. It was just him and Zed.

He needed answers, and she was the only one who could give them to him.

“Tell me your real name,” he said quietly.

“Zed.”

He shook his head. “No, your real name,” he insisted. “I’m guessing most people don’t look twice at you because of how you present yourself, but it’s obvious that you’re no more a ‘Zed’ than I am a ‘Huntress.’”

She blinked. Then licked her lips, her eyes dropping from his.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m not going to tell anyone. It’s not a secret that I’m not happy to be here. But I don’t hurt women or children. Period.” He stared at her and hoped like hell the sincerity was coming through.

After several minutes, when he didn’t think she was going to say anything, she surprised him.

“It’s Zara.”

“Zara what?”

She blinked again in surprise.

“What’s your last name?” Meat pressed. He wasn’t sure why it was so important she shared that with him, but somehow he knew it was.

“Layne.”

“Zara Layne. It’s pretty,” Meat told her.

She didn’t blush or look away. Instead, she said, “It’s just a name.”

“I’d ask why you don’t use it, but I think I have a good idea.”

She didn’t take the bait and explain, so he continued. “I’m guessing life isn’t easy out there. Especially if you’re a woman. You’re slight, so it’s easy to pass as a boy, but I bet those who bother to get close to you know, don’t they?”

She shrugged.

“Thank you for trusting me with that. I won’t make you regret telling me.” He moved slightly and winced as he jostled his ankle.

“Be still,” Zara admonished.

“I hate this. My friends will be frantic to find me.”

“The military men you were with . . . they knew about the boys.”

His eyes narrowed. “Knew? What do you mean?”

“We’ve seen them in the barrio before. They pay for the children. And if the parents don’t want to sell, they take them anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if they paid Ruben to attack you and your friend. It wouldn’t look good if Americans found out the truth about what they are doing.”

Meat’s mind was whirling. Their handler, Rex, had been working with the Peruvian military and police for a while, and the intel they’d had on this raid had been solid. But if what Zara was saying was true, it made sense why everything had seemed to go sideways once they were in the country.

The men who’d been with them on the raid hadn’t seemed to know much about the barrio they were going into, hadn’t been very forthcoming about how many boys were suspected to be in the hut when they got there. Things had changed so much from minute to minute that the entire team had been extremely uneasy. But because they were already in Peru, and had the approval of the government, the team had decided to go forward.

And the two Brigade members hadn’t seemed worried at all from the start. They’d been laughing and joking right up until the moment they’d entered the decrepit home.