Masters at Arms (Rescue Me Saga, #0.5)(6)

He smiled. So na?ve. Innocent. He wondered what her friends called her, but wouldn’t pry. God, the kid wore her heart on her sleeve. She wasn’t going to last long in New York. He worried about her going there and wished he could wake her up with a dose of reality. He’d seen his share of hell in this world and didn’t want her to have to experience it.

“I’m sure you’ve already lined up a place to stay in New York. Right?”

She dodged his gaze. “Well, I figured I’d check in at the YMCA or a youth hostel or something until I find an apartment.”

“Where do you plan to live after that?”

“Soho.” Her eyes lit up.

Shit. A dreamer. She’d probably seen the trendy neighborhood in a movie or music video. “There are lots of clubs in Soho I could get a job at.”

“I see you’ve done some homework.” Not nearly enough, though. “So, what’s an apartment in Soho going for these days?” He had no clue, but figured most places in Manhattan would be way out of range for a teenage runaway.

“Well…” she began, and then looked away, her brow furrowing. “It’s pretty expensive from what I saw on the Web. I’ll probably have to find a roommate or two and share expenses.”

His gut twisted at the vision of her falling into the clutches of another predator at the Port Authority terminal. Yeah, they’d give her a place to stay all right. Fuck. She needed to go back home and spend Thanksgiving with a family that loved her. She didn’t seem to be running away from something so much as running to something. She just didn’t have the patience to wait around to do a little more growing up.

Of course, he’d run away at sixteen himself. He’d had to go through a lot of hell and trouble before he’d found first the Marines and then Joni, both of whom had straightened his ass out.

At least Karla still has family to be with for the holidays.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Just one brother. Ian. He’s in the Army National Guard. That’s why…” she looked down at her backpack and played with the zipper latch.

“Why what?”

She shook her head and smiled, her face flushing.

“C’mon. Tell me.” He grinned. So f*cking hard to believe there was such innocence left in the world. Certainly not in his world. Not anymore.

“Well,” she looked him in the eye, her blue eyes sparkling. She smiled. “That’s why I sat across from you. Your uniform reminded me of Ian’s.”

Khaki looked about the same for either branch. Thank God. Adam didn’t want to think what might have happened if she’d sat somewhere else in the station tonight. If he hadn’t become aware of her predicament in his post-hangover haze.

She sighed. “I miss him.” Adam watched as a single tear trickled down her cheek, leaving a trail of watery mascara.

“Where is he?” God, don’t let him be another fallen hero. They’d lost too many troops in this damned war. He tried to remember if she’d said “is” or “was” in the Army.

“He finished boot camp two months ago. He can’t tell us where he is yet.”

Adam didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until he let it out in a whoosh. “He’s well-trained, I’m sure. Don’t worry about him. He’ll do fine.” Like Adam could be sure of anything these days. But military families had enough to worry about without knowing what was really going on.

“I hope so. Are you a hero, Adam?” She smiled at him just the way Joni had done when he sat at her booth in that restaurant in St. Paul. Her short black waitress skirt had shown off the sexiest legs he’d ever seen. She’d confessed later that his uniform had attracted her, as well. She’d called him her very own hero warrior.

Damn it. I don’t need hero-worship responsibility right now.

“I’m nobody’s hero, hon.” Not even Joni’s. He hadn’t been able to fight the only battle she’d needed him to win for her. Aw, hell, don’t go there again.

“Aren’t your parents going to be upset when they find out you’re gone, too?” He hadn’t meant to be so blunt and felt a pang of guilt when the light went out of her eyes. But at least he’d wiped the hero worship from her gaze.

“They don’t understand.”

“I’ll bet they understand more than you know.”

“No, they…”

She gasped as she looked beyond his shoulder. He looked in the direction of her distressed gaze and saw the pimp had returned with a couple of his thugs.

Adam smiled. Bring it on, boys. I’ve got nothing left to lose.

Then he remembered Karla and knew he couldn’t let them anywhere near her tonight. He turned back toward her.

“Karla, look at me. Now.” When she finally dragged her gaze away from the pimp and his scumbag buddies, Adam said, “Go to the ladies room and stay there until you hear me give you the all-clear. If there’s a lock on the outside door, use it. If not, lock yourself in one of the stalls.” Her blue eyes grew as wide as saucers. She swallowed hard, but sat frozen. Using his master sergeant’s voice, he growled. “Now!” She jumped, and then her blank stare focused on his face a second before her hands clutched her backpack. She ran toward the head.