Running Fire. Lindsay McKenna

stock it and bring the shirt back with me.”

      Her spirits rose as she sat down and began to cut the thick fabric, making the trouser length shorter for her legs. Kell’s T-shirt was huge on her, but she wasn’t going to cut it.

      Kell came back about ten minutes later. In one hand, he had a ruck just like the one he wore. In the other, his blouse. He handed it to her.

      “Put it on and I’ll shorten the sleeves for you with the scissors,” he told her.

      Getting up, Leah saw the trousers length was fine. She’d taken dark green nylon rope this morning and fashioned a makeshift belt out of it, the trousers staying around her waist instead of sliding down to her hips. She shrugged into his blouse. It was huge on her, his shoulders were so broad.

      Kell grinned, taking the sleeve that hung below her long, beautiful fingers. “You’re a little thing, aren’t you?” he murmured, quickly cutting away the extra fabric. She turned, holding out the other sleeve.

      “Little but mighty,” Leah said, smiling up at him. If Kell was upset with her going along, he didn’t show it.

      “That you are,” he agreed gruffly, the cuff material falling away.

      “This is fine,” Leah said, her hands visible now. She turned and looked at the ruck. “What’s in it?”

      Kell put the scissors away and walked over to the ruck, opening it up. Kneeling down, he said, “It’s an identical copy to the one I wear. SEALs believe one is bad and two is good. Your ruck is going to weigh around fifty pounds. I’ll transfer most of the mags out of it and into mine. I don’t want you humping sixty or seventy pounds. It will really throw you off your stride and quickly tire you out.” His eyes narrowed. “And you need to remind yourself that you’re not fully recovered yet, Leah. We don’t need to go far tomorrow, which is good, but the heat out there is a killer, too.”

      “As long as I have water and a hat, I’ll be fine.”

      “Ever done any covert intelligence work?”

      “No.”

      Kell double-checked the ruck, took out a boonie hat and then closed it up. “You’re going to have to stay close to me, Leah. There’s a lot to stalking and you’re going to have to learn it on the fly.”

      “I’ll learn, Kell. And I won’t be a pain in the ass.”

      Shaking his head, his lips curved. “You would never be that to me, Leah. Come on, let’s get all your gear ready now before we bed down for the night. Tomorrow, when we get up, we’re going roll fairly quickly, then eat a protein bar once we get set up for the recon.”

      For the next half hour, Leah felt as if she contributed. Used to working as a team, pilot and copilot, she felt excited about being Kell’s partner. An ignorant one, for sure, but she promised herself she’d catch on fast so she wouldn’t be a distraction.

      Finally, she sat down on her bag after everything she needed was nearby. Surprised, Kell came over and knelt down beside her, his face unreadable

      Resting his hands on his thighs, he frowned. “I’m worried because you’ve had a nightmare every night you’ve been here.”

      Leah nodded, feeling guilty. “And that’s not good,” she agreed, apologetic. Voices carried. And in a cave system like this, Leah realized she could possibly alert the enemy to their whereabouts. “What can I do? I know I’m a liability.” Feeling bad, there was no way she wanted to put them at risk. Maybe stuff a sock in her mouth? She cast around for solutions and found none. “Maybe I could go sleep in the other cave?”

      He shook his head. “No. If you screamed like you did last night, Leah, we’ll be in trouble no matter where you’re sleeping.”