Rebel Heart

Elise sheathed her weapon with a glance at him. She gave a sigh of disgust and retreated.

"You always give me the misfits, sir," she tossed over her shoulder. "Welcome aboard, Major."

The general's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Brady jostled Lana's still body in his arms as he rose. He climbed over the boulders. One of Elise's men was waiting with a gurney. Brady placed her on it and gripped the handle, walking towards the road. Elise fell into step beside him after checking on Lana.

"Stupid civilian," she muttered, though he heard the concern in her voice.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"She's the Supreme Operations Specialist here on site. She controls everything, the East Coast infrastructure, the emerops depots, the recovery effort," Elise replied. "Good woman, disciplined and smart. Greenie pushes her around."

"He's the former supreme commander," Brady said. "It's his job."

"You army-types are different."

"What was so important she flung herself off a cliff to get it?"

Elise gave him a sidelong glance. "Here's a friendly warning: there are a lot of secrets up here you normal army-types don't need to know."

"We're part of your outfit now," Brady reminded her.

"That's what Greenie said."

She said nothing more, and they strode up the winding road to the medical facilities. Brady lifted Lana gently off the gurney and entered, following Elise through the waiting area into the bay beyond. Dan lay on one bed, asleep.

"Doc!" Elise shouted. "C'mon, Doc!"

Brady set Lana down on a bed and stepped back. She was the opposite of Elise: delicate and sweet, quiet and soft-spoken. He brushed hair away from Lana's pale face. Whatever the madman Arnie had in his hand had provoked her gentle spirit into action he would not otherwise think her capable of.

She wasn't the kind of woman who would ever belong in his world. Where that thought-or his sudden disappointment-came from, he didn't know.

"Doc!"

"I'm here, Elise," the same man who greeted them at the gate said with some irritation as he entered through a side door.

"I want updates hourly," Elise ordered.

"I'll contact you when she wakes," the doctor replied, unfazed.

Elise turned her attention on Brady. "The barracks are by the helipad by the cliff. Or do you prefer to stay with your friend?"

He nodded.

"All right. Hourly, doc."

The doctor ignored her, and Elise left.