Page 11 of Her Devoted HERO

“He won’t be able to tell you shit, if you let him die,” Dex ground out. “Pull out the glass.”

“Bill, if you want help, you’ll tell me the passwords,” she hissed at her husband.

Dex stared in amazement at the woman who had a mixture of blood and spittle dripping down her face. Was she crazy?

“Lady, he’s going to die!”

“Then he better answer quick!”

Bill turned to Dex. “Save my daughters.”

“Don’t you dare die,” the woman yelled.

“Coming in,” Gray said through the earpiece. Dex felt a gust of night air as the tent opened and Gray knelt beside him. He had a tourniquet ready. Dex drew out the glass, and Gray applied it. But it was too late. The blood had stopped pumping.

Dex put his hand over the man’s open eyes and closed them.

“What are you doing? Stop that!” Mrs. Anders cried.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” Gray said. “He’s dead. We need to get you and your daughters back home.”

“He can’t be dead. I need the passwords!”

Her shrill voice made Dex wince.

“Is she for real?” Gray asked Dex.

He gave a short nod, then asked. “What’s the status?”

“We’ve taken out everyone but the women. Including El Mahdy.”

Behind him, he heard a thud. He turned in time to see Mrs. Anders hitting her husband’s corpse. The woman was fucked in the head.

“Lady, what are you doing?” Gray demanded.

“He left me with nothing!” she wailed.

“What about your daughters? Aren’t you going to ask about them?” Dex demanded

Her hands went limp against the man’s naked body. Her eyes slid to Gray, and even in the darkness, Dex could see the insincerity. “Are Lottie and Clara okay?” she whispered. “I’d die if something bad happened to them.”

Gray took his time answering. Finally, he said, his voice laced with contempt, “they’re fine.” He turned to Dex. “Aiden called for an evac. They should be here within the hour.”

Dex nodded. He heard another thud behind him as she hit her husband’s body one last time.

Chapter Three

Dex,

So, you don’t think that SailorBoy and Poppy would make a cute couple, huh? I don’t know, think about it. We could get matching tattoos. We could get license plates with each other’s handles. I really think you should consider it.

No?

Okay. But if you insist on daring me, then expect to get every single piece of Popeye or Aqua man memorabilia that I can find on E-Bay.

I didn’t realize you were cocky. I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s kind of like arrogant, which can be a turn-off. But you were so darned amusing, and nice, so here I am drinking a glass of wine and typing. Yep, almost as bad as drinking and texting.

Damn! I think I’m in over my head.