Page 40 of Her Wicked Hero

“Quit giving my fiancé a hard time,” Hunter admonished as he walked up and put his arm around Aliana. She stood up straight and shrugged out of Hunter’s hold.

“Zed, what I want to get for you is a quick kick in the ass for getting injured and worrying my man.”

Zed laughed. He liked this new level of spunk. It reminded him of Marcia. He looked over at Hunter. Now, Marcia he could safely ask about in front of Aliana.

“Where’s Marcia? She was injured too.”

“She’s still in town answering questions,” Hunter answered carefully.

“How long have I been here? How many days have they been asking her questions?” Zed pushed himself up on the bed as well as he was able.

“You probably shouldn’t be moving. Aliana rushed forward. “You’ve only been here since last night.”

He continued to prop himself up on his elbows and squint at Hunter. “How long has Marcia been in custody?”

Hunter got up and draped his arm around Aliana. “Zed, get real, she’s not in custody. She’s nobody’s prisoner. She’s just answering a few questions.”

“How many days?” Zed asked again in a low rumble.

Hunter looked down at Aliana.

“Uhm,” Hunter hesitated.

“This is my signal to leave,” Aliana sighed softly. “Zed, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” She turned to Hunter and kissed his cheek. “Don’t wear him out,” she said forcefully. “I don’t care how much information he wants, he needs his rest.”

She headed for the door, and Zed remembered his manners. “Aliana,” Zed called out.

She turned and smiled at him. “Yes?”

“Thanks for the flowers.”

“It was Hunter’s idea,” she said as she walked out the door.

“She’s been hanging out with the team more, hasn’t she?” Zed chuckled wryly.

“Yep. She’s turning into a smartass,” Hunter grinned broadly.

“Now, tell me, how many days has Marcia been answering questions?”

“What happened out in the jungle between you and Marcia Price?” Hunter countered.

“That’s not relevant. Just answers my question.” Zed’s strength gave out and his head hit the pillow. Hunter leaned over and adjusted the bed, so Zed was in more of a sitting position,

“Is that better?” Hunter asked.

“Answer my goddamn question.”

“She’s been answering questions since she got stateside which was three days ago. Brockman didn’t know what was going on with her because she didn’t tell him, and all he cared about was getting home to Virginia, so his youngest daughters could visit him in the hospital there. I’m sure if he was running on all cylinders, he would have put a stop to Homeland Security putting the screws to Marcia.”

“Why did they?”

“As soon as she mentioned a man named Jefferies, all bets were off. He’s way above our pay grade.” Hunter picked up the cup again and started to put the straw to Zed’s lips.

“Give that to me.”

Hunter chuckled and carefully placed the cup in Zed’s hand.

Zed grimaced when his hand trembled as he held the cup and straw one handed up to his mouth. His other damn arm was useless because it was connected to an IV and some kind of space-aged monitoring system. Hunter took the cup back and placed it on the nightstand when Zed was through, then pulled up a chair and sat down.