Deathwatch by Dana Marton Page B

upload a recent photo, or as many photos as they have from social services. Then I do the thing that cops do when they age kidnap victims to show what they would look like years later, except I do it backwards. It's not very hard. There's an app that does that. I post a picture of what the kid would have looked like two years ago, four, as a baby. Put some fun backgrounds on their page, like horses if that’s what they like, or fire engines.”  
    She smiled, relaxed for a change, excitement shining in her eyes instead of wariness. She was a pretty hot babe on her average day, but just now she was a total knockout and Murph suddenly found it hard to breathe as he watched her speak. This was how she should be, always, doing what she loved, and not running scared, he thought.
    “ I put up a time line with the pictures, big birthday cakes showing the birthdays. The kids love looking at their page. It helps them process their life and their losses. They have the account forever. Foster parents can keep up and keep adding photos and memories.”  
    As Murph watched her, it occurred to him that she was pretty remarkable. “You had a rough time as a kid.”
    “ I had good people coming into my life, and they made it okay. They made it better.” She shrugged, as if shaking off her dark memories. Then she busied herself setting the table.  
    He had a feeling she hadn’t meant to tell him as much as she had.
    “ The life books sound like a good idea. Something that’s needed.” He gave her credit. “How did you come up with something like that?”  
    “ I took a business course in college and the final assignment was to create a business idea and make a business plan for it.”  
    She shrugged. “I got a C minus. The professor said there was no way to make money on it. He was right. The birth parents couldn’t care less, and the foster parents get so little money from the government it doesn’t even cover the basic necessities. But I knew I could make a difference for some of the kids, so eventually I set up the site and made it free.”
    She was different from most women he knew. She gave up being with her family to keep them safe. Okay, most people would sacrifice for family, but she went out of her way for complete strangers, spent time helping kids she would never meet.
    He felt attraction since he'd first laid eyes on her. Now it mixed with frank admiration. And, for the first time, Murph understood how or why a man could fall hard enough to give up his freedom.
    He could understand it, but it still wasn’t going to happen to him.
    He was going to make sure nothing happened to Kate while she lived under his roof, then see her safely on her way.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    The Middle Eastern sun was beating down on the eight-man team so hard, Murph felt like his liver was about to bake. But he didn’t have to wipe his brow. They didn’t sweat, not in this heat. Moisture evaporated as soon as it formed on their skin. Their military T-shirts had white rings around the neck and underarms from the salt their dry sweating left behind.
    His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. They’d gone out on morning patrol and had brought four hours’ worth of water. Ten hours later, every drop was finished. The routine patrol turned into a lot more, his team pinned down behind a vineyard’s crumbling wall.
    Curious lizards darted over the cracked mud bricks. They tilted their small heads, stared for a second or two at the American soldiers surrounded by insurgents, then skittered away.
    The team had taken a couple of bad hits. One man had been killed and two were wounded. There was heavier fighting to the south, holding up the reinforcements. The rescue team might not reach them for hours yet.
    A volley of bullets ripped into the wall, sending dust flying over their heads. The insurgents were getting closer. Soon they’d have cover and the angle to make every shot count. Then the Americans could be picked off