Red-Hot Santa by Tori Carrington Page A

stopping what had already started, was hurting him. Go figure.
    An immediately recognizable light of hope sparked in her green eyes.
    He forced himself to look away.
    The satellite phone rang. He turned and answered it, pacing some ways away first.
    “Got it,” Linc said.
    Two minutes later he had a plan. It wasn’t an ideal one. But it would get them all out of there alive and in one piece.
    Which was more than anyone had expected a half hour ago.
    Pointedly ignoring Max, he slid the phone into his sack and then hoisted it onto his shoulders.
    “We’re out of here. Let’s go…?.”

14
    MAX’S BONES SAGGED as she exited the military transport plane and descended the stairs to the Colorado Springs tarmac. The December wind blew hard, freezing her teeth, reminding her Christmas was next week…and that the cold outside had nothing to do with the cold that gripped her from within.
    They’d left with sixteen and returned with eight. Polson was the only surviving member from the other team.
    The reality ripped straight through her.
    She’d confronted some pretty hairy situations during her six-year stint in the service, but nothing that resulted in such a high mortality rate. While still in the thick of things, you learned to push such realities aside, adrenaline helping keep you focused.
    But now that she was home and reality was more about Christmas carols and colored lights, the contrast made her dizzy.
    As did Jackson’s odd behavior.
    She watched him as he shook hands and shared a hug with a tall, dark man near the arrivals building. Was he the one responsible for helping with their exit? She’d chance a yes. While she’d like nothing better than to express her appreciation for the man’s assistance, right now she didn’t think she could handle any more icy treatment from Jackson for fear she might shatter.
    She guessed it went without saying she was grateful…?.
    Back in the clearing in that godforsaken, hostile-filled jungle, Polson had balked at the thought of more hiking when Jackson had issued a curt, “Let’s go.” Max reminded Polson that even if they had to make wings out of feathers they found on the ground and fly out of there, they would do what it took.
    Of course, she’d had no idea at the time that the journey ahead of them would be as long as the journey behind them. They’d trekked fifteen klicks toward the coast, one of the most dangerous hot spots for warlord activities, ditching their sacks and all but the most basic of their weaponry outside town before going in to rendezvous with their contact. Polson had nearly shit himself when they’d approached a group of well-armed men who looked much like the hostiles they’d already encountered. In fact, Max wouldn’t be surprised if they’d been connected to the same gang.
    It was the largest of the men Jackson had spoken to. And within moments, all eight of them were being led to a large compound within the city.
    Polson hadn’t wanted to enter. Max had to admit she was a little leery about subjecting herself to further scrutiny, especially since the all-male army appeared very interested in her and Taylor.
    But she trusted Jackson. And after meeting with what appeared to be one of the high commanders, they were driven to the coast where they caught a boat transport to meet up with another, captained by people Jackson appeared to know.
    Within twenty-four hours, they were safe and stateside.
    Strangely, Max wouldn’t have minded being still trapped in that jungle together, hostiles and all, so long as it meant Jackson would look at her again…?. Touch her…?.
    “Maxine!”
    She was startled to hear her name called the instant she walked inside the arrivals hub. She had to blink three times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things as her mother rushed up to hug her.
    The extreme shift of emotion caught her off guard. She dropped her gear and hugged her mother back in a way she couldn’t remember doing since she was a kid, allowing