Soldier of Fortune by Diana Palmer Page B

felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted was to lie down and forget the past two days altogether.
    “I’m so tired,” Martina murmured. “Can’t we rest?”
    “Soon,” J.D. said, gently now. “Just a little longer, honey.”
    “Okay, big brother. I’ll trudge along. Gabby, are you holding up okay?”
    “Yes, thanks, Martina.”
    There was a sudden crackling sound and J.D. and the others whirled with their guns leveled as Apollo came leaping through the growth, grinning.
    “We’re clear!” he shouted.
    “What about the men in the terrorist camp?” Gabby asked.
    “They scattered,” First Shirt replied. “The government troops would have shot them if they’d found them.”
    “How sad for them,” Martina said, but her eyes flashed. “I do not pity them, not after the ordeal they put me through. Oh, I want my Roberto!”
    “We’ll send for him the minute we get to my
finca,
” Laremos promised her. “The very minute.”
    Gabby dropped back to put a comforting arm around the smaller, older woman and smiled reassuringly. “It won’t be long,” she said.
    “Absolutely,” Laremos agreed. “There. We are home.”
    The
finca
looked so good that Gabby wanted to kiss it. The outside bore no marks of violence, but inside it was a different story. The furniture was wrecked, the floors scarred. Laremos’s dark eyes glittered as he saw the evidence of the brief occupation.
    “I’m sorry about your house,
señor,
ȁ Martina said gently.
    “
Señora,
that you are safe is the most important thing,” Laremos said with pride, turning to bow in her direction. “My poor house can be repaired. But your life, once lost, would not have been restored.”
    “I owe you a great debt,” Martina said. Her clothes were torn and her hair hung in wild strands. But she looked spunky for all that. She reached up and kissed Laremos on his tan cheek.
“Muchas gracias.”
    Laremos looked embarrassed. “My pleasure,
señora.
I regret that I could not have done more.”
    “Is everybody all right?” Gabby asked, looking around at the battle-scarred little group with concerned eyes.
    “Gabby, you’ll spoil us if you worry about us,” Apollo said, chuckling.
    “Not me.” First Shirt glowered at Apollo. “Worry all you want, Gabby. I’ll just sit here like a sponge and soak it up.”
    The others joined in, all except J.D. He kept to himself, looking dangerous and unapproachable until Martina and Gabby left to go up to the room Gabby had shared with him.
    “A bath.” Martina sighed, taking advantage of the facilities. “I feel so dirty!”
    “It must have been horrible,” Gabby said, digging out fresh clothes.
    “Not as horrible as it could have been. I wasn’t abused, at least. That surprised me.” She came out of the shower minutes later, toweling her long hair dry. “Your turn. I imagine you feel as mucky as I did.”
    “Yes, I do.” Gabby laughed. “My shoulder hurts and I feel shaky all over.”
    “You saved J.D.’s life,” was Martina’s quiet comment. “I can never thank you enough for that. But don’t expect him to,” she added dryly. “I think his pride’s dented. He’s very quiet.”
    “He’s been through a lot. They all have. What a great bunch of guys,” she said fervently.
    “Tell me!” Martina laughed, and despite the weariness in her drawn face, there was joy. “I’d like to kiss every one of them twice. I can’t tell you how I felt when I saw J.D. come breaking in that door! Wasn’t it lucky that he had that military training?”
    Obviously Martina didn’t know everything about J.D.’s past, and Gabby wasn’t about to betray him. “It sure was,” she agreed and disappeared into the bathroom.
    Her shoulder was turning blue, but she was grateful to be alive. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done. It had been pure instinct when she saw the weapon pointing at J.D. Let him be angry at her—she couldn’t be sorry about what she’d done. Even if the man had shot her,