11

      AFTER A LONG day of visiting the concert sites, meeting with the USO representatives, and exploring the small bazaar at the center of the base, Kate returned to her housing unit after dinner to find it occupied by her two roommates. Both women were in their forties, and welcomed Kate with a mug of hot tea brewed in an electric kettle that sat on the small side table. The women played characters on a popular sitcom. Kate knew she should recognize them, but she rarely watched television, preferring movies or books when she had any spare time.

      “So, what brings a pretty young thing like you out here all by yourself?” asked Jessica Cochran.

      “You have to ask?” Marion O’Connell gave a suggestive wink. “Have you looked around here? There are literally hundreds of good-looking, hard-bodied young men running around. I’ll tell you what. If I was as young and attractive as Kate, I’d be looking for excuses to come over here on a regular basis!”

      Kate laughed. “Well, I agree that some of the guys are pretty amazing, but I’m hoping this will be my first and last visit.”

      “The USO said you’re a singer?” asked Jessica, sipping her tea.

      “Not me,” Kate said quickly. “I’m Tenley Miles’s publicist. I came over a few days early just to check things out and make sure everything’s ready for her. She flies in tomorrow.”

      “Tenley Miles?” Marion’s face lit up with recognition. “My niece adores her. But wasn’t she involved in some recent scandal?”

      Kate took a gulp of hot tea, hoping to avoid answering, but Marion was going through her mental Rolodex of celebrity scandals until finally her expression registered recognition.

      “I know,” Marion declared in triumph. “She made some disparaging remarks about the military. I’m surprised she wants to come over here and entertain the troops, considering some of the negative things she had to say.”

      “Yes, well that’s why we decided to come,” Kate admitted. “Tenley’s only eighteen and she can be impulsive. She doesn’t really mean what she said, and we’re hoping that this tour will help to demonstrate that.”

      Jessica shook her head and made a tsking sound. “I don’t know. You can do a lot of stupid stuff, but when you start maligning our men and women in uniform, that can be a tough one to recover from.”

      Kate set her cup down. “I think I’ll head over into the shower before it gets too late.”

      “That’s a great idea,” Marion said, putting her own teacup aside. “I hate the thought of walking all that way by myself.”

      “How far is it?” Kate asked. She had been looking forward to calling Chase on his beeper so that he could walk with her.

      “It’s about a ten minute hike,” Jessica replied, gathering her gear together.

      Realizing she had no valid reason to call Chase, Kate reluctantly pulled her toiletries out of her duffel bag, along with a clean change of clothes. It was still light outside as they set off. At the end of the road, they turned left and continued along another row of housing units, until Kate saw the shower facilities in the distance. They passed groups of soldiers, who nodded politely to them, and twice they had to stop so that Marion and Jessica could sign autographs.

      While Kate waited for them, she noticed a female soldier walk past and found herself staring, mainly because she was so tall. Kate guessed the woman was close to six feet, but she walked with a feminine, athletic grace. Rather than the typical camouflage uniform, she wore a green flight suit, and something about her struck Kate as familiar. As the woman drew closer, she looked at Kate and smiled.

      Kate raised a hand in greeting, recognizing the woman as the Black Hawk pilot who had flown both her and Chase from Bagram Air Base to Camp Leatherneck. She watched as Captain Larson stopped outside one of the housing units and fitted a key into the door, opening it and disappearing inside. Kate frowned, wondering if Chase knew that she was at Kandahar. She recalled the way the other woman had looked at Chase when they had boarded the helicopter, making her suspect they might be involved. She couldn’t blame the other woman for ogling Chase; he was pretty hot. But she knew she wouldn’t be the one telling him that Captain Larson was less than a stone’s throw away.

      “Are you okay, hon?”

      Jessica was watching Kate with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

      “I’m fine,” she assured the older woman. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I was wrong.”

      “Well let’s get going. I want to be back in our own little house before it gets dark.”

      Jessica was right; daylight was disappearing, and the temperatures was dropping. But the showers were private and hot, and Kate took her time under the steaming spray until she could hear the other women in the outer changing area.

      Kate quickly dried herself off and got dressed, wrapping a towel around her wet hair for the walk back. When they left the shower facilities, the sun had set and the sky was beginning to darken. Kate listened to Marion and Jessica’s chatter, mostly gossip about the sitcom and who they thought would get the ax next.

      As they turned the corner to the street where Captain Larson’s housing unit was located, Kate saw a familiar figure walking toward them. Chase. Her pulse kicked into overdrive in anticipation and her hand flew self-consciously to the towel wrapped around her head. He was still more than fifty feet away, and hadn’t yet seen her and her companions rounding the corner.

      She couldn’t prevent a smile, and was about to call his name when he suddenly stopped and knocked lightly on Captain Larson’s door. Kate stopped, too, stunned when the pilot opened for him. Unaware that they had an audience, Captain Larson reached up and planted a lingering kiss on Chase’s mouth, before she drew him inside and closed the door quickly behind him. Although the shade in the small window was pulled down, Kate saw a shadow pass in front of it, and then another. But when the two shadows merged, there was no doubt in her mind what was happening behind that closed door, and for a moment she thought she might actually be ill.

      She continued walking, her eyes glued to the silhouette of the embracing couple. As she drew alongside the unit, Kate heard the distinct sound of a man’s voice, followed by Captain Larson’s low, throaty laugh.

      Both Jessica and Marion gave each other knowing looks, and Kate hoped the fading light disguised her own stricken expression. It took all her strength not to race up to the door and