Skeet spun, weapon rising automatically before his brain caught up. Chai had emerged from shadow ten feet away, silent as smoke.
“I was tracking the cat. Leopard, I think. Moved off.”
“Probably just curious about the fire.” Chai joined him at the tree line, both men scanning the darkness. “Time to rotate.”
“I’m good for another hour.”
“You’re good forsleep.” Chai gave him a look that suggested a brawl if Skeet refused. “You can’t protect anyone if you collapse from exhaustion.”
Skeet sighed.
“You’re thinking of Narin.”
He stilled.
Chai shrugged. “Not your fault.”
“Mostly my fault.”
Chai shook his head. “You can’t control other people’s actions. Just what you do about them.”
Skeet narrowed his eyes at Chai.
In the distance, a night bird called—a sharp, piercing cry that echoed through the trees before fading into silence.
“She’s pretty.”
It took a beat.Oh, Chloe.Skeet’s jaw tightened. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Right. And I hadn’t noticed you using the wordwewhen talking about investigating the poisoning.”
Heat climbed his neck. “Figure of speech.”
“Maybe.” Chai settled against a tree trunk, weapon across his knees. “Or maybe you’re doing that thing you do.”
“What thing?”
“Getting involved when you should stay objective.”
And there it was, the underlying accusation.
Skeet blew out a breath. “I’m not involved. I’m doing a job.”
“And now you’re planning to investigate this medical mystery instead of completing your extraction and going home.” He cocked his head. “That sound like staying objective to you?”
“She’s . . . determined.”
“Ah.” Chai nodded. “The kind of woman you like.”
“The kind of woman who drives me crazy.”
“Same thing, for you.”
Before Skeet could respond, a soft sound drifted from their camp. Chloe shifting in the sleeping bag, then a quiet whimper that twisted something in his chest.
Nightmare.Probably reliving Dr. Tobias’s death or the village attack. Her breathing quickened.
“She sounds distressed,” Chai said, and Skeet nodded as he started toward camp.