12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 13

"I don't fancy being stuck out here at nightfall." Marc explained.

"Hear, hear," Twitch cheered seat whilst Carlos remained pressed close to the back of Jules's seat.

Julia turned and regarded Carlos curiously, her brow arching in fake bravado.

Their heads were close together but there was no ounce of sexual tension between them as Carlos saw straight past her defences.

Julia's eyebrow dropped back to its natural resting position as it felt like Carlos could read every thought that had run through her head since she had killed that man.

Every wall she had built up came crumbling down around Carlos, she couldn't help it.

There were times when she may want to kill Marc but she loved him with her entire being despite everything, but that wasn't what she had with Carlos.

The love shared between her and Carlos was strictly platonic yet fierce. They had been through so much that it inconceivable that they wouldn't have a bond, a tie, there.

Carlos's hand slipped forward off the seat and squeezed her shoulder, no words needed between them.

She could see what he would say in his eyes, that it was alright. She had done what she needed to do and hearing it from someone else helped.

She gave him a small smile to let him know that he had reached her and Carlos kept his hand there for a few seconds longer before he pulled it away and sat back in his seat.

"Right, five minutes and I want you back in the jeep." Marc said as the vehicle came to a sudden halt, the tyres skidding slightly.

Carlos and Twitch leapt from car before it had fully stopped leaving Marc and Julia alone as the dust cloud settled around them.

Julia looked over her shoulder at Marc and saw that he was watching her closely.

He had seen the scene between her and Carlos and it wasn't meant not to be seen, there was nothing romantic or secretive them, so Julia just leaned back in her seat and told him that she was going to try and get some sleep.

* * *

Samantha was rushing through her office packing everything she might need away into a black leather satchel when her office door was flung open.

She looked up and saw Michael Truro stood before her, his chest rising and falling as if he had just sprinted to her office from the operations room.

"Did no one teach you to knock before entering a room?" Sam asked him, turning back to her bag as she slipped a file inside it.

"Bugger that," Michael stepped inside her office and shut the door behind him, his eyes were wild as he asked, "Is it true?"

"Yes," Sam looked him straight in the eye, "I'm sorry, but yes it's true that the Spice Girls have broken up."

Sam laughed when Michael sucked his cheeks in, trying to remain calm.

"You know what I mean," Michael snapped, "I just passed Jonathon in the hall. Is it true you're going after Ridgeway?"

The smile on Sam's lips faded away and she began to rummage in her desk drawer for something, anything.

"Well?" Michael shouted.

Sam snapped her head up, "Yes, it's true, Ridgeway will-"

"Are you insane?" Michael frowned, his voice losing its volume but what it lacked in velocity he made up for in sincerity.