Black Smoke by Robin Leigh Miller

you must know,” he said without looking at her.
    “Oh. How’d you do that?”
    “I told them about the guy you shot in the balls last night. I don’t think you’ll have any problem with Lieutenant Lowe now,” he said with a smile.
    Sam rolled her eyes and left the office. If she’d known that’s all it took to get a man under control she’d have used it lot sooner. She left the building and walked to her red Mustang, which was parked between two buildings. To her surprise, Lieutenant Lowe was looking the car over.
    When Sam approached, he looked up at her, then did a double take. His mouth went dry and his throat closed. She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white tank top that showed exactly how female she was. Funny he thought to himself, he didn’t remember feeling her breasts brush against him during their sparring match. That was something a man would remember.
    Clearing his throat, he asked, “Is this your car?” When she didn’t answer, he said. “Sweet ride.”
    Sam tossed her bag into the backseat. “Is there something I can do for you?”
    “I just wanted to apologize, that’s all,” he said leaning up against the car and crossing his arms.
    “For what?” she asked.
    “You knew I was goading you into that fight and you went along with it. Why?”
    Sam rubbed her eyes, then placed her hands on her hips. “It was the only way I was going to earn your trust. Well, maybe trust isn’t the right word. You needed to know I was capable of taking care of myself so I showed you. Why apologize for that?”
    “I get the feeling you’re not used to people questioning your authority. I didn’t mean any disrespect, honest. It’s just my way of looking out for my men,” he told her.
    Sam looked at him. She could see he was being sincere. And she was sure if she thought about it long enough she’d probably do the same thing in his shoes. “You’re right. I’m not used to people questioning me. Look, all we have to do is get through the next four days,” she said opening the car door and sitting inside. “Then we won’t have to see each other ever again.”
    Sam started the car, put it in reverse and started backing away. “I’m sure that won’t bother you one bit,” she yelled, then took off toward home.
    “Yeah,” Kong said to himself. Yet he couldn’t explain the sinking feeling that gave him.
    He was half tempted to jump in the jeep and follow her. Why, he couldn’t say, but he fought the feeling and went to join his friends in the barracks.
    When he walked in, the two men stopped talking and quietly went about packing their packs.
    Kong went to his bunk and sat, placing his face in his hands. This was supposed to be just another op, but somehow it had gotten out of hand.
    “Let’s hear it. You two have something to say to me so say it,” he said into his hands.
    When they didn’t answer he stood. “You want to know why I didn’t just instinctively trust her? Well, my question is, why did you?”
    “It just felt right,” Boomer explained.
    “Look, where I come from, you tick a woman off bad enough and she’ll kick your ass up and down the street without taking a breath. It’s normal to me,” Ricochet explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
    “It doesn’t come that easy for me,” Kong said. “I wish it did but it doesn’t.”
    “It’s cool. Just don’t bust her ass too much,” Ricochet said as he grabbed a towel from his locker. “Something tells me we may need her in a bad way before this is over.” Then he walked to the back of the barracks for a shower before they left.
    “What did you mean it just felt right Boomer?”
    “I don’t know. I get these feelings about people, ya know, like whether they’re trustworthy or not. She gives me good feelings,” he said looking up at Kong. “It doesn’t hurt that she’s hot too.”
    Kong felt an instinctive surge of jealousy serge through him. Confused by this he banked it down for later scrutiny. He wished