Captive of Fate by Lindsay McKenna

close to that,” she promised sweetly. Within a few minutes, the entire matter was set straight, and she had to smile to herself, watching Matt’s face take on a look of relief. He looked harried, running his fingers through his hair more than once. After the pacified drivers left, he leaned back in the straight-backed wooden chair, sizing her up. He pointed at the yellow papers in front of him.
    “You wonder why we have missing supplies? Here’s part of the answer.” He waved three sheets of official but tattered papers at her. “The truck driver receives a set of these when he picks up his load at the ship or airport. Then the warehouse provides another set which are invariably modified by the time the driver leaves the front gate.” His voice tightened with frustration. “I guess it’s too difficult to call a crate a crate instead of a carton, box, or container. When our men inventory the contents, we have four sets of numbers attempting to identify the same shipment.” He shook his head, slowly getting to his feet and stretching.
    “I have my own set of numbers, Colonel,” she assured him briskly. “And I believe you owe me one.”
    He nodded, moving around the desk and pouring a cup of coffee into a tin mug. “You want some?” he asked. “It’s instant, but it tastes a hell of a lot better than halizoned water.”
    “No, thank you.”
    “Oh, you like stronger stuff? Wine? Maybe Scotch. I understand that’s the ‘in’ drink up on the Hill: Scotch on the rocks.”
    She put a chain on her temper. “I prefer a light claret, Colonel. As I’m sure you don’t have any here, it’s pointless to discuss the subject. Anyway, I want you to look at these orders.” She stressed the word “orders,” because that was exactly what they were. Orders from Marine Corps General Frederick to Colonel Breckenridge. She watched with satisfaction as he languidly unfolded the crisp white papers and sat back down at the desk. Taking a sip of his coffee, he frowned as he read through them. The skin across his cheekbones tightened, and his mouth thinned into a single line. He looked up slowly.
    “So, Senator Thornton got the brass over at the Pentagon to issue these orders. Your ability to manipulate impresses me,” he said in a dangerously low whisper. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”
    “I’m keenly aware of what I’ve done.” Her heart skipped erratically, and it wasn’t from anticipation. Her feelings bordered on fear as she saw the violent glint in his gray eyes.
    “You didn’t have to do this,” he murmured. “Not this way and not now. I would have got one of the jeep drivers to take you up just as soon as the fog lifted. It wasn’t necessary, Alanna.”
    She heard a note of hurt in his voice. Or was it disappointment? “The only thing you seem to understand and respect is power, Colonel. And that’s exactly the game we’re going to play here from now on. Politicians versus military. Dove versus hawk. Call it what you like. I want results. And I’m working for a senator who wants them now. You’re ordered to personally take me up to San Dolega. Right now. I’m sure you have an aide who can take over here while you drop me off. It should only take an hour or two of your time.”
    Matt deliberately set the orders down, staring up at her. “I don’t believe this is the real Alanna talking to me. What’s happened? What’s gone wrong? Did Senator Thornton call you and start screaming at you to get some results? What?”
    She felt the blush sweeping over her cheeks and silently cursed the telltale sign. “If I told you, you wouldn’t understand. You didn’t this morning, and I don’t think you ever will,” she said defensively. “We’re two different breeds of people. And all I want to do right now is finish this job and get as far away from you and this place as possible.”
    He studied her for a long time. Finally, he stared back down at the orders. “Are you sure this is what you