“I’m exaggerating, but not by much. The grenade part is true, but that was just once.”

I wrapped my arms around my waist and walked over to Bex, waiting for more bad news. Bex put his arm around me with a light hug.

“He’s saved every man in his company in one way or another. He walks around with explosives on his back while the enemy is shooting at us. You thought your detail was bad, this is impossible!”

“Great,” I said, throwing my arms up and letting them slap to my sides.

“It still doesn’t explain how he made sergeant in an impossible amount of time,” Jared said.

The other end of the phone was silent, and Jared nodded, whispering something so quickly I could barely discern his reply at all. “Okay. Watch your six,” Jared said, flipping his phone shut. He watched me for a moment, and then sighed. “He still has Claire, Nina. You know her…it’s like he’s in military day care.”

“How did he get sergeant so quickly?” I asked.

Jared peered at Bex for a moment before speaking. “It appears Colonel Brand pulled some strings. The Special Forces guys are more familiar with how we do things, and it made it easier for Claire to protect him.”

“Sending Ryan on more dangerous missions will protect him,” I deadpanned.

“Well, since everyone has bad news….” Bex said.

“Bex, don’t,” I said through my teeth, but it was too late.

“What is it?” Jared asked, his eyes bouncing between the two of us.

“Nina slept all night. She didn’t budge until seven this morning.”

Jared let his words sink in. It was several moments before he moved, and then nodded. His hand searched for the closest chair to pull beneath him. He fell into it, and stared at the floor. “So that’s it.”

“Jared, that doesn’t mean anything,” I said, reaching for him.

He looked to his younger brother. “Now we just have to see how far away I have to be to keep the dreams away.”

“This is ridiculous!” I said. “It’s happened three times, that isn’t a definitive trial by anyone’s standards!”

“So we’ll test the theory,” Jared said. “Starting tonight.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Absolutely not. I didn’t move in with you to have to sleep alone every night.”

“It’s just until we figure this out,” Jared said.

“No.”

“Yes,” Jared said, his tone final.

The air was knocked out of me. I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but I was too tired to argue. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I looked away from him.

“Nina….”

“I get it…it’s okay.”

“Let’s just try it. See if it works. I’ll start out just outside town, and then come a bit closer every half hour. If you have the dream, we’ll know.”