“In case you found Peyton.” He turned to her. “Breathe.”

She nodded. Blinked away tears.

“We’ll leave at first light.”

The water boiled on the stove, and she got out her water bottle and poured it in. He opened the stew bag and she put it into the pot. The smells of thyme and garlic scented the air.

His stomach suddenly emerged from hibernation and roared.

She laughed, clearly trying to dig herself out of despair. “Methinks your little ramen packet wouldn’t feed that beast.”

“Probably not. I didn’t plan for a big meal—just something in case.”

“In case what—you found me, hurt?”

His mouth tightened, and he lifted a shoulder. “Things happen to people out here.”

“Yes, they do,” Echo said quietly.

It was definitely getting warmer in here. He walked over to his bunk and pulled off his jacket, then his fleece. His thermal shirt came with it, and he was just pulling it down when she gasped.

He turned.

Her eyes were big, stuck on the scar that ran from his lower back, around and up his rib cage.

Oh.

“I’m sorry.” She turned away. “I’m sorry.” She was stirring the stew, staring hard at it.

“Echo.”

“It’s none of my business.” But her voice shook.

He threw his fleece on his bunk and turned to her. “I was shot down.”

She glanced over at him. “I didn’t know that.”

So, although her father had known, he hadn’t told her. Interesting.

“It was two years ago. I was flying combat SAR and our team got called in to rescue a team of SEALs who had gone off the grid. I found them holed up in a riverbed and set down to evac them. They started running for the chopper, and suddenly, they were ambushed by some Taliban forces hidden in the hills.”

He sat on the bench, the smell of the gunfire, the sounds of the chopper, the shouting like yesterday in his head. “I had five guys aboard, and I lifted off, just to get away from the gunfire. But I had every intention of hanging around and going back as soon as I had a chance.

“Then I saw where the Taliban were shooting from, and I had this impulsive, stupid idea to do a flyby, let the guys on board take them out. They were all in, and we executed it perfectly. The SEALs barraged the nest and destroyed it. Or we thought we did. I was coming in to pick up the rest of the team when I spotted a stinger heading right for us. I managed to move the chopper enough for it to only take out the tail rotor, but we hit the dirt, and hard.”

He hadn’t realized he’d reached around and rubbed his wound, the scar numb but still itchy sometimes.