Close Quarters Read Online Free PDF Page A

saddened her to think of Fleur going through her life alone. Should she choose to marry, her husband would have the power to stop her from pursuing her work for Sympa-Med. He would control their finances and most Zimbabweans still saw no problem with that reality, or the country’s archaic land rights and inheritance laws.
    Perhaps that was one of the reasons Fleur had taken in Johari when the young girl managed to survive the Congolese Wars, but her parents didn’t. Johari was Fleur’s chance at a family without the complication of a husband.
    â€œSo, has Ibeamaka left the compound?”
    â€œYes. I do not believe he likes the Americans. He thinks he has shown them some sort of petty slight by not offering to stay and take the evening meal with them.”
    Tanya laughed. “I’m sure they’ll be horribly disappointed.”
    â€œWithout doubt.” Fleur’s voice dripped with a sarcasm that more than matched Tanya’s.
    Both women smiled in understanding.
    â€œDisappointed is not the word I would use,” a deep male voice said from the doorway.
    Tanya jerked her head around to look. “I didn’t hear you come in.” The wood floor in the medical hut did not make for silent entry into the building.
    â€œI walk quietly.”
    â€œDon’t tell me, you’re not just a soldier, you’re some kind of dark-ops-trained assassin,” she joked.
    For a fraction of a second, a strange expression showed on Roman’s face before his features slipped back into impassivity. “Soldiers are all trained for a certain level of stealth.”
    Maybe he’d been offended by her little tease. His words were right, but she felt something was missing from his explanation. No surprise there, not with Mr. Congenial Communication.
    â€œEven lab rats?”
    â€œI think it’s obvious I don’t spend all my time in a lab.” He stepped back into the hall. “The tour?”
    Arrogant, much?
    â€œSure.” She turned to Fleur. “I’ll finish this up later.”
    â€œI will have our newest med-tech finish them for you, but you’ll have to check them over for accuracy.”
    Sympa-Med sent them new interns every six months to be trained before being assigned elsewhere. Fleur wasn’t just the compound director and lead doctor, she also ran the training program for workers stationed all over Africa and the Middle East.
    â€œNo problem.”
    â€œDon’t look so pleased with yourself. We all know how much you hate paperwork. Maybe Mr. Taylor will turn out to enjoy the chore.”
    The trainees never got on a first-name basis with Fleur. Tanya hadn’t either, until a good three months after she’d been assigned permanently to the Zimbabwe team.
    â€œSounds like a plan.” Six months with truncated amounts of paperwork sounded more like heaven than a plan, but Fleur would understand that without Tanya having to say it.
    â€œGo on, show the soldier around.” Fleur waved her hand in dismissal.
    Tanya smirked at Fleur’s less than awed description of Roman as she led him out of the medical hut. “I’m sure you’ve figured it out, but this is the main building in the compound. It houses our exam rooms, the clean room for procedures, the office Fleur and I share and inventory storage for medical supplies.”
    â€œI did not notice a guard on the premises.”
    â€œHe must be on his meal break. We do keep a guard on the premises at all times, and Mabu sleeps in a room beside the storage area.”
    â€œHe does not have anyone cover the guard’s meal breaks?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThat is sloppy security.”
    â€œWe’re safer here than we are on most of our routes.”
    â€œThat isn’t saying much.”
    She agreed, but you either learned to live with that condition, or you gave up and went home. She wasn’t leaving the people who needed her, so that left learning