By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

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СКАЧАТЬ of glossy photos of herself without complaint. In fact, she smiled so brightly that Kate thought her face might split.

      Music echoed across the base as each band took its turn entertaining the troops to thunderous applause and cheers. On the perimeter of the parade field, the food lines to the grills were hundreds of soldiers deep. Overhead, Kate noted several helicopters patrolling the skies, ensuring nothing happened to disrupt the festivities.

      “She’s doing a great job,” Chase observed quietly as they watched Tenley pose with a group of young men. “How are you holding up?”

      Kate hadn’t had an opportunity to speak privately with Chase until then. She wanted badly to touch him, and thrust her hands into her pockets. “When you walked me back last night, Tenley wasn’t in her bed.”

      Chase gave her a questioning look. “Where was she?”

      “That’s just it, I don’t know. She claimed to have walked to the bathroom, but she had a huge hickey on her neck.”

      His eyebrows rose. “Maybe she got it before she came over here.”

      Kate shook her head. “No, she was definitely hiding something and refused to talk to me about it. She hooked up with someone last night, but I have no idea who. What a disaster,” she moaned. “I should have been there. I should never have left her alone.”

      Chase frowned. “Kate, she’s not a child. You can’t watch over her every minute of every day.”

      “But don’t you see? I don’t even have the right to criticize her about her behavior, because my own hasn’t been much better.”

      She watched as twin patches of color rode high on Chase’s cheekbones and realized she had angered him. “So what are you saying?” he asked. “That our being together last night was a mistake? A disaster?”

      She gave him a pleading look. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. But it was irresponsible. I had a duty to watch out for Tenley, and I failed. I left her alone to satisfy my own needs, and look what happened!”

      “What? What happened that’s so terrible?” Chase demanded. “Look at her, Kate. She’s absolutely fine. You’re her sister, not her mother. She’s old enough to make her own decisions.” He swept her with a hard look. “And so are you.”

      Without another word, he turned and walked toward Tenley, moving through the crowds with an easy authority that had soldiers clearing a path for him. He stood by Tenley’s shoulder, an imposing bodyguard in case any of the young men surrounding her decided to get too friendly.

      Kate blew out her breath in frustration. But there was a part of her that believed she had behaved recklessly last night, and no matter how wonderful her time with Chase had been, she’d left Tenley alone and vulnerable.

      She spent the remainder of the afternoon on the perimeter of the festivities, keeping Tenley in sight but not speaking with her. Chase had apparently made it his mission to watch over her, and was never more than a couple of feet from her side, his muscular arms crossed over his chest and his face set in grim lines.

      Kate chewed the side of her finger and watched them, certain that in addition to losing Tenley, she may have lost Chase as well.

      FROM BEHIND HIS DARK SUNGLASSES, Chase watched Kate. She looked lost and uncertain as she stood near one of the drink stations, observing Tenley with a mixture of concern and pride. More than anything, he wanted to go and reassure her that everything would be fine, but her comments still rankled. He sympathized with her, he really did, but only because he sensed that Tenley meant more to her than she would ever admit, maybe even to herself.

      But he’d meant what he said. Tenley was legally an adult. She had to take responsibility for her own actions. In the end, it was her life, not Kate’s.

      Now he watched Tenley as she smiled and laughed with the troops. She had a star-spangled bandana tied around her neck, effectively hiding whatever mark Kate had seen. He thought of the young man who had leaped onto the stage the night before, and wondered if he had anything to do with the love bites. The soldier had been silent and subdued when questioned, and he’d refused to reveal why he had interrupted Tenley’s performance. All he would say was that he had something he needed to tell her and that it was for her ears only. The military police had decided the incident was nothing more than the exuberance of an overexcited fan, but Chase had his doubts. In the few seconds before he’d subdued the younger man, he had heard what he’d said to Tenley: It meant something to me, too.

      Pulling out his BlackBerry, he sent an email to his team back at Bagram, requesting they send him an electronic version of Tenley’s file. When he’d first received the dossier, he hadn’t given it the same attention that he would have given the file of an enemy combatant or top Taliban leader. Now he kicked himself for his oversight. He’d been trained better than that. He knew better. He hoped the file might contain information that would give him some insight into both Tenley’s and Kate’s lives.

      He smiled now as he watched Tenley pose for photos. He had to hand it to her; she had done a terrific job entertaining the troops. He glanced at his watch. The sun would be setting soon. One more group of performers was scheduled to play, and then the Independence Day celebration at Kandahar would be over. He would accompany Kate and Tenley to Camp Leatherneck in the morning, where they would do it all again before they flew to Bagram Air Base for the final performances.

      Tenley caught his attention, waving him over with a smile.

      “I’m so tired,” she said when he bent his head to hear her over the crowd. “Can I go back to the trailer and take a nap?”

      “Of course,” he replied. “I’ll walk you there myself.” He waited while the USO representative made her excuses to the throngs of soldiers still hoping to get a photo or an autograph, and then walked with Tenley along the edge of the parade field, toward Kate.

      “Have you talked with your sister today?” he asked.

      Tenley shrugged, but Chase didn’t miss the hot color that swept into her cheeks. “I’ve been busy.”

      Chase gave her a tolerant look. “She only has your best interests at heart. I think you know that. This is my fourth deployment to Afghanistan, and I’ve seen many, many performers come through here. But I have never seen a publicist care so much about her client’s well-being that she would voluntarily come over in advance. By herself. Even if you are sisters.”

      But instead of showing gratitude, Tenley turned defensive. “That was her own decision,” she said. “Nobody asked her to do it. That’s just the way she is—a control freak.”

      “She obviously loves you a great deal. You might want to remember that.”

      “Just who are you supposed to be watching out for?” Tenley asked, slanting him an amused look. “Because if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was her.”

      They had reached Kate, who stood with her arms crossed, observing them. Now she smiled at Tenley. “That was a great performance.”

      “Thanks,” Tenley said, not meeting her eyes. “I’m really tired so I asked Major Rawlins to walk me back to the trailer.”

      “I’ll go with you,” Kate said quickly, falling into step beside her. “I’m pretty tired, too.”

      “I’m СКАЧАТЬ