Lauren dumped her bag in the hallway and headed for the kitchen, pulling down the note from the fridge door."Cold drink?" she asked as the officer fol...owed her. She assumed he was the senior soldier there, given his two stripes. She remembered the lesson at school and the colorful book that he listed all the ranks of soldiers, sailors and airmen. Even so, she could only guess that he was a Sargeant or Corporal. His face was creased from either laughter or squinting, his black mop of hair. You got, like, the patience of booger.”“The patience of Buddha, you fucking idiot,” said Vinnie.“What the actual fuck, Vin. Why you gotta keep repeatin’ me? I’m just tryin’ to make a fuckin’ point.”Will chuckled at his friends’ antics. “I appreciate the apology, Don, but I overreacted. Tiff’s just got a lot of energy and she’s always a bit nervous around guys because of how they treat her. Just think about it: have any of you guys even looked her in the face when you talk to her?”“What about. It’s about thirty miles to Birchanger services, at the junction of the A120 with the M11, and it took about an hour. I pulled up in front of the building and Suki dismounted stiffly. We walked together inside and ordered cooked breakfasts, coffee, and stripped off several layers of clothes.We’d been there almost half an hour. Breakfast had been consumed and most of the coffee. “I see what you mean,” Suki commented. “You do get really cold. But it’s fun, apart from the cold, isn’t it?”“I think. We arrived at the hospital to find John in his office doing paperwork. “Linda not in today?”He looked up and did a double-take when he saw Scarlett. “It was dead, so I have her back in the storeroom counting inventory while I look over the charts for our new ponies. She’ll pop out if someone hits the bell. Jared mentioned you’d found something special, but damn.”I smiled as I reached over and ran a finger down Scarlett’s breast. “She is rather special, isn’t she? I’m going to need a physical.