Read Outcast (SEAL Team: Disavowed Book 2) for Free Online Page B

the too-bright sun. “Right after you were assigned to guard the governor, I went to my annual physical. Everything seemed fine until the test results came in showing that I’m not—fine. Just like my mom, I have ovarian cancer. Yay, me—it runs in families.”
    “What happened next? I’m assuming you went to a specialist?”
    She nodded. “He wanted me to have surgery right away. Start treatments. Yada, yada.”
    “Did you?”
    “No. What’s the point? I watched Mom go through all of that, and for what? She died anyway. She was miserable—throwing up for hour-long stretches at a time. I was ten. Watching my father sit next to her alongside the toilet, holding back the long hair of the wig she’d insisted on wearing ever since I’d opened my big mouth to say she looked scary with no hair.”
    Jasper stopped the cat.
    His next move was to reach for Eden, sliding her across the vinyl seat and onto his lap. She was crying, only they weren’t ordinary tears. Though he had no way of knowing, he got the impression he was holding the grief-stricken little girl who still missed her mom. While he ached for her, he also needed to get through to the adult Eden. He needed to make her understand that just because her mother’s story had a shitty ending, that didn’t mean hers would, too.
    “So . . .” He rested his chin atop her head. “You hit the pause button on you and me, because you assume you’re about to die?”
    “We’re not paused,” she said against his chest. “We’re done. I saw what my dad went through, and there’s no way I’m putting you through that. It’s not fair.”
    “Oh—” his short laugh was anything but funny “—let me get this straight. It’s perfectly cool for you to deal with fucking cancer on your own?”
    “Shut up. I made my decision. There’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”
    “The hell there’s not. For starters, as soon as we get off this ice cube of a continent, you’re going back to that specialist and scheduling surgery, and as many treatments as it takes to heal you.”
    “You’re being ridiculous. If it were that easy, don’t you think I’d have tried? What don’t you understand about the fact that I want to die on my terms? I want to go out gracefully and at peace.”
    He hardened his jaw. “What don’t you understand about the fact that I refuse to let you die?”
    “This is cancer.” She backed away. “Not some gun-toting terrorist you can eradicate with a smart bomb. This enemy isn’t beatable by sheer will.”
    “The hell it isn’t.” After putting the cat back in gear, he continued their forward momentum. “And you and me? We’re officially back together.”
    “No.”
    “Not up for debate.”
    “Exactly. There’s nothing to even discuss. We’re done.”
    “You’re being ridiculously short-sighted. And selfish.”
    “ Selfish ?” she shrieked. “Screw you.”
    “Oh, hell . . . Seriously? Now?” Looked like their lover’s tiff would have to be tabled.
    “What are you talking about?” She glanced up, only to groan. On the horizon loomed three snowcats—each double the size of their own. “I don’t recognize those. Could they be part of Leo’s crew? What are we going to do?”
    “This . . .” Jasper maneuvered their gangly vehicle into a U-turn, then aimed toward the mountain range they’d spent most of the morning veering away from. “How well do you know this area?”
    “Not at all. Aside from a few student field outings, I haven’t been this far from the station since Mom died.” She glanced out the rear window. “They’re gaining. I guess this means Leo wasn’t lying. About his additional manpower. Maybe even the sub.”
    “I still think the whole treasure thing is pharmaceutical. Your dad must be onto something big, and Leo doesn’t just want a piece of the pie, but the whole, damned thing.”
    “But if that were the case, why bother with me? What information could I have that he needs? I definitely