“All right, pull over up ahead near that clearing.”
Once we stopped, Sergeant Nelson jumped down from his vehicle, and together we looked around. “Doesn’t look like too much of a threat.”
“Maybe I’ll finally get a chance to win back some of my money from Sarge,” Corporal Anderson said.
“The line forms in back of me,” Nelson said. “The man has been taking my money since freaking boot camp. I got a two-and-a-half-year-old who might want to attend college someday.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” I said with a smile. “Not if he’s got your brains.”
“Bite me, dickwad.”
I chuckled.
“What do you do with all the money you win?” Anderson asked. “I heard you don’t got kids.”
“I invest it.”
“In what?”
“The stock market.” In the three-and-a-half years I’d been in the military, I’d invested every penny I’d won in card games and turned my profits by twenty-fold.
“I don’t have enough luck to even win at cards, much less win at the stock market.”
“Winning at cards isn’t about luck. It’s about reading the table, same as the Dow.”
Nelson shrugged. “If you say so.”
I pointed to the area on the right. “Let’s set up camp there. As of now, we’re staying for three nights.”
My team of six jumped off the Humvee and started to put up our tents. Nelson’s did the same. The kids that had been jumping rope a mile back caught up and surrounded us, watching the platoon work. A few of them spoke broken English. I stood back when we were done and watched them convince Sergeant Nelson to jump rope. It was a good thing he had talent when it came to rifle skills because his combat boots kept getting caught in the rope with every swing.
I laughed, enjoying the much-needed levity of the moment. But then a wind gust kicked up out of nowhere and made a howling sound. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I looked around, searching the mountains for an enemy. Finding nothing, I disregarded the feeling, ignoring the advice I’d been given a few weeks ago during a card game—“complacency kills”—and went back to watching my soldierslet loose a bit.
Which was the reason that I never saw the ambush coming. And neither did the men I was responsible for keeping safe.
CHAPTER 21
Sutton
Wow. What a view to wake up to.
I sat up in bed for a better look, stretching my arms over my head. The morning sun cast a warm, golden glow over the green grass, and beyond that, the ocean stretched out endlessly in the distance. Unlike last night when the waves were crashing, the morning brought peaceful lapping and breaks that melted into the sand.
The beautiful view would have been much better, though, if the spot next to me were occupied. Jagger was nowhere to be found, and the sheets were cold where the imprint of his body remained. I took another moment to appreciate the breathtaking panorama outside before dragging myself from bed, wrapping a sheet around my achy body, and going in search of the man who’d made it that way.
Jagger was sitting out back on the deck with a cup of coffee, staring at the ocean. The doors were wide open, and a light breeze blew around some papers on the living room table, secured in place by a laptop. I padded over and leaned against the door. “Good morning.”
He turned but didn’t smile. “Morning.”
“How long have you been up?”
He shrugged. “A few hours.”
“What time is it?” I looked around the living room behind me. “I have no idea what I did with my phone.”
“Almost eight.” He paused and met my eyes. “You should probably go. Your family will be worried.”
The statement and his chilly attitude felt like a punch in the gut. “Oh. Okay.”
