“Doesn’t mean we have to tell them shit,” Locke said with a bitter tone.
“Gunner will just send someone else to finish the job,” Mendoza said.
“If they don’t kill you, I will.” Locke jerked his body.
“Why the fuck does Gunner want my sister dead?” McGuire shoved the barrel of his rifle into Locke’s chest.
Locke grinned, lifting his chin. “Go ahead, pull the trigger, you useless piece of shit.”
What a cocky bastard.
“Gunner’s just who we’re taking orders from,” Mendoza said. “Kind of like how Savvy runs Division 73.”
“Are you saying Gunner’s in charge of Black Ledger?” McGuire asked.
“I ain’t saying dick.” Locke jerked his chin upward. “Mendoza, you better shut your trap, or I’m gonna put you six feet under myself.”
“Get these jerkoffs out of my sight.” Patch turned his back and kicked a rock. It went sailing across the clearing and landed on the back of a gator. The water twisted and churned as the alligator dove into the murky water.
The sound of boots hitting the muddy ground prickled Patch’s ears. He spun as Locke took off running.
“Don’t make me shoot you in the back,” McGuire called.
Locke didn’t stop.
Bang!
Locke dropped to his knees. “You motherfucker.” He groaned, grabbing the back of his calf.
“Are you gonna try to run?” McGuire waved his rifle at Mendoza.
“Ain’t worth it.” Mendoza shook his head.
“Stand up and start walking to the cabin.” McGuire nodded toward Patch. “Riven and I’ll deal with tying them up, but we’re gonna need you in there shortly to deal with that bullet wound.”
“He’s not gonna die in the next half hour,” Patch muttered. “Tie it off right above the bullet hole. I need a few minutes with your sister.”
“You’ve got it,” McGuire said.
Savvy leaned against one of the smaller trees. She tugged her hair from her ponytail, running her fingers through the longstrands. Her eyes fixated on something across the water. She’d grown quiet. Too quiet.
But Patch had rage in his heart, something he needed to squelch. He shook out his hands and closed the gap. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” She readjusted her hair, back in a messy thing on top of her head, her gaze still off in the distance. “I’m stunned to see Mendoza. I thought he’d been killed. I blamed myself for his death. And that means the rest of them might still be alive.” She turned, blinking out a tear. “Including Hale, which is just messing with my mind.”
“The whole thing is screwed up.” Patch ran his hand up and down her arm.
“There’s so much I don’t understand, but one of the biggest ones is why would anyone not want you to come back?” She visibly shuddered. “There are too many holes to connect all the dots. But it feels like Gunner didn’t want you to come home in anything besides a body bag from Operation Yellowjacket. Why?”
“I don’t have an answer for that.” Patch dropped his hand to his side and glanced toward the sky, as if he could find one there. “He and I butted heads from the moment we met. He didn’t like the way I did things in the field. He thought I was reckless. Thought I went too far and I thought that was crazy. Besides being a soldier, my job was fixing people. Not leaving them out there to die. I swear, he would give up easily if we’d let him. But he wasn’t a horrible team leader. We got the job done. However, the next one I went on with him, I cringed. I was glad it was my last and your brother took over.”
“When he first came over to the 73, he was eager to learn. Eager to do anything and everything, but he didn’t like taking orders from me.”
“Yeah, he’s not a fan of women in the field.”
“It wasn’t just that,” Savvy said. “He wanted to head the 73. When I got named, he didn’t take that too well. As a matter of fact, he went to both Vance and West and put up a bit of a stink. That’s when Gunner asked to be let out of the 73, and I was happy to say goodbye. However, he wasn’t thrilled with some of my comments regarding his inability to follow orders, how he tended to go rogue, and a few other things. He complained about my eval and recommendations to Vance. I have no idea what went down in that conversation, and I don’t care. I was just glad that, for the most part, I didn’t have to deal with him. I ignored where he went. I didn’t care that much. West and Vance didn’t seem to either, but Vance liked him—that I do know because he did mention he thought I was too hard on him but never asked me to change my report.”
“In all of this, we learned that Black Ledger was born in the same vein as the 73, but the big difference was Black Ledger has never been sanctioned like the 73.”
