I had Abu lined up in my crosshairs, not a breeze stirred, and Nolan had been calling spot on like a dream. I squeezed.

Bang!

The shot always made me jump.

“Abu’s family is officially in mourning. Nice shot, my sexy little sniper.”

“Nice call for the shot. You were on the money.” We bumped fists and hopped up. Scrambling to gather our gear and move. The crowd below stirred like an angry ant pile someone just kicked. And we had.

We rushed down two flights of stairs and an alley. Twice we ducked behind a wall as people ran past. The extraction point sat a mile outside the village, and until we hauled our asses away from anyone who might hear us, we didn’t dare call the bird for a ride. MOLLE packs on our backs, we ran as fast as our legs could carry us, at one point darting through the courtyard of a village elder. The old man watched us go, lifting his hand as we flew by.

A quarter mile from the LZ, Nolan had the radio out, calling for a lift.

The hump of blades pulsed in the desert air. In the distance, the rev of engines, most likely pursuing vehicles. Someone had spotted us, and chances were good the bird would be landing in a hot zone.

I glanced back. A cloud of dust rose into the air. “We’ve got company.”

A Blackhawk swooped over our head, its chain gun raining down a hail of bullets and fury. Nolan and I whipped around to watch a hurried retreat of a couple of vehicles. An RPG flew from the bird, taking out two of the enemy combatant vehicles. Shortly after, it circled back and dropped down, kicking up sand, which pelted our skin like shards of glance.

We hopped on before the bird could touch down then we were off. One last look back.

“You ready to go home, Davis?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

 

Two weeks later….

I sat down at the table waiting for the guards to bring Smitty into the room. After her trial, which ended in a life sentence in Leavenworth, I’d gone to see her, the first of many visits I’d make through the years. I’d needed closure. Later, no matter what had happened in our past, we continued to be friends.

I hadn’t expected to hear what she’d said. She told me the people she worked for had threatened to kill her mother, her last living relative in Russia, if she didn’t see her mission through. She’d changed her mind multiple times, always falling short of completing it, because she cared for me like a sister.

After I’d shot her, and the Army took her into custody, she’d learned her mother had already died before she entered the Army. She’d freely disclosed everything to our government, in exchange for life, instead of execution. The names of those involved, United States citizens and Russians, even the name of the man who headed the operation. Everything. Many were arrested; a few slipped through the cracks and escaped.

It was why Nolan had been assigned to follow me for the next four years. We’d been a team, and nobody had been the wiser of why. Nolan traded his Marine uniform for Army ACUs and remained at my side, guarding my six as he’d sworn to do.

During the flight home from our last deployment, he had a surprise and didn’t wait for us to land before springing it on me.

Of course, I’d said yes.

I wanted to share the news with Smitty. She’d told me this was coming, but I hadn’t believed her.

It would give her an opportunity to gloat. As she came through the door, I smiled and waved. Her eyes widened, and a huge smile stretched across her face. She shuffled to the table where they cuffed her feet and hands to restraints before leaving.

“So, he’s going to make an honest woman of you.”

“He is.” I couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto my face.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Show it to me.”

I lifted my hand and wiggled my finger.

Smitty squinted. “I thought it would be bigger.”

“Bitch, it’s a whole carat.”

“Just kidding.” Smitty laughed. “It’s a beautiful ring.” She glanced to the side and lowered her voice. “I have some news, too.”

I leaned forward. “What?”

“The Department of Defense sent a spook here to talk to me. They’re having a hard time tracking down some of the members of my former team. They want my help, in exchange for a presidential pardon.”

My mouth dropped open.

“You know those ankle bracelets people who are on house arrest wear?”

I nodded.

“Well, they’re putting a device in my chest and one in the spook. If I try to go farther than fifty feet from him, an alarm will sound. If I don’t move closer in thirty seconds, it will blow.”

“Wait, they’re doing what?” They could force her to do whatever they wanted, as the terrorist had with their threats to kill her mother. Bad idea.

“I didn’t say I’d decided to do it.”

“You didn’t say you weren’t.”

“True. The CIA agent said once I helped to bring the last man down, they’d remove the device, and I could go on my way. I don’t know if I can trust them, though. I mean, they’re just going to let me walk? Something doesn’t smell right.”

“How can they let you out? You injured a dozen soldiers and committed treason.”

“I refused to finish the mission, and my team leader put me on a countdown clock. I didn’t want to hurt them, but I had no choice.”

“Did you tell them that?”

“I did. I’m still a co-conspirator, so it doesn’t make a difference.” She shrugged. “I deserved what I got. I’m not going to put what I did on anyone else, but the way I see it, I can rot in here for the rest of my life, or I can try to make right what I did.”

“So, you’re going to do it.”

“Yes. They’re staging a jail break so my team believes I escaped. It should draw them to me.”

“As bait. What the hell?”

Smitty shook her head. “I need to do this. Good chance this will be the last time we talk for a while, if ever again, so listen for a second, okay?”

“Go on.”

“I’m so sorry any of this happened. There is nothing I can do that can make up for it, but I wanted to let you know, I won’t disappoint you again. I’m going to bring down the head of the cell in Russia, and then I’m going after White, my former team leader. If I have to die trying.”

“Don’t die.”

“I’m going to do my best not to. Goodbye for now, Davis. Maybe we will meet again someday when I’m a free woman.”

I smiled at her. “We will.”

“And then you’re going to give me my five hundred dollars I won for letting you do the body shot.” She pointed at me. “I haven’t forgotten about it.”

“Deal. Stay alive.”

Smitty nodded, and I called for the guards. As I walked out of the prison, Nolan pulled up and waited for me to climb into his Jeep.

“How’s Smitty?”

“They’re setting her free in exchange for help in bringing down the remaining members of the cell.”

Nolan screwed up his face. “What?”

“Well, not free. They’re tethering her to a spook with some kind of explosive device in her chest.”

“Huh.”

“She wants to make things right.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry. I will always have your six.”

I grabbed his hand. “I know.”