Page 45 of Tango

I was quiet on the drive back and felt Moore’s eyes on me a couple times. I needed time to dissect Demi’s conversation with me. I knew better than to let her get inside my head, but I was caught off guard that she’d been there at all. I wondered what she thought would happen. Did she think Ty would change his mind and go back to her? The events of the day whirled in my head.

“Ivy,” he looked concerned, “what’d she say to you?” I played with the strings on my bag and watched the snow fall in the headlights while I chose my words.

“She was just trying to understand me. I can’t fault her for that.” He pulled in and parked outside of the main house, and as we walked toward the front door, I turned to him. “They’ve got history.”

“If it counts, Ty has zero interest in her anymore.”

“I know that.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s just odd she’s still here with his family.”

“Not really.” He let out tired breath and held the door open for me. “Demi’s just used to waiting for Ty. She just needs to get he isn’t available anymore.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“It’s gonna be okay.”

Mark suddenly appeared and scooped me up in a hug as I dropped my purse on the table. His look at Moore said it all.

Something had happened to Ty.

Ty

An hour before

“I’ll go get some water.” Ahmad held up the empty bucket. “Be back soon, my friend.”

I stood up and nodded at him then wiped the sweat from my eyes. Amina’s brother had gone to check on her an hour ago and hadn’t come back. He wasn’t happy about being asked to help dig up a body. Back on task, I carefully dug about a foot away all around where I thought he was. I didn’t want to hit my friend with the blade. It made the job that much harder. I tried to ignore the smell and the knowledge it brought.

“You know,” I said to Brown, “for a little woman, Amina sure dug a good way down to send you off.” I tossed more dirt over my shoulder. “Maybe you could get off your ass and help?” I froze as his hand suddenly slid out of the dirt. I’d seen enough dead bodies to shift gears fast in my head, so it didn’t affect me, but when it was one of your brothers, it’s a shit ton trickier, and I had to steel myself to keep it together. “Well, that’s a start.” I gave a dry chuckle.

The sun beat heavy on my shoulders, and I hoped Ahmad wouldn’t be long. I slumped to my knees and carefully used my hands to dig around Brown’s arm to free it up. The earth was hot, and my clothes stuck to my slick skin. There was zero protection from the sun.

I was used to the heat in this country and had grown accustomed to the temperatures, so why was my mind going back to the cool air at Shadows? Back to the lake, the peaks, and the crisp autumn nights. My hands worked aimlessly as my head wandered. Then an image of her appeared. Her cool skin and soft lips. I shook my head as I tried to concentrate on the task at hand. “I know, I know, buddy. I’ve spent a huge chunk of my life here. I thought it was where I wanted to be.” If I ever had a doubt, I knew in that moment my heart was back in those mountains.

A short time later, I had all but his neck and head uncovered. I had left it last to prepare myself. As I reached to brush the soil away from his face, a shadow fell over me, and I felt a smidge of relief.

Ahmad was back.

“Can you hand me some wa—”

Whack!

Everything went black.

* * *

The smell in the air made me want to breathe through my mouth. We were just a mile outside of one of the little towns that ran along the Kobel River. Green to the country, only two weeks in, and still trying to adjust to the smell and heat of the place. The boys and I had spent two days down in a sewage drain to try to prepare ourselves for what the towns would bring us. It was one thing to train; it was another to live it.

“That’s fuckin heartbreaking.” Moore dragged his gaze away from the kids who played with sticks in the polluted water.

“Thankfully, they don’t know any different,” I grunted and sipped some of my water. I wished I was able to share some with the kids, but I only had my canteen, and I knew better than to engage with the locals unless ordered to. God love them, they looked at us with such hope at times, but when they realized you had nothing and no hope to share, it crushed them.

“Fucking savages,” Moore growled. “What kind of animals are the Taliban to cut off their clean water supply?”

“It’s hotter than if the Devil was in heat himself,” Brown sighed, “and here we are with clean water and they’re down there getting God knows what in that fly infested swamp.”

“It’s not fair,” I agreed, “but our job’s to protect them, let the other teams fix their water issue.” I needed them to try to keep their heads straight. “We’ve only so many men.”

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