Page 69 of Sweet Pea

“The Spiders have guns, right?”

I nodded.

“Then you’d be foolish to be out there carrying snowballs,” she pointed out.

“Maybe,” I said. “But I can’t help feeling like this is a giant step backwards for the Saints.”

“You didn’t ask for this war.”

“No, but I could make it a hell of a lot worse. Putting more guns on the street could mean more people die. Innocent people.”

“That’s why you’re the President. To make sure things like that don’t happen. To be the example of strength and restraint,” she said.

“Then there’s Sweet Pea. I think I’m gonna call Doc and see if he can fly out and help Eldie with the rehab set up. He’s more experienced in this area, having helped wounded soldiers in the past.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Cricket said. “He’ll be good to have here for backup as well, because I’ll tell you one thing for sure. If Sweet Pea dies, nothing will be able to restrain Ropes.”

I held her for a few precious minutes, knowing she’d never spoken a more frightening truth.

* * *

Taxi

“You’re gonna miss your target by two meters,” I said, and pressed the muzzle of my gun into the back of the hooded would-be assassin, who froze instantly. “Now, slowly take your hands off the weapon and place both hands behind your back, with your palms facing away from each other. Do you understand?”

The sniper nodded and followed my instructions.

“I’m gonna cuff you and sit you up, and if you give me a hard time, I’ll give you a harder one,” I said.

I sat the sniper up and was shocked to see the face of a pretty young girl underneath the black hooded sweatshirt.

“And, who might you be?” I asked but got nothing but a sneer in return. “Well, you’re sure as hell not a D.M., that’s for sure, but that’s a nice Ruger you’ve got there.”

“Don’t touch my gun,” she said.

“Not really in much of a position to give me orders, are you?”

“Fuck you.”

“Plus,” I continued, “that’s a rifle, not a gun. If you knew the difference, maybe you would have had a chance at hitting your target.”

“I wouldn’t have missed,” she hissed.

“Yes, you would have. By at least two meters. Partially because your scope is set up incorrectly, but mainly because you weren’t compensating for spin drift.”

“So, maybe I would have missed the first shot, but I could have gotten off at least one more before he took cover.”

“Not before I blew your brains out,” I replied.

“So why haven’t you?”

“Tango would have. You’re lucky I’m the one guarding the west side of the ridge tonight and not him.”

“If you’re planning on trying to rape me, you should just kill me now, because I will fuck you up even with my hands behind my back.”

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

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